Religious and cult ideologies often use the practice of shunning to silence their critics and to control their members through fear. This podcast sheds light on this practice through real life stories as told by the people that have lived through it. Learn what their lives were like and where they have ended up in life after shunning. Featuring stories from Jehovah's Witnesses, Scientology, Amish, Mennonite, FLDS, the Moonies, and more, you will learn about the real lives of former members that have been shunned.
dont stay because youre afraid of being shunned, shunning is inevitable even if you stay in the organization you can still be marked or soft shunned. no relationship you (think) you have in the organizatiom is worth sacrificing yourself for. know that you will make new friends, houseing and jobs are replaceable. people rebuild all the time, you too will be just fine.
Workers in south Australia would snap antennas off cars!! Luckily aerials dont exist anymore, but its actually property dammage & my gosh, I'd report them if they dared deface anything of mine
Wow, why didn't I ever think of that?! Or, could it be that if you actually watched my channel you'd see that my solo videos are in 1080p but it's just my interviews that aren't? Then you'd actually be on to something and have a clue what you're talking about. I record on a DSLR that is certainly capable of quality video, but recording interviews is different, which I do over Zoom. Zoom compresses the video which is why it does suck to some extent. I have looked into many alternatives, and they aren't cheap at all, especially for long form videos like I do. Thanks for your help, ex bro.
So glad you didn't go down the dark path completely, Kari and the host. Definitely better to have stepped away from the gaslighting and bad thoughts and insidiousness that is created to play on people's minds. Praise God and Christ that you are all out and free and enjoying God's ways, the way he intended. God bless all. 🙂🙏🙏🙏
Much love and respect to you Michael and your channel and family. I'll do what I can to help when I can. I appreciate all that you do to help better lives of people that need. You are a true kind gentleman and well respected here in the community. Thumbs UP and shared to planet earth as always. A+++++ I miss and love your videos where you and Jenny have your own stands in downtown and parts of the city. Can't wait to see more. : )
This cult started in Ireland and grew rapidly in the 1900's. This secret sect had a great appeal to rural people due to their simplicity and reputation of living in poverty themselves, owning nothing. My mother's family had many members to include workers/overseers. At 12 I was allowed to discontinue attending meetings with the family as I declined to "Profess" and be baptized into the cult. I questioned the false doctrine and would not accept the answers give me, especially when they contradicted what I read in the Bible.
Random acts of kindness should be a daily thing, not just once a year. Lol. Like celebrating the birth of Jesus. He he.😂 Seriously, though, well done! It's easy to forget how much others struggle when we may be struggling ourselves, but it feels amazing to be able to help other people. Sometimes, all it takes is a friendly smile in the street to lift someone's spirit.
My youngest brother is a railroader too. Has a beautiful family with 5 kids. He is POMI. What a tragedy. Hope he figures it out soon. That early life of abject poverty is so common. Good job raising yourself up by your bootstraps! Have a happy life & thanks for sharing your story!
The shirt says "dubstepped" on it, a play on the type of music (dubstep) and a dub (W for Witness) stepping (leaving) away. This dub, short for JW, stepped, and left that mess behind.
Leaving a cult should be viewed as a reconstruction rather than a deconstruction. It's tough to see people leaving one cult and end up being in another one where they become their own god which leaves them no better off than when under the "god" they used to "serve".
Wow, my life was so much like his. Living in the country, no friends, hiding my MC hammer CD, that blue brochure for teachers, sitting in the hallway for being JW with the punished kids, etc. My "graduation Party" was also a freaking joke! I could only invite one friend and my grandparents. We sat in the living room hitting a single balloon back and forth. I also always wondered why Star Trek was okay.
That's so interesting..i might know a family who left this group. I kept asking them what religion they were in, but they said that it didn't have a name, which was so confusing to me!
Hi Mike, I've been a long time listener of Shunned and also a former Jehova's Witness. I also happen to be a professional translator for all things English-German/ German-English. I've you're interested in translating Becoming Jehova to German, hit me up, and I'd be glad to work on it free of charge. The Ex-JW community in Germany is so severely malnourished that I myself have considered making a channel, but I don't think it's for me. But if I could help enrich the German community in this way, that would be great.
Hi there! If you, or anyone else, wants to translate it into another language, it's all sitting right there on the website and if you translate it, I'll put it up. It's been a labor of love and if someone else wants to pour labor into it, that is appreciated too. Putting up another language in the written form isn't too intense to do on my end. Now if someone wants to record it in audio format to put up another podcast/RU-vid channel for it, that's a whole other type of project where I have to teach you recording basics to get decent sound, then I have to produce the audio files, post them everywhere, create channels, make posts on the website for it, and every new podcast/RU-vid channel costs me roughly $10/month in perpetuity to keep up out there (for podcast audio hosting). So, if you want to translate the book itself from the site for Becoming Jehovah, go for it with my blessing and send me the translation and I'll add it on the website in its entirety. That's not a lot of work on my part, and doesn't cost me money. But if a person wants to perform it audibly in another language, that's a bigger project that I'm up for as long as the language is big enough to warrant the effort (and $10/month forever) put into it at that level, but honestly I'm tired right now and just finished yet another project for the community and I'm not super excited about jumping right into another. Maybe in a few months, as I've burned out a bit between this and the other projects that I've done on top of my regular work daily in the community. I'm just kind of addressing various sides of it depending on how you might be thinking, but also because others might see your comment and want to help too in various ways, so I'm just thinking it through aloud and letting everyone know what it takes. I'd love to put it out there on the website in another language if you want to translate it. Thank you, that's super cool, and I'm happy to give you credit for the translation if you can/want to put your name out there on that version of the online book. And then you could post it in various German groups to help it spread so that it can help others. Shoot me an email to shunnedpodcast at gmail dot com if you want to discuss anything further, to get me translation documents, etc. Thanks for being willing to help your community too. It's a lot of work. :)
I mentioned in the video, or if you visited the website, you'll see that it's already been out for years as the podcast This JW Life. In fact, it is already on Audible podcasts and you can listen to it for free. I think if you just search JW it will come up. No need to wait.
Remember how we were told by the org, that we would be shining beacons of hope?😅 Well this may not be what they intended for us😂...but you are certainly leading the way as a beacon of light for those who could no longer take the JW b.s. and just had to leave- or wither on the vine. I am grateful you've been a light for us and others still stuck.😊🙏🏼
Dude I support you 100% and I will spread your channel to the world 100% to the world and back. I got your back and will do what I can do. You have helped me in so many ways and I respect you and love you and Jenny as well. You are a rock star. Much love and respect! A++++ Thumbs Up and shared to the world. :)))
I'm so proud of you. You are such an amazing woman. *Yes, breaking the cycle.* You get to make that look however you decide you'd like that to look. I know for me, watching my kids grow up with the normal things that I was robbed of growing up within the ORG, brings me so much joy today. I also get to see what breaking the cycle has done for my grand kids too. Around the holidays, I wasn't always sure how to do them, so we just started some of our own holiday traditions which made them more personal and sentimental for us.
You should fix the audio outcome. The audio. The microphones. And you shoud fix the picture. And the light. Maybe think a little about what you want to speak and it would be more fluent.
Oh wow I so relate to your whole story! Thank you for being so open and honest. I just wish one day I can talk to my father who is still a JW to just understand WHY I didn't feel comfortable to get baptisted in his religion! It never felt right for me!
I'm not sure where in the video you're referencing, but women gave talks as in giving parts on the theocratic ministry school back in the day, and they still give demonstrations and such, as I understand it. They got a talk slip just like the brothers did, though it wasn't a solo talk like the brothers gave.
UK church history! I know this one! Weird christian religions started in the UK in the 1800s because the CofE was a state religion. CofE/Anglicanism could only build new churches if they had an Act of Parliement giving permission for them to build it. For each and every new church! Veerrrryyyy slow process. So the new towns and cities and new city suburbs had no churches for the new populations that moved there. So people started their own bible groups and lay preachers giving Sunday sermons meeting in rented rooms/meeting halls, and people's homes. So we got Methodists, Wesleyans, and a lot of others that way. It's also why they talk about workers and adult education a lot, because there was also movements for universal education, workers rights and unions, often involving the same people.
Shayna, thank you for having the incredible strength and courage to share your story! Your story brought me to tears I am so sorry you had to go through all this! You are an incredible human and you've done one of the most difficult things in that you were able to finally leave. And you've saved your kids from this evil organization!! You are worthy, your story is going to help so many! Thank you for sharing!
I kind of can relate to some of what Shana was going on as a kid. I also struggled a little bit in school, but I think it had so much to do with all the chaos in my life. I could not concentrate very well, because I was worried and all that. So, I just kind of also thought: “Why try? The end is coming by 1975” (and I was 12.) The end never came, of course. I also have had a problem asking for help. Maybe it’s part of living in a Codependent family. Shayna, you might also want to read a book called Codependent No More. Also a good book called “Feeling Good” by Dr David Burns. He helps you identify the things we tell ourselves, that does effect how we might end up feeling. It helps for people who worry a lot, or self blame, and a lot like that. It has a workbook part. Anyway, it helped me. It’s probably gotten major updates on it. But it’s really helpful. Anyway, helps the stark reasoning that us JWs were brought up in. I’m so sorry for the abuse as a teen and adult Shayna had been through! I think bipolar disorder and maybe the schizophrenia type disorders are a result of a lot of the hormones reacting for YEARS to that severe lifestyle as well as the doomsday stress effect people live with!
I’m 68 yr old. My mother learned “the truth” when I was a year old. I so wanted to hug you as you were telling your story. I am so sorry. I’m so happy you’re finding your voice. 💜
I would love to tell my story!! Raised in a Spanish speaking JW congregation..from the age of 6, I’m 60yrs old now. Still have two brothers stuck in the cult… contact me ! I was somewhat shunned by my family but never abandoned… I got baptized at the age of 16 in Mexico and disfellowshipped by the age of 18 in the States. I have a Crazy but uplifting story. I am a devoted Christian loving Jehovah for who he really is !!
Thank you for sharing your story, Shayna. Wow...what can you say? JW's attract people who are just lacking human decency & who have no natural affection. The cult takes these men & sends them out to shepherd the flock with no training, except to further injure people. The few who have some feeling, have their hands tied behind their backs. So happy that you got away & you had the inner strength to pull yourself up by your boot straps! Good job!
I think that's a GREAT IDEA. Put our own carts out! But you didn't film what it was that you put on hour carts! What is the literature you placed out? And what do they say? Thanks.
Please see the description. I've put that information out there, but I'm not going to do so on every video over and over again, as people would tire of it. Glad you like the idea. :)
I would have made a scene: OMG!! 😮 The Jehovas are following me! Someone HELP! Please!!! I left many years ago and they're still trying to intimate meeeeeee!!!!!!!! I'd give them a Mentally Diseased buffet with all the crazy they could eat 😂 Just turn, look them right in the eye: WHY?! Why are you following me?! Aaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!! 😂😂😂
Is there room on one of those shelves for Recent Court Cases? A small pamphlet with the latest court highlights and sources cited would be a powerful way to show it's not just lies
