Non-Jehovahs Witnesses Are EVIL? NEW Caleb And Sophia Video (Cartoon)

[@larissabrglum3856]

Maybe I'm reading into this too much, but it seems kind of deliberate to me that Sophia, the female child, is the one who "shouldn't be so smart."

[@melissalawson7803]

It's not surprising, really. I mean, look at all that women are allowed to do within the cult (nothing at all).

[@robertx8020]

@@melissalawson7803 They can go door to door and obaying men .,..no higher education needed for that! Actually getting an education might show you how stupid it is! We can't have that now can we? 😋

[@HeatherQuinn-Psykhae]

It may also be tied to the fact that they've established purple is the color of Satan and Sofia is always in purple

[@Jenkinscraftingco2.0]

@@HeatherQuinn-Psykhae is that why in ww2 JWs were given purple triangles in concentration camps?

[@ona512]

@@Jenkinscraftingco2.0 probably. but daddy google would do you good

[@sugarbunns2966]

Growing up as a child my non religious dad actually was able to make friends with a Jehovah’s witness. He came over to his house and basically was given a lecture from this kids mom about Jehovah and how he shouldn’t like Smurf’s or own any toys of them, because they’d come alive and kill him in the middle of the night. Needless to say he didn’t go back, but he ran into the kid again as an adult. It turns out the guy got out of the religion and turned into a tatted beefcake nightclub bouncer lol

[@bogdankljajic5340]

Sounds like a interesting story

[@FireElement7]

Good for him for getting out.

[@Pipkiablo]

Imagine having to write on someone's death certificate that they were murdered by a bunch of blue people that were three apples tall...

[@gecko2738]

I'm convinced alot of these far leftist wackos are the way they are because of their deeply religious nutjob parents.

[@melissacooper8724]

OMG! Did that woman think that Smurfs are like Chucky dolls?!

[@JovanDacic]

I would criticize Caleb and Sophia animators for their awful range of human expressions, but my ex-JW friends are also limited to the same palette of facial contortions, mainly fear, shame, guilt, and wide-eyed adoration.

[@mizquitl]

That just shows that limiting a person's potential always affects their creativity.

[@Montesama314]

I was just looking at Sophia's first facial expression and I went, "Hmm, she does not look okay."

[@kinyacat5919]

Ngl the animation is animated pretty well.

[@julioaugusto1529]

I love how they flat out ripped off Pixar's character design

[@annjepsen1621]

Yes I noticed that Caleb and Sophia are always wide eyed while outsiders look stoned in comparison!

[@TerenceClark]

It seems like every Caleb and Sophia video is basically "Caleb and Sophia really, really want something good/innocuous and Jehova says no"

[@EskChan19]

For real. Way to portray themselves as the killjoy religion.

[@Montesama314]

"Caleb, Sophia, and their controlling, abusive father" doesn't make for a snappy cartoon title.

[@doloreslehmann8628]

Yes, and literally every video could be used as an excellent set-up to show how evil this cult is. You just need an alternative ending where the conclusion is: "Look how they're breaking innocent children's hearts", but no, they make it: "Yes, it's fully justified to break innocent children's hearts for Jehovah."

[@obediahpolkinghorniii564]

I feel as if there should be a Grumpy God meme. "God, may I -" "No." "Masturb -" "No." "Bacon is g-" "No." "May I kill in Your name?" "OK, but don't enjoy it."

[@sillyguyfred]

@@Montesama314 And mother too

[@DarthEquus]

I almost fell off my chair laughing when Caleb looked up, and the angels were all cheering as if he had scored the greatest goal in the history of humanity.

[@slackback313]

Came to say the same thing. Hysterical!

[@robertx8020]

Unless you are one of those kids ...then it is just sad

[@agevenisse3252]

Maybe that's what Anthony Morris is using the Macallan Whisky for (Bottlegate). One bottle = inspiration for a new Caleb & Sofia episode. I mean, there has to be some kind of drug involved.

[@fishmilk0]

ME TOO LMAO

[@electricheartpony]

That was a strange thing indeed.

[@cannibal_redneck7109]

I'd pay for someone to create the "good ending" of Caleb and Sophia where they leave the religion, tell the elders to kiss their asses, and Sophia becomes a doctor while Caleb becomes a game developer.

[@frejglass]

my personal headcanon is that sophia becomes an entomologist

[@nome5273]

I'll draw a comic strip, I used to be a Jehovah's Witness. Both me and my older sister left but I'm still in high school. I'll post it on my channel if you want

[@notmyluck7084]

@@nome5273 yeah that sounds cool, let us know if/ when you do. Your art is nice.

[@mundoatena1674]

@@nome5273 this sounds very cool

[@Logitah]

I've been fantasising about a story like that. Especially one where Caleb secretly digs up the toy from the trash.

[@Chelaxim]

I wonder how self aware they are when Caleb and Sophia look miserable 99 percent of the time they're on screen?

[@65firered]

They're perpetually traumatized.

[@joncoda365]

They probably think that's how kids (and people in general) are supposed to look and feel. Well, until they get to heaven or whatever.

[@ddjsoyenby]

is this a secret code from the animators.

[@GrandArchPriestOfTheAlgorithm]

Berserk is a happier and more uplifting story than this trash.

[@ConservativeSatanist666]

Right?

[@werewolfantipaladin]

I've mentioned this in the past Caleb and Sophia's parents hate them. They isolate them and brainwash them daily. Remember when the mother made Caleb throw away a borrowed toy? Never heard what happened after that. Caleb being practically suicidal over that cupcake and thinking....no BELIEVING Jehovah wouldn't be his friend anymore and his parents all but agreeing this was the case? Sophia seems to want to question the garbage they are being taught but is mentally torn. Someone mentioned the parents have no friends at all. We don't even know their names or where the father works. This is so repulsive in so many ways. JW just destroying happy children

[@pinkiepie7823]

Speaking as a survivor of a cult like this, not jw but a lot of similar ideas, no, the parents don't hate them. The parents are just brainwashed themselves.

[@ona512]

I headcannon that Sophia is gay and both of the kids most likely will grow up and develop personality disorders. They will get out but they will be a mess.

[@ich8966]

Yes it's very toxic and abusive but these parents actually believe they are doing the right thing because they are brainwashed too. That's the sad thing with these cults. These people aren't naturally bad or evil, they are just completely brainwashed and in constant fear of losing everyone they love if they do something jehowa doesn't like. It's impossible for them to think outside the box and even if they do they know they will lose EVERYTHING. They are poor, they have no education and everyone they know and care about is inside this religion. These people are mentally and physically dependent on this cult and their leaders. They are basically trapped.

[@plantlady42069]

I agree. My mother kept me very isolated because of their brainwashing teachings so I suffer from severe loneliness and 0 social skills because of it. I hate how this "religion" ruined my chances at a normal childhood and even adulthood.

[@PokemonRules333]

@@ich8966to me I blame the 8 men running jw they are the slavemasters running this cult

[@KiranasOfRizon]

Something I find funny here. Sophia's classmate had not actually showed her his test, merely offered her that. She then fantasizes about copying the answer off of it, and in her own fantasy, conjures up the correct answers. Despite actually fucking knowing the answer, she doesn't write it down after that fantasy concludes, because she would feel it would be cheating. She knew the answer all along. She never actually obtained it from his test. But she thought she did. If you were the sort of person to believe in something like astral projection or magic or whatnot, you might think that you had actually cheated when you didn't. But if you are rational, you would realize that the only way for that answer to appear in your own fantasy is if you knew it in the first place.

[@anonymousorganism]

I also noticed that. Perhaps she didn't view it as cheating, but decided to punish herself for having felt that temptation or for caring too much (in the cult's opinion) about her education. I think the latter scenario is much more likely. Perhaps she was trying to make Jehovah happy by proving that her education was no longer more of a priority than becoming a better Jehovah's witness.

[@gameconcept1196]

I found it funny, that she thought she would get a medal. 🤣

[@wizardsuth]

@@gameconcept1196 That's not so far fetched. I entered three math competitions in high school and won a medal each time.

[@eileensnow6153]

@@gameconcept1196she’s clearly never been top of the class before. I doubt that’s unintentional :/

[@Pippis78]

I think it wasn't actually about cheating but about prioritizing school success and maybe about getting _proud_ that was wrong. Because I've seen that episode before. I think it was mainly about how they should put Jehovah first. Cheating was just a manipulative add - and maybe the point was that that was the danger of wanting success, it would tempt you to do things that are wrong. .. .And the way to solve that problem was to fail school on purpose. Can't remember how openly and straightforward it was said that the kids _should not_ succeed in or prioritize school. But it definitely was clear enough... And yeah, being friends with Jehovah (=having no friends in school) was to be chosen over having other kids for friends because _they will tempt you to not prioritize Jehovah._

[@MarGarfunkle]

Notice how the girl (sophia) is taught to fail school, how she doesn't get an angelic choir for "doing the right thing" while the much more mundane problem Caleb has got a full angelic ovation. Consider the religion in question with these "coincidences" popping up.

[@justmeagain4662]

Petition for a fan-made Caleb and Sophia episode where their friends witness an instance of their parents hardcore guilt-tripping and gaslighting them. The friends tell their parents who call child services on Caleb and Sophia's mom and dad. Caleb and Sophia are rescued and given to a nice foster family where they're allowed to slowly unlearn all the JW-brainwashing and that they're not selfish for wanting harmless things like being good in school or sweets and toys. The last scene shows Sophia happily presenting her foster parents with an aced test and getting praised for it, while in the background Caleb is playing with a wizard-toy. The very same brand as the borrowed one his birth mom made him throw away when he was younger.

[@whizkeysh0t]

that's so sweet. can't wait to see it.

[@rollerturtle]

Is it even possible for CPS to take away kids in that instance? The shitty reaity is the kids are not even taken away from parents who physically abuse them and don't provide for their basic needs. As bad as their parents are for them, CPS wouldn't probably take them away because they are well-fed, have nice house, clothes, have both parents, go to school. I don't see any big chances of resuing them

[@justmeagain4662]

@@rollerturtle True, sadly. This is more of a wish-fulfillment scenario.

[@LMakaCobra]

I can’t animate but maybe a comic would be possible

[@TheSuperCasual2914]

There is a creepypasta about Caleb and Sophia, so that could be a tie-in episode.

[@RainySideUp]

I'm so weirdly invested in Caleb and Sophia. In every episode we see them wanting something that is perfectly normal to want; friends, hobbies, birthdays, an education and so on. And not only does every episode end with them not getting those things, they also leave the episode feeling proud and accomplished for not getting it. It's very unsettling to see child abuse and neglect portrayed with bright colors and whimsical music, while the children's childhoods are getting robbed. It's also interesting that Sophia is the only one in the family who ever questions the religion. Caleb never really questions it and the times he does something that isn't in line with Jehova it's usually not done consciously and typically ends with him being guild-ridden about it. Sophia on the other hand does see the cracks in the teachings and often asks questions about it. No wonder most episodes centered on her tries to discourage people from pursuing knowledge, because she is genuinely very smart. Obviously her asking questions is mostly just a segue to spread propaganda but story wise it makes sense, she is the oldest after all.

[@wasserruebenvergilbungsvirus]

Someone should write a fanfiction in which they leave the cult. Maybe Sophia could fall in love with another girl and slowly realise that JW beliefs are cult brainwashing.

[@keshagriffin3375]

It’s oddly good?

[@askosefamerve]

Sophia knows sh*t is wrong. Caleb will follow her footsteps as soon as he grows. I had a friend who grew up in a extremely controlling family, her brother turned up to be the same.

[@Montesama314]

A typical abuse tactic is isolation. Cutting the victim off from friends, family, or other authority figures who might have the power to contradict the abuser's narrative or otherwise push back against the abuser's control.

[@taranloses]

yup, i believe even he's mentioned this several times on the channel, went through the whole bite model and all. jw is a cult

[@moldygrill8052]

Isolation is a consistent theme in this religion. Members are isolated from the outside world, and if they decide to leave, everyone in their community shuns them. Hard to navigate a world you were separated from.

[@starrby7790]

Plus isolatememt can bring the person to the point of insanity and mental health problems I as a kid for a time was isolated cause of some things that happened to me during that time and I was so lonely that I started to make people and friends that weren't real and at a point I even forgot they weren't real and as my sanity and mental health kept dropping I started to suffer from vivid hallucinations which here horrifying and would leave me in so much fear I feel so bad for these JV kids cause they could be at a risk from experiencing what I did and that's horrible to think about I hope they are able to run away before anything happens to them or their too into the web of the religion they can't escape anymore

[@lisasmith8272]

I really wish I had friends, I was balling my eyes out because I don't have any friends and my mother said it's all my fault I don't have any because "You choose not to associate with the people at the meeting" 🥲

[@projectpatientanarchy7550]

That's what my mom did. That's how it took me so long to realize what she was doing was wrong and not normal

[@chrismuir8403]

In other words, "Make Jehovah happy by denying pleasures and being miserable". What they don't seem to realize is it makes their "Jehovah" a real sadistic prick.

[@artemis754]

yes, exactly

[@deerecoyote2040]

I support this comment.

[@samuraijackoff5354]

It doesn't even specify greedy pleasures, just the most tedious non harmful pleasures.

[@helloworld7222]

Yeah idk what everyone else is doing but Jesus was a real person, whether or not he did mericles is up to you to believe but a good man existed, at least. Who said to be kind, no matter what. I swear each group has their own "skinheads".

[@shaleamontanez4591]

I heard a certain sect cut off from JWs banned spices & seasonings because it was an earthly pleasure

[@cupit916]

I was “friends” with a JW in high school, we both had a crush on each other. We decided to go ice skating together but when I got to the rink, totally ghosted. And that wasn’t the last instance, instead of just saying “I can’t hang out with you, my cult will get mad at me if I do.” I’m Jewish and he even tried to preach Jehovah to me.

[@Blake1720]

We had a small group of Mormons and JW’s in my school district. Whenever they would try to talk about Jehovah to me I’d tell them I was Jewish and it shut them down pretty quickly for some reason. My mother always said to let them know as soon as possible and it worked. That’s interesting he kept trying to be in contact with you despite what he was involved in. He must have really liked you. 😢

[@HeyItsMad]

We had a couple of JW friends in school. Our parents would lie to there's on their behest so they could be included into hings- saying events were random rather than parties, saying things were single sex when they were mixed, supervised when they were unsupervised and so on. They did it to a lesser extent for our Mormon friends too. Safe to say none of those kids are in those cults anymore as adults. One even managed to get his parents out with him, after a few years of being shunned.

[@user-il4mh4fz4j]

I had a similar situation. I had a friend wich was muslim, I was gay but I didn't told him that I was gay, we were great friends, he loved me and I loved him, I think it was the first friendship in where I felt total respect. One day I told him and he got nervous, he told me that he was afraid of his god, but in the end he kept being my friend, I was amazed, this guy loved me so much that he put his religion a part from me, he didn't left, ironically I did left... I never wanted to but I did, I still think it's one of the worst desitions I had made and I'm afraid he's mad at me because I ghosted him.

[@bizcota7741]

In JW they always say they're Jewish..in reality that's most likely not the case.

[@cheesething5564]

@@user-il4mh4fz4j he doesn't have to hate you, but he cant support you being gay

[@jademoon7938]

I had a JV in my class as a kid. She went and sat in the hallway alone every morning during the singing of the anthem, every class party, pretty much anything remotely fun. And the part I found really sad was that she already had a hard enough time in school because she had a club hand and thick glasses and she always smelled like dairy. I tried to talk to her. My mom was big on compassion lessons when I was a kid. I thought she was just really shy. I'm sure she was I just didn't realize she wasn't allowed to talk to me. She just seemed so achingly lonely.

[@Kadavro]

you really did the anthem... every morning?

[@qsd5413]

@@Kadavro you didn’t?

[@jademoon7938]

@@Kadavro Yes, we had to at least stand every morning and it was in French or English on any given day, you were supposed to sing it. In my province it is mandated, therefore you must at least stand, and you can get away with not really singing but you can refuse to participate if your parents write a note and give a satisfactory excuse, like religion. Jehovah's Witnesses, for example, can have their kids exempted from participating. They go in the hall. They also sit in the hall during birthday parties, valentines day festivities, Christmas, Halloween, all of it. They're not allowed to have fun lol. Jesus died and all that so you have to be sad like you witnessed the crucifixion 24/7 or whatever they believe. I think in some other provinces, they only do the anthem at games and assemblies, it's not a federal mandate, so each province chooses their own rules. Ours is every morning in school.

[@Kadavro]

@@qsd5413 i was a homeschooled JW kid

[@Kadavro]

@@jademoon7938 Such a stupid thing to "mandate" are you in America? cause thats fucking stupid. Im not standing for a Country that doesnt respect me

[@harrietpotter649]

15:44 I love how, even in their own canon, non-JW people are nicer and more socially adept than JWs lol

[@joejones8776]

I love how Sophia ALWAYS has this worried “Oh, shit, am I following my religion correctly or not?” look on her face!

[@therealjaystone2344]

Am I following my sky daddy correctly or not?

[@julietfischer5056]

It has to be emotionally and psychologically draining to live that way, just as it is for children with abusive parents.

[@malamothe]

This is why a lot of us raised that way have anxiety.

[@therealjaystone2344]

@@malamothe and it shouldn’t be that way

[@loadbearingskull]

i’d go on a tangent about women and girls in religion and the far more serious pressures on them compared to males but i won’t

[@jinx724]

I had a JW friend in high school, she was a genius and an amazing actress. She easier could have gone to Harvard or NYU. She could have studied anything in STEM, be a doctor, be an actor on the side. We all had extremely high hopes for her. My personal belief is her parents didn't approve. She went to a community College. This wasn't about money because she got a full ride to NYC. Which is more proof to me because she applied to NYU and got it. And it wasn't distance because we went to school in Times Square!!! NYU is down the block from my old high school. It broke my heart that so much potential was down the drain

[@slowyourroll1146]

Have you seen or heard from her since then?

[@jinx724]

@@slowyourroll1146 nope nothing for years unfortunately

[@pauladodd1951]

That reminds me of this kid in my HS. I think he was JW but i never really talked to him about religion. He was the valedictorian of the class after me and his family refused to go to his graduation. He was a real sickly looking guy too. but OMG this kid was a freaking genius and it breaks my heart to think he never did anything with all that because of his parents brainwashing him to believe this stuff.

[@colbyboucher6391]

Those of us who used to be JWs joke that it's a religion of window washers.

[@Queen_Sakura]

Headcannon: Sofia, as an adult, gains custody of a teen Caleb and goes on to become a well-respected scientist and acclaimed scientific author. Caleb starts up a KZbin channel and progressively becomes a world-famous videogame steamer.

[@Tiny-Goblin]

I'd watch that

[@Queen_Sakura]

@@Tiny-Goblin Hmm, maybe I'll make a web series or fanfic or something then

[@Tiny-Goblin]

@@Queen_Sakura That would be dope dude. I'd read it

[@TH1515FAK3]

That sounds like a lovely end to the tale of these two. I feel so awful thinking of all the real Caleb’s and Sophia’s in the world, some of which will never leave the cult and others who will leave with no family left.

[@fish4409]

You know what, people need to make that

[@Aikyudo]

My husband is exJW and he's keeps a lot close to his chest. I don't think he really likes talking about his time raised as JW unless he's been drinking. Your series talking about the Caleb and Sofia cartoons has really helped me understand him better. He is 24 and still struggles with socialising in bigger groups of people that he doesn't know very well. I was raised christian, but we didn't go to church, or read the bible, but my family was Christian. I grew up with holidays and class trips, he never got to have that. We are planning on having children, and growing up for me, it was wonderful having Christmas and Halloween and even Easter. With Christmas coming up, we've been having more and more conversations about what it would be like for him raising children who celebrate Christmas. He definitely takes the "you want to LIE to CHILDREN??" position in regards to Santa haha. I even want to make going to Silver Dollar City during December a family tradition. It's been hard for him to make this change from "holidays are evil" to "holidays are a fun happy time that should be celebrated". I still don't understand him very well, but I'm learning more about him all the time.

[@ninirozhy]

the years of mental abuse and brainwashing this cult puts people through is very hard to unlearn and heal from, I hope your husband heals well

[@alchemysaga3745]

You could point out to him that not doing the 'Mainstream' Christmas thing would mean any children you have would miss out on a significant portion of childhood culture, or even lead to them being bullied due to them denying Santa's existence at school. And as a compromise, you could have 'Santa' give the cheaper/less fancy gifts (like clothes, board games, books, candy, etc- what Santa 'used to' give kids) and the fancy gifts be from the two of you.

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

For Santa, I tell my nephews that Santa gives everyone a sort of small gift, while we give them the bigger, better gifts.

[@aveuch]

I agree with you wanting him to celebrate - but maybe you could try to be less materialistic. I grew up poor & Catholic, understood who Santa was and took pictures with him when we could afford it, but also understood where and who gifts came from. A lot of (American) Christmas, beyond the celebration, is unnecessary and wasteful. Ah my point, maybe he doesn't believe holidays are evil, just materialistic, unnecessary, and wasteful, and they shouldn't be.

[@alchemysaga3745]

@@aveuch She already said the problem he has with Christmas is the lying to kids about Santa thing- because the Jehova Witnesses lie to children non-stop. The "holidays are evil" thing is literally because the religion brainwashed him into believing the holidays were innately evil, not that the way they were celebrated was flawed.

[@ShazySoft]

My parents were Jehovah's witnesses up until I was 6. Even though we left when I was pretty young, it still had really long-lasting impacts on me that I'm still working through. Notably, their weird obsession with not celebrating any holidays. Having to sit in a classroom while the rest of the school has fun in a Halloween costume march, listening to a family open presents and have fun on christmas from the other side of the wall while you sit in a dark room by yourself, forbidden from celebrating the "false holiday. Those kinds of memories really fuck with your ability to connect with people and feel apart of things, especially when you're just a little kid. 22 years later and I still don't really know how to celebrate things, or feel like I'm apart of groups or anything.

[@LMakaCobra]

I’m really sorry you have to deal with that. I hope you can find a way to get past it and enjoy your life.

[@moldygrill8052]

I grew up in this religion as well, until I was 14. I never realized how much not celebrating holidays would affect me until years after I left. I always thought holidays were the least of my worries compared to everything else. Today, I still can't celebrate any holidays without feeling dread and I don't feel apart of any groups too. We're getting through this together.

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

When you celebrate holidays, don't feel bad if you're "doing it right." There is no right way to celebrate holidays.

[@slushiiix4287]

I have a JW family as well, I didn't know this was so common. My aunt didn't celebrate any holidays at all, not even birthdays. And she also got upset when I was younger because I was playing with toys and sang the birthday song. Though I'm pretty sure my mom was never a JW so I still celebrated the holidays with her and other family members like my grandma who are also JW but did celebrate holidays.

[@justradiclesandco]

As someone in the replies said, there’s no right way to celebrate. It can be as simple as spending time with friends and family and eating food. Asking friends what they do for holidays is also a good way to learn about holidays and also bond over their fun memories.

[@richardcuadra5824]

I used to be Catholic, and the ironic part of my de-conversion story is that I used to play the most violent video games ever made when I was a believing Catholic. My father always accused me of only playing video games, even though that was not true. Eventually, I got fed up and stop playing altogether; this opened a time slot that I filled only a few months later with watching atheistic videos explaining why religion is bullshit. Putting down the controller actually led to my departure from religion.

[@gecko2738]

Yeah I'm an ex catholic as well. My whole life I grew up under helicopter "parents", meaning my grandma, aunt, uncle. I wasn't allowed to watch cartoon network, couldn't play violent video games, use my phone when I got home from school when my grandma was arround or else she would try and hide it, etc. All because they wanted to push their worldview on an impressionable child. It's disgusting and it's no different then those far leftist creeps on Twitter who want to expose kids to inappropriate topics at a young age. Anyone who forces politics or religion onto a kid who can't think for themselves or make their own decisions is a fu ckin loser.

[@arandomhashbrown3756]

@@gecko2738 Let me guess...explaining kids that gay people exist and there is nothing wrong with it being one is "showing inappropriate material" to kids

[@thelibyanplzcomeback]

Both secular and non-secular cults tell their members that entertainment is bad. They're not paying attention to the cult if they're using entertainment as a means of escapism.

[@richardcuadra5824]

The ironic part is that when I was Catholic, I watched usually 6 hours of TV a day on average, played horrifically violent video games, and voted Democrat; Obama was my favorite president. Now, I am an atheist who rarely watches TV, never plays video games, and votes Republican.

[@thelibyanplzcomeback]

@@richardcuadra5824 I don't really think it's part of Catholicism to be anti-gaming. Catholic groups might be anti-gaming, but not all of them. Also, Catholics are actually more liberal than Protestants, so you formerly being a democrat in your Catholic days is not unusual. As a former Protestant (now agnostic) who's pretty much always been a libertarian... Telltale is becoming kinda... looney for the left. He was always apolitical (or at least made himself out as apolitical). Even when I was a Protestant, I was watching Telltale for his videos on Caleb & Sophia (pretty much everyone can agree those are garbage). However, he's recently been talking shit about republicans and not any democrats. He even did so in this video. He also did a poll on what JWs' political beliefs are. Despite more JWs being democrats than republicans, most of his followers thought JWs mostly voted republican. Ironically, I unsubscribed to Telltale AFTER becoming "more" atheist.

[@Montesama314]

Does anyone else notice how good Sophia's first facial expression was, and how NOT OKAY she looks? I've seen that unsure face before. It's the face of when you're worried about being excluded.

[@scrubadubdubdub]

Kid: eats a cupcake for their birthday Jehovah: And I took that personally

[@tealnoise]

As a witness, this is actually funny.

[@blidea9191]

​@@tealnoise I haven't heard many positive things about JWs so far. What makes you a believer?

[@tealnoise]

@@blidea9191 You don't see JWs committing crimes unlike 'Christians' and they are a nicer community than most. I've only met a few mean JWs, but that's how it is. Not every Christian is good either.

[@blidea9191]

​@@tealnoise You said it yourself, pal. You don't seem to have the data to support your statement. However, I agree with you about many self-proclaimed Christians being non-believers in practice. I don't want to challenge your faith, of course; you seem like a very healthy individual. However, I should mention that Jehovah's Witness church covered up child abuse and denied free speech to believers.

[@tealnoise]

@@blidea9191 First of all, Jehovah Witnessss do not go to "churches" they go to the Kingdon Hall aka meetings. Not all of us are bad like these KZbinrs portray them as. Now I'm only a JW because my family is, and I'm not a big religion person, but I'm just tired of people making fun of us. Not all of us are child abusers or get denied free speech either. :(

[@stariskyeart7953]

I cant be the only one who wants to write Sophia into a world where she's safe and able to go to collage like she wants

[@sadietaylorsversion13]

i distinctly remember being so sad once when i was young because i had a birthday party in class, and a friend of mine (being a jw) was not allowed to take part. i cried over her having to sit in the hallway. she and her family left the religion, and now she tells me all the time about how awful it was, and yes she does get to take part in birthday parties now.

[@MMumbles]

The best ending. Fr though, I'm so glad your friend and her family got outta there.

[@sadietaylorsversion13]

@@MMumbles me too, they deserved so much better

[@ybrynecho2368]

I lived across the street from a JW family. Every Saturday the mom and dad and the 2 boys would go off door knocking. Those boys never had friends over, never played with the other kids on the street, who were mainly RC, or went to play hockey like the boys next door to them. One year we had a huge amount of snow - so much that it had drifted around the side of their house in an 8 ft. drift. I noticed the kids climbing up on their roof and jumping into the snow drift. I was concerned they'd get hurt, so phoned their mom. She said she'd given them permission because they never had any fun. I was biting my tongue so hard to not retort, "Well, who's fault is that?" That was over 20 years aga; I often wonder what these boys, now into their 30's are doing now. Whether they "woke up" or are forcing that ignorance on their own kids.

[@There605]

I can’t imagine how mentally damaging that would be

[@orchidorio]

Sobering. 112022

[@InhumanFan98]

The snow jumping sounds fun but you did the right thing calling, i hope they got out that cult

[@theworld-gv4zg]

I find it funny that the kids doing the “evil thing” in the episode always look like they are happy and having fun but Caleb and Sophia look really sad and bored

[@sailordaigurren8225]

"Refusing to cheat is universally considered to be the wrong choice..." I think you meant "the *right* choice."

[@timscott84]

He's busted lol

[@dmmoctober]

Freudian slip

[@oneish7454]

@@dmmoctober or maybe...

[@normanclatcher]

@@oneish7454 see, I like this line of thinking better. This one leads us places.

[@caitlinweiss8801]

What hurts my heart the most about these episodes is that their classmates keep making efforts to be friends with them (probably because they always look sad and lonely) but they aren't allowed to be friends.

[@FireElement7]

I went to a very small highschool in a tiny country town. I was an introverted goth girl who liked to read. I had black nails, the jewelry, custom fangs, all of the usual garb. I'm a kind and peaceful person, but because it was a hick town, I was an outcast. Nevermind that I was also an accomplished horseman. I had won my belt buckles and ribbons. I just left them at home because I preferred the other asthetic. The hick boys would come to school dressed in head to toe in their duster coats, cowboy hats and giant buckles they bought rather than won. I was rejected by them because they said I was dressing like something I wasn't. I wasn't a "real vampire". I never thought I was. I just liked the look. I didn't even bother pointing out the hypocrisy of their outfits since not one of them could even ride a horse. One day a mutual friend introduced me to this handsome boy I had never seen before. I thought perhaps he was new, because I thought I had met everyone at our school. I was told he just keeps to himself, but really wants to meet you. We fell fast into head over heels teenage love. He loved my black nails, my books, my personality and waist length hair. I loved him right back. We would call each other every day after school. I always wondered why he would have to hang up as soon as one of his parents came home. I wondered why he never asked me on a proper date or came over. Not very long a after, he broke up with me. I was heartbroken and I couldn't understand why. We really had so much in common. Many years later, I found out he was a Jehovah's witness. His parents found out about me somehow and forced him to break up with me. I learned he married right out of highschool to a girl within his church. I hope he is happy, but somehow I doubt it. I'm sorry this is a story rather than a comment. I think it applies though. I don't think we would have stayed together in the long run anyhow because we were children, but perhaps we could have had fond memories of each other and a lasting friendship. It's sad never knowing what might have been if he wasn't stuck in that crazy cult.

[@ReccquiemBST]

I hope you two meet again.

[@felixthecat5333]

Have you tried to look up and see how he’s doing?

[@FireElement7]

@@ReccquiemBST I tried to find him. He's not on any social media. I think because of that fact he must still be in the cult. Thanks for your support.

[@ReccquiemBST]

@@FireElement7 Fair enough. I wish you the best anyway.

[@FireElement7]

@@felixthecat5333 I tried to look him up. He has no social media and I can't find information on him anywhere online. I suppose that means he is still in the cult. Thanks for your support.

[@fionna_cool_girl]

I know they're fictional characters...but man do I feel bad for them. Caleb and Sophia are written to just be bright and curious kids about the world, Caleb just wants to take risks and do fun things and Sophia wants to work hard to be smart and get an education, but Jehovah's witnesses just squander it, saying that "being curious is bad and never strive to be excellent!" It makes you think about all the real young kids who want to learn and grow but Jehovah witnesses parents just crush their kids dreams and just become robots to the cult.

[@mushlii]

Honestly it would be interesting if they left the religion while still believing in God. Jehovah witnesses are STRICT and most of the time they lie saying that doing something makes God sad when it doesn’t. It would be nice to see a story where the kids live happy lives doing what they love while learning God won’t hate them for living while also leaving a religion that brainwashed them.

[@daydream5120]

@@mushlii I’m actually kinda in the same boat as I grew up as a JW but don’t go to the church at all anymore but I still believe in some of the things they have told me over the years and I still believe that Jehovah (God) still loves me. I’m just finding out now (at 25) that I can still love God and believe in him and also still live my own life and have fun

[@uu-ek2mg]

Adults don't have the right to crush their kids' dreams and basically force them to waste their potential. That's not okay in any way. I would say it's child abuse.

[@ShoNuffSoulBro1]

Having been raised a JW kid by very fervent believers, (fanatical parents) I can tell you exactly what is meant by being encouraged to “fail in school”. Since “The End” is always foremost in their teachings, always being “right around the corner”, efforts to excel academically are squashed. Of course most JWs want their kids to get good scores (in primary grades) but ExTreme time & focus is placed on studying Watch Tower publications and attending meetings & ministry, and ANY extracurricular activities such as academics clubs, sports teams, field trip activities, advanced tutoring, etc, is practically forbidden. ANY aspirations for higher education, highly skilled careers or lofty personal endeavors are greatly discouraged ! ! Girls in particular are groomed to simply become subservient wives to a ‘spiritually minded’ brother and to spend as much time in proselytizing and converting efforts. It is with rare exception that any JW girls go to university and establish professional careers. I was a bright kid in school but school counselors efforts to develop a college track for me were rebuffed by my JW Elder dad who ‘witnessed’ to them that since ‘the remaining time’ in this wicked system of things was so short, there was NO NEED for any extra educational efforts, and a ‘divine education’ is vastly superior to any ‘worldly’ education. I’m now nearing retirement age ! For 140+ years in print and from the pulpit the successive WT leaders have fostered an anti-educational mentality & culture. The idea was for me, and is still heavily promoted that if you’re a young person in primary school, that you’ll never have the opportunity to finish school because The End is near and God doesn’t want you wasting your time & efforts on worldly pursuits in SaTan’s system. So I along with countless other JW kids were and are being ROBBED of their potential. The hurtful and hypocritical rub is that the WT leadership quietly seek to recruit highly skilled and educated individuals to serve the organization’s interests while preaching to kids & parents to fail to achieve in educational pursuits and in their own personal endeavors ! ! Complacency & Mediocrity rule; along with a large dose of Fear, Obligation & Guilt of course. 😃👍💥

[@sace2616]

Couldn't have said it any better. Thank you. That was my experience and it took years to get over the mental aversion to education. I went to community college 30 years after graduating high school. I'm now in university, and I'm 48 y.o. Now, my fervent JW father wants to call and hear about my life and what I'm doing and wants me to come visit him, but I'm conflicted... I left home at 17, went into the service, became a drug addict and alcoholic, got sober and slowly have been getting my mind back. I have to be careful not attracting people who are codependent and controlling who do the same things too me my family did. That's the biggest challenge: not repeating the pattern that was instilled in me, not doubting myself and giving myself permission to become a whole person.

[@alchemysaga3745]

... You know, this alone shows how blatantly the USA favors Christian/Catholic and derivative religions. Especially when said religions are White majority. If it wasn't Christian/Catholic flavored zealotry, the Jehova Witnesses would be considered either a terrorist organization or hate group.

[@moldygrill8052]

This is something more people should be aware of. I tried revisiting a JW family member's congregation and was told so much shit for being enrolled at a university. Higher education is completely frowned upon.

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

I didn't know JWs aren't even supposed to go to college. Explains why I didn't see many there.

[@justradiclesandco]

@@rosesweetcharlotte Yeah, it definitely sucks. I only really see JWs when they’re standing around campus with pamphlets. The university grounds outside buildings are public, so it’s kind of a loophole for extremely religious people to stand around the path and get people to join. These videos really help me understand it all better

[@TimingIsRight]

I feel like the best payback would be to create a fandom of Sophia and Caleb and deliberately draw them or animate them or write stories about them that will make the heads go mad. side note: My mom was actually friends with a jehovas witness girl and my mom actually told me long ago before I even learned about jehovas witnesses that it was hard being friends with her because the friend was so anxious that she literally avoided all celebrations, she didn't even preach to my mom she was just anxious for what I feel is that she would be caught. It was sad, I think my mom still has contact with her but I'm not sure if she's still part of the group. ( this took place in high school with my mom, nearly 20 yrs ago)

[@daydream5120]

I grew up as a JW and every time I used to make a mistake, or even thought I did even if it was a little tiny one, I thought my whole life was over and that I made Jehovah mad. I still sometimes think like that but as I’m not following the religion as closely anymore, I find that those thoughts do not come up as often as much as they did

[@TimingIsRight]

@@daydream5120 I'm glad your not having thoughts like those like as much anymore ^^. As a Christian, your relationship should be something that nobody forces on you, and you should be comfortable with talking with God. God is like a good father, He listens and understands you.

[@6YB0]

I bet the viewers of this channel are more hyped for Caleb and Sophia videos than the actual intended audience.

[@gecko2738]

😆

[@ARedMagicMarker]

You got THAT right. XD

[@LMakaCobra]

For anyone who can’t see it or doesn’t want to, Zoe convinces Sophia to tell her teacher and she does. The police arrest her parents at the school. After two months, Sophia and Caleb are adopted into a loving family. Caleb grows up with a supportive friend group and has a successful career as a videogame maker and blogger, he also has a boyfriend. And Sophia is the youngest person in her state to ever graduate, becoming a scientist and raising two kids with her husband while Zoe is still a close family friend

[@LMakaCobra]

Sorry it wouldn’t let me reply to the other comment I made

[@tealnoise]

Lame.

[@LMakaCobra]

@@tealnoise Make your own then I don’t care.

[@scottleespence752]

My sister in law is a Witness, she converted after the marriage and refuses to leave my brother. That is the only thing that kept my 13 yo niece from being kicked out of the house. Sadly my niece took her own life at the age of 25. I don't want to get into a dissertation about everything I saw, but as a group, the Witnesses are a force for evil in this world.

[@lfrancis8980]

Hot take but the increased quality of the cartoons this year gives me more "uncanny valley" vibes than the original/lower-resolution videos. The eyes in this episode in particular are creeping me out.

[@ona512]

They remind me of the my little pony models

[@Montesama314]

Producer: "Look, we need you guys to accurately depict the sheer terror in a child's eyes as they worry about being excluded from everyone they know." Animator: "Are you sure you're not just getting off to this?" Producer: "No! It's for a life lesson!"

[@Leofwine]

@@Montesama314 more like: “No-oh-oh, it's fo-oh-or a life lesso-oh-on - TWO towels, please!” *Cut to mess on floor*

[@sanguineel]

"It's not that we rejoice in someone's death...but we do"

[@Wolf-ln1ml]

I just love his "last days of the LAST days" nonsense, it has such a convincing "this time, really, REALLY honestly, the wolf is here" vibe 🤪

[@kamion53]

🦄".... the wolf is here...."🦄 it's more like the evil bullfrog from the black swamp to me. Man! dooes this fellow look like a toad ready to swallow everthing that does swallow him.

[@InhumanFan98]

Yea and time keeps going so every day gets lesser in the grand scheme of things so the "last days of the last days" means nothing.

[@justuslightworkers]

My former JW hubby doesn't even know when his parents' birthdays are. So not only do they not celebrate, they don't even acknowledge it.

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

This is horrible! Especially since he will probably one day need to know that for medical reasons.

[@colbyboucher6391]

Weird. I couldn't tell you off the top of my head but that's just because I have a bad memory... refusing to tell your kids that isn't particularly normal even for JWs.

[@Catzbe]

At least we get a new telltale video out of this.

[@jamesturner1196]

He's already done this one. I'm. Kt sure if it was deleted or not

[@Melissa0774]

Just tell your parents you've been talking to the other kids about JW and they're thinking about converting. It'll work for a while, at least long enough to be able to go on the trip.

[@InhumanFan98]

Then sophia talks to the friend and opens up about what her lifes like. they exchange ideas and form a honest friendship, which opens her mind opened to how 99% of the population lives and how jws are actually a crazy cult. But alas we dont get the good ending

[@Melissa0774]

@@InhumanFan98 Actually, we kind of do get the good ending, in a way. There's a KZbinr called JW Chronicles who made a series of Caleb and Sophia All Grown Up cartoons, where they realize what was done to them.

[@InhumanFan98]

@@Melissa0774 iv just last minute found it and watched. Its great :) didnt know about it until after i put that message

[@lisabagdonjones1950]

Why bother going to school at all? Why not just say we're "homeschooling" and then you can keep your daughters barefoot, pregnant and unaware only needing shoes when she's doorknocking. This is really nauseating

[@sarahflynn8142]

Because school is an important territory that adults can't access

[@thomasakagi7545]

@@sarahflynn8142 Sure, but if they don't socialize with the other kids, how can they possibly convert them?

[@sarahflynn8142]

@@thomasakagi7545 socializing was ok so long as it's a means to an end, if you realize that conversion isn't possible then socializing is discouraged with "worldly kids" (I grew up in the faith and am no longer apart of it)

[@wasserruebenvergilbungsvirus]

And this is exactly why I am glad that homeschooling isn't allowed in my country.

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

In my experience, it was because most JWs are rather poor and they can't afford both parents not to work once the kids reach grade-school age.

[@coffeymay6775]

I like how the answer she couldn't figure out was 42.

[@teehee4096]

The reason they are now targeting apostates so much is because you guys are loud. You're becoming more and more heard, and that terrifies the Watchtower.

[@wtfamiwatching3650]

There’s this kid in my 7th grade class a few years ago, he was a Jehovah witness and I remember asking him questions, like “can y’all be friends with non Jehovah witnesses?” He surprisingly said “yes, I don’t know who said you couldn’t, cause they are wrong”

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

I think this depends on just how strict their family and church are. In my school, people definitely were friends and did stuff. But looking at these comments, it also sounds just as common for friendships to be discouraged.

[@colbyboucher6391]

It's really all about interpretation, you know? The Watchtower itself is written in such a way that people who don't want to take it super seriously don't need to. So in my congregation, I was that kid whose parents let me have outside friends (not thatbthere weren't some awkward moments). But I was the exception. And then there was the kid who was literally homeschooled so that he wasn't "corrupted" by public education. We were friends and I had to correct kooky ideas his mom fed him sometimes.

[@daydream5120]

I was one of those kids that was allowed to do things outside of the religion. I think it also helped that I went back and forth between staying at my dad’s (who is a JW) and staying at my mom’s (who is not a JW) so I got to experience both worlds. Not everyone in the religion is super strict. I think it just depends on how serious you are about it but I wouldn’t know. I didn’t have a lot of friends even in the religion

[@andrewpowell1734]

I was waiting for you to respond to this one. First. BTW, this one has an evil message telling kids to isolate themselves from others. I’ve seen the full version and it teaches kids to be miserable.

[@dsdude8441]

Something that I noticed is that in Sophia's fantasy about cheating, she correctly fantasizes the test answers. She literally already knows the answers, and intentionally didn't answer them.

[@eternallylearning2811]

You know what about these videos you can tell everyone around Caleb and Sophia knows somethings up and they seem like their trying to coax them out it's kinda heart warming.

[@ibabcock89]

It is until you realize it's trying to paint those that are trying to coax them out as the bad guys

[@Nastasyashanti]

@@ibabcock89but these kids do look miserable 90% of the time and it might help in a sense that people who are new to this cult would watch these cartoons or show it to their kids and be like nah I don’t want my kids to be that anxious and worry about a fecking cupcake.

[@lisamarie58103]

The jahovis witnesses next door are homeschooled. They tried public school once they were teens but got kicked out for really strange things. The 15 yr old and 16 yr old have asked my little kids to take their clothes off. Then to "bring them their underwear" then tried to pay my boy $1 to pull his pants down. When I confronted the parents, they denied it. Then they did it again, over our fence, into our backyard. They screamed we were evil when I told and they glare and stare into my windows. One walked straight into our house without even knocking! It's so scary!

[@sarahanley7142]

I’d say the test answer is worse than you thought, there’s an eraser smudge. She could have written the correct answer then erased it because “it was the correct thing to do”

[@tishiundercover8467]

I know Caleb and Sophia aren’t real people, but I still want to save them from these people. The parents are AWFUL

[@sieri00]

In my electronic technician apprentiship, I had a Jehovah Witness, who was just absolutely brilliant at all the technical things, he would have made such an amazing engineer. But didn't go to engineering school, and I am pretty sure it's because of the upbringing. I'm often sad that technical talent was lost

[@thomasakagi7545]

The autobiographical manga "The Cult Known as Jehovah's Witnesses" by Tamosan mentions that JWs are discouraged from higher education because it's expensive and takes time away from proselytizing. Tamosan herself was initially discouraged from going to art school for those reasons.

[@therealjaystone2344]

@@thomasakagi7545 there are very few JWs out there who went to university with their studies along with their roles.

[@amberpants771]

Sophia’s only friend in the series so far is an old lady who died

[@IchiPopp]

Even in the animations Sophia always winds up looking MISERABLE.

[@ev3rst0rm-g1g]

As a wannabe 3d artist and animator, it offends me how GOOD the animation is. Such talent for such an unworthy cause - and I hear they don’t even get paid!

[@daydream5120]

They don’t. They do this for free. They use their own animators which is actually cool when you think about it. I can’t imagine how much time it takes to make these

[@markastoforoff7838]

She's supposedly the smartest kid in the class yet she can't figure out 168/4?

[@th3thatguy631]

She feels guilty of her own intelligence

[@rollerturtle]

Smartest kids sometimes have bad days, she might have had problem with that particular formula, it happens

[@NienNienNien]

I mean i cant aswell, i hate math i am sorry but when i see numbers my brain sees it as morse code or symbols you have to decipher to get a word

[@blidea9191]

@@rollerturtle It's literally dividing by two twice… not that hard.

[@rollerturtle]

@@blidea9191 jeez, it's not how it works with kids, she is just learning this stuff and it might be difficult for her. I know it's just a cartoon but if you ever encounter a kid like that, don't judge them, you probably have more experience and knowledge they don't. It's natural they will make some mistakes that seem ridiculous to you

[@glassheartsx]

I am VERY invested in Sophia's story!!!! I want to see an entire show of her older version escaping the cult and going to university 😢

[@ona512]

Yeah I had a dream once that I followed the story of Sophia falling in love with her best friend she's been hiding from her family, and has to prepare for an arranged marriage to a JW man. To save you from the long story she runs from the altar and jumps away in a getaway car.

[@joshkresnik6402]

Within the last month or two I’ve been going through something similar where one of my best friends hasn’t been talking to me as often ever since I’ve been losing my faith in Christianity and giving it up because of everything I had seen in the Bible, and it just shows the exclusivity of the religion and how it teaches people to exclude people and ostracize them and treat them like strangers, and it absolutely breaks my heart, not just the fact that it happens to people in general but what I’m going through at the moment, and I’m trying to keep it together but I’ve experienced break up, it’s not all that bad, I’ve also lost friends and family through disowning or disconnection, and honestly that is the more if not most painful thing I’ve ever gone through in my entire life and no religion should teach people to do that shit, no one deserves to be treated like that

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

This really sucks and I'm sorry you're going through it. I've had people not want much to do with me because I wasn't the "right" type of Christian or even because my mom is divorced. Sometimes I'm angry, but I also sort of feel sad for these people that they have to live in such a paranoid religion for the rest of their lives.

[@joshkresnik6402]

Through everything, one of the biggest emotions that’s been going through me the whole time has usually been pure confusion, just trying to process how and why the hell she would pull something like this. And I even hinted at the idea that I was still a Christian that believed in evolution and she even scoffed it that, like that wasn’t enough. I’m not a Christian but I had to fib and bend the truth around her so that she wouldn’t flip on me, but after everything we’ve been through and how I wouldn’t ask her to change anything about herself the dynamic is just not fair and I can’t be open about certain things anymore and it fucking goddamn sucks

[@chrissonofpear1384]

@@joshkresnik6402 Basically, I think Romans 17:20-24 is one of the most hollow promises in quite a while. I think Romans 14:12 may be even more so, however? Then they'll be many just claiming how 'sometimes the answer is no' or 'your faith was not strong enough' when people are literally starving, to death, or diseased, in Africa, or on various streets. Well, to borrow an old Biblical term, I do often find their posturing 'detestable', overall.

[@ninjaked1265]

Which branch are you from?

[@colbyboucher6391]

Granted, from personal experience: Are you sort of being a prick about it? Because I was. Too often. I felt like I needed to justify myself as a defense. If I'd not been that way I'd probably still have at least one of the friends I lost.

[@linkfromzelda1002]

The animation style went from like TF2 shitpost level, up to Disney level, down to Illumination level. I wonder what the Hell happened to the animators.

[@timscott84]

I'm almost starting to think that they came from Pixar. Disney Pixar was too other worldly so they joined JWs after being recruited and convinced Disney and Pixar would launch the Revalations lol

[@eunniebunnie101]

I was raised as a Jehovah's witness, till around the age of thirteen or fourteen i believe. It was when i finally put up a fight about continuing to practice it under my mother's wishes and she finally gave up. I'd never heard, until this video, of Witness' shunning or disowning their children over them not wanting to be apart of it anymore. Maybe that was just me personally, and the Jehovah's witness families i knew. But a major part i wished was in this video is the terrible things they tell CHILDREN, other than what was said here, that are horrifying. At the ripe age of five, i was told that if I brought anything 'Pagen' or 'satanic' into the house, I.E Pokemon cards or toys, I would be haunted and tormented by a demon. Also, i was told the story of a woman who was supposedly R*PED by a demon for involving herself in Satanic things, when i was still a young kid. I lived for a long time being terrified that anything i did or brought into my home would be demonic without me knowing and I'd have demons trying to get me. I spent SO many years having nightmares over it. Honestly, it was terrifying growing up as a Jehovah's witness and i resent my mom for it, often.

[@colbyboucher6391]

Children being kicked out of the home is a weird spectre of JW doctrine. Like, the official idea is you don't do it unless they're actually ready to be on their own anyways. But what that means in practice is iffy. I've definitely heard stories if kids getting kicked out, or at least getting kicked out as soon as they're 18. I'm autistic and luckily my parents haven't been like that, probably has something to do with my dad's parents flipping out over him joining in the first place. Everyone else, though, yeah, it's awkward. Because everyone knows I should probably be disfellowshipped. But it never actually happened, because I just... stopped showing up. I almost *wish* people treated me as though I was, it'd be less hypocritical.

[@reneekovacic2330]

Bruh, I know this is a cartoon, but if Caleb were real, he definitely seems like the kind of kid who would be cracked at video games if he had the chance to play them.

[@Chelaxim]

JWs: For those of you who participated in the science club...hope Hell isn't too hot.

[@littleredpony6868]

I’m from Arizona. Going to hell is a good way to cool off

[@MidnightAndLuna]

They don’t believe in hell. Instead, we’ll all be destroyed at Armageddon. And be ‘no more’ as in not existing. No heaven, no hell, no limbo. Just not existing. What happens at Armageddon is similar to what the hell theory is like though. edit: they do believe in heaven. Just 144,000 go there though, and definitely not unbelievers

[@InhumanFan98]

Oh sweet were going to hell, Michigan :)

[@plantlady42069]

@@littleredpony6868 LMFAO You made my day thanks

[@shipper-of-heart8898]

"Pleasure Jehovah like a young boy should" PHRASING, OWEN Also, I just noticed that Sophia imagines herself writing the correct answer (as in she can imagine the '42' on the paper) so she _knew_ the answer it seems like, but indeed decided against putting it down

[@Figgdi]

the funny thing about JWs reasons for not celebrating birthdays is that it changes depending on your location. The reason i was given when i was doing bible studies as a child, according to whom was teaching me, birthdays are bad cause you don't know who the person being celebrated is going to become. "You wouldn't celebrate Hitler's birthday ?" i was asked. Supposedly its better to celebrate deaths like jesus' because when someone dies we can look back at their life and judge whether or not they were good and "moral".

[@colbyboucher6391]

Yep! Traveling and noticing those funky little differences in culture was part of what got me to start questioning things. Ironically the "travelling preaching work" helped me get out.

[@Bubbafanforever]

I’m 14 and a JW, my grandparents are absolutely obsessed with it for some reason. And they want to show me these videos, me, a FOURTEEN YEAR OLD, these videos. They’re also trying to force religion on my 4 year old brother. And someone in our religion said that they had a really heartwarming story to tell me. This was the story, the story was actually longer and more complex than this but whatever: so this guy lived in a country where it was really hard to get a job, and he got one. His boss wanted him to work late or else he would be fired, but he instead went to the meeting that night. He ended up getting fired. My grandparents smiled at each other with tears in their eyes but me and my brother looked at each other with confusion and disgust on our faces. I’ll always probably be a JW unless something happens, but I will never understand religion.

[@anarchistbread7410]

Kid be careful they could hurt you and don't stop questioning everything around you, critical thinking is a requirement if you want to grow into an intelligent, capable person that can think for themselves. Hope you get out, you can clearly see they are toxic.

[@weirdcakes304]

Random idea I had; A series where it follows an older Sophia who starts to develop a crush on a girl at school and starts questioning if the life she’s living is really that good. She would start to kindle relationships with ‘outsiders’ while slowly loosening the grip Jehovah’s Witness has on her. It would have a happy finale where she would get with the girl and be able to live a healthy life outside of the bubble she grew up with. And I know this series focuses on Sophia mainly but let’s give Caleb a happy ending where he becomes a game developer to peruse his love of video games. Would make this an actual series but this is just a random comment that I’m putting out there to see if people like the idea.

[@GnosticXMusic]

I'm so sorry that you had to grow up with this Owen. Your early life must have been so terrible, but I'm glad that you made your way out and I hope you are living a good and happy life now. It's despicable that we have so many groups like this spreading hatred and division when they could be spreading love and union instead...regardless of who people are and what they believe.

[@HalfBananaWoman]

+

[@plantlady42069]

This religion ruins lives and as someone whose childhood and chance at a normal adulthood was stolen from me because of it, I make it my goal to tell others to stay the hell away!

[@ammerudgrenda]

Poor kids. I would consider it child abuse.

[@caffeineandmemes]

My favorite part of Sophia’s dilemma is that the answer isn’t that hard to find, either. You just divide it like normal. 168/4, 4 goes into 16 4 times and then 4 goes into 8 2 times. She could have shown her work and found out the answer anyway? She didn’t even try, it seems like? So all that taught me was when faced with a moral dilemma, give up and do nothing?

[@Pippis78]

I think it wasn't actually about cheating but about prioritizing school success and maybe also about getting _proud_ that was wrong. Because I've seen that episode before. I think it was mainly about how they should put Jehovah first. Cheating was just a manipulative add - and maybe the point was that that was the danger of wanting success, it would tempt you to do things that are wrong. .. .And the way to solve that problem was to fail school on purpose. Or that was the main point actually - "fail school, nothing is more important than Jehovah Can't remember how openly and straightforward it was said that the kids _should not_ succeed in or prioritize school. But it definitely was clear enough... And yeah, being friends with Jehovah (=having no friends in school) was to be chosen over having other kids for friends because _they will tempt you to not prioritize Jehovah._

[@MayorDeezy]

I had a good friend in elementary/middle school that was JW. She was one of the nicest and smartest people I ever met but she wasn’t allowed to hang out with anyone who wasn’t JW outside of school. I think she got out of it and I’m so happy that she’s able to live her life the way she always wanted to 💕

[@blkhemi3925]

When I was growing up in the organization, I often wondered why the members never organized youth programs where kids of the parents could hang out.

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

Because that would be fun

[@colbyboucher6391]

In my congregation we pretty much did. One of the Elders had everyone over for volleyball and pizza every Sunday. He was actually a genuinely nice dude and I'm pretty sad that I'm mostly cut off from them all. Even when we did weekly "studies" because my parents knew I didn't believe it any more, he was generally a kind, understanding person. Of course him and the other Elders were also just being manipulative... but still. I don't think it was intentional.

[@Robert.R.83]

The character models and materials and shaders are really improving

[@WhizzRichardThompson]

Shame the stories are vile stomach churning propoganda.

[@intruwuder4183]

I like how all the background kids are so happy compared to Caleb and Sophia

[@CommanderCodey]

Why do they look sad every episode. 💀 It’s almost like being in a cult is sad.

[@carles2623]

I know they’re just cartoon characters but I feel so awful for these poor kids 😔 they look so sad most of the time I just wanna save Caleb and Sophia from their oppressive life and get them into therapy

[@jamesgenn3694]

And what makes it even worse is it’s ANIMATED so they could be drawn however the creators want them to be. Head canon that the animators are secretly against JW and Watchtower and trying to make them look sad deliberately to push kids away

[@ramenbomberdeluxe4958]

@@jamesgenn3694 oh don’t taunt me with a good head canon, man! This whole Caleb and Sophia project is sad enough as is :(

[@carles2623]

@@jamesgenn3694 I really hope that’s the case because that’s way less upsetting than the alternative

[@rileyfuckingrifle]

@@carles2623 Unfortunately, I think it IS the upsetting alternative.

[@jamesgenn3694]

@@ramenbomberdeluxe4958 don't censor my awesome head canon!! ;) yeah the situation sucks :(

[@madamepokemontrainer9246]

I kinda want someone to turn the cheering angels clip into a meme. Something like; “When my homie sneezes and I say “bless you.”” Then it cuts to them cheering. Idk. I think it’d be funny.

[@2stae]

My mom was disfellowshipped 2 years ago and literally all her jw friends stopped talking to her and stopped coming over which made me feel really sad for her, then life got a little rough for us and my uncle that is in the religion told me it was happening because we left the “truth” aka the jw religion which was so messed up.

[@colbyboucher6391]

Yeah, the doublethink is annoying. Not a JW anymore? There goes your support structure. Why are they suddenly down in thr dumps? Because they're not a JW anymore. 4head. The whole religion is chock full of nonsensical thinking like that. You're trained to use this circular logic all the time.

[@Rakshasa1986]

"It's not that we rejoice in someone's death..." You just did that, though.

[@therealjaystone2344]

The Bible exposed that too

[@InhumanFan98]

"Its not that we rejoices in someones death... but he was acting kinda sus" 😂 sorry among us joke

[@Neofelis131]

My Aunty married a Jehovah witness and caused her and her two kids to move away. They can’t celebrate Christmas or take blood and everything else they say they can’t do. It’s a shame because I love my cousins and it hurts me to know that they are probably being taught these things right now.

[@ssmith7667]

"Pleasure Jehovah, like a young boy should." Lmao

[@ibabcock89]

Now that's what I call a Freudian slip

[@ghosty3494]

"Pleasure women, like a fine young man should do when they are ready" - me changing this quote so it seems like a father giving advice to his son when he becomes a bigger boy

[@colbyboucher6391]

You should see how they portray Jesus. They make him a kindly shredded himbo and go on about he's the masculine role model boys should look up to. Some of the art of him being baptized is hilariously horny, which makes it equally hilarious that they all make sure to wear shirts when they're publicly baptized.

[@Marverick1998]

I remember clear as day visiting my grandma for the first time after a year, and the first thing she did when she saw me was pull out her tablet and show me a video of Caleb and Sophia. She insisted it was so funny and I should give it a watch. Gotta love where these people's priorities lie.

[@HoneyBee-oy1hf]

Wandered away from this channel for a while, glad I found my way back! I am a 19 year old girl in my 2nd year of college, taking a LOT of STEM classes, love rock such as Evanescence and Halestorm(you might see the problem with the bands alone, lol)have multiple friends in groups like LGBTQ, and much more that I’m sure would be either an effective deterrent or more fuel to “convert” me. Religion is…an interesting subject for me. I don’t like what it has done to so many people and the destruction it has caused, especially with more extreme ones, but like with anything, if you’re chill about it and not in my face, you do you. Sadly, with more extreme ones, it’s almost never the case, so it’s something I definitely feel torn over at times. It helps we have someone like you who suffered and still managed to get themselves out and want to help others after, keep it up!

[@doglover12345andfr]

I’m a low key fan of these cartoons. Lol My own theory is that the whole series about an adult Caleb and Sofia talking to their therapists about their religious trauma.

[@jassinbarth6375]

There is a fanmade sequel where they are adults and got out of the cult

[@dhart1496]

someone that can do animation should totes make a fake episode that is that idea

[@Speculumlisha]

I love this

[@BrianaLynn7]

@@jassinbarth6375 where?

[@Chrischi3TutorialLPs]

Hmm, that's an interesting headcanon. I've been considering writing a fanfic about them losing their faith, so maybe that could be the premise. Each chapter is one session or sth.

[@Diviance]

Man, if being "Jehovah's Enemy" means you get to die when you die... sign me the hell up. I want nothing to do with eternity.

[@judyditmer2589]

YES to this. I don’t believe that people who desire eternal existence have a scrap of imagination. If you think about it in a meaningful way, it’s truly horrifying. Even before you add in that for the whole of eternity, you’ll be doing nothing but praising god. 😳😳😳

[@InhumanFan98]

@@judyditmer2589 "first i went mad, afew thousand years i became sane again... very sane"

[@charudhathanm3086]

“A little bit of science beings you away from god,but a lot brings you to him” this quote definitely went over the creators heads

[@coolfellabackwards]

"A *_TV show_* called Caleb And Sophia" was one of those odd phrases that you don't think should shake you to your core but I'm very much trembling right about now

[@kingakimoto69]

You're not wrong when you said JW act friendly. As a cashier, I met a mother and her daughter at my register one day that tried to give me a pamphlet. The moment I told them I was pagan, they looked at me as if I was the incarnation of Death itself and left the store faster then I could say, "Have a nice day."

[@dylantennant6594]

Hey I know the feeling. I'm pagan, and I once got a bunch of Jehovah's door knocking. So, they told me their creation story and I told the norse creation story, with Odin killing Ymir and creating the world from his body. I couldn't help but laugh as I watched them run away.

[@kingakimoto69]

@@dylantennant6594 it's a good feeling

[@fukai-sama]

​@dylantennant6594 😂

[@antilopezmexicanos]

tI feel really sorry for the Jehovah witnesses kid, having their childhood ruined, unable to befriend none outside their group, celebrate birthdays, playing with toys related magic, or eating cupcakes and instead waste their childhood bothering other pushing their beliefs on others, this is emotional violence.

[@austintea]

It feels like it's been ages since you last made Caleb and Sophia videos, the best thing about them making a new one is your video covering it.

[@VIRUSOFENVYANDGREED]

I am a proud Apostate of the Jehova's witness. I also firmly believe that if they didn't have to educate kids, I don't think they'd try beyond basic reading, writing, and math.

[@chocolatecookieboi8611]

My college campus has JWs outside almost every day and i so badly want to go and “counter protest” really all I want to do is stop people from believing their lies. I wish my college would stop letting them on but it’s a public campus. Nothing i can do. Ugh

[@Leofwine]

I just mutter the phrase “You tell lies, I do not believe you lies” under my breath in Old English (Late West Saxon, 1000 AD).

[@th3thatguy631]

Alright here me out.... hatecrimes.....

[@GeneralNuisance00]

One thing I've seen is that someone will dress up like one of the priests from Skyrim and they'll recite the speech that the one dude in Whiterun does about Talos.

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

We had religious nuts do this at IU when I went there. Most of them were harmless and you could have a fun debate with them if you had the right attitude. But some of them were awful and woukd just yell at everyone that we were all going to Hell.

[@woadblue]

You're a skilled artist. I recognized you were drawing Einstein as soon as you finished the eyes. Nothing more was needed.

[@BrianJNelson]

It's a tracing program. He's mentioned it before. He can actually see another picture and we see the tracing.

[@loadbearingskull]

if he’s so skilled why has he been drawing the same pics for years 🧐😂

[@woadblue]

@@BrianJNelson ahhh gotcha

[@woadblue]

@@loadbearingskull I dunno man why is the sky blue ultimately I was just trying to say something nice it doesn't matter at all bro

[@billymanilli]

When that weirdo (who looks like he's all drugged up) at the end makes that speech about the "final days of the last days", it reminds me of Dark Helmet from Spaceballs when he says "I am your father’s brother’s nephew’s cousin’s former roommate."...

[@InhumanFan98]

"And what does that make us?!"

[@hwtvi3466]

The worst part about this? The kids that are portrayed here aren’t the stereotypical, bratty, disgusting bullies that a lot of religious cartoons use as strawman examples of non-religious kids. The kids here are so nice and inviting. They never insult (or even bring up, for that matter) Sophia’s religion. Instead of a super dramatized straw-man situation, what’s shown is very realistic, and that honestly makes it even worse. They’re painting genuinely nice children as the wrong people to be around.

[@vearninaphim754]

Yow. You’re very right

[@226amw]

I work at a school for special needs adults, we have one student who is JW, and when one of my students said “Man, I love Christmas, I don’t think anyone could hate it.” And our one JW student “I don’t do Christmas, I’m a JW” and of course, our students don’t understand what that means, and all the one student knows is they don’t do holidays. Which of course gets questions raised to where they ask us teachers what does it even mean.

[@InhumanFan98]

It means "just worried" 😂

[@Robloxity_News]

I have a small story. Back in late 2015 my family was traveling to Miami from Newark via Amtrak and were kicked off at Philly since we had a few too many suitcases. I was only seven at the time and my siblings were a few years younger than that. Some random woman came up to us and showed my siblings and I a Caleb and Sophia video. At the time and even until I was in middle school (when I found this channel) I had no clue about the reality of what I was being showed and consuming. We grew up in a Christian household so the messages seemed the same to the ones I was taught at Sunday school. Now I know the background information on this I am for sure staying as far away from this group.

[@ich8966]

Something I wondered all the time: does door knocking even work? Like does it ever happen that people actually convert to this cult after Jehovas witnesses knocked on their door? Or is it just to keep the member busy?

[@vesselofdevils368]

i personally believe that part of it is actually the othering it gives to the witnesses. either people take the media and listen, ignore them/ verbally deny, or worst let dogs loose and generally terrorize them. it reinforces the beliefs established by the governing body that the outside world is dangerous and awful

[@whutcat682]

Idk, but some got beaten up in my town( we don't have guns here). Guess is not a good thing to knock on random people doors💀

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

I don't know, but they stopped coming to my house completely after my brother told them we were Satanists

[@colbyboucher6391]

As a former JW: It mostly kept us busy. The most we ever got were lonely people (already religious usually) who were willing to have longer chats once a month or so. Usually pretty odd people. There was always that hope that they'd really convert but it hardly ever happened. We were pretty much trained to look out for emotional vulnerability because big shock, emotionally vulnerable people are more susceptible to cults. Of course they never framed it like that. What it boiled down to was that Jesus and his disciples essentially did this in the NT sometimes, and the way we interpreted things, "spreading the good news" was pretty much a requirement. Because you're literally trying to save people from Armageddon, who really cares if they listen or not? Need to try.

[@daydream5120]

@@colbyboucher6391 I remember feeling really guilty for not talking to someone one day because I was feeling really overwhelmed (and I’m just socially awkward in general) but it was that teaching, the one about Armageddon that if you don’t talk to everyone that you see, they wouldn’t be “saved”.