Ha! The nail polish comment got me. I actually had one sister bring me to her home while we were in field service to "remove the offensive color".. the color was blue. I was so shocked and got the silent treatment. My mom told me to write a letter and personally deliver it to her and smooth it out. She was an Elder's wife and i was an Aux. Pioneer at the time but i couldn't figure out how this could be so offensive.
That is why I quietly walked away from the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization. My family wanted to warn me but felt that I should find out on my own. No more boring meetings and sacrificing my livelihood for the field ministry.
I really like what she says that after leaving the religion is the "freedom to think for yourself" which is something that I wholeheartedly agree with. I've known young people in the truth that have gone through her situation and it's heartbreaking. I tell people thinking of leaving in the future that one important thing is building relationships outside the religion. I wish her all the best!
They claim to not tolerate these kinds of things but than there's “brothers” who still have their privileges and act like nothing has happened I hope her and people who have suffered the same experience heal from this
My marriage in the JWs was similar to hers. It was the next step to me waking up. It still took me 20 years to finally understand that the Truth isn't the truth.
I can relate with this situation. In my case, my husband failed on our marriage (adultery) and I forgave him. Thing is that the elders “helped” him spiritually with love by censoring him since no one else found out about this and I forgave him- so it was kept secret!! So after I forgave him it really was hard for me to gain the trust and be opened in our marriage to put things behind. So I told myself either I look for profesional help or ask the elders for help. And decided to look for elders help. I asked to talk to them. I told them I’m not repentant because I forgave him- my husband is also putting his part to make this work and leave things in the past. But the question that popped up- how can we help? You have to pray more, study and go out preaching because you are spiritually weak. And yes my hours had dropped because of the situation I was going thru and believed I was depressed in some way but here they were telling me you aren’t spiritual enough if you have to give him what he needs😮 I said you give sinners the “help” but what is it for us the victim of the situation and no encouragement, no support, no help emotional nothing!!! I walked out of the meeting crying because they did not care about my mental or emotional well-being!!! So We looked for profesional help and we really got the help we needed! It’s always the woman fault. this was years before I woke up and it always stayed behind my mind what is this? What kind of encouragement was that you need to preach more …. A Catholic cousin went thru this and she seeked profesional help but also looked for her priests words and he encouraged her with kind and encouraging words and told her to continue going to her therapist! And for me it was like finger pointing me that the fault was mine and that in other words I had to suck it up! I am so glad we were able to continue and strengthen our marriage. And we both woke up and now we are living the best moments of our lives! Wally thank so much for this interview! Wishing her a happy life and blessings to her baby and motherhood!❤ Like I always say: DOWN WITH THE TOWER!!! Ps by the way: yes, we are looked at and criticized because we may be stumbling others about your nail color, the length of you skirt, the color and cut of hair, if you use more than 1 earring, more than 1 chains etc it’s crazy!!! So happy I’m free! THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE!!!
Hi Wally, thank you for all you do to help people wake up from the jw´s. I must say that you are great at interviewing, you did an excellent job. And thank you to Ophelia as well for sharing such a heartbreaking story, I am glad she is doing well now, I met her in a congregation in Mexico where she served and I would never imagine all she went through, I myself faded from the jw´s too, I just woke up and decided not to be there anymore, and videos like this help pimos go through the process of leaving because we get to know that those abuses happen everywhere and we also know we are not alone in this process, I appreciate very very much this interview and all you do, keep on doing a great job, and Ophelia I wish you all the best girl.
When I was 16 a 24 year old jw high school teacher tired to groom me. I met him at a jw party and danced with him a few times. A few days later he calls me. Which I though was strange because I never gave him my number. When he did call he asked my mom for very polite and respectfully if he could talk to me. My mom said yes, so I talked to him for like 10 mins and the whole time he was leading the conversion. He ended the call saying "oh I enjoyed our talk today also. I will call you again later.". Which again I thought was strange because I never said I enjoyed our talk, I barely even talked. Anyways he started emailing me everyday and he really quickly started acting like we were in a relationship already. He asked my mom for permission for us to date and didn't even ask me first. This happened so fast it was like two weeks after meeting. That is when I said enough and told my mom he was being too pushy and gave me the creeps. My mom told me to tell him how I feel next I get a chance. So I ended up seeing him at a party and while we were dancing I told him that I didn't like him, he tried to brush it off. So I stop dancing and told him I DON"T LIKE YOU ! in a louder tone. He said oh can we still be friends? But at this point I was getting really bad vibes from him so I said No I don't even want to be your friend! I left him in the dance floor and went with my two brothers and he left me alone after that. A few months later we are at some Jw families house and they get a phone call from this same guy trying to talk to their 13 year old daughter. My mom warns them about him and tells them he is 24 year old man. They were unaware and tell him to stop calling their daughter. If this happened now I would have called the high school he work for and warn them about this guy. This happens a lot in the Jw cult.
*This is going on everywhere in the JW org. Youths I knew were abused in the KH bathroom by a leader and it was covered up in Loomis, CA. One of the victims sadly commited suicide later as a teen.* 😢
A divorced man in his late 50s married one of our young sister as as she turned 18 claiming he was akways in loce with her and EVERYONE including her parents approved and even thought it was cute how he loved her...I WAS SCREAMING!!! Like this religion is so dam sick
Not quite through the video yet, but you guys are talking about how certain aspects of JW cult is not healthy for kids. I grew up thinking the end would be any day now, I didn’t think I was going to be an adult in “this system” because of how it was talked about in our Kingdom Hall. So I never developed the skills for future planning, I never had any long term goals because “the end was going to come” and I still struggle with that type of planning and goals. In the back of my mind “there’s not enough time”. There’s many other things but I think this is one of the examples I have that really impacted me from being a child in the cult.
Thanks Wally, what a great guest Ophila was , it is so sad how women are treated in this cult. I am so glad that she is out and hopefully this will help others to flee also🙉🙈🙊
Waaaaaaaaalllllyyy! Your such a G! I would love to share my story one day as an unbaptized publisher! Hint: My father is was apostate, for over 35 years and got “rebaptized”as a brother with a totally different name in a whole new city as of 2012! Where they do that at!!! 😂the hypocrisy I’ve dealt with my whole life is mind blowing. I just woke up in July.
The culture of young woman being married young is made out to be so normal.. where I lived it was well accepted that a particular wealthy witness family would marry off their young 17/18 yr old daughters to wealthy MUCH older jw men! And no one thought there was anything wrong with it. It blew my mind even wen I was still an active witness!
Sounds like this lady had a really rough time. It's interesting to hear how each bad experience made her primarily reflect on her relationship with 'Jehovah', and ultimately to ask, 'where is Jehovah and his spirit in all of this?' She was evidently a very spiritual woman, but her bad experiences just drained it out of her. The Moses illustration is a doozy. Thanks to you both for a very candid, thought-provoking interview.
Great video Wally ❤ You put the people who you interview first and everyone can see that! This makes it therapeutic for myself and I think many more also; that’s if I can speak for others, and she was a good person to interview, very open and honest. I thank you both for this opportunity to heal. Wally, you should do more of these interview broadcasts because it puts a face on healing. Thanks again for all you do! How’s Zeezy and Winston?
They always love blaming the sisters. Treating the women as second class citizens. Then they do it with a minor. Absolutely disgusting. They always try to place blame on the sisters trying to tell them not to dress certain ways because it'll be their fault for tempting the men in the congregation. THAT IS NOT THE WAY IT WORKS MORE SO WITH A MINOR. THAT IS A MINDSET THAT CAN GET WOMEN ABUSED. If JW can get away with hiding something that could make their organization look bad THEY WILL. But remember, that does NOT protect the followers!
It's sickening that men are so dang elevated in this cult. It's just strange to an outsider who doesn't quite understand this. What woman would want to be in there! SMH...🤷♀️ 🍃✝️🍃⚘️
Listening to this just brings back so many memories of just my first 5 years of being baptized at 16 thinking everything was perfect yet I was held down always discouraged to marry or date using every excuse to discourage me using my age etc yet the son of a presiding overseer could date and get married and he was best friend. Kids were a lot more crueler in the "truth" than the ones I went to school with. Thing was my classmates who I have been friends with since kindergarten could see that I was good person and they loved that about me yet other witness kids who went to school with me the followed what they were taught and all kids outside of the organization was "worldly"! I could go on but my saving grace was music, comic books, acting things that are frowned on but since i left in 2000 these helped me get through dark depression period after I left. And ty for your videos and look foward to many more!
She’s a cool cat! Great interview guys. Thank you for taking the time to do this interview and share your experience with us all. “Perfect organization ran by imperfect people” is such a cop out. Kudos for waking up 👍🏻
Thanks for continually using your platform for good! This is a particularly tough subject matter, but one that shouldn't be silenced and shied away from and greatly admire her strength for speaking up and sharing her story!!!
Agreed! The more this type of thing gets the attention of the wider public the better. Imagine if people stopped seeing JW's like goofy, nice, happy people and started seeing them in this context!
@@exjehovahswitness Firstly Hi Wally and Zizzy! I’m an exjw, for context, and in general jws are goofy, BUT not nice nor happy, I know whereof I speak!
That happened a lot in my congregation area as well. The Brothers were always much older than their wives because they basically picked them before they were legal than married them as soon as they were of age. This happened often even though there were several single sisters that were closer to their own age. However, if you had been previously married and divorced or had come into the truth as a single mother, you were "used goods" and it was unlikely that you would marry, which caused several sisters to marry outside the truth and than be marked or even disfellowshipped for doing so. (And 100% on the nail polish colors! One of the elders pulled me aside and reprimanded me for wearing dark red polish that looked black. It's a thing for sure)
Hi Wally, Awesome interview, As you know I emailed you a compact summary of my story. This included my involvement and participation in the Australian Royal Commission. I would be more than happy and willing to be interviewed by you. Not only to share my story and countless first-hand experiences. But how I learned to navigate the world by myself as a homeless 15-year-old. Including the journey of discovering this incredible planet and the beautiful unique people you meet, recovering, healing and finally at the ripe old age of 53 LOL. Happy and ultimately finding a sense of inner peace.
Wally, you did great. This was a really good interview. It reminded me of Marques Houston (Roger from Sister, Sister). He was ALLEGEDLY SMed when he was younger and joined the JW's later in life. He met his now wife when she was underaged and they started dating AS SOON as she turned 18. He's like 40. That's literally the definition of grooming. He was groomed and went on to do the same. And I guess fortunately for him, the organization doesn't see anything wrong with that🤢 It's creepy. And it's gross.
Great first interview Wally, I enjoy hearing other ex JW experiences. I feel that no matter how different our experiences are, we can all relate and learn from each other and it helps us to form a community and move forward in our lives. Great job! And thanks Ophelia(what a beautiful name!)for sharing your story!🥰
Great interview, Wally. You're a good listener and you ask the right questions; keeping it moving and interesting. You should definitely do more interviews. I think we're all wondering what you're planning for your big 10K milestone... 🙂
New Subscriber here! You did a wonderful job at interviewing! This story was both sad and frustrating yet very intriguing to listen to. All I kept thinking was “How could a minor be treated this way?” So disgusting.
Hey Wally! Can’t wait to check out the video. Recently started watching and I just wanted to say that your channel is making a difference, I was previously studying with Jehovahs witnesses along with a few dozen of my friends, we’ve all discontinued our studies, in part due to your informative, thoughtful manner of approaching things, and seeing how active witnesses react criticism. Thanks for your hard work as always!
@@exjehovahswitness Oh I don’t mind at all. In all honesty they were very pleasant people, we were studying the “Enjoy life forever” book and got to like lesson 3 before they couldn’t really answer some questions I had regarding the Bible. They remained respectful and cheery the whole time, but they just seemed confused, like they’d never thought of the Bible from another perspective besides their own. Every time I’d bring up a point regarding failed prophecy or things like the morality/ scriptural evidence of shunning being needed, they told me we would discuss it next lesson, but we’d just continue with the “curriculum” without addressing my earlier concern. My friends had the same thoughts, they were pleasant and cheery (Except for one older guy who studied with one of my friends and was dismissive of his questions), just kind of condensed into a bubble, uncomfortable to tackle anything outside of the bubble. It raises a few red flags when you ask them honest questions and don’t just eat up what they’re reading.
interesting! It is amazing because they really think they are bible experts and don't even have a basic understanding outside of "the bubble". Thanks for sharing
Loved this interview. Really enjoyed listening to her amazing story. Wally, you're a really great interviewer. From watching many interviews, I see you have a real talent for it, not as easy as one would think. I hope you do many more.
God I'm pissed for her. It's disgusting that men can prey on tons of young girls an people have 0 critical thinking skills and blame a teenage girl in the situation. Also, Wally you are a great listener and seem to have a way with making people feel comfortable opening up to you.
I can concurr with this young ladies story. We had a young lady that started being pursued by a considerably older brother. Creepy to say the least. I guess when an organization is run by misogynistic men woman and young girls are a target, especially if they are virgins, so so important in this particular organization. Women's rights are non existent in this org.
First off, I wanna say I’m so proud of my girl, Ofelia, for sharing her story!! 🎉🎊💕 She’s an amazing person and friend and the fact that she has the strength to share this with everyone takes courage!! Secondly, Wally, you did such a great job with her! The story is easy to follow and allowing her to speak and not interrupt, like some other people do, made it so pleasant. I had the same experience with the elders blaming me when my marriage was failing; questioning me if I was giving my husband “his due”. It’s ridiculous that the men are not held responsible for their lack of love and providing an emotionally safe environment for us. That’s what started my wake up process too. Plus so many other things. But great interview! Keep it up! 👍🏽
Giving your husband “his due”. It’s insane. What business is it of some old dudes whether you or any other sister, is giving their husbands, their “due”. Or what business is it of some old men what your husband was “giving you” either!? 🤔🇨🇺🇺🇸
It’s hard being a single young woman in the Org. You are told to be demure and to hold the brothers/elders in high regard. There were creepy brothers who I felt were too overly “friendly” that wanted to go beyond the bounds or “friendship” and if I felt uncomfortable being around them I was reprimanded for being “unfriendly” or “that’s how he is” or “he didn’t mean it”. There is no concept of boundaries. You are told to respect authority and to obey your elders even if it goes against your instincts and are vulnerable.
You are GREAT at Interviewing Wally!!! It always amazes me how much all of us have in common, I came from a family a lot like hers my dad was disfellowshipped and my Mom made me think he was a horrible person it's so sad!!! You both did a great job!!😁👍
I remember saying this to my parents that why would I ever put my daughter in danger and come back to the Jehovah Witness Kingdom Hall when a pedophile could be in there and I need a babysitter and they end up babysitting my child and now my child gets molested and we have to keep it quiet why would I ever put my child in danger like that you know what they said to me you know this is the truth why are you making up excuses I was like yeah I'm never wasting my time with them again
Thanks for sharing. This is an awesome interview! 🤙 I was DF'd, reinstated (solely because I missed my family), and now PIMO. Going back was torture for me 43:46
You did a great job interviewing Wally! You're a natural! I'm so glad you woke up Ophelia! It's a blessing from God that you seen the org for what it is. Enjoy your life, trust in the Lord as your Savior, and just be happy! Congrats on being engaged too! Love always! 🍃✝️🍃⚘️
@@exjehovahswitness ...OH...That's 👍!!! Right ✅. I am getting ya'll confused. Ok thanks for the clarification 👍 and "Setting Matters Straight "...lol...you are way to cool 😎 for me...I love everything that you are doing 👏.. 💕. Great content.
This creep's issues ran sooo deep, that when he went to Bethel, he was no longer their problem! so that's why he was able to go to bethel. The elders wouldn't have to deal with him. Just tragic, anyway you look at it, for the young women who were abused by this man.
I just love this so refreshing I’ve saved it for my 3 kids💙💚💛still in. There is a local support group I’m with, most are the kids they grew up with and are awaiting for them if they wake up. My son 💚 is an elder I think their dad is too and bethel has their evil eye on him 💚 he has Asperger’s so the need to fit in is huge. Great advise for leaving I hit the cement it took 8 years to gather myself together. Look forward to a live stream. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I didn't realise it at the time, but I was groomed when I was 12-13 by a guy who was in our town for the ministerial school (i think that's how it's called). He was 35ish I think and he used to call every evening and taking me preaching. My mom took over then and he never called again. But now that I think about it, it's sickening.
Damn so this is new! Awesome! Love your channel and all that you do in creating and talking about etc. So this is the first interview I have seen you do and I love it and hope to see you expand doing more as it works and you do a great job. Plus I still can't wait for JT and Lady Cee to interview you and Justin as well as that would be a treat. Keep it up brother. Much love and respect to you as always. You feel like family. Thanks! A++++ Thumbs Up and shared. : ) Love Ya Wally. P.S. Where's the Beaver? lol
I am currently writing a book on a true story out of Ohio. Elders in the congregation wrote the watchtower to see if a couple could be baptized because they were unsure. The society wrote back and approved their baptisms. The couple had disclosed that they were biological brother and sister pretending to be married. They had two children together at the time of baptism. They went on to have five more children, out of wedlock and out of incest. The woman got to pioneer and everything. She's still in good standing in the organization. As others got disfellowshipped for petting while dating, this couple got to have multiple children without marriage and stay in good standing. Sounds like an apostate lie except I am their 3rd born child. The first conceived after the Watchtower gave the blessing for their baptisms. My mother has a letter approving her unusual baptism. An announcement was made to the congregation to accept the couple as Jehovah's family. The congregation hated it but the society had spoken. So obviously I got treated differently than the other kids in the congregation. Definitely had a terrible JW upbringing.
Wow great interview shocking still after so many videos this still shocked me. Beautiful young lady she’s been through so much and still she’s positive and loving. The human resilience is amazing.
The perpetrator and any sons he had need to castrated. That's real consequences and a deterrent. I used to be merciful, but these criminals need consequences.
Thank you for having the courage to expose this exploitation/pure evil. Ophelia is lucky that she had an unbelieving father. Like in Iran, men are considered such weak vessels that they cannot control themselves. Making women think they are the ones who are doing wrong is another tactic they have in common, even if the female is still a child! Most JW men, because they are uneducated and have no career aspirations, get to feel like big shots only in the congregation. Window washers and janitors get to feel like "important men" if they're JW's.
I’m an exjw, raised in, and I’ve always been puzzled by jws being SO afraid of dying at Armageddon! The dead, once dead, are conscious of NOTHING, even the buybull (which is a book written by men) says so. As someone who’s been through general anesthesia twice, I can attest to the fact that, once unconscious to the degree necessary to undergo surgery, no one is lying there waiting to be resuscitated 😆! So what’s the importance of how/when one’s died? Just another example of the nonsense bred into the members of this CULT!
Sadly after I left the cult I found out about the abuse of at least 4 young girls in the congregation, the paedo is dead now but I would love to see the elders charged with the crimes.
9.9k subs, A little less a hundred more and hooray for 10k. Achievement unlocked earlier than expected. Wally's chariot moving ahead of the organization.
Hey Wally., Stop saying your going to be a terrible interviewer. If you continue with this train of thought,you will not be the great interviewer that you can be. Always keep positive. Just imagine driving a car and telling yourself, I’m going to crash, I just know it. Well you should realize that if you keep thinking a certain way , you can or will manifest a particular outcome. Good Luck on your new endeavor.😉✌🏼🎉
Yes. You did just fine as it is, but any hiccups that you do manage to have will end up being learning experiences and you will get even better. Besides, we all watch the content that you produce because we love your quirkiness and how real and relatable you are. (Actually we all just come for Zeezee, you are just a happy bonus 😂 😭)
Unfortunately the culture in that organization fosters and normalizes older men grooming/preying on younger women. As you pointed out, sisters almost view it as flattering! I was dating a 32-year-old a couple of months after I turned 18. So many people tried to warn me that he had a reputation for pursuing teenage girls. In time I learned that he was secretly involved with a 16-year-old in my congregation while he had publicly been dating me.
The nail polish thing reminds of this kid from Houston (I'm in Austin). He'd come out for Pioneer School and when we got to the dress and grooming part he talked about how in his area the black brothers (he was black) were not allowed to shave their heads because the CO thought it was in imitation of Michael Jordan. This sister I knew said when she was at Pioneer School the had the sisters line up and the two COs told them they should all wear panty hose because none of them had nice enough legs to not wear them.
@@exjehovahswitness exactly. I couldn't believe it at the time (figuratively, I mean. I absolutely believed her) but the more I've learned the more I've come to understand this kind of thing is just kind of par for the course for them.
which is so wild but people often get blinded when that type of thing is so common, they don't even see it. That is surely one for the books though! holy
The truth is this kind of thing where old men pursue inappropriately young girls is very common and not seen as that big of a deal. In some cases it's seen as creepy but not much else. I have known so many "brothers" who had similar reputations but still had all their privileges and and in some cases served as MS. It's sick
Dude….when I was a kid, a bunch of brothers, some Bethelites, in their 20s or early 30s would start dating sisters in the congregation who were 16, 17, 18…..and…it was kind of “normal” as far as I can remember. Of course their dating was “supervised”, they always had “chaperones” when they went out. Or at least were supposed to. But it wasn’t thought of as “creepy” or “cringy”. As a teen myself at the time I remember I felt that it was unfair that I had to “compete” with “adult men” for these young sisters attention. And….it was all very “normal” back then. Some of these sisters got married to these adult brothers when they turned 18, some a bit later, and some got married when they were 16 or 17. All normal back then. This was not in 1930s. This was in the 1970s. Long ago but “not that long ago” either. Well, yeah, a long time ago. But it still doesn’t make it…cool, I think. Anyway, great video. Well done by you, and her. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. 🤔🇨🇺🇺🇸
I grew up a jw. It was never normal to me but I recall seeing several 40 50 year old looking elders married to 17, 18 year old girls.. I served at bethel 2 yrs.. This was really prevalent at bethel....
I think sometimes they don't punish younger ministerial servents because they do all the jobs the elders don't want to do like handling mikes and such.
@@exjehovahswitness That occurred to me as I was listening to her story. I got privately reproved once as a ministerial servant and they basically told me that they didn't want to disfellowship me cause they wouldn't have anyone to do all the menial tasks I was doing. Maybe that's a reason why the guy in her story didn't get in trouble cause they were desperate for young "brothers" to do menial tasks, but maybe not just food for thought.
I know this is old (relatively) but I just came across it and, when I was a young JW many moons ago, it was common to have a “brother” in his 20s or 30s to start “dating” a “sister” that was still a teenager, like 16 or 17, sometimes even younger. I have a cousin who got married to a Bethelite who was in his early 30s at the age of 16 and they started dating when she was not quite 15! Everyone at the congregation thought it was normal. Or at least no one ever said a word about it. I thought it was weird at the time, not “cool”, and even unfair. I was 16 at the time and had a JW girlfriend my age and I thought it was very unfair that these “adult. mature JW men were picking up girls who were my age! Anyway, great video, thank you to the “ex sister” for sharing her story and great job by you as usual. 🤔🇨🇺🇺🇸
thank you! hit me up but I can't guarantee I will be doing more interviews because I tend to steer clear of negativity and some people feel that interviewing people is the equivalent of exploitation.
@@exjehovahswitness I think anyone who's watched you and your videos knows you would never do this to your guests and I don't think your guests feel this way either. It's actually good to finally have these things brought to light and to hear others experiences. I grew up in this cult and it was always presented to me that you could always trust everyone in the cult and the organization itself, and it's so far from the truth, you can't get any further. Then when you experience issues or trauma, you think you're the only one, or question what you did for it to happen. It's validating to find out that you are not alone, it's not your fault, and that they know about it, hide it, blame others instead at looking at their toxic teachings, and do nothing to fix it.
I know of 38 yr old divorcee going after a 19 year old . And that same 38 year old 15 + years later , now an elder for at least 10 years or more, telling his Older Biological recently divorced brother to , " Get the youngest girl you can, if she's in "the truth", and she's gotta any kind of a crush or interest in you. As young as you can, then you can raise her how you want her"..... yep, heard it many many times with my own ears, because I was the idiot 19 yr old that married the 38 year old.... soon to be ex
In contrast to the dodgy brothers and the weak/hypocritical elders in this lady's story, I knew of an elder in the UK who, after much controversy, was removed by the CO and BoE for dating a teenage sister. They eventually married when she became older and have been happily married for 20 years now...
Ha! The nail polish comment got me. I actually had one sister bring me to her home while we were in field service to "remove the offensive color".. the color was blue. I was so shocked and got the silent treatment. My mom told me to write a letter and personally deliver it to her and smooth it out. She was an Elder's wife and i was an Aux. Pioneer at the time but i couldn't figure out how this could be so offensive.
That is why I quietly walked away from the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization. My family wanted to warn me but felt that I should find out on my own. No more boring meetings and sacrificing my livelihood for the field ministry.
that moment of feeling like you life can finally start is so amazing.
Thank goodness you've walked away and found out the truth about the organization
I really like what she says that after leaving the religion is the "freedom to think for yourself" which is something that I wholeheartedly agree with. I've known young people in the truth that have gone through her situation and it's heartbreaking. I tell people thinking of leaving in the future that one important thing is building relationships outside the religion. I wish her all the best!
They claim to not tolerate these kinds of things but than there's “brothers” who still have their privileges and act like nothing has happened
I hope her and people who have suffered the same experience heal from this
Amen
My marriage in the JWs was similar to hers. It was the next step to me waking up. It still took me 20 years to finally understand that the Truth isn't the truth.
I can relate with this situation. In my case, my husband failed on our marriage (adultery) and I forgave him. Thing is that the elders “helped” him spiritually with love by censoring him since no one else found out about this and I forgave him- so it was kept secret!! So after I forgave him it really was hard for me to gain the trust and be opened in our marriage to put things behind. So I told myself either I look for profesional help or ask the elders for help. And decided to look for elders help. I asked to talk to them. I told them I’m not repentant because I forgave him- my husband is also putting his part to make this work and leave things in the past. But the question that popped up- how can we help? You have to pray more, study and go out preaching because you are spiritually weak. And yes my hours had dropped because of the situation I was going thru and believed I was depressed in some way but here they were telling me you aren’t spiritual enough if you have to give him what he needs😮
I said you give sinners the “help” but what is it for us the victim of the situation and no encouragement, no support, no help emotional nothing!!! I walked out of the meeting crying because they did not care about my mental or emotional well-being!!!
So We looked for profesional help and we really got the help we needed!
It’s always the woman fault.
this was years before I woke up and it always stayed behind my mind what is this? What kind of encouragement was that you need to preach more ….
A Catholic cousin went thru this and she seeked profesional help but also looked for her priests words and he encouraged her with kind and encouraging words and told her to continue going to her therapist! And for me it was like finger pointing me that the fault was mine and that in other words I had to suck it up!
I am so glad we were able to continue and strengthen our marriage. And we both woke up and now we are living the best moments of our lives!
Wally thank so much for this interview! Wishing her a happy life and blessings to her baby and motherhood!❤
Like I always say: DOWN WITH THE TOWER!!!
Ps by the way: yes, we are looked at and criticized because we may be stumbling others about your nail color, the length of you skirt, the color and cut of hair, if you use more than 1 earring, more than 1 chains etc it’s crazy!!! So happy I’m free! THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE!!!
You have the most important skill when it comes to interviewing: listening. Thanks Wally!
Thanks GBL! hope you are well
I agree, i think he's the perfect interviewer.
Hi Wally, thank you for all you do to help people wake up from the jw´s. I must say that you are great at interviewing, you did an excellent job. And thank you to Ophelia as well for sharing such a heartbreaking story, I am glad she is doing well now, I met her in a congregation in Mexico where she served and I would never imagine all she went through, I myself faded from the jw´s too, I just woke up and decided not to be there anymore, and videos like this help pimos go through the process of leaving because we get to know that those abuses happen everywhere and we also know we are not alone in this process, I appreciate very very much this interview and all you do, keep on doing a great job, and Ophelia I wish you all the best girl.
When I was 16 a 24 year old jw high school teacher tired to groom me. I met him at a jw party and danced with him a few times. A few days later he calls me. Which I though was strange because I never gave him my number. When he did call he asked my mom for very polite and respectfully if he could talk to me. My mom said yes, so I talked to him for like 10 mins and the whole time he was leading the conversion. He ended the call saying "oh I enjoyed our talk today also. I will call you again later.". Which again I thought was strange because I never said I enjoyed our talk, I barely even talked. Anyways he started emailing me everyday and he really quickly started acting like we were in a relationship already. He asked my mom for permission for us to date and didn't even ask me first. This happened so fast it was like two weeks after meeting. That is when I said enough and told my mom he was being too pushy and gave me the creeps. My mom told me to tell him how I feel next I get a chance. So I ended up seeing him at a party and while we were dancing I told him that I didn't like him, he tried to brush it off. So I stop dancing and told him I DON"T LIKE YOU ! in a louder tone. He said oh can we still be friends? But at this point I was getting really bad vibes from him so I said No I don't even want to be your friend! I left him in the dance floor and went with my two brothers and he left me alone after that. A few months later we are at some Jw families house and they get a phone call from this same guy trying to talk to their 13 year old daughter. My mom warns them about him and tells them he is 24 year old man. They were unaware and tell him to stop calling their daughter. If this happened now I would have called the high school he work for and warn them about this guy. This happens a lot in the Jw cult.
*This is going on everywhere in the JW org. Youths I knew were abused in the KH bathroom by a leader and it was covered up in Loomis, CA. One of the victims sadly commited suicide later as a teen.* 😢
A divorced man in his late 50s married one of our young sister as as she turned 18 claiming he was akways in loce with her and EVERYONE including her parents approved and even thought it was cute how he loved her...I WAS SCREAMING!!! Like this religion is so dam sick
A classic example of the “2 witness rule” creating unjust outcomes.
yeah not even a 10 witness rule helped here!
Not quite through the video yet, but you guys are talking about how certain aspects of JW cult is not healthy for kids.
I grew up thinking the end would be any day now, I didn’t think I was going to be an adult in “this system” because of how it was talked about in our Kingdom Hall. So I never developed the skills for future planning, I never had any long term goals because “the end was going to come” and I still struggle with that type of planning and goals. In the back of my mind “there’s not enough time”.
There’s many other things but I think this is one of the examples I have that really impacted me from being a child in the cult.
I would love to do an interview with you about my experience being raised as a witness. Thank you for all the help and healing your channel provides.
send me a message on facebook and maybe we can set something up
@@exjehovahswitness I’m not on Facebook anymore but I’ll text you on messenger my number
Thanks Wally, what a great guest Ophila was , it is so sad how women are treated in this cult. I am so glad that she is out and hopefully this will help others to flee also🙉🙈🙊
Waaaaaaaaalllllyyy! Your such a G! I would love to share my story one day as an unbaptized publisher! Hint:
My father is was apostate, for over 35 years and got “rebaptized”as a brother with a totally different name in a whole new city as of 2012! Where they do that at!!! 😂the hypocrisy I’ve dealt with my whole life is mind blowing. I just woke up in July.
wow that sounds kinda wild! glad you woke up and welcome the free world
The culture of young woman being married young is made out to be so normal.. where I lived it was well accepted that a particular wealthy witness family would marry off their young 17/18 yr old daughters to wealthy MUCH older jw men! And no one thought there was anything wrong with it. It blew my mind even wen I was still an active witness!
it's like house of dragon but real life! so gross
Yea.. the theme music shouldve been playing while they walked down the isle 😂
Sounds like this lady had a really rough time. It's interesting to hear how each bad experience made her primarily reflect on her relationship with 'Jehovah', and ultimately to ask, 'where is Jehovah and his spirit in all of this?' She was evidently a very spiritual woman, but her bad experiences just drained it out of her. The Moses illustration is a doozy. Thanks to you both for a very candid, thought-provoking interview.
Great video Wally ❤ You put the people who you interview first and everyone can see that! This makes it therapeutic for myself and I think many more also; that’s if I can speak for others, and she was a good person to interview, very open and honest. I thank you both for this opportunity to heal. Wally, you should do more of these interview broadcasts because it puts a face on healing. Thanks again for all you do! How’s Zeezy and Winston?
They always love blaming the sisters. Treating the women as second class citizens. Then they do it with a minor. Absolutely disgusting. They always try to place blame on the sisters trying to tell them not to dress certain ways because it'll be their fault for tempting the men in the congregation. THAT IS NOT THE WAY IT WORKS MORE SO WITH A MINOR. THAT IS A MINDSET THAT CAN GET WOMEN ABUSED. If JW can get away with hiding something that could make their organization look bad THEY WILL. But remember, that does NOT protect the followers!
I know! I don't often support typing in all caps but for this, YOU ARE EXACTLY RIGHT! THANKS!!!
It's sickening that men are so dang elevated in this cult. It's just strange to an outsider who doesn't quite understand this. What woman would want to be in there! SMH...🤷♀️
🍃✝️🍃⚘️
Listening to this just brings back so many memories of just my first 5 years of being baptized at 16 thinking everything was perfect yet I was held down always discouraged to marry or date using every excuse to discourage me using my age etc yet the son of a presiding overseer could date and get married and he was best friend. Kids were a lot more crueler in the "truth" than the ones I went to school with. Thing was my classmates who I have been friends with since kindergarten could see that I was good person and they loved that about me yet other witness kids who went to school with me the followed what they were taught and all kids outside of the organization was "worldly"! I could go on but my saving grace was music, comic books, acting things that are frowned on but since i left in 2000 these helped me get through dark depression period after I left. And ty for your videos and look foward to many more!
I am glad you have found your way in this world!
She’s a cool cat! Great interview guys. Thank you for taking the time to do this interview and share your experience with us all. “Perfect organization ran by imperfect people” is such a cop out. Kudos for waking up 👍🏻
Thanks for continually using your platform for good! This is a particularly tough subject matter, but one that shouldn't be silenced and shied away from and greatly admire her strength for speaking up and sharing her story!!!
Agreed! The more this type of thing gets the attention of the wider public the better. Imagine if people stopped seeing JW's like goofy, nice, happy people and started seeing them in this context!
@@exjehovahswitness
Firstly Hi Wally and Zizzy!
I’m an exjw, for context, and in general jws are goofy, BUT not nice nor happy, I know whereof I speak!
Thank you so sincerely to your guest! Her narrative is so clear, consist & strong. Such helpful & useful info. An excellent & whole HUMAN BEING😊
yes! it was a pleasure
That happened a lot in my congregation area as well. The Brothers were always much older than their wives because they basically picked them before they were legal than married them as soon as they were of age. This happened often even though there were several single sisters that were closer to their own age. However, if you had been previously married and divorced or had come into the truth as a single mother, you were "used goods" and it was unlikely that you would marry, which caused several sisters to marry outside the truth and than be marked or even disfellowshipped for doing so. (And 100% on the nail polish colors! One of the elders pulled me aside and reprimanded me for wearing dark red polish that looked black. It's a thing for sure)
So sad and disturbing!
Hi Wally, Awesome interview, As you know I emailed you a compact summary of my story. This included my involvement and participation in the Australian Royal Commission. I would be more than happy and willing to be interviewed by you. Not only to share my story and countless first-hand experiences. But how I learned to navigate the world by myself as a homeless 15-year-old. Including the journey of discovering this incredible planet and the beautiful unique people you meet, recovering, healing and finally at the ripe old age of 53 LOL. Happy and ultimately finding a sense of inner peace.
Thank you for this interview. It takes a lot of courage to speak up.
Wally, you did great. This was a really good interview. It reminded me of Marques Houston (Roger from Sister, Sister). He was ALLEGEDLY SMed when he was younger and joined the JW's later in life. He met his now wife when she was underaged and they started dating AS SOON as she turned 18. He's like 40. That's literally the definition of grooming. He was groomed and went on to do the same. And I guess fortunately for him, the organization doesn't see anything wrong with that🤢 It's creepy. And it's gross.
Great first interview Wally, I enjoy hearing other ex JW experiences. I feel that no matter how different our experiences are, we can all relate and learn from each other and it helps us to form a community and move forward in our lives. Great job! And thanks Ophelia(what a beautiful name!)for sharing your story!🥰
Glad you enjoyed it! thanks for the kind words
We want more we want more
Wally, how can we rally more against the abuse? I truly appreciate you doing interviews very much. Thank you!
Great interview, good job Wally. Do more, it was incitefull
Great interview, Wally. You're a good listener and you ask the right questions; keeping it moving and interesting. You should definitely do more interviews.
I think we're all wondering what you're planning for your big 10K milestone... 🙂
Thank you I appreciate the kind words. Yeah I should start working something!
@@exjehovahswitness Make it a live stream (AKA Party). 😁
New Subscriber here! You did a wonderful job at interviewing! This story was both sad and frustrating yet very intriguing to listen to. All I kept thinking was “How could a minor be treated this way?” So disgusting.
Hey Wally! Can’t wait to check out the video. Recently started watching and I just wanted to say that your channel is making a difference, I was previously studying with Jehovahs witnesses along with a few dozen of my friends, we’ve all discontinued our studies, in part due to your informative, thoughtful manner of approaching things, and seeing how active witnesses react criticism. Thanks for your hard work as always!
I appreciate that! What was your study with them like if you don't mind me asking?
@@exjehovahswitness Oh I don’t mind at all. In all honesty they were very pleasant people, we were studying the “Enjoy life forever” book and got to like lesson 3 before they couldn’t really answer some questions I had regarding the Bible. They remained respectful and cheery the whole time, but they just seemed confused, like they’d never thought of the Bible from another perspective besides their own. Every time I’d bring up a point regarding failed prophecy or things like the morality/ scriptural evidence of shunning being needed, they told me we would discuss it next lesson, but we’d just continue with the “curriculum” without addressing my earlier concern. My friends had the same thoughts, they were pleasant and cheery (Except for one older guy who studied with one of my friends and was dismissive of his questions), just kind of condensed into a bubble, uncomfortable to tackle anything outside of the bubble. It raises a few red flags when you ask them honest questions and don’t just eat up what they’re reading.
interesting! It is amazing because they really think they are bible experts and don't even have a basic understanding outside of "the bubble". Thanks for sharing
Loved this interview. Really enjoyed listening to her amazing story. Wally, you're a really great interviewer. From watching many interviews, I see you have a real talent for it, not as easy as one would think. I hope you do many more.
God I'm pissed for her. It's disgusting that men can prey on tons of young girls an people have 0 critical thinking skills and blame a teenage girl in the situation.
Also, Wally you are a great listener and seem to have a way with making people feel comfortable opening up to you.
I can concurr with this young ladies story. We had a young lady that started being pursued by a considerably older brother. Creepy to say the least. I guess when an organization is run by misogynistic men woman and young girls are a target, especially if they are virgins, so so important in this particular organization. Women's rights are non existent in this org.
yeah sadly it is another aspect of the misogyny! Let's keep exposing it
First off, I wanna say I’m so proud of my girl, Ofelia, for sharing her story!! 🎉🎊💕 She’s an amazing person and friend and the fact that she has the strength to share this with everyone takes courage!!
Secondly, Wally, you did such a great job with her! The story is easy to follow and allowing her to speak and not interrupt, like some other people do, made it so pleasant. I had the same experience with the elders blaming me when my marriage was failing; questioning me if I was giving my husband “his due”. It’s ridiculous that the men are not held responsible for their lack of love and providing an emotionally safe environment for us. That’s what started my wake up process too. Plus so many other things. But great interview! Keep it up! 👍🏽
Giving your husband “his due”. It’s insane. What business is it of some old dudes whether you or any other sister, is giving their husbands, their “due”. Or what business is it of some old men what your husband was “giving you” either!?
🤔🇨🇺🇺🇸
Wally, you did a great interview!
Thank you, thank you for sharing this story. People need to know how permissive this org is of abuse against minors and women.
yes something that needs to be talked about more
It’s hard being a single young woman in the Org. You are told to be demure and to hold the brothers/elders in high regard. There were creepy brothers who I felt were too overly “friendly” that wanted to go beyond the bounds or “friendship” and if I felt uncomfortable being around them I was reprimanded for being “unfriendly” or “that’s how he is” or “he didn’t mean it”. There is no concept of boundaries. You are told to respect authority and to obey your elders even if it goes against your instincts and are vulnerable.
You are GREAT at Interviewing Wally!!! It always amazes me how much all of us have in common, I came from a family a lot like hers my dad was disfellowshipped and my Mom made me think he was a horrible person it's so sad!!! You both did a great job!!😁👍
I remember saying this to my parents that why would I ever put my daughter in danger and come back to the Jehovah Witness Kingdom Hall when a pedophile could be in there and I need a babysitter and they end up babysitting my child and now my child gets molested and we have to keep it quiet why would I ever put my child in danger like that you know what they said to me you know this is the truth why are you making up excuses I was like yeah I'm never wasting my time with them again
Thanks
thank you for the generosity!
awesome job...well.done to.you both!!
Great video❤
That was a great interview!
Like a young Larry King.
Hi WALLY!
My tennis coach used to say,"Stop yelling at yourself in your head.."
Guess what? No more Unforced errors!
You're wonderful!💝
.
thanks so much, and yeah I tend to be my biggest doubter
& yet...so excellent! Isn't it weird how we are already hard wired to be our own harshest critics? What great fodder for JW'S TO EXPLOIT! Right?
yeah that mindset is something I will deal with for a long time but yall reminding me helps for sure
Thanks for sharing. This is an awesome interview! 🤙
I was DF'd, reinstated (solely because I missed my family), and now PIMO. Going back was torture for me 43:46
I really feel for people that get booted and have to beg and crawl their way back in
What does PIMO stand for?
@@melaniekolomyja7335 Physically in/Mentally out.
@@BEASTxMODE Thank you for responding!😊
@@melaniekolomyja7335 Physically in Mentally Out.
You did a great job interviewing Wally! You're a natural!
I'm so glad you woke up Ophelia! It's a blessing from God that you seen the org for what it is. Enjoy your life, trust in the Lord as your Savior, and just be happy! Congrats on being engaged too!
Love always! 🍃✝️🍃⚘️
Man, thank you for doing what you're doing. You are doing a good job.
Loquacious....I love your wide range of vocabulary. You are doing 👏.. a great job. Can't wait to hear this video. Thanks for your activism.
hey tammy! thanks but remember I am just a guy who make videos on YT not exactly an activist. But hope to try and do more real activism in the future.
@@exjehovahswitness ...OH...That's 👍!!! Right ✅. I am getting ya'll confused. Ok thanks for the clarification 👍 and "Setting Matters Straight "...lol...you are way to cool 😎 for me...I love everything that you are doing 👏.. 💕. Great content.
My vocabulary is actually Superciliously supercalifragellistidacspeallydocious
This creep's issues ran sooo deep, that when he went to Bethel, he was no longer their problem! so that's why he was able to go to bethel. The elders wouldn't have to deal with him. Just tragic, anyway you look at it, for the young women who were abused by this man.
very tragic
I just love this so refreshing I’ve saved it for my 3 kids💙💚💛still in. There is a local support group I’m with, most are the kids they grew up with and are awaiting for them if they wake up. My son 💚 is an elder I think their dad is too and bethel has their evil eye on him 💚 he has Asperger’s so the need to fit in is huge. Great advise for leaving I hit the cement it took 8 years to gather myself together. Look forward to a live stream. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I didn't realise it at the time, but I was groomed when I was 12-13 by a guy who was in our town for the ministerial school (i think that's how it's called). He was 35ish I think and he used to call every evening and taking me preaching. My mom took over then and he never called again. But now that I think about it, it's sickening.
Damn so this is new! Awesome! Love your channel and all that you do in creating and talking about etc. So this is the first interview I have seen you do and I love it and hope to see you expand doing more as it works and you do a great job. Plus I still can't wait for JT and Lady Cee to interview you and Justin as well as that would be a treat. Keep it up brother. Much love and respect to you as always. You feel like family. Thanks! A++++ Thumbs Up and shared. : ) Love Ya Wally. P.S. Where's the Beaver? lol
I think you guys both did a great job!!
Enjoyed. Thanks for sharing. Stay strong. Derek
Good job as always Wally! ❤
You did an excellent job and I look forward to many many more ❤
I am currently writing a book on a true story out of Ohio. Elders in the congregation wrote the watchtower to see if a couple could be baptized because they were unsure. The society wrote back and approved their baptisms. The couple had disclosed that they were biological brother and sister pretending to be married. They had two children together at the time of baptism. They went on to have five more children, out of wedlock and out of incest. The woman got to pioneer and everything. She's still in good standing in the organization. As others got disfellowshipped for petting while dating, this couple got to have multiple children without marriage and stay in good standing. Sounds like an apostate lie except I am their 3rd born child. The first conceived after the Watchtower gave the blessing for their baptisms. My mother has a letter approving her unusual baptism. An announcement was made to the congregation to accept the couple as Jehovah's family. The congregation hated it but the society had spoken. So obviously I got treated differently than the other kids in the congregation. Definitely had a terrible JW upbringing.
That's weird...
Wow great interview shocking still after so many videos this still shocked me. Beautiful young lady she’s been through so much and still she’s positive and loving. The human resilience is amazing.
Thank you for her bravery and your hard work! I hope she has got a career in her future
Thanks!
thanks for the generosity! much appreciated
45:36 Extremely important point! Great interview 🙂🙏🏼
I follow a few other ex JWs as well . Keep going , we need young voices like yours 👌
Ophelia was amazing very beautiful strong and inspiring
Keep Doing this Wally good content!!! You do you!
thank you! yeah she is amazing
This is horrid beyond words.and totally unfair. She was blamed for the brother that was bothering her.
Wally…you did an awesome job ❤
Great interview. Congratulations.
The perpetrator and any sons he had need to castrated. That's real consequences and a deterrent. I used to be merciful, but these criminals need consequences.
Thank you for having the courage to expose this exploitation/pure evil. Ophelia is lucky that she had an unbelieving father. Like in Iran, men are considered such weak vessels that they cannot control themselves. Making women think they are the ones who are doing wrong is another tactic they have in common, even if the female is still a child! Most JW men, because they are uneducated and have no career aspirations, get to feel like big shots only in the congregation. Window washers and janitors get to feel like "important men" if they're JW's.
Wally loving your work, you have a very natural style and excellent vocabulary.
I’m an exjw, raised in, and I’ve always been puzzled by jws being SO afraid of dying at Armageddon! The dead, once dead, are conscious of NOTHING, even the buybull (which is a book written by men) says so.
As someone who’s been through general anesthesia twice, I can attest to the fact that, once unconscious to the degree necessary to undergo surgery, no one is lying there waiting to be resuscitated 😆!
So what’s the importance of how/when one’s died?
Just another example of the nonsense bred into the members of this CULT!
Sadly after I left the cult I found out about the abuse of at least 4 young girls in the congregation, the paedo is dead now but I would love to see the elders charged with the crimes.
9.9k subs, A little less a hundred more and hooray for 10k. Achievement unlocked earlier than expected. Wally's chariot moving ahead of the organization.
yeah we are almost there
Great interview 💪 I was hoping to hear how she told her dad that she woke up, his reaction and where they stand now.
Hey Wally., Stop saying your going to be a terrible interviewer. If you continue with this train of thought,you will not be the great interviewer that you can be. Always keep positive. Just imagine driving a car and telling yourself, I’m going to crash, I just know it. Well you should realize that if you keep thinking a certain way , you can or will manifest a particular outcome. Good Luck on your new endeavor.😉✌🏼🎉
thank you will try and be better about that in the future .
Yes. You did just fine as it is, but any hiccups that you do manage to have will end up being learning experiences and you will get even better. Besides, we all watch the content that you produce because we love your quirkiness and how real and relatable you are.
(Actually we all just come for Zeezee, you are just a happy bonus 😂 😭)
yeah I am just a side show for that damn cat! lol
@@exjehovahswitness my cats run the show too.. Its the human condition.
@@exjehovahswitness All different churches including exjws are Jesus's followers according to the Bible?????????
Ugh, what a shame, I was groomed too, wish it wasn’t that common among JWs.
I'm sorry... it is really messed up how ubiquitous that is in jw land
Great Job! Great Interview!!
Much appreciated!
Unfortunately the culture in that organization fosters and normalizes older men grooming/preying on younger women. As you pointed out, sisters almost view it as flattering! I was dating a 32-year-old a couple of months after I turned 18. So many people tried to warn me that he had a reputation for pursuing teenage girls. In time I learned that he was secretly involved with a 16-year-old in my congregation while he had publicly been dating me.
The nail polish thing reminds of this kid from Houston (I'm in Austin). He'd come out for Pioneer School and when we got to the dress and grooming part he talked about how in his area the black brothers (he was black) were not allowed to shave their heads because the CO thought it was in imitation of Michael Jordan. This sister I knew said when she was at Pioneer School the had the sisters line up and the two COs told them they should all wear panty hose because none of them had nice enough legs to not wear them.
wow! that is so disturbing to think that women were lining up so this idiot could examine and rate their legs
@@exjehovahswitness exactly. I couldn't believe it at the time (figuratively, I mean. I absolutely believed her) but the more I've learned the more I've come to understand this kind of thing is just kind of par for the course for them.
which is so wild but people often get blinded when that type of thing is so common, they don't even see it. That is surely one for the books though! holy
Elders: men are the heads of the house
Also elders: women make us stumble
The truth is this kind of thing where old men pursue inappropriately young girls is very common and not seen as that big of a deal. In some cases it's seen as creepy but not much else. I have known so many "brothers" who had similar reputations but still had all their privileges and and in some cases served as MS. It's sick
so gross and honestly not talked about enough. I feel like the wider public should be aware of this culture
Great interview!
great interview 😍😍😍😍😍 you should do more interviews
👋🏼Excellent, balanced interview. 👍🏼🥰
Thanks so much!
Good interview
thank you
You're doing great....... don't fret!
Dude….when I was a kid, a bunch of brothers, some Bethelites, in their 20s or early 30s would start dating sisters in the congregation who were 16, 17, 18…..and…it was kind of “normal” as far as I can remember. Of course their dating was “supervised”, they always had “chaperones” when they went out. Or at least were supposed to. But it wasn’t thought of as “creepy” or
“cringy”. As a teen myself at the time I remember I felt that it was unfair that I had to “compete” with “adult men” for these young sisters attention. And….it was all very “normal” back then. Some of these sisters got married to these adult brothers when they turned 18, some a bit later, and some got married when they were 16 or 17. All normal back then. This was not in 1930s. This was in the 1970s. Long ago but “not that long ago” either. Well, yeah, a long time ago. But it still doesn’t make it…cool, I think. Anyway, great video. Well done by you, and her.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
🤔🇨🇺🇺🇸
I grew up a jw. It was never normal to me but I recall seeing several 40 50 year old looking elders married to 17, 18 year old girls.. I served at bethel 2 yrs.. This was really prevalent at bethel....
interesting I didn't really know that was a thing at bethel
I think sometimes they don't punish younger ministerial servents because they do all the jobs the elders don't want to do like handling mikes and such.
huh, that is interesting
@@exjehovahswitness That occurred to me as I was listening to her story. I got privately reproved once as a ministerial servant and they basically told me that they didn't want to disfellowship me cause they wouldn't have anyone to do all the menial tasks I was doing. Maybe that's a reason why the guy in her story didn't get in trouble cause they were desperate for young "brothers" to do menial tasks, but maybe not just food for thought.
I know this is old (relatively) but I just came across it and, when I was a young JW many moons ago, it was common to have a “brother” in his 20s or 30s to start “dating” a “sister” that was still a teenager, like 16 or 17, sometimes even younger. I have a cousin who got married to a Bethelite who was in his early 30s at the age of 16 and they started dating when she was not quite 15! Everyone at the congregation thought it was normal. Or at least no one ever said a word about it. I thought it was weird at the time, not “cool”, and even unfair. I was 16 at the time and had a JW girlfriend my age and I thought it was very unfair that these “adult. mature JW men were picking up girls who were my age! Anyway, great video, thank you to the “ex sister” for sharing her story and great job by you as usual.
🤔🇨🇺🇺🇸
This interview was excellent and is sooo familiar. I would love to tell my experience on your show
thank you! hit me up but I can't guarantee I will be doing more interviews because I tend to steer clear of negativity and some people feel that interviewing people is the equivalent of exploitation.
@@exjehovahswitness I think anyone who's watched you and your videos knows you would never do this to your guests and I don't think your guests feel this way either. It's actually good to finally have these things brought to light and to hear others experiences. I grew up in this cult and it was always presented to me that you could always trust everyone in the cult and the organization itself, and it's so far from the truth, you can't get any further. Then when you experience issues or trauma, you think you're the only one, or question what you did for it to happen. It's validating to find out that you are not alone, it's not your fault, and that they know about it, hide it, blame others instead at looking at their toxic teachings, and do nothing to fix it.
I knew of a 12 year old that was groomed by an adult JW. It was covered up with no repercussions because the perp was the elder’s son.
I know of 38 yr old divorcee going after a 19 year old . And that same 38 year old 15 + years later , now an elder for at least 10 years or more, telling his Older Biological recently divorced brother to , " Get the youngest girl you can, if she's in "the truth", and she's gotta any kind of a crush or interest in you. As young as you can, then you can raise her how you want her"..... yep, heard it many many times with my own ears, because I was the idiot 19 yr old that married the 38 year old.... soon to be ex
Xx big hugs. Welcome to peace of mind
Shoutout to the cities north of Seattle, maybe I'll see someone from the area on here someday. Cheers!
maybe! cheers
In contrast to the dodgy brothers and the weak/hypocritical elders in this lady's story, I knew of an elder in the UK who, after much controversy, was removed by the CO and BoE for dating a teenage sister. They eventually married when she became older and have been happily married for 20 years now...
If you gave him " the wrong impression " why didn't he run for the hills as such an upstanding member of the congregation?