"Christ or E.T.?" and other dumb WT crap

JimmyPage

When I was a kid in the 80s I remember the WT actually warning people about going to see "E.T." Apparently this little alien's healing powers were a real threat to true Christians, causing them to forget what Jesus did back in the day.

I also remember the WT dissing "Star Trek 2" because of the little creature that Khan inserted into the ear of Chekhov. They used the scripture about "Who gives their child a snake when they ask for a fish?" to keep parents cautious about the evils of such entertainment. (Although I think the real threat in this case was that Spock referred to the Biblical creation account as a myth when discussing the "Genesis Project".)

What a paranoid, insecure organization. And the madness continues today when it comes to "Avatar" and "Twilight". Crazy!

Psychotic Parrot

I think it's fair to that they don't like anything which isn't watchtower related.

finallysomepride

No movie is safe from borg censors, there is always some borg member ready to condem a movie or music no matter how 'good' or 'bad' it really is.

mrsjones5

Imagination and creativity is not appreciated in the bOrg.

mindmelda

At least they know a Christ-allegory when they hear it, enough to feel threatened by it.

Literature, or any media, is full of Messiah/The Hero's Journey/The ONE allegories, tropes or archetypes, whatever word you want to use.

They existed long before Christ and Christianity and will continue because it's one of those things seems to fulfill some deep psychological need for humans.

We tend to call it entertainment now rather than religion/myth, but I can list 7 very popular movies with that archetype right off the top of my head and we're constantly retelling the old ones in new form, because they never fail to appeal. And unfailingly, the WTS disapproves of all of it, because they can smell the competition and hate it, of course!

The Matrix (which has so many Christ parallels in it that they might as well have called it, "Neo is Christ". )

ET

Superman

LOTR trilogy

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and sequels (which the author C.S. Lewis fully intended to be a Christian allegory)

Star Wars, all of it (George Lucas was never one to pass up the obvious archetype in anything he wrote, and deliberately made Star Wars quasi religious)

Harry Potter, the whole series (If you can't tell that Harry is "the chosen one" and Voldemort is "Satan" in this, you didn't really read it)

JimmyPage

Yeah, I remember mentioning the Christ parallels with regard to "Superman Returns" to my JW wife and she thought I was nuts. But many non-JW reviewers caught it.

I also remember my wife's sister talking about why JWs avoid "Narnia" and the only thing they could figure was because it was "all about Christmas" since Santa appeared briefly. They constantly look down their noses at things they know nothing about.

carla

My jw has suggested some things were 'unchristian' to watch (not in those words but that was the gist of it in our house where we have learned the dance of ubm/jw conversation) on days where I can no longer hold my tongue I always say what a shame it is that some people (meaning jw's of course) are unable to distinguish works of fiction from reality. Sad really, they lack such basic skills in life, must make it hard when a cartoon or commercial comes on that they are unable to distinquish if it is real or fiction.

I can quite literally turn any book, movie, cartoon, you name it it into something evil (by jw standards). There is not one I could not demonize to my jw and we actually did this once years ago when I was trying tell him that they do in fact determine what you can watch, read, etc..... Many years later he forgets that conversation and tows the party line so much so that he will either pretend to be reading (but really watching, he holds his paper or book up like he is reading but to the side enough so he can watch the whole thing, we laugh like hell about it when he's not around) or he will leave the room in a huff it we insist on watching something deemed 'evil' by the wt. That was a hard thing to explain to the kids when this all first started, before he was 'in' he borrowed a movie from a neighbor for the kids, the very next year the same movie was on tv and he says, "I wish you wouldn't watch that'. Keep in mind this was a wildly successful kids movie (adults like it too) and they remembered he was the one who had originally got it for them to watch. Just another nail in that coffin as far as the kids were concerned.

undercover

Because the WTS has come out against movies like E.T. and other innocent movies, it only encourages over zealous uber-dubs to provide counsel on anything and everything that they personally find offensive.

It gave self righteous elders encourgement to add to the list. If E.T. is questionable then what about [insert almost any movie name here]. A lot of times it came down to personal opinion and conscience over biblical standards or principles. If an elder developed an opinion about a movie, even without seeing it, they'd quickly warn the congregation.

Since JWs are trained/indoctrinated to not question authority, then if this elder stood up on the platform and denounced Snow White because she was a single female living with 7 males in the woods, then we better sit up and listen. It's as if Jehovah himself is telling us to avoid associating with this harlot...

not a captive

Hey Neighbor,

My older sons are about your age, if you were growing up in the 80s. My husband was almost violently opposed to the intrusion of the WT into our family via myself being a JW. I really HATE the results of their Gestopo/KGB interference with our activities.

The way the WT pre-empted on our natural ability to think and reason could have long term damage in this way:

You may have a reasonable objection to a film--but the kids and the husband knew that the elders did smack downs on JWs who stepped out of line on these things. So they always were suspicious of your real concern when it came down to it.

I remember my boys dodging off to a neighbor who lived down a long country road. They watched a bunch off truly rotten stuff there. I had no say in their donkey parties. Zero credibility.

My oldest boy is 30 now. We were talking about the value of giving kids a healthy "base line" for a reasonably happy life. How hard that is to do.I told him that I was relieved that all seven of the kids were past 18 now. No one wants a horror to occur for anybody, any time. But should something bad happen to you,having had a relatively sound childhood can help you come to peace more surely than if your childhood baseline was messed with.

He told me that at a recent party he and his brothers and a bunch of old friends were talking about stuff they had watched that really messed with their head. There was some. He said they talked about it.

what really makes me angry about the censorship as the JWs do it is the way they may think it supports family life. Sure it is good to helpthe kids avoid violently degrading images and even more nuanced and arty rotten stuff. But their blanket domination of family choice is wrong, WRONG, WRONG!

It diminishes your strength. It makes everyone --myself too--doubt your real thought process.

I had less say in my boys upbringing than I would have had as a Non-JW.

Maeve

JimmyPage

Some real food for thought there, Not A Captive.

"Christ or E.T.?" and other dumb WT crap

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