Help prevent sons indoctrination.

WasOnceBlind

Ok so here is the deal, as some of you who might have read my first post might remember, my parents are JW's while I myself have faded. I have not told them that I don't believe in the BORG and I have done my research and concluded it's a bunch of crap. The main reason I haven't is because it would break my moms heart and probably send her into a deep depression (she suffers from depression). The other is because my dad would probably disown me, I mean he disowned his own brother and would not speak to him even after not seeing him for a decade - yep cuz that is what Jesus would have done!

Anyways my mom babysits my son, she picks him up from school and keeps him for about 3 hrs while I get off work. Recently I got off early and went to pick him, when I got there I found my dad giving him and my niece bible study. Then another time I went to pick him up to find my dad making them watch those stupid Caleb cartoons. Now the other day my son started to tell me about how he learned about the great flood while doing bible study with grandpa. I kind of rolled my eyes and he saw me do it. He asked me, how come the lions didnt eat the other animals or the people. I told him that because supposedly animals didn't eat other back then. He is big on dinosaurs so he asked, "how is that possible if there were dinosaurs that were carnivores?' I told him, "excellent point son, you should ask grandpa and see what he tells you."

Any advice on quick questions I can have him "ask grandpa" to plant seeds of doubts in all the crap he is learning?

Witness My Fury

No. The simpler solution is to lay ground rules for your parents when they look after him. He is your child not theirs, if you say no cult propaganda then no cult propaganda it is...

If that is a scary conversation to think about, then think about your child succumbing to the bullshit and becoming indoctrinated instead.

OneEyedJoe

I wouldn't have him ask questions. Your father is an authority figure and your son will feel strong pressure to accept whatever BS answer is given him. Better to explain that some people just believe very silly things (and maybe give examples of things from other religions that everyone will agree are silly). Then nurture his intellect and critical thinking skills and it won't be long before he has no interest in bible study.

Take that for what it's worth, coming from someone without kids. I do, however, strongly believe that had someone, anyone, done that for me, I would never have been baptized.

FayeDunaway

Very tough situation because I know you don't want to tell your parents how you feel about the religion. My parents know how I feel about the religion but would still show videos to my kids. It had the opposite effect they intended, but my kids were old enough at the time to have their own minds about it.

This is awful for you, because your son is there every single day after school!! For three hours!! And I know how expensive after school daycare is, so you feel you have no other options. All you can do without changing your situation is keep talking to your son, make sure he stays skeptical about it. He sounds pretty skeptical already so that's good!

WasOnceBlind

@Witness My Fury - No that will not work, like I mentioned, I don't wish to tell my parents I don't believe in that anymore. Telling them something like that would automatically make me an "Apostate".

@OneEyedJoe - My son does not accept things so easily. In fact I'm surprised by how he won't even believe stuff I tell him sometimes without scientific proof.

The reason for me wanting him to ask grandpa questions is that because no matter what answer he is given he will want proof, he won't take someones word for it. The more answers his grandpa gives him and then finds out they are BS the more likely he will be to just plainly start noticing it is BS.

OneEyedJoe

Sounds like you've got a smart kid. I would just warn you again not to underestimate the power of social pressure over an extended period of time. It's probably better for him to know your father is full of BS before getting pseudo-logical answers from him. Though in this day and age information is much more readily available to disprove things than it was when I was in his position.

In the end, I suspect you'll be fine either way, even if he does end up slightly indoctrinated for a time. When he hits his teens he won't want anything to do with the cult, and if you support that there's almost no way he'll get sucked in. At that point the most important thing is to ensure he has healthy coping mechanisms for difficulty so that he won't turn to the cult for answers.

Sounds like you're doing something right, though, so just keep it up!

FayeDunaway

If the only kangaroos to survive the flood were in the boat, how come they are only in Australia?

OneEyedJoe

Oh, one other thing I forgot to mention - if he challenges you for evidence when you tell him something, give him lots of praise. Teach him that this is not something that's socially unacceptable to do, and should be celebrated. Especially if he catches you saying something that isn't supported by evidence - thank him for helping you to learn something.

When he gets different treatment from your father, he'll be confused and won't like it. It'll make for a stark contrast that will sour him on the cult.

OnTheWayOut

You are in a tough spot.

No. The simpler solution is to lay ground rules for your parents when they look after him. He is your child not theirs, if you say no cult propaganda then no cult propaganda it is...

That wouldn't work at all. Even if you clearly stated your position to your parents, they would continue to secretly indoctrinate your son.
I am not going to tell you what you should do. I can only say what I would do were I to have children and find myself in that situation. I would not take chances that my son or daughter would be successfully recruited. If necessary, I would find an alternative to my JW family watching my child. If further necessary, I would say whatever was necessary to be clear on how I felt about my child being told such bull crap, even if it were to cause me to lose contact with my own parents. It's my child's future well being at stake.

stuckinarut2

Use obvious questions like faydunaway said above. Not in a smartypants way...just sincerely....

It will help both your son AND your father to think....

Help prevent sons indoctrination.

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