Episodes - Page 11 of 21

Episode 104 – Education Matters – Lin is shunned by Jehovah’s Witnesses

College is not the place for a Jehovah’s Witness youth. That message was received by a 7 year old Lin, the very first time something seemed like it wasn’t quite right to him. However, when a scholarship to Emory University would open for him later in life, he would have a choice to make. Jehovah’s Witnesses discourage their youth from obtaining a good education, even seeing such as dangerous.

Support Lin by leaving him a comment HERE

Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, 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. Click HERE for more information.

Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com

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Find shunned podcast on Youtube, including new VIDcasts here.

You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.

This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. You can find it on any podcast app or on YouTube. 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.

Music provided by Jane and the Boy, entitled Save Myself.

Episode 103 – Threatened For Reporting Abuse – Nicole is shunned by Jehovah’s Witnesses

Trigger Warning – This episode deals with abuse and suicide.

Born in raised in a family that looked the part of good Jehovah’s Witnesses, Nicole knew the truth. Her father was a violent alcoholic, her mother suffered from dissociative identity disorder (multiple personalities), and her escape was to spend time with another JW family on weekends that put her in the clutches of a sexual predator. When she reported what happened, she was threatened with disfellowshipping and shunning if she cooperated with the police. Sadly, this is just the beginning of a life spent dealing with cycles of abuse, and Nicole has had to put in a lifetime worth of effort to rise above circumstances while learning what a healthy life can be through it all.

Support Nicole by leaving her a comment HERE

Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned

Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com

Join our Shunned Podcast Facebook group HERE

Leave us a review on iTunes

Find shunned podcast on Youtube, including new VIDcasts here.

You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.

Music provided by Jane and the Boy, entitled Save Myself.

Episode 102 – A JW Misfit – Jael is shunned by Jehovah’s Witnesses

Some people that were Jehovah’s Witnesses simply hated every second of it. Jael is one such person. From an early age she knew that it wasn’t for her, but her mother let her know that she would never help her out if she wasn’t a JW later in life and that pressure was intense. Because of that Jael would find herself going in and out of the cult. In the end she finds that continued exposure to the cult only leads to drama as couple from the local Kingdom Hall tries to steal her uncle’s estate from the family. Sometimes it is okay not to fit in with the people that you’ve been exposed to in life.

The song that Jael chose to represent her story is How To Disappear Completely by Radiohead.

Support Jael by leaving her a comment HERE

Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned

Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com

Join our Shunned Podcast Facebook group HERE

Leave us a review on iTunes

Find shunned podcast on Youtube, including new VIDcasts here.

You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.

Music provided by Jane and the Boy, entitled Save Myself.

Episode 101 – Don’t You EVER Embarrass Me – Nia is shunned by Jehovah’s Witnesses

At the age of 11 or 12 Nia saw something happen that many Jehovah’s Witnesses see, one of the teenagers in her congregation was disfellowshipped. But what she also experienced was her mother’s reaction, a reaction that lacked care or compassion for the person that was now seen as lost, a reaction that lacked any real care for Nia as well. “Don’t you EVER embarrass me the way she embarrassed her mother!”

And there you have a relationship summed up in one quick remark, a relationship that would leave Nia trying desperately to earn her mother’s love, a love that should be natural and without conditions based on a particular cult belief system, but a love that Jehovah’s Witnesses lack. If a person has to earn that love through performance based measures in a cult, that love can just as easily be lost. In this episode you’ll follow Nia’s journey from a little girl trying to earn her mother’s love to a woman learning to love herself.

The new song that Nia chose to represent her story is Pray by Sam Smith.

Support Nia by leaving her a comment HERE

Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned

Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com

Join our Shunned Podcast Facebook group HERE

Leave us a review on iTunes

Find shunned podcast on Youtube, including new VIDcasts here.

You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.

Music provided by Jane and the Boy, entitled Save Myself.

Episode 100 – 100 Things You Need To Know To Heal From Jehovah’s Witnesses

With four years of long-form personal stories from ten different cults and over 615,000 individual listens and views across many platforms, Shunned has become something more than I ever dreamed. Between the Cult Recovery Coaching Services that I offer, the Facebook support group, the Shunned Recovery Project online meetups, and all of these interviews, there is much to be learned. So for number 100, in this episode I take you through 100 things that could help change your life in some meaningful way as you recover from the cult of Jehovah’s Witnesses. If you’re from another cult you will likely find many things that can apply to you too, and if you’ve never been in a cult but you’d like to live a happier life, there is something for you in here as well.

The new theme song for Shunned is Save Myself by Jane and the Boy.

Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned

Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com

Join our Shunned Podcast Facebook group HERE

Leave us a review on iTunes

Find shunned podcast on Youtube, including new VIDcasts here.

You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.

Music provided by Jane and the Boy, entitled Save Myself.

Episode Ninety Nine – Role Play – Chelsea is shunned by Jehovah’s Witnesses

Often when we grow up we are given roles to play in life. Whether we pick these up by observing the adults around us or we pick them up in our response to those same people, it isn’t unusual to find ourselves repeating patterns from our past. Chelsea’s story is one of living in confusion and eventually becoming strong enough to break out of the roles given to her by her family and the cult of Jehovah’s Witnesses. (With love to Levi, may he rest in peace.)

The song that Chelsea chose to represent her journey is Walk by Foo Fighters. She also chose the song My Hero by Foo Fighters for Levi.

Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned

Support Chelsea by leaving her a comment HERE

Want more resources or to participate in the Shunned Recovery Project that I mentioned? Go to my new website exjwHelp.com

Join our Shunned Podcast Facebook group HERE

Leave us a review on iTunes

Find shunned podcast on Youtube, including new VIDcasts here.

You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.

Follow my new podcast called LouisvilleOne at LouisvilleOne.org or look it up on a podcast app. You can watch the live videos on the YouTube channel HERE.

Music by Fair Voyeur entitled “No Hell Yet”.

Episode Ninety Eight – Human Kintsugi – Drew is shunned by Jehovah’s Witnesses

Trigger Warning: This episode contains frank discussions of sexual abuse and suicide.

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of taking items like broken pottery and repairing the cracks with gold. It is an acknowledgement of the scars that a piece has as part of its history. Drew has some scars, but he’s not afraid to be vulnerable and talk about his life. From involvement with the cult of Jehovah’s Witnesses to many situations in life that could have broken him irreparably, Drew has picked up the pieces and made something out of them over and over again with his heart of gold.

The song that Drew chose to represent his journey is Escape by Metallica.

Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned

Support Drew by leaving him a comment HERE

Want more resources or to participate in the Shunned Recovery Project that I mentioned? Go to my new website exjwHelp.com

Join our Shunned Podcast Facebook group HERE

Leave us a review on iTunes

Find shunned podcast on Youtube, including new VIDcasts here.

You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.

Follow my new podcast called LouisvilleOne at LouisvilleOne.org or look it up on a podcast app. You can watch the live videos on the YouTube channel HERE.

Music by Fair Voyeur entitled “No Hell Yet”.

Announcing Ex-JW Help Day 2021

Join in on the inaugural Ex-JW Help Day event on September 2 2021 by performing random acts of kindness in your community. For more information see:

https://exjwhelp.com/index.php/exjwhelpday/

Episode Ninety Seven – Save Yourself – Raene is shunned by Jehovah’s Witnesses

“The only reason I got baptized was…….I wanted to save my ass.”

The cult of Jehovah’s Witnesses promote fear of death at the hands of their genocidal god. Unfortunately for Raene, from the time she was molested at the age of seven by someone in her congregation, she would spend her days trying to save herself in many ways. Saving herself from that violent god. Saving herself from the people around her that would never listen to a young girl that seemingly knew more than the adults around her. Raene had to save herself in more ways than the one that came up and prompted her baptism into this cult.

The song that Raene chose to represent her journey is Under The Table by Fiona Apple.

Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned

Support Raene by leaving her a comment HERE

Want more resources or to participate in the Shunned Recovery Project that I mentioned? Go to my new website exjwHelp.com

Join our Shunned Podcast Facebook group HERE

Leave us a review on iTunes

Find shunned podcast on Youtube, including new VIDcasts here.

You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.

Follow my new podcast called LouisvilleOne at LouisvilleOne.org or look it up on a podcast app. You can watch the live videos on the YouTube channel HERE.

Music by Fair Voyeur entitled “No Hell Yet”.

Episode Ninety Six – AltWorldly Tells His Story – Jake is shunned by Jehovah’s Witnesses

“So I can never change my mind. I can never leave. And I remember having the thought that I am trapped. That was the first time I realized that you can’t just leave, ever, for any reason.”

Jake, known on YouTube and other platforms as AltWorldly, had to face a harsh realization that as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses you can’t just leave. It has been referred to as a “captive organization” at times because, like most cults, there is no easy way out without losing things that may matter deeply to you. Married to an active Witness that he loves dearly, his journey to awakening was fraught with many perils, including a life threatening moment that forced him to face down one of Jehovah’s Witnesses’ most controversial and destructive beliefs.

You can follow the AltWorldly channel on YouTube by CLICKING HERE.

The song that Jake chose to represent his journey is Harmony Hall by Vampire Weekend.

Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned

Support Jake by leaving him a comment HERE

Want more resources or to participate in the Shunned Recovery Project that I mentioned? Go to my new website exjwHelp.com

Join our Shunned Podcast Facebook group HERE

Leave us a review on iTunes

Find shunned podcast on Youtube, including new VIDcasts here.

You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.

Follow my new podcast called LouisvilleOne at LouisvilleOne.org or look it up on a podcast app. You can watch the live videos on the YouTube channel HERE.

Music by Fair Voyeur entitled “No Hell Yet”.