My mother was a jw starting in the late 1920's. I was born in 1935. I can recall being afraid of my mother, when she would talk about non believers or those who were stoned to death in biblical times.
She would seem to be enjoying it and one time she told me that she wished she could send me to the religious leaders as was done in ancient jewish times. I think she mentioned that when a child was around 5 yrs, old, being sent to live with the religious leaders was a great gift to the family.
These things always kept me a 5 yr old, afraid of my mom and what she might do to me.
In the 1940's during ww 2 the conventions were often attacked by angry people who looked at jw's as almost as dangerous as foreign agents. But my mom would be all gung ho and turned on by the possible fights and attacks from angered supporters of their country. After all she had GOD on her side. His name was Rutherford.
One time my mom took me a 5 yr old to a convention in a large city, where whe went out to sell or give the wt publications on street corners. A small crowd of angry people started yelling at us. I was scared to death, petrified.
A young woman came up and yelled at my mother to get this little boy out of here. What the hell is the matter with you, taking this child out here in these conditions.
I can still feel the relief and love for that young woman and her protecting me. My mom finally did and while I was petrified with fear she was proud to have stood up to the crowds to support her god.
A drunken, immoral, attorney Rutherford.
I have often wondered, what she might have done. If her god told her to put her child to sleep with??
Outoftheorg