10 Years revealing secrets because there is no excuse for secrecy in religion (w1997 June 1) – Dan 2:47; Matt 10:26; Mark 4:22; Luke 12:2; Acts 4:19. 20.
Originally published in Dutch by Dagblad van het Noorden on March 10, 2024. Written by Daniëlle Molenaar.
Translated in English by Lester Somrah using Google Translate.
Behind the facade of neatly dressed, smiling people who go door to door to win souls, a dark world lies hidden. Anyone who delves into the Jehovah's Witnesses knows that the religious community has very nasty sides. People suffer lifelong trauma from it. The three-part series by director Van der Aa (1977, born and raised in Musselkanaal) exposes this in a compelling way.
“You don't actually know what's going on behind the scenes,” says the maker of the docuseries 'Jehovah - Van God Los', which can be seen on Videoland from Wednesday, March 13. According to him, the stories of the ex-Jehovah's Witnesses in the series show that degrading practices take place under the name of religion. “We see people who have been seriously damaged by the way in which sexual abuse and social exclusion are dealt with within Jehovah's Witnesses.”
Recordings at the head office in Emmen
Recordings for the documentary were also made at the national headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses, located in Emmen. Ex-members take action at the closed gate of the religious association's grounds. They want the organization to stop the social exclusion of members who have left or been expelled, so-called apostates. "The only thing the ex-members want is a dialogue with the Jehovah administration. They wrote a letter seven times, but received no response.”
Social exclusion means that ex-members are no longer allowed to have contact with their family and friends among the Jehovah's Witnesses, including their children or their parents or brothers and sisters. As a result, they often end up completely alone. This makes it very difficult to leave or go against the organization. “Anyone who goes against the organization will be excluded and everyone can lose.”
One of the victims of exclusion who speaks in the series is Gideon Nagtegaal from Groningen. A few years ago the man in his forties left. As a result, he lost everything, including contact with his children from his first marriage. The series shows how much that affects him to this day.
Abuses must mainly remain internal
Other ex-members tell compelling stories about how they were abused as children. Jehovah's Witnesses use their own legal system. Victims of sexual abuse say they were discouraged from going to the police. They had to tell three elders what had happened. "That caused additional trauma for many victims, because they were not listened to. They were hardly taken seriously. This is because elders, often just an accountant or the butcher around the corner, blindly follow the rules. Abuses must mainly remain internal.”
The director, who currently lives in Hilversum, hopes that the series will create more understanding of the fact that it is very difficult to leave a closed religious community such as the Jehovah's Witnesses. "It would also be to the credit of the Jehovah organization if some recognition was given to the traumatized people. They do not even have to admit guilt, but they can admit that mistakes have sometimes been made. All they do is litigate through the courts and say that they do not recognize themselves in the picture painted.”
Management response
The national board of Jehovah's Witnesses in Emmen said in a response: "We have not seen the documentary. Logically, we cannot currently assess the extent to which the content is journalistically balanced, factual and objective.”
Lester Somrah writes about the beliefs and practices of Jehovah’s Witnesses on his social media platforms and was baptized as a member in 1998.