by LostGeneration 66 Replies latest jw experiences
The point the WTS. tries it best to initiate is that the serving of the WTS. and doing what it tells
people to do is really serving and praising god .
Not going to meetings is in kind to not loving god and not being appreciative of what he's done
for mankind, respectively both shameful and disrespectful.
Oh no...I wasn't forced. I was welcome to go live under a bridge anytime I wanted to stop going to meetings.
This made me chuckle, but not to be lost within the cynical humor, is the tragic reality with this post. I remember coming home after school one day and my parents were on the couch, and I could feel the tension in the room. They asked me that day, "George, don't you want to serve Jehovah?" The reality behind that was, I was 15, and hadn't got baptized yet, and I wasn't as enthusiastic about meetings and field service as my folks expected me to be. Earlier that summer, a couple of my congregation friends got baptized at the District Convention, and people were wondering why I was holding out. There was like 7 of us youths, and we were like a, crew. A few had got baptized, and a couple were already considered bad association because they liked the opposite sex too much, you know Jehovah doesn't like when young people act off of the hormones that he created them with.
Not to mention, I was the son of an elder, and of 2nd generation regular pioneer mother, and my siblings were already baptized and in good standing. I'll never forget at that convention when a grandmotherly type in our congregation, approached some of us young ones, and hugged everybody but myself, and admitted that it was because I wasn't yet baptized. So, considering that, and my parents giving me not so subtle threats of getting kicked out of the house for not wanting to serve Jehovah, I decided to make the worst decision in my entire life that very next summer. Yep, I got baptized unscripturally in the name of the FAther, The Faithful & Discreet Slave, and the Holy Watchtower Organization. Worst decision of my life. Not a day goes by that I don't ask myself the question of how'd I get born into this mess?
The WTBTS is encouraging younger and younger children to be baptized. 6 year olds are praised for dedicating the lives to WTBTS. There is no way any child can make that kind of decision and truly know what is expected of them. Yet, they can be disfellowshipped. How ridiculous.
Yes, I felt I was obligated by my parents, to get baptised.
CJ
6 year olds are praised for dedicating the lives to WTBTS.
I heard that before, is this becoming a little more common ?
The usual age back in my day was around the early to late teens .... disturbing and shocking
Forced! A two year old truly can't resist. My early teen and full teen years were resistance years. I was physically dragged. When I did not answer questions or refused to sing those awful Kingdom songs, I was punched, pinched, and kicked in full view of the entire KH. It did not have much to do with doctrine. Friends at school and teachers were nice and friendly. The KH bunch was the opposite of friendutly. No matter what I did, and at one point I thought being a perfect Witness would lead to ending the chaos and violence, I was always no good. Once I lost my voice in Ministry school b/c I had a cold, the whole crowd laughed so hard. I can see maybe laughing at an adult. But it wasn't the least bit funny to a 13 year old girl who wanted approval so desperately. If I mastered the WT material, I was too material and stuck up.
When I read about civil disobedience, Thoreau, Gandhi, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, I feel such an affinity to them. BLasting the Beatles at them was my payback.
The Supreme Court never ruled on whether a child being punished for flag salute was unconst'l. I wonder about Amish kids. Everyone assumes it would be unconst'l so no one brings the case. I promised to offer my services and every penny I had if such a case developed. Some Amish kids must want to finish public school.
Troubled Mind, Yes, for sure the WT$ softened their stance on corporal punishment in the 80's because many were being arrested right at the KH. Horrified neighbors were hearing the screams of babys and toddlers and rightly called the police. Too bad it didn't come sooner!
I was born in the early 50's. My first memories are of driving home from the kingdom Hell in convultions because my father told me I was going to "get it" Beating a toddler with a belt for something he can"t understand or accomplish plays with a childs mind and self esteem. If my mother had been physically abusive I simply would have left when I got older. My indoctrination was more COMPLEX than that. Mom used frightening scriptures, Bible storys, and scary WT$ pictures to make her points. Fear of displeasing Jehovah overode all common sense as I grew older.
Family tradition played a big part as well. Being 3rd generation on both sides, my parents curtailed all association with non JWs. We seemed like a big happy family on the surface. However, My 20 yr older half- brother was completly DISOWNED simply because he was not a believer. That was not lost on me. In addition to the punishments they used rewards too. I was told that if I chose to Pioneer when out of HS I could stay at home and have ALL EXPENSES PAID indefinately! The carrot and the stick constantly. Result?
Baptism at 12 , marriage at 17, believer till nearly 60. Another WT$ sucess story
Nothing else was to be believed under my father's roof, so I packed a bag and disappeared.
Publisher and theocratic ministry school at age 5.
Never miss a meeting Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday, never miss Saturday ministry. Answer in every book study at least 3 times and the Watchtower at least once because you need to set a good example because your Dad's an elder.
I dont remember being given a choice. Ever.
Unshackeled, your parents sent EXACTLY the same message as mine!
Well, I was never dunked in the water but of course we were more or less forced, I remember when I was about 11 years old when before my dad was in, one or two of the elders called me in backroom with my mother and asked if I was on the path to getting baptized or something, I guess they did that because that's about the time I started filling out the time slips, any one else go that with their local elders?
