by blondie 16 Replies latest jw friends
I am not going to watch the video...I get my dose of WT bs each week as it is. But where was Caleb's dad in all of this. Was he not a jw too? If so, mom should have waited and discussed it with her husband and the two of them should have talked to Caleb, with the father doing the talking, at least that's what I thought the WTS espoused.
Blondie
Interesting point blondie. Your question brings out a subtlety in the video. It may be that, through careful writing, it does not actually violate the headship principle. There are two episodes. In the first episode, the mother asks Caleb to take off his shoes. When Caleb forgets to take off his shoes, the father disciplines him. Later in the episode, the mother asks Caleb to clean up his toys. When he obeys, she praises him. In the Sparlock episode, the mother only asks leading questions of Caleb, and he decides to throw Sparlock in the trash. She does not actually discipline him.
No, I believe her discussion with him was adjustment which does not always have to be physical or punitive. This was a serious issue per the WTS and the father would or should have been included in the discussion if he was a jw. I'm surprised the WTS chose to show it being the mother taking the lead in this. It goes against everything I have read or heard in the almost 50 years associated with the WTS.
Oh right. So she "adjusted his thinking?" and I gather that is only supposed to be done by the man. I see I'm still way uneducated on the nuances of JW-ism. Ack!
Especially considering it was the"son" she was correcting. Most pictures of parents with child are same gender with same gender too, father with son, mother with daughter, and they talk of the father teaching the son "manly" things like fixing the car, and the mother teaching the daughter woman things like cooking.
*** w09 7/15 p. 9 par. 10 Christian Families—Follow Jesus’ Example! ***A Christian wife does well to imitate Jesus by supporting her husband’s headship. (Read 1 Peter 2:21; 3:1, 2.) Consider a situation in which she has an opportunity to do this. Her son is seeking permission to engage in an activity for which parental permission is needed. Because the matter has not previously been discussed by the parents, it would be appropriate for the mother to inquire, “Did you ask your father?” If the son has not, she should discuss the matter with her husband before anything is decided. Moreover, a Christian wife would certainly want to avoid contradicting her husband or challenging his opinion in front of their children. If she disagrees with her husband about something, she would talk with him in private.—Eph. 6:4.
I have a feeling that the disposal of Sparlock was an emergency situation which had to be dealt with IMMEDIATELY before demons exited the toy's plastic body and wreaked havoc amongst other inanimate household objects, e.g. blender, vacuum, ottoman. You could only imagine the destruction.
I think she is a metaphor for "mother" the organization. Thus she has the authority to tell Caleb (the rank and file JWs) what JEHOVAH likes and doesn't like.
blondie - Since you haven't seen the video, the father is a JW. Part of his discipline of Caleb involved reading from Ephesians, and he also conducts the family worship night. And, yeah I have noticed in the Watchtower pictures it's usually the father teaching the son and the mother teaching the daughter.
She should have said that "when your dad gets home he will beat the shit out of you." Same as the gb (the greater mother) will do to naughty little dubbies.
I believe possibly that the mother was focused on exclusively to perhaps appeal to single parent mothers or/and women who have children where the father is not in the organization. I believe the intent was to make the video more appealing to them to see the mother alone dealing with a child. You can have quite a number of single parent children with just a mother or the father being a "non-believer". I believe it is an indirect appeal to them on a more subconscious level without pushing it too much for it still to work for the "traditional" family arrangement as well.
I could be giving them too much credit, but I think it plays a part.
I think it also, whether intended or not, makes the message of the video go down all the easier for those mothers who are single parents. They are happy to have something from "Jehovah's Organization" showing them in charge and dealing with the child, so they best follow to the letter the Society's message to them. It works to both make them feel special by being 'helped' by the Society, while making them also feel singled out and guilty to ensure they are bringing up their child in the "mental regulating of Jehovah"...
Yes, I almost threw-up even just typing that last statement.
