Daniellla talks to us about leaving the organization and then being shunned by her family and friends because she was no longer a member. She speaks about the effect that it’s had on her. She experienced abuse in her life prior to joining the JW organization and has experienced spiritual abuse while a member. She states that the JWs are a heartless doomsday cult. Daniella also shares some of her poetry with us. Below is an exerpt from her poem titled “Shunned.” Shunned If the hills had eyes they...
Jun 29, 2022•20 min•Season 2Ep. 42
Daniella discusses how the Jehovah’s Witness organization forbade the members from interacting with outsiders unless it was for the purpose of recruitment. Daniella takes issue with this stance as she says that the church used this stance to spray psychological abuse on its members. She discusses how she became introduced with the JW organization at the age of 14. Daniella describes elements of her upbringing that are rather difficult and the JW organization seemed to offer her and her family so...
Jun 26, 2022•19 min•Season 2Ep. 41
This week we meet Daniella Rochford, who is a renowned Australian poet. In addition to her background in poetry, Daniella is a former member of the Jehovah's organization. There are many people that refer to the Jehovah's Witness organization as a cult. Daniella is the first guest on our program who is not affiliated with the ICOC in any form or fashion. We have her on the program to see if there are any similarities or differences between the two organizations. Daniella takes us through the bas...
Jun 26, 2022•17 min•Season 2Ep. 40
As Myron’s time with the church comes to a close, me meets a young lady. This young lady is perfect for Myron, in his eyes. She also consideres herself a christian. The problem is, she is not a member of the ICOC. However, Myron believed that she was “the one.” Myron recounts how he wrestled with this dilemma and made the choice that he thought was best for him. Myron tells us what life has been like after leaving the church. He tells us about the laughter of fatherhood and the adventure of bein...
Jun 24, 2022•27 min•Season 2Ep. 39
Myron picks up where he left of in the second part of our conversation. After getting baptized within 7 days of studying the bible, his time with the ICOC was off and running. The church brought fun and structure to his life. Like many of us, Myron made some strong relationships with some of the members around him. Myron talks about dating and what that experience was like for him. Myron talks about a dating culture in which the women were put in situtions where they could not say “no” if a man ...
Jun 22, 2022•23 min•Season 2Ep. 38
This week we speak with Myron. Myron joined the church in the year 2000 and left the church in 2013. Like many of us, Myron recently began processing and discussing his time with the organization. Myron is the creater of the youtube channel called “Last Principles” where he discusses his experience with the ICOC in greater detail. Myron joined the church as a college Freshman in the state of Florida in the year 2000. Myron is of a southern baptist background. The diversity and non-traditional na...
Jun 19, 2022•25 min•Season 2Ep. 37
In the final segment of our conversation with Rachelle, she discusses the different types of loss that people encounter in their lives. Rachelle thinks that leaving the church is also a type of loss and like other types of loss, it too deserves to be addressed. According to Rachelle, grief reovery is actionable work. She talks to us a little bit about what that work looks like. Grief isn’t just about dealing with sadness, as Rachelle explains to us. In speaking with Rachelle, we get the impresis...
Jun 17, 2022•24 min•Season 2Ep. 36
Rachelle tells us the story of someone who had needs but the church did not meet those needs. Not everyone who leaves this church leaves because we think it is a cult; we leave because the church no longer meets our needs. Rachelle’s story exemplifies that. Rachelle talks about how people experience grief on many levels, but many times that grief is not addressed. Rachelle found solice in the evidenced based grief recovery method. She brought this up to the church leadership but they rejected he...
Jun 15, 2022•20 min•Season 2Ep. 35
This week we meet Rachelle Jones who, along with her husband, became a member of the ICOC in 2014. She left the church in 2019 for a variety of reasons. Her testimony dispells the story that the church has changed its controling practices since the appearance of the letter in 2003. Rachelle discusses with us how she and her husband joined the church. Like many of us, she describes entering the church with a backpack full of emotional luggage. She discusses how she felt betrayed and deceived by t...
Jun 12, 2022•23 min•Season 2Ep. 34
Elena from 3B, along with her infectious laugh are back! This time Elena gives us her thoughts on Aldo's conversation with Steve Johnson. She turns the tables on Aldo and asks him what he thought of the conversation. Support the show Stay updated on Aldo's current and future projects by signing up for his Newsletter Other Podcasts by Aldo B. Martin: Finding James Baldwin: The Magpie Years Jammin' on the One The Fatherhood Project YALD. The Podcast So...Tell Me About Your Podcast To get in touch ...
Jun 10, 2022•31 min•Season 2Ep. 33
Steve Johnson is a founding member and former World Sector Leader for the ICOC. Steve is still a member of the ICOC and he has sat down to have a conversation on our podcast. Steve speaks with us about the term cult as it pertains to the ICOC, the controlling nature of the organization, and mental health. Support the show Stay updated on Aldo's current and future projects by signing up for his Newsletter Other Podcasts by Aldo B. Martin: Finding James Baldwin: The Magpie Years Jammin' on the One...
Jun 09, 2022•36 min•Season 2Ep. 32
Tricia was encourgaed by the congregation to not have friends that were outside of the organization. She tells a story of needing permission from the church before taking a trip or interacting with non-members of this church. These teachings are similar to those of the 1990s. Tricia now describes how she began to leave the organization. The leaders in her church seemed to recite from the same playbook of yesteryear. Trica discusses seeing a therapist on campus and how that helped her to find res...
Jun 08, 2022•25 min•Season 2Ep. 31
As we continue to speak with Tricia, she continues to describe a church that was not upfront with her about their history or affiliation. Tricia doesn’t remember seeing red flags that were obvious to her. However, she states that she felt restricted, but still joined nonetheless. Tricia was never required to attend a Sunday Service while she was studying the bible. It wasn’t until after getting baptized that the full commitment to the organization become clear to her. During her indoctrination p...
Jun 07, 2022•23 min•Season 2Ep. 30
This week we meet Tricia. Tricia became a disciple while a college student at the University of Kentucky in 2017. She left the organization in 2019. Tricia came across The Reclamation and was surprised that she could relate to the accounts of the church that were being told. She heard the program and said to herself “why is this guy telling my story” as the stories from the 1990s and early 2000s were mirror images of her experience. Tricia was described as low hanging fruit by the other disciple...
Jun 05, 2022•25 min•Season 2Ep. 29
Steven Johnson was a former leader with the International Church of Christ. Steve is considered one of the founders of the church; one of the famed 30 would be disciples from 1979. Steve was the first man appointed as an evangelist with the ICOC. He also lead the team of 18 people that planted the New York City Church of Christ. Under his leadership that group of 18 grew to be over 5,000 members. He is also a former World Sector Leader. As WSL, Steve was in charge of the churches on the eastern ...
Jun 04, 2022•34 min•Season 2Ep. 28
In our third and final segment of our conversation with Christy, she mentions that one of the core teachings of this church was that the only way to get to heaven was to be a member of this organization. According to Christy, the goal posts were always moving depending on who was leading at the time. She recognized that she was answerring to people and not the bible. Christy and her husband were in charge of the children’s ministry despite not being as experienced as some others. She questioned ...
May 27, 2022•28 min•Season 2Ep. 24
PLEASE EXCUSE THE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES THAT ARE DISPLAYED IN SOME PARTS OF THIS EPISODE Christy joined one of the church’s mission teams upon graduating high school. There was a quota of baptisms that leaders on the mission field were required to meet. Through the purusit of these quotas, some baptisms were rushed. There were people who were baptized for the sake of the increase in church wide statistics and numerical growth. She describes the leaders as using fear and intimidation on other le...
May 25, 2022•29 min•Season 2Ep. 23
PLEASE EXCUSE THE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES DISPLAYED IN SOME PARTS OF THIS EPISODE In this episode we meet Christy. Christy is a former women’s ministry leader with the International Church of Christ. Christy joined the church as a teenager in 1987 and left as a married mother in her 30’s in the early 2000’s. Christy describes her leaving the church as a process; as a peeling of an onion. Christy states that the church is proficient at scaring it’s members with the thought of going to hell should ...
May 22, 2022•27 min•Season 2Ep. 22
In our third and final conversation with Dr. Melton, she tells us how the church altered her relationship with her friends to an extent. Although Dr. Melton does not use the world “cult” outright, she is asked how she would respond to people who do claim the church to be a cult. In the same vien, she is then asked what she would say to those that claim that it is not a cult. Dr. Melton discusses how the work cult is emotionally latent and causes people to negatively identify themselves with such...
May 20, 2022•23 min•Season 2Ep. 21
In the second segment of our converstion with Dr. Melton, paints another scene as to why she has left. These stories about former members leaving are more complicated than current church members realize. These stories are multi-faceted, complicated and simply human at their core. Dr. Melton discusses how there is not garauntee of belongingness even if you are in the same church as everyone else. Although Dr. Melton found a sense of belonging, that did not last long. Dr. Melton began graduate sch...
May 18, 2022•26 min•Season 2Ep. 20
Dr. Melton returns and joins us on season 2. Along with Elena from 3B, Aldo and Dr. Melton begin to discuss the concept of purity culture. Although purity culture is not exclusive to the ICOC, it was a major driving force in how the church expressed and extended some of its unofficial policies. Dr. Melton discusses what kind of effect the practice of purity culture had on her and some of the women in the church. Dr. Melton mentions how this was a set up for toxic relationships. Despite there bei...
May 15, 2022•28 min•Season 2Ep. 19
This is the third and final segment of our conversation with Tammy. Tammy suggests that those members that were seen as “struggling” and a burden to the church were just being punished for being their most authentic selves. Tammy did not want to get kicked out of the church because this enviroment was her comfort zone for a decade and admits to going through a period of grief upon being outsted. Tammy discusses the specifics on why she was removed from the organization. Tammy talks about the pow...
May 13, 2022•25 min•Season 2Ep. 18
Tammy discusses the concept of "deprogramming" and "reprogramming" as a member of the organization. As Tammy describes the concept of "systemic programming," it introduces the idea that the church was made of "same characters" and a "different cast." Aldo tells of how the church became a bit more lenient in the subsequent years after "the letter." However, after some time, the church then re-introduced their abusive practices and even introduced some new tactics. Tammy then tells us about the ci...
May 11, 2022•20 min•Season 2Ep. 17
Today we meet Tammy. Tammy is currently a liscensed therapist. Before, becoming a counselor she was a member of the ICOC. Like many of us, Tammy speaks of looking for a sense of belonging prior to joining the church. Tammy joined the organizaiton as a college student. While a member, Tammy describes her self as excited and happyt to be with the group. She also brought her parents and friends along as they too were baptized into the church upon Tammy introducing it to them. Nonetheless she left a...
May 08, 2022•21 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Eric tells us about leaving the organization. He explains the concept of being shunned by the members of the ICOC as he began to transition away from the church. After being a way from the church he began to live life on his terms. It during his time as a former member that Eric’s wife got invited to a bible talk. Eric explains to us his reaction to this. Eric mentions that when he left the church, he experienced some harships and he equated those hardshlps with leaving the church. The church ta...
May 06, 2022•24 min•Season 2Ep. 15
In the second part of our conversation with Eric, he begins to tell us about the red flags that he began to notice. However, like many of us, he ignored those red flags at the time that they presented themselves. Eric tells us how the indoctrination study called “sin and repentance” was a major red flag for him as it suppressed his ability to think critically. Eric begins to tell us when he began to consider leaving the organization. He also speaks about how the church would use the sharpest peo...
May 04, 2022•22 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Eric joined the teen ministry in Los Angeles in the year 2000 at the age of 14. Like many of us, Eric was looking for some positivity and community prior to becoming a member of the organization. The church offered Eric a place of refuge from the world around him; the church offered him a place to fit in. Eric describes his first encounter with the church and tells us what was like stepping into a diverse and welcoming environment. Eric describes his time with the teen minisitry and it being fil...
May 01, 2022•27 min•Season 2Ep. 13
In the third and final part of our conversation with Kathy, she begins to tell us how she began to leave the ICOC and why. Kathy explains that after leaving the organization, there was a lot for her to undo as she spent several years with the organization. 28 years after leaving the organization, Kathy now regards it as a cult although she did not have that sentiment before. Kathy also explains how life has been like for her after leaving. She describes overcoming physical ailments and battles w...
Apr 29, 2022•24 min•Season 2Ep. 12
In the second part to our conversation with Kathy, she begins to explain to us why the church felt the need to tell a large group of members to get rebaptized. The leaders of the church required certain members of certain churchs to do the indoctrication studies all over again before getting rebaptized. The church in Indianapolis split from the International Church of Christ in 1994 due to a disagreement in belief and policy. The leader of the church in Indianapolis made the decision to leave th...
Apr 27, 2022•27 min•Season 2Ep. 11
In this episode with meet Kathy from Indianapolis. Kathy is currently a life coach where she helps her clients do the best they can with what they have. She has been through much in her life, and now wants to help others to achieve the same type of perseverance. However, before becoming a life coach, Kathy was a member of the ICOC. She joined the Indianapolis Church of Christ in 1987 as a college freshman. She joined during the time of the church’s marked "reconstruction" period. Unlike many of ...
Apr 24, 2022•25 min•Season 2Ep. 10
