by cedars 166 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Sorry jws, the reason the WT is against toy plastic wizards is not that they think it is fooling people, ala Superman. They believe that it can link a person to the supernatural, to demons and the devil.
THEY believe in Satan, maybe even more than they believe in God.
Nice try, though, to try to make the writers seem smarter than they really are.
Your criticism of the video hinges on the belief that religion in itself is intellectually stifling. In other words, the atheist’s worldview.
http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6156
What crucial need does the Harry Potter series fill? In a culture where cynicism is too often the dominant note, it provides a reminder that life is good--that it is challenging and full of exciting possibilities. The books are, in short, fuel for a child's maturing mind. As vitamins and minerals are essential to a child's healthy physical development, so literature with this view of the world is essential to a child's healthy mental development.
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There's nothing wrong with the video from a theological standpoint. The animated video is simply designed to counteract occult ideas and paraphernalia directed at children. Criticizing the video from a theological angle, using Jesus' criticism of the scribe's and pharisee's application of the Mosaic Law is just dumb. The New Testament is consistent in its admonishment regarding spiritism.
Jehovah's Witnesses really don't read information written by apostate JWs so I fail to see any point in writing an article directed at parents.
I learned from this video that makers of cheap chinese toys have more power than Jehovah! He is almighty, lord of the universe, but cannot stop the chinese from making small plastic wizards!
Evil plastic wizards, thwarters of almighty Jehovah!
Onward you witnesses of Jehovah, spend many thousands to make a digital film to tell our young how enraged is the almighty Jehovah over these plastic wizards! FRIGHTEN and SHAME your child into throwing away evil plastic wizards!
Make sure that you show your child withered old Adam and Eve, behold the evil plastic wizard RIGHT THERE IN THE HAND OF THE SERPENT!
The New Testament is consistent in it's admonishment regarding spiritism.
To cede influence and power to Satan, as the WT and other fundies do, is a tacit admission of polytheism.
God may be supreme, in your view, but Satan and his demons are also powerful gods, no?
How about this:
They are all imaginary, at least as described by the OT and NT.
Which is what makes this video both face palm stupid, and also damaging to children. Should children be taught that an evil invisible person is out to get them and trip them up at every turn?
To cede influence and power to Satan, as the WT and other fundies do, is a tacit admission of polytheism.
God may be supreme, in your view, but Satan and his demons are also powerful gods, no?
How about this:
They are all imaginary, at least as described by the OT and NT.
Which is what makes this video both face palm stupid, and also damaging to children. Should children be taught that an evil invisible person is out to get them and trip them up at every turn?
That gets back to the atheist worldview. You could reasonably assume that Harry Potter may lead a young person to become a Wiccan, a supernaturalist nonetheless.
Pistoff
Sorry jws, the reason the WT is against toy plastic wizards is not that they think it is fooling people, ala Superman. They believe that it can link a person to the supernatural, to demons and the devil.
I'm guessing English isn't your first language, huh? I guess you didn't comprehend the first paragraph about being taught that such items can invite demons into your home. I know why the JWs are against the toy and all that it involves. I'm just saying that it can no more link you to something that doesn't exist or prompt you to become a supernaturally fueled wizard any more than a child wishing to become Superman can become Superman. Except in that while there's nobody saying you can learn to fly like Superman, there are people who say you can cast spells and perform magic for fun and personal gain. And they'd be happy to teach you all of this.
What writers am I trying to make seem smarter? The JWs? They're just a religion and like most Christian religions shun spiritism and the sorts of things a wizard implies. If they're going to believe Christianity, why not let them preach this stuff? You don't have to agree with them, but it's about as harmful of the rest of religion.
The writers I'm talking about are the writers of the Bible, not the Watchtower Society. Mediums and fortune tellers are fakes and frauds. And I'm a bit rusty on my Bible verses, but I don't think an explaination was given as to why they were bad. Only that they were bad. Even people who don't believe in the Bible or supernatural stuff know they are cons and to stay away from them.
Your most recent post asks if a child should be made to believe that an invisible force is out to get them. No. Just like they shouldn't be taught that snakes talked, the world was once covered entirely with water, that their sould will either go to heaven or they will be ressurected to live forever, or that the science of evolution is evil and evolution never happened. But hell, a great majority of the country believes some of this crap, so you can't really single out the JWs as any worse than the others.
The new DVD is a product of mind control created by skilled mind control artists. What they are attempting to do is instill a form of martyrdom complex into their youth early on. The Watchtower has always been about member sacrifice whether that be higher education, entertainment or the love of a worldly person. These people are insidious and they know exactly what they are doing. In fact I would call them the leaders in mind control technology today. It really is good work, if you are into that type of thing, if you're a Nazi.
The animation is packed with subliminal messages. The first being the Watchtower's idea of a perfect family arrangement: the mother slave, the obedient child(ren) and the respected Watchtower educated father. They paint the woman as overworked and stressed out because that's the role for the Watchtower Mom which results in perpetual stress. They are expected to do the heavy lifting at the house while the husband makes money somehow while juggling a hefty load of theocratic duties.
The story about the toy wizard warrior is about starting Watchtower sacrifice early. When you really boil it down with logic the toy is harmless so why is it such a big deal? Because throwing away a prized toy, a gift from a "wordly" even, is the perfect way to solidify loyalty to the Watchtower. It's a proverbial line in the sand. That's why the Watchtower is textbook insidious because theirs is a subtle process that takes over the entire mind of their subjects ending with the result of a religious slave zealot to do your bidding and make more baby zealots for you.
Take for example a cousin of mine. Growing up with her I saw her do nothing but struggle with sacrifice for the organization. In high school it was pot and a worldly boyfriend who actually fell in love with her. In the beginning of her life she considered the Watchtower too restrictive and did things like watch fantasy movies like Lord of the Rings. The trilogy was a big part of our lives for a few years, we would eagerly await the new installments and often talk about the characters and their story archs. However, every once in a while we'd go to a meeting and the study article would mention "spiritstic movies." Some pompous elder would make sure to bring up movie titles in his comments. They would leave no room for conscience and if any form of entertainment (movies, books, games etcs) had any magic in it they were to be strictly avoided if you wanted to be considered "in God's love."
One day I was visiting my cousin and she started talking about her Lord of the Rings DVD's and how they had too much spiritism. She said the movies were worse than books which was a poorly constructed logical justification. The mind control was setting in, the guilt was taking control of her behavior. She had the extended version of all three and they were proudly displayed in her room. With dejection in her face she took them down and put them out of sight. She knew that she was not a real Jehovah's Witess if she loved those movies the way she did. So, she sacrificed them and they are no longer something she cherishes. I was a dub at the time and it was one of the first things that made me think critcally about the cult. This woman had forwent not only a few movies, but an entire life up until this point. She was the quintessential witness who felt bad about everything she did and eventually jetizened them from her life. To her and her family it was an act of heroism and lauded, but to me it was an act of cowardice and borderline idolatry to the Watchtower. That's how they get you, it's like a slow poison that takes over every brain cell in your body. Like boiling a frog.
And now they have this animation that is setting the matter straight for hundreds of thousands of kids around the world. They WILL have to throw away something they love and it will be their first step into the fabricated world of the Watchtower where nothing but sorrow, pain and empty servitude awaits them.
-Sab
SABASTIOUS - enjoyed reading your take on the video. The "get ready to make sacrifices that really don't make sense" message is loud and clear for both parents and children, and the idea of "setting the matter straight" is definitely there as well.
My question is, how many parents in their 20's -30's who LOVE their LOTR and other movies with "magical" content wil be ALIENATED by this video? How many will say "This goes too far. Ridiculous." I can think of about half a dozen right off the top of my head who will find this DVD cringeworthy and it will end up on the shelf, and not on the TV in front of their kids.
BTW: I know the society really doesn't care who they alienate. They want LISTEN, OBEY BE BLESSED robots.
jws:
I'm guessing English isn't your first language, huh? I guess you didn't comprehend the first paragraph about being taught that such items can invite demons into your home.
No need for insults.
We agree that the video is stupid.
And they can make anything they want, America allows nearly anything in the name of religion.
We also get to critique it and point out that it is stupid and damaging to children.
I was told by jws that Potter was bad because the humans practiced magic but in LOTR humans did not practice magic....so was okay to watch.
You can always count on JW's for low reading comprehension. The Stewards of Gondor possessed a limited gift of prescience, (i.e. True dreams) which a JW would certainly lable as demonism
