[EDIT: My previous post "weirded out" so I am reposting it. ]
Cedars,
As always, I admire your hard work, your willingness to take a stand and get the word out. As a parent and professional educator, I find much that is wrong with this video. I'll riff on that later, but for now ...
I also appreciate your openness to feedback from your peers. In that spirit let me make these observations:
- Young Witness Infants - In the second paragraph of your article you refer to the video's target audience as "young Witness infants." Although definitions for the term vary between birth and 3 years of age, the term infant is typically applied to young children between the ages of 1 month and 12 months. Interestingly, Disney's Toy Story toys are marketed to children ages 3-7 years. I am unaware of a technical name for this general age group, but the terms "small children" or "very young children" would certainly be appropriate. It's obvious the WTBTS targeted this same pre-school and kindergarten demographic.
- The Plastic Toy Wizard - I doubt a die-hard JW would agree with your assessment that "in reality there is absolutely nothing harmful or satanic about children playing with plastic toy wizards." Saying that, especially as early as you do in your essay, will likely call to mind the Thought Stopping phrases the JWS are trained to think: Apostate! Then you lose the very target audience that you hope to convince. Your acknowledgement in the following paragraph of Bible principles related to the subject are the likely ones that they would apply. I think your strongest argument is that, in the video, "Without reading a single scripture in support of her arguments, she manages to convince Caleb that the toy wizard makes Jehovah 'sad'." Also, what of the inherent contradiction that the WTBTS has used a Plastic Toy Wizard in the production of this film? Why can THEY have this (virtual) prop and not be guilty of "making Jehovah sad," but poor little Caleb cannot?
- Critical Thinking: You wrote, "Unquestionably, the worst thing about it is the fact that the Society is now unashamedly producing films that seem specifically designed to rob a new generation of their reasoning ability." I agree but I don't think you make your case as clearly and as strongly as you can. What specifically is it about this film that "robs [people] of their reasoning ability"? Mom DOES in fact "reason" with Caleb using some Bible accounts with which he is familiar. What are the logical flaws in the argument? I'm not trying to be difficult but the average JW will agree with the "reasoning" as presented in the video. You need to do more than assert that it is flawed, you need to explicitly point out those flaws.
- OBEY: “Thank you! I’m so proud of you for obeying!” - It is very significant that the all-important nurturing qualities which parents, especially mothers, need to have and show in abundance for children to thrive are so blatantly missing from the parents in this video. Children need to know they are loved and valued. Good behavior needs to be reinforced as does bad/unwanted behavior need to be addressed. But concern for the child's overall sense of self should be paramount for their emotional and spiritual development. While a certain appreciation for obedience is important for all of us to possess as members of society, qualities like goodness, kindness, patience, curiosity, thoughtfulness and consideration are a lot higher on the list of caring parents than blind obedience. How medieval in their thinking!
&nbs