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Story 1
Jehovah's Witnesses used to hide from women - asked for her sex life
Feb 10 2019, 6:00 pm Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share by email
Religious leaders used a hidden incarnation against former Jehovah's Witnesses 1:24
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Religious leaders used a hidden recording against Ann Celina to expel her to have a girlfriend. Now she has no contact with her family.
Never has Ann Celina felt so offended in her life as when she was facing three men who asked for her intimate privacy.
- We are here because I have access to such a recording and have listened to it, said one of the men.
Like the other two men, he was a so-called elder - a leading member of the Witnesses in Jehovah's Witnesses, Ann Celina was affiliated with.
- It shows that you have got a new girlfriend, continued the man.
She only knew the men superficially. Yet she was now sitting with them and had to answer questions about her private and sex life on the basis of a secret recording she didn't know existed.
Ann Celina chose to record the meeting with the elders, and TV 2 can therefore document what was said .
WHO ARE THE 'ELDERS'?
"Jehovah has entrusted elders with the responsibility of taking care of his precious sheep."
Here's how the elders 'role is briefly described in Jehovah's Witnesses' internal handbook to elders called "Be Shepherds for God's flock."
Each ward has an elderly council with several elders attached. They are leaders of the congregation and guide Jehovah's Witnesses in all aspects of life for members to follow God's instructions. Only men can be appointed as elders.
The elders set up "legal" councils to investigate and judge in everything from smoking to adultery and murder.
Source: Internal manual for elders "Be shepherds for the flock of God"
Fold out Woman took private conversation and gave it to elders
Ann Celina is 25 years old and born into Jehovah's Witnesses. At the age of 18, she was married to another member of Jehovah's Witnesses, but in 2016, the marriage broke down.
She began to see a man who was not a member of Jehovah's Witnesses, and she slowly opened her eyes to the world outside of Jehovah's Witnesses, who did not feel as dangerous as she had been raised to believe.
As a member of Jehovah's Witnesses, Ann Celina knew that, according to the internal rules of the faith community, she should not have a relationship with an "outside the walls". That she risked major consequences if it was discovered.
One day Ann Celina met a woman with family relationships with her ex-husband. They were at a café in Aarhus, and Ann Celina told about the new guy she had met. She told her about their sex life.
What Ann Celina didn't know was that the woman recorded the entire conversation and sent the audio file to the elders of the congregation.
- Three men decide if I can see my family again 1:08
As an excluded member of Jehovah's Witness, Ann Celina has no way of contacting her family. Admission was shared illegally A few months later, Ann Celina was called and called for a so-called committee meeting with the three elders. Here she was to account for the conversation the woman had recorded.
The elders told them that they had listened to the conversation and began to ask for the details of it. Among other things, it was about how the new girlfriend looked and how good he was in bed.
- I just think it was so disgusting to have to talk about something like that with three men you don't even know, Ann Celina says today.
Ann Celina felt that Jehovah's Witnesses had watched her. The oldest used information from a private conversation, and now they would expel her - a punishment that meant she could no longer see her mother, father and little sister.
- To sit and be asked for very private things from three who have been listening to that you have been told about your private things. It is simply degrading and very offensive, she says.
Later, Ann Celina got the court's word that the woman's sharing of her admission was illegal because it contained private information.
- I can't possibly be the only one Just before Ann Celina entered the meeting with the elders, she chose to turn on the sound recorder on her mobile phone. She recorded the entire meeting, which took just under an hour - a recording that TV 2 extracts from .
She had several reasons to do so, but first and foremost she wanted the public's insight into the practice of Jehovah's Witnesses.
- People need to know what's going on. How it goes, what it is for some things behind these walls. Only the four people sitting at the meeting know what is happening. If I have been monitored and something is being used illegally against me, then I cannot possibly be the only one, Ann Celina says about the reason she took up the meeting.
ALSO SEE Hear the meeting with religious leaders who 'judge' Jehovah's Witnesses for having a boyfriend
Does not see his mother, father and little sister The elders sentenced Ann Celina to exclusion because she would not give up her new life outside of Jehovah's Witnesses.
- Unfortunately, we have not been able to see other possibilities than to exclude you as the situation is. We have not been able to find the change of mind that you really wanted to find. In order for us to do so, just as you regret what you have done and wish and change it, the explanation of the verdict, which can be heard on Ann Celinas' inclusion of the meeting .
April 6, 2017, the decision was announced to the congregation. This means, according to the internal rules of Jehovah's Witnesses, that members may risk being evicted if they contact Ann Celina.
Since then she has not seen her mother, father and little sister.
She is not angry with her parents because she knows their world view - that it is against the rules of Jehovah's Witnesses to see his outcast family members.
- On a bad day, I am really sorry that they have chosen their daughter for a religion. But on a good day when my reason speaks, then I think that they do what they have learned is right. Therefore, it is difficult for me to get angry with them, she says
Jehovah's Witnesses will not interview TV 2 has talked to two of the elders who sentenced Ann Celina to exclusion, but they do not want to interview.
Nor does the Scandinavian branch office of Jehovah's Witnesses want to make an interview. In a mail they write that they "do not monitor members of the congregation".
Ann Celina lives today in Aarhus with her boyfriend and loves her new life. She has no doubt that she made the right choice by leaving Jehovah's Witnesses.
- I suddenly became a completely different person - could feel myself and be able to think for myself. I hope that one day my family will have the same experience, she says.
For the sake of her family, Ann Celina does not want her last name mentioned. The editors are familiar with her full name.
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Story 2
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COMMUNITY
Abandoned by his children - they believe God will kill her in a great war Feb. 11 2019, 12:36 by Jonas HR Moestrup She raised her children to reject apostates. Now she herself is apostate and struggles for the children to accept her choice.
Maria Alexander sat opposite her two youngest children at the dining table and was supposed to eat dinner.
In what she was about to take the first bite, her 13-year-old son broke in.
May we pray for prayer?
You may like it, but I don't want to be there, replied Maria Alexander.
"But mother, why don't you think of God anymore?" Asked her 11-year-old daughter.
A few months earlier, Maria Alexander had made a choice that her children had difficulty accepting. Time and again they brought it up when they were with their mother. She no longer wanted to follow God's word.
- That means you are going to die. You are going to die in Armageddon, said the son.
This is how Maria Alexander remembers the dialogue about the dining table a spring day in 2015.
It wasn't the cozy night she had hoped for. It ended in a quarrel and she broke down. She called her children brainwashed. Tried to get them to understand the world as she saw it now.
Shortly after, the children were taken by their father. A year passed before Maria Alexander saw them again.
Although this can be very difficult, we must avoid having unnecessary contact with an excluded family member
Text published by Jehovah's Witnesses
Maria Alexander Photo: Kaare Breiner / TV 2 Maria Alexander is 47 years old. She spent the first 43 years of her life in the worldwide religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses.
This is Maria Alexander's story, which she remembers her life before, during and after the break with Jehovah's Witnesses.
The fear of God's wrath
As a daughter of a so-called elder, a leading member of the congregation, Maria Alexander grew up in a home in Ishøj, which she herself describes as safe and good. But her life was not like most other peers.
WHO ARE THE 'ELDERS'? "Jehovah has entrusted elders with the responsibility of taking care of his precious sheep."
Here's how the elders 'role is briefly described in Jehovah's Witnesses' internal handbook to elders called "Be Shepherds for God's flock."
Each ward has an elderly council with several elders attached. They are leaders of the congregation and guide Jehovah's Witnesses in all aspects of life for members to follow God's instructions. Only men can be appointed as elders.
The elders set up "legal" councils to investigate and judge in everything from smoking to adultery and murder.
Source: Internal manual for elders "Be shepherds for the flock of God"
Fold out As a child, she did not have to have classmates home to play, unless the comrades first attended Bible studies.
The older she became, the more filled the religion. When she came home from school, her spare time was mostly Bible studies, volunteer work and congregation meetings.
Birthdays, Christmas, and many other festivals were outraged, and Jehovah's Witnesses greatly controlled what movies, books, and other entertainment she needed to spend time on.
Paradise is for Jehovah's Witnesses the ultimate goal. Here there is no war and animals and people live in harmony with each other. Photo: JW.org Maria Alexender regarded her non-believing classmates as poor. Without the right faith, they would not come into paradise and live an eternal life. She was convinced of that.
Even though she was most often happy, it was also an upbringing with a permanent conscience and guilt, for just a wrong thought or action led to a fear of God's punishment by both themselves and their families.
A punishment that would come in the Great War, Armageddon, which, according to Jehovah's Witnesses, will arise throughout the world, where God will kill all people who refuse to know the word of the Bible more wisely.
Maria Alexander never doubted - on a brief teenage age - on this world view.
New job became an eye-opener
At the age of 18, Maria Alexander was married to an ambitious man who quickly rose in the ranks of Jehovah's Witnesses. He became so-called ward servant and later elders. Together they had three children, and Maria Alexander was happy for the life she had.
She worked for the first many years in the cleaning industry, but in her mid-thirties she got a job in a municipality.
The colleagues at the new job were not part of Jehovah's Witnesses, and it became her first real meeting with the outside world in her adult life. She began to reflect on her own perception of the world.
Maria Alexander was a young strong believer in Jehovah's Witnesses. She spent much of her time in service - spreading the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses. Photo: Private The doubt came creeping. For how could it be that God would punish these sweet and good people? Kill them? It was not the merciful God she knew.
The years passed, and she became friends with more people outside of Jehovah's Witnesses. When she asked her husband or others in the ward, they could not give her a meaningful answer to how God could punish these people.
Doubt became paramount, but she knew what it could mean if she left her religion. She developed what she herself describes as panic disorder. Everything on her body struggled when she went to congregation meetings.
The words sounded hollow. They didn't fit with reality. It didn't make any sense anymore. But could she live with the consequences?
Story 2
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"Exclusion helps to protect the purity of the congregation"
Text from Jehovah's Witnesses
The conversation that changed everything A warm summer evening just over six years ago, Maria Alexander and her husband sat and enjoyed a glass of wine in their house in Faxe Ladeplads, while the kids were playing in their rooms.
She remembers trying to persuade her to come back to the congregation meetings she hadn't been to for months.
- I'm about to get my eyes on something wrong here. There is something wrong with this organization, said Maria Alexander.
WHO ARE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES?
Founded in the United States in 1881 It originates from Christianity, but follows its own Bible translation Believe that God's name is Jehovah Congregations do not meet in churches, but so-called Kingdom Halls Baptism takes place only after years of training and indicates that the baptized will serve Jehovah and the congregation Has, according to its own figures, over eight million members worldwide. In Denmark there are almost 15,000 Managed by a Governing Body based in New York, USA Exclusion happens if a member does not regret a serious violation of the rules of religion. Family members are encouraged not to have contact with the excluded. Source: JW.org
Fold out Her husband thought she had become spiritually weak. That, by coming to the meetings, she could regain the love of Jehovah.
- You know what? I would like to know who you love most. Me or Jehovah, Maria Alexander asked.
She knew the answer well, but she would hear it from his own mouth. The answer was Jehovah.
"Then I want a divorce," she said.
This is how Maria Alexander remembers the conversation which became a turning point for her. She had made her decision. She would no longer be part of Jehovah's Witnesses .
Her eldest son distanced her from the moment he became aware of his mother's decision. Soon the rest of the family also began to turn her back.
But she was convinced that she could still have contact with her two youngest children.
Maria Alexander, a member of Jehovah's Witnesses, often attended a family meeting. Here with his daughter on the left. Photo: Private photo - Do you think I'm an evil mother? After the divorce in 2014, Maria Alexander moved for herself in a small house in Faxe Ladeplads - near the ex-husband's house, so she was close to her children.
She had clearly stated to the congregation that she was no longer part of Jehovah's Witnesses, yet they continued to seek her.
One day, her two youngest children came home to her after being with their father for seven days. They came dancing in the door and hugged their mother. Ten minutes later, it rang the door.
There were two habitually dressed men. Two elders from the congregation. They asked Maria Alexander to come back to the meetings. Warned her that she would not survive Armageddon.
She got angry and slammed the door. They should not interfere with her life, she thought. As she turned around, she saw her son crying. He had overheard the conversation with the elders and shook his body.
- Mom, that's what I've said. You're going to die at Armageddon, Maria Alexander remembers that he said.
[–]theart_of_psoas 2 points 7 hours ago*
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Maria Alexander, 25, with her eldest son on his arm. Photo: Private She hugged him and said quietly:
Do you think I'm an evil mother?
No.
Do you think Jehovah will kill me?
No, but you don't believe in Jehovah anymore.
"If Jehovah exists, he won't kill me," said Mary Alexander.
The following two times, she got the children home, the elders came again. It stopped first when she threatened to call the police.
A few months later, a selection of elders sentenced her to exclusion for having been with another man.
She lost all contact with family and friends. But she was eager to keep in touch with her children.
"Family members can show their love for the congregation and for the offender by respecting the exclusion"
Text from Jehovah's Witnesses
Requires answers from the elders
After the evening at the dining table, which ended in quarrel, a year passed before she saw her children again. No one refused her directly to see them - it was their own choice.
According to her, the children could not accommodate that their mother had chosen religion from in favor of a life in the worldly world.
She sent them text messages almost every day, but most often no answer came. When that did, the children were not interested in talking to her. Sometimes they met, but it never became more.
Maria Alexander to raise her children to believe in Jehovah 0:54
Maria Alexander says that she herself has brought up her children so that they cannot have contact with excluded members. Video: Kim Hess It was difficult to accept that the children would no longer be part of her life. But she still had the hope that one day they would return home.
At the same time, she was angry and felt impotent because she felt that the children were influenced by Jehovah's Witnesses. That it was the organization, the elders, the congregation and her own family that influenced the children to expel their own mother.
She demanded answers from the elders herself, and she decided to go down to the ward where she used to come. Here she also hoped to catch a glimpse of her children.
Exclusion is equal to love
Jehovah's Witnesses in Denmark and the rest of the world are governed by the so-called New York Governing Body. From here, material - both texts, magazines and films - is produced that is sent out to the branch offices in various countries that translate the material into local languages.
Jehovah's Witnesses Central Magazine, The Watchtower. In this release from 2012 you can read about Judgment Day, Armageddon. Photo: jw . org This applies, among other things, to the known magazines 'Awake!' and the 'Watchtower', which is often distributed on the street and on the citizens' personal addresses.
The material is about how, according to Jehovah's Witnesses, living and covering almost every aspect of life.
When members meet in their ward, they tell each other what they have read. One of the key points is that Jehovah's Witnesses must not associate with apostates - because they have actively waived the word of God.
For example, in various texts from Jehovah's Witnesses, it says:
"Although it can be very difficult, we must avoid having unnecessary contact with an excluded family member" "Exclusion helps protect the purity of the congregation" "Family members can show their love for the church and for the offender by respecting the exclusion" "Everyone in the congregation can show principled love by avoiding joining or talking to the excluded. In this way, they support the discipline Jehovah has given him through the elders." Rules that Maria Alexander himself was trained in and passed on to her children.
She therefore blamed herself that her children did not want anything to do with her. But she also greatly blamed the entire organization that, with her words, brainwash her members.
Maria requires answers
In the fall of 2018, Maria Alexander sat on a chair at the back of the Kingdom Hall - the Assembly Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses - she used to come near Faxe. It was the first time since the panic disaster made her stay away from the meetings more than six years ago.
She welcomed several former friends and acquaintances when she came in. Friendly, but meticulously greeted again.
The meeting started. Changing speakers went up the stage and read out selected texts.
Maria Alexander's heart pounded. Most of the wrath that the whole congregation sat and accepted all that was said and read from the organization's books. But she was also nervous about the confrontation she had planned.
For her disappointment, the kids were not looking anywhere. But the ex-husband was there. He ignored her.
Maria Alexander, when she was pregnant with her daughter, who is 15 years old today. Photo: Private When the meeting was over, Maria Alexander went up to an elderly man in gray suit and striped tie. It was one of the elders who helped expel her just under four years ago. Reluctantly, he agreed to ask some questions. He seemed tense. They went into a smaller room and closed the door.
"And you say, Mary?" He said with crossed arms.
- I need to know if you urge my children not to have contact with me?
"No," replied the elder.
That's how I see it.
No. We have nothing to do with that at all. We do not interfere in that.
There was nothing to come by.
But it was not surprising. In fact, Maria Alexander was relieved. For even though the children had not been to the meeting and the eldest would not answer in depth to her question, she felt that she had been sent a sentence.
She had been confirmed that she had made the right choice. Never again would she return to the organization she felt had wasted 43 years of her life.
Maria Alexander after meeting with her old congregation 0:49
Maria Alexander sought out her old congregation to try and find out why her children would not see her. Video: Kim Hess Freedom stands above everything else Today, the whole of Maria Alexander's family refuses to see her - both parents and sister have turned her back. The same applies to her three children. Since that night at the dining table for almost four years, she has only seen her two youngest children a few times. Last time two and a half years ago, she says.
The daughter is today 15 and the youngest son is 17 years old. Her eldest son is 26. She does not know much about what is happening in their lives, but sometimes gets a little to know via SMS when the children answer her.
The loss of the children is a deep wound. But Maria Alexander refuses to return to Jehovah's Witnesses to be with them. Today she lives with her boyfriend in Copenhagen and has built up a network of friends that she regards as family.
- I'm not going back to that prison. My freedom is above everything else. But of course I wanted to bring my children along. I think one day they find out that this world outside is not dangerous, she says.
TV 2 has been in contact with Maria Alexander's ex-husband and her eldest son. None of them want to participate in the article.
Jehovah's Witnesses do not want to comment on the article.
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Jonas HR Moestrup