Using the Watchtower to Ruin Your Children

metatron

The Circuit Overseer spoke from the platform sternly,
"We seem to have a problem in this circuit with young brothers
not having any ambition, either in the truth or even in the world"

I understood what he was talking about - guys that don't pioneer/
run mikes/reach out - and - they live at home with lousy jobs/
no jobs.

But you probably are saying to yourself "Why criticize the
organization on this lack of motivation? Isn't the world full
of 'slackers' right now?"

Well, the CO I'm thinking of said this TWENTY YEARS AGO.
I don't think things have gotten much better since - except perhaps
that many Witness kids ARE GETTING motivated to leave home, go to
college and abandon the 'truth', first chance they get.
Aside from that, what about the 'truth' could possibly reduce
a young person's motivation? How about.........

The whole world is wicked. All your friends are doomed unless
they become Witnesses.

It's OK to go to college but only if you promise to pioneer
NO, WAIT A MINUTE, HOLD THE PHONE! NEW TRUTH IS NOW COMING IN!
CANCEL THAT LAST STATEMENT, THE CONVENTION SAYS OTHERWISE!

You can't join the football/basketball/soccer/debating/baseball/
lacrosse/hockey/ team, son. It's all bad association.

Grandpaw sez Armageddon is coming soon. He preached that in his day
and now it's a family tradition.

All art/poetry/fiction is worldly. If you like cultural nihilism,
being a Witness is for you.

Sorry kid, you can't discuss politics or cheer for Greenpeace,
or sell Girl Scout cookies or manifest any interest/pride in
anything your nation state has ever accomplished.

Delivering Meals On Wheels to the elderly? Collecting for
Unicef? Nope, your time is better spent selling poorly written
magazines, door to door, for the rest of your life.

Ya' know, son , isn't it time you start thinking about getting
baptized? ......... No????!!!! ......... well, I don't know if
you can use the car if you don't start showing some maturity.

and the biggie, anti-motivation wise,

Everything is going to be destroyed - soon! - completely!
Wiped out! - horribly!. A career in this world is a futile,
waste of time time, son.

and so, another janitor, another school bus driver (health insurance), another night watchman with no other skills, another
hypochondriac layabout, another guitar teacher with no students,
another window washer is created or encouraged to remain as he/she
is.

Kids are supposed to look up and see the stars and try to reach them.
Instead, their sky is made black and void

my 2 cents

metatron

DB

Yeah, your kid can't join the school team, etc, or at least it's strongly discouraged and you and your child are looked down on if you allow your kid to join such teams....but it's okay for the Williams sisters, Jerry Hairston of the Balt. Orioles, and Prince to flourish in their high-profile careers.

outnfree

Metatron,

As with so many other of your posts, I thought this was valuable.

Just wanted to bring it back to the top.

Best,
outnfree

Prisca

Great post.

I can totally relate to this. Everything a witness child wanted to do seemed to have some negative conotations associated with it. My father always seemed to know of some Watchtower article that spoke on whatever activity you wanted to mention.

Indeed, what's the point of persuing anything, if God is going to come along and squash all your plans?

AmazingProgeny

I liked your post. It made me remember how awful I would feel when my parents would tell me to stop being friends with a "worldly" kid. I would always feel sick to my stomach, but I always did what they said. Now, I wish that I had ignored them at least once in my life.

I also knew some people with a lot of great talents and intelligence that got wasted at Bethel or with janitorial jobs. They could have had great jobs and been on the cutting edge of technology instead of stuck in a nowhere job.

I am so glad that my kids will be free of all that crap.

AmazingProgeny

JeffT

In 1988 my two oldest children were in middle school and doing well. I had already discussed college funds with my (nondub) parents. I realized that I could not, in good conscience tell my children they should plan on washing windows for a living. I knew enough to know that the WT had been saying that the end was near for a long time. We started doing research on the organization, and were free a year later.

I wonder how many young (and now not so young)lives have been destroyed by this stupidity.

tergiversator

Good post, metatron.

Kids are supposed to look up and see the stars and try to reach them. Instead, their sky is made black and void

It's one of the ways people who weren't raised in the organization don't realize quite the advantage they have over people who took all of those things seriously from an early age. (Plenty of people leave because they never did take it seriously; but I, alas, was a true believer since age 4 or 5.)

I was lucky, I guess; for me, school activities and worldly friends were largely forbidden, careers denigrated, volunteering shunned - but I had my books. I devoured enormous quantities of science fiction and other literature throughout my childhood (and why, if I were going to live forever in paradise right here, was I so interested in going far, far away?), and they gave me a back-up dream to fall back on when the future I knew was coming disintegrated into rubble.

It's funny. You think that once you're out of the religion, once you realize that the world can be a beautiful place full of hope and potential, that you can instantly become the involved, interested, and ambitious (what a bad word that's made to be...) person you always secretly wanted to be... but it's not that easy. Even after the external reasons for disengagement from society are gone, there still remain subtle attitudes and chains of thought and familiar patterns of behavior that tend toward an antisocial apathy. I have a feeling it will be a while before I've rooted them all out.

But it's nice to see the stars as stars again.

-T.

Enlighted UK

My husband used to play the classical guitar when he was at school. We were in the same congregation, and i remember he used to play really well. In fact he was so good his music teachers wanted him to join the school orchestra group and take it up professionally.

But no, when he was in his teens, it was decided (encouraged by parents) that it took up too much of his free time, he wasn't spending enough time on the usual stuff (you know, ministry, bible reading, etc), so he stopped practicing. He became a car mechanic (dead end job - following in his elder brothers footsteps) and tried to do all the things expected of him at the kingdom hall.

He has since left the motor trade and has settled into mental health nursing (something which could look suspiciously like a CAREER!!, perish the thought), and is enjoying the CHALLENGES that his profession now brings.

He still occasionally dusts off his classical guitar, but unfortunately the WTB&T society (and his parents) have succeeded in closing that avenue for him.

Enlighted UK

Enjoy your life, it is the only one you'll have

Maximus

::But it's nice to see the stars as stars again.

Powerful.

The only answer/antidote is

Education
................Education
................................Education

Maximus

Using the Watchtower to Ruin Your Children

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