Watchtower News

As a former Jehovah’s Witness, I check this site from time to time to see how JWs are hitting the media. The biggest story lately seems to be the multiple Denmark stories of abuse, which include a woman having a baby by her own father, and various other atrocities of abuse happening with the collusion of local elders. In Denmark, they are starting to be called "Satan’s Witnesses."

The activist group Silent Lambs has translated a number of the news articles.

I have some advice for recovering JWs, recommended books, and other resources on my site, for those who are interested. You can also join my exJWs ring. And if you need some emotional distance, there is always my collection of JW humor.

I get a dozen or so messages about JWs weekly – I try to keep a position that is focussed on healing, but when I look at the news I have to acknowledge – this is one destructive group. By percentages, JWs are awfully high in the abuse, pedophilia, and "just freaking out and killing people" categories.

Of my generation of JWs, I know of only one who has remained both functional and involved in the group – and he has to shovel deep into the caves of denial to do it. He has a strong faith that I admire, but I grieve at its misdirection. His God is not a loving god. I am so grateful to be out of there, and to have left under my own steam at a young age.

I do miss participation in a religious community, but I fear I have become too skeptical to ever really feel a sense of belonging in one. My view now is that religion is a challenging life-long path, not something that is settled at any given time. And I know now about the darker side of the soul and of any group, and I’m also watching that darker side – a destructiveness parading as goodness – take over this country. Sadly, some of its participants actually believe that they are religious, that they have the moral high ground.

Some days, it tempts me to despair.