@@josuebarboza9809I genuinely didn't know this stuff before hearing of it from people that went through it. I know members, but they never showed this kind of stuff.
Yeeeeah, I wasn't a jw, I was an evangelical lutheran, but my great aunt caught me kissing my gf while watching a movie. There was a fight about how I was going to hell and dragging my gf with me. Anyway, when I got back from taking her home, the pastor and my aunt were waiting for me. I felt like I just walked into an intervention at my court hearing. I just said, "Yeah, I'm not doing this right now. Bye." Then I got back in my car and left. I didn't come back until my mom got home and no cell phones, so I didn't get a million calls and texts telling me to get back home. I kinda miss being able to just disappear like that.
ExVangelical here. Yeah, they’re insane about normal human sexuality and love. It’s so twisted! They don’t just hate LGBTQ…they hate all sex. Unless you’re tied to someone forever in the approved manner. It really messes people up. Sadly, so many of them abuse children! I’m so glad I escaped their false beliefs and abusive culture.
That's what they do. Anything that goes against their system is automatically inherently wrong in their eyes. I think Mormons are like that too. Most Christians and Catholics, but not all, are way more tolerant of unfaithful decisions. At least that's what I've gathered based on the many I have known in my life.
That's what they do. Anything that goes against their system is automatically inherently wrong in their eyes. I think Mormons are like that too. Most Christians and Catholics, but not all, are way more tolerant of unfaithful decisions. At least that's what I've gathered based on the many I have known in my life.
Casting someone out for that is despicable, don't get me wrong, but so is what Owen was doing, like come on, we can't just sweep that away as "normal teenage behavior," it SHOULDN'T BE normal. I bet if he wasn't a JW he wouldn't have felt the need to do those things to work through his feelings
Actually, it doesn't understand them at all because it is not a Christian religion. It is a cult (with a theology radically different from Christianity), and as such, condemnation and punishment are essential to keep its members on line - who are not simply faithful believers (or cult members), but unpaid workers of a multinational editorial company. That's all what they do. Producing and selling publications.
spot on. Christian religions have a sick a perverted sense of forgiveness. pretty rotten to the core. some dude has to have a magic blood sacrifice of his own son so he can forgive made up offenses under his made up rules? gross.
this is what I hated about being a Jehovah’s Witness, they butt into private stuff. like when I got in trouble with the police my father told the elders and I was like “wtf has it got to do with you”
The correct rule according to witnesses is that when you find out a fellow witness is doing something wrong you first go talk to them and confront them about what they are doing. If they don’t stop what they are doing the second rule is to go with an additional person. If that doesn’t work then you go to the elders. That sounds like a sound system to me. Like hey Frank, we are 16 shouldn’t be having sex, I heard you were doing it with Nancy. Maybe you shouldn’t because it goes against our belief system. I knows it’s tempting but maybe we can help eahcother stay in line? Frank keeps doing it so now you bring a second friend John to help you talk sense into Frank. Frank still continues now you have to tell the elders.
@@Lunaboy2023 it’s nobody else’s business! I think JWs get a voyeuristic thrill out of hearing about members sexual exploits. They love the details! Sick.
They were sucking up by policing you. Its gross. If they cared about you they would have tried to stop you with caring and concern for your soul or whatever
@luvyatubers - The whole damn congregation was spying on each other. Wife on husband, parents on children, everyone on their neighbor. What a fun sport that must be.
My guess would be that they want to keep the two witness rule because without it there would be far more abuse reports. That would be bad for their image and reputation.
"Disfellowshipped." That's what they called it when I was a kid. Now, imagine this -- I was a faithful, 100% believing Jehovah's Witness kid when my PARENTS got disfellowshipped when I was 12. Wanna talk about a mindfuck? Well, it was a mindfuck of apoclyptic proportions. Yeah, Dad got "reproved" a zillion times for cheating, until the elders finally had NO other course than to disfellowship him. Within a few months Mom got disfellowshipped for smoking. But yeah, I was still a believer, and there I am, living with two parents who were disfellowshipped. It just really left me in an awkward predicament, that's all. I had been a Witness since birth. I had taken countless ass whoopings on the playground for saying Santa's not real. I had sat in the hallway for EVERY school party in my life. It's hard to describe all the stages I went through after that, but 40 years later I'm a confirmed agnostic now, leaning strongly, strongly toward atheist. If there is some sort of God, then God has a lot of explaining to do, let's put it that way.
Wow. Thank you for sharing your story. I grew up Pentecostal (Potter's House HQ'd in Arizona), and while my childhood was not quite as severe as yours, I can definitely relate to the alienation much of the dogma caused especially as a little kid still developing my social skills. My indoctrination left a lot of scars but I try to make the best of it and use my experience to impart knowledge on others going forward. I hesitate to call it "wisdom" because I'm still very young and dumb but growing up Pentecostal has definitely made my "bullshit detector" very sensitive. Agree with you if there is some kind of powerful God it has a lot to answer for if we ever stand before it.
@@marcomoreno6748 What explaining would god need to do? It wasnt a god that did anything to you, it was a gaggle of misled goons. It's a typical and normal experience you went through. Think of all the different religions and how extreme they have been throughout time. Yours was fairly benign.
Hearing this helps me to realize how lucky I was to be born into a laid back Christian family. I did get my ass whoopings, but that was incredibly rare. The only times that happened was when I would start doing nasty physical things. One in particular I look back and laugh at now was when I got a cold shower. That happened because I started biting when I was being grabbed to be sat down on the couch as punishment for something I did. I don't know what drove me to bite that day, but I did. After the shower though, I never bit again. I was a nasty child that day for some reason. What happened to people like you though is abhorrent. The sick part is if a member speaks out about it, he or she will also face the same repercussions. Possibly even to the point of being separated from their families by legal means. There are plenty of situations involving good parents being legally separated from their kids because of false rumors spread about them by the other parent. It often ends up with legally required supervised visitation even though the other parent is the one who is messed up. Strangely it often seems to be the mothers who spread these false rumors just because they don't like the father. I personally know some good fathers who are unfortunately in this situation.
I really appreciate your videos, and while I was never a witness myself I’ve always took an interest in them. I found your videos really balanced and really informative, and I enjoy one with a hot cup of tea.
@SingerSofiaBrook - Well, they're accepting applications for membership as we speak. Burn your thinking cap. Suppress your personal voice of reason. Be prepared for the love bombing. And prepare to accept the most irrational bullshit a human has to offer, and to do so without question. Grow your virginity back and dive right in. I'm sure it'll be gangs of fun as well as an intellectual adventure. Do let us know how it goes. We'll just wait right here to hear from you. Good luck. Oh, and I hope you don't have any family you actually care about because you'll be expected to shun them. But, hey! No big deal, right?
@@garryiglesias4074 because I grew up in a household with two parents from an obscure kinda cult that wasn’t talked about much, so now i have a hyperfixation on cults and mass indoctrination. 😊
It sounds like you were a perfectly normal adolescent doing perfectly normal adolescent things Owen. Sorry to hear you went through some crap, but glad to hear you managed to get out of the cult. All the best mate 👍
Something I wish I never did was be a tattletale while still in. Thankfully, those two girls are both out along with me, and we're all cool now. The thing is, we all did it because we felt obligated to. I've had to come to terms with it because we had to do what we needed to get through without being branded a bad person ourselves.
Not sure you can blame a brainwashed kid for his actions and using a cult to get at you. The idea that they wouldn't even try to "fix" you but straight away throw you out, just shows how vile that cult is. Don't blame the guy but the cult.
@@OctyabrAprelya You dont sound very convinced of your own answer. Is a devout catholic and a fanatic the same thing? Or are they more of what you consider a "normal" catholic? I mean, they should all be pretty in agreement on where their relationship is with jesus.
@@willytodd2750 It's just as it strikes me as an oddity from my own upbringing, since even the most devout Catholics I've ever met wouldn't say something like that. Maybe because South American Catholics are more lax than in other countries, like Spain or Italy.
My friend told me his mom’s priorities, are, and this is HER word too: #1 - Work #2 - God #3 - Family It’s so shocking and sad how some mothers don’t have family as their #1. That is your pack, your own flesh and blood, yet she expects it of them to her.
I don't think of forgiveness as something I give to others in cases like these, I think of it as something I give to myself. I don't even need to tell the other person, it is something that helps me move on and have a different experience whenever I think back on difficult circumstances
When I was still in the org. In the late 80's they started with the telling us to turn "wrong" doers I thought to myself forget that your on your own digging for dirt.
Thanks for sharing your story, and nice to hear you overcame the broken love👍Also had my fair share of spying JW's. In my case, my wife and I wanted to keep it low, and over a time period fade from the cult. But after a while our parents on both sides were spying on us, and sold us out to the elders. The reason was that we wouldn't teach our kids to walk in the "truth". They lived like all the other kids from their school. Then the elders demanded a meeting in the congregation to discuss our spirituality, but the only thing they got that day was a note, with the text, that we no longer wanted to be jw's, and that they should not contact us again. Never looked back since.
Lol, I was about to ask in the comments "isn't your ex, the mother to your kid, your editor and her text just popped up. Awwww. They're both cute, and they both seem like fantastic parents who have made their personal relationships work for their kid and themselves. I envy Owens daughter sometimes. Rose is also awesome, I liked those few episodes she came on to talk about lawyer shit.
I was super bullied during junior high and high school, as a female. People can be very cruel. I did a mean thing once or twice as a kid, and I still am riddled with guilt from it. So life can be very hard for all of us. I forgive them, to a degree but I still feel angry and hurt about it. I always wonder what kind of parents are they and what is their life like now? I mean, they got pleasure when I got hurt, they enjoyed it. Do they have any regret? I will probably never know.
Anytime Owen talks about “the elders” being after him, I imagine like a Family Guy version of Owen walking down a sidewalk with a gang of old men using walkers to “chase after him”…but like the entire time, Family Guy Owen is just walking at normal speed as the elders are hurling threats as if they can’t sense their own ridiculous snail’s pace, as a result of the gobs of ear hair throwing off their equilibrium. Okay, sorry for the whole a** paragraph but it was a vibe alright?
Childhood and the teen years can be traumatic. Shame JWs and parents cannot have a better handle on how they handle these very emotional and trying events they we (they) go through.
Maybe Avery came to understand how awful the religion was directly because of your disfellowship. Maybe it was academic before, and seeing your downward spiral made him question the value of his spying on you. Just a thought.
When I left Christianity my family was mildly bothered. I got the "you're going to Hell" talks but it's like whatever, if I don't believe in that stuff why would I be worried about Hell, right? Well, the damn religion gets its hooks in you. If you're constantly told evil forces will be trying to lure you away, if you're constantly told that everything other than your religion is all lies, from a very young age... well, there will always be doubts. The seed's in my mind and I can't fully banish it even 20 years later. The worst part was the nightmares of Hell. The second worst part is the occasional existential fear. Mostly nowadays I'm alright, though.
This is what Terry Pratchett wrote about hell. Remember it when the fear hits you again: The fact was that, as droves of demon kings had noticed, there was a limit to what you could do to a soul with, e.g., red-hot tweezers, because even fairly evil and corrupt souls were bright enough to realise that since they didn’t have the concomitant body and nerve endings attached to them there was no real reason, other than force of habit, why they should suffer excruciating agony. So they didn’t. (Eric - Terry Pratchett)
@@Tealyz It wasn't positive. I left and went to public school. Within a couple weeks I found myself thinking how much nicer the kids were in public school.
Are you still a vegetarian? I had a friend who was SDA and I went to church with her a few times. What I remember most is all the singing, the vegetarian food and the fact that there wasn't any wine at communion. That was weird since we were in Jr. High and I was Catholic at the time.
You don’t owe forgiveness to anybody. I imagine with time, you’ll be able to feel into the fact that he was a brainwashed child and not somebody with agency, and that could take some weight off your shoulders. But you don’t owe him anything.
I got kicked out at 17 for running off with a married elder. We holed up in a cheap hotel with gallons of cheap vodka and when the sun rose we were both disfellowshipped. I crawled back and begged forgiveness. They let me back in but the sisters” never trusted me around their husbands or anywhere else so I left voluntarily.
@@dozer1323 "Well, you certainly did the tango outside of marriage, drank way too much alcohol and crashed the church's car into the Kingdom Hall... which then burned down from the gas tank exploding... but all is forgiven and... sniff sniff... what's that smell?" "The joint I had before I threw it on the fire?" "No, not that. That's fine. We forgive you. That other smell... is that tobacco?" "Yes?" "There is no forgiveness for that, begone!"
You have no obligation to forgive anyone who doesn’t genuinely ask for it. You’re also not obligated to forgive someone who did you grievous harm. That’s not my Catholic past speaking, that’s my years of therapy and coming to terms with a childhood filled with abuse (emotional and physical), bullying, and my own parents’ untreated mental health issues.
I was screwed over in a Fandom, Anime mostly. Glad it wasn't a religion, I want to say, some of the people Anime Community are like a cult. I would call it that and it sucks too. I was pretty sure it was meant to happen and I left the fandom and it was better that I did and I now work for conventions now as staff. I love that part of my life. Being used sucks, Owen, I know how it feels to be used for stuff. I was upset when I was ripped off and I won't see that money back. Oh well...glad our lives turned out better. You have a TH-cam Channel with followers
Why would you say you are glad it wasn't a religion? It being a "fandom" is waaay more ridiculous. Even more ridiculous than the silly cartoons you watch.
Goddamn. I was just a regular ambiguous christian and definitely some differences but I super relate man. Sorry you had to go through all that. If nothing else, your current affect of schepticism and willingness to call things out inspires me and I'm glad with how you turned out.
Morgan, there is an ocean of bitterness behind this video. I hope that getting this off your chest helps you put it behind you. These sorts of memories are nothing less than acid for the human soul. Please do not let it burn more of you away than it already has.
Honestly the see her sister again in heaven makes me pretty sure she's more Christian than JW. I was raised in end times Christianity and that sounds uncontrollably furmiliar.
I’m thinking when I watched that kid shake about things that happen to people just by thinking it’s going to happen to them like when someone thinks they’re going to be sick, like the power of suggestion.
I just found this channel but after watching some of your videos explains why all jw i knew suddenly stopped containing me and even avoid me lucky i never joined the officially
That's like being on probation without actually being on probation. Can't understand why anyone would knowingly join such a pretentious cult like that.
Your story sounds so much like some of what I went through, but in a different denomination. A lot of why I don't believe any of it anymore. I was one of those kids that asked questions about the stories in the Bible, how so.e things happened or didn't. Thanks
Thanks for sharing. I would have been just as happy to see you talk, but I had to put you down and listen from a distance because of the game playing in the background. It took away from the sincerity. But I'll continue to listen (not watch) and give my thumbs up.
My Aunt was a JW, and was a control freak, nobody else in our family even knew what JW was, but she let us know we better convert to be a JW or we are condemned forever. I am a Christian, and I know you have to walk that walk by yourself, it's between you and the Lord, nobody can push or pull you to follow Christ, it is by freewill only.
Proud of you man. Mormonisn and other high control religions *cough* cults have people doing all sorts of shot like what happened to you. Keep doing you beat man, I am glad to hear your story. Have fun with Pokémon!
Something to note is that Avery was under no obligation to reach out to you and apologize. What he did by snitching on you was horrible, but not everyone would go out of their way to say sorry. I think that's worthy of respect. That being said, I'm not telling you how to feel about it.
I don’t think anyone but the Watchtower should be blamed here. Highschoolers are gonna do shitty things, especially in their romantic relationships, but they’ll have the opportunity to grow out of it. Shunning a teen for using drugs or having premarital sex will only make things worse, as evidenced by your situation
Holding hands!! OMFG!! Shame on you! Really, how are people _not_ begging to be disfellowshipped from this place? I think my feet would be burning if I ever stepped on a JW property.
I too was thrown under the bus if you will, actually, I want to thank this person for being just the push I needed to fully wake up. JWs dfing me was the last push I needed to fully awake.
People that lash out at you are actually lashes themselves, because they feel inferior. Sometimes that's even covered up by a Superiority complex, or looks like one, but not for a second is it because he felt better than you. Especially when he left the Organization, you can tell he was going through his own h___ on earth.
My mothers whole family are witnesses ( she wasn't in the religion while i was growing up because she was an addict and didn't end up going back till a couple years ago when i was a teenager ) and all the jehovas witnesses i know refuse to call it shunning
I think a lot of people have been "used" by a high school love interest. For a car and to get out. Or for homecoming or whatever. As for that dude... He was just being a good JW and doing his duty. Sounds like he has matured out of that and feels remorse.
"If he didn't do that, I would have still been caught" Or worse...still be a JW
Facts
That cult does far more harm than it's worth to allow it to continue.
Break the silence. Break the cycle.
What silence? Its well known lol
@@josuebarboza9809I genuinely didn't know this stuff before hearing of it from people that went through it. I know members, but they never showed this kind of stuff.
The only way to break the cycle is denial them land to build their little Johova whiteness town real-estate is the backbone of Johovawitness
Yeeeeah, I wasn't a jw, I was an evangelical lutheran, but my great aunt caught me kissing my gf while watching a movie. There was a fight about how I was going to hell and dragging my gf with me. Anyway, when I got back from taking her home, the pastor and my aunt were waiting for me. I felt like I just walked into an intervention at my court hearing. I just said, "Yeah, I'm not doing this right now. Bye." Then I got back in my car and left. I didn't come back until my mom got home and no cell phones, so I didn't get a million calls and texts telling me to get back home. I kinda miss being able to just disappear like that.
ExVangelical here. Yeah, they’re insane about normal human sexuality and love. It’s so twisted! They don’t just hate LGBTQ…they hate all sex. Unless you’re tied to someone forever in the approved manner. It really messes people up. Sadly, so many of them abuse children! I’m so glad I escaped their false beliefs and abusive culture.
Straight to HELL!!!
@hy-roller7771 - You still can disappear like that. No one is forcing you to answer your cell phone.
You were being a normal teenager and the cult tried to destroy you for it. You made it and F those evil people.
Yeah spying, destroying and stunning someone for just being a teenager, just evil.
That's what they do. Anything that goes against their system is automatically inherently wrong in their eyes. I think Mormons are like that too. Most Christians and Catholics, but not all, are way more tolerant of unfaithful decisions. At least that's what I've gathered based on the many I have known in my life.
That's what they do. Anything that goes against their system is automatically inherently wrong in their eyes. I think Mormons are like that too. Most Christians and Catholics, but not all, are way more tolerant of unfaithful decisions. At least that's what I've gathered based on the many I have known in my life.
Casting someone out for that is despicable, don't get me wrong, but so is what Owen was doing, like come on, we can't just sweep that away as "normal teenage behavior," it SHOULDN'T BE normal. I bet if he wasn't a JW he wouldn't have felt the need to do those things to work through his feelings
@@waspsandwich6548 Worse than what the JWs do?
Sounds like a religion that really understands forgiveness and redemption…
They have forgiveness only for child molesters 🤬
And avoids them completely.
Actually, it doesn't understand them at all because it is not a Christian religion. It is a cult (with a theology radically different from Christianity), and as such, condemnation and punishment are essential to keep its members on line - who are not simply faithful believers (or cult members), but unpaid workers of a multinational editorial company. That's all what they do. Producing and selling publications.
spot on.
Christian religions have a sick a perverted sense of forgiveness. pretty rotten to the core.
some dude has to have a magic blood sacrifice of his own son so he can forgive made up offenses under his made up rules? gross.
@MariaMartinez. -researcher no selling anymore, now into real estate and investing in other companies.
That's really sad, when you're at your lowest rather than surround you with love and support they cast you out.
this is what I hated about being a Jehovah’s Witness, they butt into private stuff. like when I got in trouble with the police my father told the elders and I was like “wtf has it got to do with you”
They should know if you are a deranged criminal.
@@willytodd2750 - So, anyone who gets in trouble with the police is a deranged criminal? You must be a lot of fun at parties.
@@willytodd2750bro trouble with police is different from deranged criminal
@@willytodd2750They should mind their business
@@Imhereforfun-jz2lu If you are a jehovahs witness you are their business.
Owen, I've been following you for a long while, and well, I'm really glad that you managed to pull yourself up after such events.
Just the distrust and spying on each other is a horrible culture.
The correct rule according to witnesses is that when you find out a fellow witness is doing something wrong you first go talk to them and confront them about what they are doing. If they don’t stop what they are doing the second rule is to go with an additional person. If that doesn’t work then you go to the elders. That sounds like a sound system to me.
Like hey Frank, we are 16 shouldn’t be having sex, I heard you were doing it with Nancy. Maybe you shouldn’t because it goes against our belief system. I knows it’s tempting but maybe we can help eahcother stay in line? Frank keeps doing it so now you bring a second friend John to help you talk sense into Frank. Frank still continues now you have to tell the elders.
@@Lunaboy2023 it’s nobody else’s business! I think JWs get a voyeuristic thrill out of hearing about members sexual exploits. They love the details! Sick.
So grateful that I wasn't born into a family of jehovas witnesses. I love thinking for myself.
It's those who truly think for themselves that break away from it.
Bro what if in my next life, I'm born in JW family 😭
They were sucking up by policing you. Its gross. If they cared about you they would have tried to stop you with caring and concern for your soul or whatever
@luvyatubers - The whole damn congregation was spying on each other. Wife on husband, parents on children, everyone on their neighbor. What a fun sport that must be.
@@wickedcabinboy Just like in the DDR and USSR. Although I wouldn’t be surprised it the practice was still going on in Russia.
My guess would be that they want to keep the two witness rule because without it there would be far more abuse reports. That would be bad for their image and reputation.
Glad you’re doing better and out of that disgusting cult.
Leaving pikachu in against sandslash was a choice.
"Disfellowshipped." That's what they called it when I was a kid. Now, imagine this -- I was a faithful, 100% believing Jehovah's Witness kid when my PARENTS got disfellowshipped when I was 12. Wanna talk about a mindfuck? Well, it was a mindfuck of apoclyptic proportions. Yeah, Dad got "reproved" a zillion times for cheating, until the elders finally had NO other course than to disfellowship him. Within a few months Mom got disfellowshipped for smoking. But yeah, I was still a believer, and there I am, living with two parents who were disfellowshipped. It just really left me in an awkward predicament, that's all. I had been a Witness since birth. I had taken countless ass whoopings on the playground for saying Santa's not real. I had sat in the hallway for EVERY school party in my life. It's hard to describe all the stages I went through after that, but 40 years later I'm a confirmed agnostic now, leaning strongly, strongly toward atheist. If there is some sort of God, then God has a lot of explaining to do, let's put it that way.
Wow. Thank you for sharing your story. I grew up Pentecostal (Potter's House HQ'd in Arizona), and while my childhood was not quite as severe as yours, I can definitely relate to the alienation much of the dogma caused especially as a little kid still developing my social skills. My indoctrination left a lot of scars but I try to make the best of it and use my experience to impart knowledge on others going forward. I hesitate to call it "wisdom" because I'm still very young and dumb but growing up Pentecostal has definitely made my "bullshit detector" very sensitive. Agree with you if there is some kind of powerful God it has a lot to answer for if we ever stand before it.
@@marcomoreno6748 What explaining would god need to do? It wasnt a god that did anything to you, it was a gaggle of misled goons. It's a typical and normal experience you went through. Think of all the different religions and how extreme they have been throughout time. Yours was fairly benign.
Hearing this helps me to realize how lucky I was to be born into a laid back Christian family. I did get my ass whoopings, but that was incredibly rare. The only times that happened was when I would start doing nasty physical things. One in particular I look back and laugh at now was when I got a cold shower. That happened because I started biting when I was being grabbed to be sat down on the couch as punishment for something I did. I don't know what drove me to bite that day, but I did. After the shower though, I never bit again. I was a nasty child that day for some reason.
What happened to people like you though is abhorrent. The sick part is if a member speaks out about it, he or she will also face the same repercussions. Possibly even to the point of being separated from their families by legal means. There are plenty of situations involving good parents being legally separated from their kids because of false rumors spread about them by the other parent. It often ends up with legally required supervised visitation even though the other parent is the one who is messed up. Strangely it often seems to be the mothers who spread these false rumors just because they don't like the father. I personally know some good fathers who are unfortunately in this situation.
poweful story, glad you moved on. ❤
@@willytodd2750Still wrong. All religions need abolished
I really appreciate your videos, and while I was never a witness myself I’ve always took an interest in them. I found your videos really balanced and really informative, and I enjoy one with a hot cup of tea.
@SingerSofiaBrook - Well, they're accepting applications for membership as we speak. Burn your thinking cap. Suppress your personal voice of reason. Be prepared for the love bombing. And prepare to accept the most irrational bullshit a human has to offer, and to do so without question. Grow your virginity back and dive right in. I'm sure it'll be gangs of fun as well as an intellectual adventure.
Do let us know how it goes. We'll just wait right here to hear from you. Good luck. Oh, and I hope you don't have any family you actually care about because you'll be expected to shun them. But, hey! No big deal, right?
I'm curious, why do you took an interest in JWs ?
@@garryiglesias4074 because I grew up in a household with two parents from an obscure kinda cult that wasn’t talked about much, so now i have a hyperfixation on cults and mass indoctrination. 😊
@@SingerSofiaBrook Ok it makes sense: you had an experience somehow close to us. Thanks.
It sounds like you were a perfectly normal adolescent doing perfectly normal adolescent things Owen.
Sorry to hear you went through some crap, but glad to hear you managed to get out of the cult.
All the best mate 👍
I believe that since they are all miserable in the church they just want everyone else to be miserable too
Where was the two witnesses rule when you got tattled on
Something I wish I never did was be a tattletale while still in. Thankfully, those two girls are both out along with me, and we're all cool now. The thing is, we all did it because we felt obligated to. I've had to come to terms with it because we had to do what we needed to get through without being branded a bad person ourselves.
Yup
Not sure you can blame a brainwashed kid for his actions and using a cult to get at you. The idea that they wouldn't even try to "fix" you but straight away throw you out, just shows how vile that cult is. Don't blame the guy but the cult.
My mother a devout Catholic told me she loved Jesus more than she loved me. OK mom. Moving on.
isnt that what a devout catholic would/should do?
@@willytodd2750 No?
Maybe the fanatics. But for the regular Catholic, that would be a very Evangelical thing to say.
@@OctyabrAprelya You dont sound very convinced of your own answer.
Is a devout catholic and a fanatic the same thing? Or are they more of what you consider a "normal" catholic?
I mean, they should all be pretty in agreement on where their relationship is with jesus.
@@willytodd2750 It's just as it strikes me as an oddity from my own upbringing, since even the most devout Catholics I've ever met wouldn't say something like that.
Maybe because South American Catholics are more lax than in other countries, like Spain or Italy.
My friend told me his mom’s priorities, are, and this is HER word too:
#1 - Work
#2 - God
#3 - Family
It’s so shocking and sad how some mothers don’t have family as their #1. That is your pack, your own flesh and blood, yet she expects it of them to her.
7:21 I used to have one of those guitar pick necklaces
Even though he did you a favor in the long run, a narc is a narc
That's what you are excited to do in that religion. They are all about the drama.
Forgiveness is a choice and to demand a person forgive another is a violation of their boundaries.
Thanks for sharing your story, Owen. I love the fact you are being open and honest.
They’ve loosened up a lot of the rules because so many people are leaving.
I don't think of forgiveness as something I give to others in cases like these, I think of it as something I give to myself. I don't even need to tell the other person, it is something that helps me move on and have a different experience whenever I think back on difficult circumstances
When I was still in the org. In the late 80's they started with the telling us to turn "wrong" doers I thought to myself forget that your on your own digging for dirt.
Good to hear you are out of this cruel cult I left never will be back
You're better off without that cult.
A very cruel religion.
Yes. If domestic abuse, and worse, wasn't lawfully condemned, I'm certain these groups would be no better than some of the Islamic systems.
Cult*
But yes.
Thanks for sharing your story, and nice to hear you overcame the broken love👍Also had my fair share of spying JW's. In my case, my wife and I wanted to keep it low, and over a time period fade from the cult. But after a while our parents on both sides were spying on us, and sold us out to the elders. The reason was that we wouldn't teach our kids to walk in the "truth". They lived like all the other kids from their school. Then the elders demanded a meeting in the congregation to discuss our spirituality, but the only thing they got that day was a note, with the text, that we no longer wanted to be jw's, and that they should not contact us again. Never looked back since.
Lol, I was about to ask in the comments "isn't your ex, the mother to your kid, your editor and her text just popped up. Awwww. They're both cute, and they both seem like fantastic parents who have made their personal relationships work for their kid and themselves. I envy Owens daughter sometimes. Rose is also awesome, I liked those few episodes she came on to talk about lawyer shit.
Sounds like you are in a much better place now. They are the ones living in denial of reality. Respect from Australia.
I was super bullied during junior high and high school, as a female. People can be very cruel. I did a mean thing once or twice as a kid, and I still am riddled with guilt from it. So life can be very hard for all of us. I forgive them, to a degree but I still feel angry and hurt about it. I always wonder what kind of parents are they and what is their life like now? I mean, they got pleasure when I got hurt, they enjoyed it. Do they have any regret? I will probably never know.
I am glad you have gathered up the courage to speak up what had happened to you. Trust me, I have seen cults completely sleazy these days.
Victims often act as perpetrators in cults, to be fair. (Re the dude who did you dirty). The pressure to gain/maintain favor.
13:08 Maybe she wrote that so the non witnesses on her page could understand what she meant.
Sono stata dentro per 15 anni. Fare la spia ed essere responsabili della vita degli altri è un peso troppo grande 😢
Anytime Owen talks about “the elders” being after him, I imagine like a Family Guy version of Owen walking down a sidewalk with a gang of old men using walkers to “chase after him”…but like the entire time, Family Guy Owen is just walking at normal speed as the elders are hurling threats as if they can’t sense their own ridiculous snail’s pace, as a result of the gobs of ear hair throwing off their equilibrium.
Okay, sorry for the whole a** paragraph but it was a vibe alright?
Childhood and the teen years can be traumatic. Shame JWs and parents cannot have a better handle on how they handle these very emotional and trying events they we (they) go through.
Maybe Avery came to understand how awful the religion was directly because of your disfellowship. Maybe it was academic before, and seeing your downward spiral made him question the value of his spying on you. Just a thought.
"I don't even want to talk about it"... Proceeds to give a detailed recount.
to the person doing the edits you are doing a wonderful job :)
When I left Christianity my family was mildly bothered. I got the "you're going to Hell" talks but it's like whatever, if I don't believe in that stuff why would I be worried about Hell, right? Well, the damn religion gets its hooks in you. If you're constantly told evil forces will be trying to lure you away, if you're constantly told that everything other than your religion is all lies, from a very young age... well, there will always be doubts. The seed's in my mind and I can't fully banish it even 20 years later. The worst part was the nightmares of Hell. The second worst part is the occasional existential fear. Mostly nowadays I'm alright, though.
This is what Terry Pratchett wrote about hell. Remember it when the fear hits you again:
The fact was that, as droves of demon kings had noticed, there was a limit to what you could do to a soul with, e.g., red-hot tweezers, because even fairly evil and corrupt souls were bright enough to realise that since they didn’t have the concomitant body and nerve endings attached to them there was no real reason, other than force of habit, why they should suffer excruciating agony. So they didn’t.
(Eric - Terry Pratchett)
Thanks for telling your story. It brought to mind my experience in a Seventh day Adventist boarding academy.
I went to a SDA college (transfer student from community college) and made a lot of friends from there. Would love to hear your story!
@@Tealyz
It wasn't positive. I left and went to public school. Within a couple weeks I found myself thinking how much nicer the kids were in public school.
Are you still a vegetarian? I had a friend who was SDA and I went to church with her a few times. What I remember most is all the singing, the vegetarian food and the fact that there wasn't any wine at communion. That was weird since we were in Jr. High and I was Catholic at the time.
@@CandeeDragon
I'm not a vegetarian but I feel that way a good part of the religion. I still eat mostly basic whole foods
You don’t owe forgiveness to anybody.
I imagine with time, you’ll be able to feel into the fact that he was a brainwashed child and not somebody with agency, and that could take some weight off your shoulders. But you don’t owe him anything.
Suggestion: do NOT play a game while you talk. You are sufficient. The game is just distracting.
He has done it for years. I believe it helps him to concentrate, you’ll get used to it.
I got disfellowship years ago and i just can't get over it i must have a mental problem
Thanks for sharing. Take care man
I got kicked out at 17 for running off with a married elder. We holed up in a cheap hotel with gallons of cheap vodka and when the sun rose we were both disfellowshipped. I crawled back and begged forgiveness. They let me back in but the sisters” never trusted me around their husbands or anywhere else so I left voluntarily.
Owen, your honest sharing is compelling. Thank you for sharing your experience. ❤
can they actually disfellowship you over being a smoker?
@dozer1323 Pretty much yeah. JWs are against drinking, smoking, and doing drugs.
Cults can and often do apply punishments arbitrarily.
Yeah, and for holding hands before marriage.
@@chandlersleziak6416 I understand drugs and drinking but cigarettes?
@@dozer1323
"Well, you certainly did the tango outside of marriage, drank way too much alcohol and crashed the church's car into the Kingdom Hall... which then burned down from the gas tank exploding... but all is forgiven and... sniff sniff... what's that smell?"
"The joint I had before I threw it on the fire?"
"No, not that. That's fine. We forgive you. That other smell... is that tobacco?"
"Yes?"
"There is no forgiveness for that, begone!"
Perhaps you should send him a nice bottle of whiskey. 😂
You have no obligation to forgive anyone who doesn’t genuinely ask for it. You’re also not obligated to forgive someone who did you grievous harm. That’s not my Catholic past speaking, that’s my years of therapy and coming to terms with a childhood filled with abuse (emotional and physical), bullying, and my own parents’ untreated mental health issues.
I was screwed over in a Fandom, Anime mostly. Glad it wasn't a religion, I want to say, some of the people Anime Community are like a cult. I would call it that and it sucks too. I was pretty sure it was meant to happen and I left the fandom and it was better that I did and I now work for conventions now as staff. I love that part of my life.
Being used sucks, Owen, I know how it feels to be used for stuff. I was upset when I was ripped off and I won't see that money back. Oh well...glad our lives turned out better. You have a TH-cam Channel with followers
Why would you say you are glad it wasn't a religion? It being a "fandom" is waaay more ridiculous. Even more ridiculous than the silly cartoons you watch.
The girlfriend probably told on you that you
Were smoking
I'm sorry to hear about the girl you loved in school your first love. That's a bummer man.😞 that had to hurt.
Goddamn. I was just a regular ambiguous christian and definitely some differences but I super relate man. Sorry you had to go through all that. If nothing else, your current affect of schepticism and willingness to call things out inspires me and I'm glad with how you turned out.
Morgan, there is an ocean of bitterness behind this video. I hope that getting this off your chest helps you put it behind you. These sorts of memories are nothing less than acid for the human soul. Please do not let it burn more of you away than it already has.
Honestly the see her sister again in heaven makes me pretty sure she's more Christian than JW. I was raised in end times Christianity and that sounds uncontrollably furmiliar.
I’m thinking when I watched that kid shake about things that happen to people just by thinking it’s going to happen to them like when someone thinks they’re going to be sick, like the power of suggestion.
Watchtower is DANGEROUS RIP Raymond Franz
Will there be an audio version? I have such bad ADHD that I can only listen to books.
Respect to you for letting it all out
I just found this channel but after watching some of your videos explains why all jw i knew suddenly stopped containing me and even avoid me lucky i never joined the officially
Thank you for sharing that. I have a lot of respect for you now, not that it was ever low. This was thought provoking.
5:20-6:00 My left ear loved that.
That's like being on probation without actually being on probation. Can't understand why anyone would knowingly join such a pretentious cult like that.
Cults have a habit of targeting people in a vulnerable state, like after a loss or breakup, or a woman with empty nest syndrome.
Man, rather than give you the support you needed, they just booted you out? Oof. :(
Thanks for sharing your story. ❤❤❤
Excited about your book, been waiting. Btw, will it be on Amazon??
The obsession of being disfellowshiped, I just cant get over it
The world is a better place with you out here with us.
What business is it of these so-called elders who you went out with, and who gives a zark if they kicked you out of their idiotic cult?
and drink. Heck man, lifes hard at times.
Your story sounds so much like some of what I went through, but in a different denomination. A lot of why I don't believe any of it anymore. I was one of those kids that asked questions about the stories in the Bible, how so.e things happened or didn't.
Thanks
Thanks for sharing. I would have been just as happy to see you talk, but I had to put you down and listen from a distance because of the game playing in the background. It took away from the sincerity. But I'll continue to listen (not watch) and give my thumbs up.
Hey man, I feel you. I was disfellowshipped because of watching porn, and my mom is the one who turned me into the elders. I was 20.
My Aunt was a JW, and was a control freak, nobody else in our family even knew what JW was, but she let us know we better convert to be a JW or we are condemned forever. I am a Christian, and I know you have to walk that walk by yourself, it's between you and the Lord, nobody can push or pull you to follow Christ, it is by freewill only.
Proud of you man. Mormonisn and other high control religions *cough* cults have people doing all sorts of shot like what happened to you. Keep doing you beat man, I am glad to hear your story. Have fun with Pokémon!
This is the lengths that they're willing to go to for one teenager?
Consider yourself lucky .....that dude did you a favor.
We have to break the repetitive cicle and try stoping all type all mind control and be ourselves
I hope you requested a second witness
Something to note is that Avery was under no obligation to reach out to you and apologize. What he did by snitching on you was horrible, but not everyone would go out of their way to say sorry. I think that's worthy of respect. That being said, I'm not telling you how to feel about it.
I don’t think anyone but the Watchtower should be blamed here. Highschoolers are gonna do shitty things, especially in their romantic relationships, but they’ll have the opportunity to grow out of it. Shunning a teen for using drugs or having premarital sex will only make things worse, as evidenced by your situation
Continue exposing Jehovah's Witnesses' cult, make it known
Does Owen not know his audio broke about a third of the way in?
Holding hands!! OMFG!! Shame on you!
Really, how are people _not_ begging to be disfellowshipped from this place? I think my feet would be burning if I ever stepped on a JW property.
I too was thrown under the bus if you will, actually, I want to thank this person for being just the push I needed to fully wake up. JWs dfing me was the last push I needed to fully awake.
Religious zealotry is a horror.
Yeah happened to me 💔
People that lash out at you are actually lashes themselves, because they feel inferior. Sometimes that's even covered up by a Superiority complex, or looks like one, but not for a second is it because he felt better than you. Especially when he left the Organization, you can tell he was going through his own h___ on earth.
My mothers whole family are witnesses ( she wasn't in the religion while i was growing up because she was an addict and didn't end up going back till a couple years ago when i was a teenager ) and all the jehovas witnesses i know refuse to call it shunning
Avery could have been a jehovah closet case
I think a lot of people have been "used" by a high school love interest. For a car and to get out. Or for homecoming or whatever.
As for that dude... He was just being a good JW and doing his duty. Sounds like he has matured out of that and feels remorse.
lol those editor notes xD