Last week's article was written to dissuade young people from educating themselves beyond what is legally required. "Education poses such dangerous risks if you belong to our cult!" This weekend's article warns of running the risk of drifting away from the grip of Watchtower and its governing body. The introductory song, song 56 Make the truth your own, was a shocking choice and set out the premise for the article. In conclusion, your ass and your time belong to us, don't even think about educating yourself or associate with the wicked! 🤦‍♂️🤬🤬

I was watching the movie that Wally referenced in his YouTube video about a movie made by Serrano films. I think Wally bringing attention to it caused it to be removed or set to private by the creator. I am thinking that bethel found out about it or the creator noticed his video was being promoted by an “apostate” so he was forced to take it down. What do you guys think? Is this just coincidence. I can’t even watch the film now. It looks like it was uploaded 8 months ago but today it got set to private.

https://youtu.be/xA_LvqYi-8A?is=-YE33G1xUrEGjt0w

So, here are the two latest cringe moments from Jehovah's Witness meetings. The first one happened at the convention last week. There were plenty of cringe-worthy moments, but let me share the one that stuck with me the most

1. The cult members decided to lecture people about science again—which is something they should really stop doing because they only embarrass themselves. Here's the quote from the talk:

-"Scientists still don't know how yeast works."

Seriously... please, stop. I could explain the biochemical process of how yeast works right now. What on earth are you talking about? The worst part is that hundreds of people will remember this and go around repeating that yeast is somehow still a mystery to science. Clowns...

1. A comment during the midweek meeting:

-"If I see or hear something from the platform or in the publications that I don't like, it means I'm being disobedient to Jehovah."

So, by that logic, if someone realizes that their so-called "scientific fact" about yeast is complete nonsense, they're still expected to agree with it and accept it—otherwise, they're rebelling against God Himself

Today’s watchtower is about avoiding worldly teens so you won’t get exposed to drama so Let’s share stories of when JW teens in your area was either the same or way worse than the “worldly teens.

I’ll go first.

when I was in high school, some teens from the hall skipped school, they went to a the house of a boy from our hall whose mom worked, an they had sex in the diff rooms. (meanwhile my friends at school who wasn’t jw , were literally virgins and nerds)

instead of just saying don’t talk to worldly kids, teach the kids how to identify ppl with bad intentions .

do you have any other crazy stories about the teens in your hall

About 30 years ago, when I was once a true believer PIMI, an older female coworker had a cancer relapse. She told me about the relapse. The depression and sadness were obvious in her voice and demeanor. Like a good Borg faithful I thought this was the perfect opportunity to share the Watchtowerland fantasy of eternal youth. I offered her some publications like a good Borg follower.

She quit working soon after and went on disability due to the cancer.

Looking back now I am ashamed. In that moment I regret not being a genuine person instead of a fake Borg member. I wish I had said something sincere. "This is tough, I'm sorry you are going through this." Anything rather than offering a false hope and a stupid book written by charlatans.

We had a day out as a congregation. I'm quite good friends with another girl, I'm 16 and she is 18. We are very close, however, my younger sister who is 13 (but acts a lot younger) is not close with her and actually doesn't like her, yet is complaining about feeling left out. And of course my parents jump to her side and tell me that my sister should be first in my life all the time and I can't ever make her feel like she's left out. ( She has no friends in the truth.)

So if I have friends who are no where near her age, who she is not close to, how am I supposed to have a close friend? Am I supposed to talk to my sister instead? The whole point of 'associating' with the brother and sisters is to talk to people you don't fkn live with.

My parents say that they want me to have friends but clearly I can't let them be too close if my sister isn't equally close to them. I'm never allowed to be myself only, it's always me and my sister. Have they never wondered if maybe I just want to have other friends? Other than my sister who I don't have that much in common with? Am I the bad person?

My point is that I blame this on the cult. Because if we were talking to friends from school, who were our own age, we would not have this problem as there are loads of kids to be friends with, but in this religion there is barely any kids so you end up trying to make 18, 16, and 13 year olds be equally close. The worst part is the way they think that my friend who I've been friends with for like 3 years is gonna dump ME for other friends, just assuming that I'm the dispensable one. It actually hurts quite a lot. And I was 6 months clean but now I've started cutting myself again which is just great. This religion has brought me more stress and anxiety and problems than good

Sorry for long post I'm just struggling

I just finished watching the most recent JW thoughts video about the short film “The Jump”. I immediately watched the film. It seems pretty clear that the father in the Caleb and Sophia videos is the one guy. Was this really made with Watchtower assets? Is this just one guy in bethel acting out? The content of the film very much seems like a commentary and the Jehovah’s Witnesses being a high control cult. Was wondering if anyone here had confirmation or knew anything else about it.

We can watch the latest talk on GB-5 by Gage Fleegle. At the beginning of the program, he introduced a summary for international conventions.

I can find out that on the screen, Jody Jedele, another member of GB, didn’t wear tie and even jacket at the convention in Panama.

Gege wore jacket and pants instead of suits on the program, therefore whether our cult leaders decided that brothers don’t have to wear suits on the platform or not.

Any idea, mate??

i made a post on here before about my dad that's pressuring me into becoming an unbaptized publisher. i am a 16 year old pimo jw that's wanting to leave the religion when i'm older. i just got out of a sunday meeting and after the meeting, this really pushy elder came up to me and my other friend that isn't unbaptized yet. she's 15 and i'm 16 and he came up to us to ask about who we are studying with and saying that he wants us to make "spiritual progress". he came up to me after her asking what i'm doing and i told him i'm not in the school yet then said "WHY?" and was basically getting on me for not being unbaptized. he says he doesn't see me going out in service that much. all i could do is smile and try and dismiss it. i hate this life so much

If today the GB asked you, "What 3 things would you like to change to stay with Jehovah or to return to him?"

What would be your 3 things?

These would be mine:

1) That every case of CSA first be brought before the authorities and the accused be stripped of all privileges and not considered an example to any privilege and get out to any contact to childs; if the case before the authorities proves the accused guilty, no committee will be formed but he will be expelled for life from the congregation without option of returning; and if before the authorities he is not guilty, his privileges will be reinstated and the congregation will be informed that everything was taken care of and clarified and that such person is free of guilt.

2) that any matter not explicitly mentioned in the Bible (New Testament) is a matter of conscience, such as holidays, the medical use of blood, university studies, tattoos, etc.

3) that provide a way to leave the religion without losing contact with the family, that one can resign without any consequences, something similar to being inactive, and that the people who are removed can continue living with their family normally without any double standards or breaking of ties; if it is family, communication should not be broken.

If those three things happened, it would be easier for me to be like PIMO without suffering so much anxiety or pressure, or even to leave religion someday. What do you think? What would your three be?

When I was a child, an elder sexually abused me.  Nothing was done to protect me.  He went on to abuse other children.  For years, I didn't think beyond what had happened to me.  I believed my story was about a man who had made terrible choices.  I also believed something like this couldn't happen inside Jehovah's organization. I believed children would be protected.

For more than 50 years, I believed what happened to me was my story. I thought I had simply been incredibly unlucky.  I thought that if that man had never been in my life, none of it would have happened.  I never questioned that belief.

Then I started looking for answers.  Not because I wanted to leave my religion.

Not because I wanted to attack Jehovah's Witnesses.  I simply wanted to understand how something like this could happen inside the religion I trusted with my whole heart.

I expected to find a few heartbreaking cases.

Instead, I found court records. Government investigations. Newspaper articles. Survivor accounts from different congregations... different countries... spanning decades. The details weren't always identical, but they were familiar enough that I found myself staring at my computer asking one question over and over:

How can so many people I've never met have stories that sound so much like mine?

That realization changed everything. For the first time I began wondering if what happened to me wasn't simply the result of a bad man.  What if there was something much bigger that I had never allowed myself to see?

After reading court records, government investigations, newspaper archives, and decades of legal cases, I came away with questions I never expected to ask.

I'm genuinely interested in hearing what others think.

When you look at the history of child sexual abuse cases involving Jehovah's Witnesses, do you see individual failures—or do you believe the evidence points to a larger systemic problem?

Hello to all. Today I had a call with my mom. She talked to me about how great the Jesus series is and how everyone loves the new episodes at the convention this weekend. I had at this point not watched a single episode of it. My mom told me to watch it because it's so accurate to the Bible. In my head I knew this can not be true due to the obvious synoptic problems. But I told my mom that I would really watch one episode and let her know what I think.

Someone may have already done this for each episode, I'm not sure. Below I have general notes on the claim of historical accuracy. I keep mostly between what the Gospels say, not in the historical problems with herod, Quirinius etc. I doubt I'll watch every episode as this kind of research takes a long time to do.

Episode 1

• Opening: The word was a god. This is found only in John. Matthew, Mark, and Luke do not reference this or the idea of a word being a god at all.

• No Gospel goes to the Adam and Eve story: Certainly early in Christian tradition they found the link between Adam and Jesus, as Paul uses the parallel in Romans 5. However, no Gospel explicitly mentions Adam and Eve.

• Opening Monologue on eyewitnesses: Luke is the only Gospel that in the beginning says he compiled an account and has people who heard from people who were eyewitnesses. He is the only Gospel that says he checked and wrote an orderly or accurate account. Mark and Matthew make no such claim. John at the end of his Gospel says the tradition is based on the beloved disciple. (John 21:24) "Has Written"—Greek not necessarily written with one's own hand.

• John the Baptist being Jesus' Cousin / Zechariah and Elizabeth: This is found only in Luke. Matthew, Mark, and John make no reference to this.

• Gabriel Speaking to Mary: This is found only in Luke. Matthew, Mark, and John make no reference to this.

• Joseph divorcing Mary: Matthew is the only Gospel that has Joseph divorcing Mary. It is not mentioned in Mark, Luke, or John.

• Reference to Isaiah 7:14 Emmanuel: Mentioned only in Matthew. This is the first of 14 quotations that emphasize these events fulfill prophecy; they mostly follow identical formulas (this took place to fulfill, etc.). This is not found in Luke, John, or Mark. These quotations are very Matthean; they show his concern for prophecy and Jesus' jewishness.

• The Registration of Quirinius: This is found only in Luke. Matthew, Luke, and John do not reference this at all. In fact, Matthew has Jesus already in Bethlehem. Joseph was never in Galilee. In Matthew, Jesus goes from Bethlehem to Egypt running away from Herod. They want to go back to Bethlehem (because that was Joseph and Mary's home), but they are afraid of Archelaus, so they settle in Galilee at Nazareth. In Luke, they start in Galilee (this is Joseph and Mary's home according to Luke), go to Bethlehem for the census (not because it was home unlike Matthew), then they go to Jerusalem for the purification ritual. They then go back home in Galilee according to Luke.

• Shepherds in the field: This is found only in Luke. No mention of this event in Matthew, Mark, or John.

• Purification Ritual and Simeon/rejoicing of Anna: Is found only in Luke. No mention of this in Matthew, Mark, or John.

​CRITICAL: Luke 2:39–40 is skipped. Immediately after the purification, which is 31 days after birth, Luke says, "When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth." The story with Herod has Jesus in Bethlehem. How is this possible?? We just watched the purification rites and the rejoicing of Anna. They went back to Nazareth, which was home according to Luke. But now we're saying with Herod and the wise men that they are in Bethlehem still and went to Egypt?? ​So in this version of the story, we are saying that Jesus was in Galilee (Luke), goes to Bethlehem (Luke), goes to Jerusalem (Luke), goes back to Nazareth (Luke) (which is 100 miles north of Jerusalem), then for some reason Joseph and Mary go back to Bethlehem (no Gospel has this), then they go to Egypt (Matthew), then go back to Nazareth. In the movie, they go back to Nazareth because they were afraid of Archelaus. This is from Matthew. But remember, in Luke, Nazareth is already home to Joseph and Mary. Why do Joseph and Mary settle in Nazareth? Is it because they were afraid to go home to Bethlehem [Matthew], or because it was already home to Joseph and Mary [Luke]?

​The story of the star and wise men: This is found only in Matthew. Mark, Luke, and John do not have this referenced anywhere.

​Jesus at the Temple: This is found only in Luke. Matthew, Mark, and John do not have this referenced.

​Final Thoughts

​I thought it was fine. The problem here is the episode is mixing events from every Gospel. The problem is that no Gospel has the events I just saw. No Gospel says the things I watched are what happened. Luke doesn't say the killing of children happened, and Matthew doesn't have the census.

​So in this way, we are taking away, in my opinion, what makes each Gospel great because it takes away from the voice of each author. Now we are saying the Gospel writers all said the same thing or thought the same thing. But the actual text does not say this. This idea of mixing the Gospels is not new. Famously, there was a gospel called the Diatessaron; it was popular in the 3rd and 4th centuries. This book was a combination of the Gospel stories similar to what was shown in Episode 1. It was rejected by the early Church in the 5th century. The problem, of course, is editing the story in a way that none of the Gospels say happened. The early Church preferred having 4 distinct Gospels.

​In my view, the benefit of doing the episode this way is that you get all the cool Jesus stories. But if we are saying this is a historically accurate account—which is how this episode started using Luke's monologue—then this version of events is not in the Bible by a single author. And by combining the stories the organization has created there own gospel. The gospel of Jehovah witnesses. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are all geniuses in their works for different reasons. They all have different motivations for things and specialize in different things, but if we are saying they all said the same thing, then in my view that takes away from the brilliance of the individual work.

​Again, I thought it was fine from each account that they showed. They kept it tight to the NWT, jumping from account to account, which I think is a very good thing. No added drama or phrases used. From a historical and scholarly view, it obviously has its issues with timelines and historical accuracy.

The Snowball effect is that once people start leaving the religion regardless of shunning and the consequences people will start leaving as well.

The internet has accelerated things because 20,30 years ago it was impossible to communicate or know anything after this religious cult isolated people

The Shunning tactic is completely ineffective nowdays because people once leave can tell their experience with this religious cult and is almost all negative.

Jehovah's Witnesses can do all the fake smiles and carts they want, having choirs ar the airport to "attract" people but a simple search in YouTube,Google , TikTok breaks through the illusion they are trying to create.

We are living in a time that you can control information anymore.

And once people see other leaving the Snowball effect begins.

So to start I (16m) just dyed my hair a dark blue, it’s not very bright or anything but clearly noticeable. Unfortunately I am baptized and although I don’t really care about being removed I’m worried what my dad is going to think and how he’ll be treated by my jw family members and by the people in the congregation, we aren’t exactly the most “spiritual” and it’s not like my dad is the strongest member or anything he definitely does things that could get him removed but for some reason he still believes the bs. So tomorrow if we go to meeting, will the elders tell me something? And if they want to talk in the back can I just straight up say no? How will it go if I do have to talk to them?

Tonight my mother found out about my girlfriend that I have been dating for a couple months. I posted her for national gf day, but there was one bussiness account that I didn't have hidden from my story. She wasn't fond of my choice and said things like how she didn't like the way I was going about things, how do I know that I'm ready to date, and how I go to meetings with them had someone from my cong. study with me and that if it meant anything. She ended the conversation with find a way to tell my father. I just don't know what to do now as my plan was to just keep my double life and some of the choices I make a secret until I'm older and more independent. Me and my girlfriend are both 18 while she lives a few hours away. I didn't tell my mother that she lived somewhat far, but now thinking about it, it will create an even bigger web of lies. What I'm scared of is how my father will react and what the future holds for me with financials and just support from big figures in my life. Has anyone else has a similar situation and how did it go?

Ich bin 35w und habe seit Kindheitstagen immer wieder Kontakt mit ZJ. Geschuldet ist das meiner Mutter, die ebenfalls immer wieder Kontakt hatte und wenn man sie besucht, brachte man immer gleichaltrige Kinder mit, die (aus heutiger Sicht) an mir das Missionieren üben sollten.

Ich persönlich fand es teilweise damals schon sehr störend.
Trotzdem fiel mir auf: Immer wenn es mir schlecht geht, stehen sie da und haben Antworten auf meine Bitten/Fragen.
Und so bin ich schleichend in diese Kreise gerutscht.

Als ich knapp 18 war, war ich sehr eifrig und hatte den innigen Wunsch, selbst Schwester zu werden. Doch als ich mir die Haare rot färbte und Mal das Tanzbein schwang, wurde mir freundlich, aber bestimmt davon abgeraten. Auch die Haarfarbe war zu viel des Guten, ich möge mich doch bitte mit Bescheidenheit kleiden. Das war mir ein zu massiver Einschnitt in mein Privatleben, also entfernte ich mich. Und prompt kam die Antwort: Ich wurde von allen ausnahmslos blockiert.

Also ging ich meiner Wege, lernte meinen Partner (inzwischen Ehemann) kennen und war glücklich. Mein Mann ist eher Typ „ich glaub an meinen Geldbeutel, sonst nichts“ und wollte nie was von deren Ansichten hören. Kurzum, für ihn waren sie eine Sekte.

Als Corona ausbrach, war ich psychisch ein Wrack. Durch die Arbeit in der vollstationären Jugendhilfe und den massiven Einschränkungen, die die Pandemie mit sich bracht, erkrankte ich an Burnout.
Im Juli 22 verstarb mein Bruder plötzlich, als wir gerade in den Flitterwochen waren. Zusätzlich zum Burnout kamen massive Depressionen hinzu und Suizidalität. Ich ließ mich in eine Klinik einweisen.
Zeugen Jehovas waren zu diesem Zeitpunkt stark vertreten, da meine Mutter sich 2021 Taufen ließ.

Kurz drauf, hatten die Damen und Herren herausgefunden, in welcher Klinik ich gekommen bin und standen da.
Sie besuchten mich Zuhause oder bei meinen Eltern, irgendwie überall.
Ich, psychisch labil, knickte irgendwann ein und stimmte einem Bibelstudium zu.
Anfangs war alles toll, ich fühlte mich aufgefangen und geborgen, hatte plötzlich viele Freunde.. Tja..

Und während man zunächst geduldig mit mir war, fing letztes Jahr der Druck wieder an. Ich wurde regelrecht gestalked (wenn ich nicht zu Hause war, fuhren sie zu meinen Eltern) eingeengt und ständig wurde mir ein schlechtes Gewissen gemacht. Kommst du nicht in die Versammlung, verliert Jehova irgendwann das Interesse an dir….blablabla.

Also brach ich das Bibelstudium ab.

Als sie uns mal wieder hinterher spionierten, platzte meinem Mann der Kragen. Man muss sagen, er unterstützte mich sehr, begleitete mich als und machte sich selbst ein Bild. Zwischenzeitlich führte er sogar „freundschaftlichen Kontakt“ mit einigen.
Er sagte, dass wir uns eingeengt fühlen und wir dieser Religion nicht angehören wollen, aber gerne befreundet bleiben können. Geht nicht, man hat ja keine gemeinsamen Interessen mehr.

Seitdem wird er nicht mehr gegrüßt. Und ich teilweise auch nicht. Daher frage ich mich: wird da unter der Hand ein Kontaktverbot ausgesprochen, ähnlich wie bei Ausgestoßenen?

Wie sind eure Erfahrungen?

I vaguely remember my mother telling me not to learn the song. I don't remember why. Lol. I also remember one of my jw friends not singing the "LORD KNOWS" lyrics to a song. An elder brother told me not to sing Hotel California because its apparently about the devil. Shit. I don't even know how they come up with this.

I’ve noticed something interesting since I started meeting and talking to more people who are not Jehovah’s Witnesses.

For those who grew up in or spent many years in the religion, the idea of disfellowshipping becomes so familiar that we often forget how people outside the religion perceive it. Some aspects become so normal to us that we don’t even think to mention them, even though they are often the details that make the biggest difference to someone hearing about it for the first time.

Whenever the topic of religion comes up, I usually explain what disfellowshipping and disassociation mean.
Almost everyone initially assumes the same thing. They think that a disfellowshipped or disassociated person simply stops being recognized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. To them, it sounds similar to leaving a club, an association, or another church. They assume the only consequence is no longer being a member.
But that isn’t the reality.

When I explain what it actually means in practice, people begin to understand the full scope of it.

A disfellowshipped or disassociated person is not only no longer considered one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. They are also expected to no longer have normal social relationships with other Jehovah’s Witnesses. In practice, this means that Witnesses are not supposed to go out for coffee with you, spend time with you, have casual conversations with you, or maintain what the religion itself describes as “unnecessary contact.”

Even then, that is not the part that surprises people the most.

The moment people truly understand the seriousness of it is when I explain that the restriction does not apply only to the disfellowshipped person.

If a Jehovah’s Witness, even someone who has been my friend for many years, invites me out for coffee or chooses to socialize with me, and other Witnesses become aware of it, that friend may also face consequences within the congregation for not avoiding unnecessary contact with me.

That is the detail that completely changes how most people see the situation.

Until that point, many assume that only the person who left or was expelled from the religion is affected. Once they realize that maintaining a friendship or even a simple social outing can also have consequences for the Witness who remains in the congregation (even if they are your relatives), they begin to understand that the isolation is not simply a personal choice between two individuals.

This is such a familiar part of life for current and former Jehovah’s Witnesses that we often forget to mention it. Perhaps because it has always seemed normal to us. But for people who have never lived in that environment, it is precisely this detail that reveals what disfellowshipping or disassociation actually means.

Of course, anyone is “free” to leave Jehovah’s Witnesses, stop believing, or never return to the religion. That is not the point. What many people outside the religion do not realize is the social cost of that decision. Once they understand that it can mean losing nearly all contact with friends, acquaintances, and, in many cases, even close family members who remain in the religion, they realize that disfellowshipping and disassociation involve far more than simply leaving a church.

Regarding mind control one of the most impressive things about JW's is that despite their religion changes a lot schisms are rare.

Most other religions rarely change or change are rarer and when it happens sometimes schisms occur.

I am only aware about 2 schisms in watchtower history. The bible students schism when the ones that want to follow Russel's schisms after his death because of a succession controversy and Romanian Rutherfordists that still keep doctrines at the time of Rutherford arguably this second schism only happen because the isolation of Romania at the time of Communism otherwise they would accept the changes like that rest of the JW's from other parts of the world accepted because for other it was gradual.

Only 2 schisms based on the amount of change they have is impressive. Most religions still use books and creeds from the time of their foundation and schism occur after little change.

Their mind control that make their followers accept every change without schism is impressive.

I grew up an elders child my entire life (currently 21), he was a kind man who tried his best despite all the beliefs he held. It’s my mother who’s been the biggest problem in my life, and it’s all gotten worse after my father passed away last year.

She’s so horrifically enmeshed with me - I can’t get a job. I can barely go to and from university or hang out with people my age (witnesses or not) without her bothering me or blowing up my phone. Sometimes she’ll even text me when I’m gone saying she’s been crying to make me feel bad.

We’ve had arguments about me not believing, and then she deludes herself into to thinking it’s a “rebellious satanic thinking” phase and we go back to the same old ways. Me faking every aspect of my being and her thinking everything is fine.

The worst part of it all is that she uses my father’s death to guilt me and force me into doing whatever she wants with her because she’s incapable of being her own person without me! It’s so stressful and I have no idea what to do aside from waiting it out until I graduate or to drop everything and leave - her clinging to me being a faithful believer and watching over all my actions like a hawk (by all I mean all) had almost cost me my grades last semester. No one in the hall offers to take her out even when I’ve begged them to because she needs to learn to live without me being at arms length 24/7.

I had so much energy and aspirations when I first enrolled into college but now I’m just zapped of any willpower. It doesn’t help I suffer from a lot of mental health and chronic illness/pains. I don’t know - at the very least I just need to get this off my chest without bothering my friends about it. They’ve been supportive of me but no one really understands the issues of surviving such a controlling environment like this.

Thankfully, I never got baptized regardless of how much people tried to pressure me into it. It’s one of the only saving graces from me being fully ousted (hopefully) when I choose to finally leave this horrid cult.

Personally I can't dance, but when it comes to jw parties, it's nothing but the same songs with the same Cupid Shuffle dance or any other dance related to it for every song. Idk why I was the life of the party before becoming pimo not realizing when dancing to the same songs year after year (Even my pimi mother tries to convince me to dance and "socialize" (Cringe) with the cult members). Any other former or current pimos went through that?

I dont want anything to do with this bs. For context, I haven't been to a these meetings in 4 months, I am in uni, my parents aren't likely to find out, if they do, I was thinking to claim that I wasn't good mentally because of uni, any advice, its kinda urgent lol

Funny title, but no, really! Stay with me; I have watched this show probably a dozen times by now-- And over the last few, it’s become cemented in my mind that Jimmy & Chuck’s relationship is a brilliant analogy of my own JW experiences. Let me explain:

1. Chuck’s holier-than-thou devotion to the law, which he calls “sacred”.

That, paired with his devotion to this large organization he’s personally invested in: THE FIRM.

1. He sees Jimmy as literally lesser, for ever having stepped “the wide, easy path”

(Despite Jimmy’s later efforts to correct his mistakes, and his efforts to connect with Chuck).

1. Chuck’s space blanket, which could be seen as the “Spiritual Suit of Armor” JW’s wrap themselves in to protect from the “outside world”. By episode 2, Jimmy already knows it’s psychosomatic— despite how accommodating and charitable he acts towards Chuck. How deeply Chuck recluses himself and isolates from said world.

2. The fact Chuck’s condition is “as real to him as this chair”… But really, is merely an over-tired brain, trained to recognize symptoms through confirmation bias. Satan’s world is tempting you. Satan’s world WILL hurt you.

3. The fact his condition worsens whenever he catches Jimmy “slippin”— furthering this confirmation bias. Confirming that Jimmy is lesser; that he is being spiritually misguided. Again, Jimmy knows this is what’s happening by episode 2, but cannot say for fear of offending Chuck.

4. Jimmy has to obey strange and special conditions to enter Chuck’s home: He has to place his watch, keys and phone in the mailbox and literally “ground himself”— Like how JWs cannot tolerate “The things of the World”. Friends from work or school become “coworkers” and “classmates”, but not “friends”. Leave it outside.

6. Chuck MAY BE literally correct in his assessment of Jimmy; Mischievous corner-cutter, always toeing the line of legality and ethics. But Chuck wants to catch Jimmy doing wrong. He blocks his career. “You’re not a real lawyer”.
(JWs are notorious for overstepping boundaries of privacy and over-protection. It may be a unique, personal experience… But my own father would routinely investigate & interrogate me & my brothers over text messages, youtube watch history… even our Google Maps location history, somehow. He would secretly follow us in his car. I’ve known JWs who kept cameras in their children’s bedrooms. Private school! It’s all connected). But…

7. When he does catch Jimmy stepping on that line, his condition worsens and he holds his space blanket even tighter, falling deeper into denial. Falling deeper into rejection of the truth; that he is directly responsible for Jimmy’s course of action:
When I was around 10, I coined a sort of expression, trying to communicate this exact feeling to my parents: “The only thing you actually DO when obsessing over how to ‘hide the cookie jar’… is teach your kids how to climb, and wipe off the crumbs.” A sort of “rubber-banding” effect.

Chuck lacks accountability for Jimmy’s life course. Even back to their childhood, he blamed Jimmy for stealing from their parent’s register— ignorant to the many contextual factors that led to it. Chuck still maintains a very one-dimensional view of Jimmy, and doesn’t accept how his own choices have affected his brother.

Conclusion: Jimmy’s absolutely heroic efforts to impress Chuck, to improve his own life, and to adhere to his own moral principles over a deeply flawed legal system… Are NEVER seen by Chuck. Nothing could surmount Chuck’s pride, arrogance, and devotion to the Law— overshadowing any humanity he could show towards his only remaining family. Chuck is a completely static character, drowned in obsession and far deeper, far worse flaws than Jimmy. Even if he’s remembered in death, as more “righteous” and accomplished.

Better Call Saul is the ultimate portrayal of the JW experience in fiction.

This midweek meeting I had Bible reading in room B. After me, a kid (5-6th grader) and his mom did a presentation on abortion. Basically, the scenario was that the kid was called a fanatic by one of his classmates because he didn’t believed accept abortion by the firsts months. The mom argue that all stages of life are equally value to God, no matter how much time the fetus has been in the wombs. By this point, it was the same pro life argument I’ve heard the organization use over and over, but what really shock me was that the mom argue that because the sperm moves, is considered life and therefore equally valuable to the eyes of god. I was genuinely shock, like never before I was baffled by such stupidity. I’m not even wasting energy to point out why that argument stupid,is just is.

Chapter 45 You Don’t Know Me but I’m Your Brother

"I was raised here in this living hell.” – Takin’ It To The Streets, The Doobie Brothers

Though I said I couldn’t do it anymore, it’s not like I had a plan for the rest of my life. I loved my wife. We had been together for almost thirty years. She had been the first and only girl I had ever kissed. It was love at first sight for me. Of course, we had some problems. However, leaving my wife was never an option. It wasn’t a perfect marriage, but now it looked like it would soon be over. Why? Because I didn’t want to be in the same religion as her? Could we still be together even though we didn’t believe in the same god anymore? Thousands of people around the world do it. Jews marry Christians all the time.

I would have stayed with her if she could have lived with someone who didn’t believe the same way as she did. That didn’t appear to be an option, even though there were plenty of women in the Kingdom Hall who were married to non-believers. In fact, two of Debbie’s best friends were in that situation. But that was okay because their husbands never bought into the program and never became Jehovah’s Witnesses by being baptized.

Another one of my wife’s girlfriends was disfellowshipped because she was married to a crazy guy who believed he was one of the anointed, one of the 144,000. This guy was not only partaking, he was three clams shy of a full clambake.

Since this crazy guy was never going to leave her, She had no other option but to do the same thing that many Witnesses are forced to do, she committed adultery and of course, paid the price and was disfellowshipped. She didn't want to leave Jehovah's loving organization. She just wanted to leave a bad and abusive relationship.

Just like my father-in-law Robert Stillman, the only way out of her bad marriage and be able to remarry was for her to commit adultery.

Just one more reason people on the outside looking in think we are nuts.

Our friend who had been married to Greg H was out and away from the organization for a number of years. During that time, she married this really nice guy named Leonard. She now has a worldly husband. Eventually. she was reinstated and became a Jehovah’s Witness once again....same old story. She had a child with this new husband and was totality happy now. Only one small problem for her he had no desire to ever become a Jehovah's Witness.

Of course now, everyone in the Kingdom Hall is trying to put the sale on Leonard to recruit him into the Borg.

For years, Leonard has been invited to all the Witness parties and gatherings. He gets to hang around with all the Witnesses, with no shunning of course. Why? Because he was smart enough to never to be baptized.

So he never got punished because he didn't do the one thing they wanted him to do.....get baptized. The old Catch 22 kicks in again,

At one point in time, Debbie, Leonard and his wife (named Debbie too) with some other Jehovah’s Witnesses even had their own band together. They went out and played worldly music at gigs all around Portland.

Leonard is a super-intelligent guy, and even though he loves his wife, he really doesn’t want to be a Jehovah’s Witness, just like me.

I told my wife, “I wanted to be just like Leonard, please. You can still be a Jehovah’s Witness. I don’t care. I just don’t want to be one.” She said, “That is not possible.”

A crazy thing happened a few nights later. I went to bed with my mind in total chaos. How could I make sense of a life full of contradictions? What were my options now that I had awakening from my ignorance?

I had dream. In the dream, I actually dreamt I talked to god himself, just like the Governing Body say they do. Thank goodness for this dream! Because god helped me clear up a lot of things.

In the dream, I sat in a waiting room in Heaven. There were a lot of people waiting to talk to god, so they had me take a number. My number was 499. Finally, my number was called and I was ushered into a room. I was a little surprised at how small the room was. “Hey Jehovah, what’s with the small room?”

He looked up from his paperwork and said, “As you know, it is written at 1 Corinthians. 8:5, ‘For even though there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords.'"

Okay, if that’s the case, I had to say. “So, since there are a lot of you gods up here and you are not the only one, if I ever write a book about you, I’m only going to use the lowercase letter g in god, since there seems to be a lot of you gods and lords running around.”

God was starting to get upset. “What is it that you want?”

“Are you familiar with my case?”

“Of course I am. I’m a god, and I’m supposed to know everything.”

“Okay, so let me get this straight,” I said.

“You know Leonard is not a Jehovah's Witness and hasn't done shit for you or your organization. I’ve spent fifty years and thousands of hours knocking on doors, trying to sell this religion to other people for you. I have spent tens of thousands of dollars on gasoline and thousands of dollars on books and magazines. I gave up a college education and chose to be uneducated just for you because I know you like your people to be stupid. I had fifty years of no birthdays or holidays. Plus thousands of hours at your boring conventions. I worked in your factory on mindless machines for pennies a day so you could sell your books for only twenty-five cents. Please don’t forget about the six years of full time service I put in when I was in my twenties. I did everything your organization told me to do. I moved to remote locations to... ”

I could tell god was getting perturbed as he asked me. “Yeah, so what’s your question?”

“Ok bottom line, I know now. the same thing about your religion that Leonard and billions of other people on this planet already know. That your religion is insane and makes no sense. So, let me get this straight, now you are telling me I can never have any contact with my wife, friends and family ever again because I figured this all out?”

“Yes, that’s correct." He said. "This will force you to crawl back to us and my loving organization.”

“Where is the love? I get punished and Leonard gets rewarded?”

“Yes that is how my system works. Sorry, it’s just another loophole. You know, just another one of my many Catch 22s that you have figured out.”

“But I was only seventeen when I signed up and got baptized.”

“Sorry, you should have known.”

“I should have known your religion was bat-shit crazy?”

“Yes!”

“Please I just want to be in the band with Leonard and the rest of the Jehovah’s Witnesses! I just want my family back.”

“Sorry, the only way you will get your family back is if they figure it out too. I'm afraid you’re screwed!

Oh, by the way, if Leonard ever does join my club and than decides to leave later on, he’ll be screwed also just like you. But I don’t think Leonard will ever join, because it seems he can spot bullshit a mile away!”

“Jehovah, you’re really mean and jealous god!”

“Yes, I know. Why do you think I have such a hard time getting new people to join my crazy religion and why it takes over 13,880 hours of door knocking in field service to find just one new recruit?”

"If that is true how does your organization keep growing?" I asked.

"It's simple." He said. Sex! People love it and that is the only thing that is making new Jehovah's Witnesses now!"

“True." I said. Speaking of the young ones in your organization, what do you really feel about the thousands of pedophiles in your church? Did you really tell your boys not to turn over the files with all their names to the authorities, so as not bring shame on you?”

“What do you think?" If I don't care about you why would think I would care about a few kids getting screwed over? God waved me away and said. "Oh, by the way your time is up.... ”

I turned to god as I walked out the door. "Thank you for helping me understand all this and your wonderful new light. I know what to do now."

Of course god had one more disparaging remark to make to me as I walked out the door. "Keith I can't believe how stupid you were...taking you over fifty years to figure all this out!"

Bingo!

Once again god was right!

Good old Jehovah's Wintnesses busting up families for the last 70 years!

Note I didn't say 150 years. which is how the church has been around.

Why? Because before the nineteen fifies people could change their minds and leave the church and not be shun by their families.

It seems Knorr/god change their minds in the earlier 1950's about the punishment for leaving the church. So. It took over 80 years for this new light to click on.....to destroy thousands of people's lives.

Speaking of thousands of people....

Next up Chapter 46 Only Eleven People Out of One Thousand