Harry Potter and my daughter's class

by RunningMan 9 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  RunningMan

  Here is a little story that I thought you might find interesting.

  Last week, the local JW sisters dropped by our house to enquire
  as to our recent absences (we actually had good excuses this time).
  One of the sisters has a son who is in my daughter's grade 6 class.

  During the visit, she asked what we were doing with regard to Harry
  Potter. We had no idea what she was talking about. But apparently,
  the teacher is reading the first Harry Potter book to the class for a few
  minutes at the beginning of each afternoon. Her son must leave the
  class and sit in the hallway during the reading.

  So, for the past week, we have been having much laughter at their
  expense. Our daughter has already read the whole series. She has
  also noticed that the Witness boy does not want to go into the hall.
  Whenever the teacher starts the reading, he postpones his exit as long
  as he can.

  Poor kid. It's people like that that make JW's look like even bigger idiots than
  they are.
• 

  WildHorses

  I do feel bad for the jw children. I never told my kids they couldn't get involved with things at school. I felt that if I made them do certian things, that I was pushing "my" views on them.

  
  "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent"

  Eleanor Roosevelt
• 

  joelbear

  The really sad thing is that this won't be the universal practice and that at some point he'll talk to a JW kid at the hall or at an assembly who has read all the books and even has a Harry Potter poster in his/her room.

  This will shock him and stun his sensibilities to the core when he feels that he has suffered needlessly. He will end up blaming God and/or the Watchtower society for this injustice and it will take him years to heal.

  If their was a 100% committedness to their cause, their preaching work, their ethics, their goals in life, their morality, then the system would work. It would be worth the sacrifices this young boy and millions of others has made. But this commitment doesn't exist. Its haphazard application causes much pain and grief in people's lives.

  It should stop.

  Joel
• 

  Seeker4

  Joel,

  Your comment reminded me of a young pioneer brother I knew who had great athletic ability. In high school he was offered a starting spot on the basketball team (the only guy in gym who could stuff a basketball), and the starting quarterback position on the football team. He turned them both down, despite the fact that he totally loved sports.

  A while later he met this Witness kid whose father had been a pro football player and the kid was also very athletic. The young pioneer brother asked him how he'd handled the pressure to play sports in school, and the brother told him he'd been a star player on the football team!! Guess how that made the young pioneer brother feel??
  Jealous AND self-righteous all at the same time!

  S4
• 

  joelbear

  Seeker,

  The story can be repeated a thousand times, probably 100,000 times.

  My story in short. I was in the top 10 in my graduating class and had full scholarship offers to several colleges. I was a gifted math and history student.

  Instead I pioneered. I later met dozens of brothers, even at Bethel, who had gone to college. I heard talks discouraging college from brothers whose sons and other relatives I knew had gone to college.

  Its a shock to the system to find that you have been duped into believing that your sacrificing course of action is necessary for God's approval.

  I am glad most JW kids get to go to college now. Yes, it makes me a bit envious, but I can be glad that they will not feel the remorse that I do.

  Joel
• 

  RunningMan

  Joel:

  "The really sad thing is that this won't be the universal practice and that
  at some point he'll talk to a JW kid at the hall or at an assembly who has
  read all the books"

  This has already happened. I did not mention that we are regular publishers
  in the same congregation. My daughter HAS read the books and even did a
  book report on one of them. The teacher knows that neither of the children
  take part in Christmas, etc, yet he sees them take completely different
  stands on this issue. He must think that this org is totally out to lunch.

  I have told my daughter that if anyone asks about it, she should say that they
  are Orthodox and we are Reformed.
• 

  avengers

  This is really pathetic. They're doing the same to my kids. Harry Potter is Taboe! This is censorship! If you decide to read it anyway they start shunning you. What kind of DIVINE ORGANIZATION is this?

  I want Freedom without any strings attached Not this garbage.
• 

  Angharad

  It so sad that the kids are singled out, after all what harm can it do listening to a fantasy story, they hear worse at the KH about everyone dying at Armagedon
• 

  JBean

  Orthodox and Reformed! hee! Sweet! (I just had to giggle even though this is a serious issue.) I am thankful that my parents let me and my siblings do everything we wanted to in school... clubs, band, marching band, theater, choir, sports! I did know most JW kids in our hall and surrounding areas did not get to do this. My dad was an elder and had lots of pull, though, so we were probably looked "down" upon but no one had the guts to say anything. Nutty.
• 

  KSJordan

  If you do read any Harry Potter, hide them carefully when any JWs come around. How do you think I managed to keep all of the "apostate" books hidden from my mother for almost 4 years? It is really no one's business what you read in your own home!!! When they start paying your bills and/or rent, then and only then can they tell you what you can and cannot read or watch on TV!!!