“In my late twenties, I realized that I had been indoctrinated into Jehovah’s Witnesses since childhood”
The first time I doubted was five years ago. I was 29 years old and I was then very involved in the movement of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I grew up in the strict precepts of this religious community [qui croit à l’Apocalypse prochaine], to which my parents belong. They themselves have been Jehovah’s Witnesses from an early age, and they have educated us in the teachings of this movement. A few days before my “waking up”, I even went to the world headquarters of the organization, the Governing Body, located in the State of New York – a trip that one makes when one is very involved in the movement. I strongly believed in what I had been taught.
Until today in October. I was listening to one of the videos recorded monthly by the Governing Body, and something suddenly made me wince. The video explained that news and research articles, when going against community posts, were bound to be based on lies.
She took as an example the dating of the construction of the sphinx of Gizeh, in Egypt: the speaker maintained that the official date was inaccurate because, according to their own interpretation of the Bible, the Flood would have taken place after this one and would have then had to destroy it. He simply asserted that the encyclopedias had ” wrong “, but without advancing another date, and that questioned me. A host of questions awoke in me, shaking the foundations that I had been taught not to question.
Interruption with other children
It was a click. The following months, I began to deconstruct all the beliefs in which I had been immersed and which modeled our entire relationship to the world and the prohibitions that resulted from it. I then realized that I had been indoctrinated from childhood into this community. From a very young age, I had a teaching based on the publications of Jehovah’s Witnesses, some of which are intended for children. Every night my parents would read me a story based on their interpretation of the Bible. We went to three meetings a week given by the community. When I was old enough to go out, I accompanied my parents in their proselytizing activities, in the street or at people’s doorsteps. And at 15, I took the baptism of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
“Free time was devoted to meetings and it was strongly advised by the “elders” to meet only witnesses”
We only frequented the community, because the free time was devoted to meetings and it was strongly advised by the “elders” (responsible, in the organization) to rub shoulders only with witnesses. My best childhood friends and those who were later were all Jehovah’s Witnesses. Some rules have an aspect that I perceive today as sectarian. There is a very great demand for investment in the community and monitoring of followers: if a Jehovah’s Witness sees us breaking a rule, he will feel obliged to denounce us to the elders, to “protecting our spirituality”.
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