shunned

It’s hard enough growing up different than everyone else because your family is in the cult of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Everyone wants to fit in, to belong, to feel seen and heard and validated. But what if you individually were singled out in the very isolated cult environment at the ripe age of 12 because of rumors started by children and carried out by adults? What if everyone labeled you as though you were demonized in some way over silly childhood games? What if you did the one thing that you thought you could do to get them to see you differently, and it didn’t work? This is the story of Alex. Support the show and get bonuses as well by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned [http://patreon.com/shunned] http://patreon.com/shunned Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach with a focus on cult recovery. Click HERE for more information. [https://storyworkscoaching.com/] Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com [https://exjwhelp.com/] Leave us a review on iTunes [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/shunned/id1278684468?mt=2] Find shunned podcast on Youtube, including new VIDcasts here [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4UJZdPiABipv9mESMjjdfA/videos?view_as=subscriber]. Follow us on Twitter [https://twitter.com/shunnedpodcast?lang=en] and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/shunnedpodcast/]. You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2MVvD4HmXuFOYxWVFRoF9c?fbclid=IwAR097VFK6CIM-Ws3OGVCzGek8gr3cngWbio87497LDOFUhamlwzjRiAsCSc] chosen by guests of the show. This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. [https://thisjwlife.com/] You can find it on any podcast app. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment. Read my FREE online book, based on This JW Life, called Becoming Jehovah, in both English and Spanish by clicking here [https://becomingjehovah.com/] An ExJW podcast and ExJW YouTube Channel

One of the highest goals for a young person that is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses is to go to the Bethel headquarters located in New York, to work as a volunteer, serving their cult full time. But every person that goes there has a life before they go there, a life there, and for most, a life after as well. KJ has taken the time to share his story, one that involves the depths of emotional despair, the harsh realities of the most revered place on earth for Jehovah’s Witnesses, and how he came to realize that “we’re all just drones, following along thoughtlessly, because we’re afraid”. KJ is no longer a drone but has chosen to take flight in his own life, charting his own course, even though it has cost him dearly inside the life he once knew. Support the show and get bonuses as well by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned [http://patreon.com/shunned] http://patreon.com/shunned Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach with a focus on cult recovery. Click HERE for more information. [https://storyworkscoaching.com/] Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com [https://exjwhelp.com/] Leave us a review on iTunes [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/shunned/id1278684468?mt=2] Find shunned podcast on Youtube, including new VIDcasts here [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4UJZdPiABipv9mESMjjdfA/videos?view_as=subscriber]. Follow us on Twitter [https://twitter.com/shunnedpodcast?lang=en] and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/shunnedpodcast/]. The song that KJ chose to represent his journey is I Drink Wine by Adele [https://youtu.be/jDvYDzFOK9A?si=ZNWSR-QbEnKvZvMa] You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2MVvD4HmXuFOYxWVFRoF9c?fbclid=IwAR097VFK6CIM-Ws3OGVCzGek8gr3cngWbio87497LDOFUhamlwzjRiAsCSc] chosen by guests of the show. This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. [https://thisjwlife.com/] You can find it on any podcast app. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment. Read my FREE online book, based on This JW Life, called Becoming Jehovah, in both English and Spanish by clicking here [https://becomingjehovah.com/] An ExJW podcast and ExJW YouTube Channel

As a young teen, Maxwell had a unique opportunity to get into a Korean pre-group for need-greating locally as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Although that didn’t ultimately pan out, self-described “ultra zealot” Maxwell was given yet another chance at just 17 years of age to start a Hindi group, which grew to over 30 individuals. Eventually he would learn Indian sign language and act as a need-greater over Zoom. But like so many, Maxwell knew that he ultimately couldn’t be what the cult wanted him to be. When the time was right he would come out to a friend and later to his family, but this story doesn’t end like you think it would. Support the show and get bonuses as well by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned [http://patreon.com/shunned] http://patreon.com/shunned Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach with a focus on cult recovery. Click HERE for more information. [https://storyworkscoaching.com/] Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com [https://exjwhelp.com/] Leave us a review on iTunes [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/shunned/id1278684468?mt=2] Find shunned podcast on Youtube, including new VIDcasts here [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4UJZdPiABipv9mESMjjdfA/videos?view_as=subscriber]. Follow us on Twitter [https://twitter.com/shunnedpodcast?lang=en] and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/shunnedpodcast/]. The song that Maxwell chose to represent his journey is Easy On Me by Adele [https://youtu.be/U3ASj1L6_sY?si=PtQPNxIFluAelkj5] You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2MVvD4HmXuFOYxWVFRoF9c?fbclid=IwAR097VFK6CIM-Ws3OGVCzGek8gr3cngWbio87497LDOFUhamlwzjRiAsCSc] chosen by guests of the show. This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. [https://thisjwlife.com/] You can find it on any podcast app. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment. Read my FREE online book, based on This JW Life, called Becoming Jehovah, in both English and Spanish by clicking here [https://becomingjehovah.com/] An ExJW podcast and ExJW YouTube Channel

In this episode I, once one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, interview Cass, a former Seventh Day Adventist. Both religions were born in the same time period, out of the same disappointments, and both are capable of creating tremendously negative impacts in the lives and families of their adherents. Growing up with an atheist parent that she knew would die at Armageddon caused great pain. As you listen, you will hear so many stories that resonate with former Jehovah’s Witnesses. And in a particularly poignant moment, a young Cass is in a standoff with a young JW girl in school, both desperately trying to save the other from the same Armageddon, both upset that they can’t make an impact for the other. Cass can be found online as an author at her website CLRowe.com [https://www.clrowe.com/] We mentioned the allegory of the cave by Plato, which can be observed on YouTube by clicking HERE [https://youtu.be/69F7GhASOdM?si=1snE46D1ptz2r0xh] Support the show and get bonuses as well by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned [http://patreon.com/shunned] http://patreon.com/shunned Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach with a focus on cult recovery. Click HERE for more information. [https://storyworkscoaching.com/] Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com [https://exjwhelp.com/] Leave us a review on iTunes [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/shunned/id1278684468?mt=2] Find shunned podcast on Youtube, including new VIDcasts here [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4UJZdPiABipv9mESMjjdfA/videos?view_as=subscriber]. Follow us on Twitter [https://twitter.com/shunnedpodcast?lang=en] and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/shunnedpodcast/]. You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2MVvD4HmXuFOYxWVFRoF9c?fbclid=IwAR097VFK6CIM-Ws3OGVCzGek8gr3cngWbio87497LDOFUhamlwzjRiAsCSc] chosen by guests of the show. This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. [https://thisjwlife.com/] You can find it on any podcast app. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment. Read my FREE online book, based on This JW Life, called Becoming Jehovah, in both English and Spanish by clicking here [https://becomingjehovah.com/] An ExJW podcast and ExJW YouTube Channel

Much like in the movie The Truman Show, young Tara was living a lie. In the 8th grade, at the age of 13, Tara would be told something by one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in her English class that would rock her world. Learning her family secret would open her mind to wondering what else might not be as true as portrayed, and it would take great strength to untangle things that she once held as true while at the same time trying to figure out who she was and what she wanted for herself. A strong person that learned at an early age to think for herself out of necessity, Tara has forged ahead in search for truth, leaving behind what she once called “The Truth”. Support the show and get bonuses as well by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned [http://patreon.com/shunned] http://patreon.com/shunned Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach with a focus on cult recovery. Click HERE for more information. [https://storyworkscoaching.com/] Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com [https://exjwhelp.com/] Leave us a review on iTunes [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/shunned/id1278684468?mt=2] Find shunned podcast on Youtube, including new VIDcasts here [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4UJZdPiABipv9mESMjjdfA/videos?view_as=subscriber]. Follow us on Twitter [https://twitter.com/shunnedpodcast?lang=en] and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/shunnedpodcast/]. The song that Tara chose to represent her journey is Damn It Feels Good To Be Me by Andy Grammer [https://youtu.be/FAo0mWGQNG8?si=L06n4uU8YSpNs0KN] You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2MVvD4HmXuFOYxWVFRoF9c?fbclid=IwAR097VFK6CIM-Ws3OGVCzGek8gr3cngWbio87497LDOFUhamlwzjRiAsCSc] chosen by guests of the show. This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. [https://thisjwlife.com/] You can find it on any podcast app. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment. Read my FREE online book, based on This JW Life, called Becoming Jehovah, in both English and Spanish by clicking here [https://becomingjehovah.com/] An ExJW podcast and ExJW YouTube Channel