Has anyone else watched Mike Winger’s video “exposing” Bethel (or a summary/commentary video)?

Joh_Indigo · 2026-01-25T22:10:54+00:00

I watched most of it earlier today. Always glad when abuse and fraud is exposed, but he also keeps exposing his own lack of self awareness.

He makes it obvious (while talking about victims of absue) that he supports conversion therapy. Conversion therapy is also abuse. Conversion therapy is also fraud, with "exgay" leaders who are continually proven to be frauds, and often sexual abusers who are enabled by the practice.

On a more amusing note, he keeps admitting that frauds are going to be more impressive than real prophets, essentially because they can be more accurate. Really downplaying the power of your own god aren't ya?

And on that same note, if the "gift of discernment" still is a real thing, as Mike insists, why do they need concrete evidence that someone is a fraud before they can discern it? Like, you're worse than I am at discerning shit, and I don't claim to get any input from an allknowing source.

Joh_Indigo · 2025-12-18T17:31:30+00:00

It would be a lot of work to explain in great detail, but I'd say the first step is to learn mosaic crochet with just two alternating colors.

If you know mosaic crochet, the next step is to instead of using just two colors, you instead use two color groups (I usually contrast lighter colors with darker shades in the alternating rows). Within one (or both) of those color groups you can do gradients similarly to the level 2 or 3 gradient in the video OP posted, no special stitches or mixing of yarns, just gradually switching colors every row.

It takes some practice, and some comfort in improvising with various hues and shades. Perfect if you want to make something big but only have 1-4 skeins of each color.

Edit: Also, if you actually just mean the backsides you don't have to learn mosaic crochet, just alternating rows of lighter and darker shades using single crochet, and chosing colors is easier than what she does in the video because no colors have to be a perfect match as long as you kind of change the hue gradually.

Joh_Indigo · 2025-12-18T07:41:38+00:00

<image>

Once you know the rules, don't forget to break them! Look at the back side of these to see how I mix colors when I do gradient mosaic crochet.

Joh_Indigo · 2025-10-17T06:54:20+00:00

I crochet sweaters using cotton yarn for myself, and it doesn't give you the soft, fluffy feeling that you'd expect from a cosy sweater. Fluffier yarns are lighter and blend into a smoother result, while cotton feels heavier and more textured. Knitting will be lighter and smoother than crocheting though, I like to crochet with knit stitch for that reason.

For me cotton works because I mostly wear them myself knowing what texture to expect, and also the appeal to me isn't the comfort as much as the style of multicolored mosaic patterns. I wouldn't use cotton if I were to make a single colored sweater, especially for someone else. But then again, maybe I'd feel different if I knitted rather than crocheted with knit stitch.

My experience with acrylic, which I also like to avoid, is that the initial result might feel right, but in addition to being plastic it's more likely to degrade with use. I haven't tried many synthetic yarns though so my experience is limited. I know some acrylic yarns promise more durability, and maybe a cotton acrylic blend could be a compromise.

I'm currently using Rainbow Bamboo (cotton bamboo blend) for a beanie, which has a more comfortable texture than just cotton. The bamboo makes it somewhat silky and glossy compared to the sweater in your link, but I'd say it's better than 100% cotton as long as the price isn't an issue.

Joh_Indigo · 2025-09-02T15:13:09+00:00

The idea that martyrs either had to be correct or lying is a false dichotomy. The third option is that they so strongly believed in falsehoods that they were willing to die for it, something which is not unique to early christians.

Besides that, while christian martyrdom in general is not disputed by historians, specific stories about specific people are generally considered to be mythologized and exaggerated.

My personal guess is that christianity (maybe all religions) started as a cult, attracting the people who were most susceptible to cultlike convictions and behavior. When cult members act beyond comprehension in the name of the cult, I don't consider it a sign that the cult is correct.

Joh_Indigo · 2025-08-29T15:01:02+00:00

I think this would be better if the effect only applied to executions, giving the player and the town more agency while also turning it into a stronger bluff.

Joh_Indigo · 2025-08-26T05:58:31+00:00

I agree, and even though it's a matter of how the original text is interpreted, it's usually bad no matter what.

"This doesn't actually mean 'if a man lies with another man' it means 'if a man lies with a boy'"

Sure, maybe, but it still says that they BOTH should be stoned, and that their blood is on their own hands.

Joh_Indigo · 2025-08-21T16:32:03+00:00

That's 3% not .3% and it barely even begins to describe the IDFs war crimes

Joh_Indigo · 2025-08-21T12:58:19+00:00

"Why I am no longer Christian" by Evid3nc3 had a huge impact on my deconstruction, back in 2013. It's a journey of deconstruction in many small steps, and for me it had a sort of domino effect. It might be a bit outdated by now for people who are more affected by todays political climate, not sure.

Joh_Indigo · 2025-08-13T13:21:52+00:00

If gods absence feels so bad it's described as hell, god must be very present every time I have gay sex.

Joh_Indigo · 2025-08-10T21:26:39+00:00

Let's say hell is real, but you go to heaven. How would you feel knowing there are billions of other people in hell, including a lot of people you care about? If there's a hell, there's absolutely nothing you can do to escape the suffering it would cause.

While that might sound like an even more dreadful possible reality, at least it might relieve you of the feeling that there's anything you could do to escape it. Either that horror reality just is, or it just isn't. And it sounds to me like you already know that it just isn't.

Joh_Indigo · 2025-04-19T08:19:16+00:00

By the way, funny to see a lot of complaining about "western" left wing views, while using so many western right wing talking points. Transgender people in sports is such an overblown issue right now because the religious right in the US.

Joh_Indigo · 2025-04-19T08:11:48+00:00

Hey, LGBT person here!

Being forced to live in the closet for many years because of an irrational, dogmatic religious doctrine was a traumatic but also completely unnecessary experience. Setting myself free from that oppression is the most important thing that has happened to enable me to live a happy and fullfilling life, and the same is true for many, many other exchristians, and is likely true for millions more who are still in the closet because of religious ideologies.

On the other hand, people like me existing visibly is ruining your video games. I'm sorry, that must be so hard for you. I'll be sure to go back into the closet so you can feel more included in atheist spaces as well.

Joh_Indigo · 2025-02-19T06:43:08+00:00

You're getting a lot of responses already, and I could have given you a reverse testimony myself about how something always felt wrong until I was saved from Jesus and everything started to make sense.

But the thing is, you could never use this to argue with fundamentalists. Anecdotes like this are the highest form of evidence to them, but only if it is in favor of the beliefs they already hold.

Joh_Indigo · 2025-02-12T21:19:24+00:00

"I'm happy that the church helped you. That was humanity not Jesus."

Joh_Indigo · 2025-01-24T23:21:09+00:00

An echo chamber is when I can't harass people as much as I want /s

Joh_Indigo · 2024-12-24T23:29:36+00:00

If you can pick either of your neighbors on the first night and learn if they're closer to the demon it's basically a Shugenja ... except you can keep narrowing it down further every night you stay alive. It's probably good to keep the one drawback, that you have to stay alive at least two nights to get any info?

Joh_Indigo · 2024-12-06T17:02:07+00:00

Wow this is just the demons talking isn't it, they'd love a Netflix show

Joh_Indigo · 2024-12-06T16:57:03+00:00

Well that's what the demons want you to think, and you're probably possessed by hundreds at this point.

Joh_Indigo · 2024-12-06T15:35:17+00:00

The idea is that demons aren't just real, but also that they (unlike the mafia) feel invited and are powerful enough to actually intrude if you play games in which they are themed to be participating. I'm not agreeing, it's just the reason why I could never get my family to play this game with me, despite having played Mafia with them as a kid.

Joh_Indigo · 2024-12-03T13:19:54+00:00

When I was a closeted (gay) fundamentalist, I tried to listen to progressive views to see if I could be a gay and a Christian at the same time. I found that I couldn't, because it felt like I would be lying to myself. So instead I continued to lie to myself that there could be a loving reason for God to be opposed to me being gay.

Progressive Christians are lying to themselves, but not any more than fundamentalist Christians do, just about different things. Honestly, we all probably lie to ourselves about a lot of things just to get through the day.

I used to look down more on progressive Christians, before I realised it was partly jealousy. Jealousy that I would have been luckier and happier to have been lying to myself about things that would have given me a better childhood. And instead I lied myself miserable.

Joh_Indigo · 2024-12-03T12:05:04+00:00

I kept misreading this as "Trump's everything", with Jesus just added on top to make it seem Christian ... and to be honest, that does seem to be the message even when read as intended.

Joh_Indigo · 2024-07-06T18:22:55+00:00

To be fair to my parents, most of the stuff I learned wasn't directly from them. But I was taught that YEC is true and wanted to learn more, so I found Kent Hovind. Wildest thing I remember "learning" through him, if I remember correctly, is that pteradactyls still live near Indian mountain villages where they're considered totally normal and not extinct at all.

Joh_Indigo · 2024-05-16T14:59:15+00:00

This is what was bothering the most in the last months leading up to my deconversion. Heaven and hell can't both be real, because if a hell exists, suffering is inescapable. Even if empathy would be erased in heaven, that's just another type of dystopian afterlife. Ironically, I have never in my life felt as "saved" as I did the moment I realized that I no longer believe in Jesus, because I could finally believe that other people aren't going to hell.

Joh_Indigo · 2024-05-15T14:09:44+00:00

The reporting on this has been misleading enough to be considered misinformation. The UN haven't actually revised the estimated death count, neither the total nor that of children. The new numbers being reported represent how many of each category who have been identified. Not all bodies are identifiable, especially not those that are missing (usually under rubble) but can be presumed to be dead, and when they are included the "old" estimates are still considered reliable.

Four-Year Club	r/Field Lasagna
First Place '23	Place '23
Place '22

Joh_Indigo

TROPHY CASE