The Creepy and the Culty: "Normal" Things that Mainstream Religions Do Every Day

[@GodlessGranny]

Most culty thing for me was finding Satan everywhere. Anytime something prevented success in ministry, it was an attack of Satan.

[@amy_pieterse]

Yeah, Satan is everywhere and has the power to change god's plan. Which if you give it more thought makes you really question god's supposed 'perfect plan'.

[@hybridhazza]

I remember when the power started to falter and the lights started to flicker, the youth pastor said it was the devil trying to stop the service

[@GodlessGranny]

@@hybridhazza 🤣🤣

[@EntreMelodias]

When I go to a bathroom, I need to do my thing and it's like... urgent!! and there's no toilet paper.. I believe Satan did it.

[@jacketrussell]

I'm 66. My tolerance of stupidity is at an all time low.

[@PorchPotatoMike]

Agreed!

[@bkstandard882]

I'm 33 and mine is too

[@Luubelaar]

I'm 45 and same.

[@liz3511]

57

[@DavidSmith-xs3or]

I'm 62, and my bullshit meter exploded 10 years ago. But, I remain tolerant of stupidity. I must for sanity sake.

[@thejunksynchronhero]

Christ Krispy Treats! Thank you Austin from Austin, Texas.

[@brianprinty112]

...what kind of filling?

[@thejunksynchronhero]

@@brianprinty112 blood apparently.

[@rain3743]

That is some funny shit.

[@edwincasimir28]

@@brianprinty112 Raz-a-ma-tazberry!

[@jeremywvarietyofviewpoints3104]

Christy Creme Donut.

[@hrjohnson2051]

That's why Jesus hasn't come back... too many communion services. He's already been eaten.

[@andrewkillham3946]

Oh man! That’s got to be it.

[@fee8255]

Oh man, for some reason your comment had me fucking belly chuckling......😳😂😂😂🤣🤢🤢🤮🤮🤮🤮

[@buttkid3548]

Some reason I lol'd at your comment.

[@JUNK_ZONE]

Damn, I want to see that revision turned into a movie. Jesus slogging back to get revenge and barely making it because everyone thought it was symbolic and not literal. Such potential.

[@miskatonicalumni5612]

you made my day

[@nadirku]

About the Eucharist - I was not raised religious, but as an adult I attended a catholic mass with my father, as part of larger event. While the priest was preparing the Eucharist/communion wafers, my dad leaned over to me and whispered "Here comes the magic part", to which I said "Don't you mean the cannibalism part?", he smiled and replied "Only if the magic works".

[@silverlining2677]

A sanctuary filled with hundreds of people all with their hands up and eyes closed swaying back and forth while chanting about God and Jesus. Some even in literal tears. All for some imaginary friend that obviously doesn't even exist. So glad I'm out....

[@corineskipper1919]

Don't forget they're singing about BEING WASHED IN THE BLOOD! 😆

[@pghchaos]

Nothing about church ever felt normal to me. I think I literally went along with it all and tried to be a man of faith just for the community and friends. I have been way more fulfilled outside of church. I wish I could get my early twenties back though.

[@lannylilly6783]

I can relate to what ur saying. Many others feel the same way. A damn good place to meet girls if ya can tolerate the BS as we did.

[@pghchaos]

@LuthAMF I'm not sure what you are saying. Church was all I knew since I was born and it never felt normal. It was just the way life was. I was always rebellious toward it in some way and now I know why.

[@pghchaos]

@LuthAMF I'm not rebellious though lol just was toward religion. You're not going to succeed in analyzing me lol

[@pghchaos]

@LuthAMF ahhh now I see what you are doing lol Dude you are on the wrong channel. Dude you don't know my story, and I'm not going to waste my time telling you. Your faith isn't truth. It's faith. Go bother someone else. Have a nice day.

[@Sbaliosa]

@LuthAMF save your armchair psychoanalysis for your Facebook apologetics pages. There's nothing rebellious about feeling obligated and unfulfilled from the shallow engagement in a church community that you're mandated to participate in throughout childhood. You aren't serving out some silly gotcha here. Fluff your ego elsewhere.

[@ybrynecho2368]

I was a Sunday school teacher and my brother was an altar boy. We are both atheists now.

[@fee8255]

Praise the Gourd! 🎃

[@seivaDsugnA]

I hope Sunday is a day off now. I trust your brother can still sing, and you can still teach.

[@nicolasandre9886]

@@fee8255 : heretic! Follow the shoe! 👠

[@ybrynecho2368]

@@seivaDsugnA My brother was an alter boy, not a singer. Where did you get that from? And, no, I haven't taught Sunday school since I was 19. LOL

[@fee8255]

@@nicolasandre9886 Do you mean the shoes that are dyed red , and that are made out of children’s skin ? If so, I totally understand what you are getting at. And if not, I do not understand, so please explain.

[@roeliethegoat]

I remember taking my then boyfriend who grew up Catholic to my evangelical church. We were both already atheists at the time, but promised my sister to come. Anyway, I never noticed until that point how much protestants dislike Catholics. I always felt they were 'lukewarm' and don't have 'a relationship with Jesus'. Apparently the pastor said something about Catholics, and I didn't even notice it anymore. My ex pointed it out to me after service. And he's totally right. I still have this voice inside me that thinks Catholics are fakers, but I never realised that was because of indoctrination. It was so subtle, but it was definitely there. If that isn't culty, I don't know what is.

[@thejunksynchronhero]

I can vividly remember doing the wafer and Welch’s juice thing in church, even as a kid I thought “this is weird.”

[@dragowolfraven3806]

Me too. I had to do it in church being brought up Mormon before I stopped going. I not only thought it was weird but also kinda funny how no one besides me caught the cannibalism/vampirism of what the priest/pastor was having us do. I was 7 or 8 😂

[@danielmortimer532]

It's weird because drinking juice and eating bread as symbolic of a demigod/saviors body was a pagan initiation ritual adopted by Christianity. It comes from the extremely ancient (almost prehistoric) idea that to possess the magical powers of something or someone you have to drink it's blood or eat it's flesh. In the case of Jesus the magical power is eternal life.

[@Dodgerzden]

It wasn’t Welch’s. It was the grape juice of Christ.

[@rain3743]

We raided the communion wine when we were teens. SO SURE I would burn in hell. LOL

[@rain3743]

The other shocking thing I did was buy the communion "packs" "to go" so I could commune under the stars with Jesus or, I would grab some Kosher Grape Juice (which is delicious) and a crusty loaf and hang out with invisible Jesus in my backyard. WHY wasn't I committed to an asylum? HOW is this OK?

[@Lucifurge]

Raised Mormon here. Baptism for the dead always got me. And the pesudo weddings carried out was also odd.

[@jonipitcher7185]

The temple all together was weird and it only got worse.

[@randomepic6204]

Snake handling is a VEEERY good example of cult behavior

[@juliankirby9880]

It should be considered animal abuse. The snakes get forced to feel anxiety/fear, they strike, continue to feel fear/anxiety, strike again, person goes into a venom induced fit or seizure, oh, it should also be considered a form of assault and attempted murder by the person who wrangled the snakes.

[@randomepic6204]

@@juliankirby9880 totally agreed there

[@ilikepushrodv8s210]

I think they get spastic because of the strychnine that's being drank.

[@ivanivonovich9863]

@@juliankirby9880 But every once in a while... Someone gets bit and dies! You'd think that they would catch on to this and stop taking a chance. But their blindness to the risk is what keeps them going.

[@franciscosustek7249]

That's not culty...that's crazy

[@queenshelaine5539]

If the communion wafers and wine are transubstantiated, I can’t eat them, as I am Whole Foods Plant Based.

[@liz3511]

🤣🤣🤣

[@SilentEcho9194]

Jack London book, "When God Laughs" The Apostate begins with a similar prayer: Now I wake me up to work; I pray the Lord I may not shirk. If I should die before the night, I pray the Lord my work's all right. Amen.

[@TheLblomme]

My wife is Filipina and she has always been bugging me to go to church with her which I always declined. One time some friends of hers invited her to a Pentecostal service. I had heard about the speaking in tongues and other craziness so I decided to check it out for myself. When the speaking in tongues part started and all the filipinos around were babbling, I stood up and started babbling myself difference is I started throwing in swear words that I know from 3 different Filipino dialects, needless to say it did not go over well but at least my wife doesn't invite me to church any longer.

[@nickolasfloyd3207]

“Sin Chicken” is my new favorite phrase. “Shut up and eat your sin chicken.”

[@elliegotfredson3712]

Cajuns have a close version of this but we throw in the tourist gumbo pot so our sins go far away.

[@j_p_jr.487]

extra crispy fried sin chicken... Yum! 😋

[@robinbeers6689]

Yes, my BS tolerance is also getting lower as I age. I used to sing in a gospel choir just because the music is fun and uplifting. Then I started listening to the actual lyrics. All kinds of references to being "washed in the blood" and such. Eeeewwww. Singing upbeat tunes with big smiles on your faces with lyrics that would make a vampire get creeped out. I have an elderly Jewish friend who invited me to the Bris ceremony (circumcision) of her great grandchild. I told her sorry but no. I will not participate in something I consider to be genital mutilation and child abuse.

[@lyndacoates119]

Turn 60 in the next month, I think my BS monitor is getting lower because of age I personally do not have time left to be polite to deal with another person's BS (believe me with 3 people in my family who dealt with the public in different ways! Our BS monitor between us was almost zero! Got to get out that venting somewhere) 😅 And secondly with my arthritis and the pain/disability that has come with it, makes my BS monitor becoming even lower.

[@gerardgauthier4876]

Grew up Catholic but never believed it not even as a child. The thing that really baffled me about Catholics was holy water. A priest says some words over water or at water and that water becomes holy. All that's missing was the puff of smoke and the exclamation of "abracadabra".

[@marcuspi999]

A lesser known ritual is when the priest blesses a chocolate Easter egg and it becomes Holy Shit.

[@Dodgerzden]

When I was Catholic as a kid and taking communion, I never knew if I was supposed to chew on the way for or just let it melt in my mouth. I never understood why the priests didn’t give instructions on how to do that and was always unsure of whether or not I was going to heaven because of my host swallowing method.

[@rain3743]

Oh, Mrs. Gallagher would slap the crap out of her kids if she thought she saw them "chewing."

[@Dodgerzden]

@Detroit Wanker Authoritarians don't feel the need to explain anything to their subjects. Just do as you're told.

[@Dodgerzden]

@@rain3743 Whew! I guess I'm going to heaven for letting it melt.

[@Dodgerzden]

@Detroit Wanker What are you talking about? I only said they didn't explain it to you because they are authoritarians and don't feel the need to explain it. What is offensive about that?

[@lisaspikes4291]

Yeah, I used to see some people chewing on the way back to the pew. But my mom always said that you should just let it melt. But my mom has been wrong before, so I still don’t know. 🤣

[@acerbicatheist2893]

Loved the communion wafers you sent to the ACA, hilarious 😆👍❗ And yeah, you age, you get less patient with the absurd level of crackpottery going on and most people just... think that this is NORMAL. It's NOT NORMAL, IT'S CRAZED! Aaarrgh! Great stuff Seth, thanks man.

[@sylviaseri4235]

Went to catholic school until high school. Had to go to church first Friday of every month, and every Sunday. We had assigned times and seats in church on Sundays so the nuns knew if we attended. If we didn’t go, we were questioned and had to submit a doctors note or a parental excuse note. So ridiculous! Glad my mind is cleared of all that nonsense!

[@rain3743]

I kid you not, as an adult and sold-out believer, I attended the church where many of my high school friends went when we were kids. I ran into Scott A's Mom (who remembered me from the group of choir kids) and she walked up to me (a grown ass 35 yr old woman) and hit me over the head with her program, and said, "You TWIT! YOU got MY SON drunk on GOOD FRIDAY!" It had been almost 20 years, and she was still mad about it. I said, "Me? Haha. Yeah. Sounds like something I would have done, but now that you mention it, the TRUTH is, MA'AM, that SCOTT stole a 5-gallon jug of Gallo wine from Primo's Pizza (where we both worked ) and we went and partied on Tassahara Rd in the back of my Dad's Olds Station Wagon, but if Scott told you another version and blamed ME? That's just HILARIOUS." She thought I had corrupted her son and was NOT amused. Truth is, I was a pretty good kid by comparison. He got busy with the Mormon girls in our choir class on our tour to Hawaii and did more blow than anyone I knew at the time.

[@mercedesb2299]

I grew up in a Mormon town, with a Mormon best friend. I am now and have always been an atheist. I fully back-up your story. When all of the recent Mormon reality shows came out, everyone who isn't Mormon was pearl clutching about these poor, poor, innocent teenagers. Yes, the things that happen in fundamentalist communities of just about any religion are abusive, but Mormon teenagers are a really long way from naive and innocent. I also don't live in a Fundamentalist Mormon community, the regular run of the mill Mormons in my town are very quick to point out that they are NOT affiliated with the Warren Jeffs, polygamist crowd that lived in the northern part of the state. But ours are still plenty weird. My best friend got married at 21(so old for a Mormon) and after the requisite, modest temple ceremony for the family and church, there was a reception for their non-Mormon heathen friends at their house. There was a lot of alcohol and drugs and the party carried over into the wee hours of the morning, it was a typical 1990s party. I was jolted awake the next morning-ish, very hung over, with my 21-year old best friend peeking out her front curtains like there is a SWAT team readying to bust down the front door or something, which is ironically something we were never concerned about despite the plentiful drugs that were the norm at the time, because her Mom, and my Dad were both cops. So, we had zero fear of cops, yet she is getting increasingly worked up about whatever is out front and starting to actually yell at me because I am clearly not grasping the urgency of whatever the crisis was and she really wanted me to get rid of all the alcohol bottles...NOW! In my mind we are all 21-years old and fully legal to drink alcohol, it is her house, she and her husband purchased it a year before they got married so there couldn't be an angry landlord out front to evict them over the loud party. So I start calmly explaining all of these facts to my friend, because I have decided at this point that she is obviously having some sort of mental breakdown and I am way too hungover for this. She loses it completely and hisses at me, "It's NOT cops, it's missionaries". I am lost, but I am trying my best to decipher the crazy talk, I say "Are we talking about Mormon missionaries...like, with bicycles?" To which I get a snide, "What other kind of missionaries are there?" I say, "Well, honestly there are lots, but here in Mesa, I think its just the Mormons....this religion thing is really your gig...I don't know why I am getting the pop quiz this morning" It carried on like that until the 14-year old Mormon missionaries knocked on her door, and I got shooed off into the kitchen with arms full of hard alcohol bottles so that she could open the door, and say "I am Mormon. I am very familiar with the Book of Mormon. Thanks. Bye" and look like the good little Mormon that she is NOT. We went through 30 minutes of her having a mental break down for a 5-second long interaction with a couple of 14-year olds on bicycles. No one will ever convince me that something that causes that much irrational fear and guilt in a grown ass woman, in her own home, is good for society.

[@historicalbiblicalresearch8440]

Great story, and the mother believed that a boy was got drunk by a girl, us boys can do that all on our own LOL

[@rain3743]

@@historicalbiblicalresearch8440 It was so funny. I loved messing with her. I was a totally sold out believer at the time, but back in HS the kids were Mormon, Catholic or Presbyterians and since I was none of the above, I was not "good enough" for their son. I drank the Kool-aid later in life and moved back to.my honetown. (What a fucking nightmare) I thinkn it's a hoot that he was lame enough to get caught being drunk by his MOM. That's not on me. We had a blast back then, though. She was just so legalistic and salty about it because it was "Good Friday." I should have asked why he wasn't at church service, then, but thought better of it.

[@thejunksynchronhero]

Chocolate electric chair had me rolling. $4.99? Gimme three!

[@rickb2432]

I’ve said for years that if their imaginary pal JMan came back today the fundies would be the ones that killed him, they’d use government to facilitate it and afterwards thousands of Catholics would be wearing little electric chairs or execution gurneys around their necks.

[@rain3743]

I died. LOL

[@MS-jp3op]

"With this milk chocolate incarnation of Ol' Sparky, justice has never tasted sweeter."

[@christopherm5958]

Tom Waites has a song called Chocolate Jesus.

[@itsROMPERS...]

Not just an execution, a BLOOD HUMAN SACRIFICE! It's Horror movie.

[@pghchaos]

The speaking in tongues part gave me PTSD

[@kaielie5811]

You ought to get TellTale on here for a discussion on cults, I think you'd enjoy it as much as we would.

[@MikeAndNary]

TellTale would just spend the entire broadcast bashing conservatives and expect the listeners to side with him.

[@kaielie5811]

@@MikeAndNary Yeah, the far-right conservative extremists that are actually an issue. And the great thing about doing it on a broadcast is that if anyone listening disagrees they can call and open a discussion as to why that is.

[@cargo_vroom9729]

@@MikeAndNary The conservatives that Telltale talks about are running cults. If that still hasn't clicked for you yet I hope this helps.

[@amandahamblin1208]

All of these bring back memories. Communion, Doxology, Altar call, being slain in the spirit, death prayers as a little child. All normal to me as a kid but looking back now....culty af. I enjoyed the show thanks.

[@CrystalMouse1]

At First Presbyterian, I noticed they have a “visit with your neighbor “ section of the service and they have to say “peace be with you “ and the other person replies “and also with you “. I was only a visitor and I said “you too” and got weird looks. Like just talk like a regular person! What century are you in!!?? Very creepy

[@IkarusKommt]

The subject of the first sentence is "peace", not "I". "You too" is absolutely ungrammatical in this context.

[@thalgott3]

@@IkarusKommt #JFC bruh. These people aren't focused on grammar, they only care that you do what you're supposed to do, according to their fairytale book.

[@ilikepushrodv8s210]

Sounds like I had a brief stint as a Kirby salesman. It was very cult like with chanting and use of music. They had us chant "we are positive" over and over and the word was a theme there. I would ask someone how they were doing and they replied "positive" and when they asked back I said "I'm doing good." One time one of the senior loonies asked why I didn't respond with positive. Probably because I hate you dude.

[@marcuspi999]

@@IkarusKommt It's a standard conversational shortcut which is grammatically accepted. The listener finishes the sentence is their head. (Peace be with) you too.

[@vegas_nightshade]

Rapture anxiety is a very hard thing to get over. I still have moments after nearly fifteen years of being away from the church and believing.

[@TheFirstAtom]

I still struggle with the fear of suffering in hell for eternity. I went to ER last night from a bad Percocet and weed trip; literally thought I was going to die (I suffer from severe depression). It’s probably not just religion that has played a part in my depression, but I believe it’s one of main reasons I’m so fucked up.

[@Ishiryoku]

Oh man, ain't that the truth. My sister used to get so anxious about it that she would have trouble sleeping.

[@french1956]

@@TheFirstAtom Hey Zach, it took me decades to recover from Mormonism where guilt is also a prime motivator of negative behavior. Much had to do with my orientation and being told I would rot in Hell for being who I am. Getting old now and finally have broken that destructive mindset. There is hope.

[@TheFirstAtom]

@@french1956 Thank you. That means a lot hear. I was lying on a hospital bed in the ER thinking that if I live, I’m suffering, and if I die, I suffer in hell for eternity, or there’s literally nothing at the end. Either way, there are 3 choices and I’m terrified of each outcome.

[@french1956]

@@TheFirstAtom Acknowledging our mortality is difficult. I've found that having recognized all religion is man made, the prime motivations of humanity are too alive and well... greed, power, lust..etc... so I chose to dismiss the guilt and move on with my life. Surprisingly, I am more spiritual and comfortable with who I am then I've ever been. You appear to be much younger than myself. You are articulate and direct with your communication skills and and smart enough to recognize the reason why you are listening to Seth and should continue so. I'm routing for you and hope life will allow you the peace and happiness you deserve, without conditions.

[@jonleiend1381]

I am pretty sure I was "dedicated" in the Baptist Church. But I was never baptized after I got older. Going to church was just what my the family did every Sunday morning. I kept going looking for a community that I never found. Have not stepped foot in a church in over 5 years.

[@nlyb3167]

I went to Catholic school in elementary school. Every year, we had “spirit week.” The last day of spirit week was picket day. We wore tshirts with our school colors and logo. We made signs emblazoned with “school pride,” “our school rocks,” “Jesus loves you,” etc. Then we would go out and “picket” the surrounding neighborhoods as we chanted and sang. I realized as a teenager that this was conditioning for protesting the local Planned Parenthood. Older students and confirmation candidates got extra credit or points towards their confirmation for protesting or holding prayer vigils outside of Planned Parenthood. Super culty.

[@laurajarrell6187]

Seth, we love you, dude!👍🥰✌💯💫🎃

[@Turandot29]

This was a terrific episode. I hope Seth will do a part two of people sharing their cultic experiences.

[@kasey42]

Can't believe you missed the chance to say "The Preachers in Sneakers account is holding preachers' feet to the fire." Great content! Love the show.

[@KittyRedden]

1. I flinched when you played the speaking in tongues clips. Ugh! Growing up pentacostal sucked and still haunts me. 2. That second clip is very similar to how my mother speaks in tongues and she could summon it wiithout being in worship.

[@nicolasandre9886]

Just think of it as people imitating characters from the Sims. Well... maybe that won't actually help that much after all.

[@hildy208]

I was at a bible study in my 20s. We rotated between members’ homes. We were at the home of a young lady who had just left her First Baptist church and had joined our Missionary Baptist church. In the middle it’s like I woke up from unconsciousness. I looked around and all these people were trying to convince this girl that she wasn’t really “saved” because obviously First Baptists aren’t true Christians. It was surreal. It struck me as so embarrassing and ridiculous. I wish I had left religion behind then but I wasted many more years.

[@shriggs55]

Don't feel alone.

[@carolhall7293]

Regarding laying hands on and praying over disabled child. I've had this as an adult happen in the street when I was out with my children. This was in rural UK. I've also had a JW tell me my disability was my fault and I would be ok in the new system, this one happened whilst I was shopping in a supermarket.

[@Claudi333]

Great video Seth! Cross, a symbol of death.

[@randomepic6204]

I'd say the ritual of going without fail every Sunday and Wednesday, and those hymns, man those hymns were something else

[@infosecrogue8883]

The part with the kids creeps me out. I was a Baptist for about 25yrs and never realized we were doing the same thing to kids at VBS.

[@rain3743]

Just returned from a Catholic wedding last weekend. They had a mass and served communion, knelt a million times...up and down. The guy in front of me's foot kept hitting the kneeler in my row with his foot, and twice it made this BOOMING crash noise and everyone looked back at me. I hadn't touched it, but was in a pew alone. Then, WEDDING GUESTS lined up and took communion. I sat there thinking, "Wow. This is CRAY!" I felt SO comfortable being the "heathen" who politely abstained from participating in the cannibalism. I also needed to save room for the shrimp eggrolls at the reception.

[@seekeroftruth6728]

I've been to exactly one catholic wedding. Have you ever seen a wedding so devoid of love or less about the couple themselves? It seemed more like a cult gathering, and oh yeah, btw these people are married now.

[@korolr]

Here in the province of Quebec (Canada), which is at present the most secular jurisdiction by far in the entire country, it was very different in the olden days. Back then, Quebec was actually the most religious by far: Roman Catholic. Now, Quebec is a huge producer of maple syrup, which starts flowing in early spring. It is sold, traditionally, through a network of sugar shacks. There is a ritual to this. You gather together a bunch of family and friends, drive out into the countryside, find a sugar shack, and order up a feast of goodies cooked in maple syrup. Many of the side-dishes have religious names just for the fun of it. One of my favourites is a dessert made by boiling cuts of pork fat in maple syrup. It is called - in French - "les pètes des soeurs", which means "farts of a nun". There are many other variants, but just now I can’t think of any.

[@meredithwhite5790]

I get creeped out by group rituals in general. Any time I'm expected to chant in unison or do specific gestures at the same time as anyone else (e.g. Nicene creed or laying of the hands) I feel extremely uncomfortable. I remember at a Good Friday mass during middle school people were all kissing the same statue and it just grossed me out. The creepiest and cultiest shit always happens around Easter. Personally, I never bough into transubstantiation. It didn't make sense to me. I thought it was a joke when people said that was the official position of the church.

[@maxdoubt5219]

Churches teach kids things that the kids will have to _unlearn_ if they ever get to college.

[@anonmist2529]

All these years i thought i might be a sinner for thinking the same way about religion!! I'm amazed how many feel the same way.

[@andyproveaux3047]

The name "altar boy" is culty enough

[@InterestsMayVary2234]

My father in law would, when my husband was a child, have the spirit "come upon him" about ten minutes into every service. He would flail, break into tongues, dance for a minute, run down the aisle and then collapse. The rest of the service he napped on the floor. Everyone knew he just did it so he could sleep through the service but no one dared call him on it. Lol

[@susanatkinson3978]

Good planning!😂 At least he was well rested....thats healthy.,..getting enough sleep is so important!😂😂

[@MalikaBourne]

Thank you, Seth. Your broadcasts are helping me in my "recovery" and research for the psycho-thriller that I am working on. Yes, really - a psycho-thriller about undercovering a cult. When the callers were talking about the night-night prayer and standing up to sing the Doxology I flashed on the points about religious rituals and routines/ rules for children. The thing about rules and routines is that children feel more safe and secure when they know what is expected of them. M-m-m? (Night-night prayers is a bedtime routine/ ritual that the children is programed to get in bed and go to sleep - in fear of dying, but, you know....) So, when we allow ourselves to be self-hypnotized singing the Doxology; mumbling 'hail Mary full of grace; speaking in tongues... we sheep feel safe and secure because we know what is expected of us. The keys that organ music is played in are known to provoke certain emotions. All these religious rituals and routines have programed church goers leaving us without critical thinking about what is going on with our brain being washed. Is my explanation rational or not?

[@Turandot29]

Correction at 7:00: Catholics believe that the priest transforms the wafer into the body of Christ at the altar during the Consecration and not at the moment that they swallow the wafer. It’s already Jesus when it enters your pie hole.

[@van3363]

Raised Catholic, I always wondered about Jesus poop. Let's face it he just slid down your digestive tract.

[@MsJoaniesgarden]

I watched my JW Aunt school her kids in the same type of catechism type questions according to their beliefs. I liked the fact that my parents were non-committal about any religion and told me I can find it for myself. I was very young so I had a mindset that I could sit back and observe...like a psychiatrist. I didn't take it personally because I had nothing standing in the way of asking questions. I was always known to ask "too many questions".

[@kenhoover1639]

Just unbelievable! Thanks Seth for a great,though albeit, somewhat disturbing show.

[@Emilymk97]

I used to make a cross shaped cake for Easter because a bunny cake would be evil.

[@pghchaos]

My family did that too

[@Dodgerzden]

Yes, because everyone knows that a symbol of death is holy In Christianity.

[@taminy2051]

We in Bavaria traditionally make a lamb shaped cake. I describe myself as a cultural catholic and I still do so every year. This year I had my nephew behead the lamb and eat the head as my daughter is nearly 18 and much too old for my chikdish delights!

[@rain3743]

hee hee

[@lisaspikes4291]

Mmmm. Cake! I don’t care what shape it’s in. Yeah, bunnies and eggs are signs of fertility, and are older than the Bible. I guess Christians consider them pagan.

[@sjhoneywell6235]

Every single church service I went to (in my super-liberal church) ended with the minister standing in the back of the congregation and intoning: And now may the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you And be gracious until you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you And give you His peace. Amen. Blessing chant, and again, this was a super-liberal church. And I haven't been to that church in 30 years, but I sure as hell remember that chant.

[@dog8398]

Mormon underpants is both creepy and culty.

[@aaronyandell2929]

Back when I was going to a Methodist Church, I was introduced to Ash Wednesday. It was pretty uncomfortable, watching my fellow church memebers smearing crosses made out of ash onto thier foreheads. On that day, I had my thoughts about it, and "culty" certainly came to mind, but I didn't think anything else of it at the time, because I wrote it off as "just part of the Methodist culture". I wouldn't make that same consideration about it after my deconversion. It was obvious at that point. Ash Wednesday rituals are pretty culty. I also hearkened back to my time with Free Will Baptism, and the kind of culty things that denomination shares with other denominations, even like Methodism. Communion. Baptisms. Christmas pageants. These are cult rituals.

[@StacyK1996]

I remember explaining to my ex best friend what my Faith was and how my family acted towards me and she would literally say “girl you are being brainwashed” and I thought the devil was speaking through her. Of course I thought that but she was right lol.

[@OmniphonProductions]

Christ Crispy Treats! AWESOME!!! Also, I absolutely love that Helen Mirren quote. (I have confirmed via multiple magazine _interviews_ with Mirren that she did, in fact, say it.) The Methodist Church in which I grew up sang the Doxology every Sunday...right before the Offering Plates started circulating. As for speaking in tongues, scientific studies have been done wherein a group of people who profess to speak in tongues are recorded on video. Each person then translates their own video. _Then_ each person is shown the _other_ people's videos and asked to translate. For any Person A, _no_ Person B's translation matched that of Person A! I love the word, "Batshittery,"!!! I'm glad a former Mormon called in, but he actually failed to mention one of the cultiest aspects of the LDS Church...full-on BITE Model culty. Bearing your testimony is a huge part of the LDS Church; in fact the first Sunday of each month is _dedicated_ to having people get up and bear their testimony. Well, because its so important, all LDS children are taught to bear their testimony at age FIVE! Now, because no five-year-old actually _has_ a testimony, there's a standardized script. "I'd like to bear my testimony. I know this church is true. I know Joseph Smith was a true prophet. I love my mom and dad. And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen." Of course, the kids have no idea what they're saying beyond, "I love my mom and dad," as evidenced by the fact that they invariably pronounce, "bear," as, "bury,"...because to a five year old, "bear," is a noun, not a verb. Ironically, LDS children _and adults alike_ almost always say the last part so fast that two sentences become one word. "Annuhsayeezsingsinnaymuhjeezkrysaymen." This obligatory suffix is allegedly the most crucial aspect of any LDS speech or prayer, but _because_ it's so ubiquitous, even the most devout Mormons don't actually _think_ about it; they simply tack it on...with all the efficiency of perfectly programmed robots.

[@perishablegoods1344]

gah besh ooh -- It wasn't until I was 17 or 18 or so before I figured out what people were uttering after someone sneezed -- "grab a tissue" makes more sense

[@tklyte]

Cross-shaped Chocolate candy... Perfect. I'll buy and save a bunch for Halloween.

[@adsomelk5130]

“Immaculate Confection.”(Tom Waits). 😂

[@dustytheloneranger]

I think my favorite cult moment from when I was Catholic happened at a summer youth retreat. The last activity of the night we were arranged in concentric circles praying over each other passing person to person. At least three people, including myself, FAINTED on the damn floor because we were dumb dehydrated exhausted kids locking our knees between prayers. Of course, there was a handful of people talking about the holy spirit while the smarter ones checked us for head injuries

[@liz3511]

ha ha!

[@jannettb7930]

Travel communion, that's funny. I work at a used book store, we recently got in a portable communion set but it's old. It came in with an old prayer book from around 1900 so I'm assuming it's the same age. It's in a clamshell velvet case with tiny glass shot glasses and a little tin for the wafers. I'll have to take some photos and send them to you

[@yaoiboilover]

I always thought that wearing a cross or decorating your house with crosses (especially when they are all prettied up) was weird

[@cargo_vroom9729]

I mean, you say oral suction circumcision is culty, but circumcision is INSANE on its own. There is absolutely no way that would be tolerated without a lot of religious inertia making everyone just accept ritually cutting off parts of baby's genitals in the first place. Because that's a CRAZY thing to want to do. The ethics and harms aside.

[@AlgyPug]

Here's one for the oldies: back in the Dark Ages, "soap on a rope" was, for a while, a fad, a classic exercise in bad taste. Some wag developed the idea a little further, and produced "pope on a rope." Like the cell-phone Confession app, I don't think that it received endorsement from the Vatican.

[@SimianJack]

I remember that. It reminds me of Father Guido Sarducci and "Find-a Da Pope in da pizza."

[@danielmortimer532]

Both baptism and communion always seemed weird and cult like to me. And from what I've read both pre date Christianity as pagan initiation rituals.

[@Giantfloatingballoonhead]

Speaking in tongues is by far the wildest thing I’ve ever done in my life 😂😂 and I used to be a party person many moons ago.

[@andrewkillham3946]

Thank you Austin!!

[@phoenixnightengale5072]

1,000 communion wafers? That sounds about right. I'm pretty sure we use the plastic jar those came in as our donation jar at the ACA. We pass that around after AXP while everyone is sitting down for the after-show dinner. Well, we did when the building was still open, prior to Covid. Glad to learn where that thing came from.

[@millenialsmom2214]

Long day. The first 5 minutes made me laugh. Thanks. I needed that!🤣🤣🤣

[@ewylder]

I need that speaking in tongues impression as my missed call message (28:23)

[@martinconnelly1473]

Like Austin I was raised catholic but it never took root in me. I can remember when I was just past my 7th birthday giving the teachers the answers I knew they wanted not because it made sense or it was what I believed, just it kept them happy. But at the same time they were trying to indoctrinate us they were saying things like "the heathens have weird practices and dress up in bizarre costumes" and I was thinking that's what I see when I go to church. I also realised that the argument that the universe must have been created but god had always existed made no logical sense. Once I was old enough to act as an adult beyond my parental control I stopped going to church.

[@StacyK1996]

Hearing this makes me weirded out creeped out also laughing, wanting to cry for what I used to believe and my family and former community, pull my hair out and live underground lol soooo many emotions thank you Seth 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

[@moniquecohen8773]

I belonged to Church of Christ in the East Village NYC. One zealous artist made a life size, bloody replica of Christ on the cross and we were instructed to go find folks and bring them in. The girl I managed to bring in shook, screamed and ran like hell. Been there. Love u Seth.

[@Evekatpodfics]

I was asked when my first son was born if i wanted him being circumcised and then was given a pamphlet describing the process and the things that could go wrong. I noped real fast out of that.

[@Evekatpodfics]

They might as well be asking you "Do you want us to physically and permanently mutilate your son's genitals because a stone age people said their god hates the covering on the end if said genital that he designed? Why are you looking at me like that?"

[@patricianorwood1075]

A former friend once gave me a copy of the Catholic catechism book that he had to learn as a child. I looked through it and was rather appalled that little children had to learn this perfectly as part of Catholic indoctrination. I had long since been out of Christianity and there was so much culty in the different denominations I had had anything to do with. That took the cake for me. I think I burned it after reading it.

[@JayBandersnatch]

Just thought of a bumper sticker... "I love Jesus... he tastes like chicken"

[@paulmiles1065]

Way too funny!

[@Luubelaar]

I saw a video with Matt Dillahunty in it. He told of a tshirt someone gave him. "Jesus loves me... but I make him wear a condom."

[@seekeroftruth6728]

I recently attended my first Catholic funeral services. The rosary ceremony was easily the most cult-like, brainwashed thing I've ever witnessed. And I was raised Baptist!

[@Superman679]

THANKS A LOT SETH !!!! You made me realize that I've eaten one and a half Jesuses.....lmfao

[@thejunksynchronhero]

Happy belated birthday Seth!

[@frostydei5012]

Next time i notice a stranger glowering at me in public, I'll declare, "I wasn't raised right. I ate the sin chicken and consequently have zero fucks to spare for polite society." Before wandering off aimlessly.

[@MrEmpireBuilder0000]

My first experience with speaking in tongues was when my uncle and his prayer group prayed over my grandmother who was half paralyzed from a stroke. I was intently watching seeing if she will indeed get up and be well, you know? And during the prayer, my uncle and his group began babbling... and it sounded like Koookkooookoooo Was... was he saying "Cuckooo?" It was cuckoo. A whole lot of Cuckoo as it turns out. My grandma of course, did not recover from the stroke.

[@karlhalvorson]

I actually enjoyed hearing and singing along with the Doxology you played. Thanks for that! Re: speaking in tongues, wouldn't it be a kick to have competitions at the Atheist conventions to see who could speak in tongues the best? I used to speak in tongues in the day and even now, years later, thinking about doing it kind of freaks me out, so maybe it would trigger other atheists in a bad way as well, but I still think it would be a hoot.

[@metalhead0274]

Seth, when you do the "Satanic Panic" thing you can title it as like Bobby Boucher's mothers quote of Water Boy with Adam Sandler. The "is the devil" .. Everything was of the devil with momma ..lol

[@legalfictionnaturalfact3969]

..bbbutttttt there are still satanist and pagans practicing. Xtians qualify ofc, but there are actual knowing cultists doing exactly what the smear phrase "satanic panic" would have you believe is not occurring.

[@cassandrashaw7125]

I was baptised 5 different times. Never took.

[@brasspick]

The Kingdom Hall my mom took us to a few times had a ritual where, near the end of the service, when everyone was hungry, someone brought out a plate of tasty food (in this case hamburger, fries, and a drink). Everyone is supposed to shake their head "no". I never learned the whys of this practice.

[@wolfetone2012]

"You think when Jesus comes back, he's gonna wanna see a fuckin' cross?" ~Bill Hicks

[@lisaspikes4291]

I heard that the communion wafers are good with peanut butter! A priest told me that.

[@JR954]

I made up all the sins and said the same thing for every confession. I always thought religion was a joke.

[@fee8255]

I’m a multiple time gold medal winner from a Pentecostal cult. LOL And this is where my craziness is actually proven. I am a tree worker, often times I am outside chipping brush into a chipper. Very loud. I still fucking “pray in tongues” when I’m working sometimes, even though I know it is total bullshit. To me it is kind of soothing, like humming a song. And I laugh at my dumb ass while doing it. Enjoy....

[@135ipocketrocket2]

Seth! Lol, listening in the shower and I instinctively joined in the doxology. Haven't sung that in decades. Creepy indeed, how it's all still in there. Nice piece of music, but kinda PTSD feelings, YIKES! Used to do the spirit babbling too. Got dragged through a lot of the various indoctrinations as a kid. Thank reality I got out. Love you, and thanks for all you do!

[@johnhiggs5932]

Missouri “Sin-od” I was raised in that Fundy church and can personally attest to the batshittery they do and believe. Transmutation stood out as culty in my 12 yo mind, but the reactions to my curiosity by the pastor and elders is what effected me most. The hostility and frustration toward honest inquiry disgusted me.

[@Viky.A.V.]

Wow, those cult stuff are really freaky. Here in Ukraine the orthodox christianity is becoming more and more like an old nice tradition rather than smth one must follow or be left out of one's family. I don't know a family that would reject you if you're an atheist. Baptizing a child? Why not, it's a reason for all the relatives to come for a dinner. Blessing one's new house by sprinkling holy water on the corners? Why not, it's for luck. As for confessing sins, they do it in crowds. I mean it. A crowd of people gathers in the church, and the priest asks everyone "do you repent your sins" - "yes I do" -- "you are forgiven". Lol! It's all about symbolism. We do not have all those miracles, healing (it's considered a cult-ish thing), no exorcism, no purity cult, no speaking in tongues. The early indoctrination still happens, but if a kid doesn't want it any longer, the parents don't mind. I'd say we have the "cult of family" rather than that of a religion =)

[@Hugh-Man0006]

Wouldn't it be awesome if communion wafers came with your choice of dipping sauces? My parents went to pentecostal church after they left the Catholic one. I heard one sermon where the pastors wife spoke in tongues. It was mostly latin and biblical greek with a hint of modern Hebrew. She minored in language in college and mastered in religious studies. I called her out at church.

[@jimgutt749]

Bawitdaba, da bang, da dang diggy diggy, diggy!

[@lorenyoung791]

Doxology also scans nicely to “Chim Chim Cheree” and “Hernando’s Hideaway”. In my family’s church (UU) we had our own words, of course: “Rejoice in love we know & share / In law & beauty everywhere / Rejoice in truth that makes us free / And in the good that yet shall be.” Not too bad, as such things go. The congregation we attended was pretty progressive socially & politically, but still . . . 😒

[@sassyinscrubs5206]

Happy birthday seth!!

[@atheistechoes9594]

My seventh day adventist church does foot washing along with the communion the foot washing was extremely uncomfortable and unsanitary I usually stayed in the church sanctuary with the children doing children story with my grandma.

[@celiamoreno5117]

Thank you, because I have been raised an atheist, because my father was an atheist, and I did not know all the different rituals, or invention in a cult.

[@gengar6666]

Hey Seth Andrews Big fan of your broadcast. Could you do a show defining exactly what constitutes as a religion?

[@brianprinty112]

2 Thinking A programs in one day. Sweet!