I had a JW buddy in school. She hung out w us goth/losers since we were they only ones in the higher level classes who would talk to her. But we had to be on the down low, god forbid her JW parents find out. Especially since her non-JW cousin who was gay was in our group. But she still was super isolated. She could never or almost never hang out outside school. Her parents would only let her out for school projects done at the library. Plus she had meetings, and her parents constantly were pulling her out for 'vacations' which always involved door knocking or construction- if in beautiful exotic places. And we were acting like teens. Partying, dating, staying up all night screwing up- not the best choices but super normal. And alot of us were deconstructing religion, I left my Catholic upbring and was already an atheist. Almost 1/2 our group was LGBT+ still a no-no. And she couldn't listen to our music, watch most movies etc. She missed alot of our pop culture references and was always seemed a few years behind us. I feel awful for her now. She was under such tight reins. I often wonder what happened to her. She was a literal child in a cult. She was so isolated even from the couple of kids that hung out w her. I hope she got out. She was super smart- hope she woke up before she was married off to some elder. I wonder how the sex abuses cases affected her? Or all the failed predictions etc.
Sophia being out on her own would only be part of the story. What they don't show is the bullying and criticism for being 'different' she would likely be getting. Perhaps even worse as she gets older and in high school. Children can be pretty merciless.
While there are great benefits of being friends with an adult or two so they can share their knowledge with you. They DON’T face the same challenges as you are a kid.
It made me laugh because a lot of JW young adults act like immature dumbasses just like that girl in the video. Only that type of person would want to be friends w a little kid.
Bingo! That makes a whole lot of sense!How can, what justification excuses, do u JW have for this one. That's really what started this whole nasty mess with them. And they are still in denial. That is very sad 😩
This was me as a child. Always isolated. I wanted to join choir but it unterfered with the meetings, which is why I will never limit my daughter with any activity she wants to do in school.
Same, add in all the normal isolation of being a kid in a new school and then add in the fact that your parents are raising you in a cult too. I remember being ecstatic when one of the kids my age invited me over to play Pokemon. I told my mother and she actually got upset at ME, a child, not only for wanting to play "demonic Pokemon" but also for having "worldly friends" - imagine how confusing that is for a developing mind!
I’ll introduce you to my 30yr. Old teenage son! Me and my wife woke up almost 3yrs. Ago but we are paying the consequences for not letting my son be a kid , but indoctrinated him with this BS! 😡
I hope everyone born into this cult are able to break the shackles of their indoctrination... I realize just how lucky I was to be raised to think for myself and think critically... Continue your great work, Lloyd, and best wishes to everyone... Peace...
It must be extremely hard for any 2nd or 3rd or even 4th generation JW to break free from this cult. I said so because I was in for 10 years and I was only the first generation and I had no families in the cult but I still have traumas and unwanted flashbacks every now and then ever since I left a year and a half ago. The psychological burden is hellishly unbelievable.
@@Sean-gio2 I listened to an interview of a 3rd generation woman leaving it. She's very happy and enjoying life. But I think this is due to her husband and children leaving and you cna also see she is that one woman who had a good childhood which made her prone to stress.
The school bus scene just made me think about how I was essentially never invited to any of my fellow pupils right after school. I also never had anyone over. It’s depicting that she doesn’t have any friends that are close enough to go home with and do homework together before playing together.
You see if you have a neutral relationship with them you gonna eventually get an invite or two since they aren’t gonna be rude- YOU SHOULD REJECT AND LECTURE ‘EM SO THEY DON’T TRY AGAIN. 😐
That was my interpretation also. I think they were trying to show the lack of relationships outside of school with peers rather than imply that you shouldn’t pick your child up from school.
I remember one special time when I dared bring a school friend home for lunch at about around 10 years old. ...omg it was as if armageddon had hit, the reaction from my mom was over the top. I still have that friend ( not a JW) and we both remember that day 😱😳
@@francinemirey1555 there was one time I went out with a classmate and I was treated like I killed a person while only thing we did is walk around and talk.
@@francinemirey1555 We had a JW girl in our class. She was painfully shy, and always had to move her desk to the hallway and sit out there alone when we did activities related to Christmas or Easter. When I was about 9, she invited me to play at her house after school. It was no fun at all. Too cold to play outside, no tv, no snacks. I did ask her about all the hallway time she had to do and she was clearly uncomfortable, and gave me an answer like that they didn't believe in those things, but didn't elaborate. She didn't want to talk and there was nothing fun to do. I never went back, I invited her to my house and she couldn't come. That was pretty much the end of us playing together. It's been decades and I still think of her from time to time, I felt really bad for her. My family was really, really poor, and not exactly full of love, but still I was grateful not to have to be in her family. I hope life improved for her.
I remember the sick glee and delight my parents took any time I was bullied or had a hard time at school, as if that somehow vindicated their beliefs. Nothing makes them happier than pretending to be persecuted.
That's it exactly, I have been trying to figure out how to express how my mom reacted when I would be bullied because along with her giving some comfort there was a feeling that did not feel right, I couldn't describe it. But it was glee and delight, she would say "happy are those persecuted for my name" or something along those lines, and It was like I was supposed to be happy I got bullied. I just stopped telling her whenever the bullying related to me being JW in any way, because it hurt to hear her seem happy it was happening and have the conversation turn into another indoctrination session.
Because it's a cult tactic to make members think that everything outside the cult is bad and evil, and everything inside the cult is good. It's important to create a huge "us vs. them" belief system so the members will stay in.
"Oh my god, yay, finally my beliefs are confirmed! The feeling of doubts and underlying guilt that I have to suppress 24/7 (probably) is finally worth it! This is real solid evidence that I am living life how I am supposed to live! Well, I mean, my innocent young child is being hurt, but who cares? That is a small price to pay for confirming my beliefs." That is very, very messed up. I am sorry for everyone who went through this.
This is child abuse. And my heart breaks because I did this to my children. Thankfully they never became JW's and refused to take part as teenagers. But we have all suffered religious trauma because of this CULTure...
@@bobbycecere1037 Yes it is Isolating children from their peers not allowing them to participate in school or recreational activities I studied with a woman who had 3 children for 3 years and in that time I never saw them with any of the neighborhood children , no friends from school ever came to their house. No hobbies or interests constantly telling them worldly people are bad associates. I don’t think it was a health environmental for children to be in I recently reconnected with one of the kids on Facebook and she admitted to me how she missed out on so much as a kid growing up she and her siblings are no longer witnesses and she is raising her children completely different and allowing them to do the things she missed out on as a kid growing up.
@marwatson7408 Regardless of how YOU feel about people raising thier children to be careful about who they choose for friends, it obviously isn't child abuse. No court or judge is going to agree that it's abusive. There have always been parents who are strict about who they allow into thier child's life. People from MANY different religions, ethnicities and countries. This is IN NO WAY an isolated thing among JWs. There are parents who aren't even religious who pick children's friends for them.
Out of all the terrible Caleb and Sophia videos, this has to be one of the absolute worst. My heart goes out to the poor children who are being subjected to it. I remember being a Sophia myself, and this ideology is incredibly harmful. Thank you for calling the organization out on this.
@@bobbycecere1037 isolating a child from their peers, teaching them they can only be firends with people who agrees with their system of believes, teaching the child they should suppress their potential and instead go with highly controlled message their parents program into them. There's a message for parents as well - that they should steer their children into those conclusions. They should isolate their children and yet put them deliberately into situations where they could be emotionally harmed. There's a lot to unpack in this cartoon
End of the series: Sophia becomes an apostate, moves to Boston with Zoey and they go to Harvard for Biotechnology and Engineering then they get married and adopt children from other countries
How would she get the connections to get into Harvard? It's not about SAT scores or grades to get it there....Maybe she could become an anti JW influencer. Ivy leagues are all about accepting influencers now (it used to be Hollywood Celebrities)
I’d like to add that I think Caleb also leaves the church and starts a successful DND podcast. Where he opens up about the trauma of having his wizard toy thrown out by his mom
Not a music club, or a literary club, or sports club. No, no .....has to be science because they know that Sophia might learn to be a critical thinker if she gets involved in science.
I've seen some Caleb and Sophia videos where the classmates are portrayed as rude and gross, making it easier for the kids to shun them in these stupid cartoons. Did anyone else notice that the three science kids that tried to befriend Sophia did absolutely nothing wrong? And were in fact very friendly and kind to Sophia? And they STILL deserved to be shunned because science is evil and stuff?
There was a video where Sofia asked a new girl to sit with her during lunch. She was from India and Sofia asked about her outfit. Weird how things change from 1 episode to the next.
Children in this cult have a hard time being happy. They are forced to appear happy. Public school is a nightmare as you are supposed to see everyone as an enemy of God and you are also reminded that you are Jehovah's enemy from birth until the day you get baptized and fully dedicate yourself to the cult. I had a "double life" because I had worldly friends and I was reminded of how doomed I was going down the worldly path.
@@biromate2237 it wasn't easy, my parents were constantly nagging, spanking, and grounding me just for playing with kids on my way home from school. Not to mention other children in the Kingdom Hall avoided me because I was one the "bad kids"
The true gospel: Jesus, God manifest in the flesh, died for us on the cross and saves us by grace and our faith in Him as Lord and Savior. Once you believe and profess it,you know that list full of sins we have? Blood fell on it and God can no longer read it, because through Christ we are all justified, saved and born again. If we happen to fall into sin, just confess it and we will be forgiven. Also, Jesus rose again on the third day.
@@june5831 Are you EVER going to cover who jeopardized us, then? And if Adam knew he could 'give away' a world, or jeopardize others? And all this boils down, to two fairly innate, questions: One - how did Romans 1:18 (or it's equivalent) FAIL so hard, in the angelic realm, with hundreds of angels? And two - why is Satan, post exile, OWED anything? In Job, in access to this world, in keeping powers. Also, is he 'spiritually dead' (like many say we are - by default - post Genesis 3:22?) and what, does it, actually mean, to be so? As it does not appear, to mean 'spiritually neutered'. Meantime, 'justify' Exodus 21:4-7. And He, also, never had, to 'read' it. Or owe Satan any of his silly pleas.
And they forgot to tell you that when you grew up and learn to use your critical thinking and stop thinking like them, they would shun you and your family would stay away from you! Disgrace!
The Caleb & Sofia videos are probably among the best anti-JW material ever produced. There's no beating around the bush. It's straight to the point in exposing the organization for what it is. I hope Tony MacAllan, Stephen Clown, David Combover and friends will keep releasing them. 😁
No lies told! I hated those cartoons! From the first episode on, they gave me the creeps with how blatant their message was. That was the only cartoon I was happy about NOT watching!
I am not, nor have I ever been, involved with JW, but this show is the main example I've been given as a basic introductory course to the community. It's particularly interesting since it's made by JW for JW, which makes it super extra horrifying. Like, this isn't meant to show how horrible it is to outsiders; this is them being open about their expectations to each other and outsiders. Like, damn, what stuff do they keep hidden?
Ex-Mormon here. It’s so spooky how much the JW leaders sound like the the Mormon leaders, down to their voice inflections and when they pause in sentences. I almost felt like I was listening to a Mormon General Conference.
Growing up a Jehovah Kid in the 70s and 80s I always had to be careful what I said and who I was "friends" with. Dad meant well I know but once I called a classmate a friend and he said "no, you have acquaintances at school, your friends go to the kingdom hall." Of course I couldn't do sports or clubs or holidays or birthdays. I never felt like I fit in anywhere. To this day I still struggle with always second guessing myself.. my brother on the other hand got over it quickly, though perhaps with the help of copious amounts of drugs. I can't believe the org is still so strict.
cygnustsp, That's such a sad story, especially with your father telling you that the other kids at your school aren't your friends, they are only acquaintances and that only other JW kids were your friends. It's teaching children raised as JWs to believe in an us versus them narrative at a young age and teaching them to segregate themselves from larger society.
@@b.w.7588 Yes. Ironically, It's when a JW decides to leave the Cult and live their lives in Reality and On Their Own Terms; That the "Friends" are proven to have only been "Aquaintences" and the rejected "Aquaintences" and other "Outsiders" are proven Real "Friends".😣💔🤷🏻♀️
@@b.w.7588 That's all part of cult indoctrination. Creating an "us vs. them" atmosphere where anything & anyone outside the cult is bad and/or evil, and everything inside the cult is good and holy.
Sofia’s prayer wasn’t answered. She didn’t get a friend her age. When you’re a kid, even a couple of years makes a difference, let alone a teenager being friends with a child.
This is very true. My Catholic school bundled grades 5 through 12 in the same building and while it tried to keep older kids and younger ones from interacting by having classes in different floors, the playground was common and it caused a lot of friction. It came up with a “older brother/older sister” system in which 9th graders took 5th graders under the wing. Most 9th graders ignored the whole thing but a friend of mine did not. She would spend the entire lunch break with her “little sister” and it drove me insane. I couldn’t speak up my mind and had to censor myself at every turn. Perhaps more importantly, this was not good for the kid. Instead of bonding with her peers, she was off being a kind of pet to my friend. Needless to say, my friend got bored, eventually, and dropped the kid…who was deeply hurt. I ignored my “little brother” after the mandatory first day that we were forced to spend together. I could tell he was just embarrassed, hanging out with an older girl. I told him to drop by my class if he was having problems with other kids, he never did.
This hit so close to home and I wanted to share something that I’ve found super helpful. When I disassociated myself several years ago at 36 years of age, I came into the world feeling as though I had never been “allowed“ to do anything. The first thing I did was sign up for an improv class - and it was absolutely the best thing I could’ve done. Suddenly, here I was surrounded by all kinds of people - varying ages, races, and beliefs, gay, straight, varying backgrounds - all playing together, having an irreverent amazing time. Not only was I able to have an absolute blast with these people - but I was able to wholeheartedly embrace them. Nothing can give me back missing out on practically everything as a child - but improv has finally given me permission to play, without shame or guilt. Try it! Cheaper than therapy and so much more fun.
This reminds me of as a child when a JW kid asked what being a Girl Scout was like. She wasn't allowed to join and I felt bad, she actually convinced me to let her see my Girl Scouts Handbook. She really wanted to join on Wednesdays, but her services were on those days. She also tried to impress me when she recited the Girl Scout Promise and The Girl Scout Laws. She really would have made an amazing Scout with me. I felt bad she couldn't do this which was something fun.
I really want someone to make a fan work of Caleb and Sophia where they find their way out of the religion and go on to lead happier lives, getting to finally do everything they never got to do when they were kids.
I think someone did something like that. I seem to remember a short video of Caleb being an adult and talking about being disfellowshiped and how hes done since then
There are a few videos of them as adults. The kids got kicked out and the dad was an alcoholic. Mom was on all these antidepressants and hitting Sophia up for money.
I always get aggravated to see that the so-called "worldy" kids are always portrayed as being dumb, very loud and greedy while Sofia is portrayed as the quiet little angel barfff!!!
And even then, the kids aren't even malicious, they're just being kids! They're not making fun of Sophia and Caleb, except for maybe the bullying episode, they just wanted to ask questions. And now suddenly, that turns into an unrelated, conflation? Would that be the right word? Or just gaslighting of "Oh hey, those kids are gonna hurt you and they're not doing what Jehovah wants so ignore them and never be friends with them."
Growing up as JW child has put me at a great disadvantage. Children grow up in fear of EVERYTHING! It has been mentally exhausting trying to decode my anxious thoughts.
Thirty years ago I remember a dude my age was studying and came to all the meetings. He wanted to join the ministry school but the stupid overseer pointed as his soul patch and said that'll have to go. He never came to another meeting.
Hey Lloyd! I'm a Spanish PIMO and I want to share something interesting that you might want to discuss on your channel. In 2019, an association of former JW members in Spain was created to provide support, a space to share experiences and also offer psychological support. They were officially registered under the name of AEVTJ (Asociación Española de Víctimas de los Testigos de Jehová) in English "Spanish Association of Victims of Jehovah's Witnesses". They also have social profiles and a website where they talk about JW: child abuse, gender violence, manipulative traits... And above all, how this damages people mentally and emotionally. Well, last year the headquarters of Bethel in Spain legally denounced this association because "its statements damage its image and honor", they also demand that the association remove the word "victims" from its name. The trial began last month and there have been 3 sessions and there are two more to go. The funniest thing is that Spain was a country that lived very far from the danger of this sect, for them they were just extremely annoying people who were always bothering from door to door. But as a result of this commotion, the media have inquired more into the matter, the victims tell their experiences in the news and also are talking about what happened in Australia and Norway. This has made the "leaders" of the JW very nervous, who have been instigating the media with letters demanding that they rectify the information they are giving with subtle threats : D. All this is really amazing. I wish and hope that they lose the trial. If the AEVTJ won the trial, it would be recognizing in Spain that Jehovah's Witnesses violate human rights and could lose their status as a religion in Spain 🤭 (EDIT: For all those who are interested in this topic: There is only one session left of the trial, it will be on January 30, 2023. The AEVTJ association has commented on their Facebook that the course of the trial is being positive for them although they didn't expect the lack of empathy that Jehovah's Witnesses shown for the victims who recounted their experience at trial. The lawyer, Carlos Bardavío, an expert in legal issues related to sects, is defending the AEVTJ voluntarily and without profit, something curious that contrasts with the prosecution, cause Jehovah's Witnesses once again have used Massimo Introvigne, known "expert" on "religious minorities", known for defending sects for money basically. He has defended satanist groups and scientology, you can look him up anywhere on the internet. And this man, Massimo Introvigne appears on the website of Jehovah's Witnesses as a defending sociologist. Not long ago Introvigne published in his own digital magazine an article against the AEVTJ, comparing them to the Nazis! and discrediting Bardavío, the lawyer for the victims' association. And that's all for now... Once again I apologize for my bad English)
@@williambizcocho9549 I hope so too. Thing is, I can't help but think this is weird. How Bethel didn't think this could clearly turn against them. I see complete desperation in their actions. Since the pandemic began MANY Jehovah's Witnesses have stopped going to meetings because they felt less pressure to go. And since then the theme of apostasy has been much more recurring than before. Almost every meeting explicitly or implicitly talks about it. They are losing support and can only act in a desperate way: covering the eyes and ears of those inside and shutting the mouths of those outside.
In the end, who try to continúe doing bad things, and triying to hide It, eventually the truth always go out. This is the problem when you lie, time by time, at the end, the líes come back to you.
The Governing Body just cannot understand others who have the right to free speech since it doesn’t exist within the organisation. Any criticism is regarded as blasphemy ,They have made idols of themselves hence the outrage ..Wonderul work Congratulations
Sofia doesn't say she wishes she had friends but that she had "kid friends" inferring she has adult friends. At the end she makes a new adult friend and invited her to her bedroom (albeit with her mother present)
Sophia wanted more "kid friends" but Lydia seems significantly older to me both in her design and the way she speaks to Sophia, almost like a tutor or camp counselor. Sophia still isn't allowed to have a friend her own age she can be imaginative and playful with, but a study buddy/babysitter.
One of my childhood friends was a JW. I was a kid, so I didn't really know what that meant; all I knew was that she couldn't celebrate her birthday. Whenever I would go to her house, her mother would either give me a bunch of pamphlets, or she had this workbook where you read a short story and answered a few questions at the end. I just did it so we could get to playing. I never said anything, because I didn't really think anything of it. Until one day I mentioned it off-hand at home. My mother lost her shit. That's the only way I can describe it. I was forbidden to go over her house. I told my friend I couldn't go to her house anymore, but we could still hang out. One day my friend’s mother saw me and started straight up interrogating me. I was a kid, I didn't want to hurt her feelings. Then she asked if my parents thought they were better than her. So, I told her the real reason. I know she called my mother, but she never said what they talked about. I have a pretty good idea though. I had never seen her as pissed as she was that day. Lol
What a story. I can only imagine the fury of a mother who finds out that some other adult has been trying to indoctrinate her child into JW behind her back.
I would have allowed the visits because I know how important you were for the girl. BUT I would have explained what the family is trying to do. I am an adult child of JW (baptized when I already moved out) and my parents sometimes try to teach my kids. I explain them that their grandparents believe things we do not believe and why. I think it was great the girl had opportunity to have an outsider as friend. But I think you have to know JW to reflect it.
Not my story, but a horror story of my cousin’s. When he was in Kindergarten, one of his classmates always had to go out in the hall when they were celebrating someone’s birthday. The day of his birthday came around, and he asked the teacher if her and the class would sing Happy Birthday to him while he sat out in the hall. This was really messed up and sad! I also had to deal with a lunch lady at my first school who was a JW, and she got mad when some of us said “Bless you Boys.” People were saying this days after the Detroit Tigers won the World Series in 1984. In general, this lady was just a piece of work and something else.
@@biromate2237 exactly, when i was in second grade there were a few kids who the teacher would send to another classroom when there was a birthday party. I had at first thought they had done something wrong, and had been excluded. If school is bad for JWS I can’t imagine growing up with strict JW parents. If I had grown up with that lunch lady and her family I’d be living down at the local juvenile home Moore then I would be living at home I would have fought back that much.
Jeff K, What's really creepy is that that JW woman who worked in your school's cafeteria may have been spying on the JW kids at lunch with the intent of policing their every move, and it sounds like she was even trying to police the non-JW kids for saying something as well-meaning but harmless like "bless you" because it goes against her faith.
@@b.w.7588 she didn’t just work in the cafeteria, she was in charge of us while we played. That is she assigned us what to play and who to play with. One day, we were outside, and I sat down to relax and she told me to get up and do what she said, and all I wanted to do was catch my breath before class. This person had worked at this school for just about the whole time I was there, and even started before then. Near the end of her time, she became even more of a bitch then she had ever been. My regular teacher would get mad at us for not liking and respecting her.
Exactly! I’m 61yrs. Young and almost 3 yrs ago the light bulb went on! Geeez if I don’t think like them I’m out of the club! The billion dollar real estate publishing company!
I was a Jehovah's Witness for 22 years.Watching the Lloyd Evans video's is what gave me the intention to leave them.Friends of 22 years have now gone so were they really friends to start with?
no....cpnditional friends are worse than enemies....just find yourself disfellowshipped. You will learn this most painful lesson.....and it will be life-changing.
Sounds familiar,i left them because of health reasons.and even my only sister.don't talk to me now.they are so cruel.i regret wasting my time there.evil cult
Sophia has to take the bus because her mother is "out in service". Sophia usually has a concerned expression due to her thoughts of "how can I avoid making Jehovah sad by something I might do wrong".
No, Sophia had to take the bus because something was wrong with the mom's car!!🤣 The father looks at the engine & shuts the hood, no tools, no starting the engine, sorry, not fixing mom's car!!!😹 I thought that part was crazy!!! That's my silly take on the car thing🤣🤣
“God loves you so much that he doesn’t want you to be happy! He just wants you to devote your entire life to serving him, isn’t that cool??” “Hello, 911? I don’t feel safe.”
“God has a whole universe to take care of with possibly lots of life, but he focuses on one galaxy, one solar system, one planet, and only cares about us jws being friends with other jws, and will send a murderer who ‘repented’ on death row to heaven, and you to hell if you don’t restrict your entire life to certain strict rules”
Honestly, even if we don’t agree with how they saw things, this a very understandable reaction to somebody showing up and basically uprooting your entire way of life. We have to remember how radical his teachings were at the time, and as a woman of course she was gonna be concerned about her friends being told to go against the roles established for them by a man the governing body didn’t approve of
-The school bus scene was to show all her classmates (friends? idk) were going somewhere together after school, and Sophia feels left out for not being invited (or maybe she was off screen but declined) . Other Caleb and Sophia episodes showed the two being picked up by their parents rather than taking the bus. - i find it funny that the 'wrong' people in the story are the ones telling Martha that getting taught by Jesus wasn't what a woman should do and she needs to stay in the kitchen, when in an earlier episode, Sophia is actively discouraged from getting a higher education (we also never see the mom at a job or a mention of one, and she's usually depicted doing housework, so im sure its implied she's a housewife.) -what's weird is Sophia has told _several_ classmates about Jehovah and they believe her/will listen to her talk about him and it seems like she converted at least one. If they had done something where the kids asked her but she said 'oh no I have meetings that night' and they tried to talk her out of it, then it would make a bit more sense...? But all they did was say 'you're smart! We'd love to have you!' -Lydia is probably a teenager (im gonna estimate maybe 14-16? or she's an adult, its hard to tell) I could see it as a 'big sister figure', but something doesn't sit right with Sophia having no friends and it being depicted that this much older person is gonna be her only friend. Seems like an open door for grooming to start...
I never had any friends, not because the kids didnt want to play with me, but because i was taught that i should ACTIVELY avoid other kids. And in the kingdom hall no kids invited me for anything or talked with me. As an young adult i have difficulties socializing because of the CULT.
My old coworker (I thought we were friends but I’m not a JW so it didn’t last long) is older than me, but she had such a doe-eyed, naïve outlook that I had to teach her basic things about social interactions. She wanted to go to a club with me because she had never been, and when the security guard was nice to her, she gave him her number and told me that she couldn’t stop thinking about him, even when he texted her to let her down gently. I had to explain that he was telling her he wasn’t interested, and she still texted him for weeks thinking he’d ask her out any day. It was hard to watch.
I don't know how you can watch that video as a loving parent and think "yes, this is the religion for me and my kids". That video basically states kids should be isolated and lonely, be battling demons and the world whilst their peers have fun, feel insecure, make friends with adults only, be judgemental, not pursue their talents and honestly be the dumbest person in the classroom. How do you want that for your kid
Because they have been brainwashed the same way. Some do left because they realize it is not good for literally any kid, but others love more their religion than their children
My parents grew up telling me to be friends with the children in the Kingdom Halls😭 it was only fun going out bc we all were on the same page and did the most absolute dumb shit but we had to find ways to make the best of it since we were only subjected to hang out with each other. We’re still good friends now except for one who decided to fully give her life away🤷🏽♀️she haven’t shunned us yet but I know it’s coming
😢 Wow, this is incredibly sad. I can totally relate to this scene. As a Jehovah’s Witness I was never allowed to even talk to the other kids at school. I really wanted to be in some photography classes and drama classes and sports, I wanted to do everything I was always interested in pretty much anything, but was never allowed to even try it, I remember once when I rebelled in the third grade and took a part in the Christmas play and did all the practices that we had during school time but of course I could not show up for the final production, and my teacher was pissed! I just wanted to belong! What was so wrong with that?
@@shiftyourmindset2 thank you.. it’s been a long road, and I spent too much of it being sad and wishing that I could have been something, but now I am taking control, and taking my life back. I can only hope that so many more of us finally stand up, and reclaim what’s left of our lives and heal the trauma of our youth❤️
@@BlaaBlahBlacksheep being sad is also part of healing but nice to hear your taking control , means you have self love and that’s what we never knew because we were looking for live outside us, in people and ‘god’. But it was conditional love and now we are free and the most important project is you. I’m so happy that more people wake up now
@@unclesalty7778 great advice. Thank you! I work very hard to help her grow up confident of her self and I focus on teaching her. Nobody is looking at her to judge her and condemn her. A loving God would never do that. This will be our second Christmas. And she loves it. When I saw this video it made me sick. Specially because they want kids to be alone. Is abuse and neglect.
@@shalom2198 if i can only go back 15yrs. ago , my kids are adults in their 30's and its their second x-mas and they really enjoy it! i really kick myself for putting them through this garbage. i still tell them the message has been simple Jesus is the way. truth. life and only way to the Father he died once and for all for everyone of us! there is no salvation in any man but Jesus!.
It amazes me how accurate these cartoons really are this is the life of a Jehovah’s Witness child or children to much isolating, not allowed to participate in any school or recreational activities. I saw it in the congregation with the woman I studied with her 3 children looked miserable all the time. I recently reconnected with one of her kids on Facebook we chatted and she admitted to me she missed out on so much when she was growing up. All 3 of the kids are no longer witnesses and I can’t blame them for getting out of that nonsense.
Even just the introductory Davesplaining itself speaks volumes about the Misogyny in the organization: "Now just so you know, Caleb is not a member of the Governing Body. But he's gonna be on the program anyway." And what about Sophia? She is the main character in this episode. I don't recall her brother uttering a single word this time around.
I had my own trials but I wanted to share my sister’s story. Valentine’s Day- she stayed home sick from school. I don’t know if she was emotionally sick or physically sick or both. She went back the day after to a huge sack of lovely Valentines Day cards from her classmates. She took them home. Our mom made her take them back to school the next day and return each one and explain that Valentines Day is pagan so she couldn’t accept the cards. Happy 4th grade!
@@JA-xu4jf my sister corrected me. It was first grade :) When you think there is an angry god who will punish you and your children with annihilation this seemed reasonable to her. This was also in the mid 1970’s so Armageddon fever was high. My mom is still in, enduring the failed prophecies, gaslighting, control etc.
This whole cartoon is so disturbing…. So relieved I left this organization 30 years ago and saved my children from having to endure a sad and depressing life.
32:00 that "at least you're my friend" is so painful to hear because i was there. i was that one lonely kid because it was bad to have "wordly" friends. I'm so sorry for all those lonely little kids being indoctrinated.i just hope they all get out soon
i am very put off by the gaslighty way it is suggested that Sophia is the one who gets to chose if she joins the club or not. if she had told her parents "i think i can participate in the club and still be a good JW." they would not have let her join. and there's even a really good chance she would have been made to feel like shit for even suggesting it, like she should have known better.
In the beginning, if you look closely, you can see the faces of the girls on the playground are the same faces in and going into the van while Sophia is on the bus. By the giggling and excitement, it seems to be implying a playdate - something Sophia would have been told she shouldn't want to be apart of. She "should" want to sit alone and read the same material she should want to read for the rest of her life. The pains of isolation are starting to dig in.
When I was kindergarten age my mom send me to kindergarten with my book of Bible stories. Guess what a 5 year old boy taught other kids in kindergarten...I turned to the first page the depiction of "creation" remember that one? With lava fire and burning stone? I told all the kids in kindergarten that they all would end up there because they were bad and only Jehovah's witnesses will survive! 5 years old!!!!! They had a part at the meeting about me and what I had done. Sugar coated it of course. The teachers had a meeting with my mom and forbid her to bring such material to class. Also questioned what movies I was watching at home. This is absolute child indoctrination and abuse. I'm 40 plus now and still remember it like it was yesterday. Awful memories...
The "pick up" scene of the video is showing that thing that happens when parents take it in turns picking up their children AND their child's friends, so that they can hang out after school, do homework together, or extracurricular activities :') can definitely relate to feeling left out of that.
I am a total outsider to this - grew up in a pretty secular family - but I've seen a few of these JW videos breaking down the Sofia and Caleb cartoons and I just find them heartbreaking. Like, being a kid in the world is hard enough without tying their hands behind their backs from the get go. I think the thing I find saddest is the way the parents are clearly trying to be good parents and raise their children well but are gently and lovingly perpetuating an absolute and abusive betrayal of their children
I find it hilarious how they try so hard to make kids on the outside of the cult seem so selfish and psychotic as if growing up in the "truth" somehow is different. They don't realize how they rip away the "childhood" part of these little ones' lives. I had to grow up real quick in that religion, and I will never subject what I went through to my own children if I ever have any.
I have a friend who was raised JW. I don't think he's involved with it anymore, but when we were teens we invited him to join us at a halloween party, and he told us he couldn't, and he described it as forcing a vegetarian to go into a slaughter house. And he straight up told us not to say happy birthday to him, because it wasn't allowed. I met his parents once when me and 3 other people from the friend group came over to hang out. Not only did his dad glare at all of us and refused to speak to us. But we were not allowed into the main house for any reason. I didn't understand any of that back then, but now when I've learned about the shunning and abuse that goes on. I completely see why he was so weary, and refused to take part in anything that could be considered bad.
33:22:I wanna see a psych doc of those parents:They aren’t worried about giving RTS, PTSD, long-term anxiety and or depression to their kids, but when their kids want to play a game and a drop of fluid(blood) pops on the screen they be like that makes their kids aggressive I start to doubt the competence of humanity.
It's a small sample group but of the 14 children I grew up with I know three with anxiety two with depression and another two who died of drug overdoses in their 20s. Constant pressure does not make well adjusted adults
What I got from all the children getting into the SUV was that they all had plans together that’s why they all left together because when she walked in the school bus, she noticed nobody was in there. So they had some sort of afterschool activities that Sophia was no part of.
I remember in 3rd grade I joined the soccer team briefly before my mom found out it was against the religion. They pulled me off the team. Then in 5th grade I was the only kid who couldn't go to "outdoor lab", a camping trip where we were to stay in cabins. The principal wanted to talk to my mom and we went into the office together and she was told she is a "helicopter mother", who constantly hovers over every move. She was not deterred and they would not let me go and I was so mad about it for many years. I was such an outcast at school and bullied. Just today my mom sent me a letter in the mail telling me that one of my nonbelieving cousins had to go home from outdoor lab because he got sick. It was supposed to make me feel better because I'm supposed to think about how I got sick when the kids went to outdoor lab and it's a good thing I didn't go. The reason I got sick was probably from the stress of it all and dying of embarrassment. Also, I think about how I couldn't play sports but every elder and every man in the hall was getting together to watch football games all the time.
It’s funny too because if you go to an elder house all their kids were in sports and went to college had cars etc! Yet the normal families we weren’t allowed to play sport and discouraged to plan a future.
Look JWs are awful, no doubt, but that's a complete mischaracterization of the story. Go look up any theologian's explanation of it. Literally anyone--pick a denomination. Firstly, food preparation was not even at play. There's nothing in the surrounding verses that indicate that. Martha was likely attending to business of some sort. What He told Martha was essentially "you don't need to be worried about attending to the business right now, come and listen instead". Even if it was about food, the interpretation of that passage is consistent among all scholars. Jesus did not tell Martha to complete her duties, He said the opposite. I know the Bible is hard to understand, it's a 2000 year old book, but you can't read it the same way you read modern English. You have to look this shit up.
@@baristaTam it was a joke, I deliberately made the words more inflammatory and devoid of context. I already know a lot of the context and significance of the bible since I'm an ex hardcore Catholic.
@@baristaTam you’re taking this comment way too seriously. But by the way you described it, the top commenter is absolutely right, Jesus basically said go make me a sandwich 😁 (another joke FYI)
It would be one thing if Sophia hesitated to join her school's afterschool Science Club because she doesn't get along with some of the other kids in her class who belong to the club, but this latest "BECOME JEHOVAH'S FRIEND" video suggests that she shouldn't be friends with any of the kids in her class who belong to the club because they won't be helping Sophia to try and stay true to her religious indoctrination. What about that Zoe girl (the little black girl who sits in the desk next to Sophia in class) whose grandmother died, it seemed like Sophia was trying to convince her to become her Bible student? Maybe what Sophia might have told Zoe about how all non-Witnesses are soon going to be exterminated by Jehovah's angelic army at Armageddon and will then remain dead for all eternity in a state of unconsciousness, a punishment that they fully deserve according to Witness doctrine, didn't sit well with Zoe? This latest installment of "BECOME JEHOVAH'S FRIEND" is just teaching children being raised as JWs how to use their religion to create unnecessary division between people, to craft an "us versus them" narrative, to develop an increasingly prejudiced and suspicious attitude toward anyone who doesn't belong to their religious community, to segregate and isolate oneself from a society that largely doesn't share their views, to ensure that they never have their beliefs challenged. It all seems so unhealthy.
BIBLICAL TRUTH - The CREATOR is the loving, kind, and merciful God and Father of Jesus Christ JESUS CHRIST is the One given by his God and Father all authority in heaven and on earth ETERNAL LIFE for LOVING, KIND, SUBMISSIVE, and OBEDIENT HUMAN BEINGS - Lowly, loving, kind, submissive, and obedient human beings who submit to the authority of Jesus Christ and believe his teachings about the "Kingdom of God" and "Resurrection of the Dead" will be rewarded and honored by the Creator with ETERNAL LIFE and existence on earth without sufferings, pains, griefs, sickness, and deaths. The teaching of Jesus Christ about the "Kingdom of God" means the Kingdom or Government or Rulerhip of the Creator through his Christ will ensure that planet earth is forever safe, secure, peaceful and without atheists, agnostics, and fanatics of religions, without liars, slanderers, deceivers, hypocrites, murderers, terrorists, criminals, arrogant, cruel, and hateful persons. The teaching of the Christ about the "Resurrection of the Dead" guarantees that loving, kind, and obedient human beings who died even thousands of years ago like Abel, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, King David, Jesus Christ's disciples, and many others will be resurrected back to life by Jesus Christ in the Creator's own right time so they can fully enjoy the eternal love, kindness, generosities, compassions, favors, and blessings of the Creator and his Christ for eternity as submissive and obedient subjects of the "Kingdom of God" under the loving rulership, authority, guidance, and protection of the Creator's Chosen King and Ruler, his Christ.
@@jaflenbond7854, What "Biblical truth" is will differ from one Christian to that of another Christian. You repeat these same claims over and over, and I still don't find them convincing. If anything, it all sounds like drivel. If that's what you believe, fine, but I see no reason to believe in the theological claims that you're making. Well, I think most people know that the kingdom of God refers to God's rulership over his followers in the next life and that the afterlife is kept safe from the various groups of people that Christians don't like such as murderers, terrorists, criminals, murderers, liars, slanderers, hypocrites, liars, and whoever else Christians and the Biblical authors wish to or wanted to include on that list. Naturally, atheists and agnostics are excluded from the afterlife...well, not necessarily, that would actually depend on which individual Christian person you're talking to, of course. You know, some Christians don't believe that the kingdom of God refers to the earthly paradise concept that you believe in, and some of them might think that you're wrong about that idea. I must admit that I don't see where religious fanatics are mentioned among those who are considered as being excluded from God's kingdom in the New Testament in the Bible, but even if that were so, could one of those "religious fanatics" be you? Not to be mean, but you don't necessarily strike me as being one of those nice religious persons with some of the incredibly rude things you say such as referring to others who don't share your interpretation of the Bible as "useless and worthless". If that is how your religious beliefs inspire you to treat others, then maybe you should reevaluate your religious beliefs.
@@b.w.7588 Atheists, Agnostics, fanatic JWs, Born Agains, Buddhists, Muslims, Mormons, all fanatics of all religions are the great, glorious, superior, and powerful human beings who are boasting and claiming that - 1. the Creator is useless and unworthy to be honored and obeyed as the Most High and Sovereign God 2. Jesus Christ is useless and not worthy to be honored and obeyed as the Creator's Chosen King and Ruler 3. the teachings of Jesus Christ about the Kingdom of God and Resurrection of the Dead are worthless and useless, without any value at all. The CREATOR KNOWS that the arrogance and foolishness of all the great, superior, and powerful Atheists, Agnostics, Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, etc. in boasting and claiming that the authority and teachings of his Christ are worthless and useless will just result in their own sufferings, dishonor, disgrace, downfall, shameful and ETERNAL DEATH, just worthless and useless dusts on earth forever.
I remember my younger siblings telling me why try to be close with our unbelieving dad if he was going to get destroyed anyway. I was so upset hearing this.
I can't imagine any jw kids taking these videos seriously unless they're so repressed and beaten down their spirit is crushed. The parents probably are told to examine these videos frame by frame. I grew up jw in the 70s and 80s too and we watched whatever we wanted on TV. Dad even had Monty Python and Benny Hill on every night lol. I still remember the day I decided I was too old for Thundercats lol. I wonder what my jw parents would think of this crap.
I guess it depends how feverant your parents were. I wasn't allowed to watch any TV when I was growing up apart from pre-screened Disney videos. I remember there was a tape of bible based songs for children going around that a JW had made and my parents and their friends treated it like apostate material because it hadn't come from the gov body. I definitely would have been force fed celeb and Sophia and I wouldn't have had anything to compare it to in the real world
I was born a witness. I am currently 20 years old. I'm still so terrible at making friends. It's probably the undiagnosed autism/ADHD as well but I am awful at reading people my own age and forming meaningful connections. When I was younger any friends I made even in the organization for the most part my parents still disapproved in some way and would limit my contact. My one friend, her parents where not dedicated enough, my one friend he was a guy so everyone in the fucking hall would joke that we were dating. When looking back I just genuinely connected and kind of just wanted to be him. Gender envy. Because he was a guy and I'm afab my parents and his never approved of us having a sleepover. But with my other female friends (if they were witnesses and deemed appropriate) it was perfectly okay to sleep over at their houses. But even then my parents would come up with ways to criticize them. There was no fucking winning. For a while I had nobody my age whom I was allowed to spend time with. It was so fucking lonely. Anything close to friends I had was with people years older then me. At least 15 to 20. I still struggle immensely with connecting to people my age and my current friend group is still relatively small and I struggle greatly with keeping those connections. It fucks with you for life. I hope with time I can heal and become better at this but it's for sure a real ordeal and something ex witnesses have to work through
I can visualize JW kids going to the psychologist or whatever for diagnosis. They be having no friends, social anxiety, and low self-esteem... Why would anyone not question someone with these traits as not autistic? I feel like if these kids grew up in common households there would be no question about their social skills or mental health. They are always saying “It could be worse”/“Other’s have it worse” and then a decade later you realize you have no friends, very likely obese, very likely bad health(for both mental and physical reasons). Edit:if you look at the people going to your KH *99% of people are more FAT than average. They even teach them not to care about health. Health is the most important thing in life. If you aren’t living nicely you are just surviving day by day you can’t enjoy it.
My problem was always being concerned that I'd say or do something that 'brings reproach on JEHOVAH" so when I quit the religion at age 25 I had no idea what I would do. I was really fortunate that I found an old high school "friend" and he and his group totally adopted me, especially after I explained what had happened. After a year or two a few JW friends of mine stopped going to meetings and we began to hang out. I eventually got disfellowshipped for refusing to stop associating with one of them as he got disfellowshipped. By then I had two very good social circles, and I felt pretty good about it when they'd intertwine, almost made me feel like I was appreciated. Also support from Internet friends was invaluable, and I traveled the country to visit some of them (mostly girls lol). I joined a gym and did some volunteer work and even led sobriety meetings and it was great being around positive people who didn't judge. Now I'm old and tired, I gave up that whole life to marry a super paranoid woman and take in her 4 kids, 3 of them autistic. That did not end well as she could not stop accusing me of cheating and doing drugs every day. The last couple of years I've had no direction, no real purpose, no desire to get off my butt and make friends again. I have to admit there have been times when I thought about going to the kingdom hall with my mom who's always been jw. I'm embarrassed to contact any of my old friends. I guess my point to you is you're young, apparently quite smart, and I think you will figure it out and be ok. I feel like it's too late for me to start over but you can do it. Just please please please don't get involved intimately with anyone who will destroy who you are and your will. Take your time with everything. Good luck to you 🙂
@@biromate2237 I fully agree. If I grew up in a nonreligious home with actual attentive parents my symptoms would have for sure been investigated by now. The ironic thing is also that my mother was incredibly critical of other parents not seeking treatment or diagnosis for their children showing autism like symptoms. But when her own kids showed similar symptoms or other symptoms of either poor or irregular mental health her response is that we were not trying hard enough Or that she and my father had it worse and to suck it up. (My mother had her depression and her fibromyalgia, and my father with his rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes.) Anything wrong with me I felt was my fault. Which was partially my parents doing as well as the religions influence to making all is members work towards impossible standards. I think also it's interesting bringing up the common factor of disordered eating. I started a terrifying journey of both under and over eating while in and right after leaving the witnesses. It is a lot more common then we aknowledge. A concerning amount of members are overweight, I strongly suspect it's a coping mechanism of sorts. The ideology of "I have no control over my situation. But I do have control over my weight. What I eat. Ect". That was a huge factor in my Ed. I couldn't control my parents or my emotions. So I'd partake in various eating disorder or self harm behaviours because it was the only control I felt I had. This is a really common reason as to why children, teens and adults start and then continue these kinds of behaviours. It's not the ideal way to cope but it's a strong reaction to strong feelings and intense situations.
@@cygnustsp thank you for sharing your experience. I'm sorry for the hardships you've lived through. If it's any condolence going back is not going to fix anything. It's the equivalent of putting lemon juice on an open wound. You deserve people in your life who value you, and you deserve to be in a place you feel content with. You didn't deserve the treatment of that women. She had her own issues and it was incredibly unfair for her to put that on you. In my opinion (even though yes I'll fully aknowledge I'm very young and I don't know much) but everyone no matter what age deserves the time and space to start over. Your still here. You made it though a cult and an abusive relationship. You got something in you keeping you going . I really hope in time you can get some of that old appreciation and contentedness with life again. You deserve it. And though I don't know what terms you left those friends, if it was on good terms, I'm sure they would be delighted to hear from you. Give them a call. Take your time as well. You deserve it. Thank you for your words 💙
@@NotaArtist thank you very much, maybe I'll muster up the courage, right now I'm recovering from a brutal surgery then next month I work 70 hours a week for three months but in the spring I'll try to take your advice and go for it.
Remember, the basis of a great friendship, is that someone love turtles. Oh ! And believe the same culty beliefs, otherwise shun them until they are violently destroyed in Armageddon .
Watching just the beginning of this reminds me of all the straight loneliness I felt through out school. Not allowed to make friends, taken out of the class for parties. It was horrible.
the bus scene is terrible!! Sofia has to watch all her friends have a play date being picked up and she is a loner !! I remember how I felt as a young JW going to public school!!
I think it may be because science at its core encourages people to question things and research things independently. The complete opposite of the mindset they want for JW
@@totally_a_spy Eh, not necessarily - even kids who learn about science generally don't get how the scientific method works; just that X works Y way because scientists said so.
I love how they always call this CALEB & sofia even though Sofia is most of the time the main character. Also of course they didn't even try to make a joke about Sofia being part of the governing body because we all know that's never gonna happen, girls belong in the kitchen (sarcasm) -_-
30:25 and there it is, the shunning moment. The GB want you to know it’s ok to have a brief expression of disappointment but MUST be followed immediately by a forgetful smile, as this character does, walking back to her group.
I am going to be honest here, when I was a kid ... I was raised in "the truth" I was kinda taught that we do not hang out with people or children who did not serve Jehovah because bad association spoils useful habits. So being alone was something that I was kinda used to and that among other things helped with my social anxiety.
It bugs me how good the production quality of these animations has got. The animation really looks stella in this one, art direction, models, lighting, the expressiveness of the characters. I also think the voice acting is really excellent, I genuinally think the voice actors on this are great. There's clearly a plethora of talented animators, directors, actors, editors etc. working on this. Why oh why does it all have to be in service of such twisted ideals! I'd love for this show to take a turn in following how Sophia and Caleb wake up and rejoin civilization!
No Lloyd, You referred to the other kids as her "friends," but this is incorrect. Remember they are her "school associates," or "classmates," but never her friends....... I got so sick of that shit as a kid. Anytime I referred to my school friends as friends I was always corrected and reminded they are not my friends. I'm glad I ended that nonsense with my kids.
I too am furious only a few seconds in. I am boiling. JW Cult is horrible and my JW mother died unexpectedly last week and not one JW has sent flowers, cards or meals. She has been a devoted JW since she was 17 and she was 74 yrs old when she passed. Her journal would shock you . I cant even read past page 4 because of her guilt in 1984 when she would not have enough service hrs. Thanks to you and many others to showing soo many others how sick this CULT is.
Lloyd, I remember as a kid the society pointing out the sin of other religions about "adding to the word of God." Today, they are completely unrecognizable as they are doing the very same thing. I've noticed this as an ongoing trend: "let's make up stories and then learn from them!"
I loved that line as well!!! The Pharisees/Elders don't approve of that MAN! It rings a bell!! Tattletelling to the Pharisees/Elders also sounds very familiar!! Lol Ty Lloyd!!! Great insight/ video!! Btw....hating a science club is very scary to me!!!😳🙄😱
My elder father would always say in regards to “worldly children” “Little snakes grow up to be big snakes” I never understood how awful that was until I became an adult, and thought that’s what you think of children that are Jehovah’s Witnesses?! 🤦🏻♀️
my dad dated a lady once who turned out to be a Jehovah's Witness. she seemed nice but she kept trying to indoctrinate us, especially me. I, being a child, listened out of politeness, but the second she said that birthday parties and other fun stuff wasn't allowed in the religion I internally decided "no thank you. I will still listen to you speak to be polite but I will not join." my dad wasn't interested in JW either and they stopped seeing eachother. she left me a JW book as a "gift" in hopes I could still choose to be a JW. I still have it tucked away in a box somewhere bc I was raised to not get rid of gifts but I never touched it.
I’m wondering if the school bus scene in the beginning was to emphasize the fact that she is alone there. No one around her is taking the same path she is rather than the kids being coddled. I may be wrong. I didn’t grow up JW, I had an overly religious mother who raised her children with a cult-like mentality. But one thing she did was isolate her children so all we had was her to rely on, not even each other. And the overwhelming loneliness is difficult. Due to that feeling, the scene speaks to me personally about loneliness and longing.
As a teacher, parent and Exvangelical, I experienced the same thing as a child. Our goal was to be missionaries to our classmates. In fact, my mother still has a Christmas Tree blanket in which my brother and I are embroidered onto it, telling the story of our Missionary work as children in elementary school. It was a lot of pressure. It was also distancing, we could not celebrate Halloween or much of secularized Christmas. As a teacher today, I feel a lot of sympathy for my JW and Evangelical students. Both are often not permitted to participate in many aspects of music or culture merry-making in school. As a parent, I do my best to neutralize this problem by encouraging my son to be respectful of all viewpoints, but we make sure to have a very moderate view ourselves, so that he doesn't feel the levels of separation which I felt and which I've seen children feel in my teaching practice.
You are destroying your children by teaching them tolerance with evil. Did you ever read about those messages in the Bible? And for what, so that you can celebrate Halloween forever in hell? Where did you go wrong? 😢
This hits hard because I’ve always struggled to make friends because of this and I still do. When I have children, I’ll never let them go through this abuse
Sofia always looks miserable. So they got that part right about being a JW kid growing up.
Sadly she does.
Facts!!
You can perceive the emptiness in her look because of all the limitations.
I had a JW buddy in school. She hung out w us goth/losers since we were they only ones in the higher level classes who would talk to her. But we had to be on the down low, god forbid her JW parents find out. Especially since her non-JW cousin who was gay was in our group.
But she still was super isolated. She could never or almost never hang out outside school. Her parents would only let her out for school projects done at the library. Plus she had meetings, and her parents constantly were pulling her out for 'vacations' which always involved door knocking or construction- if in beautiful exotic places.
And we were acting like teens. Partying, dating, staying up all night screwing up- not the best choices but super normal. And alot of us were deconstructing religion, I left my Catholic upbring and was already an atheist. Almost 1/2 our group was LGBT+ still a no-no. And she couldn't listen to our music, watch most movies etc. She missed alot of our pop culture references and was always seemed a few years behind us.
I feel awful for her now. She was under such tight reins. I often wonder what happened to her. She was a literal child in a cult. She was so isolated even from the couple of kids that hung out w her. I hope she got out. She was super smart- hope she woke up before she was married off to some elder. I wonder how the sex abuses cases affected her? Or all the failed predictions etc.
Sophia being out on her own would only be part of the story. What they don't show is the bullying and criticism for being 'different' she would likely be getting. Perhaps even worse as she gets older and in high school. Children can be pretty merciless.
dont you mean that you were Miserable as a Kid!
The most troubling part of this for me is the encouragement of children to make friends with adults.
While there are great benefits of being friends with an adult or two so they can share their knowledge with you. They DON’T face the same challenges as you are a kid.
@@biromate2237it’s also opening the way for grooming, CSA, and other unsafe situations
It made me laugh because a lot of JW young adults act like immature dumbasses just like that girl in the video. Only that type of person would want to be friends w a little kid.
H.E.L.L.O!!!
Bingo! That makes a whole lot of sense!How can, what justification excuses, do u JW have for this one. That's really what started this whole nasty mess with them. And they are still in denial. That is very sad 😩
This was me as a child. Always isolated. I wanted to join choir but it unterfered with the meetings, which is why I will never limit my daughter with any activity she wants to do in school.
I was lucky; I had an “unbelieving” dad who *gasp* let me join the choir. It was my saving grace.
good for you - ex JW's make the best parents
Same, add in all the normal isolation of being a kid in a new school and then add in the fact that your parents are raising you in a cult too. I remember being ecstatic when one of the kids my age invited me over to play Pokemon. I told my mother and she actually got upset at ME, a child, not only for wanting to play "demonic Pokemon" but also for having "worldly friends" - imagine how confusing that is for a developing mind!
@@jakelee5096 I think that’s what wikipedia calls Religious Trauma syndrome (RTS)😐😐
I’ll introduce you to my 30yr. Old teenage son! Me and my wife woke up almost 3yrs. Ago but we are paying the consequences for not letting my son be a kid , but indoctrinated him with this BS! 😡
I hope everyone born into this cult are able to break the shackles of their indoctrination... I realize just how lucky I was to be raised to think for myself and think critically... Continue your great work, Lloyd, and best wishes to everyone... Peace...
It must be extremely hard for any 2nd or 3rd or even 4th generation JW to break free from this cult. I said so because I was in for 10 years and I was only the first generation and I had no families in the cult but I still have traumas and unwanted flashbacks every now and then ever since I left a year and a half ago. The psychological burden is hellishly unbelievable.
@@Sean-gio2 I listened to an interview of a 3rd generation woman leaving it. She's very happy and enjoying life. But I think this is due to her husband and children leaving and you cna also see she is that one woman who had a good childhood which made her prone to stress.
l PPP
The school bus scene just made me think about how I was essentially never invited to any of my fellow pupils right after school. I also never had anyone over. It’s depicting that she doesn’t have any friends that are close enough to go home with and do homework together before playing together.
You see if you have a neutral relationship with them you gonna eventually get an invite or two since they aren’t gonna be rude- YOU SHOULD REJECT AND LECTURE ‘EM SO THEY DON’T TRY AGAIN. 😐
That was my interpretation also. I think they were trying to show the lack of relationships outside of school with peers rather than imply that you shouldn’t pick your child up from school.
I remember one special time when I dared bring a school friend home for lunch at about around 10 years old. ...omg it was as if armageddon had hit, the reaction from my mom was over the top. I still have that friend ( not a JW) and we both remember that day 😱😳
@@francinemirey1555 there was one time I went out with a classmate and I was treated like I killed a person while only thing we did is walk around and talk.
@@francinemirey1555 We had a JW girl in our class. She was painfully shy, and always had to move her desk to the hallway and sit out there alone when we did activities related to Christmas or Easter. When I was about 9, she invited me to play at her house after school. It was no fun at all. Too cold to play outside, no tv, no snacks. I did ask her about all the hallway time she had to do and she was clearly uncomfortable, and gave me an answer like that they didn't believe in those things, but didn't elaborate. She didn't want to talk and there was nothing fun to do. I never went back, I invited her to my house and she couldn't come. That was pretty much the end of us playing together. It's been decades and I still think of her from time to time, I felt really bad for her. My family was really, really poor, and not exactly full of love, but still I was grateful not to have to be in her family. I hope life improved for her.
I remember the sick glee and delight my parents took any time I was bullied or had a hard time at school, as if that somehow vindicated their beliefs. Nothing makes them happier than pretending to be persecuted.
That's it exactly, I have been trying to figure out how to express how my mom reacted when I would be bullied because along with her giving some comfort there was a feeling that did not feel right, I couldn't describe it. But it was glee and delight, she would say "happy are those persecuted for my name" or something along those lines, and It was like I was supposed to be happy I got bullied. I just stopped telling her whenever the bullying related to me being JW in any way, because it hurt to hear her seem happy it was happening and have the conversation turn into another indoctrination session.
OMG! 😢
Because it's a cult tactic to make members think that everything outside the cult is bad and evil, and everything inside the cult is good. It's important to create a huge "us vs. them" belief system so the members will stay in.
"Oh my god, yay, finally my beliefs are confirmed! The feeling of doubts and underlying guilt that I have to suppress 24/7 (probably) is finally worth it! This is real solid evidence that I am living life how I am supposed to live!
Well, I mean, my innocent young child is being hurt, but who cares? That is a small price to pay for confirming my beliefs."
That is very, very messed up. I am sorry for everyone who went through this.
*hugs* your parents are awful people.
This is child abuse. And my heart breaks because I did this to my children. Thankfully they never became JW's and refused to take part as teenagers. But we have all suffered religious trauma because of this CULTure...
Definitely not child abuse.
@@bobbycecere1037 IT Is
@williambizcocho9549
Nonsense.
Plenty of smart parents curate thier children's social group, or at least try to.
@@bobbycecere1037 Yes it is Isolating children from their peers not allowing them to participate in school or recreational activities I studied with a woman who had 3 children for 3 years and in that time I never saw them with any of the neighborhood children , no friends from school ever came to their house. No hobbies or interests constantly telling them worldly people are bad associates. I don’t think it was a health environmental for children to be in I recently reconnected with one of the kids on Facebook and she admitted to me how she missed out on so much as a kid growing up she and her siblings are no longer witnesses and she is raising her children completely different and allowing them to do the things she missed out on as a kid growing up.
@marwatson7408
Regardless of how YOU feel about people raising thier children to be careful about who they choose for friends, it obviously isn't child abuse. No court or judge is going to agree that it's abusive. There have always been parents who are strict about who they allow into thier child's life.
People from MANY different religions, ethnicities and countries.
This is IN NO WAY an isolated thing among JWs. There are parents who aren't even religious who pick children's friends for them.
Out of all the terrible Caleb and Sophia videos, this has to be one of the absolute worst. My heart goes out to the poor children who are being subjected to it. I remember being a Sophia myself, and this ideology is incredibly harmful. Thank you for calling the organization out on this.
😢
yes this was revolting
What's so bad about it?
@@bobbycecere1037 Absolutely nothing if you have been indoctrinated
@@bobbycecere1037 isolating a child from their peers, teaching them they can only be firends with people who agrees with their system of believes, teaching the child they should suppress their potential and instead go with highly controlled message their parents program into them. There's a message for parents as well - that they should steer their children into those conclusions. They should isolate their children and yet put them deliberately into situations where they could be emotionally harmed. There's a lot to unpack in this cartoon
End of the series: Sophia becomes an apostate, moves to Boston with Zoey and they go to Harvard for Biotechnology and Engineering then they get married and adopt children from other countries
It would be the perfect ending!
How would she get the connections to get into Harvard? It's not about SAT scores or grades to get it there....Maybe she could become an anti JW influencer. Ivy leagues are all about accepting influencers now (it used to be Hollywood Celebrities)
@@Afmedic85 I was just saying that cuz her science interests
I’d like to add that I think Caleb also leaves the church and starts a successful DND podcast. Where he opens up about the trauma of having his wizard toy thrown out by his mom
@@amethystimagination3332 and he collabs with Telltale
Little did Sophia know that her turtle is an atheist. He thinks JW's are crazy and wishes he was out in nature.
Little did Sophia know that her turtle is actually a tortoise 😅. Turtles live in the sea and have webbed feet for swimming 😅
@@m0ther0ne
Oh sick burn.
Not a music club, or a literary club, or sports club. No, no .....has to be science because they know that Sophia might learn to be a critical thinker if she gets involved in science.
Damn straight.
"Remember kids, stay away from science, it will make you think for yourself and that is evil!"
It makes me sick.
They also hate literature and sports. Music, if taken “too serious” is bad, too.
I've seen some Caleb and Sophia videos where the classmates are portrayed as rude and gross, making it easier for the kids to shun them in these stupid cartoons. Did anyone else notice that the three science kids that tried to befriend Sophia did absolutely nothing wrong? And were in fact very friendly and kind to Sophia? And they STILL deserved to be shunned because science is evil and stuff?
It's done because science and religion were always going head to head trying to prove each other wrong lotsa times
There was a video where Sofia asked a new girl to sit with her during lunch. She was from India and Sofia asked about her outfit. Weird how things change from 1 episode to the next.
@@Matthias_Prudholm in earlier history science and religion went hand in hand.
Now it's very different.
Edit: I accidentally said history twice, fixed
@@Afmedic85 Sophia wasn't being nice there - she was trying to indoctrinate the girl into the religion (on her parent's command I bet)
Children in this cult have a hard time being happy. They are forced to appear happy. Public school is a nightmare as you are supposed to see everyone as an enemy of God and you are also reminded that you are Jehovah's enemy from birth until the day you get baptized and fully dedicate yourself to the cult. I had a "double life" because I had worldly friends and I was reminded of how doomed I was going down the worldly path.
At least you had wordly friends man. That’s a privilege.
@@biromate2237 it wasn't easy, my parents were constantly nagging, spanking, and grounding me just for playing with kids on my way home from school. Not to mention other children in the Kingdom Hall avoided me because I was one the "bad kids"
The true gospel: Jesus, God manifest in the flesh, died for us on the cross and saves us by grace and our faith in Him as Lord and Savior. Once you believe and profess it,you know that list full of sins we have? Blood fell on it and God can no longer read it, because through Christ we are all justified, saved and born again. If we happen to fall into sin, just confess it and we will be forgiven. Also, Jesus rose again on the third day.
You don't have to stop doing sports, having friends, or anything like that. Just believe and be saved
@@june5831 Are you EVER going to cover who jeopardized us, then?
And if Adam knew he could 'give away' a world, or jeopardize others?
And all this boils down, to two fairly innate, questions:
One - how did Romans 1:18 (or it's equivalent) FAIL so hard, in the angelic realm, with hundreds of angels?
And two - why is Satan, post exile, OWED anything? In Job, in access to this world, in keeping powers.
Also, is he 'spiritually dead' (like many say we are - by default - post Genesis 3:22?) and what, does it, actually mean, to be so?
As it does not appear, to mean 'spiritually neutered'.
Meantime, 'justify' Exodus 21:4-7.
And He, also, never had, to 'read' it. Or owe Satan any of his silly pleas.
Triggering. I was that way too in kindergarten thinking everyone around me was going to die, and it was my responsibility to save them
And they forgot to tell you that when you grew up and learn to use your critical thinking and stop thinking like them, they would shun you and your family would stay away from you! Disgrace!
The Caleb & Sofia videos are probably among the best anti-JW material ever produced. There's no beating around the bush. It's straight to the point in exposing the organization for what it is. I hope Tony MacAllan, Stephen Clown, David Combover and friends will keep releasing them. 😁
No lies told! I hated those cartoons! From the first episode on, they gave me the creeps with how blatant their message was. That was the only cartoon I was happy about NOT watching!
I am not, nor have I ever been, involved with JW, but this show is the main example I've been given as a basic introductory course to the community. It's particularly interesting since it's made by JW for JW, which makes it super extra horrifying.
Like, this isn't meant to show how horrible it is to outsiders; this is them being open about their expectations to each other and outsiders.
Like, damn, what stuff do they keep hidden?
Ex-Mormon here. It’s so spooky how much the JW leaders sound like the the Mormon leaders, down to their voice inflections and when they pause in sentences. I almost felt like I was listening to a Mormon General Conference.
Growing up a Jehovah Kid in the 70s and 80s I always had to be careful what I said and who I was "friends" with. Dad meant well I know but once I called a classmate a friend and he said "no, you have acquaintances at school, your friends go to the kingdom hall." Of course I couldn't do sports or clubs or holidays or birthdays. I never felt like I fit in anywhere. To this day I still struggle with always second guessing myself.. my brother on the other hand got over it quickly, though perhaps with the help of copious amounts of drugs. I can't believe the org is still so strict.
cygnustsp,
That's such a sad story, especially with your father telling you that the other kids at your school aren't your friends, they are only acquaintances and that only other JW kids were your friends. It's teaching children raised as JWs to believe in an us versus them narrative at a young age and teaching them to segregate themselves from larger society.
@@b.w.7588 Yes. Ironically, It's when a JW decides to leave the Cult and live their lives in Reality and On Their Own Terms; That the "Friends" are proven to have only been "Aquaintences" and the rejected "Aquaintences" and other "Outsiders" are proven Real "Friends".😣💔🤷🏻♀️
i hope you and your brother are ok! Don't know who you are, but I'm proud of you!
"I can't believe the org is still so strict." That's because it's actually a cult. But I'm glad you and your brother got out.
@@b.w.7588 That's all part of cult indoctrination. Creating an "us vs. them" atmosphere where anything & anyone outside the cult is bad and/or evil, and everything inside the cult is good and holy.
Sofia’s prayer wasn’t answered. She didn’t get a friend her age. When you’re a kid, even a couple of years makes a difference, let alone a teenager being friends with a child.
This is very true. My Catholic school bundled grades 5 through 12 in the same building and while it tried to keep older kids and younger ones from interacting by having classes in different floors, the playground was common and it caused a lot of friction.
It came up with a “older brother/older sister” system in which 9th graders took 5th graders under the wing. Most 9th graders ignored the whole thing but a friend of mine did not.
She would spend the entire lunch break with her “little sister” and it drove me insane. I couldn’t speak up my mind and had to censor myself at every turn.
Perhaps more importantly, this was not good for the kid. Instead of bonding with her peers, she was off being a kind of pet to my friend.
Needless to say, my friend got bored, eventually, and dropped the kid…who was deeply hurt.
I ignored my “little brother” after the mandatory first day that we were forced to spend together. I could tell he was just embarrassed, hanging out with an older girl. I told him to drop by my class if he was having problems with other kids, he never did.
This hit so close to home and I wanted to share something that I’ve found super helpful. When I disassociated myself several years ago at 36 years of age, I came into the world feeling as though I had never been “allowed“ to do anything. The first thing I did was sign up for an improv class - and it was absolutely the best thing I could’ve done. Suddenly, here I was surrounded by all kinds of people - varying ages, races, and beliefs, gay, straight, varying backgrounds - all playing together, having an irreverent amazing time. Not only was I able to have an absolute blast with these people - but I was able to wholeheartedly embrace them. Nothing can give me back missing out on practically everything as a child - but improv has finally given me permission to play, without shame or guilt. Try it! Cheaper than therapy and so much more fun.
This makes my day. you are living and that is priceless. choosing your path is also your birthright. keep up the fun:)
And soon you'll learn that having fun is natural and not of the devil.
Hmm, that’s what my never a JW sister recommended for me
This reminds me of as a child when a JW kid asked what being a Girl Scout was like. She wasn't allowed to join and I felt bad, she actually convinced me to let her see my Girl Scouts Handbook. She really wanted to join on Wednesdays, but her services were on those days. She also tried to impress me when she recited the Girl Scout Promise and The Girl Scout Laws. She really would have made an amazing Scout with me. I felt bad she couldn't do this which was something fun.
I really want someone to make a fan work of Caleb and Sophia where they find their way out of the religion and go on to lead happier lives, getting to finally do everything they never got to do when they were kids.
I think someone did something like that. I seem to remember a short video of Caleb being an adult and talking about being disfellowshiped and how hes done since then
There are a few videos of them as adults. The kids got kicked out and the dad was an alcoholic. Mom was on all these antidepressants and hitting Sophia up for money.
Look up Caleb and Sophia All grown up.
Can we talk about the weird age gap between Sofia and her new friend…?
This is encouraged. Looking back it is creepy as hell!
Yeah, not even for Sophia but what 16 year old wants to hang out with a 12 year old, or however old Sophia is??!! Creepy AF
I always get aggravated to see that the so-called "worldy" kids are always portrayed as being dumb, very loud and greedy while Sofia is portrayed as the quiet little angel barfff!!!
And even then, the kids aren't even malicious, they're just being kids! They're not making fun of Sophia and Caleb, except for maybe the bullying episode, they just wanted to ask questions. And now suddenly, that turns into an unrelated, conflation? Would that be the right word? Or just gaslighting of "Oh hey, those kids are gonna hurt you and they're not doing what Jehovah wants so ignore them and never be friends with them."
Growing up as JW child has put me at a great disadvantage. Children grow up in fear of EVERYTHING! It has been mentally exhausting trying to decode my anxious thoughts.
If Jesus came to the Kingdom Hall, he'd be asked to shave his beard .LOL.
Good thing God created men this way so they have to shave. Pretty impractical if you ask me.
Thirty years ago I remember a dude my age was studying and came to all the meetings. He wanted to join the ministry school but the stupid overseer pointed as his soul patch and said that'll have to go. He never came to another meeting.
Hey Lloyd! I'm a Spanish PIMO and I want to share something interesting that you might want to discuss on your channel. In 2019, an association of former JW members in Spain was created to provide support, a space to share experiences and also offer psychological support. They were officially registered under the name of AEVTJ (Asociación Española de Víctimas de los Testigos de Jehová) in English "Spanish Association of Victims of Jehovah's Witnesses". They also have social profiles and a website where they talk about JW: child abuse, gender violence, manipulative traits... And above all, how this damages people mentally and emotionally. Well, last year the headquarters of Bethel in Spain legally denounced this association because "its statements damage its image and honor", they also demand that the association remove the word "victims" from its name. The trial began last month and there have been 3 sessions and there are two more to go. The funniest thing is that Spain was a country that lived very far from the danger of this sect, for them they were just extremely annoying people who were always bothering from door to door. But as a result of this commotion, the media have inquired more into the matter, the victims tell their experiences in the news and also are talking about what happened in Australia and Norway. This has made the "leaders" of the JW very nervous, who have been instigating the media with letters demanding that they rectify the information they are giving with subtle threats : D. All this is really amazing. I wish and hope that they lose the trial. If the AEVTJ won the trial, it would be recognizing in Spain that Jehovah's Witnesses violate human rights and could lose their status as a religion in Spain 🤭 (EDIT: For all those who are interested in this topic: There is only one session left of the trial, it will be on January 30, 2023. The AEVTJ association has commented on their Facebook that the course of the trial is being positive for them although they didn't expect the lack of empathy that Jehovah's Witnesses shown for the victims who recounted their experience at trial. The lawyer, Carlos Bardavío, an expert in legal issues related to sects, is defending the AEVTJ voluntarily and without profit, something curious that contrasts with the prosecution, cause Jehovah's Witnesses once again have used Massimo Introvigne, known "expert" on "religious minorities", known for defending sects for money basically. He has defended satanist groups and scientology, you can look him up anywhere on the internet. And this man, Massimo Introvigne appears on the website of Jehovah's Witnesses as a defending sociologist. Not long ago Introvigne published in his own digital magazine an article against the AEVTJ, comparing them to the Nazis! and discrediting Bardavío, the lawyer for the victims' association. And that's all for now... Once again I apologize for my bad English)
Thank you for sharing this with us. It gives us hope.
Man, i hope AEVTJ wins the trial
@@williambizcocho9549 I hope so too. Thing is, I can't help but think this is weird. How Bethel didn't think this could clearly turn against them. I see complete desperation in their actions. Since the pandemic began MANY Jehovah's Witnesses have stopped going to meetings because they felt less pressure to go. And since then the theme of apostasy has been much more recurring than before. Almost every meeting explicitly or implicitly talks about it. They are losing support and can only act in a desperate way: covering the eyes and ears of those inside and shutting the mouths of those outside.
In the end, who try to continúe doing bad things, and triying to hide It, eventually the truth always go out. This is the problem when you lie, time by time, at the end, the líes come back to you.
The Governing Body just cannot understand others who have the right to free speech since it doesn’t exist within the organisation. Any criticism is regarded as blasphemy ,They have made idols of themselves hence the outrage ..Wonderul work Congratulations
Sofia doesn't say she wishes she had friends but that she had "kid friends" inferring she has adult friends. At the end she makes a new adult friend and invited her to her bedroom (albeit with her mother present)
I feel that we really need some T-shirts that say “I survived the Jehovah’s Witnesses and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.”
Caleb is the JW kid who one day will rebel.
😂😂😂perfectly expressed!
Can confirm haha! Exjw
It would be cool if some of the animators left jw and made a new Caleb and Sophia series depicting that
Facts lol
@@CampingforCool41 I could try making it
Sophia wanted more "kid friends" but Lydia seems significantly older to me both in her design and the way she speaks to Sophia, almost like a tutor or camp counselor. Sophia still isn't allowed to have a friend her own age she can be imaginative and playful with, but a study buddy/babysitter.
One of my childhood friends was a JW. I was a kid, so I didn't really know what that meant; all I knew was that she couldn't celebrate her birthday. Whenever I would go to her house, her mother would either give me a bunch of pamphlets, or she had this workbook where you read a short story and answered a few questions at the end. I just did it so we could get to playing. I never said anything, because I didn't really think anything of it. Until one day I mentioned it off-hand at home. My mother lost her shit. That's the only way I can describe it. I was forbidden to go over her house. I told my friend I couldn't go to her house anymore, but we could still hang out. One day my friend’s mother saw me and started straight up interrogating me. I was a kid, I didn't want to hurt her feelings. Then she asked if my parents thought they were better than her. So, I told her the real reason. I know she called my mother, but she never said what they talked about. I have a pretty good idea though. I had never seen her as pissed as she was that day. Lol
What a story. I can only imagine the fury of a mother who finds out that some other adult has been trying to indoctrinate her child into JW behind her back.
I would have allowed the visits because I know how important you were for the girl. BUT I would have explained what the family is trying to do. I am an adult child of JW (baptized when I already moved out) and my parents sometimes try to teach my kids. I explain them that their grandparents believe things we do not believe and why. I think it was great the girl had opportunity to have an outsider as friend. But I think you have to know JW to reflect it.
Not my story, but a horror story of my cousin’s. When he was in Kindergarten, one of his classmates always had to go out in the hall when they were celebrating someone’s birthday. The day of his birthday came around, and he asked the teacher if her and the class would sing Happy Birthday to him while he sat out in the hall. This was really messed up and sad! I also had to deal with a lunch lady at my first school who was a JW, and she got mad when some of us said “Bless you Boys.” People were saying this days after the Detroit Tigers won the World Series in 1984. In general, this lady was just a piece of work and something else.
That’s how you mess up kids. Good job for not only the org BUT FOR THE PARENTS.
@@biromate2237 exactly, when i was in second grade there were a few kids who the teacher would send to another classroom when there was a birthday party. I had at first thought they had done something wrong, and had been excluded. If school is bad for JWS I can’t imagine growing up with strict JW parents. If I had grown up with that lunch lady and her family I’d be living down at the local juvenile home Moore then I would be living at home I would have fought back that much.
Jeff K,
What's really creepy is that that JW woman who worked in your school's cafeteria may have been spying on the JW kids at lunch with the intent of policing their every move, and it sounds like she was even trying to police the non-JW kids for saying something as well-meaning but harmless like "bless you" because it goes against her faith.
@@b.w.7588 she didn’t just work in the cafeteria, she was in charge of us while we played. That is she assigned us what to play and who to play with. One day, we were outside, and I sat down to relax and she told me to get up and do what she said, and all I wanted to do was catch my breath before class. This person had worked at this school for just about the whole time I was there, and even started before then. Near the end of her time, she became even more of a bitch then she had ever been. My regular teacher would get mad at us for not liking and respecting her.
You have to understand, while it’s not right, adults were taught to be like that growing up. It’s hard to change what ideas youve always been fed
“I can only be friends with people who agree with me”
Exactly! I’m 61yrs. Young and almost 3 yrs ago the light bulb went on! Geeez if I don’t think like them I’m out of the club! The billion dollar real estate publishing company!
I was a Jehovah's Witness for 22 years.Watching the Lloyd Evans video's is what gave me the intention to leave them.Friends of 22 years have now gone so were they really friends to start with?
Me too, I was a JW for 22 years, all my so called "friends" have left and deserted me.
no....cpnditional friends are worse than enemies....just find yourself disfellowshipped. You will learn this most painful lesson.....and it will be life-changing.
I left JW's 22 years ago. This must be like rock stars dying at 27 or something ?
Sounds familiar,i left them because of health reasons.and even my only sister.don't talk to me now.they are so cruel.i regret wasting my time there.evil cult
Sophia has to take the bus because her mother is "out in service".
Sophia usually has a concerned expression due to her thoughts of "how can I avoid making Jehovah sad by something I might do wrong".
No, Sophia had to take the bus because something was wrong with the mom's car!!🤣 The father looks at the engine & shuts the hood, no tools, no starting the engine, sorry, not fixing mom's car!!!😹 I thought that part was crazy!!! That's my silly take on the car thing🤣🤣
Imagine telling your child that God doesn't want her to join a club at school or make new friends with classmates
“God loves you so much that he doesn’t want you to be happy! He just wants you to devote your entire life to serving him, isn’t that cool??”
“Hello, 911? I don’t feel safe.”
“God has a whole universe to take care of with possibly lots of life, but he focuses on one galaxy, one solar system, one planet, and only cares about us jws being friends with other jws, and will send a murderer who ‘repented’ on death row to heaven, and you to hell if you don’t restrict your entire life to certain strict rules”
Love that she's framed as being in the wrong for caring about her friends safety.
Honestly, even if we don’t agree with how they saw things, this a very understandable reaction to somebody showing up and basically uprooting your entire way of life. We have to remember how radical his teachings were at the time, and as a woman of course she was gonna be concerned about her friends being told to go against the roles established for them by a man the governing body didn’t approve of
Yeah, especially considering this was a time when people could be stoned death in the streets.
JW life must be very sad, desolate, lonely. They are knocked out of the normal life. It is very heartbreaking.
You have no idea lmao
Underrated comment
Entirely why I was severely depressed most of my preteen/teen years.
They did that to me. I still struggle this day to make friends. But I'm nearly there.
You have no idea
-The school bus scene was to show all her classmates (friends? idk) were going somewhere together after school, and Sophia feels left out for not being invited (or maybe she was off screen but declined) . Other Caleb and Sophia episodes showed the two being picked up by their parents rather than taking the bus.
- i find it funny that the 'wrong' people in the story are the ones telling Martha that getting taught by Jesus wasn't what a woman should do and she needs to stay in the kitchen, when in an earlier episode, Sophia is actively discouraged from getting a higher education (we also never see the mom at a job or a mention of one, and she's usually depicted doing housework, so im sure its implied she's a housewife.)
-what's weird is Sophia has told _several_ classmates about Jehovah and they believe her/will listen to her talk about him and it seems like she converted at least one. If they had done something where the kids asked her but she said 'oh no I have meetings that night' and they tried to talk her out of it, then it would make a bit more sense...? But all they did was say 'you're smart! We'd love to have you!'
-Lydia is probably a teenager (im gonna estimate maybe 14-16? or she's an adult, its hard to tell) I could see it as a 'big sister figure', but something doesn't sit right with Sophia having no friends and it being depicted that this much older person is gonna be her only friend. Seems like an open door for grooming to start...
I know these kids are fictional characters but I feel so sorry for Caleb and sophia being apart of that cult
I never had any friends, not because the kids didnt want to play with me, but because i was taught that i should ACTIVELY avoid other kids. And in the kingdom hall no kids invited me for anything or talked with me. As an young adult i have difficulties socializing because of the CULT.
Same.
Sofia, with her big, frightened eyes. Everything scares her. She will just be the same when she's 25, 35, 45.
She'll remain the same until she dies if she stays with the JWs
My old coworker (I thought we were friends but I’m not a JW so it didn’t last long) is older than me, but she had such a doe-eyed, naïve outlook that I had to teach her basic things about social interactions. She wanted to go to a club with me because she had never been, and when the security guard was nice to her, she gave him her number and told me that she couldn’t stop thinking about him, even when he texted her to let her down gently. I had to explain that he was telling her he wasn’t interested, and she still texted him for weeks thinking he’d ask her out any day. It was hard to watch.
I don't know how you can watch that video as a loving parent and think "yes, this is the religion for me and my kids". That video basically states kids should be isolated and lonely, be battling demons and the world whilst their peers have fun, feel insecure, make friends with adults only, be judgemental, not pursue their talents and honestly be the dumbest person in the classroom. How do you want that for your kid
Because they have been brainwashed the same way. Some do left because they realize it is not good for literally any kid, but others love more their religion than their children
My parents grew up telling me to be friends with the children in the Kingdom Halls😭 it was only fun going out bc we all were on the same page and did the most absolute dumb shit but we had to find ways to make the best of it since we were only subjected to hang out with each other. We’re still good friends now except for one who decided to fully give her life away🤷🏽♀️she haven’t shunned us yet but I know it’s coming
The Governing Body, working hard on making each of Caleb and Sophia's videos more disgusting than the previous one.
The animators are getting better. Just wish they were making something that wasn't harmful to society.
You just know Dad is gonna come in and quash Sophia’s dreams.
😢
Wow, this is incredibly sad. I can totally relate to this scene. As a Jehovah’s Witness I was never allowed to even talk to the other kids at school. I really wanted to be in some photography classes and drama classes and sports, I wanted to do everything I was always interested in pretty much anything, but was never allowed to even try it, I remember once when I rebelled in the third grade and took a part in the Christmas play and did all the practices that we had during school time but of course I could not show up for the final production, and my teacher was pissed! I just wanted to belong! What was so wrong with that?
You sang Christmas songs?!!!😱 You are definitely bad association 😉
Oh I’m definitely the blackest sheep ever..
@@BlaaBlahBlacksheep that's good. i hope now you are doing the things you were never allowed to do in your life and live it to the fullest
@@shiftyourmindset2 thank you.. it’s been a long road, and I spent too much of it being sad and wishing that I could have been something, but now I am taking control, and taking my life back. I can only hope that so many more of us finally stand up, and reclaim what’s left of our lives and heal the trauma of our youth❤️
@@BlaaBlahBlacksheep being sad is also part of healing but nice to hear your taking control , means you have self love and that’s what we never knew because we were looking for live outside us, in people and ‘god’. But it was conditional love and now we are free and the most important project is you. I’m so happy that more people wake up now
I am struggling with this problem. My ex husband is an active JW. And he is teaching her all of this.
What ever you do keep her busy in school activities, don’t let him indoctrinate her !
@@unclesalty7778 great advice. Thank you! I work very hard to help her grow up confident of her self and I focus on teaching her. Nobody is looking at her to judge her and condemn her. A loving God would never do that. This will be our second Christmas. And she loves it. When I saw this video it made me sick. Specially because they want kids to be alone. Is abuse and neglect.
Keep using your voice to guide her, you're doing a great job mama 👏 💖
@@shalom2198 if i can only go back 15yrs. ago , my kids are adults in their 30's and its their second x-mas and they really enjoy it! i really kick myself for putting them through this garbage. i still tell them the message has been simple Jesus is the way. truth. life and only way to the Father he died once and for all for everyone of us! there is no salvation in any man but Jesus!.
@@moriah1202 Thank you so much.
It amazes me how accurate these cartoons really are this is the life of a Jehovah’s Witness child or children to much isolating, not allowed to participate in any school or recreational activities. I saw it in the congregation with the woman I studied with her 3 children looked miserable all the time. I recently reconnected with one of her kids on Facebook we chatted and she admitted to me she missed out on so much when she was growing up. All 3 of the kids are no longer witnesses and I can’t blame them for getting out of that nonsense.
Even just the introductory Davesplaining itself speaks volumes about the Misogyny in the organization:
"Now just so you know, Caleb is not a member of the Governing Body. But he's gonna be on the program anyway."
And what about Sophia? She is the main character in this episode. I don't recall her brother uttering a single word this time around.
I had my own trials but I wanted to share my sister’s story. Valentine’s Day- she stayed home sick from school. I don’t know if she was emotionally sick or physically sick or both. She went back the day after to a huge sack of lovely Valentines Day cards from her classmates. She took them home. Our mom made her take them back to school the next day and return each one and explain that Valentines Day is pagan so she couldn’t accept the cards. Happy 4th grade!
Wow, that’s so wrong. Over the top reaction from your mother and horrible for your sister and all the children who were just trying to be kind.
@@JA-xu4jf my sister corrected me. It was first grade :) When you think there is an angry god who will punish you and your children with annihilation this seemed reasonable to her. This was also in the mid 1970’s so Armageddon fever was high. My mom is still in, enduring the failed prophecies, gaslighting, control etc.
This whole cartoon is so disturbing…. So relieved I left this organization 30 years ago and saved my children from having to endure a sad and depressing life.
32:00 that "at least you're my friend" is so painful to hear because i was there. i was that one lonely kid because it was bad to have "wordly" friends. I'm so sorry for all those lonely little kids being indoctrinated.i just hope they all get out soon
i am very put off by the gaslighty way it is suggested that Sophia is the one who gets to chose if she joins the club or not. if she had told her parents "i think i can participate in the club and still be a good JW." they would not have let her join. and there's even a really good chance she would have been made to feel like shit for even suggesting it, like she should have known better.
In the beginning, if you look closely, you can see the faces of the girls on the playground are the same faces in and going into the van while Sophia is on the bus. By the giggling and excitement, it seems to be implying a playdate - something Sophia would have been told she shouldn't want to be apart of. She "should" want to sit alone and read the same material she should want to read for the rest of her life. The pains of isolation are starting to dig in.
When I was kindergarten age my mom send me to kindergarten with my book of Bible stories. Guess what a 5 year old boy taught other kids in kindergarten...I turned to the first page the depiction of "creation" remember that one? With lava fire and burning stone? I told all the kids in kindergarten that they all would end up there because they were bad and only Jehovah's witnesses will survive! 5 years old!!!!! They had a part at the meeting about me and what I had done. Sugar coated it of course. The teachers had a meeting with my mom and forbid her to bring such material to class. Also questioned what movies I was watching at home. This is absolute child indoctrination and abuse. I'm 40 plus now and still remember it like it was yesterday. Awful memories...
Triggered?? That was my entire childhood. I swear, parents who become jehovah’s witnesses are severely deficient in empathy. It’s sick.
People who become parents are generally lacking in empathy, as they don't realize it's better to never have been.
The "pick up" scene of the video is showing that thing that happens when parents take it in turns picking up their children AND their child's friends, so that they can hang out after school, do homework together, or extracurricular activities :') can definitely relate to feeling left out of that.
I am a total outsider to this - grew up in a pretty secular family - but I've seen a few of these JW videos breaking down the Sofia and Caleb cartoons and I just find them heartbreaking. Like, being a kid in the world is hard enough without tying their hands behind their backs from the get go. I think the thing I find saddest is the way the parents are clearly trying to be good parents and raise their children well but are gently and lovingly perpetuating an absolute and abusive betrayal of their children
These people are ridiculous. I remember when my first grade friend told on me for eating birthday cake. Horrible
I find it hilarious how they try so hard to make kids on the outside of the cult seem so selfish and psychotic as if growing up in the "truth" somehow is different. They don't realize how they rip away the "childhood" part of these little ones' lives. I had to grow up real quick in that religion, and I will never subject what I went through to my own children if I ever have any.
I have a friend who was raised JW. I don't think he's involved with it anymore, but when we were teens we invited him to join us at a halloween party, and he told us he couldn't, and he described it as forcing a vegetarian to go into a slaughter house. And he straight up told us not to say happy birthday to him, because it wasn't allowed.
I met his parents once when me and 3 other people from the friend group came over to hang out.
Not only did his dad glare at all of us and refused to speak to us. But we were not allowed into the main house for any reason.
I didn't understand any of that back then, but now when I've learned about the shunning and abuse that goes on. I completely see why he was so weary, and refused to take part in anything that could be considered bad.
Lloyd, thank you for doing your much needed work!
My pleasure! Thanks Marylou!
33:22:I wanna see a psych doc of those parents:They aren’t worried about giving RTS, PTSD, long-term anxiety and or depression to their kids, but when their kids want to play a game and a drop of fluid(blood) pops on the screen they be like that makes their kids aggressive I start to doubt the competence of humanity.
It's a small sample group but of the 14 children I grew up with I know three with anxiety two with depression and another two who died of drug overdoses in their 20s. Constant pressure does not make well adjusted adults
@@aussieginger1960 Most of them probably aren’t even aware
What I got from all the children getting into the SUV was that they all had plans together that’s why they all left together because when she walked in the school bus, she noticed nobody was in there. So they had some sort of afterschool activities that Sophia was no part of.
I remember in 3rd grade I joined the soccer team briefly before my mom found out it was against the religion. They pulled me off the team. Then in 5th grade I was the only kid who couldn't go to "outdoor lab", a camping trip where we were to stay in cabins. The principal wanted to talk to my mom and we went into the office together and she was told she is a "helicopter mother", who constantly hovers over every move. She was not deterred and they would not let me go and I was so mad about it for many years. I was such an outcast at school and bullied. Just today my mom sent me a letter in the mail telling me that one of my nonbelieving cousins had to go home from outdoor lab because he got sick. It was supposed to make me feel better because I'm supposed to think about how I got sick when the kids went to outdoor lab and it's a good thing I didn't go. The reason I got sick was probably from the stress of it all and dying of embarrassment. Also, I think about how I couldn't play sports but every elder and every man in the hall was getting together to watch football games all the time.
It’s funny too because if you go to an elder house all their kids were in sports and went to college had cars etc! Yet the normal families we weren’t allowed to play sport and discouraged to plan a future.
Jesus basically said: Martha you are hysterical, go back to the kitchen and let Mary listen cause she asked first.
Look JWs are awful, no doubt, but that's a complete mischaracterization of the story. Go look up any theologian's explanation of it. Literally anyone--pick a denomination. Firstly, food preparation was not even at play. There's nothing in the surrounding verses that indicate that. Martha was likely attending to business of some sort. What He told Martha was essentially "you don't need to be worried about attending to the business right now, come and listen instead". Even if it was about food, the interpretation of that passage is consistent among all scholars. Jesus did not tell Martha to complete her duties, He said the opposite. I know the Bible is hard to understand, it's a 2000 year old book, but you can't read it the same way you read modern English. You have to look this shit up.
@@baristaTam it was a joke, I deliberately made the words more inflammatory and devoid of context. I already know a lot of the context and significance of the bible since I'm an ex hardcore Catholic.
@@baristaTam you’re taking this comment way too seriously. But by the way you described it, the top commenter is absolutely right, Jesus basically said go make me a sandwich 😁 (another joke FYI)
It would be one thing if Sophia hesitated to join her school's afterschool Science Club because she doesn't get along with some of the other kids in her class who belong to the club, but this latest "BECOME JEHOVAH'S FRIEND" video suggests that she shouldn't be friends with any of the kids in her class who belong to the club because they won't be helping Sophia to try and stay true to her religious indoctrination. What about that Zoe girl (the little black girl who sits in the desk next to Sophia in class) whose grandmother died, it seemed like Sophia was trying to convince her to become her Bible student? Maybe what Sophia might have told Zoe about how all non-Witnesses are soon going to be exterminated by Jehovah's angelic army at Armageddon and will then remain dead for all eternity in a state of unconsciousness, a punishment that they fully deserve according to Witness doctrine, didn't sit well with Zoe?
This latest installment of "BECOME JEHOVAH'S FRIEND" is just teaching children being raised as JWs how to use their religion to create unnecessary division between people, to craft an "us versus them" narrative, to develop an increasingly prejudiced and suspicious attitude toward anyone who doesn't belong to their religious community, to segregate and isolate oneself from a society that largely doesn't share their views, to ensure that they never have their beliefs challenged. It all seems so unhealthy.
BIBLICAL TRUTH -
The CREATOR is the loving, kind, and merciful God and Father of Jesus Christ
JESUS CHRIST is the One given by his God and Father all authority in heaven and on earth
ETERNAL LIFE for LOVING, KIND, SUBMISSIVE, and OBEDIENT HUMAN BEINGS -
Lowly, loving, kind, submissive, and obedient human beings who submit to the authority of Jesus Christ and believe his teachings about the "Kingdom of God" and "Resurrection of the Dead" will be rewarded and honored by the Creator with ETERNAL LIFE and existence on earth without sufferings, pains, griefs, sickness, and deaths.
The teaching of Jesus Christ about the "Kingdom of God" means the Kingdom or Government or Rulerhip of the Creator through his Christ will ensure that planet earth is forever safe, secure, peaceful and without atheists, agnostics, and fanatics of religions, without liars, slanderers, deceivers, hypocrites, murderers, terrorists, criminals, arrogant, cruel, and hateful persons.
The teaching of the Christ about the "Resurrection of the Dead" guarantees that loving, kind, and obedient human beings who died even thousands of years ago like Abel, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, King David, Jesus Christ's disciples, and many others will be resurrected back to life by Jesus Christ in the Creator's own right time so they can fully enjoy the eternal love, kindness, generosities, compassions, favors, and blessings of the Creator and his Christ for eternity as submissive and obedient subjects of the "Kingdom of God" under the loving rulership, authority, guidance, and protection of the Creator's Chosen King and Ruler, his Christ.
@@jaflenbond7854,
What "Biblical truth" is will differ from one Christian to that of another Christian. You repeat these same claims over and over, and I still don't find them convincing. If anything, it all sounds like drivel. If that's what you believe, fine, but I see no reason to believe in the theological claims that you're making. Well, I think most people know that the kingdom of God refers to God's rulership over his followers in the next life and that the afterlife is kept safe from the various groups of people that Christians don't like such as murderers, terrorists, criminals, murderers, liars, slanderers, hypocrites, liars, and whoever else Christians and the Biblical authors wish to or wanted to include on that list. Naturally, atheists and agnostics are excluded from the afterlife...well, not necessarily, that would actually depend on which individual Christian person you're talking to, of course.
You know, some Christians don't believe that the kingdom of God refers to the earthly paradise concept that you believe in, and some of them might think that you're wrong about that idea. I must admit that I don't see where religious fanatics are mentioned among those who are considered as being excluded from God's kingdom in the New Testament in the Bible, but even if that were so, could one of those "religious fanatics" be you? Not to be mean, but you don't necessarily strike me as being one of those nice religious persons with some of the incredibly rude things you say such as referring to others who don't share your interpretation of the Bible as "useless and worthless". If that is how your religious beliefs inspire you to treat others, then maybe you should reevaluate your religious beliefs.
@@b.w.7588 Atheists, Agnostics, fanatic JWs, Born Agains, Buddhists, Muslims, Mormons, all fanatics of all religions are the great, glorious, superior, and powerful human beings who are boasting and claiming that -
1. the Creator is useless and unworthy to be honored and obeyed as the Most High and Sovereign God
2. Jesus Christ is useless and not worthy to be honored and obeyed as the Creator's Chosen King and Ruler
3. the teachings of Jesus Christ about the Kingdom of God and Resurrection of the Dead are worthless and useless, without any value at all.
The CREATOR KNOWS that the arrogance and foolishness of all the great, superior, and powerful Atheists, Agnostics, Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, etc. in boasting and claiming that the authority and teachings of his Christ are worthless and useless will just result in their own sufferings, dishonor, disgrace, downfall, shameful and ETERNAL DEATH, just worthless and useless dusts on earth forever.
I remember my younger siblings telling me why try to be close with our unbelieving dad if he was going to get destroyed anyway. I was so upset hearing this.
I grew up in the seventies and eighties, ajw also. The whole jw cartoons thing would have drawn outrage and scorn.
I can't imagine any jw kids taking these videos seriously unless they're so repressed and beaten down their spirit is crushed. The parents probably are told to examine these videos frame by frame. I grew up jw in the 70s and 80s too and we watched whatever we wanted on TV. Dad even had Monty Python and Benny Hill on every night lol. I still remember the day I decided I was too old for Thundercats lol. I wonder what my jw parents would think of this crap.
@cygnustsp Man you take that back. You're never too old for Thundercats...
But yeah, I just can't even. This crap has just gotten bizarre.
I guess it depends how feverant your parents were. I wasn't allowed to watch any TV when I was growing up apart from pre-screened Disney videos. I remember there was a tape of bible based songs for children going around that a JW had made and my parents and their friends treated it like apostate material because it hadn't come from the gov body. I definitely would have been force fed celeb and Sophia and I wouldn't have had anything to compare it to in the real world
Unfortunately scorn fuels their oppression complex.
I was born a witness. I am currently 20 years old. I'm still so terrible at making friends. It's probably the undiagnosed autism/ADHD as well but I am awful at reading people my own age and forming meaningful connections. When I was younger any friends I made even in the organization for the most part my parents still disapproved in some way and would limit my contact. My one friend, her parents where not dedicated enough, my one friend he was a guy so everyone in the fucking hall would joke that we were dating. When looking back I just genuinely connected and kind of just wanted to be him. Gender envy. Because he was a guy and I'm afab my parents and his never approved of us having a sleepover. But with my other female friends (if they were witnesses and deemed appropriate) it was perfectly okay to sleep over at their houses. But even then my parents would come up with ways to criticize them. There was no fucking winning. For a while I had nobody my age whom I was allowed to spend time with. It was so fucking lonely. Anything close to friends I had was with people years older then me. At least 15 to 20. I still struggle immensely with connecting to people my age and my current friend group is still relatively small and I struggle greatly with keeping those connections. It fucks with you for life. I hope with time I can heal and become better at this but it's for sure a real ordeal and something ex witnesses have to work through
I can visualize JW kids going to the psychologist or whatever for diagnosis. They be having no friends, social anxiety, and low self-esteem... Why would anyone not question someone with these traits as not autistic? I feel like if these kids grew up in common households there would be no question about their social skills or mental health. They are always saying “It could be worse”/“Other’s have it worse” and then a decade later you realize you have no friends, very likely obese, very likely bad health(for both mental and physical reasons).
Edit:if you look at the people going to your KH *99% of people are more FAT than average. They even teach them not to care about health. Health is the most important thing in life. If you aren’t living nicely you are just surviving day by day you can’t enjoy it.
My problem was always being concerned that I'd say or do something that 'brings reproach on JEHOVAH" so when I quit the religion at age 25 I had no idea what I would do. I was really fortunate that I found an old high school "friend" and he and his group totally adopted me, especially after I explained what had happened. After a year or two a few JW friends of mine stopped going to meetings and we began to hang out. I eventually got disfellowshipped for refusing to stop associating with one of them as he got disfellowshipped. By then I had two very good social circles, and I felt pretty good about it when they'd intertwine, almost made me feel like I was appreciated. Also support from Internet friends was invaluable, and I traveled the country to visit some of them (mostly girls lol). I joined a gym and did some volunteer work and even led sobriety meetings and it was great being around positive people who didn't judge. Now I'm old and tired, I gave up that whole life to marry a super paranoid woman and take in her 4 kids, 3 of them autistic. That did not end well as she could not stop accusing me of cheating and doing drugs every day. The last couple of years I've had no direction, no real purpose, no desire to get off my butt and make friends again. I have to admit there have been times when I thought about going to the kingdom hall with my mom who's always been jw. I'm embarrassed to contact any of my old friends. I guess my point to you is you're young, apparently quite smart, and I think you will figure it out and be ok. I feel like it's too late for me to start over but you can do it. Just please please please don't get involved intimately with anyone who will destroy who you are and your will. Take your time with everything. Good luck to you 🙂
@@biromate2237 I fully agree. If I grew up in a nonreligious home with actual attentive parents my symptoms would have for sure been investigated by now. The ironic thing is also that my mother was incredibly critical of other parents not seeking treatment or diagnosis for their children showing autism like symptoms. But when her own kids showed similar symptoms or other symptoms of either poor or irregular mental health her response is that we were not trying hard enough
Or that she and my father had it worse and to suck it up. (My mother had her depression and her fibromyalgia, and my father with his rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes.) Anything wrong with me I felt was my fault. Which was partially my parents doing as well as the religions influence to making all is members work towards impossible standards.
I think also it's interesting bringing up the common factor of disordered eating. I started a terrifying journey of both under and over eating while in and right after leaving the witnesses. It is a lot more common then we aknowledge. A concerning amount of members are overweight, I strongly suspect it's a coping mechanism of sorts. The ideology of "I have no control over my situation. But I do have control over my weight. What I eat. Ect". That was a huge factor in my Ed. I couldn't control my parents or my emotions. So I'd partake in various eating disorder or self harm behaviours because it was the only control I felt I had. This is a really common reason as to why children, teens and adults start and then continue these kinds of behaviours.
It's not the ideal way to cope but it's a strong reaction to strong feelings and intense situations.
@@cygnustsp thank you for sharing your experience. I'm sorry for the hardships you've lived through. If it's any condolence going back is not going to fix anything. It's the equivalent of putting lemon juice on an open wound. You deserve people in your life who value you, and you deserve to be in a place you feel content with. You didn't deserve the treatment of that women. She had her own issues and it was incredibly unfair for her to put that on you.
In my opinion (even though yes I'll fully aknowledge I'm very young and I don't know much) but everyone no matter what age deserves the time and space to start over. Your still here. You made it though a cult and an abusive relationship. You got something in you keeping you going .
I really hope in time you can get some of that old appreciation and contentedness with life again. You deserve it. And though I don't know what terms you left those friends, if it was on good terms, I'm sure they would be delighted to hear from you. Give them a call.
Take your time as well. You deserve it. Thank you for your words 💙
@@NotaArtist thank you very much, maybe I'll muster up the courage, right now I'm recovering from a brutal surgery then next month I work 70 hours a week for three months but in the spring I'll try to take your advice and go for it.
Remember, the basis of a great friendship, is that someone love turtles. Oh ! And believe the same culty beliefs, otherwise shun them until they are violently destroyed in Armageddon .
Watching just the beginning of this reminds me of all the straight loneliness I felt through out school. Not allowed to make friends, taken out of the class for parties. It was horrible.
the bus scene is terrible!! Sofia has to watch all her friends have a play date being picked up and she is a loner !! I remember how I felt as a young JW going to public school!!
I think the negativity towards Science is due to keeping kids from exploring evolution etc.
I think it may be because science at its core encourages people to question things and research things independently. The complete opposite of the mindset they want for JW
@@totally_a_spy Absolutely, good point!
@@totally_a_spy Eh, not necessarily - even kids who learn about science generally don't get how the scientific method works; just that X works Y way because scientists said so.
It's all about keeping kids indoctrinaed in that religion.
I love how they always call this CALEB & sofia even though Sofia is most of the time the main character. Also of course they didn't even try to make a joke about Sofia being part of the governing body because we all know that's never gonna happen, girls belong in the kitchen (sarcasm) -_-
30:25 and there it is, the shunning moment. The GB want you to know it’s ok to have a brief expression of disappointment but MUST be followed immediately by a forgetful smile, as this character does, walking back to her group.
Something that stood out to me was Sophia wanted a friend her age, she is around 8 or 9. Her friend at the end is at least around 14 - 16.
On a somewhat unrelated note, the arrangement of that bookshelf is downright satifying 🌈📚
I am going to be honest here, when I was a kid ... I was raised in "the truth" I was kinda taught that we do not hang out with people or children who did not serve Jehovah because bad association spoils useful habits. So being alone was something that I was kinda used to and that among other things helped with my social anxiety.
It bugs me how good the production quality of these animations has got. The animation really looks stella in this one, art direction, models, lighting, the expressiveness of the characters. I also think the voice acting is really excellent, I genuinally think the voice actors on this are great. There's clearly a plethora of talented animators, directors, actors, editors etc. working on this. Why oh why does it all have to be in service of such twisted ideals! I'd love for this show to take a turn in following how Sophia and Caleb wake up and rejoin civilization!
The animation has changed so much throughout this series, is scary that it has worked enough for them to improve the animation so much.
No Lloyd, You referred to the other kids as her "friends," but this is incorrect. Remember they are her "school associates," or "classmates," but never her friends....... I got so sick of that shit as a kid. Anytime I referred to my school friends as friends I was always corrected and reminded they are not my friends. I'm glad I ended that nonsense with my kids.
31:23 The “heartwarming” music in the background is so ridiculous 🤦🏾♂️😂🚫 Poor Sofia!
I too am furious only a few seconds in. I am boiling. JW Cult is horrible and my JW mother died unexpectedly last week and not one JW has sent flowers, cards or meals. She has been a devoted JW since she was 17 and she was 74 yrs old when she passed. Her journal would shock you . I cant even read past page 4 because of her guilt in 1984 when she would not have enough service hrs.
Thanks to you and many others to showing soo many others how sick this CULT is.
I wonder if JWs bring their own popcorn and candy to conventions and assemblies since apparently all they do now is watch movies.
Lol true
Yes you are to bring lunch! lol so yes plenty snacks and drinks 😅
So...instead of playing with classmates after school, Sofia needs to be reading JW literature.
Heaven forbid she should actually play during recess.
No black people in Egypt even in cartoons. Interesting
It's like a constant worry of doing something wrong. Not being happy as a kid.
Lloyd, I remember as a kid the society pointing out the sin of other religions about "adding to the word of God." Today, they are completely unrecognizable as they are doing the very same thing. I've noticed this as an ongoing trend: "let's make up stories and then learn from them!"
I loved that line as well!!! The Pharisees/Elders don't approve of that MAN! It rings a bell!! Tattletelling to the Pharisees/Elders also sounds very familiar!! Lol Ty Lloyd!!! Great insight/ video!! Btw....hating a science club is very scary to me!!!😳🙄😱
Loving the hair cut mr !
Keep up the good work you are so good at what you are doing 👏
29:20 I appreciate your care in saying "the writers of Matthew, Mark and Luke" instead of "Matthew, Mark and Luke".
My elder father would always say in regards to “worldly children”
“Little snakes grow up to be big snakes”
I never understood how awful that was until I became an adult, and thought that’s what you think of children that are Jehovah’s Witnesses?! 🤦🏻♀️
my dad dated a lady once who turned out to be a Jehovah's Witness. she seemed nice but she kept trying to indoctrinate us, especially me. I, being a child, listened out of politeness, but the second she said that birthday parties and other fun stuff wasn't allowed in the religion I internally decided "no thank you. I will still listen to you speak to be polite but I will not join." my dad wasn't interested in JW either and they stopped seeing eachother. she left me a JW book as a "gift" in hopes I could still choose to be a JW. I still have it tucked away in a box somewhere bc I was raised to not get rid of gifts but I never touched it.
I’m wondering if the school bus scene in the beginning was to emphasize the fact that she is alone there. No one around her is taking the same path she is rather than the kids being coddled. I may be wrong. I didn’t grow up JW, I had an overly religious mother who raised her children with a cult-like mentality. But one thing she did was isolate her children so all we had was her to rely on, not even each other. And the overwhelming loneliness is difficult. Due to that feeling, the scene speaks to me personally about loneliness and longing.
Interesting thing is, almost every other episode shows Sophia and Caleb being dropped off and picked up from school by their dad.
As a teacher, parent and Exvangelical, I experienced the same thing as a child. Our goal was to be missionaries to our classmates. In fact, my mother still has a Christmas Tree blanket in which my brother and I are embroidered onto it, telling the story of our Missionary work as children in elementary school. It was a lot of pressure. It was also distancing, we could not celebrate Halloween or much of secularized Christmas. As a teacher today, I feel a lot of sympathy for my JW and Evangelical students. Both are often not permitted to participate in many aspects of music or culture merry-making in school. As a parent, I do my best to neutralize this problem by encouraging my son to be respectful of all viewpoints, but we make sure to have a very moderate view ourselves, so that he doesn't feel the levels of separation which I felt and which I've seen children feel in my teaching practice.
You are destroying your children by teaching them tolerance with evil. Did you ever read about those messages in the Bible?
And for what, so that you can celebrate Halloween forever in hell? Where did you go wrong? 😢
This hits hard because I’ve always struggled to make friends because of this and I still do. When I have children, I’ll never let them go through this abuse
As a Catholic myself, I am truly sorry for the damage the bad Catholics and Christians cause. They are but disgraces to our community.
So true
Everyone lovesTebor❤he is always gracious ……