Panel: SECOND-GENERATION APOSTATES FROM NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS AND ANTI-CULT CAMPAIGNS



842.3 - ATROCITY STORIES: SECOND GENERATION APOSTATES OF THE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES AND ANTI-CULT CAMPAIGNS

AUTHORS:
Soryte R. (FOB (European Federation for Freedom of Belief) ~ Rome and Torino ~ Italy)
Text:
Anti-cult campaign against the Jehovah's Witnesses have a long history. However, the use of second-generation narratives of ex-members born and raised in the organization, who present themselves as "victims" "trapped" in the "cult" has gained momentum only in recent years as a weapon of choice for legal and other action against the Jehovah's Witnesses. It is claimed that, even when there were no issues of abuse, the conservative education of the Jehovah's Witnesses was harmful to the normal development of the children. This criticism has played a crucial role in the campaigns against the Jehovah's Witnesses in Japan and the enactment of regulations against "religious child abuse." However, similar claims are heard in several countries. One example from Lithuania is the propaganda surrounding the book "Secular" by photographer and stylist Deimantė Rudžinskaitė-Ivanauskė, who was raised as a Jehovah's Witnesses and is now promoted by anti-cultists even outside the country.