Current Events > Movie critic, Chris Stuckmann reveals he left the Jehovah's Witness cult

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://youtu.be/tpMjgarN7VQ

I used to watch his stuff all the time. Had no idea he used to be a JW (I did too. My family are). Watching this now.

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Him being in a cult explains so much.

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IShall_Run_Amok posted...

Him being in a cult explains so much.

Like what?

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I talked to jehova witnesses once when they cornered me in the laundry room of my building. I did literally all the talking and explained like my entire belief system to them over half an hour or longer. It seem to resonate with them and I was like... am I really getting through to them? A few weeks later they left propaganda taped up to my door and I was pissed. I know that's their schtick but don't listen to me sharing all that existential stuff for all that time and then try to pull a fast one on me later on like some little pamphlet that says "hurr durr convert or u am going 2 hell" is gonna make me think...
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They probably found out about his YouTube money and wanted their cut.

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Oh, I remember that guy. He had a bit of a "I took 1 semester of drama at community college so i'm up my own ass" kinda vibe, but he seemed like good people.

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ZEROWOLF posted...

They probably found out about his YouTube money and wanted their cut.

He explains that he decided to talk about it because he was being asked or interviewed about his childhood, and he couldn't answer the questions truthfully without divulging this part of his past. And his family will probably stop speaking to him after he releases this video.

Machete posted...

I talked to jehova witnesses once when they cornered me in the laundry room of my building. I did literally all the talking and explained like my entire belief system to them over half an hour or longer. It seem to resonate with them and I was like... am I really getting through to them? A few weeks later they left propaganda taped up to my door and I was pissed. I know that's their schtick but don't listen to me sharing all that existential stuff for all that time and then try to pull a fast one on me later on like some little pamphlet that says "hurr durr convert or u am going 2 hell" is gonna make me think...

It's almost always a lost cause. They'll just pretend to show interest in what you're saying. The end goal is to get the literature to you and record their hours.

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I've seen quite a few of his movie reviews and generally enjoyed his content. That's interesting

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tell that to Zod's snapped neck

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Eliza3 posted...

It's almost always a lost cause. They'll just pretend to show interest in what you're saying. The end goal is to get the literature to you and record their hours.

I knew I was being naive but I expected a little bit more courtesy than that, especially since they cornered me. Makes me wish I had just been like "nope" and pushed past them into my room.

If they ever went back again, they would known how I felt about that. I wrote some... not nice things on the propaganda and left it taped up for a few years lol. I haven't had any (or any other preachy religious groups) show up since moving over 7 years ago afaik, and if any have, I didn't answer the door. I'm a bit neurotic about privacy.
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Machete posted...

I wrote some... not nice things on the propaganda and left it taped up for a few years lol.

lol awesome

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Just finished the video. He also comes out as pansexual at the end. Great for him! I hope he gets a lot of support after this, because his family won't be there, I guarantee it.

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He should do a honest review of dragon ball evolution

TC, what's your personal experience as a Jehovah Witness?

My Mexican side is Jehovah Witness and I have no bad experiences and nothing aside from the rule nobody followed of "don't hang out with worldly people" felt culty. My family definitely aren't culty. They're mostly drunks. I was never presdured to treat it anything more than a regular church. Basically just "be quiet and pay attention" like you'd hear at at school or anywhere else as a kid. I feel like with most religions, it really just matter was congregation you end up with. I stopped going in my later teens and nobody abandoned me or showed me any less love in my extended family. I'm very curious what your personal experience was.

Also, I'll watch this after I get some sleep.

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Lost_All_Senses posted...

TC, what's your personal experience as a Jehovah Witness?

My Mexican side is Jehovah Witness and I have no bad experiences and nothing aside from the rule nobody followed of "don't hang out with worldly people" felt culty. My family definitely aren't culty. They're mostly drunks. I was never presdured to treat it anything more than a regular church. Basically just "shut up and pay attention". I feel like with most religions, it really just matter was congregation you end up with. I stopped going in my later teens and nobody abandoned me or showed me any less love in my extended family. I'm very curious what your personal experience was.

Huh. I didn't know drinking was okay. I know mormons can't drink but I never knew either way about jehovas.
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Machete posted...

Huh. I didn't know drinking was okay. I know mormons can't drink but I never knew either way about jehovas.

If it's not, no one got that memo in our congregation. Maybe they were just half assing it. A lot of them kind of stuck to the "don't associate with worldly people" in that they didn't seek them out. But in my experience everyone had organically met nice people outside of it and didn't push them away. This might all be an exception, since it's the only congregation I have any insight on whatsoever

Honestly, all this kind of works to the religions advantage. Cause if all the other ones are nuts, this one has me out here downplaying it. Cause like I said, there was literally no pressure on me aside from just having to attend with my cousins if I stayed over their house. Which was later on after my mom stopped taking us. I think she was just too stressed cause my dad was an asshole.

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He also says he's pansexual. Based!

Lost_All_Senses posted...

TC, what's your personal experience as a Jehovah Witness?

My Mexican side is Jehovah Witness and I have no bad experiences and nothing aside from the rule nobody followed of "don't hang out with worldly people" felt culty. My family definitely aren't culty. They're mostly drunks. I was never presdured to treat it anything more than a regular church. Basically just "be quiet and pay attention" like you'd hear at at school or anywhere else as a kid. I feel like with most religions, it really just matter was congregation you end up with. I stopped going in my later teens and nobody abandoned me or showed me any less love in my extended family. I'm very curious what your personal experience was.

Also, I'll watch this after I get some sleep.

Were you baptized? A lot of JW's are half-in/half-out, so def it's going to depend. I wasn't baptized so I couldn't be disfellowshipped regardless. If you're interested in hearing more stories from people who left the religion, there's a ton of content out there. Leah Remini did a special episode of her scientology series about JWs. I think it's on Netflix.

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Eliza3 posted...

Were you baptized? A lot of JW's are half-in/half-out, so def it's going to depend. I wasn't baptized so I couldn't be disfellowshipped regardless. If you're interested in hearing more stories from people who left the religion, there's a ton of content out there. Leah Remini did a special episode of her scientology series about JWs. I think it's on Netflix.

Eh, Id prefer not to get too deep into it and just count myself lucky I ended up where I did. I will watch this one later for some insight, but I'm not gonna go down a rabbit hole. Im 31 and I doubt I'm gonna be convinced that it's not just congregation based. Mostly because I feel that way about most things. And I feel like people who want to believe they're fucked up will focus on the fucked up ones and people who want to believe they aren't will focus on the ones like I experienced. I'm happy in the middle, believing people are people and there will be good and bad ones in pretty much all places. I'm never gonna come to a point where I make assumptions based on someone's religion.

Oh, just realized I didn't answer your question. I wasn't.

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Lost_All_Senses posted...

Eh, Id prefer not to get too deep into it and just count myself lucky I ended up where I did. I will watch this one later for some insight, but I'm not gonna go down a rabbit hole. Im 31 and I doubt I'm gonna be convinced that it's not just congregation based. Mostly because I feel that way about most things. And I feel like people who want to believe they're fucked up will focus on the fucked up ones and people who want to believe they aren't will focus on the ones like I experienced. I'm happy in the middle, believing people are people and there will be good and bad ones in pretty much all places. I'm never gonna come to a point where I make assumptions based on someone's religion.

Oh, just realized I didn't answer your question. I wasn't.

That's great that you didn't have a bad experience, but you shouldn't discount that the organization, as a whole, is incredibly toxic and damaging. And saying that you don't want to dig into it too deeply and just prefer to stick to the belief you already have about it? Well okay, you can do that, but it doesn't make it correct.

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Machete posted...

I talked to jehova witnesses once when they cornered me in the laundry room of my building. I did literally all the talking and explained like my entire belief system to them over half an hour or longer. It seem to resonate with them and I was like... am I really getting through to them? A few weeks later they left propaganda taped up to my door and I was pissed. I know that's their schtick but don't listen to me sharing all that existential stuff for all that time and then try to pull a fast one on me later on like some little pamphlet that says "hurr durr convert or u am going 2 hell" is gonna make me think...

So why didn't you listen to them? Why do you think your ignorant Christianity is right? You do realize that Jesus said there would be a second coming? That second coming occurred in America. And the more you cover your ears and talk over the word of God, the more likely it is that you'll never accept the Truth.

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ChainedRedone posted...

So why didn't you listen to them? Why do you think your ignorant Christianity is right? You do realize that Jesus said there would be a second coming? That second coming occurred in America. And the more you cover your ears and talk over the word of God, the more likely it is that you'll never accept the Truth.

Dude, don't come into my topic to defend a cult. Just stop.

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Eliza3 posted...

That's great that you didn't have a bad experience, but you shouldn't discount that the organization, as a whole, is incredibly toxic and damaging. And saying that you don't want to dig into it too deeply and just prefer to stick to the belief you already have about it? Well okay, you can do that, but it doesn't make it correct.

When did I say anything about being correct? I don't live life worrying about being correct in every subject. There's literally no advantage in digging super far into this for me. I have no intention in being a Jehovah Witness and I already know my family on a deeper level than religion. I'm definitely not convincing anyone to join, so me not digging into this isn't harmful to anyone else. There's literally nothing for me that's relevant to my life. If you can point out what's toxic and damaging about this, let me know.

Even what I said about "working to their advantage" doesn't actually work after I broke it down. It was more of a joke.

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Lost_All_Senses posted...

When did I say anything about being correct? I don't live life worrying about being correct in every subject. There's literally no advantage in digging super far into this for me. I have no intention in being a Jehovah Witness and I already know my family on a deeper level than religion. I'm definitely not convincing anyone to join, so me not digging into this isn't harmful to anyone else. There's literally nothing for me that's relevant to my life. If you can point out what's toxic and damaging about this, let me know.

Even what I said about "working to their advantage" doesn't actually work after I broke it down. It was more of a joke.

Here you go
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Jehovah%27s_Witnesses

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There was a male JW who would show up on my door every few weeks with a different woman, trying to get me into their church. I convinced them to come inside for lunch once, but they wouldn't eat anything. Straight outta the myth of Persephone.

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ChainedRedone posted...

So why didn't you listen to them? Why do you think your ignorant Christianity is right? You do realize that Jesus said there would be a second coming? That second coming occurred in America. And the more you cover your ears and talk over the word of God, the more likely it is that you'll never accept the Truth.

Like I said, I did all the talking. I don't have a christianity or a jesus... and if I was going to listen to any religion, I'd listen to them all equally... talking over each other in a cacophonous mess, and I'd judge them all to be truth or I'd judge them all false. It wouldn't make a difference because in the end, both of those scenarios are the same and render religion useless to me because I see no sense in favoring one over another and I have no cultural predisposition. My beliefs cater to my own experiences, outlooks, perception and ideology. I'm not going to cater such things to the words of others just because they fearmonger over a concept of "hell" that I've all but entirely dismissed.

We can have a serious conversation if you want, though I don't really want to contribute to derailing, but I'm not entirely certain that you aren't just trolling
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Machete posted...

but I'm not entirely certain that you aren't just trolling

They are definitely trolling

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Eliza3 posted...

Here you go
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Jehovah%27s_Witnesses

This answer makes it seem like you didn't read ir take in anything I said lol. Because everything I said informs somebody that I don't care about clicking on that.

I also realized you sidestepped my initial question with just a quick note. Which is fine, you obviously don't have to talk about your personal experiences. Just wondering if it was on purpose.

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Eliza3 posted...

They are definitely trolling

It's a shame because the very same reasons why I felt compelled to talk to the jehovas are why a part of me wants to have a serious conversation with that user >_>
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Lost_All_Senses posted...

This answer makes it seem like you didn't read ir take in anything I said lol. Because everything I said informs somebody that I don't care about clicking on that.

I also realized you sidestepped my initial question with just a quick note. Which is fine, you obviously don't have to talk about your personal experiences. Just wondering if it was on purpose.

You didn't understand my post. I never said that your behavior is damaging and toxic. I said the organization is. If you aren't interested in actually learning about what you're talking about, then just stop posting here? I don't see why you keep coming back.

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Machete posted...

It's a shame because the very same reasons why I felt compelled to talk to the jehovas are why a part of me wants to have a serious conversation with that user >_>

Word. Never any harm in talking. Never got why someone would judge someone else for being curious. Not saying that's happening here, but there's definitely the "Why would you even talk to them?" people. It's entertaining trying to get into other people's heads and seeing why they believe or do something. You never actually have to commit to anything through talking, it's just that.

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Eliza3 posted...

You didn't understand my post. I never said that your behavior is damaging and toxic. I said the organization is. If you aren't interested in actually learning about what you're talking about, then just stop posting here? I don't see why you keep coming back.

Because you didn't seem irritated until now. But I can stop now, since there's nowhere else to take this.

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Lost_All_Senses posted...

Because you didn't seem irritated until now. But I can stop now, since there's nowhere else to take this.

I'm irritated because your posts are downplaying and dismissing the severity of a cult-like religion that has caused immense trauma for individuals and families all over the world. Just because you didn't personally experience it doesn't mean it's not an enormous problem for others.

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Lost_All_Senses posted...

Word. Never any harm in talking. Never got why someone would judge someone else for being curious. Not saying that's happening here, but there's definitely the "Why would you even talk to them?" people. It's entertaining trying to get into other people's heads and seeing why they believe or do something. You never actually have to commit to anything through talking, it's just that.

Yeah, exactly. It's a subject I enjoy speaking upon too, and while there was never a chance that I would take to their beliefs, I was happy to share mine, even if in the end, they dismissed mine as quickly I could have dismissed theirs just by saying no thanks...

I think people in general would have more existential knowledge if they were better at lucid dreaming. I am way ahead of the curve on that and my belief system is highly extrapolated from it.

But yeah that's probably enough. I don't want to get too far off topic here.
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JW are insane

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Eliza3 posted...

I'm irritated because your posts are downplaying and dismissing the severity of a cult-like religion that has caused immense trauma for individuals and families all over the world. Just because you didn't personally experience it doesn't mean it's not an enormous problem for others.

I literally could not reference that everything is from my personal experience more without it becoming redundant. I can't talk from anyone else's experience. If you see someone telling their genuine personal experience as "downplaying" while they are constantly reinforcing that it's strictly based on the single congregation they experienced, I can't help but think that's on you. Like, I'm sorry it doesn't help the narrative you want set, but I'm not gonna make shit up. I can guarantee no one here is looking at my personal experience and becoming warmed up to Jehovah Witnesses and thinking of joining.

I was completely willing to bow out in my last post. I wasn't calling you irritable, if that's what it seemed like. I was fully aware of my contribution to making you irritated. Just like now I'm aware I'm prolonging it to defend myself. Now stop making me defend myself so you can get your topic back >_>

@Machete jealous you can lucid dream and I'm definitely open to that being a portal to knowledge. But yeah, I'm not gonna take anymore of this topic either.

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Lost_All_Senses posted...

I literally could not reference that everything is from my personal experience more without it becoming redundant.

Then don't say shit like:

Lost_All_Senses posted...

I doubt I'm gonna be convinced that it's not just congregation based. Mostly because I feel that way about most things. And I feel like people who want to believe they're fucked up will focus on the fucked up ones

It's not about "wanting to believe they're fucked up." They are a demonstrably harmful organization. You could find out the information yourself, but you said you aren't interested in educating yourself on the topic.


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Dreepapult posted...

JW are insane

The organization definitely is fucked up. Unfortunately the heavy indoctrination screws people up.

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jason19192 posted...

He also says he's pansexual. Based!

Yea good for him! He must have been repressing it for a long time. I'm sure it's a huge weight off for him making that vid.

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Eliza3 posted...

It's not about "wanting to believe they're fucked up." They are a demonstrably harmful organization.

I'll give you that one. I was kind of going bigger picture there but the outside perspective was still me locked into the specific topic. I tend to do that. I'll rethink where I choose to use that approach in the future. That's just my overall perspective on the majority of things. People tend to just look to be proven right when they don't want to do more research. But if an organization is actually harmful, I shouldn't be so cavalier with pushing that perspective.

Gonna get some sleep, hopefully I remember to come back and check out the OP vid. This guy was just interviewed on Double Toasted, which I frequent. But I wasn't really interested. Maybe this will change my mind.

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I'm curious what brought this all on, he mentioned that his dad will probably never talk to him again after this. I wonder if they had a falling out or something which pushed him in the direction to make this

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Lost_All_Senses posted...

I'll give you that one. I was kind of going bigger picture there but the outside perspective was still me locked into the specific topic. I tend to do that. I'll rethink where I choose to use that approach in the future. That's just my overall perspective on the majority of things. People tend to just look to be proven right when they don't want to do more research. But if an organization is actually harmful, I shouldn't be so cavalier with pushing that perspective.

Gonna get some sleep, hopefully I remember to come back and check out the OP vid. This guy was just interviewed on Double Toasted, which I frequent. But I wasn't really interested. Maybe this will change my mind.

I appreciate that. Granted, I don't meant that all JW individuals are the problem. They're, largely, victims themselves to the organization, which is made up of a group of men who instruct members on what to believe.

pogo_rabid posted...

I'm curious what brought this all on, he mentioned that his dad will probably never talk to him again after this. I wonder if they had a falling out or something which pushed him in the direction to make this

He said at the beginning that he felt like he couldn't avoid the subject any longer because he'd have to avoid talking about his upbringing entirely if he did. I'd assume that he doesn't have a good relationship with his dad (and maybe the rest of his family) as it is. Chris said he expects his dad won't speak to him after making this video, so his dad must be pretty serious about it.

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Right, i mean what brought on him talking about his upbringing at all.

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What do all cults have in common? Their names are more than one word long.

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