This Week's Mail

From a 16-year-old in rural United States:

"... Im a lesbian. And im a Jehovah's Witness. And more recently, ive came across A LOT of homosexuals within the JW organization. And I just wanted to thank you for speaking out about something and I hope that I can sometime read it!"

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Just droping by to say hi. I'm so proud of the fact that there are so many ex-JW's "letting their light shine" and you are one of them. It's important for us "ex-Witnesses" to let our storys be heard because when someone is thinking about joining they only hear from JW's about living forever and all that horse-shit but they never hear about being cut of from their familys forever. I had one person message me this week who is thinking about joining. He had questions that he wanted to ask someone who was a JW. So I told him about disfellowshiping and he was like "wow, I didn't know". So Dan, I said it before and I'll say it again - Your book is a public service.

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About the informal Smurf ban of the 1980's:

"It sucked when mom made me stop watching them after all that possesed bullshit. GO SMURFS!!! (They are evil incarnate you know)"

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Responses to The Hour's review:


"A dark and seedy angst-ridden adolescent treatise at the expense of the Jehovah's Witnesses?!? Count me in - it may be a voyeuristic way to channel my exasperation with this pseudo-Christian cult but damn does this ever sound like a visceral coming of age punkish piece of pulp-fiction for the never-to-be converted!"

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The Jehovah's have consistently been prosecuted throughout their existence in Quebec. Now I'm not one to adhere to their beliefs but i recall that they can still hold religious freedom rights under our charter of rights and freedoms. Man consider the time in the 1950's when Jehovahs were jailed for "subversion" and thrown into jail (see R. v. Duplessis case). Punk rockers similarly fit this out casted grouping. No wonder this book can easily tie the two, it sounds like a tale of persecution.

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Let the punks wreak havoc in Jehovah's territory, the cult builds bastions that are probably tax free outside cities like Rome, secluded from the public eye while promoting their version of destiny: and thou shalt not receive blood from another person. They are as blind as they come when it comes to giving a newborn a chance to live, like the sextuplet case now before the courts. But why is it we only see the punks choice of drugs, unleashed sex and abuse as dark and the Jehovah's no transfusion dialogue as less sinister?That is because people are like sheep waiting to be herded by anyone that calls himself a messenger of the man upstairs. And if He wanted to appear, I don't think it would have been through all the proselytizing that goes on in and out of metro stations.

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"I was raised in this religion...and I don't have a comment on the book, but I would like to encourage all who have an interest in Jehovah's Witnesses to do some research on them. You can love Jehovah and be loved in return without being a JW. They are full of hypocrisy and false prophesies. When I finally allowed myself to look at this religion and what it teaches, I was surprised at all I didn't know about the false teachings. God bless all who really seek him."

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My favourite:

"This gives even more evidence that we ARE in the last days of this dark, evil system and that SATAN is working his hardest on the youth (and inexperienced). If this book disturbs you, count yourself worthy of God's love. Speak to one of Jehovah's Witnesses today or visit a local Kingdom Hall. The witnesses are the only TRUE religion and they offer FREE bible studies to ALL that are interested in learning what the bible tells of your future! You may choose the continued DARKNESS or you may choose the LIGHT!!"

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"Jehovah's Witnesses are a doomsday destructive cult who exploit and prey on our fears.Their core dogma is that Jesus had his second coming already in 1914 and is working 'invisibly' through their Watchtower organization."

Xtra and Hour Reviews!

Xtra Magazine, Toronto’s Gay and Lesbian Biweekly
January 18, 2007
Pulling down the Watchtower
Visceral teen drama set among Jehovah’s Witnesses
By Sandra Alland

“Montreal-based Cox is a wizard at character and dialogue. I was eventually drawn completely into Damian’s world, and didn’t look back. Cox knows how to write teen emotion and his prose has a sharp, poetic quality. His words bounce off the margins , then grind into your brain, painting pictures so visceral you can almost smell the boy sweat.”

“Tattoo This Madness In is a smartly penned slice of punk drama, a middle finger held high to mainstream society and writing. I can’t wait to see what Cox comes up with next.”

In Montreal's The Hour:

Inked beliefs
MJ Stone

"They're punk, they're filled with teenage angst, they're Jehovah's Witnesses gone wild. Tattoo This Madness In is a subversive ride into the heart of adolescent angst. An anti-Holden Caulfield, Damian Spitz is no catcher in the rye; on the contrary, he's torching the fields with gasoline. Hell-bent on Armageddon, Damian flips an anti-authoritarian finger at the jay-dub establishment, all the while corrupting its youth with forbidden sex, drugs, music and alcohol."

Click here to read the full review:

http://www.hour.ca/books/books.aspx?iIDArticle=11265

On Bodies rocks the 514

If you haven't heard of Montreal band On Bodies yet, get smart already. I don't want you to come crying to me when the wave catches you with your fishnets around your ankles.

With packed shows at L'Esco and Petit Campus, I'm going to get a Canadian Tire tent and get in line at the Bell Centre while I still can.

Check out On Bodies Myspace for audio clips, and info about their upcoming performance at the uber-huge Art Matters festival:

www.myspace.com/onbodies