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I put out fires with gasoline, then drink the leftover gasoline on the floor. My favorite food is cyan printer ink fried in cyanide poisoned olive oil. Sometimes, I'm feeling exotic, and eat cherry tree bark drenched in spruce sap and gasoline, dried, and later fried in olive oil mixed with magenta printer ink.
I went to the Kingdom Hall for the Jesus Memorial. It was so confusing. It was my first one, I asked why some people only got to drink wine and have bread. They said "If they know their going to the new system, they get to drink and eat." Nobody could tell me how would they know. Another situation happened last year, broke my heart. I grew up with a girl who we will call "Taylor". We were best friends in fact. My dad was disfellowshipped so my grandma is who always takes me. I had been absent from meetings for a year by that time because of parental problems. I asked Taylor if we could have a sleepover a few days after I came back, and found that everytime I asked she always was told no. But when someone who had been in the congregation longer she was allowed to. I started asking around, figured out the PARENTS were making her say no because I was apparently a bad influence due to me not being at meetings. I haven't been allowed to hang out with her ever since I came back.
One thing I've learned Fromm watching all of the ex-JW videos is that the Jehovah's Witnesses have got to be the most bland and boring cult ever. It's like a cult for businessmen!
I also see it more like a business. On the surface it looks like an organization that tells you how to improve your life with religion but in reality religion is used to keep pushing the members so they fulfill their main purpose: making more members = more money for the Governing Body. It's not that different from constantly looking for new subscribers for a magazine.
Wouldn't say that it's oriented. It's not like they collect money and ride around in private jets and Bentleys from all the cash. They actually put it to use in building houses for people, setting up food drives, providing disaster relief, etc. They are also very transparent with the members about what they spend and where. They're ever critical of Catholics that pass collection plates, so they made sure not to be guilty of the same
I remember my last meeting 27 years ago. Got physically ill and had to go to the bathroom because of all the crap I was hearing. The last time I went to a kingdom hall was for my judicial hearing for associating with a disfellowshipped person, who I actually brought with me. Good times.
@@raquelpardal5343I still have dreams about the kingdom hall or conventions and I wonder why am I here, or I guess I'm doing this to make my parents happy and everyone I recognize is either dead or how old they were best when I was 25. Very weird. I'll tell the dead people that they're dead and they don't seem to mind. They all act subhuman, like they're zombies. Pretty much every dream I walk out and can't find my car in the parking lots lol.
When the elders came to me and I told then why evolution is true, they did babble something about carbon-14 and one of them told me evolutionists still use Lucy as a proof, but Lucy was already proven to be a fraud. He couldn't even tell Lucy from the Piltdown Man, and he was a very clever man, administrator from a multinational company who often went to abroad reunions, but his intelligence was shrink when he had to contest his religious beliefs.
The annointed thing is what woke me up from this religion like it doesn't make any sense, some random person could just say they're annointed and everyone would believe them because they 'feel it'
I remember once hearing an elder criticizing some dude he knew somewhere, saying he didn't agree to his dramatic preaching style, and in some time of his speech, he said "And he considered himself an annointed"
itd actually be hard for just some random person to be believed, JWs believe the 144,000 were already chosen by the time jesus came to power (1914) so not only would they had to be alive in 1914 but also they would need to be very active with the religion and living by the religious standards. that was the understanding i was taught anyways, ive been 'inactive' for about 8 years
The beard thing was always dumb. My brother was never baptized, and my dad yelled at my brother for not shaving, and now my dad is so proud of his beard. Haha. Like damn. How silly.
@@lordfreerealestate8302 I actually never knew about the beards and I grew up as a JW before I left at age 16 (Over 20 years ago), but I do remember we did have a few brothers with beards, come to think of it ...even an elder... Maybe some countries and congregations emphasized more on this than others?
I left about 20 years ago but about a year or two after I left, my brother invited me to a public talk he was giving (he was an elder at the time) and I was touched that he was brave enough to reach out to me, so I went. Yeah, after you haven't been in a Kingdom Hall for a while, it's super weird going back. It gives you an entirely new perspective and I spent the 2 hours just looking around, watching people parrot stuff they just read from the study article and seeing the brainwashing happen in real time. It was so surreal. I couldn't wait to get out of there and I've never been back.
That’s exactly what I told my JW good friend who invited me to Sunday service! I told him that what I saw is exactly how to brainwash ! He denied it but I added what would happen to someone who interjected a unique interpretation that requires free thought?? Ya we know sometime later that person would be set aside and set straight. No free thought allowed!
The paradise earth thing makes it sound like it should be called Jehovah's Witness Protection Program since most JWs will be stuck cleaning up the earth after the apocalypse before beginning new lives with different identities.
I'm from Catolic Church and I absolutely agree when it come to mysticism. I remember going to church a year ago for like a special mass, and it was so well done. My church is pretty big and we have upper and lower sections of it, this one was in lower one. It was 7 PM, in winter, snowing and dark outside. Whole church was dark too. Choir singing with hidden organs on the right. It started normaly but after some singing Father Pio kneeled down on a front of the Jesus painting and started to talk to him. Men, he literally had voice cracks while speaking. He was apologising for our sins and praying for forgiveness to all of us. Even tho I don't remember what he was saying exacly, it was so emotional I couldn't stop listenning. I stayed for the whole mass that day and went back home after 2 hours. Even though I'm doubt in my religion now, it was still worth it.
Pray for the lost JW’s I’m 69 years old. Cradle Catholic. I wish they would come home to the Church Jesus Christ instituted. I’m familiar with much of JW history. I think many who are weak in faith fall for false religions. Very sad. Nice to meet you. Have a blessed Easter!❤️✝️🇮🇹
Yeah I’m orthodox now and I struggle with faith, maybe in part because of my JW background, but I still go because it’s beautiful. I could never sit through a JW meeting.
As an exmormon cult cousin, I can relate so much! I went back to a Mormon meeting last summer bc my sister is still active. I found the church to be exactly the same, but I have changed
Tell your sister jw's have committed the unforgivable sin calling the Holy Spirit God's 'force' when the Holy Spirit is God. Matthew 12:31-32 [31]Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. [32]And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. Acts 5:3-4 [3]But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? [4]Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. 😇
4:13 Oh definitely. So here's a story. I live in the Philippines and it is not allowed in schools for male students to have long hair even up to some colleges. So the first time I got out of college, I let my hair grow long. I wasn't a fan of it and eventually settled back to my old short hair, but when you're not allowed to have a hairstyle of any kind for so long, you'll just have that desire to try it when you're finally allowed to.
Same circumstances here. If it wasn't for covid I may have not left for a long time still, but because of the pressure they kept putting on us and the guilt to come back to the hall in person, despite my crippling social anxiety, I just stopped going, and I woke up 6 months later.
I had the same experience with elders coming to my house and then not even opening their bibles just going "ok" weirdly the most respectful thing they ever did for me
@@matusa6714 The acknowledgment of the reality of the Trinity, the acknowledgment of the reality of the fully divine and fully human nature of Christ, The observation of the commandments, the spreading of the Good News and the need to reconcile ones wrong doing, the acknowledgment of the perfection of the human person and the ultimate perfection of creation in all its aspects, and the acknowledgement of God as the Whole, the Truth, The Good, The Beautiful, Perfection, and Being itself. JW denies the trinity, the nature of Christ, the nature of God as the Truth, Goodness, The Whole etc.
@@matusa6714 They consider God as an entity within reality rather than being itself, so they deny the premise that God is (in the literal sense) the truth
Very interesting. I thought you were out for a longer period of time. I left in 2011 and never set a foot in a KH since then and I don't plan to ever again. I gave 30 years to this cult and countless hours of preaching as a pioneer (90 hours a month). I will never again give some of my time sitting there listening to the platitudes. I like your channel and listen to the voice of a young, articulated person logically explaining his journey and the reason you're doing this. Frankly, it helps me still today. The mental deconstruction took a long time, but 30 years is a long time, so the undoing is also taking long. Thank you for your channel.
EXCELLENT Comments! My experience was similar.. many year’s Regular Pioneering (90 hours a month) in 1980s .. looking Back at SLAVING for 9 American men in Warwick masquerading as a Charity but Really a Real Estate Corporation sucking the Life,Time & Money out of Tax Paying individuals!
The reason your old friend got back in contact and had brunch with you is the old mlm trick. Go through everyone you know like old Highschool friends and “catch up” and then pitch your sales pitch at the end after you’ve built some rapport. Then if the sale pitch fails then move on and ditch them.😢 soo sad.
I absolutely agree about what you said about the passing on of the bread. Its totally unbiblical and from a christian perspective it totally seems satanic to me, to denigh someone the body and blood of christ!
Exactly what I was thinking! Like, of course the enemy would restrict people from the taking of communion, something that is not only a powerful reminder of the sacrifice made for us, but also a prophetic act of healing and forgiveness over us.
The JWs is a counterfeit religion with a counterfeit gospel that is Satanically, unBiblical and anti-Christian ... though they say they are Christians, they are not.
We call it Communion or the last supper. We do it in remembrance of Christ and what he did for us. And we do it as often as needed. Not just once a year. 🥰
@pattynellis7347 correction, nobody comes back to life, and there is no after life. You live a lie and die in a lie, and the lights go out forever. You will not even know how horribly you wasted your life and mind.
I always felt the memorial was "Creepy" the fact that we invited the public to this bizarre meeting makes me cringe... I wonder if anyone ever joined from this experience....
I saw a couple of funerals when I was a JW, but they were all regular funerals because those people had parents outside religion. Never saw a funeral in the Kingdom Hall or a JW speech in them, so I don't know how a JW funeral look like. What's disrespectful about them?
@@fragilecadaver It's antiseptic. They simply read that week's Watchtower and say some words about "the end of this system of things." Emotion is essentially banned. The decedent or the family is not even the focus. Weddings are even worse. The sermon is so long-winded and boring that the bride and groom need to sit on the dais. Weddings and funerals are more for the leadership to grandstand than anything else. They're Jehovah's Witnesses.
That was the last straw for me, as well, regarding ever setting foot inside another KH. My dad's funeral in 2014. It was disgusting and I'll never attend another funeral or anything if it's in a KH. That means I already know I will not be at my mother's service whenever she dies.
I wanna give all pimos that cant leave for various reasons all the strenght and love they need in such times. Dont worry dear pimo,u dont need this cult,there the ones who need you so they can maintain there silly little lifestyle...
It seems to become more and more a habit to make pictures at the memorial emblems desk after the whole ritual. I noticed that development over the last 10-15 years. I'm in my 60's and PIMO now, can't remember such was done in the past prior. Maybe these are survival photos bc Armageddon STILL haven't struck, and will never as described by several religions!
12:04 what is actually missing is a relationship with God. They devote their lives to an organization but it is the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, that truly saves us.
19:38 As a former catholic, former born again, now atheist. I'm telling you, intelligence does not dictate whether a person is prone or not prone to believing in a delusion. I'm Filipino so we're a very Christian majority. And I can tell you, I have met valedictorians, highly paid successful people like engineers, business managers, software developers, doctors, who are all still very religious. I realized back in high school that intelligence doesn't determine whether a person will become religious or not. We humans really just evolved to have a attraction to a certain degree of superstition. Why else did multiple nations from across the globe independently formed their own gods and religion. Being religious is just something our brains was wired somehow during our evolution. Anyway, thank you Panda Tower for another great video.
It's not that we are naturally religious. Religion has been tailored to human traits. It's a man-made system of manipulation built, tuned and tweaked according to the average human. This is why it may appear that humans are naturally religious, but in reality, religion is designed to entrap egotistic, dishonest and absent minded people, purely because most humans have been conditioned to be that way.
@@colinriches1519 I don't think so, each tribe, ancient civilization, nation all developed religious and supernatural beliefs. I am confident that it truly is an evolutionary trait of humans, perhaps a way for us to approximate the nature of reality. But since superstitious beliefs were only an approximation, it was very inaccurate. Now we are in a more advanced state as a species and will no longer need this possible survival mechanism for our brains. I mean take depravity for example, people who are desperate who can't do anything for their circumstance start praying as it does help some to relieve them of the mental stress. It really seems that being religious and superstitious was a survival mechanism for our emotional state. Though as I said, we're already pass that and have advanced where we no longer need superstition as a mental buffer. There's no harm in admitting that being religius was an evolutionary phenomenon. What is harmful is we stay in these old, obsolete ways of living. We are better than this now.
You’re right - there are incredibly dumb religious people, and incredibly dumb atheists. I’m an atheist myself but have no trouble admitting there are smarter theists than me😆
"There is power in ritual." That's one of the reasons I left the baptist church I was raised in. Imagine having that bread and wine passing weekly, but told and taught it is nothing more than a memorial.
I attended the memorial this year wearing a beard and a formal suit without a tie. The songs and prayers I participated in didn't have the same impact on me as they used to. As a POMO, it is surreal to be welcomed and love-bombed by active witnesses. Maybe because, in my case, I just faded into obscurity, and I want to remain this way.
I see much of my parents in your friend, whenever we end up talking about belief, I can see the gears turning for a brief moment and then the indoctrination juice kicks in and they just default to "his ways are higher". It's very surreal.
My evangelical parents do the same thing! My mom I think is more open minded but she’s so stuck in this “I need to be a subservient wife” mentality that the Christian apologetics will always begin at some point but I know her gears are turning. My dad will always defend it because he loves the patriarchy involved.
I was actually talking to my dad about the disfellowship thing and this man apparently doesn’t like it! I wanted to ask why he still believes in it though but he always has the excuse that that this is the closest thing to a true religion that he has found (he has looked)
Having people look at the communion elements without partaking is downright cruel. It sends the message, "You know how the savior of the world died for your sins? This bread and this cup symbolizes a personal relationship with him, which sucks for you because Jesus doesn't know you and you will never meet him." This Sunday at church I will eat the bread and drink the cup because the Bible says all believers are part of the Royal Priesthood. I AM ANOINTED BY GOD, and we enter in to the priesthood by being anointed with the blood of the lamb (Lev 8:24), not attaining rank in a heretical organization. When I partake in the bread and cup, I will remember the terrible price God's son paid, and I will look forward to when Jesus returns VISIBLY to the Earth (Matt 24;26-27) when all of God's children will feast together. Jesus shed his precious blood to make Paradise Earth a reality, it wouldn't be the same without him there. Panda, I hope one day you have a saving encounter with Jesus, and I really appreciate your work exposing this cult.
Thank you so much for sharing. I really appreciate your videos. I was an Atheist and Agnostic for over ten years and then I was a fake Christian for about two years because I went to church and read the Bible, but I never knew Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior until February 10th 2019. I found that Jesus was the only one who could justify my existence through His forgiveness upon my sin. I came to the moral realization that I was a sinner who deserved an eternal Hell and that Jesus who is God (John 1:1-3, John 8:56-59, John 10:30) was the only one who could forgive my sin and my sin nature and justify me (Rom. 3:24-25). I thought the Bible was nonsense and that Jesus was just a man and that Jesus was just a fake for a long time. But what changed my mind was how Jesus fulfilled specific Old Testament prophecies that were unable to be faked, specifically the prophecies written by King David in Psalm 22. Psalm 22:16 "...they pierced my hands and my feet." King David prophesied that the Messiah would be crucified a thousand years before Jesus was crucified and hundreds of years before crucifixion was invented by the Romans. Psalm 22:18 "They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture." the Romans took Jesus' clothes and cast lots on them while He was crucified in Matt.27:35. Psalm 22:7-8 "All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him." The Jewish religious leaders all mocked Christ with the nearly the same exact words in Matt.27:43. Psalm 22:1 "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Is exactly what Jesus says on the cross in Matt. 27:46. King David had prophesied that the Messiah was to be forsaken by God to die for sinful man and that's exactly what happened to Jesus. The New Testament is a reliable historical record of Jesus fulfilling hundreds of specific Old Testament verses. No one can fulfill hundreds of prophecies on accident or even on purpose. The sheer quantity of prophecies that Jesus had fulfilled is far beyond the realm of coincidence. Also, on the subject of miracles. None of Jesus' enemies ever accused Jesus of faking miracles. What Jesus' enemies did accuse Jesus of was performing the miracles by the power of Satan (Mark 3:22). Even Jesus' enemies were convinced that the miracles Jesus had done were real. But I digress. Keep looking for the truth and God bless you. John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
One of my former Kingdom Halls served two congregations which required two memorial events; an early show and a late show. The original plan was to begin the early show with a one hour sales talk followed by the emblem rejection ritual that would start immediately after sunset. This plan worked well for many years. One year, our congregation was blessed with a visit from a high-ranking Bethel member who insisted that the memorial sales talk could not start before sunset. This created a huge problem as the late show participants started showing up well before the early show let out. The street was jammed with cars that had nowhere to park and a crowd of people had gathered outside, unable to enter the Kingdom Hall. Oh well, Bethel knows best.
Your experience sounds extremely similar to mine. Not just with your timeline of waking up over Covid Lockdown, but also just how weird it felt asking questions with the elders and reasoning with them while I was not even FULLY woken up yet, and they didn't even try to give me any "help". I genuinely expected to get answers from at least one of them, but they never gave me any, and instead just left me alone after one zoom meeting and I haven't heard anything else from them. Back when I was still on the fence, I was searching for somewhere I could be wrong. Like if there was some kind of puzzle piece I was missing that would magically make all the contradictions in the religion make sense. And the elders not even trying solidified in me that the puzzle piece I was searching for didn't exist. Because if it did, why wouldn't they present it?
Hi Panda I just want to start by saying how incredibly grateful I am for your videos. They have been such a lifeline for me as I navigate my own journey of waking up from the Jehovah's Witnesses. It’s really hard, and I often feel overwhelmed, but your content has helped me feel less alone in this process. I wanted to share my own story, as I’ve been facing similar challenges. I’ve recently started questioning the hypocrisy within the religion, especially regarding its teachings that don't seem to align with the Bible. After dedicating so many years to helping the community, I find it disheartening that when I express my thoughts, I am met with pressure from the elders to delete my posts. They’ve even suggested that if I want to remain part of the congregation , I must comply,they even threat me with the police and the law.It is incredible how evil they are. Their intimidation tactics have left me feeling anxious and isolated, which has been really hard to process.
Im PIMO, and so is my (secret) girlfriend. We're in the same circut. The only reason i dont dread these stupid events is because i get to see her. I feel so bad for the people with nobody there for them.
They practice ritual shunning 😅- back when it was Watchtower in the 80s we used a community center as our temporary hall. There was a piano, and sometimes someone would play the old melodies for us to sing to. Probably one of my few decent memories from that time.
Malaysian here. So I went to the memorial last Sunday. But before that, I was invited to the religion by a friend of mine. Kind of woke up when I watched your videos? I liked what they teach, but didn't really believed in anything, I just thought that the bible teaches us how to live or something. Anyways, so basically it was invited for everyone, met a couple of people from around the world for some reason. It was to be honest same as usual right at the start, we stand and sing song, prayer. Sit back down an elder talks, then minister talks. After that, we are in the bread and wine passing time, they basically passed the plate to each row of seats for us to pass around. The bread looks dry and stale with fork holes in it, everyone just passes it, but I legit took like 5 seconds to look at it. Then the wine, looked like cheap wine to me, consistency is like water, colour is not deep, as if it's see through. Then after all that. Things start going a bit "south" if you can call that. So there were quite a lot of "new people" joining the event. I don't know how and why they are there, but anyways, the elder encouraged or like told them to join the meetings that they will have every Thursday and Sunday, and also ask around for "Bible Study". (talking about Bible Study, I am still going to mine to learn more. But I did know it's indoctrinating. I'm still at the surface, chapter 5. I can definitely see where they are coming from with this 3.5/5 reasonable chapter. And I don't mean the book itself, we talked on other points, etc.). So I kinda see this as a way of them recruiting? But the good thing is, they didn't just told them to go JWdotORG. They'd rather have face to face kinda beat. Edit : Yeah for real, the guy giving the talk had a beard too, there's more white hair on his head than his beard. how Edit 2 : Some girls and outsiders are wearing pants. But none of them really wearing anything too revealing. Edit 3 : The day before, I had my study. The brother briefed me a little bit. And I remember clearly he said, "It is the only day that we can celebrate". Bro? There was nothing after the talk? Everyone just goes home? Edit 4 : Good vid bro. It's nice hearing from your life and where you're coming from and doing.
As a traditional Protestant Christian outsider, I couldn't help but feel sad for the JWs at the Memorial. It was so wooden and lifeless. Also, the comment on the "two hopes" directly contradicts the N.T. "There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling"--Ephesians 4:4
A religion where everything is done according to written protocol, all songs are played from recordings, and all rituals consist of men in business formal attire talking in monotonous voices? Sounds like a corporate HR department's dream cult. 😂
Damn im sorry about your friend, i cant imagine how frustrating it is to have him be brainwashed like that. It seems like he might not believe anymore but like you said, he has his wife and kid now preventing him from leaving 😔
I hear such a difference in your voice in this one. We all are so grateful to have woken and to have left (I left about 28 years ago) but because its such a huge part of our childhood, we still have some sort of attachment and it comes back tosadness. I think thats what a lot of us feel is ouresadness. For our family, our loss, the naivety of the current followers....
I find it really bizarre how Jehovah's Witnesses don't even seem to try to defend their own religion. We, Catholics, for example, tend to give a lot of importance to Apologetics! Of course, we want to win more souls for Christ.
I don’t think there are any doubts. I think they know for a fact that they are leading a cult and now all they are focusing on is constant PR damage like a cult leader would.
Because of this cult, I don’t have a relationship with some of my family members anymore. They were witnessed to and fooled into believing and they stopped hanging out with the rest of the family.
I'm only a (questioning) bible student atm and I went to my first memorial this year. We had one lady actually partake in eating and drinking the emblems but I won't lie, I don't think I remember hearing about why non anointed ppl shouldn't partake... I probs zoned out but what I DO remember was that the brother giving the talk used the wedding ring analogy for commitment and it made me giggle :p it was fine, the guy made a few jokes here and there so it was entertaining for the most part. edit: we held the memorial at the Kingdom Hall and actually had both auditoriums full of ppl (English service)
Since the number of participants grew so much in last years, is not that hard to find one. I was 10 or 11 when I first understood the anoited and the emblems question, by that time there where circa 6 thousand people participating and that already sound a little suspect to me. I though that only 138 thousand anoited christians had lived since Jesus time until my time were a very, very little number, and the number of participants just went higher and higher, reaching 20 thousand now. Don't any JW strange that 1/7 of the anoited are living right now, and 6/7 lived through 2 thousand years? That's simple math!
I hope the points from these videos are helping you with the "questioning" part. The best course of action is to have them explain why they've had at least 6 definite years prophesied as "the end" that never came. Why they will not even put their predecessor's writings on their website as reference material. Why they insist on protecting Peter Files but shunning people who simply have a change of mind. When you're studying, it's very well-planned. They start you out with living forever and seeing your dead grammy again, but leave out that once you're baptized you are FUCKED if you think you can just walk away, especially if you have family that is part of the circus.
@@Eric_01That's a great question for why the end is taking long. The reason why the Great Tribulation is taking long is because to Jehovah, it's going by really fast, but to us, it's going by slow. And Jehovah is giving others time to come and worship him. That's the best explanation I can give.
Same here, expected Hello from most PIMI who must have seen the update to say Hello, but not even a Hello from some😮 just stared at me even knowing I’m just Inactive jw😅what a joke they say we are true Christian!
They turn their back on how they hurt and destroy lives. It's better not to know about it than to admit it happens. 😮 I was in since early 1970, never served as an Elder because I refused to just go along with the group! I was giving up to 3 talks a month traveling to another Congregation to help as they just had 2 Elders so gave 2 parts on the service meeting's gave talks in Mexico, I was the emergency speaker but when it cane to Elder's backstabbing ways I just dud nit want anything to do with that backstabbing that goes on. 😮 now I am disfellowshipped as my wife and I had no permission to marry so they kicked us out as bring rebellious!
I’m evangelical Christian and want to add to the passionate ritual thing My church literally has a whole band of musicians that play the music live with the lyrics being projected for everyone to sing (I actually want to form part of it as a guitarist) and our pastor while he usually has a list of bullet points being projected he goes through them passionately, telling his own experiences and even sometimes crying on the stage You really feel like he has seen and felt God in action when he speaks
@@mooniegoodie problem with society is they love to "feel" god and "see" him through some lunatics passion yet follow the bible where god used wizards, freaks of nature like firestorms and parting of oceans, miracles, and direct communication with his followers
@@floydgraveling1910Doesn’t mean you can be mean to other people and their beliefs. I think the original commenters comment is quite nice and sounds like it could actually be fun, unlike the JW’s
@@daydream5120 True. Whenever I go to an Evangelical church, I end up excitedly praising God and thanking him. I leave very happy and in good spirits. My cousins said about their Evangelical sis and her hubby, that they never missed the nightclub life because they had such a good time in church. So it's advantages in almost any religion, and a whole lot of disadvantages in some.
As a Christian i really like enjoy your content. Never knew much about JWs and your arguments about their issues are usually very clear. I wish we could have a talk to debate a couple of things. (You could even use it as content to your channel) I am not the greatest in knowledge, but still, i haven't seen good arguments being discussed here yet, so I believe it would be healthy independently of the conclusion.
8:05 I lost the cringe challenge, as a Christian. I was like "What the Heck!" This is a Precious Sacrament, throughout Christianity, a Mark of Belonging, like saying the "Our Father", it's just something that ALL CHRISTIANS DO!!! But I guess that just shows that JWs are not really Christians, huh?
I put out fires with gasoline, then drink the leftover gasoline on the floor. My favorite food is cyan printer ink fried in cyanide poisoned olive oil. Sometimes, I'm feeling exotic, and eat cherry tree bark drenched in spruce sap and gasoline, dried, and later fried in olive oil mixed with magenta printer ink.
No fr the whole ritual and mysticism thing is super important to a religion. I remember being a JW as a kid and not understanding the social norms, so when I sang, I sang with enthusiasm and zeal, and people NOTICED. People commented on it to my parents because they saw me being actually into the music as “disruptive.” It’s not even that I was singing off key or getting the lyrics wrong or dancing, I just sang like I meant it, and that was somehow a bad thing. I continued to sing growing up and even after I left the religion, but that whole experience, crushed my confidence in group singing environments
I do remember Brother Moskie, he was a traveling overseer. Him and his wife were just sweet people. I still see him in my minds eye crying on stage after the memorial prayer. So sad they wasted their entire lives on the road. I still see their old blind cat Pharaoh also. I thought about going to a memorial but I've heard it's just like you said it was.
17:55, that really hit me hard... It makes me sad that there's so many people who hinge their entire world view and sense of purpose in life on a "Meh, we'll see who's right."
Im a Christian myself and i gotta admit u and other ex JWs made me realise how little i know about the bible props to u guys for making me more willing to learn about my religion 🔥🔥
I watch guys like James Tabor and Bart Ehrman and even though they aren't believers they ask a great question: why wouldn't you want to know where this book came from and everything we can know about it, if it's so important to you?
Skip learning about "your religion". That's completely irrelevant and will be biased at best. You're best course is to research the bible itself. Get to the nitty gritty of its origins, lack of archeological evidence, list of characters that have no proof of existing through secular historical records. The battles, the kings, the prophets, the best friends of god, the flood, the plagues, the exodus...no proof for any of it. The degree by which what we call "the bible" now was a manipulated, twisted, changed, mistranslated mess with NO originals to return to for a recalibration. Yes, study on hard, not on the bible, but ABOUT the bible. Once you learn that it cannot be trusted as a source for anything true, what religion you are will not matter even the least. You'll just quit.
I went to the memorial because my mom invited me and I had nothing better to do anyway. I haven’t been back in 6 years but it’s still the same old speech it was back then, very boring. I was struggling to stay awake. They didn’t try and convince me to come back like they did 6 years ago, all they said to me was: ‘glad you were here’. The only shocking thing was how tall the kids in my old congregation have become, full on beanstalks now. Oh I saw no men with beards but there was one woman with dress pants on.
I went to the Memorial through Zoom (grandparents and a pair of aunts/uncles cannot attend in person due to health reasons) and brought my fiance (raised Catholic then Presbyterian, now considers himself spiritual). They are aware that I do not "do what I am supposed to do" as a JW, but I don't share my religious views with my family generally. They seem to think they can still win me back. (I consider myself atheist.) For me attending after 3 years not going, it was so surreal: so boring, and the speaker had that same...just lack of emotion. Fiance was so confused how it held the attention of my family and why they believe. Honestly, I miss the fellowship...but now that I have a framework outside of my family that likes me for me and not for what I can do for the organization, it is easier.
The memorial has always been a meaningless ritual where the speaker just relates what the governing body tells them to in the outline. A warning is given that the speaker must not deviate from the outline in any way and it is the same old thing every year. When I was an elder no one really wanted to give this talk.
*"When I was an elder no one really wanted to give this talk."* Too bad no one thought of combining the Memorial talk with the talk outline about masterbation and porn. That might've livened things up a bit.
all they have to offer is a sense of community and it isn't even a good community. we left the witnesses in 2004 (when I graduated high school) and I'm so thankful for my dad having the sense to pull us out (he was an elder). so happy to have found your channel!
My first time back in a Kingdom Hall after 20 years was to go to a funeral service recently, she was a long time family friend. The people were friendly. I just thought, you poor things, you don't even realize the trap you are in. Nice people but just a bunch of programed robots. ( Their ) Memorial is no longer important to me, I see it for what it is., so falsely pious. Thank you.
I remember that they used to let older members who were close to dying eat and "become anointed" at my the kingdom halls I went to as a kid. It seems so sad now because they were obviously just wanting a bit of comfort before they died.
Another thing. I am finishing my PhD now. I know for a fact that my dad is smart as fuck, he taught me so much of what I know. It's sad to see such a talented, intelligent man be held back so much by being part of JWs. Most least, it would have kept our family out of poverty as a kid, since they spent so much time caring about being JWs that they just neglected going to work (i.e. we had no money because they would just preach and go to church instead of going to work), couple that with no birthdays, Christmas... man my childhood was rough.
It makes me so sad because part of the reason I get a little jaded sometimes is partly because of JWs and their practices and how that affected me as a child. I was always socially isolated and eventually was home-schooled - that means that now I basically don't have any friends because I don't know how to talk to people. While religion was the original spark though to my questions on origins of life and the universe and part of the reason I started wanting to do stuff in academia, I wonder if I would've done that anyway but without the religious trauma.
This is likely going to get lost in the sea of the internet so I'll just ramble on. I really wouldn't care that much about the shitty religious practices and beliefs of JWs, even preaching in public/door-to-door doesn't really rile me up that much. What REALLY riles me up is their response to abuse and Cheese Pizza/Cheese Abuse occurring in the kingdom hall - throughout the world and even at my own original congregation as a kid, the elders covered up abuse within the local hall because they obviously didn't want to look bad, under the guise of "we deal with things internally because we don't associate with the world" or whatever bullshit excuse they came up with, it riles me up that they don't give a f*ck enough to care that children get so badly hurt because of practices within the organisation AND THEY JUST DONT CARE. It's quite honestly disgusting and is one of the reasons I do genuinely hate the religion.
Even without delving into the fact that the overall Abrahamic Diety is essentially bullshit (see the theory of Yahweh as "The Storm God" within polytheistic religion in the ancient middle east), the Bible itself being full of contradictions and flat out "false" information (e.g. non-canon books like tBoE being referenced in the new testament), etc. etc... We can't forget that JW itself was founded by an ex-convict, greedy, misogynistic alcoholic, playing out a religious power fantasy for personal gain, he didn't even practice his own beliefs, delivered talks drunk and used watchtower profits for himself (allegedly). The whole thing is a sham and a farce and anyone with half a brain gets out of there ASAP.
@@marsdacreatori feel the same way. i grew up in the religion as my mom used to be a jw and now is “disfellowshipped”. She can’t talk to her mom or her brother anymore. i feel so frustrated because it’s still pushed onto me by mostly my grandma and I try to be respectful but all I want to do is scream “you’re in a cult!!!” i understand my uncle has literally been indoctrinated since birth but it breaks my heart because i know he’s smarter than this. after he graduated hs, his mom (my grandma) guilt tripped him into giving up a football scholarship to Florida state. all for the sake of this religion. she’s incredibly overbearing. I see her every once in a while and feel drained after the interaction because it always becomes a preaching moment for her. so I can’t imagine what it was like living with her and constantly having that forced on him.
Many of the "practical" JW followers realize there's plenty of ways to pick the faith apart but a lot of them either blindly continue believing or they stay in the faith because it brings the least amount of problems for them in their family and social lives.
I unironically believe that JWs would experience a massive surge of new converts, if they added to their rituals, screaming at the top of your lungs: *WITNESS MEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!* while spraying their mouths with silver paint. (Cookie if you got the reference)
18:31 grew up Baptist but I do have a clear memory of being told by a Sunday school teacher "people may show you their proof about why God isn't real or why the Bible is wrong but faith means believing even with the naysayers in your ear." At the time I kinda shrugged and accepted that but thinking back that was terrible advice
Question, why do JWs have funerals but not birthdays? Isn't a funeral a celebration of life? I'd love to hear your perspective on this. I know that's an off topic question, just not sure where else to ask
We have funerals and not birthdays because the Pagan Pharaoh and King Harod (Aka an opposer of Christ's followers) celebrated their own birthdays. And I don't really see funerals as a celebration of life but an event to mourn a friend or family member.
@@mr_noobert thank you for explaining. In my culture, funerals are a celebration of a life completed. May the Moirai weave you a gentle fate, and may you take much strength where you need.
It’s a business meeting. We just didn’t know that when we were little. I left physically in 2000, mentally well before. I have respect that you could go back to observe; I could never.
Honestly, I think you may have reached your friend. I wouldn't be surprised if he reaches out again in the not too distant future. Explaining what you disagreed with calmly, and matter-of-factly, all without making him panic. He had lunch with an "Apostate" and nothing bad happened. That's enough to make him question a teaching or too I'm sure. 💙
My mom made friends with some Jehovah's Witness missionaries. We went to their Easter memorial last year. it was...weird. As soon as I walked into it, it felt OFF. I ended up having a panic attack in the car after. All my family members agreed that the whole thing was really cult-ish (And yet I still have to go to Mormon church every Sunday--) Overall, 1/10, would not recommend.
JW’s don’t celebrate Easter. Were you talking about the memorial itself? Because that’s the only celebration that they do. I’m sorry about the panic attack though. Those are never fun
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Thank you for watching!
A new Caleb and Sophia rebuttal is now up for channel members 👀 check it out here: ruclips.net/channel/UCDLalBD_PsUrj4ZEeWW7Tigjoin
I put out fires with gasoline, then drink the leftover gasoline on the floor. My favorite food is cyan printer ink fried in cyanide poisoned olive oil. Sometimes, I'm feeling exotic, and eat cherry tree bark drenched in spruce sap and gasoline, dried, and later fried in olive oil mixed with magenta printer ink.
As a Christian Nothing infuriates me more than a cult using Christ as a guise. I’m so sorry you went through that.
@@blurbysirfunniest thing I’ve read all week lmao
I went to the Kingdom Hall for the Jesus Memorial. It was so confusing. It was my first one, I asked why some people only got to drink wine and have bread. They said "If they know their going to the new system, they get to drink and eat." Nobody could tell me how would they know.
Another situation happened last year, broke my heart. I grew up with a girl who we will call "Taylor". We were best friends in fact. My dad was disfellowshipped so my grandma is who always takes me. I had been absent from meetings for a year by that time because of parental problems. I asked Taylor if we could have a sleepover a few days after I came back, and found that everytime I asked she always was told no. But when someone who had been in the congregation longer she was allowed to. I started asking around, figured out the PARENTS were making her say no because I was apparently a bad influence due to me not being at meetings. I haven't been allowed to hang out with her ever since I came back.
I sware to god Put the game download to the game in a google drive or some thing ... I need this
"beard update"
The new Jehovah's witnesses patch
Reminds me of life patch notes
Sounds like a fucking minecraft update 💀
@@theanarchonazbolinquisition it's just as fictional and nonsensical so it might as well be
@@zandikaadont compare minecraft to this nonsense
@@theanarchonazbolinquisition20.24 really added beards and beard trimming 💀
One thing I've learned Fromm watching all of the ex-JW videos is that the Jehovah's Witnesses have got to be the most bland and boring cult ever. It's like a cult for businessmen!
Critical Thinker calls it a book publisher.
I also see it more like a business. On the surface it looks like an organization that tells you how to improve your life with religion but in reality religion is used to keep pushing the members so they fulfill their main purpose: making more members = more money for the Governing Body. It's not that different from constantly looking for new subscribers for a magazine.
Wouldn't say that it's oriented. It's not like they collect money and ride around in private jets and Bentleys from all the cash. They actually put it to use in building houses for people, setting up food drives, providing disaster relief, etc. They are also very transparent with the members about what they spend and where. They're ever critical of Catholics that pass collection plates, so they made sure not to be guilty of the same
Nah if you want a religion of businessmen you look at Mormons lol. The drive to make a ton of money and be super successful is super jacked up
@@Tabascofanatikerinthey’re like tame Scientologists.
Cannot be true, people would have noticed a orange panda being there.
Lol...😂❤
I guess they are still quite used to this so why act surprised ;)
they just thought they are finally in paradise
@@respectthefish4992 😂
eh, there can be anthro animals like bigfoot, the biggest giveaway would probably be him not being extremely miserable.
I haven't been in a Kingdom Hall for over 22 years. I wouldn't ever want to go back.
31 years here and never even think about it. But sometimes I still dream that I'm in the field. Strange, isn't it?
I remember my last meeting 27 years ago. Got physically ill and had to go to the bathroom because of all the crap I was hearing. The last time I went to a kingdom hall was for my judicial hearing for associating with a disfellowshipped person, who I actually brought with me. Good times.
@@raquelpardal5343I still have dreams about the kingdom hall or conventions and I wonder why am I here, or I guess I'm doing this to make my parents happy and everyone I recognize is either dead or how old they were best when I was 25. Very weird. I'll tell the dead people that they're dead and they don't seem to mind. They all act subhuman, like they're zombies. Pretty much every dream I walk out and can't find my car in the parking lots lol.
@@cygnustsp a judicial hearing for being kind to someone who left the religion. Screams cult.
Lucky
Those Elders heard your reasons and went 'Understandable, have a nice day.'
Yes, the Elders all have the same doubts. But they are locked in socially
Honestly I'd rather have this than physical punishment like the Muslims do
When the elders came to me and I told then why evolution is true, they did babble something about carbon-14 and one of them told me evolutionists still use Lucy as a proof, but Lucy was already proven to be a fraud. He couldn't even tell Lucy from the Piltdown Man, and he was a very clever man, administrator from a multinational company who often went to abroad reunions, but his intelligence was shrink when he had to contest his religious beliefs.
@@CryptidsmethodologyThere are those that are narcissistic and just want to control people. I wonder if they have doubts or couldn’t care less.
@@ٴٴٴٴ_0 true islam is the worst
The annointed thing is what woke me up from this religion like it doesn't make any sense, some random person could just say they're annointed and everyone would believe them because they 'feel it'
And on top an overlapping generation of anointed
I remember once hearing an elder criticizing some dude he knew somewhere, saying he didn't agree to his dramatic preaching style, and in some time of his speech, he said "And he considered himself an annointed"
And like. If you try to question it, it's "Between Jehovah and Them" 💀💀
@@Burning_crufixYes!!! Exactly. That’s almost verbatim what I heard too
itd actually be hard for just some random person to be believed, JWs believe the 144,000 were already chosen by the time jesus came to power (1914) so not only would they had to be alive in 1914 but also they would need to be very active with the religion and living by the religious standards. that was the understanding i was taught anyways, ive been 'inactive' for about 8 years
The beard thing was always dumb. My brother was never baptized, and my dad yelled at my brother for not shaving, and now my dad is so proud of his beard. Haha. Like damn. How silly.
And they depict Jesus in a beard (and other biblical figures) in their reading material and cartoons.
@@lordfreerealestate8302 I actually never knew about the beards and I grew up as a JW before I left at age 16 (Over 20 years ago), but I do remember we did have a few brothers with beards, come to think of it ...even an elder... Maybe some countries and congregations emphasized more on this than others?
Imagine 8 white men and a black man making unilateral decisions that affect millions of people
@@rudeq86 we have one "cat" in family, he had moustache, but I'm not sure if it's the same in watchtower cult xD
Once your eyes have been opened there’s no going back.
Ikr
« There’s no turning back »
-tears for fears
Actually as a non-JW I’d like to try this religion.
@@ridinwithjakeget ready to give up the holidays and voting! It’s not fun
I left about 20 years ago but about a year or two after I left, my brother invited me to a public talk he was giving (he was an elder at the time) and I was touched that he was brave enough to reach out to me, so I went. Yeah, after you haven't been in a Kingdom Hall for a while, it's super weird going back. It gives you an entirely new perspective and I spent the 2 hours just looking around, watching people parrot stuff they just read from the study article and seeing the brainwashing happen in real time. It was so surreal. I couldn't wait to get out of there and I've never been back.
That’s exactly what I told my JW good friend who invited me to Sunday service! I told him that what I saw is exactly how to brainwash ! He denied it but I added what would happen to someone who interjected a unique interpretation that requires free thought?? Ya we know sometime later that person would be set aside and set straight. No free thought allowed!
It seems like the enthusiasm for being a part of this cult is fading, which is of course a good thing
The paradise earth thing makes it sound like it should be called Jehovah's Witness Protection Program since most JWs will be stuck cleaning up the earth after the apocalypse before beginning new lives with different identities.
it's not a cult specific thing, it's for all religions. People will keep on reinterpreting as society evolves, until it just stops making sense.
I'm from Catolic Church and I absolutely agree when it come to mysticism. I remember going to church a year ago for like a special mass, and it was so well done. My church is pretty big and we have upper and lower sections of it, this one was in lower one. It was 7 PM, in winter, snowing and dark outside. Whole church was dark too. Choir singing with hidden organs on the right. It started normaly but after some singing Father Pio kneeled down on a front of the Jesus painting and started to talk to him. Men, he literally had voice cracks while speaking. He was apologising for our sins and praying for forgiveness to all of us. Even tho I don't remember what he was saying exacly, it was so emotional I couldn't stop listenning. I stayed for the whole mass that day and went back home after 2 hours. Even though I'm doubt in my religion now, it was still worth it.
Pray for the lost JW’s
I’m 69 years old. Cradle Catholic. I wish they would come home to the Church Jesus Christ instituted. I’m familiar with much of JW history.
I think many who are weak in faith fall for false religions. Very sad.
Nice to meet you. Have a blessed Easter!❤️✝️🇮🇹
@@ginaanelli9717Have you seen the Pope's Snake Auditorium?
@@ginaanelli9717 Have a Nice Easter too :>
Yeah I’m orthodox now and I struggle with faith, maybe in part because of my JW background, but I still go because it’s beautiful. I could never sit through a JW meeting.
@@alexcampbell3032 no..I haven’t see the snake auditorium. Do you have a picture
As an exmormon cult cousin, I can relate so much! I went back to a Mormon meeting last summer bc my sister is still active. I found the church to be exactly the same, but I have changed
"cult cousin" that's a good way to put it
Both companies have common shareholders.
Tell your sister jw's have committed the unforgivable sin calling the Holy Spirit God's 'force' when the Holy Spirit is God.
Matthew 12:31-32
[31]Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
[32]And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
Acts 5:3-4
[3]But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
[4]Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
😇
@@robertblackmon1what???
@dannyhernandez265 You must not have read the scriptures.
4:13 Oh definitely. So here's a story. I live in the Philippines and it is not allowed in schools for male students to have long hair even up to some colleges. So the first time I got out of college, I let my hair grow long. I wasn't a fan of it and eventually settled back to my old short hair, but when you're not allowed to have a hairstyle of any kind for so long, you'll just have that desire to try it when you're finally allowed to.
Same circumstances here. If it wasn't for covid I may have not left for a long time still, but because of the pressure they kept putting on us and the guilt to come back to the hall in person, despite my crippling social anxiety, I just stopped going, and I woke up 6 months later.
I had the same experience with elders coming to my house and then not even opening their bibles just going "ok" weirdly the most respectful thing they ever did for me
They been told not too argue with someone that don't wanna be JW anymore. Probably so they don't also get convinced too abandon religion
When does they change this?
Im Catholic and every time I think of JW I always asked myself how people ever strayed so far from the core tenants of Christianity
What are the core tenants of Christianity and in what ways JW drift apart from them?
@@matusa6714 The acknowledgment of the reality of the Trinity, the acknowledgment of the reality of the fully divine and fully human nature of Christ, The observation of the commandments, the spreading of the Good News and the need to reconcile ones wrong doing, the acknowledgment of the perfection of the human person and the ultimate perfection of creation in all its aspects, and the acknowledgement of God as the Whole, the Truth, The Good, The Beautiful, Perfection, and Being itself. JW denies the trinity, the nature of Christ, the nature of God as the Truth, Goodness, The Whole etc.
@@agarztheyounger Thank's. But in what way JW deny the nature of God as being the Truth?
@@matusa6714 They consider God as an entity within reality rather than being itself, so they deny the premise that God is (in the literal sense) the truth
Very interesting. I thought you were out for a longer period of time. I left in 2011 and never set a foot in a KH since then and I don't plan to ever again. I gave 30 years to this cult and countless hours of preaching as a pioneer (90 hours a month). I will never again give some of my time sitting there listening to the platitudes.
I like your channel and listen to the voice of a young, articulated person logically explaining his journey and the reason you're doing this. Frankly, it helps me still today. The mental deconstruction took a long time, but 30 years is a long time, so the undoing is also taking long. Thank you for your channel.
EXCELLENT Comments! My experience was similar.. many year’s Regular Pioneering (90 hours a month) in 1980s .. looking Back at SLAVING for 9 American men in Warwick masquerading as a Charity but Really a Real Estate Corporation sucking the Life,Time & Money out of Tax Paying individuals!
It's like a part time job 😭
The reason your old friend got back in contact and had brunch with you is the old mlm trick. Go through everyone you know like old Highschool friends and “catch up” and then pitch your sales pitch at the end after you’ve built some rapport. Then if the sale pitch fails then move on and ditch them.😢 soo sad.
Omg you’re right. I’ve had that happen to me before.
The way you closed this out is why I like your channel so much. Sensible, non aggressive, and understanding of why some are still in. Well done!
totally watched an entire 22 minute long video 5 minutes after it was released
thats impressive, i totally believe you
I absolutely agree about what you said about the passing on of the bread. Its totally unbiblical and from a christian perspective it totally seems satanic to me, to denigh someone the body and blood of christ!
Exactly what I was thinking! Like, of course the enemy would restrict people from the taking of communion, something that is not only a powerful reminder of the sacrifice made for us, but also a prophetic act of healing and forgiveness over us.
The JWs is a counterfeit religion with a counterfeit gospel that is Satanically, unBiblical and anti-Christian ... though they say they are Christians, they are not.
My brother in law would bring the wine and bread home and we'd eat and drink after the memorial to sacrilege.
LOL. Totally defying WT's directives. I love it.
Lmfao so true
wow!
Wierd to have a memorial for someone that’s not dead
Exactly I'm a born again Christian and we celebrate that he's Alive , conquered the grave anyone can die but not everyone can rise and live again
We call it Communion or the last supper. We do it in remembrance of Christ and what he did for us. And we do it as often as needed. Not just once a year. 🥰
@pattynellis7347 correction, nobody comes back to life, and there is no after life. You live a lie and die in a lie, and the lights go out forever. You will not even know how horribly you wasted your life and mind.
@@mavrosyvannah you are so wrong
@@mavrosyvannah...Wrong line of reasoning...
I always felt the memorial was "Creepy" the fact that we invited the public to this bizarre meeting makes me cringe... I wonder if anyone ever joined from this experience....
I'll never go back after going to one of their funerals. They are so disrespectful!
how was it? I was actually wondering if they held weddings/funerals at the Hall not too long ago o:
I saw a couple of funerals when I was a JW, but they were all regular funerals because those people had parents outside religion. Never saw a funeral in the Kingdom Hall or a JW speech in them, so I don't know how a JW funeral look like. What's disrespectful about them?
@@fragilecadaver It's antiseptic. They simply read that week's Watchtower and say some words about "the end of this system of things." Emotion is essentially banned. The decedent or the family is not even the focus. Weddings are even worse. The sermon is so long-winded and boring that the bride and groom need to sit on the dais. Weddings and funerals are more for the leadership to grandstand than anything else. They're Jehovah's Witnesses.
That was the last straw for me, as well, regarding ever setting foot inside another KH. My dad's funeral in 2014. It was disgusting and I'll never attend another funeral or anything if it's in a KH. That means I already know I will not be at my mother's service whenever she dies.
Funerals are focused on converting newcomers for them.
I feel anointed… I’m eating that bread and drinking that wine, and they can’t tell me I’m not because I feel like it
Kingdom hall? More like kingdom hell.
Jesus found a church not a kingdom hall 😂
Or KingDUMB HELL because JWs are dumb!😂
You people just don’t get it..
No, JWs don't believe in hell. Instead basically soul-sleep.
So Sleeping Hall. Because it puts you to sleep
I wanna give all pimos that cant leave for various reasons all the strenght and love they need in such times.
Dont worry dear pimo,u dont need this cult,there the ones who need you so they can maintain there silly little lifestyle...
I totally saw pictures on my FB of sisters wearing pants to the memorial.
Yeah. Some sisters did were pants
Someone's posting memorial pics on FB? LOL
It seems to become more and more a habit to make pictures at the memorial emblems desk after the whole ritual. I noticed that development over the last 10-15 years. I'm in my 60's and PIMO now, can't remember such was done in the past prior. Maybe these are survival photos bc Armageddon STILL haven't struck, and will never as described by several religions!
@@siggimad1219 it's the only big event and everyone wants to show off that they attended
Damn it I should've showed up in basketball shorts the last time I was invited to the memorial
Your JW friend listened to you, he will never forget what you said and in time he most likely will “wake up”.
That’s exactly what happened to me.
12:04 what is actually missing is a relationship with God. They devote their lives to an organization but it is the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, that truly saves us.
19:38 As a former catholic, former born again, now atheist. I'm telling you, intelligence does not dictate whether a person is prone or not prone to believing in a delusion. I'm Filipino so we're a very Christian majority. And I can tell you, I have met valedictorians, highly paid successful people like engineers, business managers, software developers, doctors, who are all still very religious. I realized back in high school that intelligence doesn't determine whether a person will become religious or not. We humans really just evolved to have a attraction to a certain degree of superstition. Why else did multiple nations from across the globe independently formed their own gods and religion. Being religious is just something our brains was wired somehow during our evolution. Anyway, thank you Panda Tower for another great video.
Counter argument: Estonia & the Netherlands.
Barely anyone there cares about Religion.
Religiosity Depends on the Environment most of all!
It's not that we are naturally religious. Religion has been tailored to human traits. It's a man-made system of manipulation built, tuned and tweaked according to the average human. This is why it may appear that humans are naturally religious, but in reality, religion is designed to entrap egotistic, dishonest and absent minded people, purely because most humans have been conditioned to be that way.
@@colinriches1519 I don't think so, each tribe, ancient civilization, nation all developed religious and supernatural beliefs. I am confident that it truly is an evolutionary trait of humans, perhaps a way for us to approximate the nature of reality. But since superstitious beliefs were only an approximation, it was very inaccurate. Now we are in a more advanced state as a species and will no longer need this possible survival mechanism for our brains. I mean take depravity for example, people who are desperate who can't do anything for their circumstance start praying as it does help some to relieve them of the mental stress. It really seems that being religious and superstitious was a survival mechanism for our emotional state. Though as I said, we're already pass that and have advanced where we no longer need superstition as a mental buffer. There's no harm in admitting that being religius was an evolutionary phenomenon. What is harmful is we stay in these old, obsolete ways of living. We are better than this now.
You’re right - there are incredibly dumb religious people, and incredibly dumb atheists. I’m an atheist myself but have no trouble admitting there are smarter theists than me😆
"There is power in ritual."
That's one of the reasons I left the baptist church I was raised in. Imagine having that bread and wine passing weekly, but told and taught it is nothing more than a memorial.
Or a symbol.
I honestly couldn't imagine doing memorials every week
@@mr_noobert It just becomes empty gesture.
@@NaviciaAbbot At that point, yeah
I attended the memorial this year wearing a beard and a formal suit without a tie. The songs and prayers I participated in didn't have the same impact on me as they used to. As a POMO, it is surreal to be welcomed and love-bombed by active witnesses. Maybe because, in my case, I just faded into obscurity, and I want to remain this way.
I see much of my parents in your friend, whenever we end up talking about belief, I can see the gears turning for a brief moment and then the indoctrination juice kicks in and they just default to "his ways are higher". It's very surreal.
My evangelical parents do the same thing!
My mom I think is more open minded but she’s so stuck in this “I need to be a subservient wife” mentality that the Christian apologetics will always begin at some point but I know her gears are turning. My dad will always defend it because he loves the patriarchy involved.
"his ways are higher" = thinking is hard.
@@adamantiumbullet9215 or "thinking is evil"
I was actually talking to my dad about the disfellowship thing and this man apparently doesn’t like it! I wanted to ask why he still believes in it though but he always has the excuse that that this is the closest thing to a true religion that he has found (he has looked)
Having people look at the communion elements without partaking is downright cruel. It sends the message,
"You know how the savior of the world died for your sins? This bread and this cup symbolizes a personal relationship with him, which sucks for you because Jesus doesn't know you and you will never meet him."
This Sunday at church I will eat the bread and drink the cup because the Bible says all believers are part of the Royal Priesthood. I AM ANOINTED BY GOD, and we enter in to the priesthood by being anointed with the blood of the lamb (Lev 8:24), not attaining rank in a heretical organization. When I partake in the bread and cup, I will remember the terrible price God's son paid, and I will look forward to when Jesus returns VISIBLY to the Earth (Matt 24;26-27) when all of God's children will feast together. Jesus shed his precious blood to make Paradise Earth a reality, it wouldn't be the same without him there. Panda, I hope one day you have a saving encounter with Jesus, and I really appreciate your work exposing this cult.
I always felt, even when in, that there was no soul in the “religion”. Robotic.
I have not been in a KH since 1982. Nothing will ever get me to set foot in one again. Thanks for going so we don't have to.
Thank you so much for sharing. I really appreciate your videos. I was an Atheist and Agnostic for over ten years and then I was a fake Christian for about two years because I went to church and read the Bible, but I never knew Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior until February 10th 2019. I found that Jesus was the only one who could justify my existence through His forgiveness upon my sin. I came to the moral realization that I was a sinner who deserved an eternal Hell and that Jesus who is God (John 1:1-3, John 8:56-59, John 10:30) was the only one who could forgive my sin and my sin nature and justify me (Rom. 3:24-25).
I thought the Bible was nonsense and that Jesus was just a man and that Jesus was just a fake for a long time. But what changed my mind was how Jesus fulfilled specific Old Testament prophecies that were unable to be faked, specifically the prophecies written by King David in Psalm 22.
Psalm 22:16 "...they pierced my hands and my feet." King David prophesied that the Messiah would be crucified a thousand years before Jesus was crucified and hundreds of years before crucifixion was invented by the Romans.
Psalm 22:18 "They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture." the Romans took Jesus' clothes and cast lots on them while He was crucified in Matt.27:35.
Psalm 22:7-8 "All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him." The Jewish religious leaders all mocked Christ with the nearly the same exact words in Matt.27:43.
Psalm 22:1 "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Is exactly what Jesus says on the cross in Matt. 27:46. King David had prophesied that the Messiah was to be forsaken by God to die for sinful man and that's exactly what happened to Jesus.
The New Testament is a reliable historical record of Jesus fulfilling hundreds of specific Old Testament verses. No one can fulfill hundreds of prophecies on accident or even on purpose. The sheer quantity of prophecies that Jesus had fulfilled is far beyond the realm of coincidence. Also, on the subject of miracles. None of Jesus' enemies ever accused Jesus of faking miracles. What Jesus' enemies did accuse Jesus of was performing the miracles by the power of Satan (Mark 3:22). Even Jesus' enemies were convinced that the miracles Jesus had done were real.
But I digress. Keep looking for the truth and God bless you. John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
One of my former Kingdom Halls served two congregations which required two memorial events; an early show and a late show. The original plan was to begin the early show with a one hour sales talk followed by the emblem rejection ritual that would start immediately after sunset. This plan worked well for many years. One year, our congregation was blessed with a visit from a high-ranking Bethel member who insisted that the memorial sales talk could not start before sunset. This created a huge problem as the late show participants started showing up well before the early show let out. The street was jammed with cars that had nowhere to park and a crowd of people had gathered outside, unable to enter the Kingdom Hall. Oh well, Bethel knows best.
Your experience sounds extremely similar to mine. Not just with your timeline of waking up over Covid Lockdown, but also just how weird it felt asking questions with the elders and reasoning with them while I was not even FULLY woken up yet, and they didn't even try to give me any "help". I genuinely expected to get answers from at least one of them, but they never gave me any, and instead just left me alone after one zoom meeting and I haven't heard anything else from them. Back when I was still on the fence, I was searching for somewhere I could be wrong. Like if there was some kind of puzzle piece I was missing that would magically make all the contradictions in the religion make sense. And the elders not even trying solidified in me that the puzzle piece I was searching for didn't exist. Because if it did, why wouldn't they present it?
I’m the same way. I think I only had about two meetings before I guess they gave up or something. It was weird
Hi Panda
I just want to start by saying how incredibly grateful I am for your videos. They have been such a lifeline for me as I navigate my own journey of waking up from the Jehovah's Witnesses. It’s really hard, and I often feel overwhelmed, but your content has helped me feel less alone in this process.
I wanted to share my own story, as I’ve been facing similar challenges. I’ve recently started questioning the hypocrisy within the religion, especially regarding its teachings that don't seem to align with the Bible. After dedicating so many years to helping the community, I find it disheartening that when I express my thoughts, I am met with pressure from the elders to delete my posts. They’ve even suggested that if I want to remain part of the congregation , I must comply,they even threat me with the police and the law.It is incredible how evil they are.
Their intimidation tactics have left me feeling anxious and isolated, which has been really hard to process.
Im PIMO, and so is my (secret) girlfriend. We're in the same circut. The only reason i dont dread these stupid events is because i get to see her. I feel so bad for the people with nobody there for them.
The weird thing i remember about the passing of the emblems is when they bring it up to the speaker and he waved the person away without touching it.
That's weird. I never saw that happen.
I remember the server handing the plate and glass to the speaker, and he'd hand it right back. Absurdly stupid, all of it.
They practice ritual shunning 😅- back when it was Watchtower in the 80s we used a community center as our temporary hall. There was a piano, and sometimes someone would play the old melodies for us to sing to. Probably one of my few decent memories from that time.
Sounds like WT has no idea what they are about. Nothing about the religion ever appealed to me and never will.
Speaker: "Thank you everyone for being at the Memorial a month early this year."
Malaysian here.
So I went to the memorial last Sunday. But before that, I was invited to the religion by a friend of mine. Kind of woke up when I watched your videos? I liked what they teach, but didn't really believed in anything, I just thought that the bible teaches us how to live or something.
Anyways, so basically it was invited for everyone, met a couple of people from around the world for some reason. It was to be honest same as usual right at the start, we stand and sing song, prayer. Sit back down an elder talks, then minister talks.
After that, we are in the bread and wine passing time, they basically passed the plate to each row of seats for us to pass around. The bread looks dry and stale with fork holes in it, everyone just passes it, but I legit took like 5 seconds to look at it. Then the wine, looked like cheap wine to me, consistency is like water, colour is not deep, as if it's see through.
Then after all that. Things start going a bit "south" if you can call that. So there were quite a lot of "new people" joining the event. I don't know how and why they are there, but anyways, the elder encouraged or like told them to join the meetings that they will have every Thursday and Sunday, and also ask around for "Bible Study". (talking about Bible Study, I am still going to mine to learn more. But I did know it's indoctrinating. I'm still at the surface, chapter 5. I can definitely see where they are coming from with this 3.5/5 reasonable chapter. And I don't mean the book itself, we talked on other points, etc.). So I kinda see this as a way of them recruiting? But the good thing is, they didn't just told them to go JWdotORG. They'd rather have face to face kinda beat.
Edit : Yeah for real, the guy giving the talk had a beard too, there's more white hair on his head than his beard. how
Edit 2 : Some girls and outsiders are wearing pants. But none of them really wearing anything too revealing.
Edit 3 : The day before, I had my study. The brother briefed me a little bit. And I remember clearly he said, "It is the only day that we can celebrate". Bro? There was nothing after the talk? Everyone just goes home?
Edit 4 : Good vid bro. It's nice hearing from your life and where you're coming from and doing.
As a traditional Protestant Christian outsider, I couldn't help but feel sad for the JWs at the Memorial. It was so wooden and lifeless. Also, the comment on the "two hopes" directly contradicts the N.T.
"There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling"--Ephesians 4:4
Oh yeah, I forgot they're allowing non members now- also third
They always did actually
A religion where everything is done according to written protocol, all songs are played from recordings, and all rituals consist of men in business formal attire talking in monotonous voices? Sounds like a corporate HR department's dream cult. 😂
Damn im sorry about your friend, i cant imagine how frustrating it is to have him be brainwashed like that. It seems like he might not believe anymore but like you said, he has his wife and kid now preventing him from leaving 😔
I left in 2016 when I was 16 years old
You're 24 now! :0
@@spaghettiisyummy.3623 yeah
You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but is it ok if I ask why you left?
@@mr_noobert I’d long been disillusioned with it at that point and wanted to live a normal life. Then I woke up shortly after leaving
@@youtubeman2001 Oh ok.
I walked out of a kingdom hall in 1996 and haven't returned since. Unlikely I ever will.
0:27 oh wow, I left the Mormon church during COVID! There’s nothing like a little bit of distance and time to think!
Definitely!
21:22 Yeah as someone from sunni muslim background now an agnostic atheist sometimes the things of the past can be haunting.
I hear such a difference in your voice in this one. We all are so grateful to have woken and to have left (I left about 28 years ago) but because its such a huge part of our childhood, we still have some sort of attachment and it comes back tosadness. I think thats what a lot of us feel is ouresadness. For our family, our loss, the naivety of the current followers....
I find it really bizarre how Jehovah's Witnesses don't even seem to try to defend their own religion. We, Catholics, for example, tend to give a lot of importance to Apologetics! Of course, we want to win more souls for Christ.
The most annoying thing Christians do. Proselytizing.
Countless native cultures were destroyed by you guys.
There are different ways of looking at it. There's defending and arguing about something. It depends on how the question is asked.
2:30 probably cause the Elders can't even answer their doubts and might be starting to have their own doubts.
I don’t think there are any doubts. I think they know for a fact that they are leading a cult and now all they are focusing on is constant PR damage like a cult leader would.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
So many guys were wearing beards, it’s crazy. Birthdays can be celebrated next. 🎉
Orthodox easter services are so beautiful
JWs: "People areleaving what should we do?
...
BEARDS!"
I knew when the GB allowed a greeting that it would open a can of worms. You should have a return visit with your friend. 😊
Because of this cult, I don’t have a relationship with some of my family members anymore. They were witnessed to and fooled into believing and they stopped hanging out with the rest of the family.
You’re one of my favorite creators, i really appreciate your effort 🧡
I'm only a (questioning) bible student atm and I went to my first memorial this year. We had one lady actually partake in eating and drinking the emblems but I won't lie, I don't think I remember hearing about why non anointed ppl shouldn't partake... I probs zoned out but what I DO remember was that the brother giving the talk used the wedding ring analogy for commitment and it made me giggle :p it was fine, the guy made a few jokes here and there so it was entertaining for the most part.
edit: we held the memorial at the Kingdom Hall and actually had both auditoriums full of ppl (English service)
Since the number of participants grew so much in last years, is not that hard to find one. I was 10 or 11 when I first understood the anoited and the emblems question, by that time there where circa 6 thousand people participating and that already sound a little suspect to me. I though that only 138 thousand anoited christians had lived since Jesus time until my time were a very, very little number, and the number of participants just went higher and higher, reaching 20 thousand now. Don't any JW strange that 1/7 of the anoited are living right now, and 6/7 lived through 2 thousand years? That's simple math!
I hope the points from these videos are helping you with the "questioning" part. The best course of action is to have them explain why they've had at least 6 definite years prophesied as "the end" that never came. Why they will not even put their predecessor's writings on their website as reference material. Why they insist on protecting Peter Files but shunning people who simply have a change of mind. When you're studying, it's very well-planned. They start you out with living forever and seeing your dead grammy again, but leave out that once you're baptized you are FUCKED if you think you can just walk away, especially if you have family that is part of the circus.
@@Eric_01That's a great question for why the end is taking long. The reason why the Great Tribulation is taking long is because to Jehovah, it's going by really fast, but to us, it's going by slow. And Jehovah is giving others time to come and worship him. That's the best explanation I can give.
Same here, expected Hello from most PIMI who must have seen the update to say Hello, but not even a Hello from some😮 just stared at me even knowing I’m just Inactive jw😅what a joke they say we are true Christian!
Please forgive me heavenly Father for doing this 24 years, not partaking of the emblems because the GB told us we are not worthy!
There is no heavenly father. You're fine.
@@Eric_01 Then how did you get here?
@@eyeswideopen8570 I had a momma and a papa. How did YOU get here?!
@@Eric_01 lol...same...where did your momma and papa come from? And their parents? Where did humans get their start? From monkeys?
🙆🙆
They turn their back on how they hurt and destroy lives. It's better not to know about it than to admit it happens. 😮 I was in since early 1970, never served as an Elder because I refused to just go along with the group! I was giving up to 3 talks a month traveling to another Congregation to help as they just had 2 Elders so gave 2 parts on the service meeting's gave talks in Mexico, I was the emergency speaker but when it cane to Elder's backstabbing ways I just dud nit want anything to do with that backstabbing that goes on. 😮 now I am disfellowshipped as my wife and I had no permission to marry so they kicked us out as bring rebellious!
Who needed to give you permission to marry?
I’m evangelical Christian and want to add to the passionate ritual thing
My church literally has a whole band of musicians that play the music live with the lyrics being projected for everyone to sing (I actually want to form part of it as a guitarist) and our pastor while he usually has a list of bullet points being projected he goes through them passionately, telling his own experiences and even sometimes crying on the stage
You really feel like he has seen and felt God in action when he speaks
o god another looney
@@floydgraveling1910…I was just explaining the passion with which the pastor spoke, you did not have to mock me for my beliefs IN MY OWN FACE!!
@@mooniegoodie problem with society is they love to "feel" god and "see" him through some lunatics passion yet follow the bible where god used wizards, freaks of nature like firestorms and parting of oceans, miracles, and direct communication with his followers
@@floydgraveling1910Doesn’t mean you can be mean to other people and their beliefs. I think the original commenters comment is quite nice and sounds like it could actually be fun, unlike the JW’s
@@daydream5120
True. Whenever I go to an Evangelical church, I end up excitedly praising God and thanking him. I leave very happy and in good spirits. My cousins said about their Evangelical sis and her hubby, that they never missed the nightclub life because they had such a good time in church. So it's advantages in almost any religion, and a whole lot of disadvantages in some.
As a Christian i really like enjoy your content. Never knew much about JWs and your arguments about their issues are usually very clear.
I wish we could have a talk to debate a couple of things. (You could even use it as content to your channel) I am not the greatest in knowledge, but still, i haven't seen good arguments being discussed here yet, so I believe it would be healthy independently of the conclusion.
8:05 I lost the cringe challenge, as a Christian. I was like "What the Heck!" This is a Precious Sacrament, throughout Christianity, a Mark of Belonging, like saying the "Our Father", it's just something that ALL CHRISTIANS DO!!!
But I guess that just shows that JWs are not really Christians, huh?
I put out fires with gasoline, then drink the leftover gasoline on the floor. My favorite food is cyan printer ink fried in cyanide poisoned olive oil. Sometimes, I'm feeling exotic, and eat cherry tree bark drenched in spruce sap and gasoline, dried, and later fried in olive oil mixed with magenta printer ink.
No fr the whole ritual and mysticism thing is super important to a religion. I remember being a JW as a kid and not understanding the social norms, so when I sang, I sang with enthusiasm and zeal, and people NOTICED. People commented on it to my parents because they saw me being actually into the music as “disruptive.” It’s not even that I was singing off key or getting the lyrics wrong or dancing, I just sang like I meant it, and that was somehow a bad thing. I continued to sing growing up and even after I left the religion, but that whole experience, crushed my confidence in group singing environments
These anointed ones are going to be so disappointed when they find out that their ultimate destination is Hell! 😂😂😂
I do remember Brother Moskie, he was a traveling overseer. Him and his wife were just sweet people. I still see him in my minds eye crying on stage after the memorial prayer. So sad they wasted their entire lives on the road. I still see their old blind cat Pharaoh also. I thought about going to a memorial but I've heard it's just like you said it was.
Let's wait for the world stats about the attendance.
WT: "Everyone on earth attended the memorial except apostates."
@@adamantiumbullet9215😬
17:55, that really hit me hard... It makes me sad that there's so many people who hinge their entire world view and sense of purpose in life on a
"Meh, we'll see who's right."
Im a Christian myself and i gotta admit u and other ex JWs made me realise how little i know about the bible props to u guys for making me more willing to learn about my religion 🔥🔥
I watch guys like James Tabor and Bart Ehrman and even though they aren't believers they ask a great question: why wouldn't you want to know where this book came from and everything we can know about it, if it's so important to you?
Skip learning about "your religion". That's completely irrelevant and will be biased at best. You're best course is to research the bible itself. Get to the nitty gritty of its origins, lack of archeological evidence, list of characters that have no proof of existing through secular historical records. The battles, the kings, the prophets, the best friends of god, the flood, the plagues, the exodus...no proof for any of it. The degree by which what we call "the bible" now was a manipulated, twisted, changed, mistranslated mess with NO originals to return to for a recalibration. Yes, study on hard, not on the bible, but ABOUT the bible. Once you learn that it cannot be trusted as a source for anything true, what religion you are will not matter even the least. You'll just quit.
Darkmatter2525 solos
Hi😊
I went to the memorial because my mom invited me and I had nothing better to do anyway. I haven’t been back in 6 years but it’s still the same old speech it was back then, very boring. I was struggling to stay awake.
They didn’t try and convince me to come back like they did 6 years ago, all they said to me was: ‘glad you were here’.
The only shocking thing was how tall the kids in my old congregation have become, full on beanstalks now.
Oh I saw no men with beards but there was one woman with dress pants on.
Ty your videos are really helping me see the lies that the governing body have told and hopefully I can leave it some day
I went to the Memorial through Zoom (grandparents and a pair of aunts/uncles cannot attend in person due to health reasons) and brought my fiance (raised Catholic then Presbyterian, now considers himself spiritual). They are aware that I do not "do what I am supposed to do" as a JW, but I don't share my religious views with my family generally. They seem to think they can still win me back. (I consider myself atheist.) For me attending after 3 years not going, it was so surreal: so boring, and the speaker had that same...just lack of emotion. Fiance was so confused how it held the attention of my family and why they believe. Honestly, I miss the fellowship...but now that I have a framework outside of my family that likes me for me and not for what I can do for the organization, it is easier.
The memorial has always been a meaningless ritual where the speaker just relates what the governing body tells them to in the outline. A warning is given that the speaker must not deviate from the outline in any way and it is the same old thing every year. When I was an elder no one really wanted to give this talk.
*"When I was an elder no one really wanted to give this talk."*
Too bad no one thought of combining the Memorial talk with the talk outline about masterbation and porn. That might've livened things up a bit.
all they have to offer is a sense of community and it isn't even a good community. we left the witnesses in 2004 (when I graduated high school) and I'm so thankful for my dad having the sense to pull us out (he was an elder). so happy to have found your channel!
My first time back in a Kingdom Hall after 20 years was to go to a funeral service recently, she was a long time family friend. The people were friendly. I just thought, you poor things, you don't even realize the trap you are in. Nice people but just a bunch of programed robots. ( Their ) Memorial is no longer important to me, I see it for what it is., so falsely pious. Thank you.
I remember that they used to let older members who were close to dying eat and "become anointed" at my the kingdom halls I went to as a kid. It seems so sad now because they were obviously just wanting a bit of comfort before they died.
Another thing. I am finishing my PhD now. I know for a fact that my dad is smart as fuck, he taught me so much of what I know. It's sad to see such a talented, intelligent man be held back so much by being part of JWs. Most least, it would have kept our family out of poverty as a kid, since they spent so much time caring about being JWs that they just neglected going to work (i.e. we had no money because they would just preach and go to church instead of going to work), couple that with no birthdays, Christmas... man my childhood was rough.
It makes me so sad because part of the reason I get a little jaded sometimes is partly because of JWs and their practices and how that affected me as a child. I was always socially isolated and eventually was home-schooled - that means that now I basically don't have any friends because I don't know how to talk to people. While religion was the original spark though to my questions on origins of life and the universe and part of the reason I started wanting to do stuff in academia, I wonder if I would've done that anyway but without the religious trauma.
This is likely going to get lost in the sea of the internet so I'll just ramble on. I really wouldn't care that much about the shitty religious practices and beliefs of JWs, even preaching in public/door-to-door doesn't really rile me up that much. What REALLY riles me up is their response to abuse and Cheese Pizza/Cheese Abuse occurring in the kingdom hall - throughout the world and even at my own original congregation as a kid, the elders covered up abuse within the local hall because they obviously didn't want to look bad, under the guise of "we deal with things internally because we don't associate with the world" or whatever bullshit excuse they came up with, it riles me up that they don't give a f*ck enough to care that children get so badly hurt because of practices within the organisation AND THEY JUST DONT CARE. It's quite honestly disgusting and is one of the reasons I do genuinely hate the religion.
Even without delving into the fact that the overall Abrahamic Diety is essentially bullshit (see the theory of Yahweh as "The Storm God" within polytheistic religion in the ancient middle east), the Bible itself being full of contradictions and flat out "false" information (e.g. non-canon books like tBoE being referenced in the new testament), etc. etc... We can't forget that JW itself was founded by an ex-convict, greedy, misogynistic alcoholic, playing out a religious power fantasy for personal gain, he didn't even practice his own beliefs, delivered talks drunk and used watchtower profits for himself (allegedly). The whole thing is a sham and a farce and anyone with half a brain gets out of there ASAP.
@@marsdacreatori feel the same way. i grew up in the religion as my mom used to be a jw and now is “disfellowshipped”. She can’t talk to her mom or her brother anymore.
i feel so frustrated because it’s still pushed onto me by mostly my grandma and I try to be respectful but all I want to do is scream “you’re in a cult!!!”
i understand my uncle has literally been indoctrinated since birth but it breaks my heart because i know he’s smarter than this. after he graduated hs, his mom (my grandma) guilt tripped him into giving up a football scholarship to Florida state. all for the sake of this religion. she’s incredibly overbearing. I see her every once in a while and feel drained after the interaction because it always becomes a preaching moment for her. so I can’t imagine what it was like living with her and constantly having that forced on him.
Mormonism is not doing well either. My wife was told, just don't think about the issues and just belive
Many of the "practical" JW followers realize there's plenty of ways to pick the faith apart but a lot of them either blindly continue believing or they stay in the faith because it brings the least amount of problems for them in their family and social lives.
You’re a solid friend good for you
I unironically believe that JWs would experience a massive surge of new converts, if they added to their rituals, screaming at the top of your lungs: *WITNESS MEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!* while spraying their mouths with silver paint.
(Cookie if you got the reference)
Great video. I personally still believe in the Bible for the most part. But it feels great to be free from organized religion aka “cult”
18:31 grew up Baptist but I do have a clear memory of being told by a Sunday school teacher "people may show you their proof about why God isn't real or why the Bible is wrong but faith means believing even with the naysayers in your ear." At the time I kinda shrugged and accepted that but thinking back that was terrible advice
Question, why do JWs have funerals but not birthdays? Isn't a funeral a celebration of life? I'd love to hear your perspective on this. I know that's an off topic question, just not sure where else to ask
We have funerals and not birthdays because the Pagan Pharaoh and King Harod (Aka an opposer of Christ's followers) celebrated their own birthdays. And I don't really see funerals as a celebration of life but an event to mourn a friend or family member.
@@mr_noobert thank you for explaining. In my culture, funerals are a celebration of a life completed. May the Moirai weave you a gentle fate, and may you take much strength where you need.
@@lulococo9700 Thank you :)
It's very interesting to learn about other cultures!
It’s a business meeting. We just didn’t know that when we were little.
I left physically in 2000, mentally well before. I have respect that you could go back to observe; I could never.
is like returning to the 9/11 memorial after you escaped from that attack. except that was far worse
Honestly, I think you may have reached your friend. I wouldn't be surprised if he reaches out again in the not too distant future. Explaining what you disagreed with calmly, and matter-of-factly, all without making him panic. He had lunch with an "Apostate" and nothing bad happened. That's enough to make him question a teaching or too I'm sure. 💙
He could be thinking about it right now 😊
My mom made friends with some Jehovah's Witness missionaries. We went to their Easter memorial last year. it was...weird. As soon as I walked into it, it felt OFF. I ended up having a panic attack in the car after. All my family members agreed that the whole thing was really cult-ish (And yet I still have to go to Mormon church every Sunday--) Overall, 1/10, would not recommend.
JW’s don’t celebrate Easter. Were you talking about the memorial itself? Because that’s the only celebration that they do. I’m sorry about the panic attack though. Those are never fun
@@daydream5120 Yeah, that's what I meant
My wife and I are Asian Jw going to an English congregation nobody talks to us at the Memorial what more of we invited others !