Ugh. Flashbacks!!! I agree with the sentiment that these things are being done with a focus on not just children, but on guilt-tripping the parents as well.
What was with the mother on her hands and knees washing the floor? Hasn't she ever heard of a freakin' MOP? That got me simply for the subjugation factor. Would have probably been easier to animate, too. And why in the world is she inside cleaning while her little boy is outside ALONE playing by himself?? I spent more time being with my kids than I did cleaning...simply because they are only young once. The dishes will always be there, the floor will never stay clean, but my kids will only be young for a short time. I think that really illustrates things a lot when it comes to how JW women are viewed.
I really think that there was a huge overreaction with "Caleb" tracking dirt on the floor. Sorry, but he couldn't be more than 6 years old. At that age, children have the attention span of...Hey look at that!!... He was so interested in his airplane that he just plain forgot. How can you make a child feel guilty for being a CHILD?? And then for Count Dadula to crack open the Bible and counsel his little boy from it over an ACCIDENT which wasn't even meant as a sign of disobedience?? A simple "Uh-oh, look what happened! Did you forget Mommy asked you to take your shoes off? Well, take them off now, and then let's clean this up for Mommy" would have sufficed. Chances are, being a little kid, he would have then apologized to his mother of his own accord with no prompting. Therein, the child learns the only lesson he should learn in such a situation...when you make a mess, you clean it up. No guilt-tripping, no fear at causing his mother anguish over a stupid floor.
The toy thing is a little more involved with analyzing. It all depends on which side of the issue a person stands. I know a lot of fundementalist christians who would be completely in line with the thinking portrayed and would indeed teach their children in that manner. I personally see nothing wrong with magic, magicians, wizards, dragons, etc. I recall, as Blondie stated, that a lot of Disney movies that I was allowed to watch had those themes...But hang it all if I was watching a TV show and someone had a birthday! There is a certain double standard at play. The adults can watch Star Wars with it's magical "Force" and alien beings that JW's don't believe in (for all intents and purposes, "mythical" creatures). Yet if a child wants to watch something similar like Harry Potter, it's an automatic "No" because Harry has an invisible "magical" force and mythical creatures. Anyone else see hypocrisy here?
I do see it as curbing critical thinking skills and instilling fear into a child that they are actually born without. JW kids see their parents as speaking for Jehovah. It's like they are his Lorax or something. So they fear displeasing their PARENTS more than they fear displeasing Jehovah. I know I certainly did. I was deathly afraid of getting caught disobeying JW rules. Not because I wouldn't make it at Armageddon, but because I wouldn't make it to see my next birthday! I wasn't afraid of Jehovah as I got older, nor did I fear displeasing him at all. When the fear of my parents disappeared...well, what was I left with? Eventually I got my critical thinking skills back, and by then I was able to actually form my OWN conscience. But those things should have been started at a young age. I was just a robot, as are most JW kids. This video will only serve to keep them in that mindless state where they don't question...or when they do, it's "because Jehovah...". These kids don't get REAL answers. They get excuses.
This was very well-written, cedars. Even though it aggravated me and brought up some crap from the past, I think it's very important that this be spread as far as it can be.
