My Wife is reading "Learn From a Great Teacher" to my oldest daughter.

by garyneal 36 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  Nice_Dream

  I think it's great advice to teach your daughter how to question things and teach her different points of view. As a born-in, I didn't realize how stupid it was to not celebrate birthdays because someone got their head cut off. My abililty to reason was severely stunted until I was in my late 20s and "woke up."

  I would also be wary of the old "My Book of Bible Stories" book, as some of the pictures are very dark and scary (like the woman crying holding her baby because they didn't make it into the ark). Definitely not a nice bedtime story.

  Good luck Gary! Maybe you can suggest teaching your girls Bible principles based on something more kid friendly that you both agree on.
• 

  jgnat

  Never underestimate the intelligence of children. Long ago I decided I would not raise a child with my Jehovah's Witness. Too much conflict on the raising. But life being what it is, even our best plans can go awry.

  The closest encounter that I can relate to is the relationship between my (JW) husband and my granddaughter, Naomi, now ten. She has easily negotiated the JW silliness, and thinks through her retorts to hubby. She'll be fine.

  Never underestimate the intelligence of children.
• 

  PSacramento

  PSacramento

  No, there weren't only TWO birthdays mentioned in the Bible.

  I was just pointing out how silly it is look into two isolated accounts of things that happend during those event and base anything on that.

  The only reason those Bdays were even mentioned was because something happend during them, not because OF them.
• 

  Married to the Mob

  Scully

  Thanks for putting up chapter 10. Having read that I feel quite sick.

  Explains a lot however.

  MTTM
• 

  Room 215

  "BTW, you might want to ix-nay the chapter about how Satan and the demons like it when we touch ourselves (Chapter 9 or 10 if I remember correctly) it's so NOT appropriate." There you have it; straight from the mouth of the Great Teacher to the ears of our impressionable children! (Was that in the Sermon on the Mount? Did I miss that?)

  What an abomination, this book.
• 

  nugget

  Tell your wife that you would like to read that chapter to your daughter. That way you can approach the chapter with your own agenda. You can point out that the Bible only mentions pagan birthdays and so as christians god trusts us to celebrate birthdays in a way that brings joy and happiness. You can pass over the ideas that birthdays make god sad. Either that or say to your wife that because the children live in a home with religious differences that these chapters should be left out for now as they put too much stress on children. You must remember that these publications build a JW mindset of not thinking for yourself, not taking pride in achievements so just be very aware of what they say.

  Tell your daughter that you want to celebrate the day she came into your life because you feel it is something worth celebrating. You don't plan to execute anyone on her birthday.

  Jesus tells us there is more happiness in giving than in receiving that is why we only get one birthday a year but can celebrate many more for other people during the year. We can use those occasions to make someone else as happy as we were on our Birthday.
• 

  Balsam
• 

  steve2

  Banning a celebration because of an act of violence during someone's celebration is utterly daft. I bet if someone got their head cut off in a kingdom hall during the Memorial they wouldn't subsequently ban Memorials .
• 

  Band on the Run

  iI would explode. Whatever money I had would go to getting a divorce with custody primarily with me. I feel so sorry for your daughter, watching a tennis match at an age when she can not understand what is going on. I recall how I felt as a young kid. My mom let us celebrate our birthdays in exchange for our silence towards our JW relatives. It was weird having secrets about normal things. Knowing that I was free to celebrate but must pretend that I did not did bad things to my head. I was too young to understand that all members of a family do not share beliefs. My mother somehow made me feel ashamed. They didn't have to hide their JW bs.

  It is not the actual event, a birthday party. The underlying theme of deceit and shame continues to this day. Altho I've been out for decades, and way out in my sister's and doctor's estimation, I still have trouble asserting myself. My people pleasing ways embarass me.

  Yet I know many Jewish-Christian marriages from being in NY. I don't sense shame there but they respect each other very much. The problem I see is that the Witnesses are relentless. Grey does not exist for them. What five year old is sophisticated enough to understand color theory?

  Your wife's inconsistency even makes it worse, rather than better. Of course, I don't believe in joint custody for divorced couples. If you could get along to do it properly, you would not need a divorce. This must hurt b/c it is about your daughter and not just you.
• 

  Scully

  Band on the Run:

  Yet I know many Jewish-Christian marriages from being in NY. I don't sense shame there but they respect each other very much. The problem I see is that the Witnesses are relentless. Grey does not exist for them.

  The problem is neither shame nor that the JWs are relentless. It is that they have no respect for views other than their own. When mutual respect is part of the dynamic, all that secrecy, shame and my-way-or-the-highway mentality has nowhere to take root. If you get a JW to agree to a cooperative coparenting relationship with a non-JW or ex-JW it would solve these issues in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, the WTS requires and compels JWs to take an all-or-nothing approach and encourages bullying the other parent into letting them take over the spiritual leadership in a family. They really truly want to create as much misery as possible. What a loving arrangement, no?