My older brother is a prime victim of information control. One of the last talks we had together before he decided to shun me was about the age of the earth.
He told me that science was a fraud. He proved this with the Bible's claim that God created the world in 6 thousand years (a thousand years as a day to Jehovah).
He told me that science says it has fossils that are millions of years old therefore they must be lying since it conflicts with the Bible.
He has a 4 year old son, my nephew.
I know that he was describing to me a position that not even the Watchtower has. Interestingly I told him that the Watchtower has printed and admittance that the earth is NOT only 6,000 years old and hold a position similar to science as regards to the age of the earth.
He told me that if I could produce this Watchtower and prove that the Watchtower was not a fraudulent one then he would concede.
So all it takes is a Watchtower to make him pull a 180 on a position that he held staunchly.
This is information and thought control at it's finest.
I worry for his son and all other small children about to embark on the journey that is being raised in the Jehovah's Witness bubble.
We live in the midst of a information revolution. We have information at our fingertips that people 20 or 30 years ago wouldn't even dream of, and we can get it fast.
What this is doing and is going to continue to do is to INFORM the public.
Many will resist and die ignorant, but I don't think the kids will.
Can you imagine what the world will be like for a kid in the Watchtower in 15 years? All his peers will be informed which will spark debate. What if this child wants to check what his peers are saying?
I think a new age of oppression is in store for Watchtower children, and I bet it is going on right this minute.
The Watchtower has but ONE card to play when push comes to shove and that's fear. They will play the fear card continually until the desired result is met.
But at what cost?
Are they going to ban internet access among members? They could, but they know that that will violently shake many of the member's faith.
If they start to squeeze too hard the members are going to start drawing parallels with historical oppression. Hilter, Jonestown, North Korea etc.
They just might see, and the Governing Body knows that. Which is why their war on information has been a fairly slow one.
I fear for the next few generations that are born into the Watchtower, I really do. My family has a good amount of small youth and I really wish I could help them.
I can't really though, not now. Until they are legally allowed to make decisions for themselves they are going to have to figure out how to ride the storm.
Here's to all those kids, who are going to see some of the ugliest things humans have to offer before they even become an adult.
I'll be there for you on the other side.
-Sab