Lloyd Evans: "Where's my podium?"
In the thumbnail of this article, you'll notice that Lloyd Evans is seated and speaking at a table. This article is about how he got to that table and the story behind it. File this one under anecdotes if you will, but the reader can discern for themselves how it fits within the overall narrative.
In 2014, AAWA had arranged what was deemed a “Press Conference and Workshop” at a London College at the weekend of 23-24 August. The main draw to this event was the presence of Steven Hassan, a former Moonie, author and self-styled cult expert. Lloyd Evans, then a fledgling activist and former president of AAWA himself had brought his wife and newborn daughter to this London event. Also present were Marc and Cora Latham and Louise Goode.
Lloyd was still a largely unknown quantity at this time, known best for his presence as “Cedars” on the online forum Jehovah's Witness Discussion Forum | JW.Org Community Information (jehovahs-witness.com) (Known colloquially as JWD or JWN), for his videos on YouTube and his brief presidency at AAWA. UK activists Louise Goode and Marc and Cora Latham had yet to meet him in person and were keen to also meet the wife and newborn daughter. Lloyd arrived with his family and was promptly greeted by Marc and Cora Latham in the lobby of this London College. After a brief introduction, a nervous Lloyd began looking to make his way to the event upstairs and excused himself. There was no lift to the floor it was on and Lloyd hurried up the steps in order to secure a speaking slot for himself.
There was one problem. His wife Dijana and newborn daughter were left in the lobby with a baby in a pram (known in American English as a stroller). Seeing that Lloyd had abandoned his wife in a precarious situation, Marc volunteered to help Dijana carefully up the steps with the pram so they could join Lloyd upstairs at the workshop.
Once there, it was noticed by many that Lloyd was a bit frantic with the organizers. He was openly wondering where the podium was so he could get set up to speak. As anyone who has ever been involved in Jehovah’s Witnesses can attest to, elders and people speaking from the stage at the Kingdom Hall always had a podium. Steven Hassan attempted to calm Lloyd down and showed him where all speakers would be sitting at a table facing the audience, ready to speak and take questions as a group. Lloyd was reluctant to do so, insisting that a podium be brought into the room so he could speak. At length, he eventually sat down.
It wasn’t lost on Marc Latham the cavalier approach Lloyd took to his wife and child and how he seemed to value getting a prominent speaking slot over any concerns he might have had for their own comfort. Though they remained friendly for a few months to a year after this, the seed was planted within Marc that Lloyd had valued his own personal ambitions over the wellbeing of his wife and of exJW activism itself. This eventually culminated in their estrangement over the Crisis of Conscience scandal.
The reader should note that although this doesn’t really meet the criteria as a true scandal, what it is does is paint an accurate picture of Lloyd and how he sought and continues to seek ways to push himself to the forefront of exJW activism at all costs. This article has been composed and presented for your consideration as an anecdote concerning what kind of person Lloyd Evans really is and what his true motivations are.
