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Archeology proves the bigle is fact! I had some hope for the Young man in your linked video until I realized he had been misled by new age scientology. Archeology has absolutely Proven Biblical Scripture. The ark of the Covenant has been found. Noah's ark has been found. The split rock in the desert can be seen on Google Earth. Pharaoh Ramses golden Chariot wheel has been found on the floor of the Red Sea. Giant skeletons have been found on every continent. The dragons and biblical sea creatures are now called dinosaurs. The terms of Moses and his wife have been found near the village of 8 in Turkey below the Ararat Mountains. After the dead sea scrolls were found, the bronze sea scrolls were found in bronze pots.
Omg, I've been following your channel for quite a while, and now I see you collaborate with Alyssa! Love your videos! :D. I've been listening to your Sofia/Caleb animations reviews while playing Minecraft
There are pictures going around online of this thing that happened where everybody in a junior high school wore costumes for Halloween but this one Jehovah's Witness kid wasn't allowed to. So all of his friends dressed up black suits and sunglasses with earpieces and pretended to be the Secret Service and they surrounded him and he got to be the President. It's one of the sweetest things I've ever seen on the internet. I'm a Gen Xer and I can't imagine my peers being so kind to another kid at that age; we were all jerks and I feel terrible about it now. It's only later that I thought about it and I thought maybe his parents were mad that he was involved in this and maybe he got punished later. Then I imagined that no matter what the punishment was, he probably had one of the best days of his life and there's nothing that his parents were going to do to him to take that away from him. The power of being a decent human being against religion
Exactly. He got to experience what it was like to just be special for one day. I always feel so bad they don't get bdays or Christmas because it's not really the gifts that make them special-its that feeling
@@FIRING_BLINDit’s the feeling that you matter and people care, it can be very hard to get that in extremely religious households. I was raised with a Baptist dad and Catholic mom, both CEOs in Christian terms (Christmas + Easter only) but heavily forced their beliefs on me in fundamental ways. Due to this holidays and birthdays were the best days because they’d actually pay attention to me 😅 made the fact the only happy birthday I got on my 18th being my dad that much worse.. when I try to talk about it people assume I’m being vain or materialistic but really I couldn’t care less about receiving gifts I just wanted to feel loved 😭
as a kid, my parents told my teacher that I was a Jehovah’s Witness and not to celebrate any holidays with me in school. My teacher had given me candy or some thing one day and you know, religious guilt, so when asked I admitted I had had some candy. And they got so mad at me and the teacher. Also, one time I was singing Frosty the Snowman to myself, and I got in trouble for that because apparently that was celebrating Christmas.
Deep down JWs LOVE Halloween. It's the holiday where on Halloween Night, the hardcore JWs turn all their home lights off, get deathly quiet and cower under furniture to hide from the demons, other paranormal entities and trick or treating children (Note: the last group is the only one that actually exists.). I can't imagine any other group of people that observe Halloween in its true, original spirit (pun intended) as fervently as JWs: I am almost jealous because Halloween is absolutely my favorite holiday.
I used to work in the pediatric ICU. When JW kids needed blood transfusions, the parents gave up rights to their kid so that a foster/ medical caregiver would allow a blood transfusion.
When I was in my late 20s I had a work friend that was a JW and her 7 yr old nephew died. My daughter was the same age so that hit me hard at the time. I then found out that the child had needed a transfusion and the parents refused based on religious reasons. Obviously I thought that was outrageous but this woman told me they believed that if God wanted him to live he'd live and if not he wouldn't. I ended up getting a new job shortly after that at another company and lost touch with her. I could never look at her the same way. I went to the wake and funeral and the parents were crying but just very convicted that God had made the decision, not them. Mind boggling to me. Now I live in a very Amish area and they have messed up attitudes with medical stuff, particularly with babies born with disabilities. There is a family less than a mile away and they had a baby born with DS and the often associated cardiac issues. They were told the baby needed heart surgery which they declined. Another woman I know very well, the aunt of the baby flat out said, no use spending all that money keeping her alive when she would grow up not being able to help out, marry and have kids. Fortunately another non Amish person who knew the baby's parents well had reported them and the state removed the baby, she had surgery, was in foster care after being released. She spent a year with that foster family but was ultimately returned home. CPS is obviously involved and apparently, from what I've heard from the aunt the now 3 yr old little girl is doing well, receiving appropriate medical care and isn't severely impaired. They have 8 other older children and now another younger child. I just don't think the rest of us can even begin to understand these types of belief systems or decisions, especially when it comes to children.
I was raised a JW and those parents basically cheated their own religious systems, by giving up their rights to the kids for them to get blood transfusion. They don't want to mess up their chance to live in a paradise Earth.
In Florida, parents get given to choice of appointing a health care surrogate for the child needing transfusions or the state will approve the transfusion through DCF, but the parents don’t lose rights to their children.
As an Ex-JW, who was raised in the cult, I have eaten up ex-Mormon information/content on TH-cam. It’s a way to find people who have somewhat of a parallel experience but not necessarily get into the nitty gritty of my experience.
Same. I'm also an ex-jw. In many ways, it's easier for me to consume content from ex-mormons, ex-fundamentalist baptist, etc. We all have had very similar experiences, but it's often more painful for me to consume ex-jw content. It's a bit too close.
Same but with the Unification Church! Even though I have left a couple years ago, this helps me process what I have experienced and clears up my thoughts and stance on things. Also makes me feel less weird to see that many people have gone through similar things.❤🩹
Hi Alyssa I’m a 23 year old hispanic woman who grew up in a very Mormon region of Arizona and I was wondering if you could some day cover all the ways in which mormonism negatively affects way more people than just mormons. I know the discourse obviously mostly focuses on exmo experience but wow, could I go on and on about all the ways simply living in a mormon area and going to schools with high mormon populations negatively affected me and my friends/family in unimaginable of ways such as beauty standards, forced modesty (in 100 degree arizona weather woohoo), racism, homophobia, etc. without even being part of the darn religion! If you need someone to interview, I’m just your average 23 year old girl but I would love to give a direct testament to everything I’ve said. Anyways awesome video as always 💞💞
@@RogerPack I’m confused by your comment, are you an ex-mo validating my experience or are you part of the problem by excusing everything mentioned with “we’re not perfect” ?
I'm proud to say I'm 8 weeks from 18 and will be leaving the jw religion as soon as I'm able! Thank you both for these videos, they give me the comfort of knowing that I'm going to be ok and I'm not alone
@@dzxn3728you can but it’s more complicated as you are still tied to your family and their beliefs. I left jw when I was 16 and it was horrible. I had to confess my ‘sins’ and show that I was not remorseful.
@mar-nyan I was once approached by Mormon missionaries in Warsaw and they were super bubbly and... well, American 😂 they were probably Polish-American on a mission cause they spoke Polish. I was very Catholic at the time so of course I wanted to talk to them about Jesus! 😂 My sister pulled me away like from a fire and said "it's a sect!"
“You can’t live for your parents forever.” This really hits. I always felt guilty for having to shame others solely because they believed a different religion, were lgbt, had consensual safe intercourse before marriage, etc. Now I’m nondenominational, very out now as a queer person, respect other religions that are not inherently predatory, and hold a few other polarizing beliefs that keep my family from being as close to me as they once were. Yet now I have more peace and joy than I ever could when those beliefs were reinforced, and it has allowed me to form wonderful relationships and learn so much from those who I thought I never could be seen with.
As a former nondenominational Evangelical adjacent.... thank you for existing in those spaces. And of course, you create your own family. Hella wish I had people like you in my church growing up.
I agree, it’s really interesting to hear the conversation and experiences. And I really like the way both speak, very calm, good at explaining things but also a nice sense of humour 🙂
I think every religion and every atheist group too is rooted in narcissism. We are the best. Only our group is right. No one can love you like we can. You are worthless without us. Worship or you will be punished. Religious people say the exact things malignant narcissists say.
My daughter married an ex-JW. It was so great getting to experience his 1st Christmas. Our family has many traditions with the day, and I think he was overwhelmed and also sad that he missed out his whole life. He also started growing a beard soon after I first met him. I didn't realize how telling that was until this video.
I just want you to know this made me smile. We’ve been celebrating Christmas for several years, but it feels disconnected to me. I felt Christmas magic for the first time last year because my sister in law made Christmas magic for me. Thanks for doing that for your son in law, it’s almost impossible to describe the feelings that go with these firsts after leaving.
I’ve been dating an ex-JW for almost 2 years and he just now somewhat became comfortable participating in Halloween but says that pictures can’t get back to his family. I’m not hugely interested in holidays so that part doesn’t bother me as much, but pretending that his birthday is just like any other day is kinda difficult.
As a retired teacher, I worked with many JW families. It was terribly hard on the little ones when holidays and special days rolled around. Their mothers would always say, “Oh, he understands why we don’t celebrate and it’s not a problem.” But ask the five year old why they don’t celebrate, they would say, “My mommy doesn’t like it.” Halloween was especially difficult because they were not allowed to even get dressed up. By the time they hit about third grade, they knew enough to simply not tell their parents about that craft or activity. They would toss it in the trash as they left that day. Poor kids… And we, as teachers, were faced with the choice of denying the whole class the chance to participate, or come up with an extra equivalent activity for that one child.
I live in a predominantly catholic country and halloween is a big no no here too, only all saints day is allowed to be celebrated by the church, for the past 3 years i experience what i didnt as a kid, going to bars in a costume every halloween w my friends, as a child i only watched american halloween classics (movies) and envied the characters
I think it's incredibly hard in general not to be mainstream. The constitution protects the right to worship as you wish, but schools force their own beliefs on children, making JWs feel bad for not being like everyone else.
Ex- Morman TH-camrs are the reason i was able to unpack my religious trauma and deconstruct from being raised a JW without having to look at “apostate” literature before I was ready. It was really helpful honestly
Just a tip in case your analytics show people ditching part way through: When you ask your guest where people can find them quite a bit into the interview, it sounds like you're about to wrap up. People who are listening while doing other things might pop back to the window to click onto the next thing when they start to hear that.
This is really great feedback! I wanted to share his channel multiple times but I can see how the wording was confusing. A lesson learned for my next interview, thank you! Edit: I've removed this small portion to make it less confusing to viewers!
I used to feel so sorry the Jehovah’s Witness kids I went to school with. They’d leave the room when we sang happy birthday to classmates, leave the room for the Pledge of Allegiance, and every once in a while they’d appear at our front door, inappropriately dressed up, wanting to give us The Watchtower. I had a great-uncle who was JW until he needed a blood transfusion, upon which he returned to the Baptist church in lieu of dying.
I grew up in the JW faith then was the father of four daughters I raised in the faith until we left as a family in 2007. The experience will vary. I was strong believer as a kid and took great pride in my JW stance. I grew up in Canada, so no saying the pledge, but there was still school activity I could not join in. An attentive parent can help, by both preparing their child and teachers how to accommodate their beliefs. But, yes, without a doubt, some children will find growing up in the faith painful. One of the things we did is tell our daughters they could order something from the Christmas Wishbook catalog as soon as it came. This was one of our ways of buffering the sting of no-Christmas. Most JWs will not equate refusing blood as making a choice to die. Most of the JW material on the subject will stress the dangers of transfusing blood and the advantages of "non-blood medical management." My oldest daughter is a labor and delivery nurse and my third daughter has worked as patient care tech. Both of them have told me, that there are cases, that blood was clearly life-saving. In my own personal life I refused blood on two occasions. I also had a hard time letting go of the "blood is bad medicine" even after leaving the faith. Donating blood for the first time was big step for me.
Sorry for your ingle, but it's funny that switching religion for survival is basically an argument for Darwin's theory that the ultimate goal of life is to survive.
sounds very dumb, and the act of the exclusion of Christian holidays or even things like happy birthday is to separate the religion and there’s this idea that the stricter a religion is or more sacrifices it requires, the stronger the conviction and piety of the members will be
That's such a dumb rule. That's not what the Bible meant in the Pentateuch when it says "don't spill blood." Its such an unnecessary danger to their followers
I follow both of you - I’m an ex JW and it’s a first time when I finally see Panda’s face - such a handsome guy! Thank you for your great sense of humour! I also binged watched Alyssa’s videos in the last couple of weeks - thank you for your service, girl !
I’m a new panda fan. I’m an ex Mormon I’ve been learning from him because I’ve been curious. I really like this channel so far, but I didn’t expect them to be so attractive. I don’t know what I was expecting him to look like. I’m very happy he looks like that though.
As a theologian, this is a fascinating comparison of religions. I only remember one kid in all my schooling that was JW and wouldn't stand for the pledge. We never made him feel "left out" in any conscious way. Thought it was a bit odd not to celebrate the birth and death of Jesus, but I've heard of stranger "Christian" things. Thank you for this, Alyssa & Panda!
not standing for the pledge is also an ideological choice against fascism and authoritarianism. i stopped standing for the pledge in high school and my band director wanted to send me to the principal's office over it. forcing children to pledge their undying allegiance to their country "under god" is a form of propaganda and indoctrination. i have many friends in different countries. many of them expressed disbelief and concern when i told them about the pledge of allegiance. it is often compared to nazi germany.
When you look into their reasons it’s not that weird. I googled it and it says they don’t like these holidays because many of them have traditions rooted in paganism (which is true), and also that the dates may not be accurate (possibly also true)
JWs don't believe Christmas is the birth of Jesus, which historically it isn't. It's a pagan holiday. Even scientists and historians know that. They also do celebrate the death of Jesus, and it's probably the only holiday they celebrate.
Thank you for this Alyssa I’m currently a practicing JW because of fear of not being able to see my family if I leave. Stumbling upon your channel and experiences with Mormonism made me question my own faith and see the similarities 😭 I now know that true life is one where we can choose who we want to be 😊Thank you Alyssa, love your channel keep it up girl 😍
We will never blame you for doing what is best for your if it isn’t a good outcome to leave right now that you can’t handle, that is okay. We will be there when and if you ever feel you can
I hope you find a way to leave the religion, if that is what you want 💚 It may be scary and take time before you feel able to do so, and that is okay because everyone has their own timing, but remember that you are stronger than you think you are and any difficult times are just temporary. You are strong enough to build the life you want for yourself 💚
As someone who do not see much of my family and I live very far from them. They live in different continents. It’s fine. Make friends you choose instead. Trust me it’s just as fulfilling but first you need to be happy to your own person.
When I was in a rehabilitation place, the Jehovah's Witnesses tried teaching me. I was so vulnerable because I had just left the LDS church. I had to have a nurse tell them to stop visiting me. I did really like their magazines though. The only thing they said that made sense was that the Bible wasn't added onto.
@michellesunshinestar - the magazines they (JWs) gave you, in your very hand, are ‘added onto the bible’. Can you not see the contradiction.? I was in that cult for several decades. There are (were) hundreds of books they study (studied), the majority of which are obsolete and deleted. This is an entire canon - a huge library of over a thousand books - of *the bible being added to.* In fly fishing they use a number of different fishing weights. Tiny wee (formerly lead) weights with the weight stamped on them. The try each weight until they get a bite on the line from a fish. The reason for this is because fish naturally sit where the oxygen levels are at the highest, the fisherman cannot see oxygen, so tries different weights until they get the right one and repeatedly catches what they set out for. JWs are brainwashed to say they do not add to the bible while leaving you a Watchtower or a ‘special campaign’ (limited run) brochure. This is to make it exclusive/ exceptionally unique for the Jehovah’s Witness placing the magazine, before they default back to the regular Watchtower magazine. This is the convey of authenticity - not truth. One can be convinced to be convinced that what they expound is truth - without it actually being true. * If one leaves a cult and perhaps finds genuine truth, they have consternation as their reference reception for processing authenticity authentically has been profoundly screwed around with. it is not always overly hard leaving a cult. For many it is close to impossible to resignature what the internal coordinates for what authenticity is, like changing your blood type by thinking. * hundreds of years ago, people used to smear excrement on an open wound or gash on the skin for to stop infection getting in. They had the concept right but the substance very very wrong.
@@De5O54 well, one thing is for certain. You have not lost your flare for use of illustrations. That’s one thing they do get right. They teach us how to explain and they teach us how to, well, teach. These skills have served me well in my day-to-day job. they tend to be most disappointed that I don’t use them to bring other people into the organization.
Oh they definitely add to it, take away and change words. It’s basically the only translation that does this and biblical scholars criticize the dishonest in their translation. You can look up all the alterations of their Bible compared to other translations and they will flat out add a word or change a word to fit their doctrines. Ironically their translators are anonymous, if you look at any Bible it lists all the translators and their credentials most having doctorates in theology, the JW Bible does not because they are incompetent in the Greek but disguise their anonymity as “humility”. They are master deceivers
As an exJW who's currently reading your book and finding it very helpful, even 3 years after leaving the organization, I really appreciate this interview
I love that you have to specify that the JW art is not generated by AI. It reminds me of the South Park episode about S*****ology where they flash "THIS IS WHAT THEY ACTUALLY BELIEVE"
@@annina134 Probably because that cult is notorious for persecuting those who speak truth about it. Not that i think they'll bother with a random youtube commentator, but I suspect that's the general reason for the asterisks.
A buddy of mine was raised JW and I was raised Seventh Day Adventist. When he was a little kid at school, we both couldn’t eat the donuts our classmates brought to celebrate their birthday. I couldn’t eat it because the donuts were fried in lard and he couldn’t eat it because it was for a birthday. Ah, religion-making things unnecessarily weird since forever.
@@anna-jz5mj What a bummer! There were definitely other families at church who didn’t let their kids read Harry Potter. Even as a child, I found it wildly hypocritical because their shelves were filled with Disney movies.
Christians and entertainment media... Church convinced my dad cable was evil, radio was evil, CDs tapes records...all evil if they're not a gospel choir. If it's not actively shoving propaganda at you, it's because "they hate Jesus" (I'm serious, after commenting on how bad The Hosannah Choir all-day-every-day was he replied with "Why do you hate Jesus?!??")
Many years ago when I was a Mormon missionary we relished getting into arguments with Jehovah Witnesses. They were tough! I've been out of Mormonism more than 30 years, by the way.
I was part of The Way International and used to see both JWs and Mormons while we were out witnessing and going door to door. Always interesting to have discussions with them. Some of our beliefs were similar to both.
When folks ask me about what to say to a JW I suggest lead with kindness. Let the JW tell you about what the faith means to them. I would now approach an LDS missionary the same way. As ExJWPanda mentions just seeing kindness of Buddhist in Thailand made him consider his own faith. Besides that I recommend turning down offers of a free Bible study and JW literature. Both are designed to indoctrinate. However, they also get in the way of conversing with the individual. In terms of theology it is important to keep in mind "Jehovah" not "Jesus" is top-of-mind for the JW. It is "Jehovah" that will do this or that. It is something many of us ExJW really see clearly only after leaving the faith and looking at Christianity more broadly. Kind regards, -Randy
I remember that when i was a teenager 2 mórmon missionáries rang to my door. As i was raised to respect and welcome those from other faiths i invited them in. And there we were sitting in a cosy sofa. They told me they were mormons (which i already knew) and i shared that as a devout Catholic. So i belonged to my parish Youth group. And then... Then that enthusiastic Young man said to me: "Can we go to your church and to your youth group to talk about our faith?". I literally Froze in disbelieve and was unable to Say a word! I felt it was so disrespectfull that proposition. What would have he feel if a missionary of another religious confession tried to convert other people inside a mórmon temple?! That was proselitism!! Or if you prefer: just a lack of Basic good manners!!
This was incredible. I was raised JW, but only as a study kid. I had a lady that came to my house for like 10 years. Poor lady as soon as I turned 16 it was all over, but I have carried the teachings and it has helped make better decisions but also has made me carry unnecessary guilt.
Even though I’m still spiritual, I really resonate with the idea that no one really knows what happens after we die. I live life one day at a time and enjoy every second.
This was so interesting. I was raised JW. I’m 69 years old and physically have been out since I was 22 and mentally/totally out at 38. I follow a number of XJW and X Mormon channels. This has been the best side by side comparison of the two I’ve heard. Thank you both for doing this.
Alyssa, I've noticed soon after you started doing pieces here that the Mormon church has purchased ads right after. Like with your shorts many times there's something about the Mormon church or the book of Mormon etc. Here I am, 10 minutes into your interview, and there's already a Book of Mormon ad. I find it funny that they're worried about what you're doing it's great. GOOD JOB.
Ad placement is by algorithm. Sponsors seldom have a say in where exactly their ads are placed. If you express interest in religion, you'll get religious advertising. If you narrow your interest, you will get more targeted ads. Since you have logged into TH-cam, the algorithm keeps a list of your interests associated to your account.
@@tpkyterooluebeck9224 Ad money is certainly wasted on ME since I'm already a member of the church. It is also wasted on apostates that have made a choice to do something else. Where it is not wasted is on people that are curious and wish to know more, but suspect they are getting an adversarial and thus tainted point of view.
A few years ago I was canvassing for an election... and knocked on the door of a jehovas witness. Felt like a role reversal. He told me they're not allowed to vote (which I found utterly baffling).
I had a friend recently convert and become a JW for her husband and i've been nervously checking her friends list to see if I stay in the loop because she has unfriended and cut ties with our mutual friend for getting involved in politics. it's wild
Hi! 😊 I'm from Argentina and my mom is an inactive JW, she still believes in it even though she hasn't been to a meeting in almost 20 years, but every time you ask her about her faith/JW she defends it with her heart. As a child, I never went to jw's "church" because she left before she had me, but my brothers, who grew up when she was deeply immersed in religion, talk about how boring the meetings were and the things my mom banned (like certain cartoons that were "evil"). This whole thing is crazy to me because she's never been that strict and she's certainly never been really holy, so the way she defends a religion that goes against her way of life, even years after leaving, is really revealing for me about the brainwashing that exists in this type of religions.
Saludos! Cognitive dissonance is a bizarre but common phenomenon in the JW cult. People can leave, not live according to the things they were taught, but still have the beliefs deeply ingrained in their subconscious. What you’re describing is basically a secret mental “gear” they can shift into where they will unquestioningly defend the doctrine and lose all critical thinking ability, but usually just about the religious stuff. Otherwise, they’ll behave pretty normally. It brings all kinds of guilt and shame, usually, and is very sad. You really have to genuinely want to be honest with yourself to get past a lot of this stuff. Counseling can be very helpful, along with intense introspection. I wish your mom all the best and hope she can break completely free from that mental prison soon! ❤️
When I was a committed Methodist, we were visited quite regularly by a pair of Jehovah's Witness missionaries. I admired their commitment and egalitarianism, and we had interesting discussions about Christ, church, doctrine, and our families and hobbies.
As a practicing Jew (born and raised) I’m so glad I found these channels - so incredibly interesting - I always thought all denominations of Christianity were basically the same - nope!
After leaving the JW faith I attended a service at a synagogue in Phoenix (Congregation Beth Israel, if my memory holds). In conversations with some afterwards I was struck by the fact Hebrew Bible verses I paid little attention to were ones first cited to explain the Jewish viewpoint. I also attended Congregation NepheshSoul once or twice. They met on Saturdays in the sanctuary of Valley Unitarian Universalist where I attended. Yes, Christian groups have varied beliefs. LDS and JWs are new religious movements and by rejecting doctrine of the Trinity tend to stand apart from most older established Christian denominations.
Many denominations are the same. The outliers like JW'S, LDS, and others are based on private revelations and are much different in their beliefs about JESUS.
It is interesting to learn what others believe and their practices, isn't it? I'm a basic christian, almost multi-denominational, it seems. I didn't know how different JW & LDS were from the churches I'd been to, which were many. Interesting.
I've had Mormons knock on my door, and I've had JW's knock on my door. The Mormons, for all the wackiness, were always a joy to talk to once I made it clear I didn't want to join the church. Really pleasant people. I never was able to get to that point with the JW's, because there's no acceptance of "I don't want to join your church".
I had an aunt who had the best way to deal with missionaries in general. She was just about to get into the shower when she heard the doorbell. She put a robe on and greated the missionaries. They asked to come in and discuss religion. She looked at them and said "I am a devote nudist. If you want to come in, you have to undress." Needless to say, the missionaries just said no thanks and walked off. She was asked what would have happened if the missionaries would have undressed. She said that they would have had a discussion on religion naked. It was awesome
Thank you for maintaining rhia channel. I left a high control religion (southern baptist) a few years ago and the process has been so isolating. Im glad you two have made it out and are speaking your truth
I just bought your book I am so excited to read it I am so happy that there is a book like this to help after you have left the Mormon church thanks so much ❤
I had a JW classmate for a while... I'm a trans girl, yet, she didn't seem to be bothered by that at all nor did she try to convert me, by any means. Maybe she assumed I would never convert. Once I asked her why don't they celebrate birthdays and all and she was surprised like "I mean, do you wanna know for real?" as if I wouldn't be interested in listening to their POV on the matter. She never tried to become any closer than a classmate (like a proper friend not only at school) but as a classmate, she was kind of a good friend. We talked frequently and all and she was nice. Maybe that's the exception not the rule then? Idk
I'm an exJW, once hardcore, and I had plenty of friends that were not JWs. However, that is the exception not the rule. JWs are taught that everyone is imperfect, so there's no sense in judging another person (unless of course you become a baptized member). JWs are also more selective in their preaching, especially when off-hours.
Recovering Catholic here- born and raised, went to Catholic elementary school, choir....it's so true that MOST Catholics don't study their Bibles. My grandmother is 92 and has NO IDEA why she does anything she does. No questioning was allowed for such a long time. There are also different denominations of Catholicism and in 1955 when my grandparents were married my grandmother's family was Roman Catholic while my grandfather's family was Polish National. Their respective families did not attend their wedding and they could not be married on the altar because of the so called differences- which really were just that one group separated from the Pope. There does seem to be a new type of Catholic (a good friend of mine who is like a second mom) who goes to Bible study every week. Interestingly though, the "study" is more about using the Bible to confirm Catholic doctrine more than ask questions and decipher meaning and truth from the text. Alyssa- I'm so grateful for these videos. And thanks to Panda as well! I love studying religions and cults and spiritual belief systems. Having information and tools to communicate with people in the church is so helpful. Being kind and loving goes so much farther than trying to convert people. Sending you so much gratitude and love!
I watched several of your videos yesterday and other documentaries about leaving the church (out of curiosity about this religion) So, 30mins ago, guess who randomly knocked on my door? Yep. Was it a coincidence or Is it possible that I was suggested to them based on my internet search? 👀🤷🏻♀️
I'm so excited to learn more about the differences and similarities between these two religions. I'm quote interested in this type of stuff. And I also love all of your videos!
Omg, I was not prepared to see Panda on your channel. Thank you both for this collaboration. I'm an ex-JW and I have been diving into the subject that you are discussing here. 🤗😊
I was raised SDA too :) I’ll give Adventists this-a fundamental belief is that all Christian faiths are part of God’s church. I endured many a sermon that strongly admonished any Adventist from believing SDA is superior to another Christian denomination.
I asked about the no windows in the Kingdom Hall. I was given a very practical answer. The hall is typically built by regular everyday community and congregation members. Most of us are not skilled in construction. Building a wall with a window is much more difficult than a solid wall. So it's more efficient and practical to skip the windows. The buildings go up quickly.
Not the entire truth. It helps to prevent distractions from outside for they would never consider stained or decorative glass. All of what they do has a mind control objective behind it. Check out JW history.
@@pinkefuchs I have attended meetings at Kingdom Halls with windows and ones without. This was in Canada and the United States. In my experience many JWs are in the trades. This makes sense since attending college and university, while not forbidden, is discouraged. So skills to build & maintain Kingdom Halls can often be provided by JWs themselves. I see the windows vs no-windows as a cultural thing on both sides. That is many religious folks see things like stained glass windows or ornate aspects of their churches, temples and cathedrals as having special meaning. A reflect of God's glory perhaps. Thus seeing most Kingdom Halls without windows makes them wonder if there is some special meaning to that. That not having windows is a requirement or that they don't want folks to see inside a Kingdom Hall. The real cultural meaning is more tied up in JWs wanting to stand apart from nominal Christianity and other religions. A Kingdom Hall, even by name, shall not be considered a "church." Indeed JWs avoid saying "church." The JW doesn't "go to church" but rather "attends the meetings." The follow up is that Kingdom Hall design follows the practical, in terms of construction, cost and maintenance. Because JWs have a strong hierarchical of authority, local JWs will not usually have much say in the design. A limited number of pre-approved designed are presented and construction goes from there.
@@OhRiverFreedom Not at all. It's financial. Lot's of people don't like JW's and they kept breaking the windows. When I was a kid I helped my father replace or brick up broken windows quite often. In most other parts of the world, they still have windows.
Anyone can of course visit a JW "Kingdom Hall" if they want to see for themselves how much "mind control" there is. Some people claim that the meetings are boring so maybe they try to bore you to control your brain? Who knows. Anyway I have visited some halls in Europe where I lived due to my work and they had windows. Some were just rented meeting spaces in regular office buildings and such places typically had windows because the office building had windows. The halls I visited in USA have not had windows tho, as far as I can remember.
As someone who grew up Catholic (but I don't really believe anymore), it blows my mind that other religions think that Catholics workship false idols. That was something that I remember getting taught not to do, but never thought that what I was doing was that. Great video and super interesting for a religion-nut like me! (And yes, can confirm that while I owned a Bible, and still do, I've never read it nor have my parents who are still practicing Catholics 😅)
As Jim Gaffigan says, "I don't read the Bible, because I don't have to, because I'm Catholic." I grew up Catholic (still consider myself "culturally" Catholic). We don't read the Bible like other Christian denominations. We recognize that while the Bible is true, only some of it actually happened.
You saved your self from reading a lot of Horror stories ,Enjoy your life the world is full of good Christians and Catholics who don't read the bible, Jesus said to follow him, that's probably a good thing, never seen a picture of Jesus carrying a bible! Has anyone?apart from that it was very helpful to see these young people with the right skills to help others understand what is important in their lives 🎉***
I was raised baptist. When I heard of Catholics praying to Mary and different Saints, I immediately thought of false idol worship. I found it so weird! And then confessing to a preist when you can just pray to god was also very odd to me. Funny how we are so quick to see the flaws in other religions but don't see the ones in our own... at least for a while.
Babpitst read the bible but only a small few parts of it that sound the nicest for what they want. You don't really read it all the way through in church anyway. To read it all the way would be something on your own time. Oddly enough, trying to read it all the way through is what made me see it as a lie. Probably why they just start and stop at the nice jesus stories and tithes lol
Wow this is a collab I was not expecting, I just recently started watching both of you guys! I also grew up a hispanic JW but have been fascinated by the Mormon religion recently. Keep up the good work Alyssa and Panda!
Interesting about the no sports on Sundays. I grew up Adventist (SDA), another cult that arose in the US around the same time as LDS. We couldn’t do anything sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. So all organized sports were out. I wanted to run cross country SO BADLY, but all meets were on “sabbath,” so not allowed. No fun at all for half the weekend, no homework, studying, anything useful. I hated it. Half my weekend was wasted sitting and staring at a wall in high school and uni (was forced to live at home by overbearing parent). I’m glad we all managed to free ourselves. ❤
That comes from Judaism, actually. According to Judaism you aren't allowed to do anything that could constitute any kind of "work" during Sabbath (or "Shabbat", as it is known in Hebrew), which lasts from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday (just as you described). If you're *very* strict that can include turning on the oven or flipping a light switch, which makes things incredibly complicated for very observant orthodox families. They've figured out various solutions for that, though. XD My family was never that strict, but when I was at a Jewish summer camp we did properly observe shabbat. It was... Very boring for little child me. XD
I now live in a gated community which prohibits door to door solicitation, and I kind of miss the Mormon and JW missionaries. I used to enjoy chatting with them for half an hour or more on my patio. My objective was to point out the flaws in their beliefs in the hope that they would question what they were taught - or rather not taught - about their church.
My grandfather was an active Methodist for most of his life. I always thought he was kind of preachy when he'd ask if i wanted to go to church: "it's going to be a super sermon!" I never went and he accepted that but he always asked. A year or so before he died at 92, he guiltily handed me a treatise he wrote for himself (dated from 10+ years before) on how through being a scientist he came to no longer believe in god. He didn't want to talk about it, he was ashamed, he never left the church, that was his entire social community. I just wished that he'd let me read that sooner because I always felt religion was a barrier between us. My grandmother never lost her faith but it was a very private thing for her so I never felt any pressure from her. It was very strange to read that document by my grandfather.
Alyssa, i am from Portugal, Southern Europe. A few days ago, 2 male mormon missionaries approchead me on the street. Apparently, they wanted to pet my sweet dog! I started talking about dogs (but i wonder when would they start talking about their faith and how would i say "No" to it in a very polite, delicate way in order no to make them fell bad withthemselves. I told them i was a former devout Catholic but that i was mentally exausted and didn't want to talk about religion. One of the boys was apparently very friendly but since the beginning of our conversation stand back away from 2 or 3 metters! I understood that his huge personnal space was a signal of being afraid and in a deffensive mode. Why? I do not know. The other boy was in my personnal space but his leg was fidgeting. After a while, his look was away from mine, numb, and blantely spoke to me in a hostile tone of voice when i asked for his help to express myself correctly in english. There i was trying to show empathy asking them things as:" Where are you from? What will you do after returning home?" but in my chore thinking if they were only talking to me in order to prepare the ground to talk about the book of Mormon. I recall that i asked them:" Are you sleeping and eating enough?". They avoided eye contact, looked to the void and their faces became apathic. Nevertheless, they did not tried to criticize the Catholic church because at the beginning of our encounter i told them i respected their church and that all people, Christians or not, should do the same towards orther religious belives (or the lack of it). Finally, They insisted in stating that through God i could live with my mother eternally (i had told them she was not between us anymore). And they ended up by giving me a little book. I kept out of respect for them... But i did not read it! It a strange encounter and i hope not to see them again because mormons hate Catholics! That is very narrowminded ti say the least!! 😮
In the future, ask them about their hobbies before they came on their mission. Missionaries are usually very eager talk about pop culture because they’re not allowed to listen to music. If you ask them what their favorite video game book, etc. were, it will remind them that they were a person outside the mission. Edit: they’re literally not allowed to participate in any of their hobbies outside of religious pursuits for two years. It’s a control Tactic to strip them of their identity.
@@flutenanyidk1806 Thank you a lot!! One of the boys told me that it was nice talKing to me because it was a chance not to always adress religion. This was with the most friendly One. Oddly enough when i told them that i didn' t want to talk about religion, that instead what i needed was having friends and that i knew they could not be so because they were on a mission, he took a step black with a very scary look and saying No with his head. It was so unconfortable to me and Said to watch...
@@Spasiuka It's possible you made them uncomfortable since you spoke so much about their missionary work without being on "the inside" -- maybe you came across as someone who is specifically anti-Mormon, and so someone best to be avoided. Another thing to consider is that the missionaries are always paired up in order to be built-in reminders/spies of their religion: the "friendly one" may have realized he was being judged by (or could be judged by) the less friendly missionary and that's why he disengaged. Or perhaps he felt guilty that he was "wasting" time with you because he wanted to pet a dog and he needed to continue on because he couldn't justify "being selfish" when he had so much work to do. The less friendly missionary may've just been frightened by dogs. In the US, about one out of ten people are disgusted by or afraid of dogs, no matter the size or manners of the animal in question. His standoffishness may've been nothing to do with you personally. You gave an overworked, probably homesick, young man a nice moment as he pet your dog. It was a kindness.
i was raised in both 😵💫 JW until around 7 to 8 then mormon 9 to 11 when i finally told my mom i didnt want to go to church because i discovered im an atheist. im very grateful my mom supported me. surprisingly even being born into intense religion, my little kid brain saw issues with the teachings and kept track.
thank you for this! i've been following your content for a while & one of my close friends recently re-joined JW and cut everyone in his life off. I've been looking for answers, this was helpful
Great show. Thanks for addressing this question. Typically, I answer the door, greet whichever group's representatives are at my door and then say that I am Catholic and very happy to be so. I thank them for caring for their beliefs and it is wonderful that we can all be a part of this wild ride of life. That's usually settled most everyone. I do make sure they are hydrated and offer the restroom if they need it and that's the end of my speech. I don't want to waste their time and I have found myself in coercive situations occasionally when I invite them in to sit and cool off if they need that. But, I try to be gracious and helpful. In college as a freshman, I was halfway to joining a church but I never realized that I was giving the wrong vibes by listening politely and saying that I enjoyed talking about religion. They were quite upset that after 3 fellowship meals and the hard sell was half over that I hadn't been convinced to join them. Heck I didn't know they wanted me to join anything. But they were angry because I was already accepting their truth when they spoke it. They could feel my heart tremble with their truth or something like that. 😳😆 Ummm... No, I thought it was just flame-level crazy. But that didn't mean I wanted to stop talking to them. I wanted to watch how far out they were going to go. I'm probably the only person in history who was rejected by folks from those types of religious recruits. I'm not being coy. They weren't either of these two religions and I have no clue where they fell. They had been so oblique in references to their group that I never thought I was becomimg a promising recruit.😂 The meals were vegetarian. I grew up on a beef farm and I like meat. So, yeah, they kicked me out of conversion lessons. I like to learn everythimg I can and they did say things I hadn't heard before. I just wondered what else they were going to say. 😂
I had a Jehova's witness as a class mate. I do understand his actions better now. A quote from Glennon Doyle says, that she consideres the bible as a story that was written to motivate people to create a better world and give people hope. If the region does help you be happierer and a better person. If not, then leave. I really liked the way she said it, because she it as a story / a novel or folk telling rather than a literal description.
Fascinating conversation. I come from a non-denominational Evangelical adjacent Christian background and also have a wing of my family who are Mormon. I appreciate your dissection of theology. The JW use of "a god" to avoid trinitarianism I've never heard of. The comparison of both religions really opened my mind to how Christianity creates offshoots like crazy. Let's just say religious trauma is real.
I am exjw inactive for 40 years. I just started watching exjw videos 2 months ago. Before I did, I clicked on your underwear video. That lead me down the rabbit hole. I realize that I am not as healed as I thought so it has been good for me. Now, I have seen several panda videos.
I’m Mormon. My son was baptized when he was 14. His choice. No pressure from our family. And I thank channels like this for “sounding the alarm” about problems they experienced growing up in religious homes. It reaffirmed my views about raising a child in a home where their free will and autonomy is honored. It helped me to realize pressure can be felt even if they dont tell their parents.
i hope you can get out for the sake of yourself and your family. i know its impossible to convince someone theyve been fooled, but you have. joseph smith was a conman.
@@misfitr so what if he was? I don’t care. The guy that invented Kellogg cereal was a whack job. I’ll still eat Raisin Bran. Regardless thank you for the empathy and kind wishes for me and my family ❤️
Thank you! This conversation was so full of great information I had to listen twice, and will probably go back to listen again in the future. I Learned so much about the doctrine of these two religions that was so enlightening. Thank you!
Omg I just saw the whole thing!Panda has such a cute face!First time seeing he's face !I was so surprised and so excited and this video was so cool!Thank u guys so much for this videos!
Past experience leads me to respect the JWs more than the Mormons. I was in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe over 1978-83. It was noticeable that many poor Africans, often from Malawi, were JWs. By contrast, Mormon Missionaries were only interested in converting Europeans. I put this down to (1) racism and (2) money - a 10% tithe of an African subsistence farmer was nothing, because they had no money.
@markaxworthy2508 I wonder when the LDS church started sending missionaries to other countries. Most of my friends are active in the church and I would say at least half went to other places besides the US or Europe. I had several friends in Africa and several in Latin America. I'm younger so I'm not as familiar with when the shift happened, although I'm not surprised tbh.
@@morganmiller6284 I couldn't answer that. However, I know there were early LDS converts in the UK because I found a Mormon publication from the 1880s in a Torquay charity shop with a local dedication. I rang the nearest LDS church in Newton Abbot and offered it to them and within the day they sent somebody round for it. I have no time for Mormonism, but I don't like to see books pulped that are of value to others.
I grew up as a Roman Catholic. I gave that all up at the "Age of reason", which was about 8 years old for me. I only say this because it sort of plays into this story I'm about to tell. See I grew up in a small town and our next door neighbors , who were close family friends and community members in our small town, were Mormon. And I was very good friends with two of the kids. We grew up together and we were very close. I spent a lot of time at their home and we spent a lot of time together. We grew up together. Religion was never really discussed or even a "Thing" for us in terms of our relationship. My own religion allowed me to see their religion as just,,,,,,, I don't know, they have a religion, I had a religion, it's just life. I didn't have the worldly experience to think about religion in depth. It's like, we all swim, or eat, or go to school. Religion is just another thing that people do. And our relationship was strong for 20 years. And then, my friends hit some sort of an imaginary line (imaginary to me). They went off on their missions, and that was literally it. Like they died. That's how not in my life they became. They vanished, ghosted me. Like shutting off a light switch. I tried to reach out to them a few times, and they responded early on,,, but in a VERY limited way. And after a few attempts at contact, they just disappeared altogether. And I was devastated. My literal best friends, they were like my own brother and sister. They were FAMILY. And they abandoned me as a relationship when they entered what ever adult life is for Mormons. It's been 30 years and I don't dwell on things that happened back then. We all move on. But of all the batshit crazy things that being Mormon entails, the cruelest thing is how the religion splits people apart. There is something inherently EVIL about the lives, relationships and friendships that the religion destroys in the name of FAITH. I don't care about magic under ware or whatever occult rituals people care to engage in. To each their own. But their is something unjust and evil in destroying relationships. The world/people are more and more segregated all the time. And here you have a "Faith" that actively creates MORE division. I'm an equal opportunity FAITH HATER. If I end up in hell because I lack "Faith", than I choose to go to hell over shitting on people and making the world a more decisive place than it already is. But somehow, people of faith don't seem to put much stock in the notion that their faith may rip relationships apart. Yea, I guess I'm still a bit butt hurt as a 50 year old over being abandoned by friends that I grew up with for 20 years.
Panda's voice is unmistakable at this point. I wasn't even looking at the screen, but I listened and knew exactly who that was. XD Tell Tale is the same way.
I completely relate, when I came out as gay in the 1980’s as a Catholic I knew my family would disown me, which they did. No regrets - living a lie is soul deadening.
My grandparents were jws and often took care of me while my mom worked even though we were shunned for leaving the religion. They would bring me to the kingdom hall and I would pretend to sing hymns and pray. Sometimes I would try to talk to people and I would repeat myself thinking they couldn't hear me, but now I know they were ignoring me on purpose because they knew I wasn't a jw. I never got to see my grandma as she was dying of cancer because she was always surrounded by members of the congregation, and she never had a funeral or a tombstone. My grandpa moved away and only contacts us to rant about jehovah.
It’s so cool seeing the two of you collab and explain the semantics of both!! Thanks so much to both of you for being who you are and doing what you’re doing, you’re spreading true goodness in the world by encouraging thought and discussion and open mindedness, seriously *thank you* both of you are amazing and we are so proud of you for getting to where you are and so excited for your journeys 🥰 keep on keeping on being you!! 🙏🫰✌️💃🏻
Thanks for making this! I've looked a lot into mormonism lately, just for my own interest, but have avoided reading about JW just to avoid confusing both. But this will be perfect for keeping the two separate in my mind
i'm so happy to see another person promoting ground news!!! it didn't even register honestly that this is an early sponsorship for you but i've liked them so much ever since i got them initially promoted by another honesty-focused person, miniminuteman (milo rossi). says a lot about them that the people they sponsor are folks like an archaeologist and an ex-mormon who focuses heavily on history. glad you're getting cool sponsors like these. fine if they're not all this cool but i genuinely love ground news and am happy to see them sponsor another lovely author whose channel focuses on truth and PROVEN fact. super excited to see this interview, gonna click off comments so i focus :)
It is really funny how each time Panda and Alyssa said something that would be taught as completely normal within their own former church, the other would say "oh wow that's wild!".
![[VIDEO] Overcoming Scarcity Mindset to Attract More Wealth](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/pxeeXdUsGnE/mqdefault.jpg)
![[VIDEO] Overcoming Scarcity Mindset to Attract More Wealth](/img/tr.png)
Go to ground.news/alyssa to stay informed and to get the full picture on every story. Subscribe through my link for 40% off unlimited access with the Vantage Subscription this month!
Omg my girl is finally sponsored 😂❤
Congrats on the sponsorship!
Congrats on the sponsorship! Those were great examples you showed during your presentation of the app's usefulness.
Archeology proves the bigle is fact! I had some hope for the Young man in your linked video until I realized he had been misled by new age scientology. Archeology has absolutely Proven Biblical Scripture.
The ark of the Covenant has been found. Noah's ark has been found. The split rock in the desert can be seen on Google Earth. Pharaoh Ramses golden Chariot wheel has been found on the floor of the Red Sea. Giant skeletons have been found on every continent. The dragons and biblical sea creatures are now called dinosaurs. The terms of Moses and his wife have been found near the village of 8 in Turkey below the Ararat Mountains. After the dead sea scrolls were found, the bronze sea scrolls were found in bronze pots.
Yes he has cognitive dissonance from outside indoctrination.
Without Adam he would not be here.
Neither would we. I pray he doesn't fall to Satan
Thanks for having me on the channel Alyssa! 🔥
It was so great to have you! LOVE your channel :D
My two favorite religion youtube channels!
Omg, I've been following your channel for quite a while, and now I see you collaborate with Alyssa!
Love your videos! :D. I've been listening to your Sofia/Caleb animations reviews while playing Minecraft
Thanks panda!
The collab we NEEDED 👍🔥
There are pictures going around online of this thing that happened where everybody in a junior high school wore costumes for Halloween but this one Jehovah's Witness kid wasn't allowed to. So all of his friends dressed up black suits and sunglasses with earpieces and pretended to be the Secret Service and they surrounded him and he got to be the President. It's one of the sweetest things I've ever seen on the internet. I'm a Gen Xer and I can't imagine my peers being so kind to another kid at that age; we were all jerks and I feel terrible about it now.
It's only later that I thought about it and I thought maybe his parents were mad that he was involved in this and maybe he got punished later. Then I imagined that no matter what the punishment was, he probably had one of the best days of his life and there's nothing that his parents were going to do to him to take that away from him.
The power of being a decent human being against religion
Exactly. He got to experience what it was like to just be special for one day. I always feel so bad they don't get bdays or Christmas because it's not really the gifts that make them special-its that feeling
@@FIRING_BLINDit’s the feeling that you matter and people care, it can be very hard to get that in extremely religious households. I was raised with a Baptist dad and Catholic mom, both CEOs in Christian terms (Christmas + Easter only) but heavily forced their beliefs on me in fundamental ways. Due to this holidays and birthdays were the best days because they’d actually pay attention to me 😅 made the fact the only happy birthday I got on my 18th being my dad that much worse.. when I try to talk about it people assume I’m being vain or materialistic but really I couldn’t care less about receiving gifts I just wanted to feel loved 😭
as a kid, my parents told my teacher that I was a Jehovah’s Witness and not to celebrate any holidays with me in school. My teacher had given me candy or some thing one day and you know, religious guilt, so when asked I admitted I had had some candy. And they got so mad at me and the teacher. Also, one time I was singing Frosty the Snowman to myself, and I got in trouble for that because apparently that was celebrating Christmas.
a mormon probably thought of that
Deep down JWs LOVE Halloween.
It's the holiday where on Halloween Night, the hardcore JWs turn all their home lights off, get deathly quiet and cower under furniture to hide from the demons, other paranormal entities and trick or treating children (Note: the last group is the only one that actually exists.).
I can't imagine any other group of people that observe Halloween in its true, original spirit (pun intended) as fervently as JWs: I am almost jealous because Halloween is absolutely my favorite holiday.
I used to work in the pediatric ICU. When JW kids needed blood transfusions, the parents gave up rights to their kid so that a foster/ medical caregiver would allow a blood transfusion.
It is so sad to have such a religion where your life is in danger because of the dogma.
@@dhuratadobbins3001 the fact that they would rather give up rights to their children then just give them a blood transfusion
When I was in my late 20s I had a work friend that was a JW and her 7 yr old nephew died. My daughter was the same age so that hit me hard at the time. I then found out that the child had needed a transfusion and the parents refused based on religious reasons. Obviously I thought that was outrageous but this woman told me they believed that if God wanted him to live he'd live and if not he wouldn't. I ended up getting a new job shortly after that at another company and lost touch with her. I could never look at her the same way. I went to the wake and funeral and the parents were crying but just very convicted that God had made the decision, not them. Mind boggling to me. Now I live in a very Amish area and they have messed up attitudes with medical stuff, particularly with babies born with disabilities. There is a family less than a mile away and they had a baby born with DS and the often associated cardiac issues. They were told the baby needed heart surgery which they declined. Another woman I know very well, the aunt of the baby flat out said, no use spending all that money keeping her alive when she would grow up not being able to help out, marry and have kids. Fortunately another non Amish person who knew the baby's parents well had reported them and the state removed the baby, she had surgery, was in foster care after being released. She spent a year with that foster family but was ultimately returned home. CPS is obviously involved and apparently, from what I've heard from the aunt the now 3 yr old little girl is doing well, receiving appropriate medical care and isn't severely impaired. They have 8 other older children and now another younger child. I just don't think the rest of us can even begin to understand these types of belief systems or decisions, especially when it comes to children.
I was raised a JW and those parents basically cheated their own religious systems, by giving up their rights to the kids for them to get blood transfusion. They don't want to mess up their chance to live in a paradise Earth.
In Florida, parents get given to choice of appointing a health care surrogate for the child needing transfusions or the state will approve the transfusion through DCF, but the parents don’t lose rights to their children.
As an Ex-JW, who was raised in the cult, I have eaten up ex-Mormon information/content on TH-cam. It’s a way to find people who have somewhat of a parallel experience but not necessarily get into the nitty gritty of my experience.
That healthy distance to deconstruct without hurting so bad ❤️
Same. I'm also an ex-jw. In many ways, it's easier for me to consume content from ex-mormons, ex-fundamentalist baptist, etc. We all have had very similar experiences, but it's often more painful for me to consume ex-jw content. It's a bit too close.
I do the same as an ex-Catholic. Very very different experiences but I relate hard to the feelings of powerlessness and guilt n stuff. Fun times
Same but with the Unification Church! Even though I have left a couple years ago, this helps me process what I have experienced and clears up my thoughts and stance on things. Also makes me feel less weird to see that many people have gone through similar things.❤🩹
I'm here because my therapist recommended it, it is great! A good way to feel less alone but without so much of the pain
Hi Alyssa I’m a 23 year old hispanic woman who grew up in a very Mormon region of Arizona and I was wondering if you could some day cover all the ways in which mormonism negatively affects way more people than just mormons. I know the discourse obviously mostly focuses on exmo experience but wow, could I go on and on about all the ways simply living in a mormon area and going to schools with high mormon populations negatively affected me and my friends/family in unimaginable of ways such as beauty standards, forced modesty (in 100 degree arizona weather woohoo), racism, homophobia, etc. without even being part of the darn religion! If you need someone to interview, I’m just your average 23 year old girl but I would love to give a direct testament to everything I’ve said. Anyways awesome video as always 💞💞
Great suggestion! I hope Alyssa covers this topic.
Sorry stuff was rough there, peace and hug, we ain't perfect!
@@RogerPack I’m confused by your comment, are you an ex-mo validating my experience or are you part of the problem by excusing everything mentioned with “we’re not perfect” ?
@@RogerPackNobody expects perfection but rather kindness and respect to other human beings.
@@RogerPackgreat job deflecting and missing the entire point
I'm proud to say I'm 8 weeks from 18 and will be leaving the jw religion as soon as I'm able! Thank you both for these videos, they give me the comfort of knowing that I'm going to be ok and I'm not alone
You can't leave as a minor?
You should get a half happy birthday × Happy Disfellowshipmenf day cake
Easy Easy! Takes care of no birthday parties rule!
good luck for next month!
@@dzxn3728you can but it’s more complicated as you are still tied to your family and their beliefs. I left jw when I was 16 and it was horrible. I had to confess my ‘sins’ and show that I was not remorseful.
All the best, stay safe, there are lots of support networks for ex-JW's as well as generic recovering from religion organisations out there.
What is also fascinating is that mormons and Jehovah's witnesses are both American made.
Yes … Mary Baker Eddy’s Christian Science is the other notable American-made cult.
I live in Nigeria and there's a significant JW population here.
Interesting. I live in Poland and I’ve never even seen a Mormon irl, but I do know some JWs
@mar-nyan I was once approached by Mormon missionaries in Warsaw and they were super bubbly and... well, American 😂 they were probably Polish-American on a mission cause they spoke Polish. I was very Catholic at the time so of course I wanted to talk to them about Jesus! 😂 My sister pulled me away like from a fire and said "it's a sect!"
USA has a unique ability to create christians that think they're Extra Special
“You can’t live for your parents forever.” This really hits. I always felt guilty for having to shame others solely because they believed a different religion, were lgbt, had consensual safe intercourse before marriage, etc. Now I’m nondenominational, very out now as a queer person, respect other religions that are not inherently predatory, and hold a few other polarizing beliefs that keep my family from being as close to me as they once were. Yet now I have more peace and joy than I ever could when those beliefs were reinforced, and it has allowed me to form wonderful relationships and learn so much from those who I thought I never could be seen with.
As a former nondenominational Evangelical adjacent.... thank you for existing in those spaces. And of course, you create your own family. Hella wish I had people like you in my church growing up.
I had a friends brother who had sex before marriage. He was ex communicated. His sister moved in and the elders did rhe same to her. ( J.W.)
Non Denominational for the win✊️
I NEVER thought you two would accualy collab,but i'm so happy you did.
I love his Mormon video reactions so this conversation was such a great collab!!! :D
Yes! Either creator is great on their own, but together? Clicked as soon as I saw that!
I love both these channels
I agree, it’s really interesting to hear the conversation and experiences. And I really like the way both speak, very calm, good at explaining things but also a nice sense of humour 🙂
I think every religion and every atheist group too is rooted in narcissism.
We are the best. Only our group is right. No one can love you like we can. You are worthless without us. Worship or you will be punished.
Religious people say the exact things malignant narcissists say.
My daughter married an ex-JW. It was so great getting to experience his 1st Christmas. Our family has many traditions with the day, and I think he was overwhelmed and also sad that he missed out his whole life.
He also started growing a beard soon after I first met him. I didn't realize how telling that was until this video.
I just want you to know this made me smile. We’ve been celebrating Christmas for several years, but it feels disconnected to me. I felt Christmas magic for the first time last year because my sister in law made Christmas magic for me. Thanks for doing that for your son in law, it’s almost impossible to describe the feelings that go with these firsts after leaving.
I’ve been dating an ex-JW for almost 2 years and he just now somewhat became comfortable participating in Halloween but says that pictures can’t get back to his family. I’m not hugely interested in holidays so that part doesn’t bother me as much, but pretending that his birthday is just like any other day is kinda difficult.
As a retired teacher, I worked with many JW families. It was terribly hard on the little ones when holidays and special days rolled around. Their mothers would always say, “Oh, he understands why we don’t celebrate and it’s not a problem.” But ask the five year old why they don’t celebrate, they would say, “My mommy doesn’t like it.” Halloween was especially difficult because they were not allowed to even get dressed up.
By the time they hit about third grade, they knew enough to simply not tell their parents about that craft or activity. They would toss it in the trash as they left that day. Poor kids…
And we, as teachers, were faced with the choice of denying the whole class the chance to participate, or come up with an extra equivalent activity for that one child.
I live in a predominantly catholic country and halloween is a big no no here too, only all saints day is allowed to be celebrated by the church, for the past 3 years i experience what i didnt as a kid, going to bars in a costume every halloween w my friends, as a child i only watched american halloween classics (movies) and envied the characters
I think it's incredibly hard in general not to be mainstream. The constitution protects the right to worship as you wish, but schools force their own beliefs on children, making JWs feel bad for not being like everyone else.
Ex- Morman TH-camrs are the reason i was able to unpack my religious trauma and deconstruct from being raised a JW without having to look at “apostate” literature before I was ready. It was really helpful honestly
Just a tip in case your analytics show people ditching part way through: When you ask your guest where people can find them quite a bit into the interview, it sounds like you're about to wrap up. People who are listening while doing other things might pop back to the window to click onto the next thing when they start to hear that.
i also thought the video was over and had to check to see it was not even half way through
Yes, this is great feedback. I pulled my phone out of my pocket to turn it off since I was listening while doing housework
Me too I was at work so I'm not watching I'm listening.
Same here I was showering
This is really great feedback! I wanted to share his channel multiple times but I can see how the wording was confusing. A lesson learned for my next interview, thank you!
Edit: I've removed this small portion to make it less confusing to viewers!
I used to feel so sorry the Jehovah’s Witness kids I went to school with. They’d leave the room when we sang happy birthday to classmates, leave the room for the Pledge of Allegiance, and every once in a while they’d appear at our front door, inappropriately dressed up, wanting to give us The Watchtower. I had a great-uncle who was JW until he needed a blood transfusion, upon which he returned to the Baptist church in lieu of dying.
I grew up in the JW faith then was the father of four daughters I raised in the faith until we left as a family in 2007. The experience will vary. I was strong believer as a kid and took great pride in my JW stance. I grew up in Canada, so no saying the pledge, but there was still school activity I could not join in. An attentive parent can help, by both preparing their child and teachers how to accommodate their beliefs. But, yes, without a doubt, some children will find growing up in the faith painful. One of the things we did is tell our daughters they could order something from the Christmas Wishbook catalog as soon as it came. This was one of our ways of buffering the sting of no-Christmas.
Most JWs will not equate refusing blood as making a choice to die. Most of the JW material on the subject will stress the dangers of transfusing blood and the advantages of "non-blood medical management." My oldest daughter is a labor and delivery nurse and my third daughter has worked as patient care tech. Both of them have told me, that there are cases, that blood was clearly life-saving. In my own personal life I refused blood on two occasions. I also had a hard time letting go of the "blood is bad medicine" even after leaving the faith. Donating blood for the first time was big step for me.
Sorry for your ingle, but it's funny that switching religion for survival is basically an argument for Darwin's theory that the ultimate goal of life is to survive.
sounds very dumb, and the act of the exclusion of Christian holidays or even things like happy birthday is to separate the religion and there’s this idea that the stricter a religion is or more sacrifices it requires, the stronger the conviction and piety of the members will be
@@nydydnsurvival of the fittist! Eat or be eaten. Our physical development gives witness to a lot of Darwin's theory.
That's such a dumb rule. That's not what the Bible meant in the Pentateuch when it says "don't spill blood." Its such an unnecessary danger to their followers
I follow both of you - I’m an ex JW and it’s a first time when I finally see Panda’s face - such a handsome guy!
Thank you for your great sense of humour!
I also binged watched Alyssa’s videos in the last couple of weeks - thank you for your service, girl !
I was excited to see him too, love that Panda!
I’m a new panda fan. I’m an ex Mormon I’ve been learning from him because I’ve been curious. I really like this channel so far, but I didn’t expect them to be so attractive. I don’t know what I was expecting him to look like. I’m very happy he looks like that though.
@@BeavisMcThe...he's as cute as a wee panda love his voice
As a theologian, this is a fascinating comparison of religions. I only remember one kid in all my schooling that was JW and wouldn't stand for the pledge. We never made him feel "left out" in any conscious way. Thought it was a bit odd not to celebrate the birth and death of Jesus, but I've heard of stranger "Christian" things. Thank you for this, Alyssa & Panda!
not standing for the pledge is also an ideological choice against fascism and authoritarianism. i stopped standing for the pledge in high school and my band director wanted to send me to the principal's office over it. forcing children to pledge their undying allegiance to their country "under god" is a form of propaganda and indoctrination. i have many friends in different countries. many of them expressed disbelief and concern when i told them about the pledge of allegiance. it is often compared to nazi germany.
When you look into their reasons it’s not that weird. I googled it and it says they don’t like these holidays because many of them have traditions rooted in paganism (which is true), and also that the dates may not be accurate (possibly also true)
JWs don't believe Christmas is the birth of Jesus, which historically it isn't. It's a pagan holiday. Even scientists and historians know that. They also do celebrate the death of Jesus, and it's probably the only holiday they celebrate.
Thank you for this Alyssa I’m currently a practicing JW because of fear of not being able to see my family if I leave. Stumbling upon your channel and experiences with Mormonism made me question my own faith and see the similarities 😭 I now know that true life is one where we can choose who we want to be 😊Thank you Alyssa, love your channel keep it up girl 😍
We will never blame you for doing what is best for your if it isn’t a good outcome to leave right now that you can’t handle, that is okay. We will be there when and if you ever feel you can
Well met, PIMO friend. All the best to you. Hopefully, you can leave soon and just be yourself. Hang in there and be careful.
You're not alone -- many members of both groups have begun rethinking their own religious beliefs after watching ex-"opposite group" content.
I hope you find a way to leave the religion, if that is what you want 💚 It may be scary and take time before you feel able to do so, and that is okay because everyone has their own timing, but remember that you are stronger than you think you are and any difficult times are just temporary. You are strong enough to build the life you want for yourself 💚
As someone who do not see much of my family and I live very far from them. They live in different continents. It’s fine. Make friends you choose instead. Trust me it’s just as fulfilling but first you need to be happy to your own person.
When I was in a rehabilitation place, the Jehovah's Witnesses tried teaching me. I was so vulnerable because I had just left the LDS church. I had to have a nurse tell them to stop visiting me. I did really like their magazines though. The only thing they said that made sense was that the Bible wasn't added onto.
Ironically, they add to it all the time.
@michellesunshinestar - the magazines they (JWs) gave you, in your very hand, are ‘added onto the bible’. Can you not see the contradiction.?
I was in that cult for several decades. There are (were) hundreds of books they study (studied), the majority of which are obsolete and deleted. This is an entire canon - a huge library of over a thousand books - of *the bible being added to.*
In fly fishing they use a number of different fishing weights. Tiny wee (formerly lead) weights with the weight stamped on them. The try each weight until they get a bite on the line from a fish.
The reason for this is because fish naturally sit where the oxygen levels are at the highest, the fisherman cannot see oxygen, so tries different weights until they get the right one and repeatedly catches what they set out for.
JWs are brainwashed to say they do not add to the bible while leaving you a Watchtower or a ‘special campaign’ (limited run) brochure. This is to make it exclusive/ exceptionally unique for the Jehovah’s Witness placing the magazine, before they default back to the regular Watchtower magazine.
This is the convey of authenticity - not truth. One can be convinced to be convinced that what they expound is truth - without it actually being true. *
If one leaves a cult and perhaps finds genuine truth, they have consternation as their reference reception for processing authenticity authentically has been profoundly screwed around with.
it is not always overly hard leaving a cult. For many it is close to impossible to resignature what the internal coordinates for what authenticity is, like changing your blood type by thinking.
* hundreds of years ago, people used to smear excrement on an open wound or gash on the skin for to stop infection getting in. They had the concept right but the substance very very wrong.
The Bible was compiled over centuries, and there have been additions. (For example, the stoning of the adulterous woman.)
@@De5O54 well, one thing is for certain. You have not lost your flare for use of illustrations. That’s one thing they do get right. They teach us how to explain and they teach us how to, well, teach. These skills have served me well in my day-to-day job. they tend to be most disappointed that I don’t use them to bring other people into the organization.
Oh they definitely add to it, take away and change words. It’s basically the only translation that does this and biblical scholars criticize the dishonest in their translation. You can look up all the alterations of their Bible compared to other translations and they will flat out add a word or change a word to fit their doctrines. Ironically their translators are anonymous, if you look at any Bible it lists all the translators and their credentials most having doctorates in theology, the JW Bible does not because they are incompetent in the Greek but disguise their anonymity as “humility”. They are master deceivers
As an exJW who's currently reading your book and finding it very helpful, even 3 years after leaving the organization, I really appreciate this interview
I love that you have to specify that the JW art is not generated by AI. It reminds me of the South Park episode about S*****ology where they flash "THIS IS WHAT THEY ACTUALLY BELIEVE"
Why put *** on the name of the cult?
@@annina134 Probably because that cult is notorious for persecuting those who speak truth about it. Not that i think they'll bother with a random youtube commentator, but I suspect that's the general reason for the asterisks.
Some are afraid of squirrel hunters searching the Al Gore Rhythm tbh. They don't want doxxed or harassed.
@@annina134less searchable for the cultists to report and get it taken down
@@annina134 legal reasons. $cientology tend to be liberal with their lawsuits
There was one JW kid in my high school and I remember him having to leave the room when we all watched Polar Express in history class
A buddy of mine was raised JW and I was raised Seventh Day Adventist. When he was a little kid at school, we both couldn’t eat the donuts our classmates brought to celebrate their birthday. I couldn’t eat it because the donuts were fried in lard and he couldn’t eat it because it was for a birthday. Ah, religion-making things unnecessarily weird since forever.
i left when watching polar express in the movie theater as a child but that was because the animation scared me 😭
@@alexwyatt2911 i'm sda and I wasn't allowed to watch a night at the museum in 2nd grade or read harry potter
@@anna-jz5mj What a bummer! There were definitely other families at church who didn’t let their kids read Harry Potter. Even as a child, I found it wildly hypocritical because their shelves were filled with Disney movies.
Christians and entertainment media...
Church convinced my dad cable was evil, radio was evil, CDs tapes records...all evil if they're not a gospel choir. If it's not actively shoving propaganda at you, it's because "they hate Jesus" (I'm serious, after commenting on how bad The Hosannah Choir all-day-every-day was he replied with "Why do you hate Jesus?!??")
Many years ago when I was a Mormon missionary we relished getting into arguments with Jehovah Witnesses. They were tough! I've been out of Mormonism more than 30 years, by the way.
I was part of The Way International and used to see both JWs and Mormons while we were out witnessing and going door to door. Always interesting to have discussions with them. Some of our beliefs were similar to both.
When folks ask me about what to say to a JW I suggest lead with kindness. Let the JW tell you about what the faith means to them. I would now approach an LDS missionary the same way. As ExJWPanda mentions just seeing kindness of Buddhist in Thailand made him consider his own faith. Besides that I recommend turning down offers of a free Bible study and JW literature. Both are designed to indoctrinate. However, they also get in the way of conversing with the individual. In terms of theology it is important to keep in mind "Jehovah" not "Jesus" is top-of-mind for the JW. It is "Jehovah" that will do this or that. It is something many of us ExJW really see clearly only after leaving the faith and looking at Christianity more broadly. Kind regards, -Randy
@@ridinwithjakeyour book is a perverted abomination
@@ridinwithjakethere are only so many souls on this planet and they are all MINE!!! Muslim 😂😂😂
I remember that when i was a teenager 2 mórmon missionáries rang to my door. As i was raised to respect and welcome those from other faiths i invited them in. And there we were sitting in a cosy sofa. They told me they were mormons (which i already knew) and i shared that as a devout Catholic. So i belonged to my parish Youth group. And then... Then that enthusiastic Young man said to me: "Can we go to your church and to your youth group to talk about our faith?". I literally Froze in disbelieve and was unable to Say a word! I felt it was so disrespectfull that proposition. What would have he feel if a missionary of another religious confession tried to convert other people inside a mórmon temple?! That was proselitism!! Or if you prefer: just a lack of Basic good manners!!
This was incredible. I was raised JW, but only as a study kid. I had a lady that came to my house for like 10 years. Poor lady as soon as I turned 16 it was all over, but I have carried the teachings and it has helped make better decisions but also has made me carry unnecessary guilt.
congrats on the sponsorship alyssa!!
Thank you! Their platform is really cool so it was a great opportunity :) Helps you see both sides and sort through more viewpoints on stories!
@@alyssadgrenfellabsolutely! tbh it’s always the most interesting channels that get ground news sponsorships, it’s a good sign :)
Even though I’m still spiritual, I really resonate with the idea that no one really knows what happens after we die. I live life one day at a time and enjoy every second.
My two favorite Heathens in one video?? I feel blessed
This was so interesting. I was raised JW. I’m 69 years old and physically have been out since I was 22 and mentally/totally out at 38. I follow a number of XJW and X Mormon channels. This has been the best side by side comparison of the two I’ve heard. Thank you both for doing this.
Alyssa,
I've noticed soon after you started doing pieces here that the Mormon church has purchased ads right after. Like with your shorts many times there's something about the Mormon church or the book of Mormon etc.
Here I am, 10 minutes into your interview, and there's already a Book of Mormon ad.
I find it funny that they're worried about what you're doing it's great. GOOD JOB.
Ad placement is by algorithm. Sponsors seldom have a say in where exactly their ads are placed. If you express interest in religion, you'll get religious advertising. If you narrow your interest, you will get more targeted ads. Since you have logged into TH-cam, the algorithm keeps a list of your interests associated to your account.
I love wasting Mormon Ad money! They should pay her to tell the truth! 🤣🤣🤣
@@tpkyterooluebeck9224 Ad money is certainly wasted on ME since I'm already a member of the church. It is also wasted on apostates that have made a choice to do something else. Where it is not wasted is on people that are curious and wish to know more, but suspect they are getting an adversarial and thus tainted point of view.
I agree!! That’s the best form of flattery😁
@@ridinwithjakeAre you serious ?
A few years ago I was canvassing for an election... and knocked on the door of a jehovas witness. Felt like a role reversal. He told me they're not allowed to vote (which I found utterly baffling).
I had a friend recently convert and become a JW for her husband and i've been nervously checking her friends list to see if I stay in the loop because she has unfriended and cut ties with our mutual friend for getting involved in politics. it's wild
@@princessmocha9274let's see how long that marriage lasts........
I am an Exmo and have never heard of Panda. I am a fast fan. Such a pleasant individual. I am heading over and subscribing for sure!
Hi! 😊
I'm from Argentina and my mom is an inactive JW, she still believes in it even though she hasn't been to a meeting in almost 20 years, but every time you ask her about her faith/JW she defends it with her heart. As a child, I never went to jw's "church" because she left before she had me, but my brothers, who grew up when she was deeply immersed in religion, talk about how boring the meetings were and the things my mom banned (like certain cartoons that were "evil"). This whole thing is crazy to me because she's never been that strict and she's certainly never been really holy, so the way she defends a religion that goes against her way of life, even years after leaving, is really revealing for me about the brainwashing that exists in this type of religions.
Saludos! Cognitive dissonance is a bizarre but common phenomenon in the JW cult. People can leave, not live according to the things they were taught, but still have the beliefs deeply ingrained in their subconscious. What you’re describing is basically a secret mental “gear” they can shift into where they will unquestioningly defend the doctrine and lose all critical thinking ability, but usually just about the religious stuff. Otherwise, they’ll behave pretty normally. It brings all kinds of guilt and shame, usually, and is very sad. You really have to genuinely want to be honest with yourself to get past a lot of this stuff. Counseling can be very helpful, along with intense introspection. I wish your mom all the best and hope she can break completely free from that mental prison soon! ❤️
When I was a committed Methodist, we were visited quite regularly by a pair of Jehovah's Witness missionaries. I admired their commitment and egalitarianism, and we had interesting discussions about Christ, church, doctrine, and our families and hobbies.
As a practicing Jew (born and raised) I’m so glad I found these channels - so incredibly interesting - I always thought all denominations of Christianity were basically the same - nope!
After leaving the JW faith I attended a service at a synagogue in Phoenix (Congregation Beth Israel, if my memory holds). In conversations with some afterwards I was struck by the fact Hebrew Bible verses I paid little attention to were ones first cited to explain the Jewish viewpoint. I also attended Congregation NepheshSoul once or twice. They met on Saturdays in the sanctuary of Valley Unitarian Universalist where I attended. Yes, Christian groups have varied beliefs. LDS and JWs are new religious movements and by rejecting doctrine of the Trinity tend to stand apart from most older established Christian denominations.
Many denominations are the same. The outliers like JW'S, LDS, and others are based on private revelations and are much different in their beliefs about JESUS.
It is interesting to learn what others believe and their practices, isn't it? I'm a basic christian, almost multi-denominational, it seems. I didn't know how different JW & LDS were from the churches I'd been to, which were many. Interesting.
i’m also a practicing jew and feel the same way!
Same lol
I've had Mormons knock on my door, and I've had JW's knock on my door. The Mormons, for all the wackiness, were always a joy to talk to once I made it clear I didn't want to join the church. Really pleasant people. I never was able to get to that point with the JW's, because there's no acceptance of "I don't want to join your church".
I had an aunt who had the best way to deal with missionaries in general. She was just about to get into the shower when she heard the doorbell. She put a robe on and greated the missionaries. They asked to come in and discuss religion. She looked at them and said "I am a devote nudist. If you want to come in, you have to undress." Needless to say, the missionaries just said no thanks and walked off. She was asked what would have happened if the missionaries would have undressed. She said that they would have had a discussion on religion naked. It was awesome
The crossover I didn’t know I wanted but now know I needed 😂
Thank you for maintaining rhia channel. I left a high control religion (southern baptist) a few years ago and the process has been so isolating. Im glad you two have made it out and are speaking your truth
Oh my gosh, Panda is one of my favorite content creators. Didn't know we'd be getting a face reveal! Awesome
As a Christian, it's fun listening to your channel and hear your stories. Was great to hear you and a former JW compare and contrast.
I just bought your book I am so excited to read it I am so happy that there is a book like this to help after you have left the Mormon church thanks so much ❤
I hope you love it and it gives you the support you need, leaving is not easy 💛
I had a JW classmate for a while... I'm a trans girl, yet, she didn't seem to be bothered by that at all nor did she try to convert me, by any means. Maybe she assumed I would never convert. Once I asked her why don't they celebrate birthdays and all and she was surprised like "I mean, do you wanna know for real?" as if I wouldn't be interested in listening to their POV on the matter. She never tried to become any closer than a classmate (like a proper friend not only at school) but as a classmate, she was kind of a good friend. We talked frequently and all and she was nice.
Maybe that's the exception not the rule then? Idk
I'm an exJW, once hardcore, and I had plenty of friends that were not JWs. However, that is the exception not the rule. JWs are taught that everyone is imperfect, so there's no sense in judging another person (unless of course you become a baptized member). JWs are also more selective in their preaching, especially when off-hours.
No joke you 2 have been my most recent hyper fixation for the past month or so and to see you guys collaborate is amazing ❤❤❤
Recovering Catholic here- born and raised, went to Catholic elementary school, choir....it's so true that MOST Catholics don't study their Bibles. My grandmother is 92 and has NO IDEA why she does anything she does. No questioning was allowed for such a long time. There are also different denominations of Catholicism and in 1955 when my grandparents were married my grandmother's family was Roman Catholic while my grandfather's family was Polish National. Their respective families did not attend their wedding and they could not be married on the altar because of the so called differences- which really were just that one group separated from the Pope.
There does seem to be a new type of Catholic (a good friend of mine who is like a second mom) who goes to Bible study every week. Interestingly though, the "study" is more about using the Bible to confirm Catholic doctrine more than ask questions and decipher meaning and truth from the text.
Alyssa- I'm so grateful for these videos. And thanks to Panda as well! I love studying religions and cults and spiritual belief systems. Having information and tools to communicate with people in the church is so helpful. Being kind and loving goes so much farther than trying to convert people. Sending you so much gratitude and love!
Polish national sounds like a hotdog brand.
Yeah I think those arsa branch of trad caths- some go latinate Mass only & some go evangical style Bible study, many both
Roman Catholic vs Lutheran in my ancestry!
thats cause the Bible was only written in Latin for super long, so only the rich and clergy would know what it says.
oooooo i’ve been waiting for this collab to happen!
I watched several of your videos yesterday and other documentaries about leaving the church (out of curiosity about this religion) So, 30mins ago, guess who randomly knocked on my door? Yep. Was it a coincidence or Is it possible that I was suggested to them based on my internet search? 👀🤷🏻♀️
Ayyyy Alyssa has Ground News as a sponsor now, our girl done good
I'm so excited to learn more about the differences and similarities between these two religions. I'm quote interested in this type of stuff. And I also love all of your videos!
Thank you for watching!
Omg, I was not prepared to see Panda on your channel. Thank you both for this collaboration. I'm an ex-JW and I have been diving into the subject that you are discussing here. 🤗😊
CLICKED SO FAST I love your videos. I was never a Mormon, I was SDA and your videos are so relatable!!!
I hope you love it! LDR for life!
I'm SDA and I'm not relating to the information on the Mormons at all! And I was raised SDA.
I was raised SDA too :) I’ll give Adventists this-a fundamental belief is that all Christian faiths are part of God’s church. I endured many a sermon that strongly admonished any Adventist from believing SDA is superior to another Christian denomination.
@@alexwyatt2911wow really! In what part of the country did you attend church?
@@SD-hs2pkSDA have a lot right. They got themselves lost when they venerated Ellen White much in the same way Mormons have done to Joseph Smith.
I asked about the no windows in the Kingdom Hall. I was given a very practical answer. The hall is typically built by regular everyday community and congregation members. Most of us are not skilled in construction. Building a wall with a window is much more difficult than a solid wall. So it's more efficient and practical to skip the windows. The buildings go up quickly.
Not the entire truth. It helps to prevent distractions from outside for they would never consider stained or decorative glass. All of what they do has a mind control objective behind it. Check out JW history.
Honestly, in Germany and other countries around I have never seen a hall without windows. Seems to be a local phenomenon maybe?
@@pinkefuchs I have attended meetings at Kingdom Halls with windows and ones without. This was in Canada and the United States. In my experience many JWs are in the trades. This makes sense since attending college and university, while not forbidden, is discouraged. So skills to build & maintain Kingdom Halls can often be provided by JWs themselves.
I see the windows vs no-windows as a cultural thing on both sides. That is many religious folks see things like stained glass windows or ornate aspects of their churches, temples and cathedrals as having special meaning. A reflect of God's glory perhaps. Thus seeing most Kingdom Halls without windows makes them wonder if there is some special meaning to that. That not having windows is a requirement or that they don't want folks to see inside a Kingdom Hall.
The real cultural meaning is more tied up in JWs wanting to stand apart from nominal Christianity and other religions. A Kingdom Hall, even by name, shall not be considered a "church." Indeed JWs avoid saying "church." The JW doesn't "go to church" but rather "attends the meetings." The follow up is that Kingdom Hall design follows the practical, in terms of construction, cost and maintenance. Because JWs have a strong hierarchical of authority, local JWs will not usually have much say in the design. A limited number of pre-approved designed are presented and construction goes from there.
@@OhRiverFreedom Not at all. It's financial. Lot's of people don't like JW's and they kept breaking the windows. When I was a kid I helped my father replace or brick up broken windows quite often. In most other parts of the world, they still have windows.
Anyone can of course visit a JW "Kingdom Hall" if they want to see for themselves how much "mind control" there is. Some people claim that the meetings are boring so maybe they try to bore you to control your brain? Who knows. Anyway I have visited some halls in Europe where I lived due to my work and they had windows. Some were just rented meeting spaces in regular office buildings and such places typically had windows because the office building had windows. The halls I visited in USA have not had windows tho, as far as I can remember.
As someone who grew up Catholic (but I don't really believe anymore), it blows my mind that other religions think that Catholics workship false idols. That was something that I remember getting taught not to do, but never thought that what I was doing was that. Great video and super interesting for a religion-nut like me! (And yes, can confirm that while I owned a Bible, and still do, I've never read it nor have my parents who are still practicing Catholics 😅)
Same!!
As Jim Gaffigan says, "I don't read the Bible, because I don't have to, because I'm Catholic."
I grew up Catholic (still consider myself "culturally" Catholic). We don't read the Bible like other Christian denominations. We recognize that while the Bible is true, only some of it actually happened.
You saved your self from reading a lot of Horror stories ,Enjoy your life the world is full of good Christians and Catholics who don't read the bible, Jesus said to follow him, that's probably a good thing, never seen a picture of Jesus carrying a bible! Has anyone?apart from that it was very helpful to see these young people with the right skills to help others understand what is important in their lives 🎉***
I was raised baptist. When I heard of Catholics praying to Mary and different Saints, I immediately thought of false idol worship. I found it so weird! And then confessing to a preist when you can just pray to god was also very odd to me. Funny how we are so quick to see the flaws in other religions but don't see the ones in our own... at least for a while.
Babpitst read the bible but only a small few parts of it that sound the nicest for what they want. You don't really read it all the way through in church anyway. To read it all the way would be something on your own time. Oddly enough, trying to read it all the way through is what made me see it as a lie. Probably why they just start and stop at the nice jesus stories and tithes lol
Wow this is a collab I was not expecting, I just recently started watching both of you guys! I also grew up a hispanic JW but have been fascinated by the Mormon religion recently. Keep up the good work Alyssa and Panda!
These longer videos are SOOO AWESOME!! Thank you
I can't stop watching this videos. It's like an lens to an world I only see far far away.
MY TWO FAVOURITE CONTENT CREATORS OH MY GODDDDD
Funny, you quit teaching formally but you are more a wonderful resource and teacher to so many!
Today i was searching about this topic and said wish alyysa had a video about this. And here it is! thanks a lot❤❤
if you ask why because i see jw standing with their publishings at a popular street, nearly every evening on my way to home.
Interesting about the no sports on Sundays. I grew up Adventist (SDA), another cult that arose in the US around the same time as LDS. We couldn’t do anything sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. So all organized sports were out. I wanted to run cross country SO BADLY, but all meets were on “sabbath,” so not allowed. No fun at all for half the weekend, no homework, studying, anything useful. I hated it. Half my weekend was wasted sitting and staring at a wall in high school and uni (was forced to live at home by overbearing parent). I’m glad we all managed to free ourselves. ❤
That comes from Judaism, actually. According to Judaism you aren't allowed to do anything that could constitute any kind of "work" during Sabbath (or "Shabbat", as it is known in Hebrew), which lasts from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday (just as you described). If you're *very* strict that can include turning on the oven or flipping a light switch, which makes things incredibly complicated for very observant orthodox families. They've figured out various solutions for that, though. XD
My family was never that strict, but when I was at a Jewish summer camp we did properly observe shabbat. It was... Very boring for little child me. XD
As a missionary I always nodded in respect to the jw’s just as fervent in the faith as I was getting hated on all day.
As a former Church of Christ (not LDS, just COC), I do *NOT* miss door-knocking!
I now live in a gated community which prohibits door to door solicitation, and I kind of miss the Mormon and JW missionaries. I used to enjoy chatting with them for half an hour or more on my patio. My objective was to point out the flaws in their beliefs in the hope that they would question what they were taught - or rather not taught - about their church.
My grandfather was an active Methodist for most of his life. I always thought he was kind of preachy when he'd ask if i wanted to go to church: "it's going to be a super sermon!" I never went and he accepted that but he always asked. A year or so before he died at 92, he guiltily handed me a treatise he wrote for himself (dated from 10+ years before) on how through being a scientist he came to no longer believe in god. He didn't want to talk about it, he was ashamed, he never left the church, that was his entire social community. I just wished that he'd let me read that sooner because I always felt religion was a barrier between us. My grandmother never lost her faith but it was a very private thing for her so I never felt any pressure from her. It was very strange to read that document by my grandfather.
Alyssa, i am from Portugal, Southern Europe. A few days ago, 2 male mormon missionaries approchead me on the street. Apparently, they wanted to pet my sweet dog! I started talking about dogs (but i wonder when would they start talking about their faith and how would i say "No" to it in a very polite, delicate way in order no to make them fell bad withthemselves. I told them i was a former devout Catholic but that i was mentally exausted and didn't want to talk about religion. One of the boys was apparently very friendly but since the beginning of our conversation stand back away from 2 or 3 metters! I understood that his huge personnal space was a signal of being afraid and in a deffensive mode. Why? I do not know. The other boy was in my personnal space but his leg was fidgeting. After a while, his look was away from mine, numb, and blantely spoke to me in a hostile tone of voice when i asked for his help to express myself correctly in english. There i was trying to show empathy asking them things as:" Where are you from? What will you do after returning home?" but in my chore thinking if they were only talking to me in order to prepare the ground to talk about the book of Mormon. I recall that i asked them:" Are you sleeping and eating enough?". They avoided eye contact, looked to the void and their faces became apathic. Nevertheless, they did not tried to criticize the Catholic church because at the beginning of our encounter i told them i respected their church and that all people, Christians or not, should do the same towards orther religious belives (or the lack of it).
Finally, They insisted in stating that through God i could live with my mother eternally (i had told them she was not between us anymore). And they ended up by giving me a little book. I kept out of respect for them... But i did not read it! It a strange encounter and i hope not to see them again because mormons hate Catholics! That is very narrowminded ti say the least!! 😮
In the future, ask them about their hobbies before they came on their mission. Missionaries are usually very eager talk about pop culture because they’re not allowed to listen to music. If you ask them what their favorite video game book, etc. were, it will remind them that they were a person outside the mission.
Edit: they’re literally not allowed to participate in any of their hobbies outside of religious pursuits for two years. It’s a control Tactic to strip them of their identity.
Thank you so much for your kind advices!
@@flutenanyidk1806 Thank you a lot!! One of the boys told me that it was nice talKing to me because it was a chance not to always adress religion. This was with the most friendly One. Oddly enough when i told them that i didn' t want to talk about religion, that instead what i needed was having friends and that i knew they could not be so because they were on a mission, he took a step black with a very scary look and saying No with his head. It was so unconfortable to me and Said to watch...
Mormons absolutely do NOT hate Catholics.
@@Spasiuka
It's possible you made them uncomfortable since you spoke so much about their missionary work without being on "the inside" -- maybe you came across as someone who is specifically anti-Mormon, and so someone best to be avoided.
Another thing to consider is that the missionaries are always paired up in order to be built-in reminders/spies of their religion: the "friendly one" may have realized he was being judged by (or could be judged by) the less friendly missionary and that's why he disengaged. Or perhaps he felt guilty that he was "wasting" time with you because he wanted to pet a dog and he needed to continue on because he couldn't justify "being selfish" when he had so much work to do.
The less friendly missionary may've just been frightened by dogs. In the US, about one out of ten people are disgusted by or afraid of dogs, no matter the size or manners of the animal in question. His standoffishness may've been nothing to do with you personally.
You gave an overworked, probably homesick, young man a nice moment as he pet your dog. It was a kindness.
i was raised in both 😵💫 JW until around 7 to 8 then mormon 9 to 11 when i finally told my mom i didnt want to go to church because i discovered im an atheist. im very grateful my mom supported me.
surprisingly even being born into intense religion, my little kid brain saw issues with the teachings and kept track.
thank you for this! i've been following your content for a while & one of my close friends recently re-joined JW and cut everyone in his life off. I've been looking for answers, this was helpful
Great show. Thanks for addressing this question.
Typically, I answer the door, greet whichever group's representatives are at my door and then say that I am Catholic and very happy to be so. I thank them for caring for their beliefs and it is wonderful that we can all be a part of this wild ride of life. That's usually settled most everyone.
I do make sure they are hydrated and offer the restroom if they need it and that's the end of my speech. I don't want to waste their time and I have found myself in coercive situations occasionally when I invite them in to sit and cool off if they need that. But, I try to be gracious and helpful.
In college as a freshman, I was halfway to joining a church but I never realized that I was giving the wrong vibes by listening politely and saying that I enjoyed talking about religion.
They were quite upset that after 3 fellowship meals and the hard sell was half over that I hadn't been convinced to join them. Heck I didn't know they wanted me to join anything. But they were angry because I was already accepting their truth when they spoke it. They could feel my heart tremble with their truth or something like that. 😳😆
Ummm... No, I thought it was just flame-level crazy. But that didn't mean I wanted to stop talking to them. I wanted to watch how far out they were going to go.
I'm probably the only person in history who was rejected by folks from those types of religious recruits. I'm not being coy. They weren't either of these two religions and I have no clue where they fell. They had been so oblique in references to their group that I never thought I was becomimg a promising recruit.😂
The meals were vegetarian. I grew up on a beef farm and I like meat. So, yeah, they kicked me out of conversion lessons. I like to learn everythimg I can and they did say things I hadn't heard before. I just wondered what else they were going to say. 😂
That group does sound interesting! How odd that they became angry with you for being an open person. Their loss! 🤷♀️
I love both of these creators. THIS is the BEST colab I have ever seen
What a fascinating conversation between two very interesting individuals!
I had a Jehova's witness as a class mate. I do understand his actions better now.
A quote from Glennon Doyle says, that she consideres the bible as a story that was written to motivate people to create a better world and give people hope.
If the region does help you be happierer and a better person. If not, then leave.
I really liked the way she said it, because she it as a story / a novel or folk telling rather than a literal description.
This was wonderful. Very very interesting and you guys had a great flowing conversation. Definitely going to go follow panda now!
Fascinating conversation. I come from a non-denominational Evangelical adjacent Christian background and also have a wing of my family who are Mormon. I appreciate your dissection of theology. The JW use of "a god" to avoid trinitarianism I've never heard of. The comparison of both religions really opened my mind to how Christianity creates offshoots like crazy. Let's just say religious trauma is real.
I am exjw inactive for 40 years. I just started watching exjw videos 2 months ago. Before I did, I clicked on your underwear video. That lead me down the rabbit hole. I realize that I am not as healed as I thought so it has been good for me. Now, I have seen several panda videos.
alyssa , just so u know you’re my favorite youtube channel at the moment ! literally was thinking this morning i can’t wait till you post a new video
I’m Mormon. My son was baptized when he was 14.
His choice. No pressure from our family. And I thank channels like this for “sounding the alarm” about problems they experienced growing up in religious homes. It reaffirmed my views about raising a child in a home where their free will and autonomy is honored. It helped me to realize pressure can be felt even if they dont tell their parents.
i hope you can get out for the sake of yourself and your family. i know its impossible to convince someone theyve been fooled, but you have. joseph smith was a conman.
@@misfitr so what if he was? I don’t care. The guy that invented Kellogg cereal was a whack job. I’ll still eat Raisin Bran.
Regardless thank you for the empathy and kind wishes for me and my family ❤️
@@LasPhoenix777 respectfully, there's a huge difference between eating a bowl of cereal and committing your entire life to a religion.
Love both of you! Thank you both for your bravery and insight!
Thank you! This conversation was so full of great information I had to listen twice, and will probably go back to listen again in the future. I Learned so much about the doctrine of these two religions that was so enlightening. Thank you!
Growing up in Aotearoa (NZ) i had a friend who was a JW and had to sit out on our kapa haka lessons and waiata practice
Omg I just saw the whole thing!Panda has such a cute face!First time seeing he's face !I was so surprised and so excited and this video was so cool!Thank u guys so much for this videos!
Past experience leads me to respect the JWs more than the Mormons. I was in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe over 1978-83. It was noticeable that many poor Africans, often from Malawi, were JWs. By contrast, Mormon Missionaries were only interested in converting Europeans. I put this down to (1) racism and (2) money - a 10% tithe of an African subsistence farmer was nothing, because they had no money.
@markaxworthy2508 I wonder when the LDS church started sending missionaries to other countries. Most of my friends are active in the church and I would say at least half went to other places besides the US or Europe. I had several friends in Africa and several in Latin America. I'm younger so I'm not as familiar with when the shift happened, although I'm not surprised tbh.
@@morganmiller6284 I couldn't answer that. However, I know there were early LDS converts in the UK because I found a Mormon publication from the 1880s in a Torquay charity shop with a local dedication. I rang the nearest LDS church in Newton Abbot and offered it to them and within the day they sent somebody round for it. I have no time for Mormonism, but I don't like to see books pulped that are of value to others.
I grew up as a Roman Catholic. I gave that all up at the "Age of reason", which was about 8 years old for me. I only say this because it sort of plays into this story I'm about to tell. See I grew up in a small town and our next door neighbors , who were close family friends and community members in our small town, were Mormon. And I was very good friends with two of the kids. We grew up together and we were very close. I spent a lot of time at their home and we spent a lot of time together. We grew up together. Religion was never really discussed or even a "Thing" for us in terms of our relationship. My own religion allowed me to see their religion as just,,,,,,, I don't know, they have a religion, I had a religion, it's just life. I didn't have the worldly experience to think about religion in depth. It's like, we all swim, or eat, or go to school. Religion is just another thing that people do. And our relationship was strong for 20 years. And then, my friends hit some sort of an imaginary line (imaginary to me). They went off on their missions, and that was literally it. Like they died. That's how not in my life they became. They vanished, ghosted me. Like shutting off a light switch. I tried to reach out to them a few times, and they responded early on,,, but in a VERY limited way. And after a few attempts at contact, they just disappeared altogether. And I was devastated. My literal best friends, they were like my own brother and sister. They were FAMILY. And they abandoned me as a relationship when they entered what ever adult life is for Mormons.
It's been 30 years and I don't dwell on things that happened back then. We all move on. But of all the batshit crazy things that being Mormon entails, the cruelest thing is how the religion splits people apart. There is something inherently EVIL about the lives, relationships and friendships that the religion destroys in the name of FAITH. I don't care about magic under ware or whatever occult rituals people care to engage in. To each their own. But their is something unjust and evil in destroying relationships. The world/people are more and more segregated all the time. And here you have a "Faith" that actively creates MORE division. I'm an equal opportunity FAITH HATER. If I end up in hell because I lack "Faith", than I choose to go to hell over shitting on people and making the world a more decisive place than it already is. But somehow, people of faith don't seem to put much stock in the notion that their faith may rip relationships apart.
Yea, I guess I'm still a bit butt hurt as a 50 year old over being abandoned by friends that I grew up with for 20 years.
Ok. So what do you do to bring people together?
Woow I can't believe it, you're my favourite ex mormon channel and Panda is my favourite ex jw channel 😅 so nice!
Panda's voice is unmistakable at this point. I wasn't even looking at the screen, but I listened and knew exactly who that was. XD
Tell Tale is the same way.
Omg so hyped every time you post
I was super excited to see my two favorite TH-camrs collaborate together!!!!❤❤❤❤
I completely relate, when I came out as gay in the 1980’s as a Catholic I knew my family would disown me, which they did. No regrets - living a lie is soul deadening.
1:29 my best friend is Catholic. I'm wearing the bracelet she gave me that has a cross on it. I will never give it up.
Damn girl just coming out with banger after banger video keep it up!
My grandparents were jws and often took care of me while my mom worked even though we were shunned for leaving the religion. They would bring me to the kingdom hall and I would pretend to sing hymns and pray. Sometimes I would try to talk to people and I would repeat myself thinking they couldn't hear me, but now I know they were ignoring me on purpose because they knew I wasn't a jw. I never got to see my grandma as she was dying of cancer because she was always surrounded by members of the congregation, and she never had a funeral or a tombstone. My grandpa moved away and only contacts us to rant about jehovah.
It’s so cool seeing the two of you collab and explain the semantics of both!! Thanks so much to both of you for being who you are and doing what you’re doing, you’re spreading true goodness in the world by encouraging thought and discussion and open mindedness, seriously *thank you* both of you are amazing and we are so proud of you for getting to where you are and so excited for your journeys 🥰 keep on keeping on being you!! 🙏🫰✌️💃🏻
As an ex-catholic, I love seeing other ex religious people figure out the world. Makes me feel less alone in the world.
Thanks for making this! I've looked a lot into mormonism lately, just for my own interest, but have avoided reading about JW just to avoid confusing both. But this will be perfect for keeping the two separate in my mind
Love that you got a Ground News sponsor! Perfect!
i'm so happy to see another person promoting ground news!!! it didn't even register honestly that this is an early sponsorship for you but i've liked them so much ever since i got them initially promoted by another honesty-focused person, miniminuteman (milo rossi). says a lot about them that the people they sponsor are folks like an archaeologist and an ex-mormon who focuses heavily on history. glad you're getting cool sponsors like these. fine if they're not all this cool but i genuinely love ground news and am happy to see them sponsor another lovely author whose channel focuses on truth and PROVEN fact.
super excited to see this interview, gonna click off comments so i focus :)
Great convo! BIG LOVE to you both! Be well!
Excellent conversation. Good to see you, Panda. Alyssa, great interview. Subscribed!
Thank You very much for this! I have never been a believer but I am always looking for info.
It is really funny how each time Panda and Alyssa said something that would be taught as completely normal within their own former church, the other would say "oh wow that's wild!".
Panda is awesome! I love the reaction videos to the kid shows for JWs and Mormons. I’ve been Mormon my whole life. I had no idea we had cartoons!!!
You two did awesome! I am so proud of you!!! This was so enjoyable!
This was so interesting! Through this channel I learned so much about the Mormon Church and now even about JW. I love your videos :)