18
Book Reviews
Leaving the Witness:
Exiting a Religion and
Finding a Life
By Amber Scorah
Viking (Penguin Random House), New York, NY. 2019. ISBN-
10: 0735222541 $15.49 hardcover $14.99 Kindle (Amazon.com).
ISBN-13: 978-0735222540 288 pages.
Reviewed by Doug Duncan
One of the best ways to learn about and understand cultic
groups is by reading the stories of those who have left those
groups. An excellent example of such a story is Leaving the
Witness…, by Amber Scorah, in which she chronicles her life,
departure, and early recovery from her time as a Jehovah’s
Witness (JW).
Scorah and her husband were missionaries for the JW’s in the
city of Shanghai, inside communist China. She opens the book
with a description of some of her first impressions upon her
arrival inside this strange (to her) culture. Then, she skillfully
weaves her story back and forth, telling about her background
and how she grew up in the Jehovah’s Witnesses (JWs) in
Vancouver, Canada, in a dysfunctional family with an alcoholic
father.
Scorah does well as a Canadian ex-patriate living in China
because she becomes skilled in the language—perhaps even
more so than her husband and some of the other JWs living
there. She eventually has a podcast for English speakers who
are trying to learn the Chinese language and culture, but that
comes later in her time there. One suspects that Scorah’s natural
intelligence and curiosity have helped her along this path,
though she has little formal education, and she is probably
not even aware of how gifted she is. However, it is clear to any
reader of this well-written book that she is quite talented.
In the process of telling her story, Scorah has some interesting
reflections on how, as a JW, she was an outsider in her own
culture back in Canada, and how that standing relates to being
a Westerner living in China. Because their missionary activity in
China is illegal, the JWs there have to keep a very low profile.
Thus, they are not able to meet as often as they would in a
free country such as the United States or Canada, and that has
the ironic effect of loosening the level of control Scorah was
subjected to by the JWs. That circumstance left her with more
time to think and reflect about what she was doing there and
why. As she started to consider her life and mission in China,
the author began to question why God would have ignored a
people such as the Chinese, who have a history extending back
thousands of years with a culture, philosophy, and profound
religious thinking that rival those of the West.
Late in her time in-country, Scorah develops a transocean
email relationship with an American man, which affords her
an opportunity to begin to explore her doubts and misgivings
about her life and beliefs in the Witnesses. They have to be
careful in what they say because they assume their emails are
being monitored by the Chinese government so they come
up with euphemisms so they do not have to use words such as
Jehovah or Bible. I found Scorah’s descriptions of her life at this
time to be very interesting—and relatable for those of us who
have been through similar experiences in the process of leaving
cults—because, while she is busy exploring her doubts about
her faith and the loveless marriage in which she was trapped,
she is still teaching the Bible to several Chinese nationals and
indoctrinating them into the JWs.
Inevitably, her life eventually blows up as she decides to leave
the Witnesses, and she and her husband split. Of course, all
of her Witness friends shun her, and she is left all alone in a
foreign country. Nevertheless, she manages to survive and after
another year in China, she moves to the United States.
She well describes her struggles entering a culture that she was
estranged from, both by distance while she lived in China the
previous few years, and also by being part of an insular cultic
subculture for her entire life. She takes up residence in New York
City, where some incredibly sad and tragic things happen to
her. But the book is ultimately a tale about the triumph of the
human spirit, the inspiring tale of one courageous woman who
manages to overcome tremendous odds to embrace a life of
freedom. I enthusiastically recommend it, not just to former JWs,
but to former members of other cultic groups, as well. n
About the Reviewer
Doug Duncan, MS, LPC, was a member of an
aberrant religious group for more than twenty
years. After defying the cult leader and marrying
Wendy, they eventually left the cult and Doug
began the task of rebuilding his life. He enrolled
in a master’s program in counseling and earned a
degree and license to practice therapy. After working on their cult
recovery issues by reading all the available cult literature, attending
conferences, and becoming involved with ICSA, Doug and Wendy
started a ministry to increase others’ awareness and understanding
of cults. They are frequent presenters at churches, civic groups,
and conferences, and also facilitators of a support group for former
members of cults and high-demand groups. Additionally, Doug
offers individual counseling to former members. n
...the book is ultimately
a tale about the triumph of
the human spirit...
ICSA TODAY
I Will Disentangle Myself
… and Leave
By Bob Williston
LitFire Publishing, Atlanta, GA. 2018. ISBN-13: 978-1641514255
ISBN-10: 1641514256 $36.25 hardcover $16.76 paperback
(Amazon.com). 345 pages.
Reviewed by Joe Szimhart
In his introduction to I Will Disentangle Myself…, Bob Williston
lets us know that he is not writing a scholarly account rather,
his intent is to honestly clarify his defection from a relatively
obscure new religious movement when he “lost” his faith at
age 56 after four decades of devotion. The author has been
a teacher and a historian, so he was fully capable of writing
a scholarly account—indeed, he dips deep into scholarship
in later chapters—but he opts for reflection and self-analysis,
much like a diarist. The early chapters explore the intimate
interactions he and his family experienced with his religious
group that led to his decision to challenge the leadership
and risk excommunication. His story reads more like a careful
conversation at the kitchen table than a polished lecture.
Williston defected from a fundamentalist style of Christianity
variously known as “the Tramps,” Go-Preachers, Two-By-Twos, the
Truth, the Cooneyites, the Workers, and the Friends. His former
group claims to continue the true, primitive fellowship that Jesus
and his Apostles set in motion 2,000 years ago. Scotsman William
Irvine founded the Truth around 1897, after he had a born-again
experience in 1895 listening to a Presbyterian preacher, Rev.
John McNeill. Irvine joined Faith Mission in 1895 but got kicked
out for not properly following its disciplines. Irvine was inspired
by Matthew, Chapter 10 in the Gospel to restore true Christianity
by sending his converts two-by-two and without funds to spread
his new message. His converts were known as Friends, while
leaders were Workers. Friends and Workers held Truth meetings
in their homes. In line with most Fundamentalist denominations,
Irvine taught that “learning could prove a hindrance to truth”
(p. 128).
Wealth came into the movement through Irvine’s exhortation
for converts to sell everything they owned to be preachers
or Workers. The Friends were expected to support the
Workers. Managing money proved to be as problematic as
it would be in any church or cult. Factions developed over
subtle doctrinal conflicts early in the movement, with Eddie
Cooney’s followers forming one branch around 1928 thus, the
Cooneyites. Although the movement eschewed a priesthood
19 VOLUME 11 |ISSUE 1 |2020

10 20 ICSA TODAY
About the Reviewer
Joseph Szimhart began research into cultic
influence in 1980, after ending his 2-year devotion
to a New Age sect. He worked professionally as an
intervention specialist from 1986 through 1998.
He continues to assist people with cult-related
problems including consultations via phone
and Internet. In 2016 he received an ICSA Lifetime Achievement
Award at the Annual Conference in Dallas, Texas. Since 1998, he has
worked for an emergency psychiatric hospital as a crisis caseworker.
He maintains an art studio and exhibits professionally. His novel,
Mushroom Satori: The cult diary, was published in 2013, and his
memoir, Santa Fe, Bill Tate, and me: How an artist became a cult
interventionist, was published this year. n
with devotional buildings, a hierarchy soon developed, with
Overseers at the top regulating Workers around the world.
Before the Internet era, the ministry spread by word of mouth,
phone calls, and mail. A few critical books and articles about
the quiet movement appeared during the 20th century. For the
most part, Two-By-Twos, like Latter-Day Saints, blended well into
surrounding society and held common jobs, despite adherence
to some rigorous rules about having a plain appearance and
avoiding popular entertainment, television, and vices such as
drinking alcohol.
Williston was raised to believe that the Truth represented an
unbroken chain of Christian Workers since the Apostles. During
his struggle to resolve internal conflicts, he was shocked to
learn that the founder, Irvine, “died in the same year I was
born—1947” (p. 129). Although a moral dilemma sparked his
disgust with the Worker’s hypocrisies, Williston’s story mirrors a
much larger one: Fundamentalist reactions in all religions to the
emergence of Modernism, especially since the Enlightenment
or so-called Age of Reason. As science methods, inventions,
and theories expanded society’s views of time, space, history,
and culture, the “truth” in ancient, inspired scriptures came
into question. After his devotion shattered on moral grounds,
Williston was free to explore outside the Two-By-Two box—his
Bible became a work of literature and no longer a sacred object
inspired in English by an infallible deification, or a perfect idol,
of King James.
Williston turned to scholars such as Bart Ehrman to learn
how diverse Christianity had been from the very beginning.
He learned that there was no Bible until the 4th century,
under Emperor Constantine. All Christian arguments to find
prophecies for Jesus as Messiah in the Jewish Torah were either
highly flawed or downright mistaken. He turned to the Catholic
Encyclopedia to discover that the Jesus story attributed to St.
Luke, John, and others borrowed heavily from the ancient
Mithraic religion that Roman soldiers followed. Greek ideas
and Pagan rituals fed the formation of Christian theology and
praxis by the 1st century. He learned from Bible researcher
Bart Ehrman that seminarians learn to rationalize conflicts in
scripture and flaws in the Gospel tradition. Williston chose not
to rationalize he adopted an agnostic view and chose to live
with uncertainty. Modernism found another convert. The Two-
By-Twos may have been a comforting belief system as a guide
to his social life, but he could no longer abide by intellectual
hypocrisy. And at age 70, when he is writing this memoir, he
says he is happier for it.
As far as identifying the Truth of the Two-By-Twos as a cult is
concerned: Yes, it has some of the characteristics, he notes
but on page 309, he emphasizes: “The Truth is not a cult in the
newsworthy apocalyptic style. It is minimally cultic … as an
emotionally abusive and controlling cult.” My one criticism,
coming from my long career as a cult interventionist, is with
what he states on the next page, at the end of Chapter 24:
But one thing I will never do is encourage anyone
who is comfortable among the Friends and Workers
to leave. First of all, they’re comfortable and I don’t
believe they’re deceived into an eternity of damnation.
And pragmatically, you can’t convince a believer of
anything. (p. 310 italics are the author’s)
A true Modernist would avoid saying never in certain terms
when it comes to human choice in matters of the heart and
mind. The author might meet a truth Friend who could benefit
from a challenge someday, and thus be encouraged to step
aside from the group. In a way, Bob Williston has already done
enough to convince ambivalent believers to leave the Two-By-
Twos by writing this book. In my experience, believers in any
cult or religion have periods of ambivalence over time, just as
the author did. n
…his intent is to honestly clarify
his defection from a relatively
obscure new religious movement
when he “lost” his faith at age 56
after four decades of devotion.
Alan Scheflin, Professor Emeritus at Santa Clara University,
makes me cry.
Not on purpose, of course. He would never do that. At an
imposing 6’2”, he is a big, strong, teddy bear of a man, warm,
charming, and considerate in one-on-one conversation. His
talks and lectures are both enlightening and engaging.
Mr. Scheflin is an early supporter of ICSA, a past president, and
a current board member. The importance of his contribution to
the field of cultic studies cannot be overstated.
Among the highlights in his more than 40-page resume are
his BA with High Honors in Philosophy from the University
of Virginia, a JD with Honors from the George Washington
University School of Law, an LLM from Harvard University
Law School, and an MA in Counseling Psychology from Santa
Clara University. He has given more than a hundred talks
and lectures all over the world, received numerous awards
and honors, contributed chapters to books, and written or
cowritten six books. His Bar memberships include the US
Supreme Court and the District of Columbia. He has been an
expert witness or consultant in more than forty-five cases,
including the appeal of Sirhan Sirhan, who was convicted
of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, and in the trial of
Oklahoma bomber Timothy McVeigh. Alan’s resume concludes
with a personal letter of praise and congratulation from former
Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren E. Burger.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Alan began an ICSA talk he gave in New York in 2018 by
explaining that, early in his career in the 1960s, he managed
to get copies of writings that had been smuggled out of the
Soviet Union into the hands of Amnesty International. These
translated documents were the writings of dissidents who
had been taken into custody by the Russian government
and imprisoned in Russian mental hospitals for the specific
purpose of reprogramming their minds through techniques of
brainwashing, thought reform, and coercive persuasion. Many
of the dissidents were public intellectuals and writers, so this
method of silencing them was particularly sadistic.
At this early stage of the talk, which I watched remotely, I
panicked. The subject of mental hospitals is daunting for me:
I was born in a mental hospital where my mother had been a
patient for 7 years. Taken from her immediately, I nevertheless
have spent most of my life fearing I might also “go crazy.” The
image I had of what it meant to go crazy was the lunatic in
the tower room from Jane Eyre. I could never really look at
this aspect of my life. I could risk only quick, furtive glances or
sidelong gazes, never full-on. And so, at first, this discussion of
the absolute horror of Russian mental hospitals paralyzed me
with fear.
But there was something about Alan Scheflin’s solid, calm
presence that filled me with the confidence that it would be
all right to go on this perilous journey to the underworld. I felt
he was completely trustworthy and would hold my hand and
bring me back safely.
He shared that reading these smuggled missives, so awful, so
horrific, was frightening for him. Nevertheless, after reading
them, he resolved to make the study of mind manipulation
an important part of his life, which it has been for the past 50
years.
Alan’s work on government attacks on mental freedom
underwent a change in the 1980s when he was introduced to
ICSA. He learned that the techniques he had been studying
were being used in the private sector, and he resolved to find
a way to help victims of these carefully coordinated, individual
attacks on their mental freedom.
He explained that “remedies were not available because
courts had no interest in brainwashing.” To bring a case, you
must have a cause of action for which the court can grant
relief. Since courts would not recognize brainwashing as an
acceptable cause of action, Alan set himself the task of finding
one that the courts would recognize.
He succeeded when he hit upon the concept of undue
influence, which, he explained to us, was 500 years old. The
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Profile On...
Edited by Mary O’Connell
Alan Scheflin
VOLUME 11 |ISSUE 1 |2020
Who else but Alan Scheflin
could give you Doris Day in
the middle of Dante’s inferno?