Elder rules regarding young children

by lancelink 18 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  lancelink

  This afternoon I was talking to one of my sons (25 yrs old) and he was telling me stories about how he felt as a young jw.

  Some of the stories were pretty sad.

  It got me thinking ,, the elders were real "micromanagers" when it came to young kids at the meetings.

  We were not allowed to bring books outside of the wt, no alphabet, picture, or counting type books .

  Also food was a big no-no. when my kids were toddlers, we would bring cheerios, small stuff like that.

  The wizards would bellow from the stage, "you should not feed your kids, take care of that BEFORE the meetings.

  After that time, I still brought food with, we just made several trips down to the basement during the meetings.

  Out in service on a 95 degree day no shade, kids and parents were advised to KEEP YOUR TIE ON. One elder actually had the nerve to tell me

  not to take a break ( hot humid morning with two infant boys) because we needed to get a complete morning out in the field.

  The truth was that he was pioneering that month. We ignored him and took a break, and he and his wife sat out in the car enveloped in a self rightous cloud of BO. man that was a hot day.

  Any other stories about child control in this religion ?
• 

  yknot

  No people watching.....eyes on the speaker!

  No Talking , any notes written better be theocratically inclined or they are subject to being the next 'local needs' talk!

  No more than one bathroom trip, water fountain use only during second song.

  How to behave and after the meeting who should have been removed and spanked.

  Appearance commentary

  Elders following you around town when you turn 16 and make a point to scold you for music, dress, association, location driven etc....

  class divisions within the congregation .... regarding whom can be called 'friends'.

  These are a few that come to mind from my childhood.
• 

  dissed

  These are a few of my favorite things....(imagine Julie Andrews voice singing this)

  When the hand smacks

  When they look mean

  When your acting bad.

  Simply remember these favorite things, then you won't feel soooo sad.

  Ah.....the memories!
• 

  JWdaughter

  I think that all of the above is true of what happens, but additionally, putting kids on the stand giving 'talks' and then JUDGING them publically is nasty and cruel. What kid needs that kind of pressure? I thought that most of the elders in our cong. were generally kind, but those evaluations could be brutal even in the pussyfooting around the truth.
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  PEC

  I feel sick, can't even go there. Philip
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  agonus

  It's so ridiculous. Parents are supposed to pay attention during the meetings to get the most out of it but then they're discouraged from using anything that might help pacify the kids so they actually CAN pay attention. Of course, most of this b.s. comes from folks who have never actually had children...
• 

  agonus

  And, of course, the WT absolutely REFUSES to provide childcare/daycare services of any kind... might make them too "mainstream"...
• 

  aquagirl

  They always used to talk about Samuel who was like 2 when hr started preaching to the pharaseesand doing the rubics cube and stuff. i HATED Samuel.Whoever that was..My Mom ws told that I couldnt wear a charm bracelet to meetings.{Satan,ya know}.
• 

  Snoozy

  This reminds me of when I was a child of about 11 and my girlfriend asked me if I wanted to attend her Methodist church with her..I said 'Sure".
  A bus came and picked me up that Sunday morning.

  Well I never went to any other church before other than a Catholic one years earlier.This was much different. It was in the basement of the church, I guess it was like a Sunday school thing..

  Anyway, the minister/pastor was giving an extremely boring talk and I had found a cute little roach crawling across the floor right in front of my feet. I though he was much more fun to watch than the preacher so I am bending over and looking down smiling at the roach. I was sitting in the front row so I was easlily noticed.

  The guy stopped his talk and leanned on the podium and starred at me..it took me a minute to realize why all got quiet..He asked me some rude /embarrasing question and I just wanted to disappear... I know I turned a bright red...needless to say I never went back..lol

  Somehow this thread reminded me of that..
  And my girlfriend didn't invite me to church anymore...

  Snoozy
• 

  WTWizard

  They didn't like the idea of my giving certain children items like blank paper, colored pens (I got one of those 10-colored ones that they could have a lot of fun with), and letting them explore in my pockets. The parents appreciated it (it did help those children keep settled down during the boasting session, preventing a few spankings and beatings later), but the hounders thought I was drawing too close (perhaps, it might give them something to actually look forward to at the boasting sessions instead of just sitting there wasting the whole time).

  Seems that, if anyone tries to do anything to give certain children an actual reason to look forward to boasting sessions (unless it happens to be a pedophile waiting to strike during a hounding call; these are hidden from the parents), they are doing something wrong. Never mind that, when I did these things, it was right in front of both of their parents, and obviously G rated. Hmm--seems like those hounders are trying to smokescreen something they themselves have to hide?