This doesn't happen anymore. My child (10 years old btw) says they no longer want to partipate in holidays with me either even though this was somthing that was done in previous years and will not use any of the gifts I gave last year for Christmas and Birthday.
Organized to Do Jehovahs Will
by juliew 20 Replies latest jw friends
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jgnat
Oooh, that's rough.
I want to pass on a whole bunch of work-arounds to help your child think for him/herself, and to reinforce their natural personality. For instance, you can get a gift "just because" around the date but not on THE DAY. You can do the same thing with Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. All the trappings, but just not on THE DAY. This is routine for generational JW's that typically converts don't know about.
To ease the stress of holidays (all put on by the WTS, but there you go), plan on going out on Halloween and perhaps getting out of town over Christmas.
I'd stay off religious subjects directly, but find reasons to ask your child's opinion on things, use socratic questioning, and honor their independence and ability to make up their own mind on things.
http://www.amazon.ca/Teach-Your-Child-How-Think/dp/0140238301
It sounds like you are being frozen out on anything to do with the Witnesses, which is unfortunate. I am worried this child is going to get baptized on the sly. Find out when the next General Assembly, Circuit Assemblies are going to be. Do you think you could bear to go along?
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Honesty
Per my custody order I also have the right to access any religious and medical records for my minor child but that hasn't fazed the JW I was married to at one time. I haven't had any contact with my child for over 5 years, don't know if the JW has managed to coerce my child into getting baptized in the satanic cult of Jehovah's Witnesses.
I would be more than very concerned if I were you.
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KariOtt
Is there a pdf link for this book? I would love to read it
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KariOtt
Newly Enlightened......Thank you very much. It has been added to my collection.
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Gayle
Here in Arizona, I went to a court with a non-JW mom (I met through this site in fact) who went to court about concern that her 3 children could be baptized JW. The judge asked the JW father what age the JWs baptize,,the father said "at age of maturity." The judge asked "at what age is that?" The father said that the child is asked several questions by the elders to determine if they were mature enough. Surprisingly. the judge said then that 'he' would question the children also to determine if they were mature." The judge also required that the mother should receive 90 day notice before any baptism of the children and then she would have to inform the court.
A year later I contacted her to see how things were going. She was happy to say that the kids weren't even going to meetings with their dad. Sounds like to her that the father wasn't going to meetings either, at least not when the kids were with him.
I had never heard of a judge requiring that order before.
The non-JW mom also requested that only the 'father' could have a personal Bible Study with the children and not any elders nor anyone else in the cong. The judge granted that also.
The mom also requested the kids not go to meetings at the Kingdom Hall. Of course, the judge didn't grant that. But in all, I was amazed at what she did accomplish.
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William Penwell
The only thing you can do is develop critical thinking in your child so they can examine and question everything. Otherwise if you talk against the beliefs of the JW's, you will be labeled as the "devil" by the believing parent. I did not understand everything and the seriousness of my baptism at the age of 17. Also I thought someone under a certain age is not capable of entering into a binding contract or agreement as that is what baptism is all about.
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villagegirl
I was 14 and my parents were not JW's and opposed my
going to meetings with a friend I met at junior high school.
The friend was a wittness and her mother took me to an assembly
gave me a bathing suit to wear and all I remember was standing
in line to go into the pool. Then I was fearful not to go to meetings,
and one thing led to another and I married a wittness 11 almost 12 years
older than me, when I was barely 18 and then spent 7 miserable years
married to him and when I left him I was disfellowshipped.
So - yeah pay attention - lives are often pivotal on one unnoticed
event that their parents may not even know about.