show episodes
 
Religious and cult ideologies often use the practice of shunning to silence their critics and to control their members through fear. This podcast sheds light on shunning through real life stories as told by the people that have lived through it. Learn what their lives were like and where they have ended up in life after being shunned. Featuring stories from Jehovah's Witnesses, Scientology, Amish, Mennonite, FLDS, the Moonies, and more, you will learn about the real lives of former members t ...
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The Divorcing Religion Podcast was launched by professional counsellor Janice Selbie to highlight the impact of Religious Trauma Syndrome. Guests include The Thinking Atheist Seth Andrews, The Friendly Atheist Hemant Mehta, author Margaret Atwood, Godless Mom, Mandisa Thomas, Dr. Darrel Ray, Dr. Marlene Winell and more.
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The "Critical Thought" presents topics that will challenge you to use critical thinking as you examine the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses. As former teachers and members of Watchtower theology, the group known as JW.org, we have insider information to raise public awareness. Most important, we know the psychological tactics the organization uses to lure unsuspecting converts into believing its deceptive teachings.Our intent is not to bash the organization’s religious practices. We are mere ...
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show series
 
I have created a website with a trivia quiz to help reach Jehovah’s Witnesses online. The goal of the quiz is to get them sharing, talking, and above all, thinking. Through carefully crafted questions and answers, where even the wrong answer can introduce a person to something that they never knew, my hope is to help people have fun while learning …
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Karrine Blouin - ExJW Girl In Shambles Divorced: Jehovah’s Witnesses TW: Sexual Abuse I discovered today’s guest, Karinne Blouin, on Instagram, where her handle is “girl_inshambles.” Her insights and personal snippets about her former life as a Jehovah’s Witness gripped me hard enough to invite her to share her story with us today. Karinne was born…
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Wilbur Turner - Two-by-Two Survivor Today’s guest is Wilbur Turner (he/him), visionary founder and president of Advocacy Canada. He is located on the unceded ancestral lands of the Syilx people in Kelowna, BC, Canada. A well-regarded speaker and workshop facilitator, Wilbur utilizes personal stories and humour to engage, educate, and uplift audienc…
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In the cult of Jehovah’s Witnesses, appearance means everything. It is your credibility, your social status, even your standing before god in their congregations. So when Daisy had moments that mirrored the pain she felt inside that manifested in a way that could be seen outwardly, her mother took that very personally. In fact, time and time again …
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Announcement! The Shameless Sexuality Conference is back! The Conference centered around life after purity culture will be held in Seattle, WA from May 23 to the 25th, 2025 in Seattle, WA. Don't wait to get your tickets and book your room: https://www.shamelesssexuality.org/ Lyn Smith Gregory - Relative of Joseph Smith LYN SMITH GREGORY grew up in …
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I decided to go out this year to test some new ideas for activism and protest at conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Evansville Indiana. I wanted this to be a one man protest and planned to go alone. The goal was to give a voice to the voiceless, to create cognitive dissonance in people that wish to ignore actual truth in favor of “The Truth”, an…
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Meg Applegate - Unsilenced CW: Kidnapping At the age of 15, Meg Applegate was abducted by two strangers in the middle of the night from her California home. Eight hours later she found herself at a lockdown treatment facility for 6 months in Boise, ID. After that, she was placed in an additional behavioral modification program in northern Montana f…
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When Felicity’s father left when she was just eight years old, life took a sudden turn as her mother fell into the cult of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Struggling with her own mental and emotional health, her mother is described as a wild animal, hurling objects and abuse at her young daughter. Concerned outsiders could see what was going on at times, but …
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Rebekah Monroe - Religious Trauma Research My guest today is Rebekah J. Monroe, who identifies as a white queer woman with lineage in the Osage and Cherokee Tribes. Rebekah goes by the pronouns are She/Her/They. Currently, Rebekah is a Clinical Psychology doctoral student, co-founder of the non-profit NARC-RT (which stands for North American Resear…
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Lindsey Doolittle - Recovering from Religion & Suicide Loss TW: Today we will be discussing issues related to suicide Lindsey Doolittle was introduced to me as a documentary film maker who recently focussed her lens on Dr. Darrel Ray’s work at Recovering from Religion (see below for more information on this documentary). In speaking with Lindsey, I…
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Nikole Mitchell - From Pastor to Only Fans Model Divorced: Evangelical Christianity CW: Frank discussions about sexuality Today’s guest has previously appeared on the Dr. Phil Show, Jimmy Kimmel, ABC, CBS – and today she is a guest on the Divorcing Religion Podcast! I’m talking about Pleasure Coach NIKOLE MITCHELL. Raised in the Evangelical Christi…
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Throughout Greg’s life in the cult of Jehovah’s Witnesses, he observed the hypocrisy and lack of love in the congregation. People were appointed to positions based on who they knew. They were dealt with judicially, with determinations of their fates being based on who they knew as well. Eventually Greg would have to leave his life as one of Jehovah…
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Linda Martin - Religious Exemptions are Killing Kids Divorced: Followers of Christ Cult CW: Child abuse and death due to faith-based exemptions Linda Martin was born into the Idaho Followers of Christ sect, leaving the church at age 16. It is estimated that the child mortality rate for the Followers of Christ between 2002 and 2011 was 10 times that…
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Whether it is aligning people against you, telling you that you can’t trust people on the outside, or trying to convince you that you’re crazy, a person that is gaslighting you can wreak havoc on your relationships. When that person isn’t just one person but an entire cult of Jehovah’s Witnesses and it is everyone that you know, you don’t stand a c…
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Clint Heacock - Is Christianity Killing Democracy? CW: USA politics & religion Subscribe to the audio-only version here: https://www.divorcing-religion.com/religious-trauma-podcast Follow Janice and the Conference on Religious Trauma on Social Media: Mastodon: JaniceSelbie@mas.to Threads: Wisecounsellor@threads.net Twitter: https://twitter.com/divo…
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In this episode we meet Kyle and Kari, a brave couple that has been a support (along with others) to their community of religious disaffiliates as they have been awakened to the realities of their group in shocking ways. What group are we talking about? Meet the Two By Twos, at times referred to as “the no name church”, a group that doesn’t necessa…
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Gaslighting isn’t just a one time event, it is a pattern expressed over time, and Jehovah’s Witnesses use it with regularity in the cult. Love bombing, brainwashing, projecting what they’re doing onto others, hypocrisy, etc. are all a part of the experience. This is the fifth in a series where I’ll break down the ways that the cult of Jehovah’s Wit…
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Dr. Danielle Kramer - Taylor Swift and Deep Fake Porn Subscribe to the audio-only version here: https://www.divorcing-religion.com/religious-trauma-podcast Follow Janice and the Conference on Religious Trauma on Social Media: Mastodon: JaniceSelbie@mas.to Threads: Wisecounsellor@threads.net Twitter: https://twitter.com/divorcereligion Twitter: http…
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Catherine wasn’t born into the cult of Jehovah’s Witnesses. There was a lot of abuse and bullying that went on in her home, both parental and from her siblings. Her family was lacking love, and one day she thought that she found it when she met a young man. That young man ended up bringing her to Jehovah’s Witnesses, and she took to what she though…
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Sandy Bigtree & Philip Arnold - The Religious Origins of White Supremacy Subscribe to the audio-only version here: https://www.divorcing-religion.com/religious-trauma-podcast Follow Janice and the Conference on Religious Trauma on Social Media: Mastodon: JaniceSelbie@mas.to Threads: Wisecounsellor@threads.net Twitter: https://twitter.com/divorcerel…
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Lying is integral to gaslighting, pushing the false realities that create confusion and lead to controlling behaviors. “The Truth”, as Jehovah’s Witnesses refer to their religious cult, is full of lies. The organization conveniently bends truth to create narratives to support and excuse their own behavior. The constant pressure to conform creates s…
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Hannah Abbasi - From Christian to Muslim to Secular Humanist, Part 2 Divorced: Islam In our last episode, we were introduced to Hannah Abbasi. Hannah grew up in a Christian home but converted to Islam in her teens due to family influences on her father’s side. In today’s episode, we learn more about what it was like for Hannah to live and study in …
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Welcome to a powerful session of truth-telling and empowerment. In this video, we dive deep into the experiences of those who have dared to challenge the authority of the Governing Body. Through candid discussions, we uncover the personal and collective journeys of bravery that inspire and ignite change. Why Listen to this Podcast? Discover Untold …
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Waking up to the realities of life in the cult of Jehovah’s Witnesses is hard enough to do even in the best of circumstances. But what if you were an active JW, and what if you were fighting another active JW for custody of your child? And what if, in doing so, your eyes were opened to the reality of everything that you were involved in through the…
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Hannah Abbasi - From Christian to Muslim to Secular Humanist, Part 1 Divorced: Christianity PART 1 – FROM CHRISTIAN TO MUSLIM My guest today is Hannah Abbasi, a transplant to New York City from Austin, Texas. As an adult, she has also lived in Qom, Beirut, and Cairo. At the University of Texas at Austin, Hannah studied Religious Studies, Middle Eas…
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One hallmark of gaslighting is using what is near and dear to a person as ammunition against them. Jehovah’s Witnesses weaponize their relationships with you, your normal and natural desires, the expression of those desire, and more. They use shame to make you feel like a bad person for daring to want something outside of the approved list of perso…
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Our guests: Awaken Truths - https://www.youtube.com/@UCPWA3KaDx-MFFNwsOhjXAqg Healing Journal PIMO Edition https://www.lulu.com/shop/alexis-smith-and-jeven-sly/healing-journal-pimo-edition/paperback/product-gjv9m4q.html?q=Healing+journal+pimo&page=1&pageSize=4 Rebuilding After A Cult: A Journal To Healing https://www.lulu.com/shop/jeven-sly-and-ale…
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Melanie Trecek-King - Critical Thinking is Power Divorced: Religious Fundamentalism Melanie Trecek-King is an Associate Professor of Biology at Massasoit Community College, where she equips students with empowering critical thinking, information literacy, and science literacy skills. Melanie loves to share her “teach skills, not facts” approach wit…
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Life happens, both for the better and for the worse. Being a kid is hard, especially as it relates to school. Families fight. Relationships come and go. Individuals have their own internal struggles. There are amazing people in this world that seek to uplift others, and also people that prey on others and hope to take them down. Cherie’s story high…
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Jeff Beaumont - Trafficked by Scientology Divorced: Scientology CW: Trafficking, forced labour, self-harm. Jeff Beaumont was born into Scientology and educated at the local Scientology school in Vancouver, BC, Canada. At age 14, he was kidnapped and trafficked to the USA to perform labour in the Sea Org branch of Scientology. During that time, Jeff…
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One hallmark of gaslighting is the denial of what happened, even in the face of proof. Jehovah’s Witnesses are masters of spin, from the organization itself to the individual members of the cult. When you hold something dear and you call it “The Truth”, you need it to be true no matter the cost. Whether it is the denial of their systematic shunning…
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Matthew Remski - Conspirituality Divorced: Roman Catholicism Today’s guest is journalist and author MATTHEW REMSKI. In addition to being the author of 8 books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, Matthew is co-host of the wildly popular Conspirituality Podcast. I asked him to join me after hearing his presentation “When Spirituality is a Broken Spac…
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Dive into an engaging exploration with Lady Cee and JT as we dissect the recent, surprising shifts in Jehovah's Witnesses' policies on dress and grooming. This episode takes a closer look at the impact and reactions to the acceptance of beards and changes in dress code, blending humor with heartfelt stories from the community. Highlights: A light-h…
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