![]() ![]() One man admits that he shunned his own children and was instructed to hang up the phone if they called him. The Jehovah’s Witnesses deny that “shunning” takes place, but there are several accounts here from people who have left the church and say that even their closest family members no longer talk to them. She has had very little contact with her family, many of whom are still Jehovah’s Witnesses, since. By 15, she was “acting out” and was told to leave the family home. Her parents divorced and she left Norwich, leading to former family members and friends “shunning” the family (divorce is allowed only under very limited circumstances). She felt judged by the outside world and accepted only by other Jehovah’s Witnesses.įrom the age of 11, her life fell into disarray. She talks of the end of days and the books she read when she was very young, which showed her detailed pictures of what Armageddon would look like. She offers her own view of what it was like growing up in Norwich, attending Kingdom Hall meetings and Bible studies twice a week, or standing on the street doing “service rounds”. She suggests that the perception from outsiders is of “harmless Christians that knock on your door, wanting to talk about God”. Vardy points out that, in the UK, home to approximately 130,000 adult Jehovah’s Witnesses – there are roughly 8.5 million members worldwide – very little is known about the organisation and how it operates. In one response, they call the idea that the religion is controlling “misleading and discriminatory”.) (As you would expect from a film so accusatory, there is a lot of back and forth, as the Jehovah’s Witnesses UK branch committee is given the right to reply to each allegation. Here, she goes much further, describing a series of traumatic events, while meeting others who describe their experiences within what is portrayed as a “high control” religion. Four years ago, she told the Loose Women panel that it was “horrible” and that, as a child, she felt alienated from other children, who would “poke fingers” at her for her beliefs. As an organized entity, it has only existed since the late 1800s, still new and fringe enough to be a cult.Vardy has spoken before about being raised as a Jehovah’s Witness and her dislike of the organisation. Despite the Watchtower flyers and Witnesses wanting to share their “truth,” there is still a shroud of secrecy around the religion. JW is a religion most are familiar with, but few know the full details. The filmmaker pulls the curtain back on the damage caused by being part of a doomsday cult. The music comes from the Nuclear Gopher artists: HighTV, Ryan Sutter, Kloey, Daytrip, Blueskys, Ghost Army, and The Lavone. As one might expect, the early pieces are clumsy and amateurish, but they created some top-notch work as they grew and honed their skills. The viewer is treated to home movies and self-produced music videos, of course with varying degrees of professionalism and production values. Homan uses archival footage from the musicians’ extensively documented history to tell Witness Underground. “… the life-changing experiences of a group of musicians, songwriters, and singers who were originally Jehovah’s Witnesses.” Too much knowledge of the world will lead to leaving the church, as one realizes the level of control and deceit practiced to keep the members in line. A disfellowshipped person is worse than death because they are shunned by their JW family and friends and cut away from all JW support systems and community. Elders of the church warn that dipping too far into anything not church-related, to explore cultures outside of their religion, is to court disaster that could lead to disfellowshipping (the JW equivalent of excommunication for Catholics). Others were too intelligent in the long run to continue adhering to the severely strict doctrine of the church. Some left because of the associations and learnings they got from being exposed to rebellious music. Witness Underground, written and directed by Scott Homan, follows the life-changing experiences of a group of musicians, songwriters, and singers who were originally Jehovah’s Witnesses. ![]()
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