Further Punishements

passwordprotected

Praise Gathering 2009 is taking place in Glasgow this weekend. We've been given tickets to tonight's concert as a gift. To explain, Praise Gathering is a concert with a full orchestra and 400 singers. The songs are all praises to God. So, it's a Christian event. Fairly harmless. We'd asked my JW parents to babysit for us. As is our custom, we didn't tell them any details about where we're going. They asked, and I said it was to a concert. End of.

We got home last night from the wedding (see this thread Share: Where have you been shunned?) to find a voicemail from my father saying that he'd seen a news item about Praise Gather and that if that's where we were going, they could not in good conscience, babysit for us.

This is further punishment for our decision to no longer be known as Jehovah's Witnesses.

What would you do?

Black Sheep

Tell him if he is going to behave like a cult member, you cannot in good concience let him babysit for you....

....EVER

Have a talk to the person who gave you the tickets. There may be a creche organised for the event.

Cheers

Chris

Chalam

Hi Mark,

Bit of a bummer although not the end of the world.

What would you do?

Love them.

If you want to give them a scriptural battering then here's some ammunition

Matthew 5:37 (New International Version)

37 Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

However, I guess they will say you deceived them and this doesn't apply. IMHO the verse is written to born again believers so it doesn't even apply to them.

This one is for you

Proverbs 10:19 (New International Version)

19 When words are many, sin is not absent,
but he who holds his tongue is wise.

Don't forget to pray about the situation and commit the matter to the Lord :)

All the best,

Stephen

passwordprotected

I sent my father an email;

Just got your message re. babysitting tomorrow night, that's fine.
The tickets, that were bought for us as a gift, won't go to waste; I'm going to take Cameron.

M

Black Sheep

Praise Gathering 2009 trailer video from drc_online on Vimeo.

I hope you both have a great time.

AnnOMaly

OK, so I'm guessing your parents would have no problem babysitting for you if you were going to a rock concert where they sang about sex and drugs or if you were going to see a movie that was a little violent in places? And yet their consciences are bothered about you going to a spiritually uplifting event that extols God? Yeah, that's not twisted, is it?

reniaa

You don't think you should have been more honest when you knew you were using them to facilitate you going to worship with another religion?

Black Sheep

Oh my Goodness.

He has been such a naughty boy hasn't he Reniaa?

What should his punishment be Reniaa?

Should all my family members (JWs) who outright lie to my face to make their cult look less cultish suffer the same punishment too? or are they exempt because they are Watchtower Witnesses like you?

chickpea

i suspect it isnt this one incident
but a pattern of cult-engineered
responses, that, let's face it mate,
is pretty predictible.... you will always
be the bad guy and they are always
going to be righteous overmuch...
god is taking time out from starving
children and white slavery to give a
sh!t about a concert that isnt b0rg
approved.... really?

get a new babysitter to delete this
powerplay from the repertoire....

passwordprotected

You don't think you should have been more honest when you knew you were using them to facilitate you going to worship with another religion?

Well, we don't usually tell them where we're going when we go out for an evening. The last time I checked I was a 37 year old married father of 3 children and disclosing to my parents where my wife and I go for recreation isn't part and parcel of our weekend activities. Even when they're babysitting.

Further Punishements

Matthew 5:37 (New International Version)

Proverbs 10:19 (New International Version)

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