Escaping a High-Control Religion A Former Jehovah’s Witness Speaks Out - Triangle Theory #029

More information about Esther:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/instawellbeing/Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/esther-barnes-barnes-93321380Website - https://instawellbeing.com/In this episode, we discussed:0:00 - Intro1:09 - Early memories of religious teachings and indoctrination  2:19 - The fear of "Satan’s world" and religious consequences  3:37 - How growing up in the faith shaped her childhood mindset  4:43 - Learning about God: Was it comforting or terrifying?  6:04 - Trusting God vs. trusting yourself  7:00 - The belief that God will fix the world's problems  8:04 - School life as a Jehovah’s Witness: Feeling like an outsider  10:05 - Facing discrimination from teachers and classmates  12:00 - The social isolation of being "different"  14:30 - Questioning faith: Did she ever doubt the teachings?  17:18 - The push for young marriages in the Jehovah’s Witness community  18:56 - The strict rules around dating and relationships  20:25 - How education was deprioritised for faith  22:08 - The experience of door-to-door preaching as a child  24:50 - Judgmental mindsets and the pressure to convert others  26:23 - Leaving Jehovah’s Witnesses: The breaking point  29:05 - An arranged engagement after one day of meeting  31:38 - The warning signs and gut feelings before marriage  32:48 - Experiencing abuse and realising she had to leave  36:26 - The struggle of being trapped in a marriage she couldn’t escape  38:40 - Feeling abandoned by her faith community  41:09 - The double life: Secretly dating outside the religion  43:00 - The consequences of leaving: Losing family, job, and home  45:21 - How she started rebuilding her life from nothing  47:27 - The mental health struggles after leaving  50:05 - Discovering personal freedom and self-worth  52:08 - Using psychedelics and therapy for healing  55:06 - Finding peace in spirituality outside of religion  57:03 - Does she still believe in God?  58:00 - Final thoughts and advice for those questioning their faith-------------------------Hey listener - Yes YOU, the one who just listened to this video. Can I ask you a favour? See, we're completely new to the podcasting game, and any feedback would be appreciated, positive or negative, as we're looking to improve as we go. Thanks!You can also support us at:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/triangle.theory_/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@triangle.theorySpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/50RW93YVyR3YgEIuNdKIAZ?si=d77d72433a074a34Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/triangle-theory/id1769204627Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TriangleTheorypodPlayer FM: https://player.fm/series/triangle-theoryListen Notes: https://lnns.co/bdxlCwfrYN8Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/triangle-theory-5790906LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/triangle-theory-podcast/#triangletheory #religion #kill #selfdevelopment #lawofattraction