Anyone who was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness can empathize with the scenario of two children struggling to hold their attention at a kingdom hall meeting. And this is exactly the predicament in which Watchtower’s model cartoon children, Caleb and Sophia, find themselves in the latest “Become Jehovah’s Friend” episode – released earlier this month.
So what does the Governing Body want to say to any children who find themselves bored or distracted at a meeting they have been dragged to by their indoctrinated parents? It’s simple, really: “Pay attention, or die.” That grim message comes across loud and clear in the latest installment of Watchtower’s child propaganda series.
In the newly-released “Lesson 15,” entitled “Pay Attention at the Meetings,” young Caleb and Sophia find themselves reprimanded for playing with a toy car (Caleb) and falling asleep (Sophia) by their parents.
In a subsequent discussion around the dinner table, the children’s parents discuss the serious ramifications of failing to pay attention during a meeting. “Imagine if Noah didn’t pay attention when Jehovah explained how to build the ark?” muses Caleb’s father.
A cartoon segment then shows Noah and his family idling around during God’s instructions for building a vessel that the laws of physics say could never have been seaworthy to avoid a global deluge that archeology, geology and biology testify never happened. (If you find anything I’ve said in this paragraph offensive, please watch this video.)
The result? Noah and his family are shown scurrying into the finished ark when the flood is imminent, only for it to comically collapse under the weight of the first drop of water. The whole family is then shown disappearing under the flood waters with startled looks on their faces.
“That’s not what happened, dad!” protests Caleb. “You are right,” says his dad. “He paid attention, and it saved his life. Paying attention at the meetings can help save YOUR life!”
After this not-so-veiled threat, Caleb and Sophia are shown at the next meeting paying rapt attention, apparently buoyed by the knowledge that failure to do so will result in them being slaughtered.
I personally found this video even more hideous than the notorious Sparlock episode – one of the first “lessons” in this ghastly series. Why?
At least in the Sparlock episode the threats made against Caleb by his mother for playing with a wizard toy were slightly more opaque. If he didn’t throw his toy away, Caleb would make Jehovah “sad” and grow old and shriveled like Adam and Eve. But in this latest video, the threats made against Caleb and his sister to coerce them into conformity are all too dire and explicit.
How any parent can watch this video and find threats of death at the hands of the Almighty an appropriate, healthy tool for shaping the attitudes and behavior of their children is beyond me.
I am reminded of the words of Richard Dawkins: “There is no such thing as a Christian child: only a child of Christian parents.” Children are not born religious – they need to have it pummeled into them by parents who were very likely themselves instilled with a specific religion dependent on their own parents or culture.
In the case of Witness children, the modus operandi for indoctrination is not merely gentle persuasion and cheerful recommendations but outright threats and blackmail – all endorsed and prescribed by the Governing Body themselves.
The one useful element of this video is that it openly exposes to any non-JW onlooker what the Witness religion is really all about: “Follow us or die.”
I have only recently made a video on this very subject, as it is my hope that more people will be mindful of the true, grisly nature of the Witness message when they are set upon with enchanting images of paradise, pandas and fruit baskets.
Grab a shovel and start exploring this imaginary utopia recommended to you in Watchtower literature, and you will soon discover that these rolling hillsides, bounteous pastures and idyllic homes have been built on the bodies of billions of people who have been massacred for the crime of not wanting to be Jehovah’s Witnesses. Sparing the next generation from having their lives molded by such a grotesque vision of the future is not merely advisable – it is an obligation.
Further reading…
- NYDailyNews article
- Freethinker article
- Friendly Atheist article
- Rawstory article
- JWvictims article
- Watchtower’s new “Toy Story” – What parents need to know
- Why it is morally wrong for Watchtower to push baptism on children
- JWsurvey articles on child indoctrination
Related videos…
This cartoon is just one more way that the men of the Governing Body are showing that they are out of touch with reality. Anthony Morris the 3rd is the only one who had children and I am wondering if either of his two boys ever fell asleep at a meeting?
Now you will have thousands of parents who will feel ashamed and looked down at by others in the congregation who probably never even had kids, if their little kid falls asleep at the meeting. These parents will be poking and prodding their children to keep them awake at the meetings. At what age is the child to keep awake? At 1 year? At 2 years? At 3 years? At 4 years?
The Society makes these stupid cartoons with their stupid innuendos and people think this is now a hard and fast rule that they must follow.
These men never had kids and when they were kids, if they went to the meetings way back when, I’d bet their parents brought stuff for them to play with and they all fell asleep during the meetings but their parents are all dead, so they can’t ask their parents, “did I ever fall asleep at the Thursday night meetings when I was a child?” These men don’t remember that far back and their parents are dead so there’s nobody to back them up if you were to ask any of them that question, and they’d come back and say “Of course not!!”
I will never forget one time a dad who had 6 kids all under 10 and the youngest boy had fallen asleep at the Thursday night meeting so the dad poked the kid to wake him for the prayer and he peed all over the chair and the chairs were fabric. That man doesn’t have even one of his children in the “truth” today.
Lloyd,
Here here, sir!
I watched this disgusting video the other day.
The WTBTS are comparing a grown man listening, presumably, to the very voice of God explain about how to build an Ark, to two young children naturally finding it hard to pay attention to the deplorably boring meetings. They expect young children to have the same attention span as an adult. That is not the case.
The WTBTS are disatisfied with their God’s creation! God, in his infinite wisdom, decided that human development would progress the way it does. Children do not have the same attention span as adults. Nature simply isn’t good enough for these goons! Oh no, pay attention solidly for hours in silence to our monotonous meetings!
So the WTBTS have no idea, or any desire to know, about the intellectual development of children.
Then there is the implication that listening to meetings may save these young children’s lives! Notice how the father says listening to Jehovah, a mute spirit being, is EXACTLY THE SAME as listening to meetings organised by the governing body!
It has to be said. There is no evidence whatsoever for a worldwide flood around 5000 BC. No branch of science can be used to prove this. There is no evidence at all.
Now, if you folks want to believe in the biblical flood, then that’s fine. As long as you don’t terrorise children with the threat of death, based upon a theology that falls at its first premise.
Christianity, practiced with love and humility, is a force for good in the world.
What a shame it is that the WTBTS fails to use its resources to preach a message of compassion, coupled with charitable works. What a shame it is that they instead produce cartoons that warp children’s minds into conceiving their God as a judgemental, unforgiving and cruel deity, willing to slaughter even the children of Jehovah’s Witnesses if they dare to follow their own brains’ natural development and lose focus on JW meetings!
Shame on you, Watchtower/ JW.org!
Using the words “may save your life” instead of “will save your life” softens the fear little.
Biblically, we need only heed the words and call of CHRIST. We have his words and example to follow. JESUS loved children, and enjoyed their company.
No one will be judged by the Lord adversely for not paying attention at any meeting! The Lord is not going to kill children!
He tells us how we will be judged and on what we will be judged. Matthew 25
The WTBTS are NOT a Christian church. They have no desire to bring people to an accurate knowledge of CHRIST.
This is yet another nail in the coffin lid!
This disturbing attempt to instil a dependence on JW meetings and lore in young children will not go unchallenged!
Peace be with you,
Excelsior!
Excelsior
“Biblically, we need only heed the words and call of CHRIST. We have his words and example to follow. JESUS loved children, and enjoyed their company.”
If you could tone down the evangelism in your comments, this would be appreciated. YOU may need to heed the words and call of Christ, but I can assure I and others do not.
Personal professions of faith or unbelief are fine, but the moment you start projecting your views onto others and insisting these apply to them, we have a problem.
I hope you understand. Otherwise, I’d like to thank you for your continued support of and interest in JWsurvey.
Appalling, this is so hideous, I see adults fall asleep at the meetings at times, the GB are control freaks, JW they want your kids.
What of the assemblies good grief all day, are they going to get the same treatment?
Any normal loving parent would be appalled at this blackmail, if a JW doesn’t find something wrong with this they are not normal, and I feel so sorry for their kids.
JWs, whether door knocking or hanging about on the streets with a mag. stall, have only ever ensnared the lost, lonely and vulnerable. Now, even that type of adult can, with afew mouse clicks, discover that JWdom is nothing but a money grabbing and cruelly controlling pack of lies.
Hence the emphasis, perhaps, of targeting the most vulnerable of all, the children. Notions drilled in very early are the most difficult to dislodge in later life.
Clearly, although the JW bosses know all but zilch about children’s education, they have, alas, twigged the fact that their Jehovah monster has a greater chance of infesting a human brain if it is implanted early during its development.
Its very disturbing to watch. Its also sickening as the the method used to get the kids attention. When I left 7 years ago I had no idea how much this cult has changed. Its very wrong on so many levels. I am stunned.
Good points from Excelsior.
To expect a young child to pay constant attention for up to two hours is ridiculous. Even as an adult, I couldn’t help drifting away to the real world while someone who knew nothing about human psychology was trying to tell us how to live our lives from the platform.
This video again shows the level of control that the GB wants to have on the rank and file. It will be interesting to see if any congregation members are judged by their peers when they let their children draw or play with a toy.
Imagine if the child has been allowed to do this up to now, and then it’s all taken away from them, and they are expected to take notes and pay attention to things that will be impossible for them to understand.
Can you imagine what these little ones’ thought processes will be? “These meetings were hardly bearable when I could draw or write things that I wanted to. Now, I have to pay attention to what’s being said and make notes. How long before I can leave all this and start living my life?!”
Unfortunately, these children’s parents will see nothing wrong and everything right with this indoctrination and apply it as if it’s a biblical rule, thinking their child will die if they don’t. When will they wake up and see this as another attempt of mind and behaviour control by the GB?
I know some witnesses parents that are university educated, articulate etc. but they’ve surrendered or never had any ability for critical thinking so when they see this video they’re not going to see this for what it is: a horrid bit of death cult propaganda.
The GB could say outright, “We will kill your children in the name of Jehovah.” and these people wouldn’t flinch. Let’s face it though, from God’s perspective, killing kids is just one of the tricks of the trade. Look at the flood again: innocent children were drowned along with millions of others, if we’re to believe that bit of crap. This Jehovah doesn’t bat an eyelid killing children, why should his “faithless and excrete depraved”?
So many creationists wants creation taught in school, the same as evolution and science. If schools put the Bible account of the flood in school books, then there could be intelligent conversation pointing out all the reasons why the flood account could never happen in reality. If little kids had all the cons pointed out in accounts like the flood, these little kids could tell their parents a thing or two, which the parents don’t even put two and two togther. That would work against creationist parents wanting the Bible taught in school along with evolution. As it is now, the only indoctrination these kids get is from their parents and the Watchtower publications. They never hear another side of the story.
Those poor little kids actually believe that story and think if they fall asleep at the meetings that Jehovah is going to strike them dead.
To keep them awake when their little bodies are tired, is a form of torture. The parents will either be so occupied trying to keep them awake or stay home so they don’t have to fight it all during the meeting. I would have opted to stay home, rather than wrestling to keep my kids awake all that time.
I think stuff like this will be more likely to make the kids hate the “truth”, rather than love it.
Hello to all.
I have been absent for a while and I see that watchtower is still as sinister and evil as ever. Telling children that they will die, (for not being children) surprises me not. On a personal note. I spent two months in the psychiatric unit of Tralee general hospital. The loss of all contact with my three children drove me over the top. I was found with both arms slashed, bleeding out. My children did not know this and I got the most beautiful surprise a month after hospital. My youngest daughter(17) Julia came to see me at my mother`s house which I again call home. It was a very emotional reunion for both daughter and father. Julia is a jw, but she is my daughter first. We meet on week ends and we cherish our time together. I do not mention Charles or Catherine, neither do I mention watchtower, festina lente. Seeing my daughter after nearly a year has raised my spirits no end. There are far wiser heads than I on JW Survey. To say or not to say? All advice greatly appreciated.I hope Lloyd understands my reason for leaving my email. Lloyd, mea maxima culpa :)
jerryoconnor3103@gmail.com
Best Wishes to all.
Jerry
Rowland, you have insulted me! NOT :)
You are absolutely correct about those that fall for the watchtower lie. I was very content before I fell for the lie. I was obviously susceptible to indoctrination. In my case, I reckon that I was just plain stupid. My best wishes to all. I mention Rowland, Excelsior and Anonymous all three have given good advice to me in the past.
Regards,
Jerry
Meetings were boring. I remember seeing so many children sleeping or playing with toys or drawing at the meetings or assemblies.
I always thought that having the children in a sunday school where they could learn in a fun environment would be a much better method of engaging them.
Sitting at meetings for two hours and just listening to a sometimes very monotone speaker was cruel and unusual punishment.
What is even more cruel is sending the message to children that they will die if they don’t withstand the torture of sitting through these meetings.
In my opinion, Parents need to make learning about God, Jesus and the Bible, interesting, fun and engaging for their children, ensuring that children understand the importance of spirituality in their lives.
What the “Organization” does makes total sense if you recall that they began during the “Industrial Revolution”. From the mid/early 1800’s to the early part of the 20th century factories created a system of creating barely-literate workers, managed by middle-men to oversee the work and keep up productivity, with optimized repeatable processes so as to take away independent thinking and allow for workers to be easily replaced like spare parts, and with child labor with no safety laws. The “Organization” is a factory. Nothing more.
I remember W,T, using a quote attributed to Francis Xavier, a founder of
the Jesuit order.– ” Give me a child until he is 7 and I will show you the
man”. The W,T,s obvious implication being, study ( indoctrinate)
regularly with your children now and they will be J,Ws, for life.
I foolishly followed those instructions, taking the short term view that
the systems end was imminent, coming up to 1975. So instead of
encouraging my children’s education and motivating them to learn skills
that would be necessary to provide for themselves and their own
eventual families. I persuaded them to pioneer.
My son, now turned 60, does hard manual labouring jobs, and little
saved for retirement. I mentally reproach myself continually for his
situation and I urge other parents not to put their children or
themselves in this same position.
Coming up to 1975, this org, was planning for a future in this system,
They were still building and expanding their property empire, as they
are now with the new multi million dollar headquarters at Warwick.
Others back then were, by subtle propaganda, encouraged to sell
their houses and use the money in order to work full time for this
wretched corporation.
There was no global flood covering the highest mountains, it’s a proven
fable as is Armageddon from the same book. The untold number of
books I bought from them are long ago in the trash where they belong
and that’s the best place for the sparlock videos.
there is no doubt ceders you are low and your thinking capacity is going with you.i re pit come back Jehovah God loves u
I am convinced that every child begins with a “Scientific” mindset at the start. Watch them experiment, ask endless questions (often brilliant ones), display independent thinking, and get pleasure in finding things out for themselves. The “Organization” crushes all of these basic instincts. They turn little scientists/explorers and turn them into mindless and unquestioning acolytes/slave labor. If this is not criminal, I don’t know what is.
@Ted & @ Strong Haiku!! Both your comments are Excellent. It is TERRIFYING this INDOCTRINATION from such an Early Age !! The Organisation is Becoming like the book 1984 by George Orwell. MIND NUMBING BRAINWASHING by the GB. Reminds me also of Animal Farm by Orwell & the Famous Quote ‘ All Animals are Equal but some are More Equal than Others’ … Perfect Reference to the 7 MEN of the Governing Body!!!
Thanks, @Pickled brain.
As a business analyst, one other thought comes to mind:
– The “Organization” is anti-science and higher education which results in more compliant but unskilled workforce
– They are an “Industrial-age” corporation and the rest of the world is already (and continues to move) to a “Knowledge-based Economy” which pays a premium for what is in your head and your individual creativity
– As newspapers have already learned the printing/publishing model will not survive without major changes which the “Organization” is unlikely to understand or follow
– Their preaching work is by any standard not very effective and all of they have left for future workforce are their children. However, since these are likely to be low-income wage earners they will need to rely heavily on the quantity of people.
The “Organization” has created an unsustainable model of their own making. Instead of “Building cars, they build faster horses.” If this was a public company I would sell my stock immediately.
A 1mn20, le papillon fait référence au programme de conditionnement Monarch…… Bravo JW.ORG !
As a child even before I could read i would be asked to sit and i looked at these scary images in the magazines and books, I suffered from migraines since I was 2 after a car accident (in my parents defense they did not know why i was crying) and the friends used to tell my parents to shut me up and etc. No child can reasonably sit for so long still…I would say i was forced to and just learned to deal with it and I did not want to piss Jehovah off. I think my parents were just doing what they thought was right. I gotta admit there were some good things i learned as a JW and certain things I am freeing myself from still. 1 out of 3 people of grow up as jw’s grow up to be jw’s and same goes for people who are df’d. I think that is what they are afraid of…there are as many people leaving the organization as are coming in…soon the people leaving may outnumber the people entering.
CM
I let my kids fall asleep and do other things during the meeting. They stayed awake for the most part but here is the thing, anyone would get bored or fall asleep if they are sitting in a seminar or meeting and the information was way over their heads or something they were not interested in. I mean a talk entitled a “Godly View of Sex and Marriage” alrighty then. Yelp a perfect topic for a child…LMBO.
I was actually quite sad and distressed to see Cedars’ comment on Noah’s Ark with the sweeping generalization that “archeology, geology and biology testify never happened” – as there are many scientists who support creation. For equal time, here is Ham’s rebuttal: https://answersingenesis.org/the-flood/global/was-there-really-a-noahs-ark-flood/
Using Richard Dawkins as a rationale is also disturbing as atheists also can poison the minds of children as much as any other type of zealot, no matter when the subject.
I have always wondered, if creation science is supposed to be such a joke, then why are public schools so hellbent against allowing a two-model approach? It would be great way to teach critical thinking skills. It seems liberal elites in education just want to tell kids WHAT to think, not HOW to think.
Anyway, when it comes to debunking the WTBTS, let’s not throw out the baby with the bath water. Former JWs do themselves no favor by rejecting the Bible in totality. Jehovah’s Witnesses represent a defective form of Christianity, not the real thing.
@Linda Cebrian…Ok. I’ll play along. On your third point regarding teaching “creation science”:
– May I ask you, which creation story would you like to use in the class? There are thousands of them from many religions that are older than the bible.
– Since you speak of it being an opportunity to “teach critical thinking skills”, what proof/evidence you would bring to the class so that it is not a subjective or faith-based opinion?
– Also, are there other curriculums we should give a “balanced” view to? To borrow from Christopher Hitchens – “Well, children, chemistry period is over, but we’ll be doing alchemy in the next half. And put away your astronomy books and get out your astrology charts, because we are ‘open-minded’ in this school,” Or for that matter, let’s have the “Flat-Earth” society teach their view during Geology class.
– Lastly, are there things you do not personally believe in (e.g. Big Foot, Chupacabra, UFOs, Loch Ness Monsters, etc.)? And, if not, why? Many, many, many people believe in such things. To be fair, should every myth and story represented in class rooms or would you see that as a waste of valuable time and resources?
Just some things to think about.
@Scrubmaster, my heart goes out to you and all those that have the added challenge of having kids while managing these difficult situations.
I do not have kids, but wouldn’t it be cool to be able to teach children some of the most common Logical Fallacies. Then ask them to pay attention to the meeting and have them note how many they spotted. The one who gets the biggest number gets an ice cream. What a fun ride on the way home that would be. ;-)
I know it is not practical and it is purely “flight of fancy” on my part. And, it many situations it would cause problems. But one can dream.
Since more than 80% of JW youth end up leaving the religion as an adult, it’s just creating more “orphans”, broken families, and disinfranchised adults. Sad really.
@Strong Haiku .You are right about the Organisation are ONLY JUST coming out of the Dark Ages of the Industrial Revolution into the Computer Age ,but I think they are 20 Years behind the Rest of the World!! For the Last 100 years the GB have got away with Covering over The Changes & COVER UPS & Lies in Regard to DATES,PROPHECIES & Doctrine !’ BUT NOW THE INTERNET HAS EXPOSED their LIES & COVER UPS .Anyone Can CHECK All the HISTORY and FAILURE after FAILURE of Prophecy & CHANGES Back & Forth !!! It makes you Giddy & Dizzy !!!You can Dowload all the Old Books from Russell& Rutherford & See everything that was Taught in PDF format!!
In the latest issue of the Watchtower Study edition, you can read that “Satan rejoices when one of Jehovah’s servants commits a sin”! Things are abvious, Jehovah’s Witnesses make use of two gods of their Bible : “JEHOVAH” (Occurring 7988 times in their New Bible Version) and “SATAN” (occurring 86 times in the same Bible)!!
Satan is the tool they use to threaten people and Jehovah comes in as a refuge! Without Satan and fear, Jehovah Witnesses would be POWERLESS. Their power has a strong link with SATAN! ( http://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/w20150515/watchful-satan-wants-to-devour/ )!!!
@Mama Joy. YOU ARE SO RIGHT !! in our Congregation 4 out of 5 teenagers Have Left the Truth & this is repeated throughout the World !!! & as you say The DEVASTATION & TRAUMA of BROKEN FAMILIES is WICKED!!’ Even if the YOUNG Are Not Disfellowshipped They will be COMPLETELY Shunned& Isolated as They will be Viewed as Bad Association if they go to University or Get a Career & NOT PIONEER!’ !’
I remember that feeling of fear all too well. But when we got home we faced corporal punishment and/or being screamed at and forced to stand in the corner until our legs burned. People don’t realize the militant atmosphere children contend with at the meetings. It was extremely difficult to sit still through those horrifying meetings on a school night. My schoolwork suffered badly due to sleep deprivation. I often slept in the Nurses office the next day because I just could not keep my eyes open. I’m glad the JW organization is being exposed for the dangerous offender it truly is.
I am always deeply saddened when I see the poisonous indoctrination that the next generation of my JW family are being exposed to.
Children are like sponges, they soak up what they hear. Regretfully my relatives and other JWs do not realise the harm they are doing.
On one occasion during a very rare meeting with active JW family members, I met a new addition to the family for the first time. She was a sweet little thing about 4yrs old. When her Mum went out of the room, leaving just the two of us together, she looked at me from under her lashes and said vehemently, “I HATE YOU! You don’t love Jehovah!!”
Seriously ?! Comparing Noah, who was old enough to have son’s that were married to young children ? A statement that was popular among the Elders in our hall and mostly used by them was ” I have to do what’s best for my family.” It shut everyone up.
Top reason why the flood is a myth and therefore useless as a threat
is, it didn’t work. It did not get rid of wickedness. For a start, Noah got
pie eyed and fell asleep starkers in his tent, Ham went in there and
what happened we don’t know. But it was bad enough for Noah to
curse Ham and all his descendants. Ham obviously missed the point
of the flood they’d just survived. Kids, they never pay attention!
Then came nimrod a mighty hunter in opposition to JHVH, then the
Tower of Babel, where God confused the languages. But that didn’t
work either. But maybe third time lucky with Armageddon. But I
wouldn’t put my house on it. It’s all so juvenile isn’t it !
J
The watchtower manipulates the children mind because these children will be the future costumers of the watchtower corporation……. what a criminals! Please Jehovah witnesses wake up. Take all those man Government body and all committees leaders and hang them upside down, under the Brooklyn bridge. save 8000000 people.
@Linda, there is a great book i would recommend titled “The magic of reality” author Richard Dawkins. Get the larger fully illustrated version, great read!.
They must be ramping up the paranoia because the may 2015 watchtower about new light that gog of magog being who knows but it’s everyone so we’d better be on guard against everyone cause everyone is evil & out to get us!! Aargh!! I think I might stay at home everyone is coming to get me!!! Does someone have a basement I can hide in!!!
Seriously, the pictures of the soldiers that look like storm troopers looks nightmarish. The angle of the image is as though you are the person on the ground being trampled. Imagine what that image is doing to young minds. I found it very frightening & I’m middle aged & out of the indoctrination.
Then on the other hand, there having these 5 year plans to build commercial style buildings. I can’t understand how jw’s can’t see the 2-faced, double-tongued talk that comes out of this cult.
Really great comments everyone, I enjoyed them all (except the almost illiterate one from someone calling down evil on Cedars). Obviously a true JW because he/she cannot form a coherent thought and certainly can’t spell it correctly.
@Ted. Your comment about your son is especially poignant. I wish that some news program would make a documentary about all of the older, disenfranchised Witnesses who have followed the Watchtower’s advice and now have deep regrets about how they have wasted their lives.
I know that the most damaging indoctrination device the Governing Body had was the life experiences in their magazines, books and on the assembly parts. You would always hear some idiots who did nothing in their lives but knock on doors but exclaim how it was the best life ever! How could they compare their life?!? Did they live before??? Did we get to hear from other people who invented things, travelled, worked at exciting careers or who were in some other exciting lifestyle?!? No. Just these pathetic old people who would say anything to get their 15 min of fame from the Organization. They were probably bitter and miserable but you wouldn’t hear that!
If we could parade a whole bunch of honest life experiences from the JW community we might wake up some poor souls who are about to quite their jobs, give up on education, sell their home or go pioneering hoping to find god’s blessing (which is another illusion).
This would be one of the GB’s worst nightmares! “I pioneered for decades, served in every capacity for the Watchtower and I regret every minute of it!”
@JJ & @Ted .I Feel for both of you ! Thank you both for your Valued Experiences & Comments!! It helps lots of us here on this Forum!
“I HATE YOU! You don’t love Jehovah!!”
I felt as though I were being stabbed when I read that, Rosie. I can’t imagine how you felt!
JJ. Pickled Brain. Thanks for your encouragement.
It’s great that we can empathise with each other,
having all had similar experiences. Best wishes .
@Rosie & @Marilyn . Your Experiences are Heartbreakingly painful to Read let alone to have endured. I was baptised at 20 & came in as an Adult so made a Conscious decision though there was no internet in 1979 so I couldn’t do the Research !! If I knew what I know now ,NO WAY WOULD I HAVE TAKEN the BIG PLUNGE!!
Sorry if this posts twice.
I was raised by a jw mother who was already using those tactics. She was extremely unstable and of course the religion made it worse. As a very small child for any normal childish infraction she would tell me that Jehovah did not love me. She would tell me that I would die at Armageddon with all the vivid details. Yes, I left (ran) as soon as I could but it left me w/ a lifetime of anxiety, depression and a diagnosis of PTSD. They stole my childhood and my life. I really think what they are doing is child abuse. This should be a wake up call for anyone in the org. with children. Why do you want your children to suffer?
Rosie, I also felt the pain when I read your comment. It was what I was taught to say as a child to my father who was not a jw.
@Shanti . My Heart goes out to you! IT IS CRIMINAL !! These Experiences are SO SAD ! & This ORGANISATION is said to Have the MOST HAPPIEST PEOPLE on EARTH!!Fly ME TZo THE MOON