by purrpurr 48 Replies latest watchtower bible
"Older ones too may be sacrificing the time they could otherwise spend with their children and grandchildren in order to work on theocratic construction projects" - wasn't swallowed unnoticed, I assure you.
Isn't it strange, Listener, how one often sees these contradictory statements?
There was an old couple in the hall I used to attend who got married - back in the time of Bro Knorr. They were vilified and treated almost like disfellowshipped people because they went against what was touted at the time.
Until, that was, Bro Knorr got married!
Same old , same old....
The organization has NO right to dictate people lives. It is cruel and controlling!
This really isn't anything new though. There was a convention talk called something like "Responsible Child Bearing in the Time of the End." It was later published in the WT. Basically the idea is that the GT is so close having kids will be a pain in the ass.
In my congregation we had several families pump out like 5 or 6 kids over the course of a couple of years and they were definitely looked down upon for having kids like that. When the women were all knocked up for round 2 the elders used that convention part as basis for a local needs talk.
Fisherman - Isn't it strange, Listener, how one often sees these contradictory statements?
Absolutely. I was wondering why they are being so specific here in directing such a statement at Grandparents. It is common, these days, for grandparents to look after grandkids while their parents go out to work. This does take up a lot of their time and if it is common amongst JWs it would mean a lot less time that grandparents could devote to witnessing and other work.
Personally, I think it is wonderful if grandparents are willing to look after their grandchildren, it is a much better arrangement than having to put them in childcare but it would seem that the organization thinks this is preferable.
I'm confused how you're quoting Fisherman when he's not on this page.
So it's 1975 all over again. Yay.
I saw this and was disgusted by that paragraph. Raising kids while working full time is hard. Having grad parents around to lessen the load and develop strong family ties is invaluable. I don't even think my mom and I truly connected until after I had kids and I seriously don't think I could have done everything without her love and support. Most witnesses are already financially struggling without the added stress of finding decent child care.
Here in the US, nuclear families is already a standard thing, but in other countries, it's not uncommon for households to house several generations. I have to wonder if this is may be more focused towards them.
The gb are using old tactics, regardless of double talk, due to the fact that a new generation of "Armageddon is around the corner" has arisen. They must continue this idea of "urgency". Thus all of the generation talk, bunker videos, and so on. They know that based on the past, enough will have children to perhaps continue the money flow.
What is sad, and I hope this is not the case, is that some younger ones will have the same attitude many of us had. Namely, this time things are different. 1914,1975, the generation of 1914 are all forgotten. I was thinking that even the generation of 1914 garbage was changed over twenty years ago. That is a long time ago to someone perhaps twenty-five years of age. "This time they got it right." 😖
It's statements like this that make me suspect they really believe their own nonsense. If they were cynical about the end times and more interested in growth, there's no way they would discourage having children, is there?
I wouldn't go that far - discouraging children makes good sense regardless of whether the GB really buys their own BS. They're older and if they're just in it to keep themselves cared for, they would only be worried about the cult's sustainability through the end of their lives. So, 20-30 years is all they really need. If they were to encourage parents to have kids, most of those 20-30 years the parents are going to be investing in their children and not in the cult, and the children that stay in the cult (a small percentage of those born-in) would barely have a chance to yield any return on that investment before all of the current GB is dead.
Furthermore, it appears that most of the things they've been doing lately are narrowly focused on maintaining short-term viability at the potential expense of long-term sustainability. This would just be another such move. For me, it's extremely difficult to tell if the GB are really true believers or not.
Would it be possible for you to make additional sacrifices to serve Jehovah more fully?"
no!
