I've been watching all of your videos lately, and I seriously love you. I'm in the process of leaving the Mormon church - I began to "mentally" leave it when I was about 6, but only now (at 21) I'm working on actively leaving. Pretty much every thing that you talk about, I agree with. And it is helping me leave, which is something that's very hard to do... a lifetime of brainwashing is a hard thing to shake off.
(continuing).. or if you had been "properly" raised in, not only a devout family from the beginning, but a devout kin reaching back decades and branching out to reach hundreds of family members. Suddently it's easier to realise how people can defy evolution or blindly follow any doctrine they've been told is right?
I myself was born to the mormon church. I started question the system only at the age of 22. So, if possible, the guilt and mindfuck can go even deeper than what you've experienced.
Thanks for doing this series. It touched me, a fellow apostate of the mormon church.
Although, if I understand correctly, your family really started going to church when you were 9 (you were baptisted a year later than normally and your family was sealed at a later time, not when your parents got married). You had doubts during pre-puberty and was inactive already at the age of 14.
Imagine if you would've been raised to say your testimony at the age of three... (to be continued)
I've wondered what it would be like if I ever went back to a church meeting - your insights here have given me a good idea of how uncomfotable it would be. Wonderful video thanks for sharing.
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My younger sister (10) recently told me that a member of her class said something along the lines of "evolution is evil, and if you believe it, you're going to hell" it's so disturbing what these parents let their children overhear.
I appreciate your video but I feel as if you're only looking at one half of a dark circle, i.e. what can go wrong under the guise of organized religion. You're not looking at the types of wrongs that can occur in the other half of that circle. And that is the crux of what I am saying, wrongs can afflict any sort of lifestyle, liberal or conservative, religious or irreligious. Unfortunately, by looking at part of the picture, you're basing your conclusion on them. Your conclusion too is partial.
@BaurakAle7 You tell your kids over and over again to avoid strangers. You tell your kids over and over again that Joe Smith is a prophet. Now do you see?
Everything in religion makes more sense when you see it's true purpose is indoctrination and life dependency, in order to create a strong financial and political power, and what better way to hook people for life than to start with the kids right?
@BaurakAle7 I have no idea about Mormon vs. non-Mormon family sizes, all I compared was the amount of children born to Mormon families per year. And the 90's and 2000's were half what they were to the 70's and 80's. Looks like there might be a talk about the evils of birth control in the next conference.
@BaurakAle7 Sorry, I had a hard time following what you were stating. I already crunched the numbers on the children of record, and Mormons are not having 5-6 kids anymore. The number of kids being born into Mormon families is half what is was in the 70's and 80's. Although the last three years have been slightly up, it could be an abnormality.
@BaurakAle7 They didnt drop the number of missionaries... to many teens having sex and not being able to go. But it is clear that the number all across the board have dropped, I mean you can't argue with facts like that. I don't know how far you have crunched the numbers, but if you take the total membership, subtract the baptism of kids and converts, it doesn't add up to the year before. I assume that because of the people who left the church, but some years its not a negative number.
@BaurakAle7 Statistically speaking 2003 was the worst year for the church. The late 80's and early 90's were the best years. But since 2003, its been back on an upswing. We have to wait another 5-7 years until we can tell if it will continue to move back to the pace it was in the late 80's and 90's. Joe Smith never said the Mormons would be the largest church. In fact check out 1 Nephi 14:12 which says the church numbers would be few compared to the whore church.
@BaurakAle7 Interesting you brought this up, I actually took an excel spreadsheet from 1971 when the church first started posting statistics in the general conference. I have tons of stats in there like world population, GDP of the world, etc looking at what makes changes in convert baptisms. Since 2003, the # of converts has been increasing steadily. Do you want me to email you a copy of it?
@BaurakAle7 Everyone I know thinks for themselves. With todays world of the internet, people can look at all the claims you and others like you make, and still they go to church each week, and still they join the church by the hundreds of thousands. Weird huh?
@BaurakAle7 You need to look at the Origin of the Universe , and "Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays" by Steven Hawking. You will get the answers you need. The Big Bang is proven by the COBE by finding matter that exists in different forms. It never proves there was nothing and then bam there was something.
@BaurakAle7 Hopefully people that are easily conditioned this way and aren't able to think for themselves will go on the internet read this and leave the mormon church. If you are that simple minded and fall into social pressures that easily you are the chaff that needs to be sorted from the wheat.
@BaurakAle7 Electroshock therapy has never actually worked on humans, scientists have tried it for decades and for some reason people think on their own.
@BaurakAle7 The kids are brainwashed, as I am sure you are aware, as you grow into adulthood you are able to see things as they really are. I love the internet because it makes a great forum to discuss things. Name me a group that would want negative things said by the insiders. I mean be realistic, when Pres. Bush was being retarded no republicans would say negative things about him. You just dont do that.
@BaurakAle7 In the Mormons Pearl of Great Price, it teaches that God didnt create the Heavens and the Earth, but he organized the matter. Every other Christian church believes in the 'ex nihilo.' That matter was created from nothing, which clearly goes against science. Einsteins theory still holds value in the scientific community.
@BaurakAle7 Einstein's theory of relativity including matter being unable to be created or destroyed was taught by Joe Smith 120 years before Einstein thought it up. Joe Smith claims to understand the workings of the Universe and you are telling me that a child will be able to easily understand these concepts? Craziness!
@BaurakAle7 Thats a huge stereotype. Converts these days have access to the internet where they can read all they want about the Mormon church. They can watch the Godmakers cartoon, and yet they still join the church. When it comes down to it, you can't explain how the universe works to a child, and the Mormon church claims to understand many of the working of the universe.
@BaurakAle7 Ha, I can clearly tell that you don't have kids. "Rationally explain" and "4 year old" do not belong in the same sentence! The evidence of the Mormon church comes to individuals on an individual basis.
I think almost any member of the Mormon church would agree with you that this is a brainwashing technique. But what is wrong with brainwashing someone with truth? I mean your parents also brainwash you to eat your vegetable because they are good for you. Imagine if parents let children choose for themselves what to eat. They would be eating M&M's every night and twinkies for breakfast.
@wagmaster5000 Theres nothing wrong with truth, problem is this shit isn't true. You can tell a kid if all they eat is cake they'll get fat, and they most likely will. If you try to tell a child the bible has magical powers and if you add or take away from it the plagues of the bible will come and get you...then you're fucking your child up in the head.You're not just putting a religion into your child's head, you're warping their entire mind and how they look at life.
@wagmaster5000 Brainwashing is when you impose inherrently destructive ways on someone, without their consent. Teaching a kid to eat his veggies grants the child a more healthy lifestyle, teaching them not to walk out in traffic teaches them to safeguard their life, what is dangerous and so on. That's teaching. It isn't done with a whip, as religion is. "Believe what I tell you to, or you'll burn forever" is a very destructive doctrine, as Laci's story, and many others like it, shows.
@xxhellspawnedxx Ha, you clearly must not have kids. Telling kids to each veggies and stay out of traffic is brainwashing. Parents tell their kids over and over and over again that if someone comes up to you in a strange car offering you candy, to run and not get in. Same thing with religion, parents teach their kids over and over again how to follow the teaching of Jesus. Same philosophy.
@wagmaster5000 It isn't, cause its provably real that a kid brought up on fastfood turn obese and are very liable to suffer heart and vascular disorders pretty early in their lives. Equally, theres very real proof that a man who randomly turns up and tries to coax a kid into his car with candy are have an ulterior motive in doing so, one that would be destructive to your kids health. Equally, it is proven that a car hitting a small child have a very big risk of chronically crippling the kid.
@wagmaster5000 What I'm saying is the justification is quite different, which makes all the difference.
From wikipedia:
"Brainwashing - The application of coercive techniques to change the values and beliefs, perceptions and judgments, and subsequent mindsets and behaviors of one or more people, usually for political, financial, personal, or religious purposes"
This definition clearly states that this isn't ultimately done for the recipient of the brainwash, but for the deliverer.
@xxhellspawnedxx But you are not looking from the Mormon perspective. If the Mormon church is true and their teachings are correct, then is there anything wrong with brainwashing the children the same way you brainwash them to avoid stranger?
@wagmaster5000 Doesn't the bible claim that everyone, except those unwilling to, will know god in their hearts? Not stated with those exact words, but with the same meaning. Small children can't have the experience and knowledge to actively denouce religion as manipulative, destructive and regressive, and thereby they should know god automatically, according to the bible, no brainwashing required. I smell hypocrisy. Don't they trust their god to do the right thing?
@xxhellspawnedxx Look at the author of this video. She was brainwashed, and yet she still doesn't know God in her heart. Why not give the kids every advantage in the world to accept Jesus in their heart. By brainwashing them, they are much more likely to accept Jesus in their heart later in life.
@wagmaster5000 That was just a reference to christian hypocrisy. Holy books are the expressed word of god, and since go is perfect, so is the words (or so they claim), yet they dont heed it for any number of reasons. But mostly for selfish, political or economic reasons. Take the statement that noone is fit to judge except god, yet christian groups spend most of their time furiously judging anyone who doesn't fit into their slim view of whats right.
@wagmaster5000 Furthermore, they don't learn to love god unconditionally. They learn to love god in chains, with a constant whip over their backs. "Love, or else" isn't true love, its fear. In my mind, that doesn't sound like the kind of love that an all-loving god would want attributed to him. But yet again, religious hypocrisy. The ends always justify the means, no matter how wrong the means are, or how severely they break the religious persons own adopted code of morals and rules.
@xxhellspawnedxx There are different levels of obedience. Fear of what could happen to you if you dont obey is level 1. God doesn't want us to obey out of fear, but obedience out of fear is better then disobedience. Then you can obey because you want a reward. This is probably the second level of obedience. People do it because they want to go to heaven. The third level is doing it because we love God and want to please him. Hard to do, but life is about becoming a better person.
@wagmaster5000 I guess the question is why not "give the kids every advantage in the world" to believe in whatever they want to believe. Make sure to teach them how to think critically, that is all it takes for them to see by themselves that religion is bullshit.
@gugamilare But if you are a parent and you know for a fact that something is true, why let your child go through the pains and struggle to discover it for themselves, when you could teach them it all along.
@wagmaster5000 In your previous comments you implied that teaching your children to be atheists is wrong, but if we believe no god exist and teach that to our children we are doing exactly the same as you when you teach your children that a god exists, we are just passing on what we believe. So, will you make up your mind already? Is it right or is it wrong to teach your children what you believe?
@wagmaster5000 Don't you have at least a small sense of humility and understand that you might be wrong? Don't you think knowing how to find the truth is a lot more valuable than blindly memorizing a small part of it, just to realize later that you were wrong and suffered for not allowing yourself to think about it?
Truth is ultimate, you don't need to be brainwashed to be convinced, you don't need to play mind tricks, you just need to allow yourself to think and lose your fear of being wrong.
@wagmaster5000 Atheists teach their kids to use common sense to make their own decisions. When u implied it's wrong for parents to teach their kids to be atheists, it's like saying it's wrong for parents to teach their kids there are no fairies, pink unicorns, or blue dragons. Atheists simply tell their kids there's no god, just as there's no flying spaghetti monster. Can YOU prove there's one? No! Don't be a hypocrite. I'm sure common sense is a survival tool for you, as it is for everyone.
@sashmiller93 I never said that it was wrong for parents to teach kids atheism. Gugamilare said that. I think if you believe there is no God, and you tell your kids it all the time and brainwash them to believe what you have found to be true, there is nothing wrong with that. If you know there is no God, then there is nothing wrong with brainwashing your kids with the knowledge.
@wagmaster5000 I'd rather not teach my children what to believe until they are old enough to think about it by themselves. Instead, I prefer to teach them to think critically and, the most important, not to feel guilty about questioning anything they want to question. When they are old enough and ask me, I'll explain my point of view in the same way I explain it to anyone that asks me.
Trying to explain something as complicated as religion to a kid is like trying to explain Physics.
@gugamilare Thats the whole point, its complicated to explain, so if you know that its true why not brainwash them? If you know that eating vegetables is truly good for your kids, which it is, then you try everything in your power to make them eat it. Including even tricking them. Go back and read the rest of my comments and you will clearly understand how brainwashing is proper.
@wagmaster5000 To teach your kids to eat veggies or not to run across the street is far away from brainwashing. You don't really seem to understand the concept. I recommend the following video, it explains how religion works on people:
L-Ug-o9rxWo
The only reason you think brainwashing is not bad is because you didn't have to fight against it. That is by far the worst thing I had to do in my entire life. It should be like finding out you are schizophrenic.
@wagmaster5000 In this case, how are you going to be sure that you know the truth so you can brainwash your kids with it? And how are you going to be sure that they get it right?
@gugamilare There are many ways to get truth. One way is through scientific experiments. Another way is through personal experiences. But whenever you recieve truth and you brainwash your kids, there is no guarantee that it will stick. But it is the most effective way to get the point across.
@wagmaster5000 How do you know it's the truth. Tell me about a personal experience and how that experience serves as evidence that your belief is true.
@colossus999 All I have said is that the Mormons believe what they teach is truth. If they are brainwashing their children with what they believe to be the truth, there is nothing wrong with it, as long as it is truth. I have my own personal beliefs of how things work in the world.
@wagmaster5000 Let's say I believe that if my child were to kill you tomorrow, you would become reborn more powerful and happier before, so I have taught my child since she was quite young that killing you on April 6, 2011 would result in this, and because of this she does that. Am I morally responsible for my child's belief?
I hold that people are responsible for the unsubstantiated beliefs that they propagate in their children regardless of whether they think it truth or not.
@colossus999 I agree that people should be responsible for the brainwashing of their child. But lets say instead you brainwashed your child into something you know is true. For example you brainwash them that its nice to mow the neighbors lawn. Then when they mow the neighbors lawn the next day and the neighbor thanks them, they will reliaze that it is nice to mow the neighbors lawn.
@wagmaster5000 It's not brainwashing when I tell my child something that's empirically true. I define "nice" as "inclined to produce human happiness". My child can see very easily that my neighbor will be happy when somebody mows their lawn for them. They can't realize empirically that Mormonism is true, because it's not evidenced by anything. Because of that, that IS brainwashing.
@wagmaster5000 You are stating the obvious, but you did not answer my question. You simply can't be sure you have the truth. And, if you brainwash your kids, I PRAY that it does not stick, otherwise it will be a pain for himself and everyone around him.
@gugamilare Why can't I simply be sure I have the truth? If I have a scientific experiment that proved it was true, then its true. When I let go of the apple and it falls to the ground, I know that gravity exists. Same with personal experiences.
@wagmaster5000 That is certainly not true with personal experience. Because members of all religions have "personal experiences" that "proves" what they believe, and they surely can't all be true. Your eyes and your feelings can fool you and they will.
@gugamilare It is 100% true with personal experiences. If you touch a red-hot stove and it burn your hand, you now have a personal experience that red-hot stoves burn you. You know know the truth about what happens when you touch a red hot stove. There is no much deception in that.
@gugamilare How will Eistein be able to understand how to make the A-Bomb, if he doesnt understand how to add 1+1? You are leaving the discussion because you know inside you agree with me, and that I make complete logical sense.
@gugamilare You don't bring any new points to the table, you dont refute any of my logical arguments, and then when you are done, you just say, you are going to quit because its not going anywhere. There is a clear reason why its not going anywhere, and that is why you are leaving.
I was raised as a Christian but I always thought it was useless, and boring.
I always liked science over religion, because I like a challenge in life, I think we got a brain for a reason, we should not waste it on just believing what people tell us like most 'real' religious people do. I always do my best to disprove my theories, this is in my opinion the only way to learn truth. Sometimes it is hard to accept, but truth is more important to me than prejudice.
I love that intro! You nailed that child's testimony right on the fucking nose! I'm proud of you and impressed that you recognized brainwashing at such an early age. I wasn't that smart at 14.
sad it is. but that don't make God bad or false or that u don't have to believe in him any more. that is what make us diferent from animals. we can recognise when a church is not truthfull, and we have the duty to investigate and find the answers by ourself. that happens very often but at the end is u and God alone no one else or religions, u and him. and weather u belive or not the time will come for u to meet him here on earth or somewhere else, and no one will answer for u. good luck.
I don't think parents are intentionally abusing their power of authority to teach their children religion. It's more like they are teaching bad habits. Bad habits that adversely affects a person's life.
im glad that i live in a country where religous fundamentalist have no space to grow ...i dont know a single person(and i know a lot of ppl) who rly believe in the christian fairytales or even go to church...i know there are maybe some..but donno where they are...maybe theyre hiding..planing theyre revenge lol... it seems the united states are full of them..u have my sincere condolence....
I would not and i repeat would not, have sympathy for religious people if one day, an enraged gunman were to go in a church and wipe out everybody. Knowing that the gunman used to be one of them when he was child, being under heavy indoctrination for so long that he lived his whole life in nothing but fear...of everything. So if he snapped, oh well..
Religion is mental child abuse, it's fear based manipulation!
Watch "jesus camp" or "the god warrior"...and the people propagandizing these poor kids have NO IDEA, they would deny any guilt.
Another sinister facet about religious whackos is that "bubble of non-thinking" that seems to automatically kick in whenever their faith is questioned...they wont allow themselves to even THINK outside the box...as if a) god is real and b) god reads their thoughts and c) god punishes critical thinkers!?!?
This makes me so sad thinking about all the children that are just thrown into the churchs and have no choice but to believe in it, this video made me cry, great job laci :)
I didn't know you were Mormon. I was Mormon, but I was very very very devout, and bore my testimony hundreds of times growing up (never once being told what to say - except what I had, of course, been indoctrinated with). But, if you aren't even accountable until 8, what is the point of a 4 year old bearing their testimony?? Indoctrination. That's it, period.
Mormons teach those things because they believe them. It isn't disturbing unless they are telling them really inappropriate or immoral things. Parents who love their children teach them what they think is correct. If Laci ever has kids, I am sure she will teach them what she deems to be correct. I am sure she won't take them to every single church to give them a choice between different religions and Atheism. Humans are people and they share their opinions and that is the same for Mormons.
I guess you shouldn't teach your children anything then. Let your children choose. Children have too often been taught that hitting children is wrong or that being mean to children is wrong. But these children have not been taught the other side. These children are lacking an open mind because they are taught only the "right" way, but they never get to see what happens when they do something bad. I will make sure to send my children mixed messages when they are older.
i grew up going to a christian school and believed in everything until one day in primary school my friend made me open up my eyes and realise how fake all of it actually is
I couldn't believe that the little ones would go up there and give their testimony! It was like little robots with their parents telling them what to say or their older siblings! Some would have their testimonies written out for them, even! So glad I'm done with that!
I never gave testimony. I thought it was stupid that you had to go up and announce your love of god. I always thought having a relationship with god was between he and I, and no one else's. I didn't even really feel god in church anyways so I would feel like a huge unfaithful liar if I gave a false testimony.
Besides, I wouldn't cry. And that's pretty much a requirement. :/
I have a 3 month old baby girl, and I can't imagine pushing her into simply doing what I do or believe wholesale. Your presentation of why religion is so damaging to children and adults is so true. I watched my father convert to the Baptist faith and saw a brilliant former attorney become and emotional and intellectual simpleton. It was sad and depressing. I will never fully understand the appeal of this type of group think and its ability to deflect reality in the minds of its followers.
Just by the fact that children so blindly accept whatever faith they happen to be born into is enough for me to realize how silly these religious institutions are. They're based on happenstance and nothing more.
Love your videos. My whole family is still brainwashed. I feel bad for them. Even though they feel bad for me. They are so blinded and emotionally blackmailed.
my mom went through something similar in her late 30s (when I was around 9 yrs old) of letting go of God and religion in general. it's hard to let go, like you say it can be compared to a drug, or worse especially with the way they make you feel guilty for just about everything. for thinking thoughts!
This is the most beautiful video series ever. I was too raised a devout catholic as a child and I realize now I was only faithful on account of fear and the fact that it was forced into my head and told to me as the absolute truth all my life. I never until recently heard of any opposing ideas because I was kept from them, and as an atheist now my family tries to silence me so that my I won't "rob my siblings of their faith". But I now realize I favor the truth over comfortable delusion any day.
My mom forces me to go to church but I usually make sone bullshit up to get out like "I'm sick" or something. I do not like religeons except for Buddhism, athiesm, and...PASTAFARIANISM
Fascinating deconversion story. thanks for sharing. It really saddens me that 3 year old children would be forced to recite religious nonsense that they have no hope of understanding. Indoctrinating children into any religion is wrong. There is no such thing as a Mormon child. Merely the child of Mormon parents.
A similar thing happened to me. I was a child born into the Church of Blibdoolpoolp, who also has followers among the Kuo-Toa, and the demon lord Dagon. As children, the Priests of the Sea Mother are called "whips" and forced us to wear pearl-colored vestments, shell helms, and drape themselves in nets.
@jockojonson17 Wow dude you too? I was a whip with many other to join and channel lightning with... but I started asking questions and they kicked me out of my village... now I'm alone.
I never did understand the specific Christian books like the "Book of Mormon", "The Small and Large Lutheran Catechisms" (I THINK that's what they are called), the Catholic Catechism. I mean, give me a fucking break. How can these people not see that they are adding to the supposed one true book in order to spin it a certain way to fulfill their agendas? Fuck them, I'll interpret the bible as I see fit. I see it as a big heap of bullshit stories used to control people.
@preachinshawn Im with you dude. Parents do not do wrong at all by telling them what they believe, because they really do believe it. I for one will tell my kids about Christ and I will pray that they are justified and saved, however I will tell them to study other religions and learn them. I do it, and it has caused some temporary doughts in my life, but they have made me grow stronger in my faith in finding them out. Best of luck to you shawn.
Good luck on finding a parent that does not indoctrinate their child. Children ask questions, and parents give their opinions. I would think a caring parent would want to shape their child's life for the better.
The scary thing is when people are told to stay away from teachings that differ from their current beliefs.
Good job seeing through the mythology so early in life! It took me much longer to actually start thinking about why I even had faith in the first place.
@skepticsRefrigerator haha i never truely believed, i always kinda thought "yeah...maybe" and then i kinda said "wow this shit is stupid" is like 11(im a homosexual, and that helped me see that religion is stupid, because "god" hated me anyways) sooo, now i am 15, and im hiding my beliefs AND my sexuality from my parents, because im affraid they will try to "fix" me...
Amen to that. To be honest it's a bit like they have gone mad, and are piling on to their madness more madness. Of which I just now realize Atheist need a amen that doesn't have religious connotations. Maybe Darwin to that? Or Dawkins to that? Or Hawking to that? Or Watson to that?
yea I think it's because people are so programed to not think, that they actually encourage it. Through that they are rewarded by people in their community so the cycle continues.
Good video. But God is most definitely real and Evolution is most definitely not. If you doubt it, read 'the attempted murder of God' - A critical book at a critical time, it reveals the secrets of science that comprehensively demolish the theory of Evolution and provides scientific proof for God - a scientific certainty kept hidden from the world that in this critical time in history can now be revealed.
I wish this series was continued. I watched this shortly after my best friend Chelsea took me to church with her. Her family happened to be Mormons and it just made me sick how submissive the women were there. I also happened to go when the little kids happened to be doing their testimonials (I didn't know that was once a month; weird) and I saw the exact same thing. More than 4 kids were being told what to say.
Here is the common mistake alot of people make with our faith. They see a member do something wrong, and 'assume' it's like that in the whole faith. I have been a member for 4 years in two different countries, and I have never seen a child being brain-washed into doing this. It was an isolated case. We aren't perfect, we are a church of sinners, who are trying to reach our highest potential. This video combined with music is an impressive way of making people find faults in us. God bless.
It's not that it's not teaching your kids to question things. When your a child you are predisposed to believing whatever adults tell you, because you haven't had the life experience to understand what dangers there are. Like what plants are ok too eat, how to get shelter all theses things children had to listen to adults or else they'd die. Putting an idea of god into their heads at such a young age they aren't taught to question things to do research on their own. This is brainwashing.
Not really, I was raised Catholic and it was the only religion I was exposed to. It took 13 years since I was baptized against my will to wake up and not believe. Sometimes it might come across as innocently raising your child in your belief however even if it's innocent it's still brain washing. Where I live I went to CCD once a week and the only religion that was taught was Catholicism. So although people are unaware of it, it's still happening it's just society has become numb to it.
Swearing seriously? .... Also whats wrong with porn with consenting adults? The human body shouldn't be something people are ashamed of. Although I do get sick of seeing woman that are fake. >.> We should be loving our bodies and other peoples, it's the only way to end senseless war. I never get why the human body is more taboo then war. As far as getting over it goes it leaves scars, lasting ones that take years to heal. You don't want anyone else to go through that.
I'm not numb, I'm optimistic that things like words we can say freely, the beauty of the human body won't be taboo and things like wars will be. Until the current war gods die, society will continue to suffer. I'm optimistic though that their time is ending and and soon we won't have to worry about them harming us anymore. Like John Lennon's song Imagine, I think we can get there once old gods are laid to rest, and then the things harshly dividing us won't anymore.
I know that things are bad now, but with the rise of more and more people becoming Atheist we can make our dreams a reality. Just because the war gods of the desert messed things up, it doesn't mean we can't fix them. Our knowledge of the world has increased, religion now is lagging behind. Once we stop this global insanity, life for everyone will be a lot more peaceful. Your right you can't live in a dream world but with actions we can can change it to reflect that dream.
Without God, this world would be out of control, mad, full of violence and suffering. Without us, you will NEVER experience peace, or anything like it. "the war gods of the desert"... I worship a god of peace and love, sorry if you were forced into a lie.
I am without your god, and I do experience peace all the time. It's your god that started wars (crusades) killed off a bunch of women (witch trials) how is that at all peaceful? You god says to kill anyone who doesn't believe like you. Deuteronomy 13:13-19, Isaiah 13:15-18 How is that of peace and love? I could never believe such a horrid god, and the reasons why things are as messed up as there are is because of religion. Because people kill for your god.
You're without God, but he is still here, if no one believed in him, it would be chaotic. The law came from religion, your conscious came from God, YOU came from God. Silly person :P.
I came from my ancestors, and I respect what they had to do to survive to make it possible for me to exist. I don't however worship them. The laws come from our natural social behavior. Since cooperation is beneficial to everyone. I suggest you watch Nice Guys Finish First by Richard Dawkins you can find it on youtube. I cam from earth, the compounds in me from stars that have died. (that's where more complex elements are made through nuclear fusion)
Big bang theory hahahaha! MistressArte: When you die, you are going to feel like a fool, because you believed such made up rubbish. Hahahaha! Funny thing is, your ancestors believed what I/We do, were they wrong? You think you are smart, but you aren't. You are wrong, you DONT know where you came from, and your ancestors who are dead right now, are ashamed... I don't blame them.
Yes my ancestors were wrong in believing a lot of things they used to. Like the world is flat, like the sun orbits the earth, I'm pretty sure they believed that at one time, until it was proven otherwise. I don't see how their knowledge of the universe is of consequence when it was their survival skills that were needed. Also the big ban is supported by the expanding universe. If another scientific theory comes along that's better and has more tangible evidence I'll believe that.
You don't seem to get that we know a lot of things but some things we do still have to discover. There is always new science to discover that's what makes science so wonderful. It's not based on dogma but on testable theories that can be duplicated getting the same/similar results. You may think I'm wrong, but wouldn't you feel foolish if this life is all you have and you wasted it living for your death? To me that's utter insanity and makes no sense at all.
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I've been watching all of your videos lately, and I seriously love you. I'm in the process of leaving the Mormon church - I began to "mentally" leave it when I was about 6, but only now (at 21) I'm working on actively leaving. Pretty much every thing that you talk about, I agree with. And it is helping me leave, which is something that's very hard to do... a lifetime of brainwashing is a hard thing to shake off.
Secretariat442 2 days ago
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Secretariat442 2 days ago
I am an evil apostate of the JW. And possibly a future antifreeze.. I mean antichrist.
joseph
Satori1800 2 weeks ago
Touching video.
MaiLassie 3 months ago 2
(continuing).. or if you had been "properly" raised in, not only a devout family from the beginning, but a devout kin reaching back decades and branching out to reach hundreds of family members. Suddently it's easier to realise how people can defy evolution or blindly follow any doctrine they've been told is right?
I myself was born to the mormon church. I started question the system only at the age of 22. So, if possible, the guilt and mindfuck can go even deeper than what you've experienced.
DeusExMachinae01 3 months ago 3
Thanks for doing this series. It touched me, a fellow apostate of the mormon church.
Although, if I understand correctly, your family really started going to church when you were 9 (you were baptisted a year later than normally and your family was sealed at a later time, not when your parents got married). You had doubts during pre-puberty and was inactive already at the age of 14.
Imagine if you would've been raised to say your testimony at the age of three... (to be continued)
DeusExMachinae01 3 months ago 2
So where is part V, Laci?
colourfulwithaU 4 months ago 2
cant wait for part five its very intriguing
tgiacin435 4 months ago 2
I've wondered what it would be like if I ever went back to a church meeting - your insights here have given me a good idea of how uncomfotable it would be. Wonderful video thanks for sharing.
CommanderFey 5 months ago
I love how I know the rating system is disabled on all of these videos yet I click the like button after every one anyway.
Deanzumwalt 6 months ago
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TheServiceWeb 7 months ago
Mormonism lacks a lot. Two important things they lack are truth and intimacy.
If you watch Shawn McCraney either on his website or on TV he can teach you volumes about these two virtues.
ZimZam205 7 months ago
I find it abusive. Mentally abusive.
zombiehunter3579 7 months ago
You just got a lot hotter. I love a girl with brains.
jestes7 10 months ago 20
My younger sister (10) recently told me that a member of her class said something along the lines of "evolution is evil, and if you believe it, you're going to hell" it's so disturbing what these parents let their children overhear.
EpicBrocoli 10 months ago 27
I'm stunned. You are stunningly beautiful. You should be an actress or a model.
rocketboy9000 10 months ago
Are you wearing contacts, your eyes are stunningly green.
Jonstern1983 10 months ago
I appreciate your video but I feel as if you're only looking at one half of a dark circle, i.e. what can go wrong under the guise of organized religion. You're not looking at the types of wrongs that can occur in the other half of that circle. And that is the crux of what I am saying, wrongs can afflict any sort of lifestyle, liberal or conservative, religious or irreligious. Unfortunately, by looking at part of the picture, you're basing your conclusion on them. Your conclusion too is partial.
GeorgiaIsOnMyMind 11 months ago
@BaurakAle7 You tell your kids over and over again to avoid strangers. You tell your kids over and over again that Joe Smith is a prophet. Now do you see?
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
Everything in religion makes more sense when you see it's true purpose is indoctrination and life dependency, in order to create a strong financial and political power, and what better way to hook people for life than to start with the kids right?
immoral and vile? absolutely
but stone fucking brilliant.
Paralyt1c 11 months ago
@BaurakAle7 I have no idea about Mormon vs. non-Mormon family sizes, all I compared was the amount of children born to Mormon families per year. And the 90's and 2000's were half what they were to the 70's and 80's. Looks like there might be a talk about the evils of birth control in the next conference.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
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wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@BaurakAle7 Sorry, I had a hard time following what you were stating. I already crunched the numbers on the children of record, and Mormons are not having 5-6 kids anymore. The number of kids being born into Mormon families is half what is was in the 70's and 80's. Although the last three years have been slightly up, it could be an abnormality.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@BaurakAle7 I don't know if maybe the church pads the numbers or something, but it doesnt entirely add up properly. Who knows why.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@BaurakAle7 They didnt drop the number of missionaries... to many teens having sex and not being able to go. But it is clear that the number all across the board have dropped, I mean you can't argue with facts like that. I don't know how far you have crunched the numbers, but if you take the total membership, subtract the baptism of kids and converts, it doesn't add up to the year before. I assume that because of the people who left the church, but some years its not a negative number.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@BaurakAle7 Statistically speaking 2003 was the worst year for the church. The late 80's and early 90's were the best years. But since 2003, its been back on an upswing. We have to wait another 5-7 years until we can tell if it will continue to move back to the pace it was in the late 80's and 90's. Joe Smith never said the Mormons would be the largest church. In fact check out 1 Nephi 14:12 which says the church numbers would be few compared to the whore church.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@BaurakAle7 Interesting you brought this up, I actually took an excel spreadsheet from 1971 when the church first started posting statistics in the general conference. I have tons of stats in there like world population, GDP of the world, etc looking at what makes changes in convert baptisms. Since 2003, the # of converts has been increasing steadily. Do you want me to email you a copy of it?
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@BaurakAle7 Everyone I know thinks for themselves. With todays world of the internet, people can look at all the claims you and others like you make, and still they go to church each week, and still they join the church by the hundreds of thousands. Weird huh?
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@BaurakAle7 You need to look at the Origin of the Universe , and "Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays" by Steven Hawking. You will get the answers you need. The Big Bang is proven by the COBE by finding matter that exists in different forms. It never proves there was nothing and then bam there was something.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@BaurakAle7 Hopefully people that are easily conditioned this way and aren't able to think for themselves will go on the internet read this and leave the mormon church. If you are that simple minded and fall into social pressures that easily you are the chaff that needs to be sorted from the wheat.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@BaurakAle7 Nope... looked into it. Nothing has been refuted!
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@BaurakAle7 Electroshock therapy has never actually worked on humans, scientists have tried it for decades and for some reason people think on their own.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@BaurakAle7 The kids are brainwashed, as I am sure you are aware, as you grow into adulthood you are able to see things as they really are. I love the internet because it makes a great forum to discuss things. Name me a group that would want negative things said by the insiders. I mean be realistic, when Pres. Bush was being retarded no republicans would say negative things about him. You just dont do that.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@BaurakAle7 Yeah, like I said, thats part of the brainwashing technique... very effective.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@BaurakAle7 In the Mormons Pearl of Great Price, it teaches that God didnt create the Heavens and the Earth, but he organized the matter. Every other Christian church believes in the 'ex nihilo.' That matter was created from nothing, which clearly goes against science. Einsteins theory still holds value in the scientific community.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@BaurakAle7 Finally you are getting it... thats why the truths of the Mormon religion are brainwashed into the kids...
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@BaurakAle7 Einstein's theory of relativity including matter being unable to be created or destroyed was taught by Joe Smith 120 years before Einstein thought it up. Joe Smith claims to understand the workings of the Universe and you are telling me that a child will be able to easily understand these concepts? Craziness!
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@BaurakAle7 Thats a huge stereotype. Converts these days have access to the internet where they can read all they want about the Mormon church. They can watch the Godmakers cartoon, and yet they still join the church. When it comes down to it, you can't explain how the universe works to a child, and the Mormon church claims to understand many of the working of the universe.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@BaurakAle7 You are thinking too hard. I was saying if it so simple, then why are there tens of millions of people in disagreement?
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@BaurakAle7 "Relatively simple things?" Really, if its so simple then why do Millions of people believe it and Millions of people oppose it?
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@BaurakAle7 Ha, I can clearly tell that you don't have kids. "Rationally explain" and "4 year old" do not belong in the same sentence! The evidence of the Mormon church comes to individuals on an individual basis.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@BaurakAle7 Jim Jones said to eat your vegetable? If you had something of great value that was true, would you brainwash your kids with it?
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
I think almost any member of the Mormon church would agree with you that this is a brainwashing technique. But what is wrong with brainwashing someone with truth? I mean your parents also brainwash you to eat your vegetable because they are good for you. Imagine if parents let children choose for themselves what to eat. They would be eating M&M's every night and twinkies for breakfast.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@wagmaster5000 Theres nothing wrong with truth, problem is this shit isn't true. You can tell a kid if all they eat is cake they'll get fat, and they most likely will. If you try to tell a child the bible has magical powers and if you add or take away from it the plagues of the bible will come and get you...then you're fucking your child up in the head.You're not just putting a religion into your child's head, you're warping their entire mind and how they look at life.
xoooPurpleooox 11 months ago
@xoooPurpleooox To each his own. But those that believe its true, now you can understand why they brainwash their kids.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@wagmaster5000 Brainwashing is when you impose inherrently destructive ways on someone, without their consent. Teaching a kid to eat his veggies grants the child a more healthy lifestyle, teaching them not to walk out in traffic teaches them to safeguard their life, what is dangerous and so on. That's teaching. It isn't done with a whip, as religion is. "Believe what I tell you to, or you'll burn forever" is a very destructive doctrine, as Laci's story, and many others like it, shows.
xxhellspawnedxx 11 months ago
@xxhellspawnedxx Ha, you clearly must not have kids. Telling kids to each veggies and stay out of traffic is brainwashing. Parents tell their kids over and over and over again that if someone comes up to you in a strange car offering you candy, to run and not get in. Same thing with religion, parents teach their kids over and over again how to follow the teaching of Jesus. Same philosophy.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@wagmaster5000 It isn't, cause its provably real that a kid brought up on fastfood turn obese and are very liable to suffer heart and vascular disorders pretty early in their lives. Equally, theres very real proof that a man who randomly turns up and tries to coax a kid into his car with candy are have an ulterior motive in doing so, one that would be destructive to your kids health. Equally, it is proven that a car hitting a small child have a very big risk of chronically crippling the kid.
xxhellspawnedxx 11 months ago
@wagmaster5000 What I'm saying is the justification is quite different, which makes all the difference.
From wikipedia:
"Brainwashing - The application of coercive techniques to change the values and beliefs, perceptions and judgments, and subsequent mindsets and behaviors of one or more people, usually for political, financial, personal, or religious purposes"
This definition clearly states that this isn't ultimately done for the recipient of the brainwash, but for the deliverer.
xxhellspawnedxx 11 months ago
@xxhellspawnedxx But you are not looking from the Mormon perspective. If the Mormon church is true and their teachings are correct, then is there anything wrong with brainwashing the children the same way you brainwash them to avoid stranger?
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@wagmaster5000 Doesn't the bible claim that everyone, except those unwilling to, will know god in their hearts? Not stated with those exact words, but with the same meaning. Small children can't have the experience and knowledge to actively denouce religion as manipulative, destructive and regressive, and thereby they should know god automatically, according to the bible, no brainwashing required. I smell hypocrisy. Don't they trust their god to do the right thing?
xxhellspawnedxx 11 months ago
@xxhellspawnedxx Look at the author of this video. She was brainwashed, and yet she still doesn't know God in her heart. Why not give the kids every advantage in the world to accept Jesus in their heart. By brainwashing them, they are much more likely to accept Jesus in their heart later in life.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@wagmaster5000 That was just a reference to christian hypocrisy. Holy books are the expressed word of god, and since go is perfect, so is the words (or so they claim), yet they dont heed it for any number of reasons. But mostly for selfish, political or economic reasons. Take the statement that noone is fit to judge except god, yet christian groups spend most of their time furiously judging anyone who doesn't fit into their slim view of whats right.
xxhellspawnedxx 11 months ago
@wagmaster5000 Furthermore, they don't learn to love god unconditionally. They learn to love god in chains, with a constant whip over their backs. "Love, or else" isn't true love, its fear. In my mind, that doesn't sound like the kind of love that an all-loving god would want attributed to him. But yet again, religious hypocrisy. The ends always justify the means, no matter how wrong the means are, or how severely they break the religious persons own adopted code of morals and rules.
xxhellspawnedxx 11 months ago
@xxhellspawnedxx There are different levels of obedience. Fear of what could happen to you if you dont obey is level 1. God doesn't want us to obey out of fear, but obedience out of fear is better then disobedience. Then you can obey because you want a reward. This is probably the second level of obedience. People do it because they want to go to heaven. The third level is doing it because we love God and want to please him. Hard to do, but life is about becoming a better person.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@wagmaster5000 I guess the question is why not "give the kids every advantage in the world" to believe in whatever they want to believe. Make sure to teach them how to think critically, that is all it takes for them to see by themselves that religion is bullshit.
gugamilare 11 months ago
@gugamilare But if you are a parent and you know for a fact that something is true, why let your child go through the pains and struggle to discover it for themselves, when you could teach them it all along.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@wagmaster5000 In your previous comments you implied that teaching your children to be atheists is wrong, but if we believe no god exist and teach that to our children we are doing exactly the same as you when you teach your children that a god exists, we are just passing on what we believe. So, will you make up your mind already? Is it right or is it wrong to teach your children what you believe?
gugamilare 11 months ago
@gugamilare Never said it was wrong to teach kids about atheism.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@wagmaster5000 Don't you have at least a small sense of humility and understand that you might be wrong? Don't you think knowing how to find the truth is a lot more valuable than blindly memorizing a small part of it, just to realize later that you were wrong and suffered for not allowing yourself to think about it?
Truth is ultimate, you don't need to be brainwashed to be convinced, you don't need to play mind tricks, you just need to allow yourself to think and lose your fear of being wrong.
gugamilare 11 months ago
@wagmaster5000 Atheists teach their kids to use common sense to make their own decisions. When u implied it's wrong for parents to teach their kids to be atheists, it's like saying it's wrong for parents to teach their kids there are no fairies, pink unicorns, or blue dragons. Atheists simply tell their kids there's no god, just as there's no flying spaghetti monster. Can YOU prove there's one? No! Don't be a hypocrite. I'm sure common sense is a survival tool for you, as it is for everyone.
sashmiller93 11 months ago
@sashmiller93 I never said that it was wrong for parents to teach kids atheism. Gugamilare said that. I think if you believe there is no God, and you tell your kids it all the time and brainwash them to believe what you have found to be true, there is nothing wrong with that. If you know there is no God, then there is nothing wrong with brainwashing your kids with the knowledge.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@wagmaster5000 I'd rather not teach my children what to believe until they are old enough to think about it by themselves. Instead, I prefer to teach them to think critically and, the most important, not to feel guilty about questioning anything they want to question. When they are old enough and ask me, I'll explain my point of view in the same way I explain it to anyone that asks me.
Trying to explain something as complicated as religion to a kid is like trying to explain Physics.
gugamilare 11 months ago
@gugamilare Thats the whole point, its complicated to explain, so if you know that its true why not brainwash them? If you know that eating vegetables is truly good for your kids, which it is, then you try everything in your power to make them eat it. Including even tricking them. Go back and read the rest of my comments and you will clearly understand how brainwashing is proper.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@wagmaster5000 To teach your kids to eat veggies or not to run across the street is far away from brainwashing. You don't really seem to understand the concept. I recommend the following video, it explains how religion works on people:
L-Ug-o9rxWo
The only reason you think brainwashing is not bad is because you didn't have to fight against it. That is by far the worst thing I had to do in my entire life. It should be like finding out you are schizophrenic.
gugamilare 11 months ago
@gugamilare I think brainwashing can be bad. I don't disagree with that. But if you are brainwashing with truth, it's not going to be bad.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@wagmaster5000 In this case, how are you going to be sure that you know the truth so you can brainwash your kids with it? And how are you going to be sure that they get it right?
gugamilare 11 months ago
@gugamilare There are many ways to get truth. One way is through scientific experiments. Another way is through personal experiences. But whenever you recieve truth and you brainwash your kids, there is no guarantee that it will stick. But it is the most effective way to get the point across.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@wagmaster5000 How do you know it's the truth. Tell me about a personal experience and how that experience serves as evidence that your belief is true.
colossus999 11 months ago
@colossus999 All I have said is that the Mormons believe what they teach is truth. If they are brainwashing their children with what they believe to be the truth, there is nothing wrong with it, as long as it is truth. I have my own personal beliefs of how things work in the world.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@wagmaster5000 Let's say I believe that if my child were to kill you tomorrow, you would become reborn more powerful and happier before, so I have taught my child since she was quite young that killing you on April 6, 2011 would result in this, and because of this she does that. Am I morally responsible for my child's belief?
I hold that people are responsible for the unsubstantiated beliefs that they propagate in their children regardless of whether they think it truth or not.
colossus999 11 months ago
@colossus999 I agree that people should be responsible for the brainwashing of their child. But lets say instead you brainwashed your child into something you know is true. For example you brainwash them that its nice to mow the neighbors lawn. Then when they mow the neighbors lawn the next day and the neighbor thanks them, they will reliaze that it is nice to mow the neighbors lawn.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@wagmaster5000 It's not brainwashing when I tell my child something that's empirically true. I define "nice" as "inclined to produce human happiness". My child can see very easily that my neighbor will be happy when somebody mows their lawn for them. They can't realize empirically that Mormonism is true, because it's not evidenced by anything. Because of that, that IS brainwashing.
colossus999 11 months ago
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@colossus999 "They can't realize empirically that Mormonism is true, because it's not evidenced by anything"
Maybe for you, Mormonism is not evidenced by anything. Maybe you are too closed-minded.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
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@wagmaster5000 You are stating the obvious, but you did not answer my question. You simply can't be sure you have the truth. And, if you brainwash your kids, I PRAY that it does not stick, otherwise it will be a pain for himself and everyone around him.
gugamilare 11 months ago
@gugamilare Why can't I simply be sure I have the truth? If I have a scientific experiment that proved it was true, then its true. When I let go of the apple and it falls to the ground, I know that gravity exists. Same with personal experiences.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@wagmaster5000 That is certainly not true with personal experience. Because members of all religions have "personal experiences" that "proves" what they believe, and they surely can't all be true. Your eyes and your feelings can fool you and they will.
gugamilare 11 months ago
@gugamilare It is 100% true with personal experiences. If you touch a red-hot stove and it burn your hand, you now have a personal experience that red-hot stoves burn you. You know know the truth about what happens when you touch a red hot stove. There is no much deception in that.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@wagmaster5000 Well, I thought we were talking about religion and complicated truths about life, not those simple and obvious things.
Well, believe whatever you want. I'm leaving this discussion.
gugamilare 11 months ago
@gugamilare How will Eistein be able to understand how to make the A-Bomb, if he doesnt understand how to add 1+1? You are leaving the discussion because you know inside you agree with me, and that I make complete logical sense.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@wagmaster5000 hahaha, nice try.
gugamilare 11 months ago
@gugamilare ???
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
@wagmaster5000 You did not pay attention, but you threw a personal provocation:
"You are leaving the discussion because you know inside you agree with me, and that I make complete logical sense."
If I leave, then I'm "proving" you are right and you "win".
Sorry, but you can't tell what I agree with and what I don't. I'm leaving because this is clearly not going anywhere.
gugamilare 11 months ago
@gugamilare You don't bring any new points to the table, you dont refute any of my logical arguments, and then when you are done, you just say, you are going to quit because its not going anywhere. There is a clear reason why its not going anywhere, and that is why you are leaving.
wagmaster5000 11 months ago
I was raised as a Christian but I always thought it was useless, and boring.
I always liked science over religion, because I like a challenge in life, I think we got a brain for a reason, we should not waste it on just believing what people tell us like most 'real' religious people do. I always do my best to disprove my theories, this is in my opinion the only way to learn truth. Sometimes it is hard to accept, but truth is more important to me than prejudice.
CompactDisc7227 1 year ago
Indoctrination is a sin and an abomination.
Abnormalproductions2 1 year ago
I have watched all four parts now, and I must say this series contains a lot of truth and shows a lot of heart. Thank you for sharing.
freelark 1 year ago
And please forgive me for saying so, but you are very sexy. Not only your looks, your brains, too!
SeektheBestBooks 1 year ago
I love that intro! You nailed that child's testimony right on the fucking nose! I'm proud of you and impressed that you recognized brainwashing at such an early age. I wasn't that smart at 14.
SeektheBestBooks 1 year ago
sad it is. but that don't make God bad or false or that u don't have to believe in him any more. that is what make us diferent from animals. we can recognise when a church is not truthfull, and we have the duty to investigate and find the answers by ourself. that happens very often but at the end is u and God alone no one else or religions, u and him. and weather u belive or not the time will come for u to meet him here on earth or somewhere else, and no one will answer for u. good luck.
elmensagero1 1 year ago
I don't think parents are intentionally abusing their power of authority to teach their children religion. It's more like they are teaching bad habits. Bad habits that adversely affects a person's life.
Balstar5283 1 year ago
im glad that i live in a country where religous fundamentalist have no space to grow ...i dont know a single person(and i know a lot of ppl) who rly believe in the christian fairytales or even go to church...i know there are maybe some..but donno where they are...maybe theyre hiding..planing theyre revenge lol... it seems the united states are full of them..u have my sincere condolence....
v00d00child187 1 year ago
I would not and i repeat would not, have sympathy for religious people if one day, an enraged gunman were to go in a church and wipe out everybody. Knowing that the gunman used to be one of them when he was child, being under heavy indoctrination for so long that he lived his whole life in nothing but fear...of everything. So if he snapped, oh well..
nuen8 1 year ago
Religious indoctrination is awful...
spogee 1 year ago
Religion is mental child abuse, it's fear based manipulation!
Watch "jesus camp" or "the god warrior"...and the people propagandizing these poor kids have NO IDEA, they would deny any guilt.
Another sinister facet about religious whackos is that "bubble of non-thinking" that seems to automatically kick in whenever their faith is questioned...they wont allow themselves to even THINK outside the box...as if a) god is real and b) god reads their thoughts and c) god punishes critical thinkers!?!?
TruthJockey 1 year ago
I don't agree with mormonism and I know its a religion the world has created and has nothing to do with Jesus Christ or a true relationship with Him.
thewisenashvillestar 1 year ago
This makes me so sad thinking about all the children that are just thrown into the churchs and have no choice but to believe in it, this video made me cry, great job laci :)
Deafhawk36 1 year ago
This may be the best series of videos I've ever seen. more people need to see this. Thank You for making it.
MrSavingAmerica 1 year ago
I didn't know you were Mormon. I was Mormon, but I was very very very devout, and bore my testimony hundreds of times growing up (never once being told what to say - except what I had, of course, been indoctrinated with). But, if you aren't even accountable until 8, what is the point of a 4 year old bearing their testimony?? Indoctrination. That's it, period.
KaelaCarver 1 year ago
Mormons teach those things because they believe them. It isn't disturbing unless they are telling them really inappropriate or immoral things. Parents who love their children teach them what they think is correct. If Laci ever has kids, I am sure she will teach them what she deems to be correct. I am sure she won't take them to every single church to give them a choice between different religions and Atheism. Humans are people and they share their opinions and that is the same for Mormons.
yoshikku 1 year ago
I guess you shouldn't teach your children anything then. Let your children choose. Children have too often been taught that hitting children is wrong or that being mean to children is wrong. But these children have not been taught the other side. These children are lacking an open mind because they are taught only the "right" way, but they never get to see what happens when they do something bad. I will make sure to send my children mixed messages when they are older.
yoshikku 1 year ago
i grew up going to a christian school and believed in everything until one day in primary school my friend made me open up my eyes and realise how fake all of it actually is
woolensheep192 1 year ago
I couldn't believe that the little ones would go up there and give their testimony! It was like little robots with their parents telling them what to say or their older siblings! Some would have their testimonies written out for them, even! So glad I'm done with that!
TheNewChristina 1 year ago
ex-moron here, good stuff.
omfg4all 1 year ago
I never gave testimony. I thought it was stupid that you had to go up and announce your love of god. I always thought having a relationship with god was between he and I, and no one else's. I didn't even really feel god in church anyways so I would feel like a huge unfaithful liar if I gave a false testimony.
Besides, I wouldn't cry. And that's pretty much a requirement. :/
MrFishWish 1 year ago
How the fuck dose a 3 year old have a testimony?
newkarmazach 1 year ago
proud of you.
asiankevind 1 year ago
@asiankevind i agree. this is inspiring
000ZetyN 1 year ago
I have a 3 month old baby girl, and I can't imagine pushing her into simply doing what I do or believe wholesale. Your presentation of why religion is so damaging to children and adults is so true. I watched my father convert to the Baptist faith and saw a brilliant former attorney become and emotional and intellectual simpleton. It was sad and depressing. I will never fully understand the appeal of this type of group think and its ability to deflect reality in the minds of its followers.
Iaazathoth 1 year ago
I was just thinking about this song when I clicked on the part IV of your deconversion.
It's so lovely.
Anyway, even though it's a long time ago since you've made these videos, I wanna thank you for them. You're a very smart girl.
EmmaCherina 1 year ago
Just by the fact that children so blindly accept whatever faith they happen to be born into is enough for me to realize how silly these religious institutions are. They're based on happenstance and nothing more.
dishonesttAbe 1 year ago
Love your videos. My whole family is still brainwashed. I feel bad for them. Even though they feel bad for me. They are so blinded and emotionally blackmailed.
conman300 1 year ago
damn nice titties
andypeterson21 1 year ago
hiya,
my mom went through something similar in her late 30s (when I was around 9 yrs old) of letting go of God and religion in general. it's hard to let go, like you say it can be compared to a drug, or worse especially with the way they make you feel guilty for just about everything. for thinking thoughts!
forexbol 1 year ago
God hates free will which is why he set up Adam and eve to sin. If he were somehow real
kegs95 1 year ago
This is the most beautiful video series ever. I was too raised a devout catholic as a child and I realize now I was only faithful on account of fear and the fact that it was forced into my head and told to me as the absolute truth all my life. I never until recently heard of any opposing ideas because I was kept from them, and as an atheist now my family tries to silence me so that my I won't "rob my siblings of their faith". But I now realize I favor the truth over comfortable delusion any day.
HaveFaithInScience 1 year ago
that is just creepyy!!! :O:O!!
TheDJscrue 1 year ago
My mom forces me to go to church but I usually make sone bullshit up to get out like "I'm sick" or something. I do not like religeons except for Buddhism, athiesm, and...PASTAFARIANISM
tigab37 1 year ago
Fascinating deconversion story. thanks for sharing. It really saddens me that 3 year old children would be forced to recite religious nonsense that they have no hope of understanding. Indoctrinating children into any religion is wrong. There is no such thing as a Mormon child. Merely the child of Mormon parents.
bakuntz1983 1 year ago
I burnt a book of the Mormon a week ago.... nothing happened.
vssia 1 year ago 26
@vssia burnt it? you should have SMOKED weed with it.
btw ur an ex member right?
ironflea 1 year ago
@ironflea Correct
vssia 1 year ago
@vssia I DID WITH THREE BIBLES AT HOME, NOTHING
bobbypatz 1 year ago
I too have heard the swallowed mantra when I was young. I remember the kids man, it is sad.
vicambulatorious 1 year ago
A similar thing happened to me. I was a child born into the Church of Blibdoolpoolp, who also has followers among the Kuo-Toa, and the demon lord Dagon. As children, the Priests of the Sea Mother are called "whips" and forced us to wear pearl-colored vestments, shell helms, and drape themselves in nets.
jockojonson17 1 year ago
@jockojonson17 Wow dude you too? I was a whip with many other to join and channel lightning with... but I started asking questions and they kicked me out of my village... now I'm alone.
TheOJDrinker 1 year ago
yeah thats why i try to make people to think and reason for themselves, they are brainwashing children!
MrNemitri 1 year ago
I hate those parents who try to force-feed their religion to their kids.
needles1987 1 year ago
OMG YIRUMA! i love that song and Im feeling the same things now as you were then Man we are sooo similar!
invaderpink 1 year ago
Great vid. So true.
bigdaddyfilmmaker 1 year ago
I never did understand the specific Christian books like the "Book of Mormon", "The Small and Large Lutheran Catechisms" (I THINK that's what they are called), the Catholic Catechism. I mean, give me a fucking break. How can these people not see that they are adding to the supposed one true book in order to spin it a certain way to fulfill their agendas? Fuck them, I'll interpret the bible as I see fit. I see it as a big heap of bullshit stories used to control people.
pumarunner88 1 year ago
Congratulations on leaving the Mormon division. I only pray that you come to trust in Jesus.
preachinshawn 1 year ago
@preachinshawn Im with you dude. Parents do not do wrong at all by telling them what they believe, because they really do believe it. I for one will tell my kids about Christ and I will pray that they are justified and saved, however I will tell them to study other religions and learn them. I do it, and it has caused some temporary doughts in my life, but they have made me grow stronger in my faith in finding them out. Best of luck to you shawn.
Justificationized 1 year ago
Good luck on finding a parent that does not indoctrinate their child. Children ask questions, and parents give their opinions. I would think a caring parent would want to shape their child's life for the better.
The scary thing is when people are told to stay away from teachings that differ from their current beliefs.
preachinshawn 1 year ago
talk to Jesus, the holy spirit is there anytime you want to reach out.
starchildray 1 year ago
no way laci u were a mormon? thats a shocker. hey are your parents really devout?
t0xyg3n 1 year ago
Hooray for you for deconverting :)
Religion does not, has never and never will do anything but slow our species down.
lipgirlSU 2 years ago 3
Good job seeing through the mythology so early in life! It took me much longer to actually start thinking about why I even had faith in the first place.
skepticsRefrigerator 2 years ago 21
@skepticsRefrigerator haha i never truely believed, i always kinda thought "yeah...maybe" and then i kinda said "wow this shit is stupid" is like 11(im a homosexual, and that helped me see that religion is stupid, because "god" hated me anyways) sooo, now i am 15, and im hiding my beliefs AND my sexuality from my parents, because im affraid they will try to "fix" me...
smartandstupid37 1 year ago
Amen to that. To be honest it's a bit like they have gone mad, and are piling on to their madness more madness. Of which I just now realize Atheist need a amen that doesn't have religious connotations. Maybe Darwin to that? Or Dawkins to that? Or Hawking to that? Or Watson to that?
MistressArte 2 years ago
@MistressArte Try the FSM parody of it: RAmen
skepticsRefrigerator 2 years ago
@skepticsRefrigerator
Thank you from now on I will praise the noodles. Ramen. ^___^ *cuddles FSM*
MistressArte 2 years ago
yea I think it's because people are so programed to not think, that they actually encourage it. Through that they are rewarded by people in their community so the cycle continues.
MistressArte 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Good video. But God is most definitely real and Evolution is most definitely not. If you doubt it, read 'the attempted murder of God' - A critical book at a critical time, it reveals the secrets of science that comprehensively demolish the theory of Evolution and provides scientific proof for God - a scientific certainty kept hidden from the world that in this critical time in history can now be revealed.
byScrooby 2 years ago
I wish this series was continued. I watched this shortly after my best friend Chelsea took me to church with her. Her family happened to be Mormons and it just made me sick how submissive the women were there. I also happened to go when the little kids happened to be doing their testimonials (I didn't know that was once a month; weird) and I saw the exact same thing. More than 4 kids were being told what to say.
arachnidheist 2 years ago
Here is the common mistake alot of people make with our faith. They see a member do something wrong, and 'assume' it's like that in the whole faith. I have been a member for 4 years in two different countries, and I have never seen a child being brain-washed into doing this. It was an isolated case. We aren't perfect, we are a church of sinners, who are trying to reach our highest potential. This video combined with music is an impressive way of making people find faults in us. God bless.
DoomExtreme1 2 years ago
It's not that it's not teaching your kids to question things. When your a child you are predisposed to believing whatever adults tell you, because you haven't had the life experience to understand what dangers there are. Like what plants are ok too eat, how to get shelter all theses things children had to listen to adults or else they'd die. Putting an idea of god into their heads at such a young age they aren't taught to question things to do research on their own. This is brainwashing.
MistressArte 2 years ago
I'm fully aware of this. You are right, this situation was brainwashing, it was wrong. My point, is that it was an isolated case.
DoomExtreme1 2 years ago
Not really, I was raised Catholic and it was the only religion I was exposed to. It took 13 years since I was baptized against my will to wake up and not believe. Sometimes it might come across as innocently raising your child in your belief however even if it's innocent it's still brain washing. Where I live I went to CCD once a week and the only religion that was taught was Catholicism. So although people are unaware of it, it's still happening it's just society has become numb to it.
MistressArte 2 years ago
So are people getting numb to pornography, rape, murder, war and swearing. Get over it.
DoomExtreme1 2 years ago
Swearing seriously? .... Also whats wrong with porn with consenting adults? The human body shouldn't be something people are ashamed of. Although I do get sick of seeing woman that are fake. >.> We should be loving our bodies and other peoples, it's the only way to end senseless war. I never get why the human body is more taboo then war. As far as getting over it goes it leaves scars, lasting ones that take years to heal. You don't want anyone else to go through that.
MistressArte 2 years ago
You just proved me right. You are numb my friend, numb.
DoomExtreme1 2 years ago
I'm not numb, I'm optimistic that things like words we can say freely, the beauty of the human body won't be taboo and things like wars will be. Until the current war gods die, society will continue to suffer. I'm optimistic though that their time is ending and and soon we won't have to worry about them harming us anymore. Like John Lennon's song Imagine, I think we can get there once old gods are laid to rest, and then the things harshly dividing us won't anymore.
MistressArte 2 years ago
Yes because when I think of the reality of life, I think of that one song I liked... You live in a fantasy, wake up.
DoomExtreme1 2 years ago
@DoomExtreme1
I know that things are bad now, but with the rise of more and more people becoming Atheist we can make our dreams a reality. Just because the war gods of the desert messed things up, it doesn't mean we can't fix them. Our knowledge of the world has increased, religion now is lagging behind. Once we stop this global insanity, life for everyone will be a lot more peaceful. Your right you can't live in a dream world but with actions we can can change it to reflect that dream.
MistressArte 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Without God, this world would be out of control, mad, full of violence and suffering. Without us, you will NEVER experience peace, or anything like it. "the war gods of the desert"... I worship a god of peace and love, sorry if you were forced into a lie.
DoomExtreme1 2 years ago
@DoomExtreme1
I am without your god, and I do experience peace all the time. It's your god that started wars (crusades) killed off a bunch of women (witch trials) how is that at all peaceful? You god says to kill anyone who doesn't believe like you. Deuteronomy 13:13-19, Isaiah 13:15-18 How is that of peace and love? I could never believe such a horrid god, and the reasons why things are as messed up as there are is because of religion. Because people kill for your god.
MistressArte 2 years ago
You're without God, but he is still here, if no one believed in him, it would be chaotic. The law came from religion, your conscious came from God, YOU came from God. Silly person :P.
DoomExtreme1 2 years ago
@DoomExtreme1
I came from my ancestors, and I respect what they had to do to survive to make it possible for me to exist. I don't however worship them. The laws come from our natural social behavior. Since cooperation is beneficial to everyone. I suggest you watch Nice Guys Finish First by Richard Dawkins you can find it on youtube. I cam from earth, the compounds in me from stars that have died. (that's where more complex elements are made through nuclear fusion)
MistressArte 2 years ago
Big bang theory hahahaha! MistressArte: When you die, you are going to feel like a fool, because you believed such made up rubbish. Hahahaha! Funny thing is, your ancestors believed what I/We do, were they wrong? You think you are smart, but you aren't. You are wrong, you DONT know where you came from, and your ancestors who are dead right now, are ashamed... I don't blame them.
DoomExtreme1 2 years ago
@DoomExtreme1
Yes my ancestors were wrong in believing a lot of things they used to. Like the world is flat, like the sun orbits the earth, I'm pretty sure they believed that at one time, until it was proven otherwise. I don't see how their knowledge of the universe is of consequence when it was their survival skills that were needed. Also the big ban is supported by the expanding universe. If another scientific theory comes along that's better and has more tangible evidence I'll believe that.
MistressArte 2 years ago
@DoomExtreme1
You don't seem to get that we know a lot of things but some things we do still have to discover. There is always new science to discover that's what makes science so wonderful. It's not based on dogma but on testable theories that can be duplicated getting the same/similar results. You may think I'm wrong, but wouldn't you feel foolish if this life is all you have and you wasted it living for your death? To me that's utter insanity and makes no sense at all.
MistressArte 2 years ago 3