I was the worldly husband that spotted and pointed out doctrinal problems with the JW religion. My JW wife would bring over Elder after Elder to the house and every one of them left our house with "I will have to research that and get back to you". Not one got "back with me". Even after all of this, I was still "Satan's servant". Now, I have an ex-(JW)-wife, and full physical and legal custody of our daughter. Why? Because I refused to keep my mouth shut about all the crazy doctrine in court. When my ex could not answer a simple question with a simple yes..........the courts let her have it. What was the question??? Would you allow a simple blood transfusion to save your daughter's life? Ooooops!
100% spot on. I'm one of those Worldly spouses going through this right now, but in a stage where the kids are young enough to think I'm still cool and not the bad guy. Listening to the mistakes many people have done trying to free their families, I've taken the approach of total immersion into the culture without signing up for it. I've discredited the Elders authority by Proving they are yes men harboring pedophiles directed by the top. Even my born in wife does not trust them anymore but she still goes to meetings with the kids. I'm using that excuse to be in the meetings to protect the kids, without dressing up and showing dis-interest in whats being presented. Afterwards I rebuttal what was said privately on the drive home using the bible only and maybe past publication with an opposite view. I've found this strategy be the most effective communication without the confrontation, sparking some critical thinking in my kids at the same time. Your solutions is also whats working since I do those as well.
Bravo! I've known fathers to follow this strategy in order to protect their family's and you're right, it's very successful. They cannot demonize you in your absence and you find out what ideas are being pushed. Sadly not all partners are aware how dangerous this cult is and naively believe their wives are simply attending their benign church.
Not only is that propaganda video unrealistic in it's depiction of the attitude of most young Witnesses, it is TOTALLY out of sync with the reality my children faced within the congregation! As you so succinctly pointed out, they were essentially seen a pariahs; never good enough. The elders and ministerial servants were only interested in the boys from homes where both parents were active in the congregation! They could have cared less about my son whose father had “fallen away.” Don’t even get me started on how my daughters were treated! Germ, I wish I could properly convey how much you have helped me! Even though, right now, after watching this particular video, I want to cry, I am so grateful you have chosen to do these videos. You are a treasure to me. Thank you!
Those assembly experiences where the kid has an unbelieving parent/s always bothered me. They completely diminished the role of the “unbelieving” parent to just a sperm or egg donor.
The so-called elders did a lot of meddling in my family through the exwife and I was a Servant. They literally encouraged her to continually come to them with details about me. Of course we're divorced now but it was literally like living with a spy. This went on long before I recognized what was happening. Betrayed by wife and so-called " Loving Brothers". so yes it is the culture of that cult to meddle in and destroy families even that are part of the corporation. They are such power and control freaks it's unbelievable. Those so-called elders are trained and conditioned to believe they have absolute authority over each and every one of the rank and file publishers. And that is the vibe and attitude that they come across with. There's just a creepy energy surrounding each and every one of those people, let alone if you were at a kingdom hall where every detail has to be controlled
@@albertcastel2187 Exactly. They waste no time with their replacement-strategy. Replace unbelieving parents, replace the whole family with your spiritual family, replace your personality with the Cult-, sry, Christ-like personality, replace useful education with WT-indoctrination, ... I could go on and on.
@@jeanwalker5106 Yeah they turn these fake people into hypocrites. they are trained in indoctrinated to always act as if they're perfect. Recently had a conversation with my daughter where to confess she did not know the real me because I was too busy trying to be what watchtower said a dad \man should be. All of Jehovah's Witnesses are hypocrites. Not one of them can live up to all of watchtowers rules. I saw a podcast where incredible person said that they have made about 1,200 additional rules on top of what the Bible teaches. Jesus said there were only two things we needed to concern ourselves with. Love God love your neighbor as yourself. Jehovah trusts each and every one of us enough to sort these things out. Watchtower doesn't. They want to feed you regurgitated leftovers out of a eye dropper or a turkey baster. And they call it Divine theocratic education while all they do is lying about being victims. Clearly these men worship the mimic god. They are imposters of worst kind. And we all know how Jesus feels about these kinds of people. They literally disgust him.
“ When your own thoughts are forbidden, when your questions are not allowed and our doubts are punished, when contacts with friendships outside of the organization are censored, we are being abused, for the ends never justify the means. When our heart aches knowing we have made friendships and secret attachments that will be forever forbidden if we leave, we are in danger. When we consider staying in a group because we cannot bear the loss, disappointment and sorrow our leaving will cause for ourselves and those we have come to love, we are in a cult… If there is any lesson to be learned it is that an ideal can never be brought about by fear, abuse, and the threat of retribution. When family and friends are used as a weapon in order to force us to stay in an organization, something has gone terribly wrong." - Deborah Layton, Ex People's Temple member
"...my dad wouldn't understand....at school I've been offered drugs, approached by girls, tempted to fight, and I've resisted it all." As if his dad would some how condone those things. They really are making the father into some evil villain
*Germ* this is a fantastic analysis of the gaslighting that takes place with unbelieving family. The persecution complex and fear that is engendered in young people is positively cruel when the object of this fear is a loving parent, sibling or grandparent. Watchtower doesn't just tear family's apart, it tears young mind's apart, too.
Anna Twink Valid observation. There's a lot of ur kind having dis feeling of disgust n frustrations regarding this so called "persecution complex n fear".Whn clamped 2geder, they surely look as though such negative attitude n d accompanying actions n behaviour r traits so common among jws concerned. I f ever so alarming 2 all of u hu left n start or continue 2 show distrust, show hostility as others do , how could such situations be remedied other dan leaving their organization? Should letters of sincere concerns be sent 2 d Watchtower n expose such most unwelcome effects ? For a certainty, if one is an" apostate", the Governing Body, wonT spend their precious time devoted 2 sacred service entertain someone hu is like that unless one shall act discreetly as ssome have done when visiting kingdom halls, assembies, n even d Headquarters . It s really hard 2 see a family torne apart n allow young minds get destroyed.
Having been out over two years I just recently realized that being pressured to participate in birthday parties is not the same as being stoned to death, or crucified. I am actually amazed that I ever thought peer pressure to participate in afterschool sports is persecution.
Never stop making videos. You have a great way of braking it down. Sadly JW do everything to brake up families in a passive aggressive way. I remember they used to invite "everyone that attend the meeting" to a barbeque by the Beach almost every weekend. So my pimi wife would go and I was not invited. She used to be sad or paranoid when she got home to the "wordly husband" she sometimes would refere to what thay were saying about me. Sometimes she come home from the meetings crying... She said "the elders have been incouriging me how to survive persecution from unbeliving family". She is a wonderfull person, and she stayd with me for years even if they were pressuring here extremely hard. But in the end she left me with the words "i love you, but i love them more" Like in this video... She took a stand for Jehovah against Satan. There is nothing between Satan and Jehovah. And a dvide house hold is not their fault... Its never their fault. You made a beautiful video, that some how not trigered me to cry. Very imformative and factual.
@alison webster We lost two children. I dont understand why this is supposed to be a good thing. My ex is a wonderfull person and I wish her all the best
Goatlike Personality , *WOW. This is really a twist. I grew up in a JW “divided household” where my Mom dragged us children into the religion but my father wasn’t interested in anything we did so couldn’t bother with us long enough to join. My father, was a horrible spouse and cheated, mentally abused, failed to support us, and when my mother approached the elders about what was happening they told her to STAY with him. Even though she had scriptural ground (adultery) to divorce him. There was a matter of the 2 witness rule that she could not provide. There was also a matter of child sexual assault (me) but again could not provide 2 witnesses. The all wise elders told my mother if she divorced him she would be opening him up to commit adultery and it would be her sin. Unbelievable!
@@abqjewel5055 i find this frustrating to. Even thou I was an good hardworking husband/ apostate they was presouring her to leave me. If I had been a drunk and abusive wordly person, they would probably blaimed her for the problem and encourage her to stay. The cult mostly gives advise that benefits the cult.
Before I start I would like it known I am no longer a JW, and never baptised. Totally agree that this religion divides families but not all. I think this video should be called Unreasonable JW Parents? Your kids ARE DOOMED. My mum was a JW from birth, had a few years break when she left home at 16 to be with my dad, who was an "unbeliever". Her own dad was a narcissist AND a JW, yikes! So you can imagine how that went. Anyway, dad was always against the religion, but believed kids should learn about God, so he was happy for us to go with mum when she decided to go back. Dad had bible studies, but was very argumentative with the brothers and elders. They loved the chance at being able to prove him wrong. My mum was super respectful of family Christmases and our birthdays being celebrated by extended family. She would even come. My parents respected each others beliefs and views, and we would constantly discuss Bible truths, and just general life stuff especially when I became a teen. I didn't really have it jammed down my throat by my mum. When I was 14, so 10 years ago, dad started to "come round" to the religion, starting studying more seriously and making an effort to attend meetings, which was hard for him to sit down for 2 hours straight due to a back injury. THAT'S when things got a bit shit and weird. The pressure started, especially to go witnessing which gave me anxiety. The pressure to document hours, and being told by an elder "oh it's the last day of the month, you should get an hour in for this month" is what pushed me to leave, after from a lot of other things and incidents. Thank God my parents were reasonable parents, otherwise I would have been truly f***ed like the rest of them who were basically forced to have 2 lives. It's not impossible to live a happy family life with a JW, but they have to be reasonable, otherwise I would just divorce them honestly. One thing I knew growing up was I never wanted to marry a JW. Soz for the long ass comment!
My dad was the unbelieving mate and it was very hard to make friends. The few I had (only 1) I always felt like I was the charity case and only “pioneer partners” with her bc her parents told her to. While we always went out in service together and studied the watchtower together, I was never invited to the sleepovers.
I got into this cult at the age of 16. Before this, I never did drugs, alcohol, etc. Hey, Watchtower! You don't have a monopoly on good habits. Anyway, the young J-Dubs I knew were no saints at all.
Hell yes!!! Most of the JW teens were crazy and sneaky and I just saw shit unfold and I was an elders son and these chumps that we're fucking up hardcore were just regular parent's kids. I was the son of the big wig elder and i had to hide my shit up pretty tight. Then alone see all these crazy teens run loose like hell while I have to stay at home and run a good example....fuck that shit. Sophomore Year I quit and left...sure did piss off my folks and the elders but I did what I had to do. No regrets.
@@hektorlinko - I know this group of young J-Dubs and encountered a car accident. They approached the vehicle and noticed that the driver was dead. Did they call for help? No, they stole what they could from the dead guy and took off. Later they were bragging about robbing the victim.
Same here Efrain. I never did drugs or drink to oblivion at all. I told them I am with God(Jesus) always and always will. So I got so many lectures on bad associations. I told them I only have good people in my life. They wanted me to end any and all friends who are not witnesses. No, go. I will NOT end good friendships with those that have been there for me over some witnesses I will never get to know. Glad I'm gone. *eyeroll*
I'm appreciative that I had a Mom who didn't raise us "anything" - I did go to Bible class, but I've read the Tao Te Ching, Buddhism, Kabbalah, I've sung in Anglican choirs, been to Catholic mass...there's lots of truth and no one owns it - only in bits and pieces. Love your vids!
It’s disgusting that good men, sometimes better than JW men, who are so loving that even allow their wives to become JWs when JW husbands put so many controls on their wives, are made to look like bad people who deserve death. As an ex JW who married a ‘worldly’ man while in, let me tell you JW aides in that situation: when I woke up and realised the whole Armageddon shit is fear mongering, I suddenly felt so free and happy and alive and the surge of REAL love I felt for my husband was unbelievable. I’m sad I hadn’t felt like that before before I was obviously subconsciously holding back because he’s supposed to die .... not so. Free yourself and experience what real, unbiased love is. The kind of love Jehovah has for the world he loves so much he gave his son. You owe a good man that!!!
I grew up with separated parents. My mom a JW, not my dad. So I "got the best of both worlds" or.. both good and bad from both. I wasn't very active as a JW but I really believed in it. I did celebrate holidays and such with my dad (until I said I no longer wanted to) but there was still some level of guilt lingering. Same with some movies and music, etc. I'm 24 years old now. I haven't been very active in the last few years so I never got baptised (basically bc I was too depressed for being able to living up to it all.) But it wasn't until this summer I "woke up" and realized it's not true. All this time when I wasn't active in the religion but still believed, I felt so much guilt. But now when I have started to try to question things (in life in general) and gotten information I've never seen (or started looking at details from a new perspective) I don't know what to believe anymore. I believe the JW organisation can't be right in being God's chosen organisation. I don't think I even believe in god anymore - nor Satan. And it's such a huge relief not feeling I never do enough for God (or "his organistion") - nor feeling like Satan is out to get me. But now it's more like.... I've always thought I had the answers to big life questions, and now I lost all of it - so the existential crisis level is higher, but hey! at least I don't feel guilty over disappointing an almighty God. I still live with my mom, though, and it pains me knowing how much she must suffer over "losing me to satan's world". Life's so difficult. I'm tired. Rant over.
jenhas95 I'm there with you figuring out what to believe now and moving on from the constant guilt is hard...even though now we know the truth about the organization. Hang in there. Keep searching for facts and pursue things that make you truly happy that allow you to use the gifts God created you with. Something never encouraged in the religion.
@alison webster yes I absolutely get your point. I don't NEED to find a new specific religious belief. It's just that i went from having answers about things that I was made to believe I needed answers to, to not having any answers anymore. I guess it's alright not having answers to all those things, and just live life the best I can. It will be alright, but it still needs some getting used to.
If you have time...Visit the RUclips channel called "channel C 2" I recently found it and it has some excellent talks from ex JW's some quite old even but still very relevant.... explaining from the Bible why JW is wrong and also some incite in to what the Bible really says including that we do not need an organization and that you are loved by God and Jesus we have just all been trained to believe we have to kill ourselves trying to earn something when their love we already have (the whole reason Jesus died for us) it is and never will be something we have to earn. God/Jesus knows we are not perfect and will continue to make mistakes but knowing you are loved unconditionally (for once) helps you to try to make good choices because you want to, not because you will be killed if you don't.
Mom became a witness when I was 5. My father, to this day, not a witness. Actually, when I came out to him as an atheist in my mid twenties, he confessed that he is too. Was baptized at 16, disfellowshipped at 17. Best thing that happened to me. I’m so grateful for my father. Because of him, I know how to function in the real world
kdrazalot G-USA, I think your reality is all too common. I hope you can make some headway into getting to know your father’s side of your family. Good luck on your journey!
I was baptized young and I almost didn't go to college because of the brainwashing and pressure to pioneer and put kingdom first, glad I was in a divided household and I made a right choice to get higher education and start an awesome career instead of struggling as a window washer, avoided the potentially worst mistake of my life, no regrets now that I'm out and couldn't be happier
My daughters mother is a Jehovah’s Witness. We are no longer together but it is an ongoing battle with that lady . I’m fortunate to have my daughter 15 days out of the month and I’ve told her mom I will continue to steer her away from that cult . My daughter has no interest in joining them
This whole idea of men “resisting” women is kind of messed up. It treats us (women) like we’re evil succubi whose only goal in life is to lead men astray. I’ve never been JW, but it seems like this principle is present in a lot of Christian sects. I remember when I was in middle school, I had to take Sex Ed. The teacher made my friend (a female student) and a male student get up in front of the class. The teacher told my friend to try to get the guy to have sex with her so that the male student could practice “resisting” her. I felt really sorry for her because she had a huge crush on this guy.
It's in the Muslim religion also. Women having to cover up so they do not cause impure thoughts in men. Just more toxicity in that cult. Making women feel responsible for a man's thoughts. Then JW woman are told they are the weaker vessel. Even though they give birth...imagine that.
Great video! Very well presented and thought out. Thank you! - I was raised with a baptized father that was inactive due mainly to his working hard on different shifts that conflicted with meetings to provide for our family. But still my siblings and I and our mother were treated differently...and our dad constantly guilted for having a job schedule that was out of his control in a time when jobs were scarce in our area due to lay offs. The guilt trips on people are awful.
I remember when i had to choose do i want to go to high school or get a short training in cleaning gas station toilets. My grandma tried SO hard to make me feel so guilty about myself and that i have made the worst possible choice and that jehovah is so upset with me when i told her i am going to high school. She never lived that down and for the longest time i was really ashamed until i realized there was nothing wrong with my choice. 2 other jws also went to same school so i still don’t understand why my choice was so ’bad’. Crazyyyy. I’m so glad i don’t have to deal with that anymore
Your obligitory ex-JW beard is coming on nicely. Good work on this subject Germ. My dad was never 'in'. In fact he used to say the JWs were saying the end was coming when he was a kid in the '30's. Mum insisted on my brother and I going to the meetings with her. We were kids, we had no choice, and my dad worked away so we couldn't stay at home anyway.
OK, I wish I had the time to do a REAL LIFE version of that J-Dub video. REAL LIFE J-Dubs mothers will be yelling and smacking you to make you sit down to study the Bible while you just hate it. Don't want to go to the meetings? You're grounded. Don't want to preach? No TV or video games either. Don't want to get baptized? No driver's license for you.
Yeah... I noticed with some amusement that they didn't give the mother any speaking lines lol. It was all about dehumanizing the perfectly rational father. The reality is that these kids have no choice in the matter.
Wow, never thought about kids getting baptized just to appease their parents!! That’s actually really scary and now I understand why the baptism numbers are as high as they are!
This comment is reacting to the title: Yes, you are pretty much fu(Beep!)d if one of your parents becomes a J-Dub. Just ask my youngest brother who is still going through traumas created by years of mental and psychological abuse by our mother and this evil organization even though he woke up and left this group over 15 years ago.
I was brought up in a divided household and this is mostly spot on for my experience. I’m the youngest of 4 and was the first to become an ex jw at 14 in 1999. The next youngest left shortly after I did. The second oldest did get baptised however left a few years later. The oldest is an elder. To say we’re leaving really did upset my mam however because we said we were leaving in front of my dad there was nothing she could do about it after that as our dad protected us. 21 years later and she still tries to preaching to us.
I have not seen this video. Just what a young boy needs to see, humble yourself and disown your family. So very manipulative. You deserve an award to make commentary on this crap.
This was exactly my family: Dad, a non-practicing Catholic, Mom, a Witness. I had my rebellion when I was 19, then faded and eventually just left as “inactive”. This is uncannily correct. My poor dad... 😪
First off, why the hell does this kid sound so stoned?? Are they saying it’s okay to get high now or what? Second, it’s pretty sad that a father who provides for this family with a business etc will be “destroyed” simply for not being a part of a cult.
As someone who grew up in a “divided household,” I feel bad for the kids today who have to see this video propagandizing you them and their JW parent. Thanks for making this video!
* I hope the kids seeing these videos see how sad this kids voice sounds through the who video. And how he never smiles. Not even in the kingdom hall or while out in service where you are supposed to be “enjoying yourself in Jehovah’s happy service”. What a joke
Man.. My girlfriend and her family are Christian and they couldn't care less that I'm not religious! They're incredibly respectful and don't try to pressure anything on me.. Makes me insanely happy that they're not Jehovas..
I think influential, intelligent people in kingdom hall meetings can easily abuse this power to free the other members because the Bible has many unclear verses with lots of interpretation options. I am an ex-Christian who went to a religious private schools and church for many years but I also deliberately signed up for the school's religious Friday meetings' organisation time in order to chose the songs and rituals. I also had a presentation in which I proved why the Bible is not homophobic (as many people think when reading Leviticus) but just anti-cheating. The original Greek text in Leviticus uses a word called 'arsenokoitai' [male bitch] for 'other men'. Taken that into account with the fact that the Bible is based around the 10 commandments, I concluded that Leviticus is actually referring to the 6th/7th commandment "Thou shalt not commit adultery." -> "Don't cheat on your spouse!" and I would even go further and argue that it legitimates homosexual snogging as a thing that just happened back then just like it does in here but they thought that everyone is bisexual.
My parents were the only ones in the family who became witnesses and my relatives got us to celebrate Christmas and Thanksgiving. My parents made me feel guilt for enjoying this stuff, for years I associated my happiness as something I should be a shamed of. And I'd say, I still struggle with that happiness, I have to tell myself that it's okay to enjoy things
Jehovah's way sucks! I wouldn't say the kids are doomed. There are plenty of examples of people who were heavily indoctrinated by both parents but eventually found a way to think for themselves. But I'd say the marriage is pretty much doomed.
Thanks for this vid, it was like watching my youth play out all over again. You really do get the worst of it, isolated from worldly people (sure that's standard), but also isolated within the JWs as you are half-cast and never fully accepted, and then isolated within your own family. And yes, you really do look at your own family like they are Satan. I rejected my own father and idolized the Elders. Eventually however you outgrow your child-like perception. It was grossly delayed for me, maybe mid-20s, but i started joining dots and seeing certain behaviors of these spirit-directed men. How could i forgive them of so much, when the whole time my own father was just a simple, decent man? I sacrificed so much to leave and 15 years later i am still trying to purge my mind of their toxic teachings, trying to understand the world that exists between the black and white. It's strange that still, occasionally, i think that Satan is controlling my actions and he is using me as a tool to destroy other peoples lives. It is hard, and i need content like this to remind me that i might actually be a human that deserves life. I truly, *truly* appreciate your efforts in producing this content. It may well be life saving in ways you never imagined.
“I know it won’t be our last conversation- but it’s a start”. IMO they’re saying “it’s a start to no longer having conversations with my dad anymore.” In such a triumphant manner. Heartbreaking that shunning his father is supposedly the goal.
As someone who grew up in a secular home, this is so terrifying to me. Can’t imagine having kids with a guy and then he later converts to something like JW. Heart goes out to all the spouses and children in that situation.
The children will not be treated the same as other witness children with two believing parents. The congregation labels a family where there continues to be one unbelieving parent who doesn’t convert.
Awesome video Germ! 💪 Did you notice the irony in this video?!?...Did you notice how the young son wanted to "serve Jehovah" and the father was still kind and understanding towards him. Now take the same scenario when the father is the witness and the son do not want to be a witness, but want to live his life and make his choices, but if it goes against the JW religion, then what happens??.. The father will demand that the son do ALL of JW activities. As he gets older he will be put out of the house for not wanting to be a JW. It just amazes me that WT/GB do not see all the irony in their own videos!! Pathetic! 😕
Aujourd'hui, à 52 ans je pense que la plus grande chance que j'ai eu dans ma vie c'est d'avoir eu un père qui n'était pas Témoins de Jéhovah. Une bénédiction. Ma mère à connu la "vérité" en 1967 l'année de ma naissance. Et elle est aujourd’hui à 81 ans toujours Témoins de Jéhovah.
omg this video. first I've seen on divided households and sums it up perfectly. its like freedom was so close but just out of reach. a different type of prison
Omg when the young boy is out in service with 'Jeremy' that is my hometown which is in between all three bethel sites in NY State! Ugh I feel sorry for the victimized believers but . . . I have no love for this religion!
So the Jehovah witnesses literally teach people to disregard one of Jehovah’s commandments? "Honour thy father and thy mother" Exodus 20, 1 describes the Ten Commandments as being spoken by God, inscribed on two stone tablets by the finger of God, broken by Moses, and rewritten on replacement stones by the Lord. So who’s Peter that what he wrote has more weight than the word of god himself? All commentators explain the command to “honor” as respect, deference and obedience. How does watchtower spin their encouragement to breaking the law that Jehovah gave directly to Moses? What kind of Bible “study” do they do that they ignore the most important parts?
Hello new subscriber here🙋 was inside for 20 years and awake since 2018. The mental control is so strong inside, children should choose their goals with education and sports but Watchtower loves to make them feel guilty all the time. Pure propaganda to only benefit Watchtower. 🤦🤦
Ironically I was born & bread in the cult never took to it because I was to free spirited but I suffered in it & as a grown adult my worst fear in life is having a wife who converts to jehovah witnesses I just find it odd that this is my greatest fear.
A JW woman with almost no men around her age in her own or neighboring kingdom halls, and lots of JW women competing with her, goes against the ban on marrying a nonJW and probably soft pedals the reality for him.. He likely is involved in his business, agrees with social mores of education and sports, and wants to make her happy but can't buy going door to door and kingdom stuff. He's not thinking about the impact on the kids and stays married to be a good father, giving up most happy activities as his wife and child demonize him. One day hopefully he'll get a divorce and keep the offer of a home open for his child. Or maybe the wife will wake up. Either way, keep a sharp eye out for pedophiles in the hall.
I love your videos, you are so smart and bring something valuable to the community. U are not telling people how to think but to think, and for a JW that is sth that has been stripped away from them. Thank you for your videos. I hope you stay encouraged and continue to produce then.... I am sure that in time you will be able to reach even more people!
In another video you mentioned Dr. Ramani. She has some of the most insightful videos about NPD and other personality disorders. Would love to see you guys team up for a video or two to talk about how some of these concepts overlap with cult ideology. The black and white thinking that goes on in your former religion is somewhat analogous with those who have BPD and other cluster B disorders. Psychologists refer to this way of thinking as "splitting". And as a side note: you have a ton of charisma and a gift for conveying complex ideas and telling compelling stories. And who knows why the RUclips algorithm recommended your channel but I'm glad they did.
My mom converted when I was 4, my dad did not. My mother raised my brother and I jw, I'm sure there was conflict between my parents behind closed doors but we weren't aware. My dad was just as sure in his beliefs. Neither my brother and I got baptized and left as soon as we could. Having so many questions unanswered or answers that didn't make sense, and seeing another person I trusted just as sure in different beliefs made me do more research. It was a process, but now I'm atheist Edit: a huge love and interest in dinosaurs and archaeology was also a big factor. Not having answers to dinosaur questions that made sense, and reading science books that did make sense helped. A lot of 'how do you know that?' questions and not being able to find archaeological evidence for the garden of Eden when I was 9 or so really made me think.
This is what I worried about with my JW friend. How is she going to support her family if she doesn't have a job and just dedicate herself to free service.
I had a talk with my Pop not long ago and he told me he felt bad for not letting my brother and I get into sports and karate etc. in school. My mom was the JW enforcer and my Pop was a little laid back on things but my mom pushed him over and of course it fucked up my brother and myself. We missed out on tryouts for baseball, football, basketball etc. and I'm pretty good at baseball and I'm sure I would have crushed it and gone somewhere in baseball. My Pop regrets it as well since my mom was so against it due to the JW religion.
I was one of those kids...sounds like a textbook scenario. Definitely a construct. I had a perfectly happy family until I was 12 and my mom joined. She made sure me and my brother and sister followed her. I left and so did my brother. I found Christ years later, and so did my brother. Thankfully. I pray my mother will see how wrong she was and will wake up. Everybody pray for my mother and sister please.
4:40 whoa whoa whoa hold on a moment, so this quote is supposed to be taken to mean that you should *only* be God's slave? I mean, I don't see how else she's supposed to mean it in this context. And for a JW context it sounds like they're celebrating the notion of being God's slave. Also.... they got black people saying this shit?!? Believing in it? Believing that's a positive thing to strive for!?? holy fucking hell that's horrific if you really think about it. They've convinced PoC to take "comfort" in the notion of unquestioning servitude to someone deemed greater than them. Really take that in. This cult has zero shame and frankly should probably be destroyed. Not just survived, not just escaped by some lucky few. Destroyed, like what they've done to many peoples' lives, before they can do it to more people.
As someone who grew up in this exact situation (with some minor tweaks to the conculusions) I will forever answer "What the hell is wrong with you?" with the url to this video. Bravo. You articulated stuff I never could.
This really hit a nerve for me. My dad (who smoked in secret🥺) was absolutely demonized by my mum and the congregation. Every point you made was bang on! Btw, Jeremy’s pants seem to be rather tight😬
Great insight and great advice. I might have missed it if you said this already, but wouldn't it be a good idea to go to church with the spouse and child as well? Discuss the teachings with the family and ask questions and also be an advocate for the child? Maybe even go to the child's Bible studies to see what's going on there?
10:27 I wonder how the dad feels about his son hanging out with an older man. It's likely not positive. I remember being a kid and looking up to someone that went to my church as being a mother figure and would go to her apartment. I was like thirteen or fourteen years old at the time and was devastated when I found out she moved. I don't know if my mom knew that I saw some of the people at that church as being some kind of parental figure because I viewed my own family as a bunch of outsiders. My mom noticed at the time that I was becoming a homophobe, my own home was dysfunctional. I also had a lady from the same church buy me a meal when I was in my early teens or just about my preteen years. It was just her and me. I think she got permission from my mom and stepdad and the fast food restaurant was just down the street, pass two grave yards and a convenience store. She wanted to talk to me about Jesus, my mom let me walk to the church up the road and even take my little sister with me.
Jehovah's witnesses never fail to divide families
Agreed
Divide and break up families. Huh, so much for Christian love ugh.
I was the worldly husband that spotted and pointed out doctrinal problems with the JW religion. My JW wife would bring over Elder after Elder to the house and every one of them left our house with "I will have to research that and get back to you". Not one got "back with me". Even after all of this, I was still "Satan's servant". Now, I have an ex-(JW)-wife, and full physical and legal custody of our daughter. Why? Because I refused to keep my mouth shut about all the crazy doctrine in court. When my ex could not answer a simple question with a simple yes..........the courts let her have it. What was the question??? Would you allow a simple blood transfusion to save your daughter's life? Ooooops!
"It is not freedom of choice if your options are presented with a threat"
really what threat
@@rhondarichards6283 - Shunning, exclusion, isolation, the loss of your family, friends and social network...
Not to mention the threat of death if you don't do what they tell you.
The threat of been disfellowshipped.
Especially when that threat comes from someone whose job it is to care for you.
100% spot on. I'm one of those Worldly spouses going through this right now, but in a stage where the kids are young enough to think I'm still cool and not the bad guy. Listening to the mistakes many people have done trying to free their families, I've taken the approach of total immersion into the culture without signing up for it. I've discredited the Elders authority by Proving they are yes men harboring pedophiles directed by the top. Even my born in wife does not trust them anymore but she still goes to meetings with the kids. I'm using that excuse to be in the meetings to protect the kids, without dressing up and showing dis-interest in whats being presented. Afterwards I rebuttal what was said privately on the drive home using the bible only and maybe past publication with an opposite view. I've found this strategy be the most effective communication without the confrontation, sparking some critical thinking in my kids at the same time. Your solutions is also whats working since I do those as well.
Bravo! I've known fathers to follow this strategy in order to protect their family's and you're right, it's very successful. They cannot demonize you in your absence and you find out what ideas are being pushed. Sadly not all partners are aware how dangerous this cult is and naively believe their wives are simply attending their benign church.
Great tips! I'm sorry you have to go through this. Hang in there.
Hopefully ull save her soneday
This is really good, my sympathies but you’re doing excellent work and hopefully, in the end your kids don’t end up as full JWs.
I hope you go with any adults or hell even children that want to take your kids out preaching, especially with how JWs harbor predators.
Not only is that propaganda video unrealistic in it's depiction of the attitude of most young Witnesses, it is TOTALLY out of sync with the reality my children faced within the congregation! As you so succinctly pointed out, they were essentially seen a pariahs; never good enough. The elders and ministerial servants were only interested in the boys from homes where both parents were active in the congregation! They could have cared less about my son whose father had “fallen away.” Don’t even get me started on how my daughters were treated!
Germ, I wish I could properly convey how much you have helped me! Even though, right now, after watching this particular video, I want to cry, I am so grateful you have chosen to do these videos. You are a treasure to me. Thank you!
❤
🥰
Those assembly experiences where the kid has an unbelieving parent/s always bothered me. They completely diminished the role of the “unbelieving” parent to just a sperm or egg donor.
Yes. And as we can ser the kid looks for another father figure in one "spiritual mature" brother.
The so-called elders did a lot of meddling in my family through the exwife and I was a Servant.
They literally encouraged her to continually come to them with details about me.
Of course we're divorced now but it was literally like living with a spy.
This went on long before I recognized what was happening.
Betrayed by wife and so-called " Loving Brothers".
so yes it is the culture of that cult to meddle in and destroy families even that are part of the corporation.
They are such power and control freaks it's unbelievable.
Those so-called elders are trained and conditioned to believe they have absolute authority over each and every one of the rank and file publishers.
And that is the vibe and attitude that they come across with. There's just a creepy energy surrounding each and every one of those people, let alone if you were at a kingdom hall where every detail has to be controlled
@@albertcastel2187 Exactly. They waste no time with their replacement-strategy. Replace unbelieving parents, replace the whole family with your spiritual family, replace your personality with the Cult-, sry, Christ-like personality, replace useful education with WT-indoctrination, ... I could go on and on.
@@jeanwalker5106
Yeah they turn these fake people into hypocrites.
they are trained in indoctrinated to always act as if they're perfect.
Recently had a conversation with my daughter where to confess she did not know the real me because I was too busy trying to be what watchtower said a dad \man should be.
All of Jehovah's Witnesses are hypocrites. Not one of them can live up to all of watchtowers rules. I saw a podcast where incredible person said that they have made about 1,200 additional rules on top of what the Bible teaches.
Jesus said there were only two things we needed to concern ourselves with.
Love God love your neighbor as yourself.
Jehovah trusts each and every one of us enough to sort these things out. Watchtower doesn't. They want to feed you regurgitated leftovers out of a eye dropper or a turkey baster. And they call it Divine theocratic education while all they do is lying about being victims.
Clearly these men worship the mimic god. They are imposters of worst kind. And we all know how Jesus feels about these kinds of people. They literally disgust him.
“ When your own thoughts are forbidden, when your questions are not allowed and our doubts are punished, when contacts with friendships outside of the organization are censored, we are being abused, for the ends never justify the means. When our heart aches knowing we have made friendships and secret attachments that will be forever forbidden if we leave, we are in danger. When we consider staying in a group because we cannot bear the loss, disappointment and sorrow our leaving will cause for ourselves and those we have come to love, we are in a cult… If there is any lesson to be learned it is that an ideal can never be brought about by fear, abuse, and the threat of retribution. When family and friends are used as a weapon in order to force us to stay in an organization, something has gone terribly wrong." - Deborah Layton, Ex People's Temple member
"Unbelieving Mate" - I totally forgot that term existed.
@Z Ed - That's simple J-Dub Lingo.
That's some loaded cult language I forgot about too! It's funny now the terms and words that were so weaponized.
@Z Ed - You are missing the point, but that's OK.
@Z Ed - Oh, Dear God! It's a phrase highly used in the J-Dub community. Any JW would understand. Why? Was your delicate ego hurt?
@DD dunn - Your boyfriend needed rescuing?
"...my dad wouldn't understand....at school I've been offered drugs, approached by girls, tempted to fight, and I've resisted it all." As if his dad would some how condone those things. They really are making the father into some evil villain
To hell with this vicious CULT.
*Germ* this is a fantastic analysis of the gaslighting that takes place with unbelieving family. The persecution complex and fear that is engendered in young people is positively cruel when the object of this fear is a loving parent, sibling or grandparent. Watchtower doesn't just tear family's apart, it tears young mind's apart, too.
Anna Twink Valid observation. There's a lot of ur kind having dis feeling of disgust n frustrations regarding this so called "persecution complex n fear".Whn clamped 2geder, they surely look as though such negative attitude n d accompanying actions n behaviour r traits so common among jws concerned. I f ever so alarming 2 all of u hu left n start or continue 2 show distrust, show hostility as others do , how could such situations be remedied other dan leaving their organization? Should letters of sincere concerns be sent 2 d Watchtower n expose such most unwelcome effects ? For a certainty, if one is an" apostate", the Governing Body, wonT spend their precious time devoted 2 sacred service entertain someone hu is like that unless one shall act discreetly as ssome have done when visiting kingdom halls, assembies, n even d Headquarters . It s really hard 2 see a family torne apart n allow young minds get destroyed.
Having been out over two years I just recently realized that being pressured to participate in birthday parties is not the same as being stoned to death, or crucified. I am actually amazed that I ever thought peer pressure to participate in afterschool sports is persecution.
Never stop making videos. You have a great way of braking it down. Sadly JW do everything to brake up families in a passive aggressive way. I remember they used to invite "everyone that attend the meeting" to a barbeque by the Beach almost every weekend. So my pimi wife would go and I was not invited. She used to be sad or paranoid when she got home to the "wordly husband" she sometimes would refere to what thay were saying about me. Sometimes she come home from the meetings crying... She said "the elders have been incouriging me how to survive persecution from unbeliving family". She is a wonderfull person, and she stayd with me for years even if they were pressuring here extremely hard. But in the end she left me with the words "i love you, but i love them more"
Like in this video... She took a stand for Jehovah against Satan. There is nothing between Satan and Jehovah. And a dvide house hold is not their fault... Its never their fault.
You made a beautiful video, that some how not trigered me to cry. Very imformative and factual.
@alison webster We lost two children. I dont understand why this is supposed to be a good thing. My ex is a wonderfull person and I wish her all the best
Goatlike Personality , *WOW. This is really a twist. I grew up in a JW “divided household” where my Mom dragged us children into the religion but my father wasn’t interested in anything we did so couldn’t bother with us long enough to join. My father, was a horrible spouse and cheated, mentally abused, failed to support us, and when my mother approached the elders about what was happening they told her to STAY with him. Even though she had scriptural ground (adultery) to divorce him. There was a matter of the 2 witness rule that she could not provide. There was also a matter of child sexual assault (me) but again could not provide 2 witnesses. The all wise elders told my mother if she divorced him she would be opening him up to commit adultery and it would be her sin. Unbelievable!
@@abqjewel5055 i find this frustrating to. Even thou I was an good hardworking husband/ apostate they was presouring her to leave me. If I had been a drunk and abusive wordly person, they would probably blaimed her for the problem and encourage her to stay. The cult mostly gives advise that benefits the cult.
Before I start I would like it known I am no longer a JW, and never baptised. Totally agree that this religion divides families but not all. I think this video should be called Unreasonable JW Parents? Your kids ARE DOOMED. My mum was a JW from birth, had a few years break when she left home at 16 to be with my dad, who was an "unbeliever". Her own dad was a narcissist AND a JW, yikes! So you can imagine how that went. Anyway, dad was always against the religion, but believed kids should learn about God, so he was happy for us to go with mum when she decided to go back. Dad had bible studies, but was very argumentative with the brothers and elders. They loved the chance at being able to prove him wrong. My mum was super respectful of family Christmases and our birthdays being celebrated by extended family. She would even come. My parents respected each others beliefs and views, and we would constantly discuss Bible truths, and just general life stuff especially when I became a teen. I didn't really have it jammed down my throat by my mum. When I was 14, so 10 years ago, dad started to "come round" to the religion, starting studying more seriously and making an effort to attend meetings, which was hard for him to sit down for 2 hours straight due to a back injury. THAT'S when things got a bit shit and weird. The pressure started, especially to go witnessing which gave me anxiety. The pressure to document hours, and being told by an elder "oh it's the last day of the month, you should get an hour in for this month" is what pushed me to leave, after from a lot of other things and incidents. Thank God my parents were reasonable parents, otherwise I would have been truly f***ed like the rest of them who were basically forced to have 2 lives. It's not impossible to live a happy family life with a JW, but they have to be reasonable, otherwise I would just divorce them honestly. One thing I knew growing up was I never wanted to marry a JW. Soz for the long ass comment!
My dad was the unbelieving mate and it was very hard to make friends. The few I had (only 1) I always felt like I was the charity case and only “pioneer partners” with her bc her parents told her to. While we always went out in service together and studied the watchtower together, I was never invited to the sleepovers.
I got into this cult at the age of 16. Before this, I never did drugs, alcohol, etc. Hey, Watchtower! You don't have a monopoly on good habits. Anyway, the young J-Dubs I knew were no saints at all.
Hell yes!!! Most of the JW teens were crazy and sneaky and I just saw shit unfold and I was an elders son and these chumps that we're fucking up hardcore were just regular parent's kids. I was the son of the big wig elder and i had to hide my shit up pretty tight. Then alone see all these crazy teens run loose like hell while I have to stay at home and run a good example....fuck that shit. Sophomore Year I quit and left...sure did piss off my folks and the elders but I did what I had to do. No regrets.
@@hektorlinko - I know this group of young J-Dubs and encountered a car accident. They approached the vehicle and noticed that the driver was dead. Did they call for help? No, they stole what they could from the dead guy and took off. Later they were bragging about robbing the victim.
Same here Efrain. I never did drugs or drink to oblivion at all. I told them I am with God(Jesus) always and always will. So I got so many lectures on bad associations. I told them I only have good people in my life. They wanted me to end any and all friends who are not witnesses. No, go. I will NOT end good friendships with those that have been there for me over some witnesses I will never get to know. Glad I'm gone. *eyeroll*
@@EfrainRiveraJunior OMG how despicable is that? Sick cult.
I'm appreciative that I had a Mom who didn't raise us "anything" - I did go to Bible class, but I've read the Tao Te Ching, Buddhism, Kabbalah, I've sung in Anglican choirs, been to Catholic mass...there's lots of truth and no one owns it - only in bits and pieces. Love your vids!
It’s disgusting that good men, sometimes better than JW men, who are so loving that even allow their wives to become JWs when JW husbands put so many controls on their wives, are made to look like bad people who deserve death. As an ex JW who married a ‘worldly’ man while in, let me tell you JW aides in that situation: when I woke up and realised the whole Armageddon shit is fear mongering, I suddenly felt so free and happy and alive and the surge of REAL love I felt for my husband was unbelievable. I’m sad I hadn’t felt like that before before I was obviously subconsciously holding back because he’s supposed to die .... not so. Free yourself and experience what real, unbiased love is. The kind of love Jehovah has for the world he loves so much he gave his son. You owe a good man that!!!
👏Beautiful👏
I grew up with separated parents. My mom a JW, not my dad. So I "got the best of both worlds" or.. both good and bad from both. I wasn't very active as a JW but I really believed in it. I did celebrate holidays and such with my dad (until I said I no longer wanted to) but there was still some level of guilt lingering. Same with some movies and music, etc.
I'm 24 years old now. I haven't been very active in the last few years so I never got baptised (basically bc I was too depressed for being able to living up to it all.) But it wasn't until this summer I "woke up" and realized it's not true. All this time when I wasn't active in the religion but still believed, I felt so much guilt. But now when I have started to try to question things (in life in general) and gotten information I've never seen (or started looking at details from a new perspective) I don't know what to believe anymore. I believe the JW organisation can't be right in being God's chosen organisation. I don't think I even believe in god anymore - nor Satan. And it's such a huge relief not feeling I never do enough for God (or "his organistion") - nor feeling like Satan is out to get me. But now it's more like.... I've always thought I had the answers to big life questions, and now I lost all of it - so the existential crisis level is higher, but hey! at least I don't feel guilty over disappointing an almighty God.
I still live with my mom, though, and it pains me knowing how much she must suffer over "losing me to satan's world". Life's so difficult. I'm tired.
Rant over.
jenhas95 I'm there with you figuring out what to believe now and moving on from the constant guilt is hard...even though now we know the truth about the organization. Hang in there. Keep searching for facts and pursue things that make you truly happy that allow you to use the gifts God created you with. Something never encouraged in the religion.
@alison webster yes I absolutely get your point. I don't NEED to find a new specific religious belief. It's just that i went from having answers about things that I was made to believe I needed answers to, to not having any answers anymore. I guess it's alright not having answers to all those things, and just live life the best I can. It will be alright, but it still needs some getting used to.
If you have time...Visit the RUclips channel called "channel C 2" I recently found it and it has some excellent talks from ex JW's some quite old even but still very relevant.... explaining from the Bible why JW is wrong and also some incite in to what the Bible really says including that we do not need an organization and that you are loved by God and Jesus we have just all been trained to believe we have to kill ourselves trying to earn something when their love we already have (the whole reason Jesus died for us) it is and never will be something we have to earn. God/Jesus knows we are not perfect and will continue to make mistakes but knowing you are loved unconditionally (for once) helps you to try to make good choices because you want to, not because you will be killed if you don't.
@@eyesontheprize5 👍
I grew up as one of those kids.
Rip you man, you still good with your worldly parent
Me too :(
Me too :(
I did too. It was confusing, to say the least. And I had the study teacher anxiety ridden when I asked questions.
Me too x
Mom became a witness when I was 5. My father, to this day, not a witness. Actually, when I came out to him as an atheist in my mid twenties, he confessed that he is too. Was baptized at 16, disfellowshipped at 17. Best thing that happened to me. I’m so grateful for my father. Because of him, I know how to function in the real world
Dang if the boy was a Christian he would at least say he was gonna pray for his dad😆
Did anyone else notice how the boy in the video, when speaking about his father and his party, referred to the guests as his FATHER'S family?!
Good point!
kdrazalot G-USA, I think your reality is all too common. I hope you can make some headway into getting to know your father’s side of your family. Good luck on your journey!
That's messed up ya'll!
I was baptized young and I almost didn't go to college because of the brainwashing and pressure to pioneer and put kingdom first, glad I was in a divided household and I made a right choice to get higher education and start an awesome career instead of struggling as a window washer, avoided the potentially worst mistake of my life, no regrets now that I'm out and couldn't be happier
My daughters mother is a Jehovah’s Witness. We are no longer together but it is an ongoing battle with that lady . I’m fortunate to have my daughter 15 days out of the month and I’ve told her mom I will continue to steer her away from that cult . My daughter has no interest in joining them
Sounds like my story but i only get my daughter 12 days out of the month.
Do you take you're daughter to church?
This whole idea of men “resisting” women is kind of messed up. It treats us (women) like we’re evil succubi whose only goal in life is to lead men astray. I’ve never been JW, but it seems like this principle is present in a lot of Christian sects.
I remember when I was in middle school, I had to take Sex Ed. The teacher made my friend (a female student) and a male student get up in front of the class. The teacher told my friend to try to get the guy to have sex with her so that the male student could practice “resisting” her. I felt really sorry for her because she had a huge crush on this guy.
It's in the Muslim religion also. Women having to cover up so they do not cause impure thoughts in men. Just more toxicity in that cult. Making women feel responsible for a man's thoughts. Then JW woman are told they are the weaker vessel. Even though they give birth...imagine that.
And it's never girls resisting guys
I hate yes hate this misogynistic way of thinking ,not just in the watchtower society but in the bible that's how I know god of the bible is fake
Great video! Very well presented and thought out. Thank you! - I was raised with a baptized father that was inactive due mainly to his working hard on different shifts that conflicted with meetings to provide for our family. But still my siblings and I and our mother were treated differently...and our dad constantly guilted for having a job schedule that was out of his control in a time when jobs were scarce in our area due to lay offs. The guilt trips on people are awful.
This video needs to be nationally televised. It is fantastic.
14:01 - Oh, because if you aren't a J-Dub you can't say no to drugs! Only J-Dubs are able to resist drugs, girls??? and fights.
I remember when i had to choose do i want to go to high school or get a short training in cleaning gas station toilets. My grandma tried SO hard to make me feel so guilty about myself and that i have made the worst possible choice and that jehovah is so upset with me when i told her i am going to high school. She never lived that down and for the longest time i was really ashamed until i realized there was nothing wrong with my choice. 2 other jws also went to same school so i still don’t understand why my choice was so ’bad’. Crazyyyy. I’m so glad i don’t have to deal with that anymore
Your obligitory ex-JW beard is coming on nicely.
Good work on this subject Germ. My dad was never 'in'. In fact he used to say the JWs were saying the end was coming when he was a kid in the '30's. Mum insisted on my brother and I going to the meetings with her. We were kids, we had no choice, and my dad worked away so we couldn't stay at home anyway.
OK, I wish I had the time to do a REAL LIFE version of that J-Dub video. REAL LIFE J-Dubs mothers will be yelling and smacking you to make you sit down to study the Bible while you just hate it. Don't want to go to the meetings? You're grounded. Don't want to preach? No TV or video games either. Don't want to get baptized? No driver's license for you.
Yeah... I noticed with some amusement that they didn't give the mother any speaking lines lol. It was all about dehumanizing the perfectly rational father. The reality is that these kids have no choice in the matter.
Wow, never thought about kids getting baptized just to appease their parents!! That’s actually really scary and now I understand why the baptism numbers are as high as they are!
Fear seems to be the motivating force for all JW's. There is nothing "healthier" then a fear based religion. SMH
This Ed my childhood but I’m 35 and still no drivers license
Tip: Focus on values, not fears. Set the example.
The only teaching dynamic that cult has is fear and guilt.
This comment is reacting to the title:
Yes, you are pretty much fu(Beep!)d if one of your parents becomes a J-Dub. Just ask my youngest brother who is still going through traumas created by years of mental and psychological abuse by our mother and this evil organization even though he woke up and left this group over 15 years ago.
I was brought up in a divided household and this is mostly spot on for my experience. I’m the youngest of 4 and was the first to become an ex jw at 14 in 1999. The next youngest left shortly after I did. The second oldest did get baptised however left a few years later. The oldest is an elder. To say we’re leaving really did upset my mam however because we said we were leaving in front of my dad there was nothing she could do about it after that as our dad protected us. 21 years later and she still tries to preaching to us.
I have not seen this video. Just what a young boy needs to see, humble yourself and disown your family. So very manipulative. You deserve an award to make commentary on this crap.
Wow Germ, what a GREAT video! Watchtower is such a friggin nightmare cult...
OMG! You just nailed it. You are so on point. Thank you for making this video!
This was exactly my family: Dad, a non-practicing Catholic, Mom, a Witness.
I had my rebellion when I was 19, then faded and eventually just left as “inactive”. This is uncannily correct. My poor dad... 😪
First off, why the hell does this kid sound so stoned?? Are they saying it’s okay to get high now or what? Second, it’s pretty sad that a father who provides for this family with a business etc will be “destroyed” simply for not being a part of a cult.
As someone who grew up in a “divided household,” I feel bad for the kids today who have to see this video propagandizing you them and their JW parent. Thanks for making this video!
* I hope the kids seeing these videos see how sad this kids voice sounds through the who video. And how he never smiles. Not even in the kingdom hall or while out in service where you are supposed to be “enjoying yourself in Jehovah’s happy service”. What a joke
Man.. My girlfriend and her family are Christian and they couldn't care less that I'm not religious! They're incredibly respectful and don't try to pressure anything on me.. Makes me insanely happy that they're not Jehovas..
I think influential, intelligent people in kingdom hall meetings can easily abuse this power to free the other members because the Bible has many unclear verses with lots of interpretation options. I am an ex-Christian who went to a religious private schools and church for many years but I also deliberately signed up for the school's religious Friday meetings' organisation time in order to chose the songs and rituals. I also had a presentation in which I proved why the Bible is not homophobic (as many people think when reading Leviticus) but just anti-cheating. The original Greek text in Leviticus uses a word called 'arsenokoitai' [male bitch] for 'other men'. Taken that into account with the fact that the Bible is based around the 10 commandments, I concluded that Leviticus is actually referring to the 6th/7th commandment "Thou shalt not commit adultery." -> "Don't cheat on your spouse!" and I would even go further and argue that it legitimates homosexual snogging as a thing that just happened back then just like it does in here but they thought that everyone is bisexual.
My parents were the only ones in the family who became witnesses and my relatives got us to celebrate Christmas and Thanksgiving. My parents made me feel guilt for enjoying this stuff, for years I associated my happiness as something I should be a shamed of. And I'd say, I still struggle with that happiness, I have to tell myself that it's okay to enjoy things
Jehovah's way sucks! I wouldn't say the kids are doomed. There are plenty of examples of people who were heavily indoctrinated by both parents but eventually found a way to think for themselves. But I'd say the marriage is pretty much doomed.
Amazing video! I love the sentence that states that the organization strips people of nuance.
Man you are right on with all of this!
Thanks for this vid, it was like watching my youth play out all over again. You really do get the worst of it, isolated from worldly people (sure that's standard), but also isolated within the JWs as you are half-cast and never fully accepted, and then isolated within your own family. And yes, you really do look at your own family like they are Satan. I rejected my own father and idolized the Elders. Eventually however you outgrow your child-like perception. It was grossly delayed for me, maybe mid-20s, but i started joining dots and seeing certain behaviors of these spirit-directed men. How could i forgive them of so much, when the whole time my own father was just a simple, decent man?
I sacrificed so much to leave and 15 years later i am still trying to purge my mind of their toxic teachings, trying to understand the world that exists between the black and white. It's strange that still, occasionally, i think that Satan is controlling my actions and he is using me as a tool to destroy other peoples lives. It is hard, and i need content like this to remind me that i might actually be a human that deserves life.
I truly, *truly* appreciate your efforts in producing this content. It may well be life saving in ways you never imagined.
Good advise - especially how the terminology is there to de-humanise thanks
Please please carry on the good work because your helping a lot of people to come out from this SADISTIC organisation cult!!!!!
“I know it won’t be our last conversation- but it’s a start”. IMO they’re saying “it’s a start to no longer having conversations with my dad anymore.” In such a triumphant manner. Heartbreaking that shunning his father is supposedly the goal.
Very entertaining. Jim Jones would be so proud! Beware the Devil's food birthday cake!! 🎂
"It took courage"
It took ignoring my heart and conscience and just following what the group tell me
My mother was out...??my father was hopelessly in and obsessed...
We kids have a choice about becoming a Jehovah's witnesses.....VIOLENCE........
That creepy moment when Marcus and Jeremy’s hands are rubbing together while walking down the street.
...and they were just friends. ;)
As someone who grew up in a secular home, this is so terrifying to me. Can’t imagine having kids with a guy and then he later converts to something like JW. Heart goes out to all the spouses and children in that situation.
The children will not be treated the same as other witness children with two believing parents.
The congregation labels a family where there continues to be one unbelieving parent who doesn’t convert.
Awesome video Germ! 💪
Did you notice the irony in this video?!?...Did you notice how the young son wanted to "serve Jehovah" and the father was still kind and understanding towards him.
Now take the same scenario when the father is the witness and the son do not want to be a witness, but want to live his life and make his choices, but if it goes against the JW religion, then what happens??.. The father will demand that the son do ALL of JW activities.
As he gets older he will be put out of the house for not wanting to be a JW.
It just amazes me that WT/GB do not see all the irony in their own videos!!
Pathetic! 😕
Damn I wish I had worldly people throwing themselves at me so I can sin😂
Aujourd'hui, à 52 ans je pense que la plus grande chance que j'ai eu dans ma vie c'est d'avoir eu un père qui n'était pas Témoins de Jéhovah. Une bénédiction. Ma mère à connu la "vérité" en 1967 l'année de ma naissance. Et elle est aujourd’hui à 81 ans toujours Témoins de Jéhovah.
Germ I liked your videos very much👏👌 I agree 100% with what you said
Wonderful presentation but there are so many more warning the "unbelieving spouse" needs to be aware of. Maybe for another video.
omg this video. first I've seen on divided households and sums it up perfectly. its like freedom was so close but just out of reach. a different type of prison
Omg when the young boy is out in service with 'Jeremy' that is my hometown which is in between all three bethel sites in NY State! Ugh I feel sorry for the victimized believers but . . . I have no love for this religion!
This is my world. Thank you for doing this one.
Good luck, we are pulling for you
wallpello ಠ_ಠ thank you!
This is such a great video. If this was not my upbringing!
I love you! Thank you
That sandwich looks so good. Sorry y’all. Currently fasting.😬
And he just LEFT it there!! (I'm fasting too)
So the Jehovah witnesses literally teach people to disregard one of Jehovah’s commandments?
"Honour thy father and thy mother"
Exodus 20, 1 describes the Ten Commandments as being spoken by God, inscribed on two stone tablets by the finger of God, broken by Moses, and rewritten on replacement stones by the Lord. So who’s Peter that what he wrote has more weight than the word of god himself?
All commentators explain the command to “honor” as respect, deference and obedience. How does watchtower spin their encouragement to breaking the law that Jehovah gave directly to Moses? What kind of Bible “study” do they do that they ignore the most important parts?
My jw mom shunned me to her last breath. Thanks jehovah.
Hello new subscriber here🙋 was inside for 20 years and awake since 2018. The mental control is so strong inside, children should choose their goals with education and sports but Watchtower loves to make them feel guilty all the time. Pure propaganda to only benefit Watchtower. 🤦🤦
Thanks, Jerm, these ideas are so clear and so intelligent!
Ironically I was born & bread in the cult never took to it because I was to free spirited but I suffered in it & as a grown adult my worst fear in life is having a wife who converts to jehovah witnesses I just find it odd that this is my greatest fear.
very well said. couldn’t agree more, very good attention to detail... been in for too long does numb ur HUMANITY and critical thinking process
Very well articulated and absolutely accurate.
As always very loving romantic music in the Broadcast. Dividing the families. Horrific!
I love your videos. They’re so well put together and I just love the quality man! Thank you so much for the work you put into these videos.
A JW woman with almost no men around her age in her own or neighboring kingdom halls, and lots of JW women competing with her, goes against the ban on marrying a nonJW and probably soft pedals the reality for him.. He likely is involved in his business, agrees with social mores of education and sports, and wants to make her happy but can't buy going door to door and kingdom stuff. He's not thinking about the impact on the kids and stays married to be a good father, giving up most happy activities as his wife and child demonize him. One day hopefully he'll get a divorce and keep the offer of a home open for his child. Or maybe the wife will wake up. Either way, keep a sharp eye out for pedophiles in the hall.
Well done laying out the whole situation.
Oh my God a girl approached... you study the Bible quick .
I love your videos, you are so smart and bring something valuable to the community. U are not telling people how to think but to think, and for a JW that is sth that has been stripped away from them. Thank you for your videos. I hope you stay encouraged and continue to produce then.... I am sure that in time you will be able to reach even more people!
People should stay away from that American sect and save their families instead.
It's sadly also a thing in Europe.
The church is very different over here, but it still exists and it's still really weird.
At one point during this video, when you mentioned Satan and made a face, i was reminded of the "Church Lady" from SNL years ago.....LOL!!
In another video you mentioned Dr. Ramani. She has some of the most insightful videos about NPD and other personality disorders. Would love to see you guys team up for a video or two to talk about how some of these concepts overlap with cult ideology. The black and white thinking that goes on in your former religion is somewhat analogous with those who have BPD and other cluster B disorders. Psychologists refer to this way of thinking as "splitting".
And as a side note: you have a ton of charisma and a gift for conveying complex ideas and telling compelling stories. And who knows why the RUclips algorithm recommended your channel but I'm glad they did.
My mom converted when I was 4, my dad did not. My mother raised my brother and I jw, I'm sure there was conflict between my parents behind closed doors but we weren't aware. My dad was just as sure in his beliefs. Neither my brother and I got baptized and left as soon as we could. Having so many questions unanswered or answers that didn't make sense, and seeing another person I trusted just as sure in different beliefs made me do more research. It was a process, but now I'm atheist
Edit: a huge love and interest in dinosaurs and archaeology was also a big factor. Not having answers to dinosaur questions that made sense, and reading science books that did make sense helped. A lot of 'how do you know that?' questions and not being able to find archaeological evidence for the garden of Eden when I was 9 or so really made me think.
This is what I worried about with my JW friend. How is she going to support her family if she doesn't have a job and just dedicate herself to free service.
such a good video! you explained it perfectly
You are definitely right. So hard to change the minds of brainwashed kids. It's asahame
Why are the boys and men in the videos so creepy? Creepy and wan.
I had a talk with my Pop not long ago and he told me he felt bad for not letting my brother and I get into sports and karate etc. in school. My mom was the JW enforcer and my Pop was a little laid back on things but my mom pushed him over and of course it fucked up my brother and myself. We missed out on tryouts for baseball, football, basketball etc. and I'm pretty good at baseball and I'm sure I would have crushed it and gone somewhere in baseball. My Pop regrets it as well since my mom was so against it due to the JW religion.
I was one of those kids...sounds like a textbook scenario. Definitely a construct. I had a perfectly happy family until I was 12 and my mom joined. She made sure me and my brother and sister followed her. I left and so did my brother. I found Christ years later, and so did my brother. Thankfully. I pray my mother will see how wrong she was and will wake up. Everybody pray for my mother and sister please.
Love how they have him going to the JW website for scriptural inspiration and not actual scripture
Super subtle, guys
..and they claim that they don't destroy people's family😐
Missed your videos. Nice movie brake down.
4:40 whoa whoa whoa hold on a moment, so this quote is supposed to be taken to mean that you should *only* be God's slave? I mean, I don't see how else she's supposed to mean it in this context. And for a JW context it sounds like they're celebrating the notion of being God's slave. Also.... they got black people saying this shit?!? Believing in it? Believing that's a positive thing to strive for!?? holy fucking hell that's horrific if you really think about it. They've convinced PoC to take "comfort" in the notion of unquestioning servitude to someone deemed greater than them. Really take that in.
This cult has zero shame and frankly should probably be destroyed. Not just survived, not just escaped by some lucky few. Destroyed, like what they've done to many peoples' lives, before they can do it to more people.
As someone who grew up in this exact situation (with some minor tweaks to the conculusions) I will forever answer "What the hell is wrong with you?" with the url to this video. Bravo. You articulated stuff I never could.
You should have been a District Overseer.
You are sooo good at explaining things.
Thank you!
This really hit a nerve for me. My dad (who smoked in secret🥺) was absolutely demonized by my mum and the congregation. Every point you made was bang on!
Btw, Jeremy’s pants seem to be rather tight😬
Great insight and great advice. I might have missed it if you said this already, but wouldn't it be a good idea to go to church with the spouse and child as well? Discuss the teachings with the family and ask questions and also be an advocate for the child? Maybe even go to the child's Bible studies to see what's going on there?
10:27 I wonder how the dad feels about his son hanging out with an older man. It's likely not positive. I remember being a kid and looking up to someone that went to my church as being a mother figure and would go to her apartment. I was like thirteen or fourteen years old at the time and was devastated when I found out she moved.
I don't know if my mom knew that I saw some of the people at that church as being some kind of parental figure because I viewed my own family as a bunch of outsiders. My mom noticed at the time that I was becoming a homophobe, my own home was dysfunctional.
I also had a lady from the same church buy me a meal when I was in my early teens or just about my preteen years. It was just her and me. I think she got permission from my mom and stepdad and the fast food restaurant was just down the street, pass two grave yards and a convenience store. She wanted to talk to me about Jesus, my mom let me walk to the church up the road and even take my little sister with me.
this video could be the antedote to the young people ask book
"...But I'm being pulled [ *DUN* *DUN* *DUNNNNNN* !!] in other directions..."
Oh no, my father wants me to concentrate on school and get a good education in order to find a decent job. What a horrible direction...