By Melissa Antoinette Garza
I am not a fan of organized religions. As a child, I went to a bunch of churches and I only ever liked one. It was run by a non-judgemental hippie reverend who had a farm and brought in animals for the kids to play with. Then of course, my family switched churches and they were all shit.
One of the horrible places I studied religion with was the Kingdom Hall of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. I’ve been to a number of services at this place. It always feels like a visit to Stepford. All the women are straight out of the 50s and not in a cute Lucille Ball way. No,these people have an expression of “Help me! I’m being strangled to death but need to smile so I don’t get in trouble. Thankfully, the Valium has kicked in.”
JWs can’t watch R rated movies, gamble, smoke, have sex out of marriage or have gay sex at all. They can’t celebrate any holidays or birthdays. They get in trouble for throwing costume parties. The parishioners’ lives are micro-managed and if they step out of line, they’re thrown away.
For this reason, I was ecstatic when I heard Leah Remini and Mike Rinder were kicking off season 3 of SCIENTOLOGY: AFTERMATH with a 2 hour special about the abuses and insanity perpetuated by the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The fabulous duo is joined by a group of ex parishioners including comedy legend and former SNL cast member Jerry Minor. Minor’s story shocked me. I always find him so funny and charming. I was sad to hear that he started off having it so hard. Out of fear of being kicked out of the church, he attempted suicide. You figure at that point, the elders would step forward to help. That doesn’t happen. It’s always the places that promise the most compassion that delivers none.
The show highlights some basic Jehovah’s Witness doctrine and beliefs. One thing they talk about is how the elders at the church discourage higher-learning. They claim it’s because once Armageddon comes we won’t need doctors or lawyers, but they will need carpenters and plumbers to build and for all material needs. My guess is that it has more to do with making one dependent on the church. There is no autonomy if another controls where you work, what you do, and what you know.
Some of the videos the Jehovah’s Witnesses have put out are creepier than scenes in most horror films. In one, a man that looks like Marshall Applewhite from the Heaven’s Gate cult sits at a table. His name is Stephen Lett and he’s part of the Governing Body. The Governing Body is a small group of strictly men who are given instruction directly from God. He’s made a video to remind you that the Governing Body loves you. He reminds you multiple times in the course of a few seconds that they do in fact love you. Freaked the fuck out yet? When watching all I can think is that we need Rowdy Piper down here pronto and there’s no time for bubblegum!
An ex-Jehovah’s Witness discusses the nightmares that he still experiences because of the belief system he was indoctrinated in. It surrounds the end of the world and apocalyptic fear that was pushed into his mind by nut-job zealots. The nightmares don’t just stay in the dream though. Just like Freddy Krueger, this gets brought into the real world.
A group of former churchgoers share horrific stories and details about the organization. They discuss how they were brainwashed from a young age and how fear was used on them to cooperate and believe. As kids they were instructed to preach their faith to other students during school and given ridiculous amounts of work resulting in a 24/7 job. They’re not allowed to celebrate their birthdays or any holidays which now has made those impacted have only negative memories surrounding these generally pleasant days. For example, instead of being allowed to share in a Halloween party at school, they would be put into a cafeteria and forced to be alone. That’s tragic. I remember a few kids in my class that had to deal with that bullshit. They just wanted a vanilla cupcake with orange frosting and a candy corn topping, and they got denied that.
Beyond parties, they couldn’t even befriend other students at their school as they were told anyone who was not a Jehovah’s Witness was worldly and therefore could prevent them from surviving Armageddon.
As focused as the elders are on surviving Armageddon they are not as concerned about living out their current existence. In the event of an emergency they are forbidden from taking blood transfusions. If a JW is being encouraged to save their life, the elders send in a nurse to talk them out of it. Jerry Minor talks about how his mother was one of those nurses and would influence fellow JWs to resist the blood. Minor also talks about a friend of his who had a brain aneurysm and died because of the no-blood rule. The way in which the young man’s decision made him into a martyr is more than a bit frightening. JWs encouraging dangerous and reckless behavior needs to be shut down.
JWs are often forced to turn one another into the elders for infractions. They talk about how the complete control and lack of self-determination negatively impacted their entire life, their personal relationships and how they relate to one another.
Much like Scientology and most other cults, disfellowship is also a thing. An elder can excommunicate you for anything remotely fun. Once kicked out, any friends or family in the organization are forced to shun them. It’s disgusting.
Siblings Sharon and Rick both escaped the crazy cult. Sharon escaped first at 22 years old and Rick at 17 was told by his parents to pretend she didn’t exist. Their story isn’t unique as everyone has lost contact with either their parents or their children.
Cliff Henderson lost all of his siblings and his parents. He tried to attend his brother’s wedding and it became a blowout. The poor guy works in the court system and sees murderers who have their parents present and struggles with understanding why he’s given less compassion than someone so heinous. How do you argue against that? My God! This makes me nuts.
Most personally to me is the topic of female subjugation and elders protecting pedophiles. Women are beaten, raped and abused in every possible way and then told to be submissive and to shut up about it. I’m fuming right now. Victims are told that it’s their fault and that if they just are a little quieter maybe they won’t get beat as hard. I would love to be in a room with those elders. I would love any of those men to tell me what type of woman to be or to tell me how any woman should act.
These same beauts are protecting pedos and have molesters in their mix. They go into the subject pretty deep and with a real life example. In the event an elder is notified that there is a child molester among them, they refuse to take any action unless there is a second witness. Victims aren’t permitted to take the person to court, go to the police or do anything to get justice. The information and especially the personal accounts are both triggering and devastating. Still, it’s definitely a story that needs to be told.
This is a great show! It pulls on the heartstrings in a purposeful and significant way. It’s hard to watch. It’s hard to hear, but it’s a necessary evil. Without really listening and understanding the ordeals that these warriors went thru and the battle scars they are forced to carry, a far greater evil can occur. More lost souls can find their way into this repressive, misogynistic, homophobic, anti-Personal Freedom nightmare.
I am sincerely grateful to the bravery of those who came forward and the rock-star, rebel heroes Mike Rinder and Leah Remini for shining a light on this travesty. I cried, I got angry and now I’m ready to shake some shit up. Mission Accomplished!
I don’t do cable so I bought this baby on AMAZON for $1.99.
