You are an amazing woman Shannon. I was lured in by the "happy family, happy life" fantasy that the organization promotes at a vulnerable time in my life. And I can relate to going to meetings and going out in field service to escape my personal life. Your story and books will help many people who are thinking about leaving or have left and struggling with finding their authentic self. Keep up the good work Vivien, your interviews are so needed and you are making a huge difference in people's lives.
My heart goes our to you and everyone who has suffered the loss of a friend 💔 or family member 😔. Watchtower will pay for what they have done. The more our voices are heard the more people will start listening.
@@letsgrowtogetherwithshanno334Possa il tuo libro aiutare molti a svegliarsi ,e a creare delle crepe nella torre ,e un giorno non lontano possiamo vedere il crollo di questa malefica setta ,che si dimostra un angelo di luce ,da l'italia.
@letsgrowtogetherwithshanno334 , & thank you for sharing your story!❤️. It just goes to show that there is life after no longer being a JW. Enjoy your continued journey through life. I know that I still am at 62 years-old.
The best revenge towards watchtower is to become successful. It proves the liars & frauds they are. Your story is inspirational in so many ways. Thanks for telling your story. I wish you continued success and am so glad that your children will never experience the DOOMSDAY CULT of Jehovah's Witnesses. So glad you woke up. My condolences to your father.
Amen!!! I was scared to death when I left. I was isolated to only their community. I had no money or job or education. They told me I would never survive on my own. They believe I have lost Jehovah’s blessing and am living in a satanically controlled system of things. Like… wtf?? No. No. No. Watch me grow and flourish. Watch me prove you wrong by living a better and more healthy life outside of everything you have to offer. Watch me wear your marking of APOSTATE as if it were a name badge of honor to show the years I survived as a JW. Watch me kindly, and with genuine empathy, engage with every JW I encounter. Watch me spread critical thinking like wild flower seeds. Mic drop. I’ll get off my soap box now.
@@Sharon.w12345 wouldn’t happen there’s a reason the website is translated In more languages than any other site and there’s a reason they have the most distributed magazine. They have a higher power helping sooooo
I appreciate you for sharing Shannon's journey and being open about the sensitive topic of suicide. I understand that addressing this topic can have consequences for your channel, but raising awareness and educating people about it is crucial. Your willingness to discuss this matter can make a big difference in someone's life.
They won't " go out of business" they survived the Nazis and persecutions, concentration camps. And world hate because most of it is because they believe one god and not the Trinity.
I respect and appreciate a lot of what you said. I cut off my brother completely because he has beaten every woman, even breaking one of their noses, since we were teenagers. We used to be inseparable. So, absolutely cutting ties is ok when the persons character warrants it. However, I still have a close relationship with his children.
Thank you for sharing that. I agree with you. I think we all need to do some introspection on why it’s important to guard who we bring into our lives AND disfellowshipping is wrong. They are not one and the same issues. Disfellowshipping destroys family units and hurts a lot of innocent parties. Sending you love ❤
Shannon my dad is the same, always sarcastic and saying things hurtful and I’d tried to express that and he would say the same thing I’m too sensitive, I use to be a daddy’s girl and now at 48 and he is 70 and we barely talk and it’s all this JW nonsense
You’re not too sensitive. The world needs people like you. I hope your fathers heart softens and opens to more love and sensitivity ❤sending you all the hugs ❤
Now that's a true xJW success story. I love thst she demonstrates what can be accomplished when leaving a religion that suppresses our talents and ambitions. Very motivating. Thank you so very much.
Thank you!!! You CAN leave and make a better life. You do not need that organization to find meaning and happiness in life. I hope my story is a testament that leaving does not mean you’re under satanic influence.
@@letsgrowtogetherwithshanno334 -- thank you so much for sharing your story; I have been researching for months and didn't understand why I had this gnawing feeling that something wasn't right within the org, and just listening to your story, has caused so much to fall into place.
I appreciate Shannon's talking about the vulnerability, naivety and how a witness is not prepared for the big wide world, having been closeted and kept apart from it for their life-time. Also, the repeated mention of guilt and shame, a tool that is continually used and very difficult to shake. Guilt and shame play a big part in my life, even 40 years after leaving the cult. I lost my younger brother to suicide. Although he had left the JW faith, its stain stayed with him, and the manner of his upbringing, taking its ultimate toll. I can relate to delving into the world and practices that may have been restricted, an evaluating, a personal crisis and finding one's true self. Lack of assertion/self-esteem is another trait common in the JW and exJW and is something that can be overcome, as Shannon seems to have done. I was also quite touched by the genuine effort her dad made to improve some of his faults and draw closer to her. This was moving for me and brought a little tear to my eye. It demonstrates his humility and love for his daughter. Shannon's positivity, gratitude and insight are quite remarkable and I wish her the very best for her future. Thanks for making this interview, Vevian. You are a good listener. Thank you Shannon for sharing your story.
Sorry to hear about your brother 💐❤️seems to be very common with the witnesses committing suicide I was a witness at one time I can relate to some of the things you have written. Especially when it came to the guilt and shame of staying in this organization.
I am so sorry to hear this. It is hard to be casted out by family. There is a way forward. Nothing will replace your family. And nothing can replace you living your best life. ❤
@@letsgrowtogetherwithshanno334Queste regole wachtover sono le trappole costruite per tenere dentro i suoi membri dividendo le famiglie ,e evitando di smascherare i suoi inganni ,ma con la diffusione di internet molti scheletri che aveva nell'armadio stanno venendo fuori ,sopratutto la pedofilia nascosta all'interno delle congregazioni di tutto il mondo .da l'italia.
I would never reconcile with my mother she inflicted too much abuse. I just spent years trying to figure out why she would not love me. She never will She expressed how much she hated me cause I’m not a ho ho.
My brother and sister left the cult years after I did. I appreciate that they did but I still needed to work to forgive them. I asked that we do family therapy and Sarah disowned me again. Guess the cult is deeply engrained in her. She will not work to be in a relationship with me. She wants to be excused from all responsibility and she will not take accountability in any shape or form.
Amazing I tied such a validating and healing intivew. We had two suicides in our cong one a close friend 💕 my heart goes out to you. So glad you reconnected with your mum.🫶🏼✌🏼💃
Ok where do you work so I can apply. I am an RN but unlimited paid time off is what I need lol. I have 3 kids, 3 and under and 12 hr shifts and/or 5x8 are not what’s best for my kids 😢
Shannon! Whoa!!Excellent interview 🙌♥️🙌 Vevian my sweet friend…I totally agree with you 100%, this was such an engaging and well narrated story of living as a JW. I’m beyond excited Shannon for your book(s) to be released, and please please please do the narration of it. I am also an audiobook fanatic, your voice and your story is so compelling ….it’s a given to be successful in helping others in the cult, navigate life outside. Thank you both for such a great presentation of the facts, and Shannon, my heart goes out to you on the loss of your father…and I have no doubt your best life now will break the generational curse of growing up in a cult. Will be following you!! 🙌♥️🙌
Thank you so much for all your kind words. I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to write this comment. It’s so encouraging to know that my story matters. I really believe that sharing it could help so many ❤ thank you again
Right?!?!?! Their defense is that they need the details to decipher if the person is truly repentant. If the sin is repetitive, they conclude that means you are not truly repentant. The problem starts with the fact that Jehovah God did not anoint them with his Holy Spirit to make such judgements. Period. This should be outside of their scope of work. Period.
You are a joy to behold in all that you went through in your life and especially being a JW and learn from it in seeing where they have wrong you. As you took ownership of yourself and stand up for yourself and responsibility for your kids, and finally found where you belong in helping assisted others. You held on and your perseverance is delightful. Your book would be Great for my Daughter if I can get it to her. I never became a JW, but I have studied with them since I was 14 , I could understand their points but not their controlling mechanics, so I consider them a Cult as I learned their initial beginnings of which most JWs have to this day never learn of. Beginning with Charles Taze Russell 02/16/1852-10/31/1916 then Judge, Joseph Franklin Rutherford 11/081869-01/08/1942. Then the Governing Body of Jehovah Witnesses, the ruling council of the Denomination. Is now based in Watchtower Society's Warwick, New York headquarters.
When someone tells you that they feel like unlife themselves, or they will unlife themselves, please believe them. This could be a cry for help, we tend to ignore it becasue we do not know what to do with it and because of the myth that people who unlife themselves do it without telling others. Great story and its so wonderful to know what other EXJWs went through. Thanks you. 💐🪷🌷🌹
Even a Christian cannot brush aside the worship of Jehovah as God. In Revelation 1:5 the Son of God called himself "Jesus Christ, 'The Faithful Witness.'" When on earth as a man he was a Jew, an Israelite, to whose nation the words of Isaiah 43:10 were written: "'You are my witnesses, 'is the utterance of Jehovah, 'even my servant whom I have chosen.'" Jesus demonstrated that he was a faithful and true witness of Jehovah God. His genuine disciples today must be the same kind of witnesses, Jehovah's.
That’s true but allow ourselves to think logically the organization delves too deep in scripture not fully understood. Placing harsh rules in place that remove our individuality and cause anxiety and stress. Don’t go beyond what is written
