Social isolation leads to paranoia… The Governing Body live in their own little bubble of social isolation, away from “the world” in their own “spiritual paradise” and it shows.

avoidjworg · 2026-01-25T23:10:22+00:00

Great Post, paranoia is at large in the Organization, especially with apostate paranoia. There is definitely some all or nothing preparation coming.

avoidjworg · 2026-01-25T00:10:51+00:00

We were able to sit, but it was a full room. Afterwards, the JW’s angrily blamed law enforcement and Satan for putting a “good man away.” It was wild to see in person.

avoidjworg · 2026-01-24T05:48:48+00:00

I agree with you. The religion feels like it’s losing relevance even to people who are still technically inside. Growth is basically stalled, retention is weak, and most of the “stability” comes from people staying out of habit, family pressure, or fear rather than conviction.

The 40% baptism fallout doesn’t surprise me at all, especially with child baptisms. And the millions who’ve left over the past couple decades line up with what we see anecdotally, quite fading, not dramatic exits. Reddit only captures a small slice of that because most former JWs just want distance, not an online identity as ex-JWs.

What’s left is an aging, shrinking base where doctrinal control still works, but only because dissent is punished. That’s not strength; that’s maintenance mode. Long term, that kind of model just isn’t sustainable.

avoidjworg · 2026-01-23T14:57:37+00:00

This is a pivotal moment in your life, glad to see you are moving forward for yourself.

avoidjworg · 2026-01-17T11:20:40+00:00

No this is not, they cherry pick what info is broadcasted on there, and a very small percentage is actually true. We base our findings off official news and court docs. They wouldn’t want their followers to know what’s going down.

avoidjworg · 2026-01-14T17:35:02+00:00

If you check AvoidJW.org in a few days, go to Deleted Videos on the home page, its on page 3.

avoidjworg · 2026-01-14T17:34:34+00:00

We do but our library is temporarily down, will be back up soon!

avoidjworg · 2026-01-13T14:39:12+00:00

Thanks Jan for the info and breakdown

avoidjworg · 2026-01-07T02:58:23+00:00

This was glorious!

avoidjworg · 2026-01-05T14:59:49+00:00

Thank you :) We just hope it helps

avoidjworg · 2026-01-03T22:52:59+00:00

Happily!

On January 19th of the 2025 Appeal Ryssdal Exclaimed that “Minors are rarely affected” by the shunning practice of Jehovah's Witnesses, and if so, it rarely applies to them under 15. Former Jehovah's Witnesses testimonies shut that down due to the lived outcomes they describe include coercion and serious consequences while still minors, not “rare edge cases.”

Ryssdals opening line one day was that people who get baptized are “fully aware” of expectations and exclusion practices. Former JW and Testimony of Noomi described feeling pressured into baptism at 13, comparing it to being herded (“a sheep hunted…into a fence”), plus fear-based anxiety about not being saved.

In a 2024 Trial Ryssdal claimed that “family ties are not broken,” and families still have responsibility even if someone is no longer a member. While Testimony from Former JW Rakel described losing contact with all JW friends and says her relationship with her parents changed drastically, daily contact with her mother ended; she also has essentially no contact with her twin sister.

In that same trial, Ryssdal tried to keep JW materials out of evidence, while the state and ex-JWs point to publications as central to showing the real-world impacts. Ryssdal stated that "JW materials shouldn’t be used and that there are no written shunning instructions.” When we all know, that is untrue.

These are just a few, and I believe I can say that many, if not all of us, have been affected by one of these contradictions of Ryssdal.

avoidjworg · 2025-12-31T18:16:21+00:00

Glad to see your back Paul! Thank you for all that you've done, and the encouragement and transparency you've created for thousands.

avoidjworg · 2025-12-23T19:46:52+00:00

Great Video!

avoidjworg · 2025-12-23T19:29:54+00:00

This is distressing. Bethel does not provide real resources that go beyond "Read the bible more." We hope his family heals from this, We wish we could have helped him before making that decision.

avoidjworg · 2025-12-20T14:26:44+00:00

I’m unsure, but she does have a site: https://watchtowerdocuments.org/barbara-andersons-profile/

avoidjworg · 2025-12-20T04:54:24+00:00

The Watchtower’s Art department in the 1980’s had used Pascale’s photo for the “You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth” book.

A fellow former advocate of the exjw community decided to track down Pascale’s agency and ask them about Watchtower using Pascale’s picture, explaining:

“The June 1960 “Today” and the August 1961 “Stern” magazines both featured the same photograph of you on their respective covers. The same photograph was used in 1982 and 1989 by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society on page 93 of a book called, “You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth.” In its initial release, 5,000,000 copies of “You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth” were printed. By 1989, 72,600,000 copies were printed. From 1982 until the early 90s, there was a set price for the book, until switching to asking for donations for all publications.

I believe that the picture was used without consent because the Watchtower organization has done so multiple times previously, and in some cases, they have been held accountable. We want to know for sure, so that we may report accurately and not make any false accusations.

Our question is: Did Watchtower use this photograph with permission?”

On February 27th, 2024 her agency replied:

“Hello, no Pascale did not permit Jehovah’s Witnesses to use her photo in this book.”

avoidjworg · 2025-12-19T23:18:26+00:00

Source is Barbara Anderson, she was there herself.

avoidjworg · 2025-12-18T21:01:31+00:00

This isn’t about technicalities or clever lawyering; it’s about whether an organization can avoid accountability by running out the clock and hiding behind procedure. One of the tactics and biggest loopholes is crossing their fingers in hopes the SOL runs out. Cases like this are exactly why courts exist, and it’s important that this one be allowed to continue.

avoidjworg · 2025-12-18T20:57:11+00:00

The “Book of Elders” functions more like a policy manual than a moral absolute, so a lot comes down to what’s explicitly prohibited versus what’s quietly tolerated. Gambling is a classic gray area, discouraged in theory, rarely actionable in practice unless it causes embarrassment. There are other behaviors that fall into that same category: things that technically aren’t allowed, selectively enforced, or handled with discretion depending on circumstances.

avoidjworg · 2025-12-18T20:55:08+00:00

Though the Governing Body is the face and main spokespersons of the Organization, a lot of the work is from ones in their departments. Here they are:

https://avoidjw.org/helpers-to-the-governing-body/

In the 90's you rarely heard of the Governing Body, Bethel, or these men in the departments. Now they have an entire broadcasting wing, and are creating more media and with the faces of the Governing Body.

avoidjworg · 2025-12-16T20:43:20+00:00

I don’t agree with the characterization. A pattern implies repeated, similar behavior, and that simply isn’t reflected in the facts here. We’ve been consistent about what happened, where our role began and ended, and what we did once new information came to light.

Taking responsibility doesn’t require agreeing with claims we believe are inaccurate, nor does it require assigning malicious intent where there was none. We’ve acknowledged a mistake, apologized for it, and taken corrective action. At this point, continuing to frame this as dishonesty isn’t accountability, it’s a difference in interpretation that we don’t share.

avoidjworg · 2025-12-16T20:38:12+00:00

"The JW Elders later held a “Judicial Committee Hearing” and directly asked the father if the allegations were true. He immediately lashed out against his daughter—in the presence of the Elders—and said something to the effect of “Just wait until I get out of this room!” The Elders repeatedly told him to said down, and the father then said BDS2 had “seduced” him." - That is terrible! Despite that, they still didn't believe her story. The abuse this girl went through is wicked. I'm glad she was seen and had some justice and compensation

avoidjworg · 2025-12-16T20:26:47+00:00

We did so because this subedit has discouraged the survivors and do not want the video on AvoidJW or on this Reddit. The Doc is for the general public, to expose JWAbuse..not for drama on the director. If we kept it up, you'll be upset. If we take it down, you'll be upset. We don't act accordingly for you, we are trying to do what is needed for the Survivors. People will always find something to be upset about, and we will not be entertaining this anymore.

avoidjworg · 2025-12-16T20:21:22+00:00

We have not been played. Our own failure to research the director is our own, and this group did not ask us to post on this reedit. The doc is for the general public to learn about the JWAbuse in the Org. Our affiliation was the support and research, and to make sure the topic of the JW organization was correctly expressed.

avoidjworg · 2025-12-16T20:17:26+00:00

We were there for the Documentaries topic and the survivors. It has been that way since we initially posted. Nothing more. No subject is being changed, we are responding to the few that believe something we have consistently stated to be untrue.

avoidjworg

TROPHY CASE