CultNEWS101 Articles: 6/27/2025 (Shunning, Jehovah's Witnesses, Norway, Book, MISA, 2x2)

Shunning, Jehovah's Witnesses, Norway, Book, MISA, 2X2

Stop Mandated Shunning: What next in Norway? An interview with Jan Frode Nilsen

" ... Jan Frode Nilsen [offers] an insightful update on the evolving situation in Norway. Jan shares why he remains optimistic that mandated shunning by Jehovah's Witnesses will eventually be consigned to history. He also offers thoughtful guidance on the journey from victim to survival—and ultimately, to thriving after leaving Jehovah's Witnesses."

Freedoms Embrace

"This is a true account about a couple who met and fell in love while being members of the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society. Jehovah's Witnesses. Both born into the religion in separate geographical areas. As children they grew up within this secretive and highly controlled environment. From babies they were repetitively taught that they, "were no part of the world". The world outside of their true religion was evil and controlled by Satan himself and it was imperative to remain vigilant from Satan and his demons as he looks to entice you from the Organisation and into his world that leads to total destruction.

Marc and Cora were both divorced. Marc had left the religion at 15 and joined the forces. Partly to escape his abusive alcoholic Jehovah's Witness father. Cora remained inside the religion and was eventually married at 20 to a man whose father was a Presiding Overseer within their congregation. A powerful senior position locally and closely connected to the policing and rigid controls at the behest of the hierarchy in London and the USA HeadQuarters.

Cora's divorce did not meet the religions scriptural requirements, this led the hierarchy to decree that she was no longer free to marry anyone else. To go against this decree and marry again would lead to a world of patriarchal judgments, punishment and eventual shunning from all she knew and loved. The risks were very high when she met Marc who moved into the congregation and was trying to repent and be accepted back within the fold. The very close observations placed on Marc because of his past were very real, surrounded in suspicion and mistrust of him. Cora too was under strict control and scrutiny by the elders of her congregation. Marc had a long way to go before being accepted back as a fully fledged Jehovah's Witness. The story goes on to tell how they eventually take risks to court each other, fall in love, then marry against the will of the whole community and the pain they experienced for three years as a result.

This is a story about Love, fear, control, punishment, endurance and learning to rely on each other. The story covers other characters whose names have all been changed, who tried their very best to cause as much harm as possible to Marc and Cora. They are both eventually disfellowshipped (banished) from the religion. No one is allowed to talk to them again, they are dead in the eyes of all Jehovah's Witnesses. From this point onwards they are determined to prove Cora was free to marry all along and so they go to every meeting at the Kingdom Hall with their two youngest children for three years while being shunned slandered and hated and without a single word being said to them in the Kingdom Hall (church). The story eventually vindicates their marital position, where more lies are exposed about how the elders held back vital information from the couple. After three long enduring years they are reinstated and everyone loves them again. But for Marc and Cora they are totally burnt with the experience and plan their resignation from the religion for good. Leaving behind family and their childhood indoctrination. After much intensive research of the religion that had controlled their lives for so long they decided to become activists and are known worldwide for their work in supporting other JWs who are in trouble with the organisation. The work has led to many true friends being made around the world and in some cases led to suicide prevention."

ExMISA: Bivolaru is hidden behind the panties of "sacred eroticism"

LAURA MCCONNELL: Doesn't she know the baby is teething?

" ... I've written and spoken on violence within Truth 2x2 and fundamentalist (mainly rural) communities for a while now, predominantly in women's magazines. Every time I've published a piece; I've carefully crafted around disclosing too much of my own story. Underpinning my writing on violence in these communities is a very real, lived experience.

If you've been around here awhile, you'll know I was trying to protect my own family. I know the experiences the women in my family survived. I have a deep respect and understanding that their lives were difficult. I have never wanted to cause more harm or distress by naming what they've done to contribute to violence.

However, this piece is to say: I'm done. I want to talk specifics about the violence.

I grew up surrounded by violence, coercion and abuse. Some of it was perpetrated by women. That is a difficult and extremely nuanced conversation in a culture where men perpetrate the majority of violence, and where the manosphere likes to accuse women of equal levels of violence as a deflection technique. I want to be clear here – my talking about women who abuse should not be used to deflect from the very real issue of men's use of violence.

What I'm writing on here is nuanced – these women are abusing in the context of high control, high demand, cult communities. These communities allow (encourage in my opinion) women to use violence on their children.

Violence and abuse by the women in my family still flares up in my life. Often after I've had something published in mainstream media, one or more of them will reach out in email or via DM's on social media, with paragraphs of vitriolic hate mail. Right now there is content galore to flare them up – a Decult documentary released which includes me. A Victorian inquiry into cults and fringe groups, which I'm playing an active part in. They can find information about me and my work unsolicited in their social media feeds, and it's quite upsetting for them, it seems.

What they could do is be proud when this information about me crosses their paths. They could think 'How amazing is it that one of OUR OWN is breaking intergenerational cycles?'

Instead they lash out."

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

CultMediation.com   

Intervention101.com to help families and friends understand and effectively respond to the complexity of a loved one's cult involvement.

CultRecovery101.com assists group members and their families make the sometimes difficult transition from coercion to renewed individual choice.

CultNEWS101.com news, links, resources about: cults, cultic groups, abusive relationships, movements, religions, political organizations, and related topics.

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The selection of articles for CultNEWS101 does not imply that Patrick Ryan or Joseph Kelly endorse the content. We provide information from multiple perspectives to foster dialogue.

Please forward articles that you think we should add to cultintervention@gmail.com.

What next in Norway? An interview with Jan Frode Nilsen

Stop Mandated Shunning: What's Next in Norway? An interview with Jan Frode Nilsen

" ... Jan Frode Nilsen [offers] an insightful update on the evolving situation in Norway. Jan shares why he remains optimistic that mandated shunning by Jehovah's Witnesses will eventually be consigned to history. He also offers thoughtful guidance on the journey from victim to survival—and ultimately, to thriving after leaving Jehovah's Witnesses."

https://youtu.be/683bDb47UJE?si=kjMsY2HZA5B0iwlK

CultNEWS101 Articles: 11/27/2024 (Scientology, John Smyth, South Africa, Norway, Jehovah's Witnesses, Legal, Deprogramming)

Scientology, John Smyth, South Africa, Norway, Jehovah's Witnesses, Legal, Deprogramming

Journal  IE: Reports of Church of Scientology recruiting asylum seekers 'deeply concerning', says O'Gorman

"MINISTER FOR INTEGRATION Roderic O'Gorman has said that reports of the Church of Scientology recruiting asylum seekers to volunteer for the church under the guise of helping them with their applications for international protection is "exploitation" and "deeply concerning".

This morning, The Irish Times reported that the controversial church had recruited numerous asylum seekers residing at the tented accommodation in Crooksling to leaflet and volunteer in the church.

The volunteers received certificates for their participation and were told that this volunteer work would aid them in their applications for international protection."

News4: Church in South Africa reeling from John Smyth abuse scandal

Allegations of a cover up of decades of abuse by John Smyth has sparked debate within the Anglican Church in South Africa where Smyth spent the final two decades of his life.

Stop Mandated Shunning: Norwegian Court to Hear Landmark Case Against Jehovah's Witnesses in February 2025

"A historic appeal case will take place at the Oslo Appeal Court from February 3-14, 2025, with critical testimonies scheduled for February 7 and 10. This case, brought by Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) against the Norwegian State, has the potential to reshape how mandated shunning is understood and addressed legally.

The Norwegian State previously revoked JW's status as a recognized religion, stripping the organization of annual financial support of approximately €1.6 million. This decision was largely driven by the efforts of Jan Frode Nilsen, a former Jehovah's Witness and a victim of mandated shunning, who courageously brought the issue to the attention of Norwegian authorities. Through his tireless advocacy, Jan provided the State with insight into the harmful practices of mandated shunning, amplifying the voices of victims who often suffer in silence. His work has made it clear that this is not merely a local issue but a global one, affecting hundreds of thousands of individuals worldwide.

Now, Jehovah's Witnesses are appealing the State's decision for the third time in five years, claiming procedural reforms. However, victims and advocates, including Jan, maintain that these changes do little to address the systemic harm caused by mandated shunning."

From Deprogramming to Thought Reform Consultation - Patrick Ryan, Carol Giambalvo, Joseph Kelly, Hana Whitfield

"  ... In the 1980s many attempts were made by individuals doing interventions to get together to find ways to improve our profession and ourselves. But a difficulty arose in the definition of exit counseling and deprogramming. Some helping organizations at the time contributed to that confusion by maintaining a position that there was voluntary and involuntary exit counseling and voluntary and involuntary deprogramming. As a result, without the ability to establish a clear-cut definition, at those meetings people who called themselves exit counselors but were doing involuntary deprogramming could not be excluded and our work to establish ethical guidelines and a more professional approach spun its wheels, so to speak. A group of individuals who had committed themselves to voluntary interventions only began to meet regularly to share ideas and information and to develop Ethical Standards. We formed an organization of Thought Reform Consultants and eventually published our Ethical Standards. Those Ethical Standards were patterned after the Ethical Codes or Standards of the following organizations:

•        American Association for Marriage & Family Therapy
•        National Association of Social Workers
•        Standards for the Private Practice of Clinical Social Work
•        American Psychiatric Association
•        National Academy of Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselors

We worked diligently to combine those standards with some uniquely necessary to our profession. And we owe our gratitude to the following advisors for their professional support and encouragement:

•        Margaret Singer, Ph. D.
•        Michael Langone, Ph. D.
•        Herbert Rosedale, Esq.
•        David Bardin, Esq. and Livia Bardin, M.S.W.
•        Bill Goldberg, M.S.W. & Lorna Goldberg, M.S.W.
•        Paul Martin, Ph. D.

Thought reform consultation involves much, much more family preparation. It is necessary for a 2-3 day, sometimes more, formal family preparation involving all members of the family team and all thought reform consultant team members. This formal preparation accomplishes the following:

•        The family team experiences how they work together under pressure and how the thought reform consultants work together
•        Enables the thought reform consulting team to observe how the family works together under pressure and who may or may not be appropriate for major roles in the intervention
•        Improves family communication with the group member
•        Enables the family to understand the culture of the group, its teachings and how thought reform techniques impact the group member
•        Prepares the family for how to communicate in the intervention and what practical arrangements should be made
•        Emphasizes the recovery process and their responsibility in it
•        Emphasizes the seriousness of an intervention and all its repercussions
•        Facilitates the family in making a fully informed decision about doing an intervention

Thought reform consultation involves even more assessment, as you see — and places much more responsibility on the family. They realize that a team is not just going to come in and perform some magical process and things will forever be okay.

In both exit counseling and thought reform consulting, the purpose of the intervention is not to get someone out of a cult. While that may be a desired outcome, the purpose is to give the group member the information that enables them to make a fully informed choice."

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

CultEducationEvents.com

CultMediation.com   

Intervention101.com to help families and friends understand and effectively respond to the complexity of a loved one's cult involvement.

CultRecovery101.com assists group members and their families make the sometimes difficult transition from coercion to renewed individual choice.

CultNEWS101.com news, links, resources.

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The selection of articles for CultNEWS101 does not mean that Patrick Ryan or Joseph Kelly agree with the content. We provide information from many points of view to promote dialogue.

Please forward articles that you think we should add to cultintervention@gmail.com.

Jehovah’s Witnesses ease shunning rules after blow in Oslo court

Evert van Vlastuin 

CNE.news

April 24, 2024

Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide have eased the discipline for youth members after “serious wrongdoing”. The new guideline came within two weeks after the decision of the Oslo District Court in Norway to strip the Jehovahs of their official status as a registered faith community.

The faith community seems to be trying to get a better position in the appeal case in Norway. The community came under attack for its rigid rules regarding discipline to “baptised minors”.

Among Jehovah’s Witnesses, it is usual that children choose for baptism between 12 and 16 years. Religiously, they are seen as responsible members than, who can be disciplined. There have been cases of “disfellowship” after “serious wrongdoing”, resulting in “shunning”, isolation and contact bans. For individuals and families, this can be rigid and feel like psychological violence.

For the Norwegian state, this practice is controversial because those “baptised minors” are legally still kids. The state feels responsible for protecting the minors. After complaints of psychological violence, the authorities decided in 2021 to rip the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Norway from the legal status, which they had since 1985. According to experts, this is the first time a faith community lost its legal position in Norway.

This registration in Norway gives access to huge amounts of state subsidies. The monetary support is about NOK 16 million (1.3 million euros) every year. Over three years, together with interest, the JW demanded NOK 50 million (4.3 million euros).

With the de-registration, the Jehovah’s Witnesses also lost the right to perform civil marriages. Traditionally, marriages were performed by the Lutheran state church. Nowadays, all recognised faith communities (including the Humanist Society) can perform civil marriage.

Jehovah's Witnesses evangelising. Photo Jehovah's Witnesses 

Norwegian Jehovah's Witnesses demand subsidy despite their loss of religious status

The JW community in Norway –which consists of 12,000 members in 700 local congregations– went to court about the decision. The public sessions in court took two weeks in January.

Dozens of people involved came to testify how significant the damage of exclusion had been for them. Others came to tell of the fear of being excluded from the community in which they had lived and, therefore, remained within the community anyway. Some people told of years of pressure that led to lifelong emotional impact.

The conclusion was clear: disfellowship and shunning exist. However, legally, the central question was whether this is part of the community’s freedom of belief or whether it restricts the freedom of those (minors) involved. And could it be a ground for de-registration? This is a new field since this is the first group that has been ripped off registration.

On March 4th, the judges confirmed the state’s position. On March 28th, the Jehovah’s announced the appeal.

“Simple greeting”

Before the appeal was made known, another announcement came from JW: “Adjustments to handling serious wrongdoing in the congregation”.

The new rules published in a video mid-March include a softening of the contact ban. Members may use their “Bible-trained conscience” to decide on a “simple greeting” to a person removed from the congregation. It is no longer expected “to ignore him completely”.

Members of Jehovah's Witnesses during a mass christening in a stadion. Photo EPA, Marcin Obara

Jehovah's Witnesses see "great increase” in baptisms

According to a confidential document that leaked to the critical platform Jehovahs-Witness.com, the discipline of baptised minors has been liberalised even further. From now on, only two elders meet with the person and his parents or guardians. Before, this was a committee. The elders “will exercise patience as they work with the parents to understand the minor’s attitude”. After this, they cooperate with the parents “to assist their child”.

Before, there was just one meeting, after which the committee decided within two hours whether to take steps to “disfellowship” or not.

Haste

The new measures have been introduced with unusual haste. Usually, there is more time and rest in the procedure. That is remarkable because the organisation defended the then-current practice of disfellowship as Biblical last December. A German lawyer who himself is part of the Jehovah’s Witnesses thinks it difficult not to see the connection with the Oslo court decision.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses claim to have been active in Norway since the 1890s. In the early 1980s, they applied for registration. In those days, this was controversial within the community, since by doing that the Jehovahs would accept to be placed on the same level with other churches. However, the advantage was clear: the group would receive the same money as the state church and other groups.

Also, the Jehovah’s Witnesses have an official registration in other countries, like Germany and Italy. However, the conditions and profits differ from country to country.

Disinformation

In Norway, the court case has been characterised as the most important judicial procedure about religious freedom in decades. Spokesman Jørgen Pederson of the Jehovah’s Witnesses does not speak to the press but distributes a written statement after the decision. The decision by the judges about the “State’s offensive allegation” is “deeply disappointing”, Pederson writes. The state could “not provide a single verified example of a victimised child”. For him, this judgement confirms that Jehovah’s Witnesses are “often victims of disinformation”.

The case will continue in the appeal stages. Experts find it likely that the case might end in Strasbourg at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

Norwegian court maintains Jehovah's Witnesses’ ban on sealing marriage

Reactions to the court’s decision were of two types. First, some welcomed the verdict. Freedom of religion can never be absolute, and the state must curtail long-term wrongdoings. They were not impressed by Pederson’s comment that there was “no single verified example” of abuse.

Several academics stated that the freedom of religion is not at stake here since the Witnesses can still hold fast to their interpretation of the Scriptures and teach this in their gatherings. The scope of disciplinary action is limited, but that is because the rights of others are at stake.

A second group of reactions is much more critical. They do not defend the practice of shunning but still think that this should be protected legally. The Baptist Standard, for instance, guessed that Norway might lose its reputation for human rights because of this intervention in the religious liberty.

Also, Willy Fautré, director of the Brussels-based organisation Human Rights Without Frontiers, is concerned. “We see that there are more and more attempts in Europe by state institutions to interfere and intrude into the teachings and practices of religious groups, which is forbidden by the European Convention.”

Dmitry Dolzhikov and his wife. Photo Jehovah's Witnesses

Russian Jehovah's Witness sentenced to forced labour

The editor of the Christian daily Dagen, Vebjørn Selbekk, wrote in January that this case does intervene in the free interpretation of Scripture, since the understanding of discipline is a theological issue.

He finds it cowardly to take on the Witnesses now. They have no friends or allies in the Norwegian society. And since they are not voting, there is no political risk in doing this either. “But precisely in such cases, when the great majority applauds and rejoices that a religious community loses its rights, there is a special reason to be vigilant”, Selbekk wrote. “That’s how they do it in countries we don’t usually like to be compared to.”

The professor in the Study of Religion at the University of Oslo, Dr. Dag Øistein Endsjø, is critical too, he says in an interview with CNE.news. “The state must guarantee equality. Suppose the state recognises one community and not the other. In that case, there is differential treatment that must be justified. This goes about tax money as well. As far as I can see, the state has not proven that such unequal treatment is justified, and thus, this may be a case of discrimination in relation to religious freedom.”

For Endsjø, it is “hard to deduce from the material” that the religious groups violate the rights of children. “If, however, this really was proven, the state would, according to its duty to always protect the best interest of the child, have to do much more to stop this practice than just withdrawing the registration and letting the rest go.”

Oslo District Court building. Photo Jehovah's Witnesses 

Norwegian Jehovah's Witnesses lose temporary right to marry couples

According to Endsjø, one must always have the human rights protection of the autonomy of the faith community in mind. General rules on various forms of equality do, for instance, not apply within the theological dealings of a church. “The state does not have the right to enforce its own vision upon a religious group. If that was the case, the Norwegian state could even have made the Roman Catholics accept female priests.”

https://cne.news/article/4220-jehovahs-witnesses-ease-shunning-rules-after-blow-in-oslo-court

Norwegian court maintains Jehovah's Witnesses' ban on sealing marriage

Northern Europe
CNE.news

July 27, 2023

The Jehovah's Witnesses in Norway will not get a temporary license to perform marriages. They lost this right last year, and two courts already refused their appeal.

The Norwegian Jehovah's Witnesses have been engaged in court cases for about a year already. Last year, the Norwegian authorities ruled that the community would lose all its state subsidies, its registration as a religious community and the right to seal marriages. That is reported by Vart Land. The reason for the measures is the exclusionary practice of the Witnesses for someone who leaves the community.

However, as the Jehovah's Witnesses disagree with this decision, they have started a legal battle. Next January, the Oslo court will look at the case.

Licence

In December, the Jehovah's Witnesses succeeded in getting a temporary license to seal marriages. However, the state successfully appealed this decision and the license was withdrawn again, Dagen reports.

Now, the Witnesses want to get a temporary registration as a religious community so they can seal marriages, at least until January. Until now, their request has been refused, first by the Oslo District Court and now by the Borgarting Court of Appeal.

Furthermore, the community has to pay about 16,000 NOK (almost 1,500 euros) for legal expenses.

Religious freedom

Fabian Fond, who is the spokesman for the Jehovah's Witnesses, says to be disappointed with the ruling of the court. "The Norwegian authorities' attempt to deregister Jehovah's Witnesses as a religious community is a litmus test for the protection of religious freedom in Norway." He says to be confident that the judge will restore the rights of the community in January when the case will be considered.

https://cne.news/article/3409-norwegian-court-maintains-jehovah-s-witnesses-ban-on-sealing-marriage

Norwegian Jehovah's Witnesses lose temporary right to marry couples

Northern Europe
CNE.news

May 5, 2023

The Oslo district court has stripped the community of Jehovah's Witnesses of their right to seal marriages. They lose their temporary registration as a religious community.

As a consequence, they can also no longer receive subsidies from the government, Vart Land reports. In addition, they have to pay the costs of the legal procedure, which amount to 240,000 NOK (over 20,000 euros). At the same time, the community is allowed to keep practising its faith.

Nevertheless, the Jehovah's Witnesses are disappointed with the ruling. Earlier, they had attempted to fight the government's decision to withdraw their subsidies and registration as a religious community.

Their lawyers went to court at the end of last year to request a temporary registration as a religious community so they could continue sealing marriages as long as the final decision about their registration was pending. At the end of December, the judge granted them this request. However, with the new ruling, this benefit is also immediately revoked.

Legal battle

The legal procedure around the Jehovah's Witnesses started when the Norwegian State Administrator ruled that the community violated the Religious Communities Act on free expression by their exclusionary practice. When a member decides to break with the community and the faith, he or she is shunned and socially isolated. Children are not exempted from this exclusionary practice. Therefore, the State Administrator also ruled that the Jehovah's Witnesses violated children's rights. Therefore, the governmental body decided that the community should no longer be registered as a religious community.

Theology

Lawyer Anders Stray Ryssdal, who represented the Jehovah's Witnesses in court, says that the decision is a big disappointment for the community, Dagen reports. During the court case, he stated that "no other religious community has been stripped of its status due to the state's assessment of belief and practice. No one else has had their theology censored the way Jehovah's Witnesses are exposed."

In an e-mail to Vart Land, the lawyer writes that "the court itself states that the loss of the right to marry is a strong intervention. However, the court does not find that other harmful effects, such as increased stigmatisation, are due to loss of registration. We disagree with that."

Confident

The court case will be decided later as judges still need to look at the case in its entirety, Anders Stray Ryssdal points out. "We will now carefully study the ruling on the temporary injunction and decide on the question of an appeal against it. What is clear, however, is that the main case will go ahead as planned later this year, which is very important."

Jehovah's Witnesses spokesperson Fabian Fond is disappointed by the decision; he writes in an e-mail to Dagen. At the same time, he states that the community is "confident that they will win the next battle when the case goes to court later this year."

https://cne.news/article/3012-norwegian-jehovah-s-witnesses-lose-temporary-right-to-marry-couples

Jehovah's Witnesses Norway will lose state support

Northern Europe
CNE.news

October 14, 2020

Norwegian Jehovah's Witnesses will not get their grant from 2021. The Ministry of Children and Families decided so after the community appealed the ruling of the State Administrator in March this year.

"The Ministry of Children and Families concluded that the Jehovah's Witnesses' exclusion practice towards children under 18 and corresponding consequences for children who opt out of the religious community violates children's rights." That is what the Ministry wrote in an e-mail to Vart Land. The decision is now final and cannot be appealed.

In January, the State Administrator of Norway denied the community of Jehovah's Witnesses subsidies for 2021, which amounted to 16 million NOK (approximately 1.5 million euros). The reason for this grant withdrawal was the community's exclusionary practices, Dagen writes.

When a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses decides to step out or loses his or her faith, the Jehovah's Witnesses socially exclude him or her. Members are forbidden to have contact with the person concerned. The State Administrator argued that this practice violates the Religious Society Act, as earlier reported by CNE.news. The State also feared that children are at risk of social isolation. The fact that unbaptised children are exposed to social isolation can be seen as negative social control, the State Administrator wrote in January, according to Vart Land.

The Jehovah's Witnesses appealed this ruling in March, claiming that other courts worldwide have regularly ruled that the exclusionary practice is a legal, religious procedure that "is protected by the freedom of religion and freedom of assembly."

The religious community is disappointed by the decision of the Ministry of Children and Families. They told Dagen they would review the decision and decide what to do next.

https://cne.news/artikel/1837-jehovah-s-witnesses-norway-will-lose-state-support