by closer2fine 10 Replies latest jw friends
I post on another board on parentsplace.com They have all kinds of boards revolving around children. They have a bunch of "Raising your Child...(Catholic, Jewish, etc.)" They used to have a Raising your child JW" but they had to shut it down it got so nasty.
Well, there is a debate board and Jehovah's Witnesses are being discussed now.
. http://boards2.parentsplace.com/messages/get/ppcurrentdebates195/23/23.html?outline=-1
closer
closer, thanks for posting that link. i find it interesting to read what others (non/never been jws) think about jws. it's too bad jw parents confuse learning about customs etc with celebrating them...
thanks again!
love
harmony
Most people think, Great God will come from the skies, Take away everything And make everybody feel high. But if you know what life is worth, You will look for yours on earth: And now you see the light, You stand up for your rights.~~Bob Marley
(you wouldn't believe the number of religions represented at our local elementary school) and I certainly never meant to suggest he was unwelcome at the school. My point was that I could not understand why his parents would want to send him to a school where he was unable to participate in many day-to-day activities. Much as I wouldn't send my kid to a Catholic school, b/c I'd feel compelled to withdraw him from all the religious aspects and that would seriously impede his education and make him stick out like a sore thumb.
It's not just passing up the birthday cupcake - it's not being able to participate in the Thanksgiving "centers" at Thanksgiving-time, which include *academic* activities around a Thanksgiving theme; not being able to participate in the first-graders annual Thanksgiving feast, which takes place at town hall and at which the first graders bring their collections of canned foods to donate to the town food bank; it's not being able to attend school on Valentine's Day, while all the V-day cards and candy addressed to him is thrown away before he returns to school the following day. Were he in my son's class this year, he'd probably be absent on our upcoming latke-cooking day, as there will be discussion of the tie in of latkes to Hanukkah; similarly for our cranberry-bread-cooking-day last month, with its Thanksgiving day tie-in. At the elementary level, it's pretty common to wrap academics around seasonal themes. It makes things more fun and relevant for the children. This kid misses scads of days of school b/c his parents won't send him if there's a hint of a holiday celebration of any kind going on. Better than sitting in the hall during those times, but not very educationally beneficial to have all those absences.He's welcome at school, though, and I would never allow any attitude except tolerance toward the lad - he's not singled out by anyone, he's a nice, polite, and popular kid, well-liked by all.
Missing days upon days of school is not comparable with choosing not to participate in an extra-curricular like soccer or chorus or band, btw.
Hope that clarifies my position - I certainly never meant to imply that he was less than welcome. I just questioned why his parents would make that particular choice, knowing that he would be unable to participate in so many of the regular, day-to-day activities at school
The kid's parents sound like jw hardliners. Poor kid.
waiting
If you look at the posts, mom2rebecca_only could be FredHall - only she can spell. She keeps defending JW's, there are a few former JW's on the board.
closer
oh supreme one,
thanks for quoting that, i should have done that since that is what i was talking about in my previous post. hehe
thanks!
love
h
Most people think, Great God will come from the skies, Take away everything And make everybody feel high. But if you know what life is worth, You will look for yours on earth: And now you see the light, You stand up for your rights.~~Bob Marley
Here's another quote from one of us:
Like any other group of people dedicated to a beleif system, in the Jehovahs Witnesses, you will find those who are well adjusted and happy. What you won't find with just a glance however, is the sublayer of misery and dejection that accompanys the purview of many in the religion who don't embrace their beliefs wholeheartedly. The resulting depression has decimated many children who might otherwise have grown up with dreams and desires relatively normal and intact.
You 'see' a child who simply wants to join in but won't because they feel strongly about their beliefs. I hate to burst your rose colored bubble, but thats putting things a wee bit too lightly.Children of jws wrestle with huge ethical issues regarding whats 'proper' that are far beyond their emotional capacity to understand. On one hand they feel compelled to join in on the simple fun that should be a part of growing up but on the other, they are being told its not right to do so. What you might not be aware of are the reasons given to those children. They are told that the celebrations we normally endorse, are pagan. They teach their youngsters that these celebrations are the instrument of Satan and that only Satans followers would take part in such things. YES, this means that you and all of his little schoolmates are all part of Satans world.
Furthermore, all of those, of Satans world, will die, VERY SOON, in an Armageddon that will re-establish Jehovahs rule in an earthly paradise. The children are taught about how the crows will strip the meat from the bones of those destroyed by Jehovah, about how they will be able to join in on the uplifting work of disposing of all the bodies of the wicked ones in the new system. These wicked ones, are you, and all his classmates. This same motivation is used to control the behviour of every JW and they start it in the cradle. The JW's are one of the most clever insidious cults to ever be recognized as a piece of Christianity to ever come down the pipe.
That little kid you see, who you think is simply choosing to NOT celebrate...theres a lot more at work there than you may have the capacity or desire to believe. Those well adjusted ones? Yup, well adjusted, they are completely at peace with the fact that you, and their classmates will soon be dead. Its the well adjusted ones that are the scariest, because for them, the mind control dementia is complete and for them, their may be no hope of ever living a normal life.
. http://boards2.parentsplace.com/messages/get/ppcurrentdebates195/23/23/4/1/4.html
closer
Hi all,
A very interesting perspective from someone on the outside looking in. While I would never minimze the very real problems some JW youngsters encounter in dealing with ridicule, alienation, etc., I think the generally tolerant attitude expressed by the contributor and his/her comment: ``he's a nice, popular and well-liked kid.''
So it seems there are decent, tolerant people who respect the integrity of those youngsters who courageously stand up and are counted on the unpopular side of a controversial issue, even when about all they understand is that ``it's what mom and dad ingrained in me.'' And some of these are kids, classmates.
And while such guileless youth resolutely stand firm in their intrasigence even while their little knees are shaking and voices quivering, the prevaricating WT leadership is linking up arm-in-arm with the UN in a bid to demonstrate how ``mainstream'' and ``socially aware'' it really is to increasingly skeptical nations like France and Germany, etc. .... nauseating.
Such nobility of intellect among ``wordlings,'' far more common than JW rhetoric would ever acknowledge, shames the Watchtower -- or would-- if were possible to shame the shameless.