Episode Sixty Seven - Ryan is shunned by Jehovah's Witnesses

Either you get baptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses or you die. These are the two options presented to most young kids growing up in the cult. Often times people will say "it's not like you had a gun to your head so you had a choice", but they're wrong on both counts. JWs hold a god to your head, a god that will let you live if you make the right choice and that will kill you if you choose any other path. What kind of choice is that? It sounds more like extortion. Ryan's baptism was just part of his story of looking for connection and stability. Instead of people talking to him they far more often talked about him. He tried everything to be what they wanted him to be, including undergoing conversion therapy to try to suppress his sexuality. Ultimately Ryan had to make a choice to be himself. The song that Ryan chose to represent his journey is It's Not My Time by 3 Doors Down. Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let's talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach. Click HERE for more information. Support Ryan by leaving him a comment HERE Want more resources or to participate in the Shunned Recovery Project that I mentioned? Go to my new website exjwHelp.com Join our Shunned Podcast Facebook group HERE Leave us a review on iTunes Find shunned podcast on Youtube, including new VIDcasts here. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show. This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. You can find it on any podcast app or on YouTube. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah's Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment. Follow my new podcast called LouisvilleOne at LouisvilleOne.org or look it up on a podcast app. You can watch the live videos on the YouTube channel HERE. Music by Fair Voyeur entitled "No Hell Yet".