Asking For a Friend

The Irish Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse 2000: https://childabusecommission.ie/

The Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse 2012: https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/Interview with Governing Body member, Geoffrey Jackson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erWV8YnTFto
Information video about how to make an application for redress for Child Sexual abuse while in the Jehovah's Witnesses in Australia: https://saysorry.org/2024/02/19/jehovahs-witnesses-and-the-australian-national-redress-scheme/

New Zealand Inquiry into Abuse in Care: https://www.abuseincare.org.nz/reports/whanaketia/preliminaries/recommendations

Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry: https://www.childabuseinquiry.scot/

England and Wales Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA): https://www.iicsa.org.uk/
UK Government proposals following IICSA: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/next-steps-to-tackle-child-sexual-exploitation

Irish Scoping Inquiry into Historical Sexual Abuse in Schools run by Religious Orders: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/42b7e-education-scoping-inquiry/#survivor-engagement

Music: 'You're Not Who You Say You Are' by Ancient Modesto, Written by Simon Endeacott, Produced by Ian David c Four Monkeys Records

Please contact us on [email protected] We will respect  your anonymity.

The links Lara referred to in the podcast are as follows: 

I was a Jehovah's Witness Forced Child Labourer facebook support group https://www.facebook.com/groups/901752817995187/

The Say Sorry website https://saysorry.org/

The Decult Conference New Zealand https://decult.net/

The film 'Recovering from Religion with Music' by Banana Island Films https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJoOrhh6MSY

UK House of Lords Inquiry into Modern Slavery https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/700/modern-slavery-act-2015-committee/news/203272/uks-response-to-modern-slavery-has-not-kept-up-with-the-advances-of-other-nations/

The Lived Experience Human Trafficking Foundation https://www.humantraffickingfoundation.org/leap

The Survivors Alliance on Modern Slavery https://www.survivoralliance.org/anti-slavery-info

UK Anti Slavery Commissioner https://www.antislaverycommissioner.co.uk/

Australian Anti Slavery Commissioner https://www.antislaverycommissioner.gov.au/contact-us

Australian Anti Slavery Hotline https://antislavery.org.au/free-legal-services/

UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-slavery

Music: 'You're Not Who You Say You Are' by Ancient Modesto, Written by Simon Endeacott, Produced by Ian David c Four Monkeys Records

Adam and Louise discuss the figures in the 2024 Yearbook and what the trends show. There are some very interesting facts about the numbers of kingdom halls reducing, and the numbers pioneers in some countries, and how effective they are. 

Adam highlights how much of the worlds population lives in countries where Jehovah's Witnesses are banned and how this counters the narrative that every person will have a chance to convert before Armageddon.

Adam has a little gem of information from the latest letter to congregations, that might have a huge implication for a future discussion around child labour, Child Labour laws and modern slavery as defined by the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

We reference Paul Grundy's website, https://jwfacts.com/ and also https://avoidjw.org/ where you can get past issues of the Yearbook that are no longer available on the official JW website.

To contact us please email: [email protected] We will respect  your anonymity.

Music: 'You're Not Who You Say You Are' by Ancient Modesto, Written by Simon Endeacott, Produced by Ian David c Four Monkeys Records

 Louise and Adam discuss how difficult navigating Christmas is when you are questioning, leaving or have just left Jehovah's Witnesses. They have some suggestions for navigating the guilt and awkwardness, picking and choosing the bits you like or doing something completely different. Adam reviews the history of Christmas within the Jehovah's Witnesses and how the doctrine has changed over time. We also find out what Adam did with his Advent Cheese.

Adam discusses a recent Letter to Congregations regarding defibrillators.

You can contact us at: [email protected] Your anonymity will be respected. We would love to hear any questions, comments or personal stories.

Here is a link to the Elders Textbook Adam discusses in the show: https://avoidjw.org/manuals/elders-textbooks/

Music: 'You're Not Who You Say You Are' by Ancient Modesto, Written by Simon Endeacott, Produced by Ian David c Four Monkeys Records

You can contact us at: [email protected] Your anonymity will be respected. We would love to hear any questions, comments or personal stories.

This week we referenced Paul Grundy's website www.jwfacts.com and www.avoidjw.org. We also recommended the book 'Crisis of Conscience' by Raymond Franz which can be purchased on Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crisis-Conscience-struggle-between-religion/dp/0999499211

Music: 'You're Not Who You Say You Are' by Ancient Modesto, Written by Simon Endeacott, Produced by Ian David c Four Monkeys Records

Music: You're Not Who You Say You Are by Ancient Modesto. Written by Simon Endeacott. Produced by Ian David. c Four Monkeys Records. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS2guNacFto

Testimony of Geoffrey Jackson, member of the Governing Body, to the Australian Royal Commission on Child Sexual Abuse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu6X1YU6YYI

Auastralian Royal Commission, Case Study 29 Jehovah's Witnesses: https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/case-studies/case-study-29-jehovahs-witnesses