by Christ Alone 8 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Did your kids resist your leaving the organization? How did you get your kids to understand the need to leave? Did they react well?
I would think that kids would be somewhat excited at the prospect of not going to meetings anymore and getting to do all the things there were forbiden to do as a JW. But I could see that there could be some resistance involved and them feeling like they are doing something wrong. I was just wondering how you handled it with your children.
I'm guessing by the silence that most of you didn't have to deal with this?
I am such an old fart that my kids were grown adults, who never took up the religion themselves,bless 'em ! by the time we left.
Needless to say, they were pleased that we had finally woken up, could finally be our real selves, and that they no longer had to hide the fact that they smoked and had live in partners etc
If you are younger than me, and most people on the Planet are, and your kids are mind-controlled J.W's , I pity you. When you leave you have an uphill struggle to even keep contact with said kids, let alone enjoy normal relations.
May all in that situation triumph in the end !!
I didn't have to deal with this when my boys were young and still living at home. Both were married and had children of their own when my husband and I woke up. And both were JWs when they married. By the time we told them we left the organization, the oldest had already quit attending meetings. He said he had known for a long time the elders were not directed by holy spirit and began questioning other things as well. The youngest son and his wife are very tech savvy and had been looking at sites on the internet by the time we told them. However, because of his wife's fanatical parents they are slowly fading. It will be interesting to see how they will handle breaking it to their 6 year old daughter and 4 year old son.
Reopened Mind
My boys were 12, 10, and 4 when we left. The middle one and the little one were thrilled - they both hated sitting through meetings and assemblies. My older son was distressed over not seeing his friends at the hall, and he thought we were going to get divorced and all sorts of bad things would happen. I don't think my middle son ever believed anything the dubs taught. We hadn't really put in a llot of effort trying to indoctrinate the boys - we were awful slacker parents. We sat them down one at a time and explained what was going on, and why we were not going to go to the hall anymore. It took a few weeks for the older one to really settle down, he cried a few times over his friends. We got the older two into BOy Scouts right away, they already knew one boy in the troop from our neighborhood. We also enrolled them in public school for the first time, which has been quite an adjustment. So far they seem to be doing well. I just hope they never got back into the borg.
My daughter is still in... shuns me. When they DF me for not believing Christ came in 1914 ( invisably)
She said I love you MUM butI cant speak to you any more .Still doesnt except whe I put money in her bank
No kids, but I would be sure to provide your children new friends, activities, before taking out of the only social system they know.
Well I am still 'in' but conscious class....
With my kids I used the same techniques I used to inculcate them with the Troof...
When I ask questions they are slanted toward personal opinion versus WT status quo.
I also made good use of all the historical references that were being highlighted in the WTs at the time to introduce doctrinal development.
Each child has their own spin on which JWism they choose to keep and those they choose to discard.
They are happy nominal JWs (and so are their best JW-buddies).....such is the 'privilege' of having born/raised JWparents vs ConvertJWparents....
Guess that is the future of the WTS in Westernized countries.... cultural JWs more than strict-adherence JWs....
We had a little discussion tonight at the dinner table about the history of the WTS opinion on organ transplants. It is relevant because we actually know someone from the local hall who had a kidney & pancreas transplant about 2 years ago. I really do worry that they don't know enough about the crazy stuff and the flip flops that they might get suckered back in someday.
