Former JW Book
My online ex-JW friend Brenda Lee recently published a book titled ‘Out of the Cocoon: A Woman’s Courageous Flight from the Grip of a Religious Cult.’
She was recently featured on the front page of her hometown newspaper.
‘What I’m trying to convey with my title is that it’s a toxic organization,’ she said. ‘It punishes people within and without.’ Lee, who hasn’t spoken to her family in 25 years, says the organization forced them to disown her and punishes people for dissension.
Lee acknowledged the Watch Tower Society is not universally recognized as an organized cult but said her experience in the organization fits all the criteria of a “religious cult.”
“You’re taught to hate the world, to see everybody else as being led by Satan — that we are the one and only right religion and to question or defy that is turning your back on God,” she said.
Go visit her site at http://www.outofthecocoon.net
I find it interesting that you are a former JW. I don’t know a lot about that religion, but I know that it can be painful to leave any belief system and particularly painful if those who should love you, then withhold that love because of beliefs.
I’m a reformed seeker – very happy to be mostly cynical and always skeptical of religion and any belief-based-on-faith. I’m really enjoying not-knowing and loving the ambiguity of a life that is driven by learning to live well and trying be a good person… not by books, mysteries and superstitions.
My views on religion and spirituality have changed quite a bit – I now consider faith to be a lifelong path. I’ve got nothing against books, mysteries, or even superstitions, but I do think that religion used to manipulate people into destructive behaviors is a kind of pathology of religion. It runs counter to every message from our most spiritually-advanced messengers, including Jesus. For me, it is a kind of butterfly dance to alight onto a real insight. On the other hand, the basics of ethical and compassionate behavior toward others is a solid base. The big mistake is hubris – the feeling that you have all the answers – which drives fear and hatred toward the “other.”
Very well put! I’ve been reading Richard Dawkins lately – he leaves me feeling in awe of what we have learned about evolution and the nature of life and our universe (Carl Sagen used to do that for me too…). I do, however, have some experiences that are beyond matter (or seemed to be) and I have to remain open to learning more about what the life or essence itself is all about.
Meanwhile, I’m pretty comfortable not hooking on to any particular doctrine or approach (I did that for some years).
Having been raised a Witness, I got out as quickly as I could. Any religion whose teachings demand that you must ex-communicate a family member who has fallen from the faith is simply not right by me. Bravo to her for this book. I hope it gives other trapped people the strength they need to take back control of their own lives.