One year ago today, I was 40 weeks pregnant and my husband and I were sitting at home, watching a movie. My water broke at 10:30 p.m. and by 2:30 the next afternoon our son was born, exactly on his due date.
Tomorrow, we are celebrating his birthday. We are going to go out for breakfast and then go and pick out a gift for him. We are going to pick up cupcakes from our favorite bakery and let him have his first taste of sugar! It will be a simple, special day for our family. Nothing could ever convince me that it is wrong to celebrate my child’s life and especially the day that he was born.
That the Watchtower Society convinces parents that it is wrong to do so is so sad to me. It gets me thinking about other things I would be doing or not doing if I was a devout JW at heart.
I would stick my child in an uncomfortable carseat for hours while I went out in service. Even if he begged to stay home, we would be out in service every Saturday morning, no question. Our lives would revolve around the ministry.
I would smack him, pinch his arm and flick his ear if he didn’t sit absolutely still and quiet for 2 hours during the meeting. In fact, I would make him sit at home in a chair for 2 hours to practice being quiet.
I would make him a target for bullies by having him stand outside for the national anthem, sit in another room during holiday assemblies and not accept a piece of cake when the rest of his class is celebrating a birthday.
I wouldn’t let him express his individuality through the way he chooses to dress or cut his hair. After all, we must show by our appearance that we are "separate from the world".
If he got involved in some sort of “wrongdoing”, I would report him to the elders and make him go through the humiliating judicial committee process, even letting them announce that he has been “publicly reproved” in front of the entire congregation.
Even he was passionate about sports, art, drama – I wouldn’t allow him to participate in any type of extra-curricular clubs or teams, because "bad associations spoil useful habits".
I would discourage him from pursuing his dreams, whatever they are. I would expect him to put them on hold until the new system, and instead spend the best years of his life regular pioneering, while working a job that he hates to support himself.
And finally, if he didn’t choose this religion, I would turn my back on him. Treat him as if he was dead. Remove him from my will. Never meet my future daughter in law or grandchildren.
I can’t imagine raising my child in this way. It’s heartbreaking what the Watchtower Society does to families, to childhoods.
Granted, there are bad parents out there. Parents that neglect and physically or sexually abuse their children and worse. But I strongly believe that this is another kind of abuse, another form of bad parenting.
What are your thoughts?
