2009 Drama Synopsis and Comments

by jabberwock 72 Replies latest jw friends

  • flipper
    flipper

    JABBERWOCK- Good thread. Thanks for sharing. Many of us here like myself haven't been to these assemblies for many years - but the INCREASE in mind control over rank and file witnesses is very evident here. Your quote " how much stereotypes of worldly people were reinforced. " Oh, how true. Steve Hassan mentions the same thing in how cults operate in his books. Mind control cults ( like Jehovah's Witnesses ) try to influence members to feel that they will become crazy partiers , have sex with everybody, be drug addicts, raving drunks and lunatics and become prostitutes if they LEAVE the group . So they paint this " stereotype " of a FALSE picture of what will happen when you leave the witnesses to instill fear in members of ever leaving ! Many times people who leave the witnesses have much happier, more fulfilling lives ! But the powers of the WT society don't want people to know that. They are told what to think

  • daniel-p
    daniel-p

    Its ironic that you have to, in essense, relenquish control over your mind in order to not suffer the fear of not having any control as a wild and crazy "worldy" person.

  • JeffT
    JeffT

    I was going to respond earlier, but I got distracted thinking about all the hot chicks former employers have hooked me up with.

    What day was this on? I'm thinking of going this year and writing about what it feels like twenty years later. This sounds like the kind of theing that people outside the cult need to hear about.

  • no more kool aid
    no more kool aid

    Nice, our poor old parents are going to have themselves worked up into an emotional froth.

  • diamondiiz
    diamondiiz

    Just from the description of the drama is it possible that they are going to soften their approach on DFing? Maybe they want to keep more people from leaving the slavery machine and thus are offering a hand to those that faded away as if they return they won't be dealt with in a harsh manner? They need more cash coming in so they have to soften their approach to kicking people and and in fact will have to look for the many that have faded so they can have better chances of growing the growth that is turning negative? Could this be the new light? Easy on kicking people out! Our balance sheet doesn't look as good as years past!

  • jabberwock
    jabberwock
    So, let me get this straight, did the father in the drama slaughter the bull, did he put a ring David's finger and clothe him in the finest robes? Was David accepted back without conditions?

    The father doesn't put any conditions on accepting his son back, but it isn't really necessary that he do so as David expresses a desire to both return home and return to Jehovah. Of course we can safely assume that David would not be welcomed home if he did not return to Jehovah.

    I think the slaughtering of the young bull, etc. is supposed to be represented by David's family inviting friends over for dinner in order to welcome him back (this is described as about to happen though it never occurs onstage). If he was not taking steps to return to Jehovah or if he was but was going to be disfellowshipped I'm sure that no one would be coming to share a meal with him.

    How old were the 2 sons? In particular, the one who moved out on his own? Interesting that these presumably grown men are encouraged to live at home, rather than the normal, healthy thing, which is to move out on your own. Was the sobbing mother properly dressed in an apron?

    You raise an excellent question here Cadellin. The youngest son, David, has just graduated from school so he is most likely 18 years old. His brother James is probably a few years older. There was a definite suggestion that it was better for young adults to live with their parents and pioneer rather than move out.

    jabberwock

  • daniel-p
    daniel-p

    Could we all be overlooking what may be the most important message of this drama? (If someone's pointed this out, please forgive me.): I think the real message of the drama is this: That family and Jehovah are the same thing. You leave Jehovah (i.e. the organization), and your family will be taken away from you. This drama enforces the hidden message that the organization exercises control over your family, and by extension, your access to love and acceptance. Could anything be more valuable than that?

    The Watchtower was never satisfied to only take the place of Jesus. They must be Jesus, God, and family for every JW. Only then can they exercise the control required to hold on to members. Remember the recent WT comment about a wife's relationship with Jehovah superceding the marital bond? It was pretty obvious that the real issue is loyalty to the slave, and not God, since they speak for God, after all. In this drama, the message is less clear but more insidious: Notice how they equate the young man leaving home with leaving Jehovah, and that when he wants "to come home" it's synonymous with returning to Jehovah.

  • truthsetsonefree
    truthsetsonefree

    This drama definitely sounds like the typical propaganda WT feeds it's members to keep the "world" demonized in their minds. And at the same time allowing the WT to look like a loving organization when it doesn't disfellowship someone.

  • WTWizard
    WTWizard

    Notably, all the "errant" witless did was go inactive--not even doing things that would get them disfellowshipped yet. This is about just doing something that might take you away from the boasting sessions and field circus for a while, such as regular living. Of course, they had to play up the possibilities--not everyone drinks and drives.

    By comparison, the prodigal son did it all. He took his inheritance and spent it all on prostitutes (which is clearly fornication, in the eyes of the Washtowel) and drinking and drugs. He lived a completely "debauched" lifestyle during that time--any witless doing that would surely have been disfellowshipped. This was beyond merely being inactive, and yet the father accepted him at once when he attempted to return on the first try. Not what to expect from the witlesses.

  • Nosferatu
    Nosferatu

    What happened to real dramas? This sounds like a piece of crap. It's like a lecture from my mother wrapped up in a play. There's no fun in that, and does not make the convention worth attending.

    The drama is the only attraction at the convention and they've ruined that too. When I was young, they had TWO dramas. Now they have a piece of crap stuck in the middle of other crap. What a yawnfest.

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