Jack Clarke’s life
was turned upside down when his parents decided to leave the Jehovah’s
Witnesses.
By Jemma Cullum
A few months
after leaving the life he’d known until he was 15, Jack Clarke and his family
decided to celebrate their first Christmas.
“After a few months of not being in the religion, we decided
that we wanted to celebrate a Christmas. My grandparents told us to delete any
evidence that we had celebrated. We didn’t, because we felt like this was our
choice and we should not live our life around them anymore.”
“I felt like
my grandparents had died, as there was no warning for communication to stop. The
last conversation I had with them was my grandad shouting at me down the
phone, telling us we were being ‘stupid’ and then he hung up and I’ve never
spoke to him since. This makes me feel angry to this day because the religion
teaches you to have family happiness, yet they chose the religion over their
own family.”
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| Jack Clarke, with his grandparents before leaving Jehovah's Witnesses |
When he was in the religion his life become dictated by the rules he was told to follow, making him very different to other kids at school.
“A couple of times a week I would have to go round and knock
on peoples doors and tell them why they should be a Jehovah’s Witness. Looking back
this made me feel used because at the age of 5, I was made to knock on peoples doors. They knew people were more likely not to be rude to a child.”
“I remember in primary school, when we were told to read a
book for an hour a day I would bring my Bible and read that just because it
would prove I was committed. I’d often get bullied at school for being
different because I couldn’t take part in religious studies, as I was not
allowed to learn about different beliefs.”
Now 19 year’s
old, it’s been 4 years since his father sat him down and told him they would
be leaving the religion, which was a scary thought for a boy who was
born into it and didn’t know any other world.
“The minute he told me we were leaving I didn’t believe he
was being serious. I screamed at him and started crying. At this point I felt
broken, as everything I had could disappear. I felt I wouldn’t have anything
left.”
A few years on, since leaving
the religion, which he says trapped him, he’s finally been able to live his
life to the full. Being a Jehovah’s Witness means following strict rules, for
Jack the biggest one was not being able to celebrate Birthdays.
“My parents
have a joke that I’m only 4 because I’ve technically celebrated 4 Birthdays so
they even brought me a caterpillar cake, which I liked so I can’t really
complain.”
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