Despite turning over millions of dollars annually, like any of New Zealand’s religious sects, the Jehovah’s Witness organisation pays no income tax.

This and still, my very own Corporation Regarding the Awareness of Parasites gets no breaks.

While there is no notable difference between the JW foundation and my own CRAP, in New Zealand, religious groups operate under the guise of ‘charitable organisations’, thus affording themselves liberties regarding tax-avoidance.

Given their bountiful income coupled with low overhead costs – printing of Watch Tower pamphlets the J-Dub’s primary expense – and given furthermore the ‘charitable organisation’ tag they so proudly wear, one might expect the Jehovah’s Witness community in New Zealand to be renowned for its generosity.

Incidentally, these J-Dub folk believe that ‘sins require two witnesses’ meaning that if – for example, sexual assault – a transgression is committed against another – for example, child molestation – unless both parties admit to the offence taking place – for example, statutory rape – an accusation holds no validity – unless the victim and the offender both confess to the indiscretion.

Now, I have undertaken a good deal of research into the ‘charitable organisation’ matter and, I feel I must be missing something, I just cannot find the names of the recipients of all this supposed Jehovah’s Witness goodwill; there is millions of dollars, there is minimal expenses, there should be beneficiaries galore…?

Understandably, as with most religious sects and the underhanded practices that plague them, New Zealand authority figures seem apprehensive to put any real pressure on this J-Dub organisation; of course, with all the work that J-Dubs do in the community – misappropriated charitable donations, underage girls’ Immaculate Conception, young boys’ stolen innocence, along with plenty more ‘work’ of a similar vein – one might decide for oneself why our worldly authorities consider, like most religious sects, the Jehovah’s Witness congregation is untouchable.

The reality is, according to official financial documentation, much of the Jehovah’s Witness so-called charitable funding goes nowhere.

The J-Dub organisation is not untouchable and, like the rapists and molesters that lurk within that community, someone just needs to touch it.

Jehovah’s Witness financial records are convoluted to the extent that one can spend hours following trails (I have done this), and end up exactly where they started, having learned nothing.

They do like to clarify, though, J-Dubs ‘abhor sexual abuse’.

Each year, millions of dollars of benevolent donations go into the J-Dub congregation; each year, how much of that money, in the form of benevolence, comes out of Jehovah’s congregation?

They are a charity, you say, for non-profit…?

Yeah, nice one.

They’re parasites, that’s what they are.

 

 

Article by Tim Walker

Edited by Miss A Pra Priate

Photography by Tex/Freya Uncomb

 

 

 

 

Mistreatment and exploitation of children among the Jehovah’s Witness community is abhorrent.

There are many J-Dub children who, like apostate Shayne, are born into the community thus grow up with Jehovah’s methods instilled in the lifestyle they are taught to follow; then there are other kids who, through manipulation or similar underhanded practises, are brought into the congregation much later in their lives.

Fortunately, Jehovah’s Witness elders abhor sexual abuse, so that’s some peace of mind for adolescent newcomers.

Of course, for those children who had never known any different, there was nothing unusual about spending a day at school avoiding/being avoided by the worldly kids then coming home and grabbing your Watch Tower leaflet in preparation for getting out onto the street for an afternoon of ‘service’ (tireless door-knocking with the intention of proselytising worldly folk).

Growing up amid Jehovah’s congregation, while a child will be aware that worldly kids do celebrate birthdays and Christmases yet they don’t, what may be unknown to the J-Dub kids is the fact that, among the worldly populous, there are in fact no grownups who will ever encourage a child to donate their money to a higher power they have never even met – in this case, the Jehovah’s Witness Governing Body – be it their pocket-money or maybe their ice-cream money, J-Dub kids are coerced to give their own money to a cause that, realistically, they are too young to even understand which, in the real world, would be considered an astonishing form of abuse.

J-Dub children probably do not consider it exploitative to be sent to school, their brains freshly washed with delusions of Jehovah’s purpose-built ‘paradise’ for them and their fellow adherents to spend eternity, then to spend a portion of that day doing God’s work, hoping to convert similarly weak-minded children to their way of perceiving Jehovah and the world He created.

A grown man found to be grooming school children, for the purpose of later controlling their thoughts and convincing them to act in a particular way, without question would be deemed a predator; Jehovah’s Witness kids, under instruction of their adult parents, do just this – often using animated J-Dub skits to entice these worldly children into their ploy and begin the brainwashing process.

J-Dub children are probably not aware that the doctrines they have been taught to embrace, to cherish and to hold true, are all essentially a lie.

As in Shayne’s experience, it is not until later in life – once a person’s brain has developed the ability to experience doubt, once that mind has developed the strength to think for itself and challenge those things around it which might seem unreal – that a Jehovah’s Witness adherent may begin to realise the life they have been living is a sham.

For J-Dub children, born into the congregation or otherwise, the indoctrination process is a cruel form of manipulation; instructing one’s own children how to behave is one thing but, for an unknown entity to enforce in children what to believe, is quite another.

Religion is a belief system built on control; strong-minded leaders controlling weak-minded followers, convincing them to behave in a prescribed manner, persuading them to believe in prescribed doctrines, befuddling the weaker into working and providing for the stronger – this is the premise of religion.

Worshipping an otherworldly entity under the presumption that He will provide for you a paradise akin to a fairy tale does very much sound like a kids’ story; make-believe notwithstanding, children have no place in any indoctrination process.

Jehovah’s Witnesses are raping the minds of our youngsters and it needs to stop.

 

 

Article by Tim Walker

Edited by Chale Minder

Photography by Therapist Fir Yoo

 

 

 

For over a hundred years the Jehovah’s Witness Watch Tower has been arbitrarily predicting the end of the world.

Like any religion, as a business, J-Dubs need to make money; they need to keep membership high, therefore, the Jehovah’s Witness organisation promotes ‘fear of the unknown’ to give their adherents reason to keep holding on.

Through extensive research I have been able to ascertain that the world, as we know it, has yet to end.

Through the J-Dub’s renowned information pamphlet, Watch Tower, this religious organisation has been prophesising the apocalypse/Armageddon since before the start of the 20^th century; at that time rumour had it, since 1874 Jesus had been among us, working towards his fabled ‘Kingdom on Earth’, where he would provide salvation for J-Dub adherents, also “bring to ruin those who ruin the Earth” – completion of this undertaking was set for (according to Watch Tower) 1914.

This kind of ignorance could, over a hundred years ago, almost be forgiven; a lack of comprehension of the world and its inherent features/basic principles, given the lack of worldly knowledge available at that time, was understandable.

Problem is, worldly Internet, along with sources of general information outside the spectrum of what the J-Dub community perceives to be reality, is akin to the Devil’s work; admittedly, the Jehovah’s Witness organisation https://www.jw.org/en/ does have an online presence but, as before, it’s not reality.

Like Google, J-Dub websites effectively tell readers where to look, what to believe and how to behave; unlike Google and its estimated 80/20 believability-falsehood ratio, the Jehovah’s Witness website https://www.jw.org/en/ is largely farcical – more like 20/80.

Jehovah’s Witnesses have for generations been exploiting the vulnerable and brainwashing the naïve; come 1914, despite desperate families of the era having likely pledged their last thruppence to their blessed J-Dub community leader in the belief that their saviour Jehovah will afford their hitherto abject lives a semblance of goodness, there was no trace of that Jesus-led Kingdom on Earth or otherwise.

In fact, in 1914, there was little trace of progression of any kind; devastation caused by Earth’s First World War would account for the next four years.

Notwithstanding the first ever Jehovah’s Witness Watch Tower prediction having failed, J-Dubs kept pushing, first extending their initial prediction by a few years then, when that too failed to eventuate, by establishing a new date; in 1920 the Watch Tower prophesised that 1925 would be the inception of God’s Kingdom on Earth and by implication, again, the banishment of the iniquitous.

Still before my time but I’m told this didn’t happen either.

In 1938, due to another end-of-the-world prediction, Jehovah’s Witnesses stopped marrying and/or procreating (as pointed out in the last instalment, cessation of breeding is the standard J-Dub reaction to impending worldly doom); of course, according to Jehovah’s Witness protocol, if there is no marriage there shall be no breeding (also notable, under J-Dub guidance, nor is there ever masturbation).

Similar predictions were made in 1942, 1961, ’66, ’75, and ’84, all without resulting apocalypse, appearance of godly kingdoms, or kings of gods; of course, the turn of the millennium was a big time for apocalyptic prophesies and, you better believe, the J-Dub Business Centre did its best to cash-in on that farce, too.

For over a hundred years, Jehovah and his Witnesses have orchestrating a brazen scam; swindling money from gullible souls who genuinely believe that goodness will come from it yet offering no tangible benefits.

Same can be said for any of the major religions – cults, sects, communities as they call themselves – and, from their seemingly untouchable positions around the world, they are the parasites on the lives of good, trusting people.

I am all for people being good to one another but, I’ve said it before, religion ought to be outlawed.

 

 

Article by Tim Walker

Edited by Perry Sate

Photography by Sonya Bach

 

 

 

As mentioned, the official stance of the Jehovah’s Witness Governing Body: ‘J-Dubs abhor sexual abuse.’

The first time apostate-Shayne quoted that line I unwittingly snickered; it sounded so smooth, so perfected, so very presentable. Truth is, less official is the J-Dub reality.

The Jehovah’s Witness congregation is conditioned with blind faith, a sense of respect, an unwavering trust in the J-Dub elders; to the extent, for example, that a young daughter is taught to show greater veneration to her Jehovah’s Witness leaders than to her biological parents – than even to her own father.

In terms of hierarchy, amid the J-Dub community, religious standing – godliness – supersedes all other attributes.

When a Jehovah’s Witness man decides he is ready to embark upon the lifelong journey of marriage, while he is free to select a woman from among any of New Zealand’s J-Dub communities, he is encouraged to look at his prospective brides from the perspective – not of beauty or outward physical attractiveness but – of godliness.

Shayne and his former wife were both previously located in the same region; Shayne’s son – the only sibling of his apostate daughter – will likely take his J-Dub bride also from the lower North Island, thus continuing the expansion of their lineage in that area; although, contrary to how it was in Shayne’s day, J-Dub ‘dating’ is now done mainly online, using tools such as Skype, Zoom, or the like.

Other, arguably more conventional forms of social media – Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc – are expressly forbidden amid the J-Dub community; spreading the word of God is always good, just not so much the word of modern reality.

A Jehovah’s Witness woman is encouraged to select (be selected by) a man who, similarly, has maybe not the most attractive façade but, indeed, possesses the most God-fearing soul; an excerpt from a J-Dub newsletter emphasises this, warning: “When choosing a marriage mate … Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers … While worshipping God together is the most important aspect of unity, more is involved.”

‘More is involved’ – from Shayne’s perspective, as a Jehovah’s Witness adherent there was nothing untoward about J-Dub marriage etiquette; it was all he had known, after all and, of course, he willingly followed J-Dub marriage protocol and, as a young Jehovah’s Witness, he married his lovely wife and – “Is she willing to submit to headship, or is she stubborn, perhaps even rebellious?”

Based on a recent prophesy of impending ‘tribulations’ (global upheaval akin to Armageddon), Jehovah’s Witness couples are currently discouraged from bringing children into this ‘world on the brink’; prior to the current bought of end-of-the-world speculation (J-Dubs make a lot of these predictions), of course, inter-community breeding – bring on the next generation of indoctrinated children – was very much encouraged.

“Young people change rapidly as they grow up. Many who marry when very young find that after just a few years their needs and desires, as well as those of their mate, have changed … A man might ask, ‘Does this woman display love and respect for God? Is she capable of caring for a home? What will her family expect of us? Is she wise, industrious, thrifty?’”

As Shayne tells it, J-Dub women – maybe more-so even than worldly women – are adept at portraying a pretence in the hope of appearing attractive to a prospective mate; a woman is conditioned to show greater loyalty to her community’s elders than even to her own husband although, while she might use her husband’s pre-eminent religious status to develop her own sense of righteousness, as a woman, she will never gain significant status among the Jehovah’s witness community.

As a result of generations of separation from the societal evolution of the worldly populous, it could be said that the Jehovah’s Witness community have fallen out of touch with reality; compared to that worldly populous, their rudimentary value system is nothing short of archaic.

The kinds of bigotry one might associate with ‘old-fashioned folk’ is alive and well in the Jehovah’s Witness community – “A woman will submit to a man”, “Homosexuals will not be accepted into our Lord’s heart”, “A good woman will keep her home clean and tidy”; it goes on at jw.org/en/

Oddly, Jehovah’s Witnesses have no problem admitting to their male-dominated – bordering on misogynistic – methods; although as they maintain, J-Dubs ‘abhor sexual abuse’ and indeed, they will vehemently deny the existence of such practise yet, rather unlike the Catholic community which long ago became synonymous with child molestation, well, J-Dubs are clearly better at hiding their iniquities.

In researching this topic, I am entering into a new world; in documenting the salient points, I am finding myself in disbelief that an organisation of this nature can exist among modern people.

This is the J-Dub reality.

 

 

Article by Tim Walker

Edited by A Garst

Indoctrination, subservience, ignorance, abuse, exploitation, racism, submission, homophobia, paedophilia, brainwashing, manipulation, mental conditioning, sexual misconduct; control.

Speaking to a former Jehovah’s Witness – ‘apostate’ as he is now known – through my mind’s eye, presumably through Jehovah, listed above are the many aspects that I Witnessed.

Jehovah’s Witnesses, J-Dubs to the familiar, are a religious organisation (cult) which preys on the vulnerable using hypothetical assurances – ‘redemption, absolution, salvation’, ‘perfect health, everlasting life, earthly paradise’ and suchlike – to entice its followers.

On the surface, Shayne is a regular dude; problem is, he was brought into this world as a third-generation Jehovah’s Witness.

New Zealand’s Jehovah’s Witness congregation comprises ‘districts’ throughout the country with each district divided into ‘circuits’; of its global 8.3 million followers, New Zealand contains around 18,000 of those J-Dub ‘adherents’ across five districts.

Shayne’s grandparents were part of the Jehovah’s Witness community, as were his parents then he, along with his J-Dub wife, propagated his own family within the community.

To be clear, no one claiming to be a Jehovah’s Witness has witnessed Jehovah as such, although they have witnessed acts in which He may have been indirectly involved.

Shayne left the J-Dub community around ten years ago, his then wife electing to stay on and keep the faith; their adult son remains a member while their daughter has similarly opted out.

For the child of a Jehovah’s Witness, by Western standards, their upbringing will be unnatural; they are forbidden from celebrating birthdays or Christmases, while making their way through the public schooling system, they are discouraged from making friends with the ‘worldly’ kids yet, largely due to their adopted beliefs, of course, they make many foes – on account of that belief system, also their future careers in door-knocking, they are conditioned to expect thus to cope with bullying – then they are adults.

Growing up in the lower North Island Shayne endured his share of adolescent hardship, then on completion of high school he went on to start a carpet cleaning company; business ownership is encouraged by Jehovah’s Witness elders, as it frees up a lot of time for door-knocking and general worship.

J-Dub high school leavers are discouraged from furthering their education; high school is the advised extent of a Jehovah’s Witnesses education and, although they are expected to find employment among the worldly populous, this choice is heavily regulated by the J-Dub elders.

Given Shayne’s frequent association with the worldly populous through his work, along with the influence this had on his lifetime of conditioning regarding his perception of reality, as a 40-year-old man he found himself having reservations about the legitimacy of his chosen lifestyle.

The Jehovah’s Witness congregation has a remarkably high turnover; vulnerable souls are continually being groomed and indoctrinated, yet there appears to be a high number of adherents coming unstuck (‘appears to be’ because often others do not know what becomes of the many people who leave the J-Dub community).

Suffice to say, once you are a J-Dub, as the elders and the almighty Governing Body would have it, you’re a J-Dub for life.

Since birth Shayne’s mind has been gently moulded to embrace the Jehovah’s Witness way of life, and while, by their own admission, J-Dubs ‘work hard to have no social, ethnic, racial or class divisions’, from an ulterior perspective, within the Jehovah’s Witness community, racism, homophobia, gender discrimination and ultimately, male-dominated hierarchy, is rife.

Indeed, according to the Jehovah’s Witness Governing Body, ‘we abhor sexual abuse’; yet, again, from that ulterior perspective, abuse in the form of sexual manipulation or domination, even in the form of the molestation, or rape, of their children, is very much reality.

From the perspective of the J-Dub victims, though, if they don’t know it’s wrong, or if they are conditioned to believe that Jehovah will make it right, how wrong is it?

Officially, J-Dubs abhor sexual abuse; unofficially, it’s a way of life among the community. Those other, worldly, folk just aren’t allowed to believe it.

 

 

Article by Tim Walker

Edited by J Dobbing

Photography by Witt Nassed