100 things I learned from watching "The Prodigal Son" DVD (page 5)

tiki

haven't seen it and never will......but sounds impossibly unrealistic and designed to scare kids out of living. ugh..

While clearing his plate from the dinner table to take it to the sink (after eating a meal which mommie just cooked for them, and she'll likely do the dishes, as well) prodigal son's big brother (who is still living in his parent's home in his mid-20's) says:

"I feel like I've been carrying him my entire life!!"

Adamah

man oh man

I wonder if there will be a sequel when that girl comes up pregnant? Will he do the right thing and marry her? not!

EntirelyPossible

Holy crap, that was the worst video ever on so many levels.

OnTheWayOut

5. 21yrs old isn't old enough to leave home.

Only baptism, the most important decision in one's life, can take place at a young age, even as low as 6. But marriage, career, college, losing one's virginity, stuff like that- none of that stuff should be even thought about by a youth of 20 or less.

HBH

33. You can throw a raging bash in a tiny NYC apartment and no one will complain.

34. Office romance is "fun"

35. Fringe brothers have long sideburns.

36. The WBT$ has state of the art video equiptment paid for by charity donations.

That ace ventura comment was priceless...

HBH

JW GoneBad

37. In JW world family problems always get worked out and everyone lives happily ever after. Yah, right!

Ditto: Ace Ventura (I was thinking of Eddie Haskell from Leave To Beaver Show) was priceless!

TotallyADD

I will not see the DVD nor would I ever want to. With that said what you all brought out sounds like alot of JW's will be going through major guilt trips and depression. Knowing they will never be able to live up to the WT DVD's propaganda. The weird world of the WT has brought many to their knees in depression and guilt. I feel so bad for those who watch it and think this is the way it should be. Totally ADD

adamah

I still don't see what this guy did that was so prodigal, aside from needing to tap into his "pioneering savings fund" to finance a career change. Many people go into debt when going to college: it's called "investing in yourself".

Speaking of which, what is this "pioneering savings fund" idea? Is that like a college savings fund, except we're talking JWs here, so obviously that's not going to apply? Has this practice been officially announced and encouraged from the podium? That's just mind-blowing, if it's true....

The video makes many nasty jabs at engaging in any other career than the construction trades (just like Jesus, the carpenter), with the internet advertising agency depicted as the "bad" career, and the family construction business presented as the "good" honorable career. I'm guessing the reason is obvious: people who work in advertising need to understand human psychology in order to influence sales, and that's going to be a problem for rank-and-file JWs to understand: they might "wake up" to the manipulation THEY'RE being exposed to, since it's many of the same techniques.

The favored career bit reminds me of the Old Testament favoring the pastoral lifestyle of shepherding vs the urban lifestyle (there's midrashim that speculate that Lot moved to Sodom to engage in usury, loaning money to others to earn interest. With his career change, Lot was abandoning the honorable shepherding family business, just like the younger brother was abandoning the family business in the video).

It's funny that the prodigal son was allowed to pioneer after commiting fornication: I bet if the sexes were reversed (it was a sister who wanted to pioneer after she was nailed by a worldly guy) the odds are not as good that the elders would be so willing to forgive her sin (there's that misogynistic mindset, punishing the "weaker" women vs the boys who's dads are buddies with the elders).

Speaking of which, what about that girl he slept with: he apparently cut off all ties with her, without so much as giving her a phone call the next day, lol! On the other hand, she's probably not as immature or as emotionally-fragile as him, and likewise I wouldn't worry about her getting pregnant: unlike JWs, most young Worldly career women living in the big city understand that THEY are on the hook if they get preggers, and actually take steps to prevent it (unlike the guys, who rarely think ahead about "what if", esp if they're JW dudes). In the eyes of the JW's, she's a dirty harlot: nevermind that he and the other "weak" JW stumbled her, as she deserves to die in Armageddon in the eyes of JWs.

I wonder if JWs even understand how twisted and naive they appear in this video to those who've been socialized in the "real" World. I suspect not....

Adam

innerpeace

Thanks for posting the link to the video maninthemiddle, gonna try to watch it this week-end. My mom said it made her cry. I guess that is what they want to accomplish with the video, tug at people's heart strings.

100 things I learned from watching "The Prodigal Son" DVD

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