Jehovah Witness video for kids: "Pay attention or die!"

[Coldwinterskies]

Jehovah's Witnesses video slammed for threatening kids with death for not paying attention in church

 

As some of you may know I am extremely opposed to the methods that JWs use to control their followers because I feel they are psychologically abusive. I have seen a few commenters on this video say things about this like "Well, that's no worse than any other religion that believes you will go to hell if you don't believe" but to me this goes a step beyond. They are not just trying to tell you that you should believe in them, but they're trying to scare kids into hanging onto every word at the meetings. Quite frankly, I consider the meetings to be brainwashing sessions, so I can see why they want to force kids to listen to them, but I don't think it is reasonable.

 

I do not feel that it is reasonable to expect that every kid will be able to sit there quietly in rapt attention at meetings - especially when you consider that some kids out there do have ADHD or autism or other issues that could make it hard to pay attention no matter how much their parents might want them to.

 

This makes me think of the fundies who are into "blanket training" - they are expecting things from their kids that are not appropriate, because of their ignorance about normal child development.

[feministxtian]

My stepdaughters were raised JW...they were "trained" to sit through ALL the meetings by the time they were 2 or 3. The kids would just get the shit beat out of them if they didn't sit and pay attention. But then again, I got the same shit when I wouldn't sit still during Mass when I was 4-5 years old. Mom didn't beat me, she'd pinch and twist the inside of my upper arm and leave a nice bruise...

[IronicallyMaeve]

No wonder my former-JW friend doesn't like to sit still!

[whoviana]

I was told that if I wouldn't pray every night, I would die in my sleep. Once I've had enough to the point that dying in my sleep seemed like an easy way out I stopped praying. And I remember waking up really disappointed. No JV though. Some other shit.

[DGayle]

I just sent that link to one of my best friends, who is, as she puts it, an escaped JW. When she and her son became homeless after leaving an abuser, and she asked her wealthy parents for help, they told her she deserved it for leaving the church, and they'd help her toddler if she signed over permanent custody. Yeah, they were willing to let their own grandson be homeless if she didn't give them custody, under circumstances when most people would have opened their homes to their kids immediately.

She's talked about the threats she lived with as a kid. She's been in a recovery group for ex-JWs for a few years. It's very clear that (she just replied to my message to say that kids were beaten if they didn't pay attention to every word, just the videos are new) the religion is a cult, a harmful cult, and yes, I do think that religions like this should be, if not banned, then at least have their religious tax exemptions revoked, and CPS oversight to minimize harm to the children.

[Browneyed Girl]

It makes me sick when I think of what's done to children in the name of some religions. If an adult wants to be a part of it fine but don't force your kids into the craziness.

When I lived in one townhouse I had a "Support the Red Cross generously - please give blood" sticker on my front door. You won't be surprised to see that not one would so much as knock on my door on their Saturday morning recruitment walks. Actually most of them couldn't get off my front steps fast enough. I put up that sign because when tried being polite or just not answering my door nothing worked.

Fast forward to now. A few months ago I'm waiting at the bus stop outside my apartment and I see a man and his son in shirt & ties carrying briefcases. My first thought was oh crap - bus please come now!!! No such luck. Over walks the father who starts to talk and just as I'm about to say "no thank you" he prompts the little guy who says "will you read this". This little guy wasn't more than 5 or 6. It was 9:30 on Saturday morning. He's supposed to be parked in front of the TV watching ToonTV or playing TimBits hockey. I didn't want to get him in trouble so I took it (and trashed it later).

[Jana814]

So wrong about the JW. I have an ex-friend that is now one. She was very gulable do in alot of ways I'm not surprised she was sucked in.

[klynn]

Mr Klynn and I know 3 JW's. Two of them and husband and wife and were guests at our wedding. They are actually very nice people (from the outside looking in), but I know this isn't the norm. They came to our house once, to spew their crap...I listened politely but hell no. The other one is a lady who works for my mom...I used to get drunk with her at the local bar until she got sucked in.

[JMarie]

Anyone watch the PBS NewsHour tonight? There was a story about the long-term coverup of molesters within the church. This case was mentioned: nytimes.com/2012/06/18/us/28-million-awarded-in-jehovahs-witnesses-abuse-case.html?_r=0

[DGayle]

It makes me sick when I think of what's done to children in the name of some religions. If an adult wants to be a part of it fine but don't force your kids into the craziness.

When I lived in one townhouse I had a "Support the Red Cross generously - please give blood" sticker on my front door. You won't be surprised to see that not one would so much as knock on my door on their Saturday morning recruitment walks. Actually most of them couldn't get off my front steps fast enough. I put up that sign because when tried being polite or just not answering my door nothing worked.

Fast forward to now. A few months ago I'm waiting at the bus stop outside my apartment and I see a man and his son in shirt & ties carrying briefcases. My first thought was oh crap - bus please come now!!! No such luck. Over walks the father who starts to talk and just as I'm about to say "no thank you" he prompts the little guy who says "will you read this". This little guy wasn't more than 5 or 6. It was 9:30 on Saturday morning. He's supposed to be parked in front of the TV watching ToonTV or playing TimBits hockey. I didn't want to get him in trouble so I took it (and trashed it later).

I wouldn't have had a problem telling them, "No thanks. I don't believe in god." That bastard of a father was using his son to corner you. Teach those nuts that using kids isn't going to work, and maybe they'll leave the kids alone.

[nomoxian]

I wouldn't have had a problem telling them, "No thanks. I don't believe in god." That bastard of a father was using his son to corner you. Teach those nuts that using kids isn't going to work, and maybe they'll leave the kids alone.

Even better is to take a tract but tell the kid "I don't believe in God, but thank you!" to show him not all atheists are 'rude' (though really, his father is the rude one by making him shill his propaganda)

[LadyPriss]

I can't wait to show this to my guy! He will certainly feel kinship with the little girl falling asleep.

There are a bunch more videos on obeying parents, Jehovah, and others. I havent watched any otherz because my internet is feeling dial-uppy right now.

http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/fa ... nd/videos/

Eta the second para and link

[Delilah]

Anyone watch the PBS NewsHour tonight? There was a story about the long-term coverup of molesters within the church. This case was mentioned: nytimes.com/2012/06/18/us/28-million-awarded-in-jehovahs-witnesses-abuse-case.html?_r=0

I didn't see this particular show, but I've loosely followed the abuse situations in the JW and other faiths. For the JW victims, a major problem is that they aren't listened to unless there are 2 witnesses to the crime. None of the elders want to believe that Brother So-and-So could be a problem since he has a wonderful track record of going door to door. It's hard enough for a victim to come forward, much less to get someone to corroborate the story.

I really hope we as a society have turned a corner on covering up abuse by sexual predators. The Catholic Church had to pay dearly for the abuse done by some priests. I personally know of another situation where a Protestant clergyman was moved to another church after an incident with a girl. Something had to happen at the next church before he was removed for good. There was also a well publicized case of an anesthesiologist in Sacramento who abused patients during surgery. He was reported by some nurses but the hospital gave him another chance. He did it again and was caught. The state then took away his license and he went to prison.

These cases happened in the 70s and 80s. I sincerely hope we try to get away from the old way where abusers are protected and victims are blamed. Even Bill Cosby is facing backlash, and he was "America's Dad". Blech!

What concerns me so much about the JW church is that they are insisting on keeping the 2 witnesses rule. They want so much to believe that Bible believing, faithful JW man just wouldn't be a pedophile. Well, they're wrong.

I should clean up this post for excessive wordiness, but I'm angry now. I don't write clearly when I'm angry.

[lilwriter85]

Anyone watch the PBS NewsHour tonight? There was a story about the long-term coverup of molesters within the church. This case was mentioned: nytimes.com/2012/06/18/us/28-million-awarded-in-jehovahs-witnesses-abuse-case.html?_r=0

I haven't watched that yet. But I've been following the news coverage about sex abuse coverups.

[Coldwinterskies]

Even better is to take a tract but tell the kid "I don't believe in God, but thank you!" to show him not all atheists are 'rude' (though really, his father is the rude one by making him shill his propaganda)

Since JWs are taught to avoid "bad association" (which is defined as anyone who doesn't follow the JWs unquestioningly, of course), many of them really don't have much experience with "worldly" people (as they call those of us who are not JW). They believe that the only good reason to interact with "worldly" people is to try to convert them, not to be their friends or anything. They honestly believe that we are being controlled by Satan and they are taught that it is "dangerous" to associate too closely with non-JWs. So, personally, I do think that it is worth trying to make a point of showing them that you don't have to embrace the JW governing body to be a decent human being. They actually love it when they feel like they're being persecuted since they're taught to expect that.

[Coldwinterskies]

I can't wait to show this to my guy! He will certainly feel kinship with the little girl falling asleep.

There are a bunch more videos on obeying parents, Jehovah, and others. I havent watched any otherz because my internet is feeling dial-uppy right now.

http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/fa ... nd/videos/

Eta the second para and link

Oh dear. I see they have a "Message to your family" video featuring TIGHT PANTS TONY himself! Of course it would be Tight Pants Tony - he seems to love the spotlight. His attention whoring with his craziness may very well help bring down the Watchtower.

For those who don't know what I mean by calling him Tight Pants Tony, here's the background info on all his craziness:

http://jwsurvey.org/cedars-blog/after-h ... rning-body

(it's a site for EX JWs, site so don't worry - no need to break the link)

[Coldwinterskies]

Anyone watch the PBS NewsHour tonight? There was a story about the long-term coverup of molesters within the church. This case was mentioned: nytimes.com/2012/06/18/us/28-million-awarded-in-jehovahs-witnesses-abuse-case.html?_r=0

Thank you for bringing this up. I am really excited that the media has taken notice of this because ex-JWs have been trying to get people to notice and care about this problem for years. I started a new thread to collect media sightings about this problem.

[Jesse911]

I dated a JW for a couple months. From what I gathered JW's believe you don't die if you go to heaven, you only die if your not one of the elect (kind of a Calvinist crossover there). Her grandma would always tell her she was going to die if she didn't stay in the church, meaning she wasn't going to live forever in heaven. Still messed up to be telling children but a diff spin on it.

[Coldwinterskies]

I dated a JW for a couple months. From what I gathered JW's believe you don't die if you go to heaven, you only die if your not one of the elect (kind of a Calvinist crossover there). Her grandma would always tell her she was going to die if she didn't stay in the church, meaning she wasn't going to live forever in heaven. Still messed up to be telling children but a diff spin on it.

Yes, they do teach that if you are a good JW then you will get to live forever either in Heaven (if you are one of the special 144,000 people that Jehovah wants to serve in heaven ) or on a Paradise version of earth (where the rest of the JW people end up).

However, the stuff about EVERYONE ELSE dying is actually pretty scary. They are told that the earth is on the verge of an imminent Armageddon disaster, where Jehovah will brutally slaughter all non-JWs and leave their dead bodies lying around for birds and other wild animals to eat. This site has more details on their beliefs:

(it is maintained by an ex-JW so no link breaking)

http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/salva ... nesses.php

If you are morbidly curious, you can also visit this message board of current JWs where they actually talk about what it will be like "The Day After Armageddon". On page 3, one JW helpfully suggests they could use a helicopter to drop lime on all the dead bodies:

jwtalk.net/forums/topic/18683-how-do-you-picture-the-day-after-armageddon/

(link broken because it is a current JW site)