#pimo (used to be)

[theres-whump-in-that-nebula]

”Jehovah’s Witness prophecy isn’t real; it can’t hurt you.”

My intrusive thoughts:

[finn-ickymentalstability]

Just came out to my dad while in an argument about the election.

Twas not how I planned for my day to go.

[melandrops]

happy genconf weekend

[myexmothoughts]

i’ve got girls camp this week

luckily it’s not just regular girls camp, it’s ward camp, with just our ward and it’s the girls and the boys

[thats-a-lot-of-cortisol]

My mom just sent a message to the family group chat suggesting that my siblings download the 'For the Strength of Youth' magazine on their Gospel Library app and talked about how much the youth magazines helped her testimony growing up and like, cool. Fine. Don't know why the 'sending random spiritual thoughts in the gc' thing started out of nowhere when it hadn't been a thing for a decade but this is just another one of those, and you're ofc allowed to talk about things that are significant in your life.

I don't think sending the 'What I Did When Someone Close to Me Challenged My Faith' article right afterwards was strictly necessary though 🙃

[clear-everblue]

Why is there so few GOOD exjw youtubers. like 60% of the ones i find either have a crazy amounts of drama or just .. not good people lol

[isalisewrites]

A talk on not giving up on those who leave and hoping/waiting for them to return.

What a joke.

First of all, the day I marry my fiancee, the church will be more than gleeful to kick us out because we're lesbians. The church isn't welcoming of those who leave. It isn't welcoming to those of us who stay.

Talks like this infantize those who leave. We haven't lost any light. PIMOs are proof that the church can't tell who has left the faith and who hasn't.

Until the church is actually open to all, like Jesus would be welcoming to all, then less people will return.

[xmo-rmon]

Two decades in the mormon church inform my work, but it was kicked off when I read about brigham young and his militia’s attempt to exterminate the Timpanogos people, and the fact that I had to go looking for this information to learn about it. The mormon church was built on mass murder, and I was out of the church for ten years before I even read the name of the people that were slaughtered.

Everyone should know this. Exmos, mormons, and nevermos alike. The church deserves the full weight of this. The Timpanogos people deserve their land back, they deserve every dollar that has gone into building lavish, white and delightsome temples and malls. But the church won’t even acknowledge that the violence happened, much less drop a single dollar on its victims.

So, in what small way one poor, disabled exmo can, I’m going to make them.

All my religious materials will be stolen from them and used to benefit the people they harmed in some way - no one who sees my art will do so without reading the name Timpanogos and what brigham young did. Any money I make from this effort will be donated to them.

I want to hold up a mirror to the church and invite members to consider why the reflection is frightening to them. I want to empower exmos, pimos, and anyone who opposes the church (and make them laugh). I want to embody the fact that Korihor represents a fantasy that will never come true: mormons never having to be asked to think about what they do or what they’re told again.

I’m Korihor unmuted, and I’m gonna fuck your shit up.

Read about/donate to the Timpanogos tribe, for whom brigham young sent out an “extermination order”

LandBack

[exmovibes]

I spend a lot of time on here ranting about how angry i am at the church and how much growing up mormon fucked me up. And I want to switch it up a bit.

Things I'm grateful for since leaving the church

The right to my body. I look forward to every new piercing and tattoo I get. I'm almost 1 year on T. Every day, my body is looking more and more like home

The right to my own money. it's so nice to own all the money I earn. I'm not stressed about covering bills or the guilt I would get when I wasn't able to pay tithing. It's honestly so freeing

The right to my sexual desires. It's taken me a while, but masturbation and watching porn no longer fills me with guilt. I'm able to enjoy sexual things and the way they make me feel, without feeling awful about myself. Once I made that switch in my mind, that anything sexual is natural and not inherently wrong, my life has been so much better

The right to my own time. I posted about this a few weeks ago, and let me tell you. Having an additional 5+ hours of time a week to just do whatever, you can do so much. I reorganized my whole room last week while my family was at church. I've been learning sign language while waiting for my brother to be done with mutual. I've picked up book binding and writing during the times my family was at the temple.

The right to consumption. While I absolutely do not advocate for the use of drugs or alcohol, I'm able to enjoy a night out with my friends. I can share a blunt and take shots (of the alcohol variety) without the fear of god looming over me. I can drink coffee and tea without even batting an eye anymore.

I promise you. It does get easier to live life. It's taken me a lot of work, but I'm no longer fully mentally tied to the church. I've still got a lot to work on, but I'm starting to understand the appeal of just living. Taking every day and making the most of it.

For those of you who are pimo, hang in there. I was pimo for 5 years so I get it. It's really fucking hard, but eventually your life will be yours to do with as you please.

Love yall, (p.s. in 9 days I'll be a year inactive!!)

[exjw-safeplace]

I used to be so terrified of letting any friends I met online know I grew up a Jehovah Witness and now here I am more than ever feeling more and more comfortable talking about my experiences.

It's what helped me wake up even more than I ever did is finally getting more open with my friends. Support systems are so important when you are a pimo.

People who are friends with pimo exjws you are so amazing and the most real friend out there. Please know we love you. You're friendship really helps us keep going. We feel so bad sometimes with how complicated things can be.

[theres-whump-in-that-nebula]

I’ve never dressed up for Halloween before in my life. Tomorrow there’s a parade at the school I work for. It’s dinosaur time. 🦖 rawr

I’m also going to wear a handmade superhero costume for the time before the parade; because I can — fuck you Jehovah — that’s why. Since age fifteen, I’ve devoted all my time and energy to coming up with subtle costumes for the purpose of scaring away householders from this cult; so I’m allowed to dress up as something silly that doesn’t deal me 10,000x psychic damage when I look in the mirror, goddammit.

I am going to walk with the children and it will be FUN. I will distribute CANDY and eat PIZZA and watch GOD-DISHONORING MOVIES and worship SATAN in my CHUNKY DINO COSTUME.

[deservedgrace]

i haven't believed in god for the past almost 3 years now and i haven't told anyone and im scared to because everyone around me is christian because i go to private christian school and my entire family is christian and it feels like that right now my options are to lie to everyone i love for the rest of my life or be alienated from everyone i love and i don't know what to do i would like some advice if you have any for me

hi there. first of all, i want to say i feel for you because this is a really difficult situation to be in. having to hide parts of yourself from the people you love can be so exhausting and i'm sorry you have to deal with it.

without knowing your specific situation, i'm hesitant to give too much specific advice. i don't know what would or wouldn't be safe for you, i don't know what the people you're around are like, and i don't know what's feasible in your circumstance.

what i will say for sure though, no matter what, there's a world outside of christianity, there are people outside of christianity, there's kindness, and joy, and understanding, and peace, and life, and love outside of christianity. the prospect of being alienated from everyone you love is terrifying and heartbreaking, i won't deny that at all. but i do think it's important to remember that even if that happens, you're not alone. there are people who have made it out on the other side. there are good things to expect, there are people who understand, and there is joy to be had, even if it's outside your current community.

and honestly, the thing that made it so much easier for me to leave and risk alienating myself was having friends and relationships outside of christianity. having people that both were living proof that life outside of christainity isn't bleak and horrible like i was told and that i knew wouldn't leave me even if i stepped away from the faith. i also went to private school and was very insulated and didn't have the ability to be in community with nonbelievers until i graduated high school. but i did, eventually, find people. i lost a lot when i left but i also had people to offer support, advice, comfort, and just generally a safe place to land and i'm endlessly grateful to them. so, if possible, i recommend finding community outside of your christian circle. i know it may not be possible at this moment, but when it is possible, there are people out there who will be more than happy to support you.

i will also say, there's a good chance you're not alone in what you're feeling even within your circles. when i left, i thought i was alone in what i was feeling because i was the first to leave among my friends. but i've noticed that over the years, they are leaving too. they are talking about the harm that was done to us. part of christian culture is performing, and a lot of people are good at performing without holding the underlying beliefs. it's common enough that there's even an acronym for it: PIMO (physically in, mentally out; i usually see it in exmo/ex jw spaces). so sometimes it's possible you could find support within your circles too. i want to emphasize that you know your situation best, you know the risks and people you're around better than i do, please keep in mind your safety if you do consider searching for people like this in your circle. but i'm mentioning this mostly because you may feel alone in your situation, but you're not, and there's a good chance you're not alone even within your circle. even if it may feel like it, even if you're not able to confirm it.

and the last thing i'll say is, it's draining and demoralizing to have to be in this situation, so taking care of yourself and being kind to yourself is really important. again, i don't know what's available to you, but that can look like setting boundaries, giving yourself time to process emotions, saying affirmations to counteract the messages you're having to listen to, making art, journaling, spending time in your favorite places, watching your favorite shows, eating healthy food, engaging in ex christian content, etc etc. you're likely in an environment where you're taught not to trust yourself. engaging in actions to take care of yourself can help build up that trust, help you feel safer in your body, and help you feel more capable in getting through this.

i'm sorry i don't have more specific advice i can give you. i don't want to steer you toward advice that could make your situation unsafe or be unhelpful. you know your situation best, please focus on your safety. remember, you're allowed to prioritize your happiness, there is life outside of christianity, and this isn't forever. best of luck to you 💛

[flyingdumpsterfire]

CALLING LITERALLY EVERYONE ON EXMO TUMBLR

i have been outed as a PIMO by my parents after a fight about my tithing and now i'm standing here trying to defend my exmormon POV to my TBM parents

if anyone can give me 100% solid evidence i can use in a debate against them it would be absolutely lifesaving /gen

bonus points if you can find something that can combat the Gospel Topic Essays

I've tried;

the kinderhook plates (they said 'you just found some fabrication on the internet')

joseph's plural marriages to teenage girls ('that was normal in that day and age')

the city creek centre ('that's so members can have somewhere to shop in the last days so they can survive')

the fact that no one can find the original bible manuscript ('god just took it back to heaven')

they're fucking impossible so i need some help here i'm begging y'all

thanks in advance

[tiredmisophonicwerewolf]

Currently drawing my blorbo while listening to her playlist until I can’t hear the holy spirit because fuck crusty nelson and his talk

[entity56]

By the way, we grew up in the LDS church and fully officially (mentally) left when we were 14. We're PIMO Exmormons. Ask us anything.

[myexmothoughts]

general conference tomorrow, how we feeling? hang in there fellow pimo’s, we’ll get through it

as usual, i will be following along using “ldsconf” and “genconf” tags. see you on the other side 🫡