Why is the Watchtower Society so cruel to teens? (page 2)

lighthouse19something

Guess I was fortunate, raised jw, but didn't get baptised till the day after I turned 30, always told family I would when I turned 30 because Jesus did.

Many times a DF decision is made based on the attitude of the person. Teens seem drawn to irreverence that will invariably be displayed at a JC. From a teens perspective most elders seem like old codgers that can't get it up.

I agree that they should wait until they are more mature.

bczar

Lady Lee

Why is the Watchtower Society so cruel to teens?

Well for one thing they don't believe in childhood.

Most of the rule makers have never had children. They resent that adults have children instead of dedicating themselves full-time into selling WT litterature.

Children are thought of as miniature adults who are inherently bad and need to be beaten with the rod of discipline.

They have no idea of the developmental stages of a person which includes that children just don't understand certain things until their brain develops - things like conceptual reasoning (and God is definitely a concept) doesn't even develop until a child is in their teens and starts asking "Who am I?" - and some people never get to that stage.

They don't unhderstand that children will do almost anything for approval - not because they understand or believe but because they want people to love them. This is why so many young ones are getting baptized - they get approval for it.

Then when the child does something wrong they must be punished. And the WTS believes that being harsh and cruel will somehow help people see how bad they were and will then try to do better.

They just don't understand the concepts of compassion and empathy. And they certainly don't understand what forgiveness and unconditional love are.

My sister once told me that since she couldn't be a "good" JW she would be a good sinner. Eventually she committed suicide.

The tragedy is that the WTS will never take any responsibility for so many who have been dealt with harshly and fell into the trap that the WTS is right to be harsh.

There are far too many people who wear the scars of WT discipline

OUTLAW

The WBT$ is a cowardly organization.Teens are easyier to bully.When they get older,they will know how to bully adults,teens and children.....Jehovah`s Witness`s are the Happyiest people on earth..The WBT$ says so...OUTLAW

KAYTEE

Baptism,

Aren't we suppose to be christians (a footstep follower of christ) didn't Christ get baptised at 30 years of age? therefore setting us an example.

KT

candidlynuts

a recent example of their cruelty, i posted about this before. an elder told my teenage daughter that it was her fault that her dad hadnt been made minesterial servant last co visit. the reason? she doesnt dress well enough to suit the elder body. it really upset her and put a huge burden on her little shoulders. its hard enough to be a teen why would men of "authority" put something like that on a kid?

XJW4EVR

I agree with many of the thoughts posted above. I can attest to the fact that the WT and the Elders don't care about kids. In my old congregation, the BOE (led by my dad) made it a "Marking" offense to attend any of the high school sports events. Yes, to attend them! Did the BOE offer anything as a subsitutute in a town where there was literally nothing else to do? No. There was only two movie theaters, and when both of them were playing an R-rated movie, well then there was nothing else to do but become more isolated and introverted from society.

Anything that we, teens did, we had to do under a cover of false pretenses. We couldn't go to the park, and play basketball. I couldn't just ride my bike during the summer, because some stupid J-Dub would call my mom and tattle on me. After all, what business does an Elder's son have riding his bike, and enjoying life, when he should be knocking on people's doors.

I remember being tattled on because I was seen walking into the library. That jerk elder would say, "What need is there to go to the library, when we have Jehovah's provisions to read?" I thank God daily for that library, for it was from that library that I borrowed Orwell's 1984, and began to see the parallels between Big Brother & Brooklyn. I remember being tattled on because I wanted to go to the Gorge Bridge, and just sit and not be a JW for a few hours.

I hated being a JW as a teen. I hated having so much of the good experiences of high school that so many reminisce about ripped from me. I hated being a social retard, and not being able to have friends, that I didn't look down on as Jehovah fodder. I hated waking up on school days, and thinking that this was such a waste. I hated having every aspect of my life dictated to me be a bunch of men that had there fun. I resented the fact, that my dad got to play baseball in High School.

I hate the WTS, and everything it represents with a passion. It stole my and countless others youth, and gave us nothing but heartache, physical, mental & emotional problems. Nothing would give me more satisfaction than to see that entire religion go up in smoke (figuratively).

Mary

I remember being tattled on because I was seen walking into the library. That jerk elder would say, "What need is there to go to the library, when we have Jehovah's provisions to read?"

Oh my lord, the EXACT same thing happened to me many years ago. I was in the library reading a book called "The Church of the First Three Centuries" as I was looking up information as to how the idea for the Trinity came about. One of the elders saw me, came over and asked what I was reading. I showed it to him as there was absolutely nothing wrong with it; in fact, it helped confirm my belief that the trinity was not scriptural. I was stunned when I got a phone call from another elder who was a personal friend of mine, and told me that they had met to "discuss" the situation. This was long before I was an apostate and I couldn't believe their reaction. I immediately phone the idiot elder who saw me in the library and flipped out on him. He said almost the exact same words as what xjw4ever quoted above. He didn't "see why" I "had to go to a library, when we have such an abundance of spiritual food from the Society."

carla

I'm sorry to hear these stories. My child has a jw girl in class as a young teen and I can see the writing on the wall for her. Just lately my child has been coming home saying things like Jane Doe can't do this project because she is jw, Jane Doe can't go..... because she is a jw, and on and on. I know it will only get worse for her in highschool. I told my child if the chance ever arises to tell Jane that if she never gets baptised her parents can't shun her later. My child doesn't want anybody to knew that dad is a jw so I doubt the message will get through.

compound complex

Dear, badly-treated XJW4EVR,

How absolutely rotten! The miserable treatment meted out to you resonates due to what a young man revealed to me last month. I haven't seen him in years, though he had been a neighbor and attended the KH with his family. We ran into each other in town and talked for over an hour. His revelations were heart-rending. I was enraged. A sweet, good-natured kid, who wanted only to please his dear mom and be morally upright, was hounded relentlessly by an elder. Why? For the sin of skateboarding! The young man and family are still all together, working and prospering. I was moved when he told me that I was one of a very few he remembered fondly. Well, it's now time to renew old acquaintances. He's become an articulate and well-read man, having gone to college, and appears to display none of the "new personality". I thank God for that!

You're certainly in a much better place now, XJW. I wish you well!

CoCo