Can Witnesses Do That?

by Dutchie 27 Replies latest jw friends

  • COMF
    COMF

    There is a very simple logic supporting their actions, as anyone who was once a dub ought to know. It is that they have life-saving truth and the time is short. Jesus said, "I came to put, not peace, but a sword. For I will cause a division, with a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother... Indeed, a man's enemies will be persons of his own household."

    I'm not saying they were right in their actions. I'm saying that they use stuff like this to convince themselves that they are right in such actions. You exJWs should know this, and should know also that just because you see the inherent wrongness of it doesn't mean they are going to see it as you do.

    They will become convinced all the more of their rightness when you add something that can be construed as persecution. Best to simply keep a wholesome relationship with your child, and praise him for his good judgement in such situations.

    COMF

  • Francois
    Francois

    I think you've got a case for interference with parental rights. Talk to the district attorney, not the police.

    Jesus!

    Francois

  • mrs rocky2
    mrs rocky2

    Ha! they do it all the time. A former friend of mine would go out to feed her horses - take them to the far end of the field. Underneath her overalls she had on her nice clothes. The dubs would pick her up, study with her, and then bring her back. Another example, Rocky studied with a bud in school whose parents were opposed - they met in the park. More recently, one sister would bring her son's classmate to her house, pulling her out of school without the parents permission. Don't know how they got away with that one. The son went to Bethel, the girl got baptized, the sister left the Borg.
    Just because the WT says 'don't' doesn't mean the locals follow the rules, as someone said - anything for a Bible study....
    Mrs R.

  • Hyghlandyr
    Hyghlandyr

    >>How can this organization claim to be "God's mouthpiece"
    >>and yet encourage children to defy their parents and
    >>keep secrets from them? Arent children supposed to
    >>honor their parents, not lie to them?

    Come now let us be realistic. Have you all forgotten the
    teachings so quickly? Are you not aware of the statements
    made to the following "we must obey god as ruler rather
    than men?" If you, like them, honestly thought this was
    the one true way, you would also perhaps think that it
    is vital to teach even children.

    Now taking a step back, one fella did post the official
    teaching of the watchtower. Go ahead and make a presentation
    to kids, ask if their parents allow them to choose their
    own reading material. When I was a pioneer, when I was
    a publisher, those are exactly the same words I was taught
    and used. Let us not blindly assume that this is just
    another mark of the big bad evil corporation. This woman
    in particular, perhaps even her congregation, acted, not
    the WTBTS. This is not to say they are not causing harm.
    But please, lets 'sue'? Lets scare them? PLease

    How about calling the local congregation during a meeting
    time, informing one of the local elders, have your son
    there to tell the elders also. Inform them that as a member
    of the community you were unaware that it was a teaching
    of Jehovahs witnesses that kids should disobey their parents.
    Further inform them that your son had said he had to get
    permission first from his parents and the '" ministers" that
    came to the door didnt even wait for him to see but
    automatically assumed he would be denied permission.

    My wife drives people to the meeting all the time. I am
    an apostate. Further I am an Anti-christ. The elders know
    this. She used to drive to the MORNING and the EVENING bookstudy
    to which I objected. When I informed the elders of this,
    despite the fact that I am an apostate, and they know it,
    they still told her to cut back. When she complained to
    sisters that I was complaining about it they told her, maybe
    I had my reasons maybe not. But to talk about it.

    And what is all this bunk that THEY are DEAD SET on destroying
    the family. BULL. As I said I am an apostate, the elders
    havent said didly squat to my wife about it. They dont harrass
    her, they dont complain to her, they dont WARN her. They dont
    even broach the subject at all with her.

    What they are set on is having the entire family remain
    Jehovahs Witnesses, or becoming jehovahs witnesses. And they,
    like every religion on this planet, are intent on controlling
    the members of those families, to varying degrees.

    Instead of becoming so explosive, inform. Your mother? Mom,
    I will not have my kids taught these things. If you do so,
    then I will simply not bring them over anymore.

    Inform the congregation of the actions of their ministers.

    Then
    Move
    On.

    Who gives a flippin rat really. The only ones they would get
    away with this, are families who are not there for their kids.
    Some dad is beating his son, or some mother is a souse. And
    frankly maybe those kids would be better off at the hall,
    maybe not. But I will say this, I was far safer at the hall
    once I got away from my mother, and father (when I was 18,
    and 20 respectively) than when I grew up with them. My mum
    was Catholic/charismatic. My father was a psuedo witness.

    And finally, instead of shielding your kids from these things,
    why not teach them? I cannot for the love of the Goddess understand
    why so many ex witnesses toss their stuff. They dont consider
    that in the future they might need that same literature to
    protect someone else. Teach your kids, this is what JWs teach,
    see right here in the watchtower. Now, does this make sense?
    Do you see why that doesnt make sense? What do you think of that?
    For that matter, here is what wicca teaches, here is what the nazis
    taught, here is what catholicism teaches, this is what buddhists
    teach. Hide and cower and quiver and they will discover it sooner
    or later.

  • Moxy
    Moxy

    since that KM, id always enjoyed working with someone who would get a child and politely ask, 'do your parents allow you to choose your own reading material?'

    the kid would look back with a blank expression like 'shwuh? reading... uh material?'

    mox

    Well, on second thought, let us not go to Camelot. It is a silly place.

  • neyank
    neyank

    Oh man would I be #@&SSED off.

    One of the main problems I can see happening with the JWS being sneaky and trying to get kids to study with them without the parents knowledge, is suppose it's a pedephile that's trying to get them to study?

    Then what?!?!?

    As a parent, it's our responsability to keep our kids safe.

    If ANYONE aproaches our kids and tries to get them to do something without our knowledge then it's time to take action to ensure the kids will be safe.

    If it means going to the kh and telling the elders to KEEP AWAY then so be it.
    If it happens again after that, call the police.

    neyank

  • Dutchie
    Dutchie

    Thank you all for responding. Mighty good suggestions. What got me so mad was the fact that they wanted him to have the study and not tell me. Can you imagine? All the things I do to get my kids to confide in me and tell me everything and then here comes someone who, in the name of their religion, is telling my kid that it is perfectly okay to study and not tell me about it. Yeah, like that's going to happen!

  • Scully
    Scully

    Dutchie:

    This is really disturbing. It amounts to the same thing as the Moonies recruiting kids who are away from home at college for the first time, as soon as the parents are not able to control access to their kids.

    I've spoken with co-workers whose kids have 'befriended' JW kids at school. The JW kids "aren't allowed" to socialize with the "worldly kids" in their homes, but the JW kids will invite their schoolmates to their homes, and there will be subtle indoctrination as the JW family "puts on a good show" for the worldly kids.

    My co-workers are frantic that their kids are being subjected to this kind of subtle indoctrination. If the parents resist, or attempt to assert their parental authority, the JWs will turn the kids against their own parents, using the "persecution" trump card.

    Kids are so impressionable at this age - they're just coming into young adulthood, and don't have the experience or the knowledge to question what is happening to them. It's also natural for kids to show a bit of rebellion against their parents as they begin to form their own values, so parents are really "stuck" when their kids get involved with JWs. If they intervene, the JWs will call it "persecution", and the kids are more likely to rebel against the parents; yet if they don't intervene, it's also likely their kids will become indoctrinated.

    There really needs to be some kind of education beginning at the early high school level to teach kids about these kinds of tactics that are used by groups that want to exploit their naïveté and inexperience for their own ends.

    It's scary that the JWs are trying to invade your own home and lure your son into studying with them. Get yourself on a Do Not Call list ASAP. The lawyer's letter is a good idea too.

    Love, Scully


  • NeonMadman
    NeonMadman

    As a teenager, I studied with the Seventh-day Adventists before getting involved with the JW's. My father objected to both groups, if I wanted to be religious, that was ok, but he wanted to see me in a more mainstream group.

    At one point, the SDA's started pressuring me to get baptized, but I told them that my father would never approve and that baptism would have to wait till I was older (I was 14 at the time). They said, well, maybe I could get baptized and not tell him. I had more respect for his authority than they did and refused.

    Later, he asked the JW's to stop studying with me (I was a bit older at that time, maybe 16), and they just ignored him and continued to come as long as I would open the door for them. I had grown a bit more independent by this time, and continued the study. I don't know why he didn't just order them out of the house, but it may have been so as not to drive a wedge between him and me. He did, later on, tell me that he had no respect at all for the JW's because of their ignoring his request. I don't know what he would have said about the SDA's suggestion - I never told him about it.

    Of everybody I spoke with, the Mormons were the most respectful of parental authority. They wouldn't do anything without permission from my parents, but they also wanted my father to sign a paper stating that I would be allowed to be baptized if I decided to do so after studying with them. Otherwise, they wouldn't even conduct the study with me. So, guess what? I only had one meeting with the Mormons.

    Tom

    "At midnight all the agents and the superhuman crew go out and round up everyone who knows more than they do"
    --Bob Dylan
  • 4christ
    4christ

    Highlandyr:
    Hello. I have never been a JW myself, my mother was mixed up with them when I was a child and dragged me along with her. I am familiar with Bible teachings. And do the JW's not claim to follow God and Bible teachings? Is not the fifth commandment (or is it the sixth) for children to honor their parents? Shouldn't JWs encourage children to do this, even if the parents are "worldly", since the Bible states how children should behave in respect to their parents? That is what I meant in my last post, that there seems to be a disregard of God's clearly stated commandment in the practice of encouraging children to be deceptive with their parents.

    quote: "the only ones who would get away with this, are families who arent there for their kids"- maybe families who are shaken up because of a tragedy, like a death in the family? There are lots of reasons why families arent "there" for each other as much as they should be. In my brothers case, my father was broken with grief from losing his wife and he had two teenagers to raise alone.

    I agree that the organization as a whole cannot be considered responsible for every thing that any member ever does. However it doesn't seem to be an isolated incident, as I said in my last post, my own brother lied to my family about his involvement. Others also posted with their experiences. This is not the action of one person but a series of incidents and a certain mindset among the collective.

    I believe that Jesus Christ is the one true way. I think children should learn about Him too. Does this mean I would take my childs friend to church without their parents permission or encourage them to come behind their back? NO!

    The last paragraph you wrote, I liked what you said about teaching the kids, i totally agree. I think it is important for them to see all sides of an issue. Mine are a little young yet but my seven year old knows that there are different beliefs that people have, that not everyone thinks the same way. They need to see that there are other viewpoints. We have always had a policy not to hide the world from them, after all we cant make desicions for them their whole lives. It is our job to give them the information they need to make informed, smart choices for themselves.

    Peace to all-L

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