Did Jehovah’s Witness shunning drive young Brit towards Islamic extremist radicalization?

Brusthom Ziamani was radicalized weeks after being ejected from home by his JW parents
Brusthom Ziamani was radicalized weeks after being ejected from home by his JW parents

UK newspapers are reporting that a young British man, who has been found guilty of plotting to behead a soldier, was radicalized into Islamic extremism after being kicked out of his home by his Jehovah’s Witness parents.

Brusthom Ziamani, from Camberwell in South London, was raised by Congolese parents. His mother is a nursery nurse, and his father a psychiatric nurse. In his hearing at the Old Bailey it emerged that the 19-year-old had a “strict religious upbringing” against which he rebelled, getting involved in boxing, parkour and rap music. He also began stealing credit cards and went to a “play house” to have sex with prostitutes.

But Ziamani claims it was his love of rap music that drew him towards Islam. He converted in the Spring of 2014 and would hide his Islamic robes from his father when he went home. But after his father found images of people in Islamic clothing on his phone he was confronted, at which point his father is alleged to have thrown a bible at him.

Given an ultimatum to either stay and abide by the family’s rules or leave home in pursuit of his newfound faith, Ziamani chose the latter option. He thereafter found himself sleeping at a flat that served as a focal point for members of the banned group Al-Muhajiroun who were followers of Anjem Choudary – a hate cleric.

Things quickly escalated from there, and Ziamani was radicalized into extremist ideology within weeks. He came to idolize the killers of Drummer Lee Rigby, a British soldier who was beheaded in a gruesome attack on the streets of London in May 2013. He was stopped while on his way to carry out a similar atrocity after he showed his weapons to his ex-girlfriend and told her of his plans.

Few people are aware that shunning of people who leave the faith is an intrinsic element of life as a Jehovah’s Witness – even if the “apostate” happens to be a member of your own family. Witness parents are repeatedly coerced in Watchtower literature to believe that casting out their wayward children is a loving form of discipline. But in this case, it would seem that the severing of family bonds through shunning has had an unintended and devastating consequence – that of sending an impressionable young man into the arms of extremists.

 

 

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55 thoughts on “Did Jehovah’s Witness shunning drive young Brit towards Islamic extremist radicalization?

  • February 20, 2015 at 4:09 am
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    Here you have a kid who both his parents worked full-time, probably, and were Jehovah’s Witnesses. How much time did they spend with this boy? They didn’t know he was involved with Islam until they saw pictures on his cell phone so it seems like he had been really neglected by his parents and was looking for people who would give him attention.

    When kids rebel like that, I think most of the time, it’s to show their parents just how much they hate the parents for how they neglected them when they were growing up as much as anything.

    • February 20, 2015 at 9:57 am
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      I agree, my dad, before becoming a JW would work allot yes but he would also find quite some time to play with us, videogames, family trips, or just talking, now his whole life is preaching, hates it when we play videogames and has no time for family trips, he sold his business to pioneer and ever since well its all he does, and now he knows nothing of his children. We have confronted him about many things, one time he said “i would listen to the WT even if it contradicted the bible” it just confirms what cedars says about JW’s having the WT being God himself.

  • February 20, 2015 at 5:28 am
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    Austin Powers voice: Who throws a bible?!

  • February 20, 2015 at 6:39 am
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    The kid was trouble and in trouble, even before he was shunned. The newspaper article is of no use to condemn the Watchtower or its shunning policy. It’s quite possible that the kid would have been thrown out of the house by other parents, religious or non religious.

  • February 20, 2015 at 6:42 am
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    Anonymous

    I kind of agree with what you are saying, but even children who have a lot of time spent on them, can just go off the rails. Not knowing the actual circumstances as to why both parents were working, it is unfair to blame them. Some kids can get loads of attention and still demand more. Even children who get loads of attention hide things from their parents. There is only so much a parent can do. Never underestimate the power of external influence. I feel more inclined to blame the org, not the parents.

  • February 20, 2015 at 6:46 am
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    Could be, but troubled kids are not given the right help they need within the JW’s. Pray to Jehovah? Don’t turn to the outside world for help?

  • February 20, 2015 at 7:23 am
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    This would be the second known extreme Islamist that had Jehovah’s Witness ties. The point here is that Witnesses plead for tolerance and always have when there religious views are not accommodated. Yet, in reality, they have no tolerance or accommodation (respect) for other person’s inalienable right to chose their spiritual path, or lack of a spiritual path. Rather than show tolerance for a child and accommodate their religious values, the child was thrown like fresh meat to the wolves.

  • February 20, 2015 at 8:01 am
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    @FEELINGSICKTOMYSTOMACH. I am sorry if it seemed like I was blaming the parents. I also worked so I know how hard it can be to be a good parent and work full time too and be a JW. There is so much work to be done in the house when you get home from work and then with being a JW besides, it doesn’t leave much time for the kids. When my kids were having the worst time of being a kid, is when I was working full-time and I know they felt neglected so I am speaking from first hand experience.

    What I was talking about is when I see kids that have rebelled over the years and left and got disfellowshipped, it was against the parents as much as the Society because a lot of these parents put the Society ahead of their own families and the parents expected that the children would understand but they didn’t and didn’t feel loved as much as the Society was loved and lots of times, the parents will spend more time with trying to convert strangers than they will spend time with their own kids and if the dad is an elder, then he has to spend so much time with congregation stuff.

    But when the kids got old enough, to me it was like a deliberate slap in the face against the parents when they left and went off the deep end.

    I also think he was very troubled before he got kicked out of the house but kicking him out of the house, certainly didn’t help the situation.

  • February 20, 2015 at 8:24 am
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    I had a bible thrown at me by my husband in the kingdom hall. He was seen by others doing this and nothing was ever said to him about it. I agree that getting angry with your child and telling him to leave the house is the wrong thing to do and not very Christian.

  • February 20, 2015 at 8:49 am
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    Pressure to conform to an extreme religious JW, regime,
    caused this teenager to leave the family home.

    He had found a new family, who welcomed him as a brother,
    with the same enthusiasm JWs, welcome a new prospective
    convert at the KH.

    His new family had the same “Black and white, us and them
    mentality” as the JWs, and used similar radical indoctrination,
    to the point where this young man was prepared to commit
    murder. The killing of unbelievers is God approved.

    Keeping youths tethered to the restrictive confines of WT,
    directives is unreasonable. The incessant round of meetings
    and Bible study, no outside association, especially the
    opposite sex, etc, etc.

    As JW,parents you’ll probably lose the battle of wills, but
    please, don’t lose your children. Your children need you
    and you’ll need them.

    A close family is the best organisation to be in. Not the
    conditional, fickle JW, fake family.

  • February 20, 2015 at 9:02 am
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    @Anonymous. I Agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of the Family Environment a JW child is reared. Very Unhealthy where the GB & ORGANISATION is Put before the Child ! Parents are under pressure to Pioneer & Fathers to be Elders where all their time is spent preparing Talks, Field Service & Spending 100s of Hours with Bible Studies, Return visits& rehearsals for Assemblies,Months of preparation for Conventions! I have spoken to Elders children who have Left the Truth because they FELT NEGLECTED & Some got Baptised at 12,13&14 to Please the Elder Father as he had to be Presiding over a Fine Household!!! The GB HAS ENSLAVED PEOPLE to EXPAND their PYRAMID PROPERTY EMPIRE. Quite appropriate really considering RUSSELL was the HOLY FATHER of PYRAMIDs.(GIZA) Springs to mind!!

  • February 20, 2015 at 9:05 am
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    @Ted .Your Above Comment is EXCELLENT too! As usual you are very astute in your observations!

  • February 20, 2015 at 9:14 am
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    From the article: His lawyer, Naeem Mian, said the teenager should not be convicted for having “undoubtedly repulsive views.”

    I just fell off my chair. What a laboratory experiment, from a culture of peace(JW) to a religion of peace & willing to kill to prove it!

    IMHO

    dogstar

  • February 20, 2015 at 9:29 am
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    In many cases when a child/teenager acts out or rebels, they are reacting to negative changes in their lives. Perhaps they are not getting enough attention, or the family is dysfunctional, maybe breaking up, or the parents are drinking too much, working too much, arguing too much, and not providing the needed attention to the child.

    In my opinion when a child “acts out or rebels” they are screaming for help or attention and will appear to be unrepentant. But a child is a child and needs to be listened to and nurtured, not thrown away. The powers that be in the witness religion tell parents to shun their children which is the cruelest thing that can happen to a child/teenager.

    Unfortunately others who take an interest in that teenager will have a strong influence on that teenager and could radicalize them.

    Children are a gift – they must be protected and nurtured and cherished and listened to.

  • February 20, 2015 at 9:36 am
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    another point is with kids especially in puberty age if told they are not good enough or they could do better or have to much to live up to they rebel and its usually because they feel like crap so they do crap, what they need is time quality time, outings together, and sport is very good for growing kids, JW don’t like sports for their kids because it is regarded as competitive, but some sport is very healthy especially for males, an outlet or other interest that is physical.

    Just a thought.

  • February 20, 2015 at 9:36 am
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    He sounds like a potential sociopath, looking for an outlet for his violent tendencies. I am not sure if the Witness correlation is at fault here, though it probably exacerbated his existing biological/sociological issues.

  • February 20, 2015 at 9:38 am
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    That being said, there is really no way to protect yourself from a sociopath other than to limit contact with them. If he was idolizing killers, visiting prostitutes, and stealing credit cards, his parents probably would’ve been wise to throw him out regardless of the religion. For their own sake. Though religious delusion can really be just as dangerous.

    • February 20, 2015 at 9:43 am
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      From my reading of the case he came to idolize the killers of Drummer Lee Rigby AFTER he was thrown out and radicalized. I’m not sure I can empathize with your readiness to eject your own flesh and blood for getting into bad ways rather than to attempt loving rehabilitation. The simple fact is, as we all know, Jehovah’s Witnesses are conditioned in the literature to part ways with their kids when the going gets tough. That seems to be precisely what has happened here, with devastating consequences.

  • February 20, 2015 at 9:59 am
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    @Jacob,
    If this teenager was a sociopath, would it not be better to help him to get the needed therapy rather than to shun him or avoid contact. For some reason he was acting out and going down a terrible path and he really needed help.
    Shunning him is cruel and inhumane and does not solve anything other than to validate the archaic man made rules of the witness religion.

  • February 20, 2015 at 10:02 am
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    They knew their child needed help but decided to throw him out, cruel and sad.

  • February 20, 2015 at 10:15 am
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    I think what this proves is that being a Jehovah’s Witness IS NOT a cure, or preventation, for radicalization (or anything really).
    The Watchtower Org likes to convince people that their ‘teachings’ can help your personality, your marriage, your children and so many other areas like mental health, drug use and whatever else they dream up. It doesn’t work 100% of the time, does it? You have to wonder if it works at all?!?
    A friend of mine was attempting to convince me that staying close to ‘Jehovah’ (which means going to the Kingdom Hall meetings and being brsinwashed) would help anyone who has depression or other, similar issues. Then I pointed out that her good friend, and a daughter of an elder, had just committed suicide. “So it isn’t 100% effective?”, I asked her. “Her problems were too severe”, she replied. I think she could see the stupidly of that statement. Her problems were too hard for Jehovah but everyone else could be helped by the JW’s/governing Body?!?
    This organization does more harm than good. And yes, I will admit that there are some benefits to it; a group of drooling, non-thinking weirdos to associate with that TRY to be good people.

  • February 20, 2015 at 10:21 am
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    @rob & @kat . Your insight how a child’s mind works both of you is More Extensive than the Whole of the 7 PYGMIES in Brooklyn put together!! 7 Men who Claim to be SPIRIT DIRECTED& Elders chosen by Holy Spirit ???!! Ohhh PLEASE!!! If JEHOVAH is Choosing These 7 PYGMIES to Rule as Kings & Priests Then SATAN is seeming Quite an attractive Option!! As Paul let us Eat, Drink & be Merry for we are to Die!! SOUNDS ALL RIGHT TO ME!!!

  • February 20, 2015 at 10:25 am
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    Have to agree with what Cedars points out – “Jehovah’s Witnesses are conditioned in the literature to part ways with their kids when the going gets tough.” The JW parents in my family all have an itchy trigger finger over the “eject button”. And, the love they give their children is purely “conditional”, which is never healthy. Then again, maybe it’s just my family and others have had a different experience.

    On a side note, I do not know all of the facts of how this particular young man was raised, but here is one indisputable fact:

    As a JW he would have been conditioned to think “us vs. them” – i.e. “in-group” (JWs) vs. the “outer-group” (everyone that is not a JW). This young man was primed to demonize everyone who was not in his “in-group”. I am pretty sure that did not help.

  • February 20, 2015 at 10:31 am
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    @JJ. SUICIDE& DEPRESSION in the Truth is So Common it is FRIGHTENING. My best friend who was an Elder& Regular Pioneer committed Suicide & another 2 Elders did the same thing! One Gassed himself with hose pipe in garage running from the exhaust ! The other 2 by HANGING! Sisters tend to just DOSE themselves up on PROZAC!! Others have Chronic Fatigue,Fibromyalgia or M.E. Others I know of have Bi-POLAR or Schizophrenia!! The Congregations are AWASH with these Problems plus so many BROKEN FAMILIES because of DISFELLOWSHING! Welcome to the CRAZY WORLD of the GB and F&D Slave !!

  • February 20, 2015 at 10:37 am
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    I feel that this boys situation would just reaffirm to the jw’s belief system that this is what happens when you leave Jehovah.

  • February 20, 2015 at 10:45 am
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    From the article, it is clear only that it was merely a change of religion which drove his parents to throw him out.

    Obviously we do not know all the circumstances of family life, but only a parent under noxious cult mind control would disown a child simply because they do not share the parents’ notions about the metaphysical and the unknowable.

  • February 20, 2015 at 10:51 am
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    A move from JWdom to Islamic extremism is a side step rather than an escape.

    Reading the ISIS website is analogous to reading a Watchtower. JWs back up their ridiculous doctrine and foul behaviour using a blizzard of disconnected Bible quotes.

    ISIS do exactly the same; only the Koran and Hadiths are mined to justify, indeed glorify, their murderous carry on.

    OK, there is one big difference. The ISIS Allah expects his worshippers to do their own murderous stuff before Judgement Day. Jehovah of the Watchtower can handle all the End Times violence by himself. His followers must simply spread the revolting news.

  • February 20, 2015 at 11:04 am
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    Grace – “I feel that this boys situation would just reaffirm to the jw’s belief system that this is what happens when you leave Jehovah.”

    Yep. JWs…Masters of making lemons into lemonade…

    They will never even contemplate the possibility that the reason many JWs who get kicked out/DF’ed may resort to self-destructive behavior as the result of being ostracized by their friends and family, and not about “leaving Jehovah”. This is despite numerous psychological studies and papers in the matter that show that ostracism causes self-destructive behaviors in other contexts that have nothing to do with “Jehovah”. But then again, this is knowledge from “higher learning”…what am I thinking?

  • February 20, 2015 at 11:41 am
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    Given the fact of his Dad’s profession you would figure he would understand the damages of shunning to begin with. This goes to show how out of touch their parents really were with their own son if he got to such a extreme point in his life. But then again being a Jehovah’s Witness just laid the ground work of extremism to begin with.
    So they say they have the truth and it’s the only way to go in life. Then why are there only 8 million of them if it is the utopia for people to follow?
    All I can say is this young man will need some EXTREME therapy and unprograming of his Brain in order to get back to Reality.

  • February 20, 2015 at 1:22 pm
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    This is a sad story. Somehow, the young man never went along with the program in the religion. And he was encouraged to conform for his own sake. I see this as an employee who works for a large company, say, 3M, for example. I know the company. If the employee goes along with company policy, he remains an employee with all the benfits of pay and acceptance. But if that employee rebels against the boss, he will get fired. The company has rules. He refuses to abide by those rules. Should they keep him on as an employee? Or fire him. Once an employee of 3M gets terminated, he is escorted to the door and out of the building….and shunned by the other employees for fear they will lose their jobs as well. We all must face the truth that we are not the boss. We cannot be a part of any organization and expect pay and benefits if we do not pull our own load for the business. We would be living in a dream world of insanity to think otherwise. This young man refused to abide by company rules and was fired and shunned. Why? Because he was not the boss. If anyone does not cut it in the world of business or religion and refuses to abide by the policy, hit the bricks. That’s life. Get use to it.

  • February 20, 2015 at 1:39 pm
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    @Big Jim. I can’t imagine working for a company and not getting paid. I don’t get the analogy? I think in the case of people who disassociate themselves, it’s that they fire the company, not the company firing the Witness. When a person is disfellowshipped for not following the rules, such as stealing or child abuse, then it would make sense to disfellowship them but when it comes to a child, why is the child rebelling? You need to know the circumstances before coming to the conclusion that the child couldn’t follow the rules before making a blanket statement like that.

  • February 20, 2015 at 2:19 pm
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    Hi did my last post get deleted. Did I violate the rules. Or have I posted on the wrong theme. Bit confused.

  • February 20, 2015 at 2:48 pm
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    @Big Jim
    I work for a large corporation and I don’t necessarily agree with all of their policies and we are allowed to have discussions and brain storming sessions to challenge existing ways of doing things and come up with new ideas.

    With the witness religion you cannot say that you disagree with anything for fear of being labelled an apostate and ultimately being disfellowshipped and shunned. But the 7 men can at their whim change doctrine and when this new light is implemented everyone must agree – something is terribly wrong with this religion.

    I also think that there is a big difference between being fired from a corporation and being fired from your own family.

  • February 20, 2015 at 3:00 pm
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    I shudder for the young people being brought up in this Org. Forced to spend hours sitting through endless meetings and assemblies; blatantly lied to so that they cannot think for themselves; restricted to only associate with fellow JWs; only allowed to spend time with the opposite sex if they intend to marry them; forced to stand out as different and made to believe that they will die at Armageddon if they don’t conform.

    JW Org breeds dysfunctional families. Many young ones cannot wait to leave home / The Org in order to escape the unhealthy and unnatural upbringing that is forced upon them, where devoting time to WT is put before anything else.

    They lack self-esteem, are damaged and vulnerable and ill-equipped, so with no support from their family it is all too easy for them to get taken advantage of and exploited by the first people who offer them friendship.

  • February 20, 2015 at 3:23 pm
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    @Rosie –
    your comments are absolutely true.

  • February 20, 2015 at 3:38 pm
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    He was comfortable with extremists, he just traded one for another…

  • February 20, 2015 at 5:10 pm
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    @Queen Elsa, Thats exactly what i was thinking when i read this artical.
    Growing up as a JW you never develop critical thinking skills. As soon as he was shunned from the issolated bubble of the JW”s this young man would be vulnerable to all sorts of opertunistic predators.

  • February 20, 2015 at 10:41 pm
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    ROFL. JW’s shunning policy can lead to Islamic extremism or wanting to behead people? I hope no JWs, or people studying with JWs, read this thread. Consider what they will think of you and us.

    • February 21, 2015 at 12:33 am
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      Our favorite troll Captain Strawman returns, and is quickly blocked. :)
      (That’s a great argument by the way. Shame it doesn’t reflect what I actually wrote.)

  • February 21, 2015 at 12:47 am
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    They will turn the story upside down and say that it was consequences of leaving the organization…

  • February 21, 2015 at 2:00 am
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    Young people from a problematic background are vulnerable to falling prey to predatory types of people.

    For those of us in the UK there was the recent case of the sex abuse scandals where young girls in children’s homes were befriended and taken advantage of by gangs of men.

    I personally know of another case where a vulnerable teenage boy who had suffered abuse at home was befriended and welcomed into the arms of an extremist group. On their advice he threw all of his previous life away – (including any good relationships he had with his family) and devoted himself 100%, to the detriment of all else, to that group. That group was called Jehovahs Witnesses.

  • February 21, 2015 at 6:56 am
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    I feel so sorry for all kids that are brought up as Jehovah’s Witnesses. The odds are stacked against them from birth. Nothing surprises me anymore. And this young boy didn’t even choose to leave, they kicked him out. It seems like just keeping him at home could have made the world of difference as to where he ended up eventually. If you want to raise a socially dysfunctional child, raise them as a witness.

  • February 21, 2015 at 11:53 am
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    Folks,

    What a tragic situation. Thank goodness this young man was caught before he could carry out his murderous plan.

    With any luck, he may be put in Broadmoor, so he can have a bible study with Brother Peter Sutcliffe! I’m sure that dear Peter will be able to re- convert him to obey Jehovah God’s Spirit- directed Organisation!

    Or perhaps Samuel Tree will be able to help clear the mind control from his mind! After all, he claimed to be able to find missing people with his fake bomb detectors! He is still, allegedly, in good standing in the Durham congregation!

    Maybe this young man could do with some female councel? Dear old Rose West will be ever so eager to share her Good News with him!

    It seems to me, from the WTBTS’ warped, cultish point of view, that his real crime was to know about “the truth” BEFORE his career in terror!!!!

    The WTBTS revolt me. I loathe them.

    Perhaps this young man may be deprogrammed from both his JW and his Jihadi cult mind control.

    Yet another fine advertisement for “The Best Life Ever”

    Peace be with you, Excelsior!

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