Cult Life with Robin Jackson

As I recorded this episode, news broke that the Dutch police has raided the local branch of the Jehovah's Witnesses in the Netherlands. The raids were prompted by multiple reports of sexual abuse by both current and former victims. The raids included a few Kingdom Halls and private homes.

I also give an update of developments that are playing out in the Durban High Court here in South Africa where three Jehovah's Witness families have been taken to court to allow the doctors to administer blood transfusions to their children .

#JehovahsWitnesses #BloodTransfusion #EXJW

So South Africa got to watch the Leah Remini Aftermath Special on Jehovah’s Witnesses this past weekend. I can only say that I truly was not ready for that episode. As I have said in a tweet recently, I have been an activist in some form or other for the past 11 years and have heard terrible stories from former JWs and experienced some terrible things myself like shunning, but this still got to me. I was an emotional wreck.

In this episode I give my thoughts on the show and its impact.

#LeahRemini #JehovahsWitnessSpecial #Aftermath

Comic books were my escape. As a child I could not wait to get my hands on the next issue of Spiderman, The Fantastic Four, Superman, Batman etc. The stories fueled my imagination and creativity. I had an extensive comic book collection which I now regret destroying and giving away.
The reason was because the Watchtower did not look upon comic books to favourably. When I was 13 years old and got baptised an article about comic books appeared in the Awake magazine.

The Awake magazine of 22nd of June 1983 featured an article under the heading: What Has Happened to Comic Books? It goes on to describe the gratuitous violence, sexual innuendo and obsession with the occult.

I acknowledge that we have to be selective in what we as parents expose our young children to when it comes to reading material, TV shows and movies etc. But the Watchtower is being totally hypocritical here when it comes to their condemnation of violence in comic books.

#StanLee #ComicBooks #Watchower

Jehovah’s Witnesses have been in the news here in South Africa with regard to their blood policy. This case happened here in my own back yard in the city of Durban. The life of a 5 year old boy has been saved after his pediatrician went to court to approve a life-saving blood transfusion for him in defiance of his religious beliefs.

In this episode Robin discusses the case.

#exjw #bloodtransfusion #watchtower

The trial of Pastor Timothy Omotoso has made national headlines here in South Africa over the past week. Omotoso is on trial for charges ranging from rape human trafficking, sexual assault and rape. Cheryl Zondi, 22, has spent three grueling days on the stand in the Port Elizabeth High Court intimately detailing her alleged rape at the hands of charismatic televangelist Timothy Omotoso.

Zondi is the first witness in the trial, in which Omotoso and his two co-accused face over 60 charges relating to the alleged kidnapping and trafficking of more than 30 girls and women.
During his cross-examination this week, the defense attorney Peter Daubermann asked Zondi a number of questions which caused Judge Mandela Makaula to intervene, and which many have said were inappropriate.

He asked Zondi why she did not scream and asked her if, by travelling to Durban to see Omotoso, she did not "accept the risk of being raped". This made me recall the disturbing writings of The Watchtower in their publications. The Watchtower teaches that a person raped is considered to have committed fornication if they did not scream and do everything possible to resist, based on a single scripture from Deuteronomy. By far the majority of articles on rape contain the sentiment that if a woman does not do enough to resist she has committed fornication and loses her clean standing with God. In recent years, this attitude has been toned down but continues to persist.

#CherylZondi #Rape #exjw

Baptism among Jehovah's Witnesses is a big step. It alters there lives. However, back in 1985 the two questions asked of the candidates before they got baptized became a crisis of conscience for Robin.

www.robinjackson.co.za

#JehovahsWitnesses #baptism

Just a short episode this week. A rant about death. mourning and funerals within Jehovah's Witnesses.
#Death #JehovahsWitnesses