You probably noticed my microphone wasn't working. Sorry about that. Be sure to head over to Lloyd's channel to learn more about Jehovah's Witnesses. If you have any thoughts/experiences, I'd love to hear about them.
You're the closest example of John Lennon that I've seen in my lifetime. I know, you're not a musician but as for me John's greatest attributes far outweighed his song writing. You possess that rare ability too. =)
CosmicSkeptic I studied with witnesses for about 8 mos when I was 17 (in the late 70s) until the 'elders' of the church found the ministereal servant confessed he brought me in because we were having sex. I was called to meet with them (LaMesa, CA). I rode my horse and snotted off. Got discomunicated! One of the elders later came to my house and 'hit' on me. I let them all know at church and called them hypocrits! Love and Peace
CosmicSkeptic I told a pair of witnesses that came to my house that I was an atheist to get them to leave me be, they stopped by my place every other week for about a year doggedly trying to bring me into the fold. It was akin to being hunted at my own home
A friend (more of an acquaintance) of a year or so told me he was a JW. Seemed insane because he was educated, literate, drank beer, ran a successful company, etc. I met a few of his employees who were all JW. One of them (Male) and his wife had allowed their weeks-old daughter to die by denying a blood transfusion. I sat across from someone, in 2012, who had - based on something written IN A BOOK - _chose_ to allow his daughter to die. It was truly the moment that I realized that belief, of any number of kinds, IS dangerous. To quote Sam Harris, "It allows people en masse to believe what only lunatics can believe on their own."
Danielsan B , so sad isn’t it? How a cold can dead in your brains in your normal human emotions to the point that you would let your own child die because of a man’s interpretation of a scripture in a book written by other men!
skeptic moderate "Faith" we could just aswell replace it with "emotional need", they require emotional justifications from someone greater than themselves to feel validified as a person. Children seek it from their parents and the -parents- adult children seek it from their imaginary better because they can't get it from any one else because they see everyone else as being as low and worthless as themselves.
My grandmother is a Jehovas Witness. She took me to church with her every Sunday and Tuesday, it was terrible. The elders and members of the church are very manipulative, they often used fearmongering to indoctrinate the children in the church. As a child I was told that I couldn't participate in any sport or prayer at my Christian school and that I could not celebrate birthdays with the other children. I did as I was told because I was mortified of armageddon and the eternal punishment that could possibly be waiting for me if I wasn't the perfect witness. Ever since I came out as an atheist she has been calling me satanic. I feel bad for any child growing up as a Jehovas witness because they will experience a lot of hatred, misogyny and intolerance to outsiders throughout their lives
That first story about armaggedon really struck a cord with me. I was raised to believe in the rapture and one morning when I was about 5 I woke up and couldn't find my parents. I immediately broke down crying and screaming because I was absolutely certain that God had poofed them off to heaven without me and I was going to have to face the 7 year tribulations by myself.
That's terrible. I had doubts about my faith even when I was a young child, and I was constantly afraid of dying for fear that I would burn in hell for all of eternity.
The origin of that phrase is in reference to stringed instruments, which are often struck. A piano, for example, strikes the strings with a soft hammer to sound the note. I imagine the phrase means "it resonated with me", like musical tones often do.
the only JW i knew was one of my good childhood friends i grew up with in school, he was indeed ashamed of his families religion and when i questioned him about their traditions he would act embarrassed like he knew they were the weird ones. he knew it didnt jive with reality.
As an ExJW myself, I feel I should add, it isn't necessarily shame that keeps us from boldly talking about our former faith, but *fear*. As Lloyd mentioned in this video, it can be very difficult to "get out gracefully." If we're not being targeted by the elders, the last thing we want to do is get back into their sites by talking shit about our religion and risk being shunned.
Hi to all reading comments. I am an ex JW. Please don't blame JWs for whatever you don't agree with or are angry about. The people who come knocking on your door have no idea they're in a cult. If you want to do something about it, you need to enlighten them about the things shared in this video... Which, may I add was a great video. Thanks Alex and Lloyd, you did a great job 😀
Ah, I see. I don't know how old your children are but the percentage of children that remain JW when they're adults is low. Teach them facts as they grow and hopefully you can speed the process up.
@@jonboydiego999 I have no idea where they are or how to get a hold of them. I have other children with a different mother. It's complicated in ways I don't feel comfortable explaining in a public form to unknown people. But there was definitely church manipulation going on and I feel a right to a certain amount of frustration and resentment towards her church. My big transgression against her was not sharing her religion. I didn't beat or neglect or cheat or fail to hold up my share of the work of life (pay bills, house word, etc.) nothing like that. I just wasn't willing to be a JW. The thing I don't wanna say is just sensitive personal info it's like, not wanting to share my SSN... that kinda reason.
Captain Picard one of the many reasons I left this cult at 15, I thought damn if the worlds ending im going out partying. I remember being asked by the elders “but don’t you want to live forever?” I said “ no, it sounds hideous for a start you’ll all be there,” I mean those sanctimonious, hypocrites every day, forever, and ever, that’s a dystopian nightmare in my mind ugh! 😖
nbkcq28 I’m with you, I just believe in equality for all. I don’t support feminism, or black lives matter. I subscribe to fairness, humanism,Justice, and all lives matter. Anyway I don’t believe that you or I mentioned feminism ,we were discussing cults and religion, and this person has hijacked the conversation for what ever reason suits them, I honestly have no idea why this has even been raised as an issue!
Cameron Reekie He mentioned mindless propaganda and while you support egalitarianism this is a publicly open comment section so anyone can take a discussion anywhere they like.He is MGTOW,LGBT and BLM all of those groups are mindless propaganda but hands up don't shoot as i deliberately called him a feminist knowing he is MGTOW - I am a ex JW with a TH-cam channel that takes the piss out of feminists and MGTOW,BLM,LGBT and Communists,NAZI's and any other spaz i can find so a person who is subscribed to TYT,MGTOW and such stating mindless propaganda is a bit much and not the first time i have come arccos the idiot.
Jehovah's witnesses broke my family, they love bombed one sister after her marriage failed and love bombed another who was, at the time, living in a very isolated rural area. TH-camr Telltale Atheist is another former JW, like Lloyd he has a similar story of being shunned etc but from an American point of view. Great video Alex, keep that light shining squarely on the merchants of deception.
skeptic moderate it's pretty much giving you love and attention to the point where you feel welcomed. But in reality it's just a tactic they use to get you to join them.
skeptic moderate basically see someone who's in a moment of weakness and act super nice and such with the agenda of converting you, it's not permanent and is very vulture like
I was raised a jw. Left the religion 7 years ago when I was 19. As pathetic as it sounds I'm still terrified and haven't come out as an atheist to my family. It's pretty fucked up haha
I know of a JW family in the UK. The wife had trouble giving birth to her daughter and lost a lot of blood. She was unconscious and so her husband made the decision that she would not have a blood transfusion. Inevitably she died. In my opinion he is a murderer, not even manslaughter as it was so deliberate, and should be locked up for life. The baby survived but was fortunately brought up my non-JW family members. She has never forgiven her father & his cruel stupidity .
That story may not be exactly correct. In the UK, relatives do not have to give their permission for life saving procedures. For doctors face with situation the default is to give blood unless the patient has an advanced directive asking them not to transfuse even if life is in danger. She would have signed her life away in advance.
@@T0X0PHILUS JWs do have an advance medical directive which they are obliged to carry on their person. When I was in the cult it used to be called the "bood card"
The difference between a cult and a religion is that in a cult there is a person at the top who knows it's a scam. In religion that person is dead. ~ Unknown
As an ex JW myself, I always used the lyrics to Hotel California, to descibe membership..."You can check in any time you like...But you can NEVER leave" At least not without tearing your life apart.
My thanks to both of you. I am an ex JW and a former elder. When it comes to leaving the organisation as mentioned by both of you it is very difficult. I had stopped believing and because of work and my marriage I had to stay in going through the motions of being a loyal JW. This I did for years. That was when I was appointed as an elder. The double thinking I had to do was what lead to a near break down. I am giving a short presentation about JW in January to my humanist group.
In contrast to Jehova's Witness, I find it fascinating that Amish Mennonites have a coming of age ritual, known as Rumspringa, in which the young adult is allowed (if they wish) to go to university, travel abroad, and generally explore the world and all it has to offer before returning to the Amish enclave and deciding whether or not they wish to devote themselves to that life via adult baptism.
The problem with that is that they, too, are shunned if they decide to leave. They will get no support after that, and are stranded in an entire culture that is quite foreign to them. There is no real choice, but I still believe that they are better than Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses for allowing that glimpse of freedom and opening up the now (religiously-determined) adult's mind to other ways of life.
31:20 to 34:30 is so typical of cults in particular and (controlling) religions in general: "it wasn't our fault - if you misunderstood our message you were the weak link - you were not a proper believer". This is so evil, so unfair, so dishonest, so corrupt. This form of thinking sickens me.
As a former JW, I will say that Lloyd did an excellent job explaining the WT's 1975 debacle. It was a crazy time period. I myself was not sold on the "1975 will definitely be the end" thing, as "I had read in the Bible" "no man knows the day or the hour." This was rather crazy if you think about it. I knew that Jesus had said "no one knows" and "If anyone says, "see here, see there, don't believe them"... I knew what I heard on the meetings, the conventions, and what I read in alllllllllllll the books, right? "How long was it until Eve was made? One year? no years? half a year?" All of that crap... and it went on and on and on. WT has a way of hooking you, cooking you, then eating you (I would say "alive", but you've been cooked, haha.... grrrr) You have a great way of defining things LLoyd. It is very hard to put in words what happened, especially to a "worldly" person, someone who was never a JW. Excellent job. Thank you CosmicSkeptic for your insight, your diligence, and your time. The less people we have in cults means happier, better functioning people alive, ready to contribute to life!
I have a very dear friend who is a JW and I am trying to help her not view her religion as the most important aspect of her, that she is more than her religion. I really want her to see the value she has, not as a JW but as a person and what value she has to me. So when she talks about her no-blood thing, I get quite upset because she's my friend and I do not want to see her pass in that way. So I worry about her getting injured because I know she's never going to leave the faith, but in turn I do want her to see the hypocrisy of it. I just feel so helplessly lost on how to help her without mortally damaging our very close friendship.
This was a great video. I was raised a witness and my father was an elder. Now I'm an atheist with no childhood friends anymore and no contact with most family
Thanks for introducing Lloyd to those who may not have known much about the Jehovah Witnesses. I was already subscribed to Lloyd and love that he is exposing the terrible practices and secretiveness of this cult. He is also a tremendous support to those who choose to leave. I was friends with JW kids, one of whom had a crippling condition that made her life a misery, but it could have been much improved with surgery. Her parents refused to allow any surgery because she might have needed a blood transfusion. Another friend was raped at age 15 by a JW boy, and when she reported it to the elders she was the one who was banned, and her rape was never reported to the police. Needless to say, both left this cult once they were adults. They no longer have any contact with their families. I firmly believe that freedom of religion has to come with common sense, and I hope for a day when we quit giving special treatment in taxation and policing to religious groups. I realize that we may never get rid of religion, but we need to fight against fundamentalism of any kind.
I have wondered why I fell for the "message" at the door. How could I be so naive ? But, then, at that time, I was 19 years old and had been having marital problems and wanted to learn what the better way to cope with marriage could be and I tried to improve my marriage by learning "God's arrangement" for a man and woman to build a happy, healthy coexistence. I made many compromises and was constantly confronted with questions from an unbelieving husband and the issues were never resolved, even when he actually studied with JW's himself. His study of the Bible was cut off after 2 years because he still did not "believe". His nonbelieving kept me from becoming involved to any great extent and I see now that was a protection for me and our children. I am thankful now . Only one of our children actually goes to meetings or is involved to any great extent. She is shunning me at this time, but I expect that she will reach her tolerance level soon. She is not baptized. She just attends meetings on an irregular basis. The thing that really woke me up was the child sexual abuse issue. And I never really adhered to the blood issue either. The life and death issues were easy for me to reject. There is no way I would ever allow any of my children to die for a religion. Same goes for myself. I say, it is always better to err on the side of life.
Esme Snape , you should be! They are not there because they care about you. They are commanded to do the preaching work. They do not have a choice. If they don’t do it, they are told they will die at God’s hand.
I don't know where you got that idea. From Lloyd? The fact is that Jesus gave the command to ALL Christians at Matthew 28:19, 20. He said "Go, therefore, and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you. And look! I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things.” These were the last words he left us before going to the heavens. Do you see anyone else who is obedient to this command all over the world? (Acts 20:20) And how do you know that the ones who obey the command don"t care? Lloyd / John makes the same error you are making; imputing wrong motives. If you discredit Jehovah's Witnesses, you can think you can ignore Jesus and Jehovah. Lloyd is not obedient to Jesus and is opposing God's will. (Matthew 6:9,10)
Thank you so much for doing this. I was raised a JW, and I love seeing this kind of dialogue on TH-cam. I'm a big Fan of yours and Lloyds so this was great!
Yes but even then, it's a dangerous slope to tread on, it's honestly better to fade but not make a big deal of it cuz the longer you "stay", the more damage is done
This was fascinating! I think I've seen a documentary or two about Jehovah's Witnesses, but I don't remember much about them, so I learned a lot in this video! Thank you for making it!
You're right. The hardest thing I ever had to do in my life was to have to admit to myself that I had been wrong about so many things and it had cost me so much
I used to have a friend who was a Jehova's witness. I knew her from 1st grade to about 10th. (In Finland there's also a grade "0" that's supposed to prepare children for school, but she didn't go there because it's not obligatory). It didn't seem like she was controlled that hard until around 5th or 6th grade. I considered her my best friend, but in nearly ten years I can count the times I went to her house on one hand. I think she was invited to my birthday party, but she obviously didn't come and never came over casually. Due to the nature of her religion, she didn't take classes in religion with us, (they're classes on all the world's religions, admittedly a bit more focused on Lutheranism) and any time we'd ask what the Jehova's witnesses were all about, she'd refer us to their website or tell us that you just couldn't understand unless you were a witness yourself. She had some issues in 7th-10th grade with eating disorders and it felt like she was being cut off more and more from us. We'd ask and she'd say she was fine. I saw her so little that when she lost 100 pounds in 2,5 months, I didn't notice. in hindsight it seems like it should've been more noticeable, but around that time she started dressing more modestly as well. She wore skirts everyday and we thought nothing of it. It feels crazy to think about. She also was allowed social media and posted generic photos on instagram. Why I bring this up, is because around 8th grade some girls in our class said something, I don't quite remember if it was about the religion, and were consequently blocked from her instagram. It was bizarre, because I think they might've not even been talking directly to her (and it might not even have been about Jehova's witnesses), they just went on her profile and were blocked. I thought I'd check on her like a creepy stalker, but it seems she has deleted her instagram, which is concerning to say the least. After mandatory schooling was over, she went into nursing, although I haven't seen here in a long time. Our schools are right next to each other and the first year she was there I saw her come and go every single day. I don't know what's up with her now, but I hope she's okay.
Yes, I stuck with you to the end. Always do. Thank you for making this video. Excellent interview and important topic. Prompted me to share it on FB, as well as all of the immediate links that I could find involving the documentary mentioned and other article
I think that the "fake armagedon" especially as a child is just mind torture. I was diagnosed with PTSD from all that mind torture. My father was an elder and extreme abuser.
I would love to see Alex talk with Telltale Atheist. He's another ex-JW and is one of my favorite TH-camrs that talk about atheism/religion/cults. They're both really intelligent and I think they could give interesting viewpoints on religion and science.
As close to the perfect interview as any I've ever seen on TH-cam. The interviewer knows exactly what questions to ask and how to ask them, the interviewee's answers are complete and on point always. The hour flew by in 15 minutes. Please, please, Alex, make videos like this one as often as you can. (I am an ex-Catholic atheist, and I assure you that even though I was never sexually abused or forbidden a blood transfusion, my entire life has been effectively ruined by my early and long indoctrination in the tenets of my former faith. I think that very few people raised in a strict religious community can ever fully recover. The cancer is never fully cut out.)
I'll watch it tomorrow. It's actually 2:19 in the morning here in Germany. Just the intro makes me want to watch it and find out more about the topics discussed in this video. Awesome that its almost an hour long. Exited already :) have a good night.
@CosmicSkeptic please get TheTruthHurts on your show. He is a former Jehovah Witness turned atheist and has a small TH-cam channel with great videos. He has a philosophical way of thinking like yourself. Would love to see him on your show
Great watch. I had a friend that was a Jehovah's Witness growing up and he always looked so sad around Christmas time. Poor guy. Oppression really sucks.
Excellent informative video. I am going to get the book as I knew nothing about these people coming to my door. Even when I said I was an atheist, they would keep persisting in trying to get me to read there pamphlets. I would eventually take them and add them to my recycle bin!!!
I actually got into atheist activism because of the JW's. 14 years or so ago I was bumbling along as a normal British bloke to whom religion meant nothing, I was an atheist but it was no big deal, I found religion a bit ridiculous and odd but never really worried about it. I didn't really know anyone who was religious and the people I did know who were religious were either old or practised the kind of wishy-washy harmless god bothering that is common in the UK. Then bam my younger brother was sucked into the JW cult. My normal pot smoking, slightly hippy brother because of a Jehovah's Witness. It baffled me. I tried to argue him out of it but it quickly became apparent that I was out of my depth. Despite my degree in Physics and Philosophy from one of the UK's good universities, I didn't seem to be able to win these arguments. Sure, on an intellectual level, I trounced my brother but it didn't shake his beliefs. It was only later that I learned about how this cult programs its recruits and conditions them against anyone who tries to argue them out of it. I am now happy to report that some 14 years later my brother came out of the cult and now actually refers to it as a cult. He had researched the child fucking scandal and cover up and that, quite rightly, got him doubting. I had a really good heart to heart with him last year and when he thanked me for trying to talk him out of it in the beginning, I really teared up when he told me this. It was quite emotional. I lost my brother for many years to this evil cult. But in those years it made me realise that the dangers of religion are still there. If someone like my brother, who was brought up without any religion can get sucked in at a vulnerable time in his life it can happen to anyone.
Great vid. (As allways) My Own experience with that cult: doorbell rang, I opened and a lady asked me if she could ask me a question. I said okay. Then she asked me if I believed in the devil. I said no. Her respond was that how I could be sure and did I not know that the devil is invisible. My response: then I don’t believe in you. (I am blind). Just my 2 cent from Denmark.
Great and important interview! I have a dear friend who basically lost her youngest son when he married a JW woman, and they had been extremely close before this happened. He's very passive and joined the church, so now he is required to shun his mother because she's not a Jehova's Witness. He does occasionally contact his mother behind his wife's back, but only in secret. It's a very tragic situation, and the JW wife is very controlling and emotionally abusive.
Great interview. Lloyd Evans channel is called John Cedars.....very interesting. I highly recommend his rebuttal videos on the monthly JW Broadcasts. He’s so funny as he is rebutting their propaganda. His book is excellent too. He’s writing a second one now.
As an ex-mormon I'm quite surprised to see a multitude of similarities between Mormonism and Jehovah's Witnesses. His in a nutshell explanation of Jehovah's Witnesses could also be seamlessly applied to Mormon beliefs and this has really surprised me as even when I was a full believing Mormon I thought they were a bunch of weird idiots.
PolySine XY From my knowledge of Mormonism I can tell you that Mormons are not allowed to have sex before marriage. Although soaking seems to be a somewhat popular thing in Mormonism, the leaders still preach that you will go to hell if you do so. It's more of an unsubstantiated stereotype of Mormons to be fair to them as I've never met a Mormon who thinks soaking is an acceptable practice.
Well, but Mormon's aren't anti-intellectual are they? I knew a very faithful Mormon in high school who has gone on to become an astrophysicist. Also, most Christian denominations denounce sex outside of heterosexual marriage.
I'm a new subscriber so I'm replying really late. I currently attend byui but am an athiest and have been looking for videos like these on mormons if you know of any I would appreciate it if you could send me the link
So true Lloyd @ 37:11. They say at the Australian royal commission that people can go inactive but they can't really. It's not tolerated without a major struggle. You'd never hear an elder saying ''oh he's just fading that's fine'', leave him be.
Omg this will save the rest of my years! Im glad i found this. Im planning to disassociate myself from jw org. I was raised a jw, im a college student, they say alot about me. I havent done anything ‘worldy’ but they judged me as if ive done things that are bad. Lol. Im sick and tired.
I wasted alot of my life on this cult, staying busy doing a whole lot of things that did not benefit me in the least. Run from this cult as if from a burning building!!
great interview. Lloyd's father can see his grandchild any time he wants to. He just doesn't want to. That is not Lloyd's problem. That is granddads problem.
I'm a huge fan of your channel, Alex, and also an ew-JW. Thank you so much for giving Lloyd a platform to speak about it... the more we can educate people, the less of a chance Witnesses will be able to continue hurting people. Unfortunately, Witnesses are programmed to avoid videos like this, but we are seeing more and more of them waking up.
Brilliant video. Have come to it rather late (I see it was released nealry 2 years ago) but came here after watching a number of your videos Alex and subscribing both to yours and Lloyd's channels.
i am a ex jehovah's witness and i can tell you this vid doesn't even scratch the surface of how bad a cult it is me and my brother have been calling it a cult for many years glad to hear someone else saying it
I know this is not a particularly relevant or insightful comment but I just love the way Alex says "description". I don't know what it is but it just sounds so satisfying to me
Thank you Lloyd. You describe exactly what I saw when my father joined. After years of mourning my mothers death the message that he would join with her again after armageddon was a deceitful and powerful message. I am suspicious that they actually target such vulnerable people and have circumstantial evidence for that. My father now hovers around the edges of the Watchtower but he still comes to attend a zoom meeting at my house each week. When he had an operation I took him 40 miles to hospital but by the time I got home the JWs had been to see him and remind him that he nust refuse blood. As I got back the hospital was on the phone to tell me to pick him up as he was refusing blood. They are dangerous and unpleasant. Sure the congregation are all sweet and nice but the heirachy are very sinister
Cults are all so similar, I used to be part of a cult, and I can relate pretty well with all this shit... I'm glad I opened my eyes, it's being really difficult, but I keep believing it is worthy !
Lloyd, not to take away from your testimonial but I am amazed that you were allowed to read Enid Blyton books! I had quite a collection growing up since my parents were not JWs and boy what fond memories living for each new series
I used to be a Jehovah witness and I've had a better experience with them. When i left the religion i just told my mother that i didn't want to be apart of it anymore. and that was that. She still try's to get me back into the religion every now and then but the elders actually told her that once someone says they don't want to be Jehovahs witness it's better to just let them leave. You don't need a guide book you just stop going to the church. As for the higher education part, my parents and many of my friends parents wanted nothing more than for me to go to college.
He wasn't baptized. That's the catch. You don't get shunned for leaving unless you were baptized and JW put massive pressure on their children to do it at an early age. Some a young as 6 yrs old.
sigma2503 Luckily for you she doesn’t sound like a regular devout JW. I wish I had that experience. For most the organization is their entire world. And their kids come in at a close 2nd at best.
As was said already, this individuals experience in leaving was DIFFERENT because they probably were not baptized! So leaving 'can' be as simple as walking away. But for those of us that are baptized? Uhhhh...different story. There is NO walking away - ever. And sadly that is what makes JWs such a cult.
sigma2503 Lucky you, my mother never stopped drumming her beliefs into me. She told me not to bother with school as Armageddon is almost here. That was 1975.
Complicated relation - My mom's best friend's father was a JW. He is no longer religious and we often joke about his house being on their "do-not-visit" list, because when they used to knock on his door he would invite them in for tea and a discussion. Then they would leave with a new bible and all the thoughts which had made him question this cult as a teenager, in other words really questioning their life. This always amused me as a child, and it still does, but now that I know more I am even more surprised and in awe that he was able to.
They (the JWs) used to come around to our house. They'd hand-out their magazines, _Awake!_ and _Watchtower,_ hand-out books, and oftentimes one or the other (or both) of my parents (both of whom were Methodist) would sit down with them (sometimes one person, sometimes more-than-one) and discuss religious language-game(s) bullshit. I would ask questions they didn't like, such as if Heaven (or whatever) was so good, and God's omnipotent, then why don't we already _have_ Heaven-on-Earth...etc., etc. I was still into very philosophical 'Christianity' until I just read enough to work my way out it (Christianity). But the JWs were a fuckin' hoot. But they've not come 'round in over 2 decades...Now we occasionally (though rarely) get Mormons instead... [eye-roll]...
I've been following Lloy's channel for a while now. As a survivor of the JW experience (raised in it), I find much of it relatable. The JW followers mean well, but that's worth about ~nothing~.
at first i read: Something You Need To Know About An Interview with Lloyd Evans expect that he gonna say something bad about him. He is my Hero, safed me from this cult. (I was 27 Years inside)
I have to say I really like this video. I have a few of JW friends which means I know quite a bit about their beliefs, and it's seriously appalling. The voice really needs to be spread.
I love this. I was taken away at a very young age but I remember my grandmother (mother's side) was a JW. Hell, I remember that red book and even had a child's illustrated JW's Bible. I don't recall my mother being one and know my father wasn't. In foster care I was exposed to birthdays and holidays. I wasn't allowed to participate with some families (not sure if that was ordered or a choice on their part). Strangely enough my grandmother was the only one that tried to fight for my sisters and I. She even came to birthday parties with the family that eventually adopted me. I think she became a JW after the death of my grandfather given some less fundamental type behavior on her part. I remember asking about their depiction of the cross once. In the children's version of the Bible it showed Jesus on a single beam of wood, not a cross. I don't remember what the explaination was, just that "they" were right and others were wrong. They also stated that everyone would die and "god" would have a new world for only them. That alone is extremely psychotic talk for a 3 year old.
In fairness excommunication hasn't been a big deal in the Catholic Church for centuries. These days being excommunicated means no taking part in a few specific rituals. You can even still go to mass you just can't partake in communion.
I've been regularly debating these goons on my doorstep, frankly, I always found them to be absolutely hilarious. I always invite them in but they always refuse and I always ask them back, because every time they ring my doorbell, they have to begrudgingly admit that they were wrong about their apocalypse last time around, but they always bring new "proof". Usually in the way of an event and a corresponding quote in their book.
Nah, these peeps are unaffiliated with them as far as I can tell, I'm sure they have their own shit going on but I can only focus on what I know of them, and they seem like perfectly pleasant, although severely deluded people. (Both are elderly and ~1,65m (compared to my 1,92m))
No, Lacey Mak is right. The ARC (Australian Royal Commission) did an investigation into several organizations' policies for handling pedophilia. JWs were one of the organizations investigated and the commission's findings did not paint the JWs in a good light at all!
Haven't finished watching yet, just had to say that during the summer I had a visit by two jehovahs witnesses. They were teenagers or very young adult males. I very much felt sorry for them. I also enjoyed telling them I was an atheist. They didn't get pushy, just said okay and left. I wondered if they might send reinforcements... I went to a Kingdom Hall as a kid because my mom was friends with a really sweet lady who was, unfortunately, involved in that mess. My mother was an atheist too, but always open to learning more about stuff like that. I really wish I had been prepared with something witty to say to those JW boys.
Darius Moon yes, of course I never would've been mean. I just missed the opportunity to pretend to be fascinated they were in a cult, ask them what it was like with my eyes wide open. maybe one or the other already had doubts deep down and I could've triggered some logical part of his brain. Probably not but the moment has passed, anyway. I'm really just sad for them.
rebecca ramsey I understand I feel the same way towards my kind hearted peers who honestly believe that the dogma they follow isn't something like homophobic or prejudice towards gays (As it clearly is). Although I wish I could just poke fun at them for spouting nonsensical things about ouija boards. Like perhaps asking them what it actually means or the history behind it, or the fact that it's literally a game designed to prank some fool (Oui means yes in French and Ja means yes in German so it's essentially Yesyes board lol)
Darius Moon , children of JW’s are Made to do the preaching work. They don’t have a choice! They have to do it or life at home will not be good for them!
Years ago I had a woman friend that was very good to me,and who I loved very much.During a very stressful time in her twenties she was indoctrinated into the Jehovahs Witnesses.I was very surprised,as she had been an educated,freethinking person during the time we were close.We met again as old women,and it was very wonderful to see her again.However,because of her beliefs,she had to try and convince me into accepting her religion.It was a very strange experience.I still love her,I’m so very sad to lose her forever,but she made no sense whatsoever,and I realized that unless I became a Jehovahs Witness,we could not be friends.So sad.
You probably noticed my microphone wasn't working. Sorry about that. Be sure to head over to Lloyd's channel to learn more about Jehovah's Witnesses. If you have any thoughts/experiences, I'd love to hear about them.
You're the closest example of John Lennon that I've seen in my lifetime. I know, you're not a musician but as for me John's greatest attributes far outweighed his song writing. You possess that rare ability too. =)
CosmicSkeptic I studied with witnesses for about 8 mos when I was 17 (in the late 70s) until the 'elders' of the church found the ministereal servant confessed he brought me in because we were having sex. I was called to meet with them (LaMesa, CA). I rode my horse and snotted off. Got discomunicated! One of the elders later came to my house and 'hit' on me. I let them all know at church and called them hypocrits! Love and Peace
CosmicSkeptic I told a pair of witnesses that came to my house that I was an atheist to get them to leave me be, they stopped by my place every other week for about a year doggedly trying to bring me into the fold. It was akin to being hunted at my own home
I know all I need to know about Jehovah's witnesses. They knock on my door too much and give me too many pamphlets
*@Euan*
I've heard of those rumors once or twice but I dismissed it due to being too lazy to fact-check.
Woah, I love Lloyd! Awesome to see him on your channel!
You have 102 thumbs Up in 24 hours! There must be a shit load of JWs watching 'ComicSkeptic' (including me). I'm really impressed.
His voice is amazing....
Genetically Modified Skeptic grovelling sad little shit
Try disagreeing with his politics and your infatuation will be over. He is an arrogant bully ask mike and kim.
Genetically Modified Skeptic And I love your username
As an ex JW atheist myself I just want to say thank you both for doing this! More people need to know!
A friend (more of an acquaintance) of a year or so told me he was a JW. Seemed insane because he was educated, literate, drank beer, ran a successful company, etc. I met a few of his employees who were all JW. One of them (Male) and his wife had allowed their weeks-old daughter to die by denying a blood transfusion. I sat across from someone, in 2012, who had - based on something written IN A BOOK - _chose_ to allow his daughter to die. It was truly the moment that I realized that belief, of any number of kinds, IS dangerous. To quote Sam Harris, "It allows people en masse to believe what only lunatics can believe on their own."
Danielsan B , so sad isn’t it? How a cold can dead in your brains in your normal human emotions to the point that you would let your own child die because of a man’s interpretation of a scripture in a book written by other men!
It is terrible that "faith" is accepted by society as the reason for so many clearly bad decisions.
Danielsan B grate quote from sam
Danielsan B those are fucked up parents
skeptic moderate
"Faith" we could just aswell replace it with "emotional need", they require emotional justifications from someone greater than themselves to feel validified as a person. Children seek it from their parents and the -parents- adult children seek it from their imaginary better because they can't get it from any one else because they see everyone else as being as low and worthless as themselves.
My grandmother is a Jehovas Witness. She took me to church with her every Sunday and Tuesday, it was terrible. The elders and members of the church are very manipulative, they often used fearmongering to indoctrinate the children in the church. As a child I was told that I couldn't participate in any sport or prayer at my Christian school and that I could not celebrate birthdays with the other children. I did as I was told because I was mortified of armageddon and the eternal punishment that could possibly be waiting for me if I wasn't the perfect witness. Ever since I came out as an atheist she has been calling me satanic. I feel bad for any child growing up as a Jehovas witness because they will experience a lot of hatred, misogyny and intolerance to outsiders throughout their lives
That first story about armaggedon really struck a cord with me. I was raised to believe in the rapture and one morning when I was about 5 I woke up and couldn't find my parents. I immediately broke down crying and screaming because I was absolutely certain that God had poofed them off to heaven without me and I was going to have to face the 7 year tribulations by myself.
That's terrible. I had doubts about my faith even when I was a young child, and I was constantly afraid of dying for fear that I would burn in hell for all of eternity.
Great post but "struck a cord" made me larf. What the hell did that cord ever do to you?!
The origin of that phrase is in reference to stringed instruments, which are often struck. A piano, for example, strikes the strings with a soft hammer to sound the note. I imagine the phrase means "it resonated with me", like musical tones often do.
Nicholas Chiappone so it really does amount to childe abuse
Josh, you do realize that was a joke, right?
All the JWs I've known seem embarrassed about their religion.
rightfully so
the only JW i knew was one of my good childhood friends i grew up with in school, he was indeed ashamed of his families religion and when i questioned him about their traditions he would act embarrassed like he knew they were the weird ones. he knew it didnt jive with reality.
There is a lot to be embarrassed about. Mostly because none of it makes any sense.
Irish Jester that's a beautiful summary
As an ExJW myself, I feel I should add, it isn't necessarily shame that keeps us from boldly talking about our former faith, but *fear*. As Lloyd mentioned in this video, it can be very difficult to "get out gracefully." If we're not being targeted by the elders, the last thing we want to do is get back into their sites by talking shit about our religion and risk being shunned.
Hi to all reading comments. I am an ex JW. Please don't blame JWs for whatever you don't agree with or are angry about. The people who come knocking on your door have no idea they're in a cult. If you want to do something about it, you need to enlighten them about the things shared in this video... Which, may I add was a great video. Thanks Alex and Lloyd, you did a great job 😀
They stole my children.
Kidnapped them? That's illegal!
@@jonboydiego999 Well, I have some fault to share here... I mated with someone without knowing them... Their mother's a JW.
Ah, I see. I don't know how old your children are but the percentage of children that remain JW when they're adults is low. Teach them facts as they grow and hopefully you can speed the process up.
@@jonboydiego999 I have no idea where they are or how to get a hold of them. I have other children with a different mother. It's complicated in ways I don't feel comfortable explaining in a public form to unknown people. But there was definitely church manipulation going on and I feel a right to a certain amount of frustration and resentment towards her church. My big transgression against her was not sharing her religion. I didn't beat or neglect or cheat or fail to hold up my share of the work of life (pay bills, house word, etc.) nothing like that. I just wasn't willing to be a JW. The thing I don't wanna say is just sensitive personal info it's like, not wanting to share my SSN... that kinda reason.
Great job on the interview! Lloyd is such a unique voice and I'm glad you had him on.
dersitzpinkler grovelling bastard
so i will be destroyed because of armageddon, or i will have to live forever surrounded by jehovas! sometimes you just cant win!.
Captain Picard one of the many reasons I left this cult at 15, I thought damn if the worlds ending im going out partying. I remember being asked by the elders “but don’t you want to live forever?” I said “ no, it sounds hideous for a start you’ll all be there,” I mean those sanctimonious, hypocrites every day, forever, and ever, that’s a dystopian nightmare in my mind ugh! 😖
nbkcq28 let’s hear it for all the rebels and free thinkers lol!!👏👏
nbkcq28 you are a intersectional feminist you deal in mindless propaganda.
nbkcq28 I’m with you, I just believe in equality for all. I don’t support feminism, or black lives matter. I subscribe to fairness, humanism,Justice, and all lives matter. Anyway I don’t believe that you or I mentioned feminism ,we were discussing cults and religion, and this person has hijacked the conversation for what ever reason suits them, I honestly have no idea why this has even been raised as an issue!
Cameron Reekie He mentioned mindless propaganda and while you support egalitarianism this is a publicly open comment section so anyone can take a discussion anywhere they like.He is MGTOW,LGBT and BLM all of those groups are mindless propaganda but hands up don't shoot as i deliberately called him a feminist knowing he is MGTOW - I am a ex JW with a TH-cam channel that takes the piss out of feminists and MGTOW,BLM,LGBT and Communists,NAZI's and any other spaz i can find so a person who is subscribed to TYT,MGTOW and such stating mindless propaganda is a bit much and not the first time i have come arccos the idiot.
Jehovah's witnesses broke my family, they love bombed one sister after her marriage failed and love bombed another who was, at the time, living in a very isolated rural area. TH-camr Telltale Atheist is another former JW, like Lloyd he has a similar story of being shunned etc but from an American point of view.
Great video Alex, keep that light shining squarely on the merchants of deception.
What is a love-bomb?
skeptic moderate it's pretty much giving you love and attention to the point where you feel welcomed. But in reality it's just a tactic they use to get you to join them.
skeptic moderate basically see someone who's in a moment of weakness and act super nice and such with the agenda of converting you, it's not permanent and is very vulture like
graphite how dare they show your family love and care!
Annie Johnson You think stalking and grooming is love and care? What a twisted outlook you have!
I was raised a jw. Left the religion 7 years ago when I was 19. As pathetic as it sounds I'm still terrified and haven't come out as an atheist to my family. It's pretty fucked up haha
aPpLeJuIcE37RainLucy That exactly is the problem with religion.
aPpLeJuIcE37RainLucy nah. I still haven’t gotten around to telling my parents that I left the organization
I know of a JW family in the UK. The wife had trouble giving birth to her daughter and lost a lot of blood. She was unconscious and so her husband made the decision that she would not have a blood transfusion. Inevitably she died. In my opinion he is a murderer, not even manslaughter as it was so deliberate, and should be locked up for life. The baby survived but was fortunately brought up my non-JW family members. She has never forgiven her father & his cruel stupidity .
Peter James I think he shouldn't be allowed to decide something like that.
That story may not be exactly correct. In the UK, relatives do not have to give their permission for life saving procedures. For doctors face with situation the default is to give blood unless the patient has an advanced directive asking them not to transfuse even if life is in danger. She would have signed her life away in advance.
Oh, man, that's ugly. And stupid. VERY stupid.
@@T0X0PHILUS JWs do have an advance medical directive which they are obliged to carry on their person. When I was in the cult it used to be called the "bood card"
He let her die and then didn't even bother to raise the baby?! Good thing for loving grandparents and that she now knows what really happened
Two of my favorite youtubers together in an unexpected video? Thank you both for this.
"The Internet" a place where religion comes to die!
Thank God for atheism!
skeptic moderate He is actually the first atheist
+dj33036 .dj63010
Actually my Faith is made stronger by my interactions with atheists.
+Desperadox23
Not at all. I made it a point a long time ago to know what I believe and more importantly why. Most people don't enjoy that luxury.
ed smith how so? Einstein didn’t want to be identified as an atheist because he wasn’t one, he was a pantheist.
Lloyd has a very effective and well reasoned presentation in all his videos.
Telltale atheist is a good X-witness that exposes them and he actually made me learn about their beliefs and how bad they are
X-whiteness? like...2 hours on a sun bed? lol
That one person on TH-cam same
That one person on TH-cam I love his channel
x-whiteness: someone of Caucasian genetics who no longer conforms to the SJW definition of "whiteness."
That one person on TH-cam yes! someone else watches him
The difference between a cult and a religion is that in a cult there is a person at the top who knows it's a scam. In religion that person is dead.
~ Unknown
So Hollywood is as bad as Christianity or any other religion? Got it.
Oh like the DNC
Red Hunteur Joe Rogan said that in a stand up special but not sure where he heard it from.
Oh dear. Ironic that you are talking about a cult, being a Trump supporter.
Wow, that's harsh - but probably true.
I'm elated when I see you post new material Alex. You've been a gift to my brain that I didn't deserve but appreciate none the less. =)
As an ex JW myself, I always used the lyrics to Hotel California, to descibe membership..."You can check in any time you like...But you can NEVER leave"
At least not without tearing your life apart.
Omg yes 🤣🤣🤣🤣 a fellow classic rock lover AND an Apostates 😌
My thanks to both of you. I am an ex JW and a former elder. When it comes to leaving the organisation as mentioned by both of you it is very difficult. I had stopped believing and because of work and my marriage I had to stay in going through the motions of being a loyal JW. This I did for years. That was when I was appointed as an elder. The double thinking I had to do was what lead to a near break down. I am giving a short presentation about JW in January to my humanist group.
Glad you escaped!
In contrast to Jehova's Witness, I find it fascinating that Amish Mennonites have a coming of age ritual, known as Rumspringa, in which the young adult is allowed (if they wish) to go to university, travel abroad, and generally explore the world and all it has to offer before returning to the Amish enclave and deciding whether or not they wish to devote themselves to that life via adult baptism.
That's actually fascinating.
The problem with that is that they, too, are shunned if they decide to leave. They will get no support after that, and are stranded in an entire culture that is quite foreign to them. There is no real choice, but I still believe that they are better than Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses for allowing that glimpse of freedom and opening up the now (religiously-determined) adult's mind to other ways of life.
31:20 to 34:30 is so typical of cults in particular and (controlling) religions in general: "it wasn't our fault - if you misunderstood our message you were the weak link - you were not a proper believer". This is so evil, so unfair, so dishonest, so corrupt. This form of thinking sickens me.
As a former JW, I will say that Lloyd did an excellent job explaining the WT's 1975 debacle. It was a crazy time period. I myself was not sold on the "1975 will definitely be the end" thing, as "I had read in the Bible" "no man knows the day or the hour."
This was rather crazy if you think about it. I knew that Jesus had said "no one knows" and "If anyone says, "see here, see there, don't believe them"... I knew what I heard on the meetings, the conventions, and what I read in alllllllllllll the books, right? "How long was it until Eve was made? One year? no years? half a year?" All of that crap... and it went on and on and on.
WT has a way of hooking you, cooking you, then eating you (I would say "alive", but you've been cooked, haha.... grrrr)
You have a great way of defining things LLoyd. It is very hard to put in words what happened, especially to a "worldly" person, someone who was never a JW.
Excellent job.
Thank you CosmicSkeptic for your insight, your diligence, and your time. The less people we have in cults means happier, better functioning people alive, ready to contribute to life!
Internet and education....the worst enemies of religious cults. ;-)
I have a very dear friend who is a JW and I am trying to help her not view her religion as the most important aspect of her, that she is more than her religion. I really want her to see the value she has, not as a JW but as a person and what value she has to me. So when she talks about her no-blood thing, I get quite upset because she's my friend and I do not want to see her pass in that way. So I worry about her getting injured because I know she's never going to leave the faith, but in turn I do want her to see the hypocrisy of it. I just feel so helplessly lost on how to help her without mortally damaging our very close friendship.
I'm late but take it slow and easy!
This was a great video. I was raised a witness and my father was an elder. Now I'm an atheist with no childhood friends anymore and no contact with most family
Thanks for introducing Lloyd to those who may not have known much about the Jehovah Witnesses. I was already subscribed to Lloyd and love that he is exposing the terrible practices and secretiveness of this cult. He is also a tremendous support to those who choose to leave.
I was friends with JW kids, one of whom had a crippling condition that made her life a misery, but it could have been much improved with surgery. Her parents refused to allow any surgery because she might have needed a blood transfusion. Another friend was raped at age 15 by a JW boy, and when she reported it to the elders she was the one who was banned, and her rape was never reported to the police. Needless to say, both left this cult once they were adults. They no longer have any contact with their families.
I firmly believe that freedom of religion has to come with common sense, and I hope for a day when we quit giving special treatment in taxation and policing to religious groups. I realize that we may never get rid of religion, but we need to fight against fundamentalism of any kind.
I usually don't watch videos this long. But this was bloody interesting. Thanks guys
I have wondered why I fell for the "message" at the door. How could I be so naive ? But, then, at that time, I was 19 years old and had been having marital problems and wanted to learn what the better way to cope with marriage could be and I tried to improve my marriage by learning "God's arrangement" for a man and woman to build a happy, healthy coexistence. I made many compromises and was constantly confronted with questions from an unbelieving husband and the issues were never resolved, even when he actually studied with JW's himself. His study of the Bible was cut off after 2 years because he still did not "believe". His nonbelieving kept me from becoming involved to any great extent and I see now that was a protection for me and our children. I am thankful now . Only one of our children actually goes to meetings or is involved to any great extent. She is shunning me at this time, but I expect that she will reach her tolerance level soon. She is not baptized. She just attends meetings on an irregular basis. The thing that really woke me up was the child sexual abuse issue. And I never really adhered to the blood issue either. The life and death issues were easy for me to reject. There is no way I would ever allow any of my children to die for a religion. Same goes for myself. I say, it is always better to err on the side of life.
One minute in, and I'm even more terrified of Jehovah's witnesses than I was before..
Esme Snape , you should be! They are not there because they care about you. They are commanded to do the preaching work. They do not have a choice. If they don’t do it, they are told they will die at God’s hand.
What Justme just said!
I always laughed at them. I learned that pity is much more appropriate.
I don't know where you got that idea. From Lloyd? The fact is that Jesus gave the command to ALL Christians at Matthew 28:19, 20. He said "Go, therefore, and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you. And look! I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things.” These were the last words he left us before going to the heavens. Do you see anyone else who is obedient to this command all over the world? (Acts 20:20) And how do you know that the ones who obey the command don"t care? Lloyd / John makes the same error you are making; imputing wrong motives. If you discredit Jehovah's Witnesses, you can think you can ignore Jesus and Jehovah. Lloyd is not obedient to Jesus and is opposing God's will. (Matthew 6:9,10)
So, you believe everything you hear on the internet in one minute? How gullible!
Absolutely fantastic interview.
Thanks for the great info.
I love John Cedars' Channel and discovered CosmicSkeptic a few days ago and now you do an interview together...GREAT! :*
Excellent interview,love John Cedars/ Lloyd Evans so many people need to watch this
Thank you so much for doing this. I was raised a JW, and I love seeing this kind of dialogue on TH-cam. I'm a big Fan of yours and Lloyds so this was great!
I was 10 years old sitting through 2 hour meetings knowing it was nonsense.
I have learned a great deal. Thank you both for the amazing work that you do.
Pretending until you can be independent is probably the best solution for young unbelievers.
Yes but even then, it's a dangerous slope to tread on, it's honestly better to fade but not make a big deal of it cuz the longer you "stay", the more damage is done
This was fascinating! I think I've seen a documentary or two about Jehovah's Witnesses, but I don't remember much about them, so I learned a lot in this video! Thank you for making it!
All apostates are reluctant. No one flippantly abandons everything they know and believe.
You're right. The hardest thing I ever had to do in my life was to have to admit to myself that I had been wrong about so many things and it had cost me so much
th-cam.com/video/34vWDb5Fvb4/w-d-xo.html
I used to have a friend who was a Jehova's witness. I knew her from 1st grade to about 10th. (In Finland there's also a grade "0" that's supposed to prepare children for school, but she didn't go there because it's not obligatory). It didn't seem like she was controlled that hard until around 5th or 6th grade.
I considered her my best friend, but in nearly ten years I can count the times I went to her house on one hand. I think she was invited to my birthday party, but she obviously didn't come and never came over casually.
Due to the nature of her religion, she didn't take classes in religion with us, (they're classes on all the world's religions, admittedly a bit more focused on Lutheranism) and any time we'd ask what the Jehova's witnesses were all about, she'd refer us to their website or tell us that you just couldn't understand unless you were a witness yourself.
She had some issues in 7th-10th grade with eating disorders and it felt like she was being cut off more and more from us. We'd ask and she'd say she was fine. I saw her so little that when she lost 100 pounds in 2,5 months, I didn't notice. in hindsight it seems like it should've been more noticeable, but around that time she started dressing more modestly as well. She wore skirts everyday and we thought nothing of it. It feels crazy to think about.
She also was allowed social media and posted generic photos on instagram. Why I bring this up, is because around 8th grade some girls in our class said something, I don't quite remember if it was about the religion, and were consequently blocked from her instagram. It was bizarre, because I think they might've not even been talking directly to her (and it might not even have been about Jehova's witnesses), they just went on her profile and were blocked. I thought I'd check on her like a creepy stalker, but it seems she has deleted her instagram, which is concerning to say the least.
After mandatory schooling was over, she went into nursing, although I haven't seen here in a long time. Our schools are right next to each other and the first year she was there I saw her come and go every single day.
I don't know what's up with her now, but I hope she's okay.
TheEllaDarling sad to read.
I'm glad you made this video. It's enlightened me to horrors I was not aware of. Keep making great videos!
You have no idea how powerful and inspiring you are. You have the truth behind you so you are unstoppable.
Yes, I stuck with you to the end. Always do. Thank you for making this video. Excellent interview and important topic. Prompted me to share it on FB, as well as all of the immediate links that I could find involving the documentary mentioned and other article
That point about his child's grandfather was heartbreaking
I think that the "fake armagedon" especially as a child is just mind torture. I was diagnosed with PTSD from all that mind torture. My father was an elder and extreme abuser.
I would love to see Alex talk with Telltale Atheist. He's another ex-JW and is one of my favorite TH-camrs that talk about atheism/religion/cults. They're both really intelligent and I think they could give interesting viewpoints on religion and science.
As close to the perfect interview as any I've ever seen on TH-cam. The interviewer knows exactly what questions to ask and how to ask them, the interviewee's answers are complete and on point always. The hour flew by in 15 minutes. Please, please, Alex, make videos like this one as often as you can. (I am an ex-Catholic atheist, and I assure you that even though I was never sexually abused or forbidden a blood transfusion, my entire life has been effectively ruined by my early and long indoctrination in the tenets of my former faith. I think that very few people raised in a strict religious community can ever fully recover. The cancer is never fully cut out.)
I'll watch it tomorrow. It's actually 2:19 in the morning here in Germany. Just the intro makes me want to watch it and find out more about the topics discussed in this video. Awesome that its almost an hour long. Exited already :) have a good night.
Patrick Da I' from germany, and I just came back from work and immediately watched it. Saw the notification this morning, but had no time :D
@CosmicSkeptic please get TheTruthHurts on your show. He is a former Jehovah Witness turned atheist and has a small TH-cam channel with great videos. He has a philosophical way of thinking like yourself. Would love to see him on your show
Great watch. I had a friend that was a Jehovah's Witness growing up and he always looked so sad around Christmas time. Poor guy. Oppression really sucks.
Two of my favorite skeptic/atheist youtubers
Excellent informative video. I am going to get the book as I knew nothing about these people coming to my door. Even when I said I was an atheist, they would keep persisting in trying to get me to read there pamphlets. I would eventually take them and add them to my recycle bin!!!
I actually got into atheist activism because of the JW's.
14 years or so ago I was bumbling along as a normal British bloke to whom religion meant nothing, I was an atheist but it was no big deal, I found religion a bit ridiculous and odd but never really worried about it. I didn't really know anyone who was religious and the people I did know who were religious were either old or practised the kind of wishy-washy harmless god bothering that is common in the UK. Then bam my younger brother was sucked into the JW cult. My normal pot smoking, slightly hippy brother because of a Jehovah's Witness. It baffled me. I tried to argue him out of it but it quickly became apparent that I was out of my depth. Despite my degree in Physics and Philosophy from one of the UK's good universities, I didn't seem to be able to win these arguments. Sure, on an intellectual level, I trounced my brother but it didn't shake his beliefs. It was only later that I learned about how this cult programs its recruits and conditions them against anyone who tries to argue them out of it.
I am now happy to report that some 14 years later my brother came out of the cult and now actually refers to it as a cult. He had researched the child fucking scandal and cover up and that, quite rightly, got him doubting. I had a really good heart to heart with him last year and when he thanked me for trying to talk him out of it in the beginning, I really teared up when he told me this. It was quite emotional. I lost my brother for many years to this evil cult. But in those years it made me realise that the dangers of religion are still there. If someone like my brother, who was brought up without any religion can get sucked in at a vulnerable time in his life it can happen to anyone.
Great vid. (As allways) My Own experience with that cult: doorbell rang, I opened and a lady asked me if she could ask me a question. I said okay. Then she asked me if I believed in the devil. I said no. Her respond was that how I could be sure and did I not know that the devil is invisible. My response: then I don’t believe in you. (I am blind). Just my 2 cent from Denmark.
Great and important interview!
I have a dear friend who basically lost her youngest son when he married a JW woman, and they had been extremely close before this happened.
He's very passive and joined the church, so now he is required to shun his mother because she's not a Jehova's Witness. He does occasionally contact his mother behind his wife's back, but only in secret. It's a very tragic situation, and the JW wife is very controlling and emotionally abusive.
Great interview. Lloyd Evans channel is called John Cedars.....very interesting. I highly recommend his rebuttal videos on the monthly JW Broadcasts. He’s so funny as he is rebutting their propaganda. His book is excellent too. He’s writing a second one now.
As an ex-mormon I'm quite surprised to see a multitude of similarities between Mormonism and Jehovah's Witnesses. His in a nutshell explanation of Jehovah's Witnesses could also be seamlessly applied to Mormon beliefs and this has really surprised me as even when I was a full believing Mormon I thought they were a bunch of weird idiots.
Jesus Fingers Yeah but they dont do soaking. I think...
PolySine XY
From my knowledge of Mormonism I can tell you that Mormons are not allowed to have sex before marriage. Although soaking seems to be a somewhat popular thing in Mormonism, the leaders still preach that you will go to hell if you do so. It's more of an unsubstantiated stereotype of Mormons to be fair to them as I've never met a Mormon who thinks soaking is an acceptable practice.
Well, but Mormon's aren't anti-intellectual are they? I knew a very faithful Mormon in high school who has gone on to become an astrophysicist.
Also, most Christian denominations denounce sex outside of heterosexual marriage.
Mormonism comes out of the "millenarianism" of the mid 1800s its closely related to jws and 7th day.
Sidenote all 3 come out of new york
Lloyd and Cosmic Skeptic in the same video? Overpowered!
I have been waiting for this video for a long time without even knowing it
Also - thank you Lloyd. Just... just thank you. I dont think I have to add anything... Trully - thank you.
Please do one on mormons 🙏
I'm a new subscriber so I'm replying really late. I currently attend byui but am an athiest and have been looking for videos like these on mormons if you know of any I would appreciate it if you could send me the link
@@lochlandean7518if you haven't found anything yet start with "Mormon stories podcast" and ex Mormon foundation, good luck.
So true Lloyd @ 37:11. They say at the Australian royal commission that people can go inactive but they can't really. It's not tolerated without a major struggle. You'd never hear an elder saying ''oh he's just fading that's fine'', leave him be.
Omg this will save the rest of my years! Im glad i found this. Im planning to disassociate myself from jw org. I was raised a jw, im a college student, they say alot about me. I havent done anything ‘worldy’ but they judged me as if ive done things that are bad. Lol. Im sick and tired.
I wasted alot of my life on this cult, staying busy doing a whole lot of things that did not benefit me in the least. Run from this cult as if from a burning building!!
Hey do you have updates? Did you manage to disassociate? How did it go? :)
great interview. Lloyd's father can see his grandchild any time he wants to. He just doesn't want to. That is not Lloyd's problem. That is granddads problem.
I'm a huge fan of your channel, Alex, and also an ew-JW. Thank you so much for giving Lloyd a platform to speak about it... the more we can educate people, the less of a chance Witnesses will be able to continue hurting people. Unfortunately, Witnesses are programmed to avoid videos like this, but we are seeing more and more of them waking up.
Brilliant video. Have come to it rather late (I see it was released nealry 2 years ago) but came here after watching a number of your videos Alex and subscribing both to yours and Lloyd's channels.
Great interview. Thanks for sharing with us. I learned quite a bit.
Great, even-handed, informative interview. Thank you.
Great Dayn you’re popping up all over TH-cam today!🙋🏻♀️
That was so intelligent and informative! You are awesome!! Thank you for doing this! Do it more often, please!!
i am a ex jehovah's witness and i can tell you this vid doesn't even scratch the surface of how bad a cult it is me and my brother have been calling it a cult for many years glad to hear someone else saying it
I know this is not a particularly relevant or insightful comment but I just love the way Alex says "description". I don't know what it is but it just sounds so satisfying to me
Thank you Lloyd. You describe exactly what I saw when my father joined. After years of mourning my mothers death the message that he would join with her again after armageddon was a deceitful and powerful message. I am suspicious that they actually target such vulnerable people and have circumstantial evidence for that. My father now hovers around the edges of the Watchtower but he still comes to attend a zoom meeting at my house each week. When he had an operation I took him 40 miles to hospital but by the time I got home the JWs had been to see him and remind him that he nust refuse blood. As I got back the hospital was on the phone to tell me to pick him up as he was refusing blood. They are dangerous and unpleasant. Sure the congregation are all sweet and nice but the heirachy are very sinister
This is awesome !! I now know more about Witnesses, Would love to see more vids like this about other religions / denominations
Cults are all so similar, I used to be part of a cult, and I can relate pretty well with all this shit...
I'm glad I opened my eyes, it's being really difficult, but I keep believing it is worthy !
Lloyd, not to take away from your testimonial but I am amazed that you were allowed to read Enid Blyton books! I had quite a collection growing up since my parents were not JWs and boy what fond memories living for each new series
i was loosely raised a JW but never believed in a god. There was a point where I tried to get into it, but not to worry, I am a proud atheist now.
What fun to see two of my favorite TH-camrs together!
I used to be a Jehovah witness and I've had a better experience with them. When i left the religion i just told my mother that i didn't want to be apart of it anymore. and that was that. She still try's to get me back into the religion every now and then but the elders actually told her that once someone says they don't want to be Jehovahs witness it's better to just let them leave. You don't need a guide book you just stop going to the church. As for the higher education part, my parents and many of my friends parents wanted nothing more than for me to go to college.
He wasn't baptized. That's the catch. You don't get shunned for leaving unless you were baptized and JW put massive pressure on their children to do it at an early age. Some a young as 6 yrs old.
sigma2503 Luckily for you she doesn’t sound like a regular devout JW. I wish I had that experience. For most the organization is their entire world. And their kids come in at a close 2nd at best.
As was said already, this individuals experience in leaving was DIFFERENT because they probably were not baptized! So leaving 'can' be as simple as walking away. But for those of us that are baptized? Uhhhh...different story. There is NO walking away - ever. And sadly that is what makes JWs such a cult.
sigma2503 Lucky you, my mother never stopped drumming her beliefs into me. She told me not to bother with school as Armageddon is almost here. That was 1975.
Complicated relation - My mom's best friend's father was a JW.
He is no longer religious and we often joke about his house being on their "do-not-visit" list, because when they used to knock on his door he would invite them in for tea and a discussion. Then they would leave with a new bible and all the thoughts which had made him question this cult as a teenager, in other words really questioning their life. This always amused me as a child, and it still does, but now that I know more I am even more surprised and in awe that he was able to.
My wife used to be a witness. Her family is not happy with me to say the least, and dealing with that is a daily challenge.
Great video. It's nice to see that people still care about these topics even when it isn't the most trendy subject right now.
I Know its a weird thing to comment, but man.....Lloyd has such a great voice to listen to
DIMIX Not weird at all.. True!
DIMIX I could listen to him read the phone book if they still made phonebooks!
They (the JWs) used to come around to our house. They'd hand-out their magazines, _Awake!_ and _Watchtower,_ hand-out books, and oftentimes one or the other (or both) of my parents (both of whom were Methodist) would sit down with them (sometimes one person, sometimes more-than-one) and discuss religious language-game(s) bullshit. I would ask questions they didn't like, such as if Heaven (or whatever) was so good, and God's omnipotent, then why don't we already _have_ Heaven-on-Earth...etc., etc. I was still into very philosophical 'Christianity' until I just read enough to work my way out it (Christianity).
But the JWs were a fuckin' hoot. But they've not come 'round in over 2 decades...Now we occasionally (though rarely) get Mormons instead... [eye-roll]...
I've been following Lloy's channel for a while now.
As a survivor of the JW experience (raised in it), I find much of it relatable.
The JW followers mean well, but that's worth about ~nothing~.
That story about Lloyd's dad is just shocking. The things people do to their children. Cruel.
Btw, Alex: Just got my 'Build the Wall Between Church and State' T-shirt _today!_
Good interview and very informative.
Was a really interesting interview. Had no idea about that cult. They sometimes stop at my door.
at first i read: Something You Need To Know About An Interview with Lloyd Evans
expect that he gonna say something bad about him. He is my Hero, safed me from this cult. (I was 27 Years inside)
+CS, your microphone sounded okay to me. This video proves to me why I should NEVER take JWs seriously.
I have to say I really like this video. I have a few of JW friends which means I know quite a bit about their beliefs, and it's seriously appalling. The voice really needs to be spread.
I love this. I was taken away at a very young age but I remember my grandmother (mother's side) was a JW. Hell, I remember that red book and even had a child's illustrated JW's Bible. I don't recall my mother being one and know my father wasn't.
In foster care I was exposed to birthdays and holidays. I wasn't allowed to participate with some families (not sure if that was ordered or a choice on their part). Strangely enough my grandmother was the only one that tried to fight for my sisters and I. She even came to birthday parties with the family that eventually adopted me. I think she became a JW after the death of my grandfather given some less fundamental type behavior on her part.
I remember asking about their depiction of the cross once. In the children's version of the Bible it showed Jesus on a single beam of wood, not a cross. I don't remember what the explaination was, just that "they" were right and others were wrong. They also stated that everyone would die and "god" would have a new world for only them. That alone is extremely psychotic talk for a 3 year old.
Eric Albers how's the JW bible different to the normal one.
If you created a podcast with these longer episodes on it would make it much more convenient for me and I’m sure a lot of others.
In fairness excommunication hasn't been a big deal in the Catholic Church for centuries. These days being excommunicated means no taking part in a few specific rituals. You can even still go to mass you just can't partake in communion.
Great interview gentlemen!
I've been regularly debating these goons on my doorstep, frankly, I always found them to be absolutely hilarious.
I always invite them in but they always refuse and I always ask them back, because every time they ring my doorbell, they have to begrudgingly admit that they were wrong about their apocalypse last time around, but they always bring new "proof". Usually in the way of an event and a corresponding quote in their book.
Nah, these peeps are unaffiliated with them as far as I can tell, I'm sure they have their own shit going on but I can only focus on what I know of them, and they seem like perfectly pleasant, although severely deluded people. (Both are elderly and ~1,65m (compared to my 1,92m))
No, Lacey Mak is right. The ARC (Australian Royal Commission) did an investigation into several organizations' policies for handling pedophilia. JWs were one of the organizations investigated and the commission's findings did not paint the JWs in a good light at all!
Haven't finished watching yet, just had to say that during the summer I had a visit by two jehovahs witnesses. They were teenagers or very young adult males. I very much felt sorry for them. I also enjoyed telling them I was an atheist. They didn't get pushy, just said okay and left. I wondered if they might send reinforcements... I went to a Kingdom Hall as a kid because my mom was friends with a really sweet lady who was, unfortunately, involved in that mess. My mother was an atheist too, but always open to learning more about stuff like that. I really wish I had been prepared with something witty to say to those JW boys.
rebecca ramsey I think the way you handled that scenario was perfect I mean they are just teens most likely told/coerced into doing work for JW
Darius Moon yes, of course I never would've been mean. I just missed the opportunity to pretend to be fascinated they were in a cult, ask them what it was like with my eyes wide open. maybe one or the other already had doubts deep down and I could've triggered some logical part of his brain. Probably not but the moment has passed, anyway. I'm really just sad for them.
rebecca ramsey I understand I feel the same way towards my kind hearted peers who honestly believe that the dogma they follow isn't something like homophobic or prejudice towards gays (As it clearly is). Although I wish I could just poke fun at them for spouting nonsensical things about ouija boards. Like perhaps asking them what it actually means or the history behind it, or the fact that it's literally a game designed to prank some fool (Oui means yes in French and Ja means yes in German so it's essentially Yesyes board lol)
Darius Moon , children of JW’s are Made to do the preaching work. They don’t have a choice! They have to do it or life at home will not be good for them!
justme sadly :(
Very good interview...Great questions and definitely Great comments. 👏
Years ago I had a woman friend that was very good to me,and who I loved very much.During a very stressful time in her twenties she was indoctrinated into the Jehovahs Witnesses.I was very surprised,as she had been an educated,freethinking person during the time we were close.We met again as old women,and it was very wonderful to see her again.However,because of her beliefs,she had to try and convince me into accepting her religion.It was a very strange experience.I still love her,I’m so very sad to lose her forever,but she made no sense whatsoever,and I realized that unless I became a Jehovahs Witness,we could not be friends.So sad.