Goddess

Too many people will argue "But it's her CHOICE to wear it". As if a woman participating in her own oppression makes it less oppressive. The "choice" appears to be: Wear it because you're a filthy woman who must cover her dirty whore body at all times, or be beaten and/or killed. Sort of like when you're mugged and given the "choice" your money or your life. I also feel there is something desperately wrong with a religion or culture that finds 5 and 6 year old girls so incredibly sexy that they must cover up too.

The fact that women all over the world are being beaten, maimed and killed over the hijab/burqua/whatever AND it is a tangible symbol of religious extremism/dehumanizing/denigrating of women tells me I don't want it in my country.

I think this is very true. (In general, as there are a few JW converts from the academic world.) That's why I always felt we "preyed" on people. JWs STRONGLY discourage higher education, which seems to be OK with Scientology. I remember an "urban legend" that went around the JW world for awhile - that if you read the Awake magazine regularly, within X numbers of years (I heard 4 yrs and 7 yrs) it would be the equivalent of a university education. They are also huge deniers of evolution and have a history of giving out really bad medical advice. I was always a huge reader and too much of a logical thinker, I was always in trouble as a JW, not matter how much I tried. Too many questions and not enough answers that made sense.

I'm sure you attended the TMS every week like I did. I called them "classes" because like most cults, JWs have their own lingo that others don't understand. It makes them feel special and keeps them apart from others. The TMS is a weekly meeting where we were taught how to speak to people (not bad in itself) and draw out their fears and problems and then taught how to use certain scriptures to get them thinking our way. (I also attended many a Pioneer School.) It did always feel like "preying" on people to me. Yes, certain parts of my experience were due to my ex-husband. But he was supported in the things he did. You know how apostates and DFed people are viewed - so anything he did to me was considered "fair game" as Leah said in the show. Of course they don't call it Fair Game and it didn't get to the extent described in the show. At least not with me. But I know others suffered through this. Having to leave family behind definitely makes it harder for most. Leah was fortunate that her family agreed to leave with her. That is very rare. The pressure to meet their many high standards was very great for me. I was wracked with guilt and fear during my entire time as a JW and really never once felt I was good enough to be in the Paradise. Not all ex-JWs felt that pressure to the same degree but all say they felt some.

The Matrix! It always reminds me of that saying - "5 out of 6 people insist Russian Roulette is perfectly safe to play."

I was born and raised in it - 3rd generation. So I don't fully understand how "normal" people get involved in cults. I know the one I was in, they sort of "prey" on ones who experience a loss in life or are already struggling. They give classes on how to pull people like that into the group and use their disillusionment with life against them.

Yes, you are correct. It's partly the powerlessness, partly the guilt and fear of leaving. Lots of people struggle mentally after leaving a cult. And it's hard to find phychologists who truly understand the nature of the mind control. Recovery forums are important - they let you know you're not alone, that you're not crazy and offer real support. Everyone recovers differently - some get very angry at the cult, some just leave and go on with their lives after doing the research and putting the time into healing.

For sure The recovery forum I was on was so helpful for me that I also served on it for quite a few years and I saw the damage first hand to individuals and to families. One of my freinds from there committed suicide because he couldn't deal with the stress of being disfellowshipped (he also had other issues - alcohol being one) I don't have the celebrity power Leah has, so I'm glad she's using it to do this.

That's the sticking point - in watching the Scientology series, Leah keeps saying she wants legislation against this, but I'm not sure governments want to touch that with a ten foot pole. And as I pointed out, the cults will have their own public spin on it, saying that it's the family's "choice" to disconnect from you.

I'm not sure how governments would be able to deal with the disconnecting or disfellowshipping thing....Jw's tell the public that it is the family's "choice" to stop associating with you and that the disfellowshipped person makes the "choice" to cut off from family. But that's not the reality. There are sanctions in the church for associating with a disfellowshipped person, same as in Scientology.

It was extremely difficult. I left with nothing but what I could carry in my truck and about $600. I learned that they only have power over you if you give it to them. They can't force you to attend any disciplinary or judicial meetings. You can say No and it's okay, nothing bad happens. And I learned that "worldly" people are actually pretty nice and for the first time in my life, I made real freinds. Yes, my kids and I are much happier. Except we lost all our family, which is sometimes still difficult.

I just basically up and left - there were so many things that were bothering me about the religion (the hypocrasy, the isolation, etc.). They tracked me down to another province, two elders sat in their car all night watching the house where I lived to be sure I was there, then they knocked on the door one night and told me they were disfellowshipping me. I was panicked at first and felt I needed to get back. I decided to use the time to research some of the things that bothered me - not to prove them wrong, but to prove them right. Well, it opened Pandora's box. I joined a forum for JW's recovering from leaving and got in contact with Steven Hassan.

https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/12/23/berlin-market-suspect-shot-dead-by-police-in-milan.html ISIS released a video of him swearing allegiance to their cause.

For anyone who's interested, Steven Hassan has written some really great books on cults, the techniques they use to keep people trapped and how to break free from the mind control. Being mentally free of the cult is the hardest part.

That's a bit of a difference from the group I was in. For us, there was no way to be "saved" and you could never do enough, so there was always a sort of *panic* feeling that was with you.

That's them. They are so similar to Scientology in so many ways. I wonder if any of the JWs have watched the show. Likely they are not allowed or discouraged from watching it. Or they will be just too afraid to watch it.

I was involved in a very similar cult for most of my life, only got out with my children about 10 years ago. I'm surprised (surprisednotsurprised) at the similarities between Scientology and the cult I was in. From the show, they use the same brainwashing, thought control and "keep them busy" techniques as the one I was in. The same "disconnecting", and very much the same superior attitudes. They are also about the same size world wide as the group I was in and I'm really hoping that this shines a light on other groups.

Is anyone else watching this?

5 and 6 year old girls "choose" to wear it?

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/first-berlin-victim-a-pole-who-fought-for-his-life/ar-BBxnbuY?li=AAggFp5 Apparently they killed the driver of the truck and then used it to plow through the market.

No.

This is a concern of mine. That Canada is letting in exteremists and it will damage our relationship with the US.

Are you seriously equating wanting our immigration policies to address the number of people we take in from a violent religion, to wanting to actually KILL those people? Seriously?

If an atheist commits a crime it is not motivated by their lack of belief in any gods. They are not committing crimes in the name of atheism. This is the point you refuse to understand - you are being willfully ignorant. An overwhelming amount of blood has been shed IN THE NAME OF RELIGION, particularly your's at this moment in history. None have been explicitly fought in the name of atheism. An atheist who kills someone for money is doing it for GREED, not because of atheism. If you want to blame atheism for any crime committed by an atheist, you have to blame religion for any crime committed by a theist. Oviously this is not true, as religion is not to blame for ALL crimes.

It's not their "inferior characteristics" or because they're mad at Turkey. It's because of all the Islamic extremists. http://www.protectmyholiday.com/news-articles.aspx 11 Nov, 2016 Turkish Airlines lossNews reports state that Turkish Airlines reported a net loss of $463 million for the first nine months of the year compared to a net profit of $877 million a year ago. In a statement the Turkish flag carrier blamed political and economic instability in Europe and Middle East as well as the increased perception of global and regional risks which caused negative impact on aviation demand and placed pressure on yields. Moreover, increased capacity, led by low fuel prices and increased competition, also affected ticket prices and total revenue. Only Africa and the USA maintained revenue levels for both passenger and cargo traffic During the nine-month period, the carrier transported 48.3 million passengers, up 4%, on 357,000 flights. ASKs increased 14%; RPKs were up 8.2% and load factor was down to 74.5% from 79% last year. 22 Jul, 2016 Lufthansa shares plunge on profit warning affected by Terrorist attacks on bookingsNew reports state that German airline Deutsche Lufthansa AG warned that a series of terrorist attacks have caused passengers to scrap travel plans, leading to an expected decline in full-year earnings. Europe has been hit by a string of terrorist attacks. which can depress bookings. Last week, a truck driver in Nice killed at least 84 people when he plowed into revelers. A few weeks earlier, Istanbul's Atatü rk Airport was hit by a terrorist attack. Both incidents were linked to Islamic State sympathizers. The Islamic State also claimed responsibility for an ax attack on train passengers in Germany this week. A terrorist attack against Brussels airport in March caused Lufthansa to delay plans to take over Brussels Airlines.