”Feeling like a misfit”: Creative Struggles and Triumphs with Witness Underground

Celine asks her dad to explore what it means to be a man and she explores her female gender.  Questions based upon Heather Flowers @HTHRFLWRS

19 Maj 20211h 2min

A fabulous interview, Ali is an author and podcaster. Ali talks about her life as a Jehovah's Witness, her secret passion for writing, why she enjoyed doing assignments in the Theocratic Ministry School and how she left, including the fears she experienced as she exited the High Control Group. We explore with Ali the difficulties of leaving behind everything she knew, the pain of losing family connections as well as her realisation of the extent of the gendered and patriarchal organisation she has been a part of, and the effect this had had on her. She describes her struggle to believe in her ability, her decision to do a masters in creative writing and what led to her writing her book.  Ali's book 'The Last Days' comes out in the Spring of 2022.   Ali's Website https://www.alimillar.com/   The Bookseller featuring 'The Last Days' https://www.thebookseller.com/news/ebury-picks-luminous-memoir-about-growing-part-and-leaving-jehovah-s-witnesses-1226737   Ali's Podcast along with Penny Wincer https://www.pennywincerwrites.com/not-too-busy-to-write-podcast

16 Maj 20211h 1min

As a Jehovah's Witness getting involved in making the world a better place is not encouraged. When you leave such a High Control Organization the opportunity to get involved can be exciting and a bit overwhelming. We discuss activism in all its forms.

12 Maj 202155min

A very special episode today as we interview Alex Millar, world renowned artist. Alex was raised as a Jehovah's Witness and was an elder before leaving, going through a very difficult period until he discovered his real calling. Warning: During our discussion there is mention of suicidal thoughts. Alex talks frankly, and with plenty of humour about his life as a Jehovah's Witness child, growing up and then the crisis that led him out of the organisation. He is now a respected artist and shares his philosophy on life. This was such a privilege and a rare opportunity to talk to such a singular talent. We hope you enjoy is as much as we did.

9 Maj 202159min

One of the most common ways of describing a cult is that it has a charismatic leader, but just what does that mean. Charisma has been studied or decades in organizational psychology so Stephen and Celine explore some of the research and discuss whether it's a good or a bad thing.    References Bass, B. M., & Steidlmeier, P. (1999). Ethics, character, and authentic transformational leadership behavior. The leadership quarterly, 10(2), 181-217.   Shamir, B., House, R. J., & Arthur, M. B. (1993). The motivational effects of charismatic leadership: A self-concept based theory. Organization science, 4(4), 577-594.   Moving forward with Charisma https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323705542_Moving_psychology_forward_-_With_charisma

5 Maj 202159min

High Control Organisations often take a very specific political stance. Jehovah's Witness are taught that Christians must be politically neutral, which means not voting - not even having an opinion about issues that affect you, such as how much tax you should pay or what the laws should be. Upon leaving it feels wonderful to be able to make your own decisions. Today we look at just a few political questions through the use of the Eight Values Questionnaire (see link below) - it's not a serious political exploration but it got us thinking and hopefully you'll enjoy it. Links Eight values quiz https://8values.github.io/   Mormon Stories Podcast with John Dehlin https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/mormon-stories-lds/id312094772

2 Maj 20211h 8min

Today We take a very deep dive into Festinger, Riecken & Schacter's seminal work "When Prophecy Fails". This episode is packed with crazy stuff; exploration of the 1800's Millerite movement (to later inspire Jehovah's Witnesses and others), automatic writing, UFO cults, dianetics practitioners, flood prophecies, flying saucers, Atlantis with a bit of 'The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu' thrown in for good measure. Not to mention Venusian footprint interpretation. The idea of cognitive dissonance and its affect on followers facing disconfirmation of the end of the world has become well known, but the research has some real problems as well as some moments of comedy gold.  To help follow the characters in the story you can download a table here (or from copy and paste the link below).  https://3e3480ad-2b0d-4112-8174-0fdd614840ec.filesusr.com/ugd/4c85e9_f1e86bb90c5f40b6a627de8751849978.pdf

28 Apr 20211h 17min

How does it go when a Jehovah's Witness child explains to a teacher why he is not comfortable reading a book with foul language? Spoiler alert! Not well!

25 Apr 202148min