A poignant comment on JWsurvey.org from a nonJW regarding Sparlock

by cedars 46 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  cedars

  Hi everyone

  I woke up this morning to find the following comment had been left on JWsurvey.org on my article entitled "Watchtower's New 'Toy Story' - What Parents Need to Know"

  It read as follows...

  My grandson, who is 3, was telling me “magic is bad” several times a day. I did not know what he was talking about, but I knew his mother was being drawn into a Jehovah’s Witness church and so I googled and found your site and the video.
  I am concerned. I have no rights as a grandmother. I am a non practicing Catholic, and I consider myself a good but imperfect person. I graduated cum laude from Georgetown University. As a JW, what do you suggest I should respond when he tells me magic is bad?
  Mary

  I've emailed a reply this morning with some suggested things that Mary can try saying to her Grandson, but I've recommended the best course of action would be to try reasoning with her daughter before it is too late. If she is "being drawn in" at the moment, then it's possible that she isn't yet so indoctrinated that she can't view information from an objective viewpoint.

  Anyway, I thought I would share this with you, since it proves that the effects of the Society's propaganda stretch beyond the confines of those who accept JW beliefs.

  Cedars
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  smiddy

  Hi cedars

  My thoughts are , if she is not too heavily involved with jw`s yet, is to get her to to read Don Camerons book" Captives of a Concept" .I sincerely beleive if people are aware of these facts before committing to the JW religion , they will never do so . Just my 2 cents worth

  smiddy
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  oldlightnewshite

  Our Cult spidey senses aren't over-heightened. The average person on the street sees it too. Christ on a bike. What will the next generation of Dubs be like? They're gonna churn more of this cartoon brain-cleanser out, too.

  There are certain Disney films LPs that I listened to as a kid, and I could probably still at 43 write out the script word for word.

  gawd 'elp 'em.
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  smiddy

  Ok sorry, it`s the grandmother who`s concerned , maybe she needs to tactfully lead the parent her daughter , to reading this publication before she gets too involved.

  smiddy
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  steve2

  Why do we so quickly have a sympathetic ear for people who should observe appropriate family boundaries simply because they share our views on JWs?

  Which is worse for the grandchild? The prospect of having a JW mother or having a grandmother who tries to undermine the mother's wishes for her child. There can be few things more soul-destroying for mothers raising their children than interfering mother-in-laws who mean well and insist they doeverything for their grandchildren's well-being. If I were the JW mother, I'd be telling my mother-in-law to kindly back off.

  I have no brief for defending JWs, but as the son of a loving JW mother - now deceased - I wonder why we assume the "poor" child of JW parents will be deprived. Look, a very high percentage of kids raised in JW environments are capable of working things out for themselves and leave.

  In the meantime, granny needs to take her smelling salts and back right off.
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  cedars

  steve2 - you have an interesting point. I confess I never considered it from that perspective.

  However, it's worth remembering that this is a lady whose three-year-old grandson is wandering around spouting evidence of indoctrination by a damaging cult - before he's even left kindergarten!

  I don't know what it's like to be a grandparent, but I can't imagine being too thrilled if the day were to come when my own pre-school grandchildren started saying "God hates fags" etc, after it emerged their parents had started attending the Westboro Baptist Church.

  I agree this needs to be dealt with using extreme tact, and the parents' wishes ultimately respected. But I can't agree that this person should forget about the whole thing and do nothing.

  Cedars
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  talesin

  Yes, we will tell 'granny' to save the 'smelling salts' for when she learns her grandchild was molested by the local 'Brother Cover-Up'.

  Just stop and think . about . what . you . are . saying.

  This woman is watching her daughter or daughter-in-law get sucked into a cult, which is already affecting her 3 year old grandchild, and looking for ways to stop this child from being indoctrinated.

  Why do we assume this child will be 'deprived'? You can't be serious. Eight years here, and you have read .. any other peoples' stories? ... no other peoples' stories? Yah, this child could very likely be deprived, of a LOT of things, if mummy joins the c.u.l.t.

  t
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  ziddina

  " Which is worse for the grandchild? The prospect of having a JW mother or having a grandmother who tries to undermine the mother's wishes for her child. There can be few things more soul-destroying for mothers raising their children than interfering mother-in-laws who mean well and insist they doeverything for their grandchildren's well-being. If I were the JW mother, I'd be telling my mother-in-law to kindly back off..." Steve2, page #1

  Ah, I beg to differ...

  Of course, my childhood was PROBABLY different from this little boy's. He probably isn't being hit, kicked or slapped if he doesn't pay proper attention to the family bible study, or if he makes any noise at the kingdom hall.

  But frankly, I dearly wish I'd had an "interfering" mother-in-law who would have given me more perspective on the REAL world, and had "interfered" with the brainwashing I was subjected to.
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  finally awake

  by the time I was willing to reveal to my family that I was studying with the witlesses, I was already so indoctrinated that any attempts to reason with me or show me the truth about the truth would have angered me and just pushed me further in. I suggest being very very careful - I did significantly limit my mom's contact with my kids when it became clear that she would do whatever she felt like doing with my kids regardless of my wishes. In hindsight, I realize I was wrong about a lot of things, but she still should have respected the boundaries I established.
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  jeremiah18:5-10

  What an interesting dilemma. Careful not to be hypocritical. Many posters on this site villify JW family members that presume to override parental upbringing by non-JW parents of their children and who try to "indoctrinate" those children with "the truth". In reality these JW family members are doing what they truly feel to be right and moral in their heart. The same applies in the reverse case as outlined here.

  Both sets of situations involve a non-parent family member seeing the child "being endangered" as if they were about to run out in the street for a ball. In such a case, your expectation would be that someone care enough to keep the child out of harms way.

  It seems to me that in this particular situation that the grandparent has to respect the parents right and responsibility to raise their child as they see fit, as long as imminent abuse is not occuring (I know that many feel JW indoctrination qualifies). The grandparent should simply attempt to reason with the child and parent without creating conflict and imposing their own beliefs on their families thus attempting to indoctrinate them in their beliefs, just as we would hope that the JW doesn't attempt to indoctrinate us.

  Respect for personal beliefs is sacred. Children are completely et the mercy of the environment of their upbringing and the teachings they hear, see, and are taught. Their belief system will be formed around this. The best case scenario for any child is to be provided with a well-rounded balanced presentation of facts and viewpoints, and encouraged to decide accordingly as they grow up.

  In any case a parent has the unique right and responsibility to raise their child and teach their child as they see fit. There is no getting around that fact.