Hollywood actor Luke Evans writes candidly in his memoir about his expertise rising up as a Jehovah’s Witness – and having to take care of non secular and homophobic prejudice.
Evans describes a childhood the place he was taunted by friends as a “Bible-basher”, and the way he endured homophobic bullying. He writes:
I used to be bullied for being homosexual earlier than I even understood what it meant. The worst nickname was “Jovey Bender”, as a result of it mixed two elements of my id that might by no means be reconciled. It wasn’t potential to be a “Jovey” and a “Bender” as a result of being homosexual was strictly forbidden by the faith.
As an educational who works on faith and sexualities, my newest analysis focuses on homosexual ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses, identified for his or her door-knocking evangelising, pique curiosity due to the closed nature of their group. They’re a fundamentalist and apocalyptic non secular group organised into congregations, overseen by male elders – girls usually are not permitted to be elders.
They confer with their beliefs and teachings as “the Reality”. There’s a governing physique, often called The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, which establishes all doctrine.
Condemnation
The Jehovah’s Witnesses have a particular social world. It’s an unique non secular group that tries to set itself other than up to date society and tradition. Analysis refers to Jehovah’s Witnesses as a “excessive price” non secular group, which implies it calls for a excessive stage of obedience from its followers – and homosexuality is condemned.
Evans’ interview follows two different memoirs by homosexual ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses. In 2020, Mendez’s semi-autobiographical guide Rainbow Milk was launched to vital acclaim. Three years later, Daniel Allen Cox’s memoir detailed the methods rising up as a Jehovah’s Witness formed him: “I spent eighteen years in a gaggle that taught me to hate myself. You can’t be queer and a Jehovah’s Witness – it’s one or the opposite.”
Cox has a degree. The explanation these homosexual males are thought of ex-Witnesses is that technically, one can’t be LGBTQ+ and a Jehovah’s Witness. Because the official technique of sharing Jehovah’s Witness beliefs, the journal The Watchtower explains:
They gladly conduct Bible research with homosexuals so these can be taught Jehovah’s necessities, and such individuals might attend conferences of the Witnesses to hear, however nobody who continues to apply homosexuality might be one among Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Evans’ interview recounts how he was terrified to go door knocking together with his dad and mom, in case one among his faculty bullies answered and hurled abuse at him. The teachings from the Witnesses affected his wellbeing. He recounts:
Each evening within the congregation they learn scriptures saying horrible issues about the way in which I used to be feeling and who I used to be probably turning into. All that was in my head was: if I don’t kind this out, I’m going to lose my mum and pop. I’m going to lose all the things I’ve ever identified and I’m additionally going to die at Armageddon, so I’m giving myself a dying sentence until I kind this out.
Significance of ex-member testimony
The one documented experiences we’ve about rising up LGBTQ+ as a Jehovah’s Witness comes from former members, like Evans, who’ve left – or been compelled to depart.
However there’s a double bind right here. There’s a historical past of resistance to accounts from those that have been compelled to depart, also known as “apostates” by the Witnesses. Ex-member testimony has typically – and wrongly, I argue – been discredited amongst students of faith, as I spotlight in my current analysis.
Most significantly for LGBTQ+ individuals, ex-member testimony is the one glimpse we get into the impact of spiritual instructing that’s hostile to non-heterosexual identities.
For LGBTQ+ former Witnesses, biography and memoir is a device that enables them to jot down themselves into existence. Others, who’re negotiating or navigating an exit from a high-cost faith, want these tales to assist make sense of their very own lives and experiences.
Making an exit
The tactic of exit is necessary. The phrases “disfellowshipping”, “disassociation”, and “fading” characterize totally different strategies of exiting a spiritual organisation. Disfellowshipping entails the compelled elimination of a congregation member, typically ensuing of their ostracism and shunning by the neighborhood.
Jehovah’s Witness teachings describe disfellowshipping as a “loving provision” that “protects the clear, Christian congregation”.
Disassociation is when a Witness voluntarily resigns from the organisation, usually by a proper written request. For LGBTQ+ individuals, disfellowshipping or disassociation typically results in being labelled as “sexually immoral”, ensuing of their expulsion and subsequent shunning by the congregation, together with their shut family and friends.
In distinction, fading is a extra gradual and discreet method, permitting Witnesses to distance themselves with out going by the formal processes of disfellowshipping or disassociation. This technique might be particularly necessary for many who want to preserve relationships with household and mates nonetheless concerned within the organisation, because it doesn’t contain an official elimination.
Exit – compelled or voluntary – for LGBTQ+ former Witnesses leads to various vulnerabilities regarding housing, finance, emotional and psychological misery amongst different dangers to wellbeing. Psychologists, resembling Heather Ransom, have researched the cumulative impact on wellbeing for many who depart the Jehovah’s Witnesses, describing this course of as “grief”.
In an interview with the Guardian, Evans recounts how he didn’t see a viable choice in reconciling his religion and sexuality. This sentiment underpins the urgency for analysis about how strict, conservative non secular frameworks can stifle private id, particularly for kids and younger people who find themselves LGBTQ+.
