The latest JW child indoctrination cartoon carries a threatening message
The latest JW child indoctrination cartoon carries a threatening message

Anyone who was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness can empathize with the scenario of two children struggling to hold their attention at a kingdom hall meeting. And this is exactly the predicament in which Watchtower’s model cartoon children, Caleb and Sophia, find themselves in the latest “Become Jehovah’s Friend” episode – released earlier this month.

So what does the Governing Body want to say to any children who find themselves bored or distracted at a meeting they have been dragged to by their indoctrinated parents? It’s simple, really: “Pay attention, or die.” That grim message comes across loud and clear in the latest installment of Watchtower’s child propaganda series.

In the newly-released “Lesson 15,” entitled “Pay Attention at the Meetings,” young Caleb and Sophia find themselves reprimanded for playing with a toy car (Caleb) and falling asleep (Sophia) by their parents.

In a subsequent discussion around the dinner table, the children’s parents discuss the serious ramifications of failing to pay attention during a meeting. “Imagine if Noah didn’t pay attention when Jehovah explained how to build the ark?” muses Caleb’s father.

A cartoon segment then shows Noah and his family idling around during God’s instructions for building a vessel that the laws of physics say could never have been seaworthy to avoid a global deluge that archeology, geology and biology testify never happened. (If you find anything I’ve said in this paragraph offensive, please watch this video.)

The result? Noah and his family are shown scurrying into the finished ark when the flood is imminent, only for it to comically collapse under the weight of the first drop of water. The whole family is then shown disappearing under the flood waters with startled looks on their faces.

“That’s not what happened, dad!” protests Caleb. “You are right,” says his dad. “He paid attention, and it saved his life. Paying attention at the meetings can help save YOUR life!”

After this not-so-veiled threat, Caleb and Sophia are shown at the next meeting paying rapt attention, apparently buoyed by the knowledge that failure to do so will result in them being slaughtered.

Child indoctrination: increasingly the only way to turn someone into a Jehovah's Witness
Child indoctrination: increasingly the only way to turn someone into a Jehovah’s Witness

I personally found this video even more hideous than the notorious Sparlock episode – one of the first “lessons” in this ghastly series. Why?

At least in the Sparlock episode the threats made against Caleb by his mother for playing with a wizard toy were slightly more opaque. If he didn’t throw his toy away, Caleb would make Jehovah “sad” and grow old and shriveled like Adam and Eve. But in this latest video, the threats made against Caleb and his sister to coerce them into conformity are all too dire and explicit.

How any parent can watch this video and find threats of death at the hands of the Almighty an appropriate, healthy tool for shaping the attitudes and behavior of their children is beyond me.

I am reminded of the words of Richard Dawkins: “There is no such thing as a Christian child: only a child of Christian parents.” Children are not born religious – they need to have it pummeled into them by parents who were very likely themselves instilled with a specific religion dependent on their own parents or culture.

In the case of Witness children, the modus operandi for indoctrination is not merely gentle persuasion and cheerful recommendations but outright threats and blackmail – all endorsed and prescribed by the Governing Body themselves.

The one useful element of this video is that it openly exposes to any non-JW onlooker what the Witness religion is really all about: “Follow us or die.”

I have only recently made a video on this very subject, as it is my hope that more people will be mindful of the true, grisly nature of the Witness message when they are set upon with enchanting images of paradise, pandas and fruit baskets.

Grab a shovel and start exploring this imaginary utopia recommended to you in Watchtower literature, and you will soon discover that these rolling hillsides, bounteous pastures and idyllic homes have been built on the bodies of billions of people who have been massacred for the crime of not wanting to be Jehovah’s Witnesses. Sparing the next generation from having their lives molded by such a grotesque vision of the future is not merely advisable – it is an obligation.

 

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113 thoughts on ““Pay attention or die!” – A disturbing glimpse of JW child indoctrination at work

  • February 14, 2015 at 6:17 am
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    Rob,

    I agree, sir, a Sunday School would be the logical answer to teaching theology to children. Most Christian churches have specific programmes or even days to attend church for young children.

    The trouble is that if a specific children’s activity exists, then those running it HAVE TO BE VETTED FOR WORKING WITH CHILDREN. Oops! Can’t have that, can we?

    Ted,

    I really enjoyed your comments about the flood not working, neither did the confusing of the languages! Most enlightening and amusing, sir.

    Even Armageddon will fail to completely end wickedness! There will be a final, final war after the 1000 year reign of CHRIST is finished!! But this will definitely, positively be the last one, honest!

    Peace be with you,

    Excelsior!

  • February 14, 2015 at 6:34 am
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    Can you refrain from preaching your religious views on us please. Keep your delusion to yourself. You may think Christianity is a force for good, but many would disagree, especially seeing as it is a myth and there is no evidence to suggest ANY of the biblical stories occurred. To believe in Christianity you would have to admit that mankind have only been on the planet for 6,000 years, and only a complete fool could possibly arrive at this conclusion.

    I also remind you that all forms of Christianity entail indoctrinating children, some less forcefully than others, but all none the same. Any christian has to tell people things he/she cannot possibly know for sure. Lies is another word for this.

    I realize you are an avid contributor, but please do not use this site to thrust your delusion on others.

    Cuthbert

  • February 14, 2015 at 6:41 am
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    StrongHaiku. Great suggestion to teach the kids to spot logical
    fallacies at the meeting. But there are so many such fallacies
    that the ice cream reward might become a bit sickening.

    The circular reasoning one, occurs all the time, for example–
    How do I know this is Gods organisation? answer,– because they
    said so 20 times in the W,T, today.

    Anyway, help yourself to an ice cream, ( or something) as a reward
    for coming up with a brilliant idea,

  • February 14, 2015 at 6:41 am
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    Wow……you can even see it in lil sophias face…..she looks so scared trying to pay attention…..crazy ! ! ! ! !

  • February 14, 2015 at 11:35 am
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    This one really strikes home with me. I remember way to vividly the constant threats of death thrown at me. ” my father was going to die at Armageddon” because he had become inactive. I “was certainly going to die at Armageddon” because unlike all the other children in the congregation I had put off baptism until I was 17. If I didn’t pick a side immediately and Armageddon came tomorrow I had no hope, even if I was a good person. I spent many nights crying and wrestling with that decision. I left the religion six months after that and spent the next ten years in an alcohol and drug fueled haze trying to get them out of my head, cut off from family and everyone I had grown up with. Sorry to vent! I’ve never posted on here before, but the threat of death they hold over your head really touches a nerve with me. Especially when it’s directed towards children, it brings back so many memories. Thank you for your site, it’s the only one I go to or read, but it’s helped me feel a little normal again, it helps to realize that you’re not alone.

  • February 14, 2015 at 11:46 am
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    The Watchtower Trade Off/Selling your life for a price

    We indoctrinate your children with fear that God will kill
    them if they don’t listen to us and we will throw in the threat of death if they don’t listen to you as long as you are taking them to our meetings “Honor your father and mother…… that it may go well with you and you may endure a long time on earth” You give us what we want, we will give you what you want.

    Here is the painful truth. If you were raised a witness, your parents got something in return for taking you. It was your unwavering obedience to them. Fear mongering made parenting easier and they had less to explain to you as they had divine authority bestowed upon them. They did not have to make sense with their rules, God put them in charge.

    We will control your man for you as long as you get him to the meetings. “Willfull non support, extreme spiritual endangerment” you can leave for. Be a terrible wife, don’t cook, don’t clean, don’t have sex, lay around the house and get fat, don’t worry, although clearly spelled as sins in our ancient divine book, we will do nothing to you. You just make sure to get him dressed for his weekly indoctrinations and we will keep him so busy working that he wont have time to think about other women or how miserable you are to him. Keep him coming and bringing with him his paycheck and his strong back for our construction projects we will keep him corralled for you.

    Make no mistake about it, I was an elder for 15 years and I never saw one happy witness marriage, not one! Watchtower creates misery and then peddles advice on how to solve it. Ironically, I watched countless elders give advice to struggling marriages, when they had problems far worse in their own marriages.

    Men if you come to the meetings we will bestow upon you the feeling of idle self importance. You can pray, she can’t, you can instruct, she is forbidden. You can pretend to be in charge, when we are the ones really in charge.

    Parents get to make rules without questioning. Women don’t have to do anything they don’t want to once the wedding ring is on to keep their man. Men get to act important at the Kingdom Hall and think God made them more important than women, which is totally valueless and counterproductive to good social relationships and mental health.

    People don’t stay just because they want Paradise. Most JWs have serious doubts as to whether they will make it into Paradise or not. They stay, because if they left, then their rules as parents would have to make sense or their children would rebel and not like them. Women have to be actual partners to their men and taking care of his physical needs is not an option. Men have to respect the views of women as being equal to their own and greater when the woman has a better vantage point on the subject.

    These bad deals brokered by Watchtower have blinded their followers to the fact, that being a good parent starts and ends with loving your children and seeking to do what is best for them and their real futures (not made up paradise stories) That being a good wife or partner means caring for the other persons needs, when a mans needs are met, he is without a doubt a much more peaceful and better partner. Being a good man means understanding that women are equally capable of making good decisions, her female parts do not inhibit in any way her ability to make good decisions or render worthwhile judgement. For a relationship to work, both people have to be aware of the right of the other person to leave and their privilege to do things that makes them choose to stay.

    Watchtower makes bad deals for people that ultimately lead to family and social problems. Then they sell back advice to their followers on how to solve the problems they have created. Fear mongering is the underpinning of their hideous trade off.

  • February 14, 2015 at 11:46 am
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    Lloyd,

    I am not promoting a religious interpretation of life. I have made it plain that I am an Atheist on numerous other posts.

    However, as I am sure you will agree, we are dealing with a cult that claims to represent the correct interpretation of Christianity. It claims that JESUS hand picked the governing body. Every JW is supposed to care what JESUS said.

    I am trying to help those of the JW and ex JW “community” see that the cult they either follow or used to follow has no right to enforce its mind control by using biblical and religious authority.

    I sincerely hope that everyone eventually becomes an atheist. Until that time comes, I must attempt to converse with religious people using their terms of reference and any religious tome that they follow.

    I am truly sorry if my religious tone on this occasion caused any controversy or offence. That was certainly not my intention.

    Keep up the good work, Lloyd. You are a good man.

    Peace be with you, Excelsior!

  • February 14, 2015 at 11:59 am
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    Cuthbert,

    I am sorry that my comments caused you offence. That was not my intention.

    I’m afraid that I do not have a black or white, right or wrong view about religion in general, and Christianity in particular.

    I believe that a religious sensibility is not necessarily a bad thing. It can be a force for good.

    There must be checks and balances, constraining any belief. No one has the right to harm other people etc.

    I agree, Cuthbert, that Christianity and other religions have caused a great deal of suffering and harm. However, they have also provided a framework for common law, and their influence can be seen in many laws that we all agree with.

    I am not promoting a religious view of life. I am an atheist. However, we must live along side people who hold a sincere belief in a religion. So how are we going to do that? By having tolerance and repect, along with appropriate checks and balances.

    I hope that this has explained my point of view to you.

    Peace be with you, Excelsior!

  • February 14, 2015 at 12:25 pm
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    @Excelsior! – nice “HAVE TO BE VETTED FOR WORKING WITH CHILDREN”!

  • February 14, 2015 at 12:35 pm
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    Scrubmaster,

    Thank you. This one particularly enrages me, because the WTBTS say that, because they don’t have Sunday schools, they don’t fall under the jurisdiction of the same laws that require me to be vetted to work with children.

    This is a ridiculous claim, as a perusal of their revolting website will provide any number of resources aimed specifically at children.

    They also claim charitable status, claiming they are engaged on an educational work!

    They are truly disgusting.

    Peace be with you, Excelsior!

  • February 14, 2015 at 12:52 pm
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    @Tiger123 & @Krista . Loved both of your comments ! Really,Really Informative & hopefully many many will benefit who read this site & help them make the Break with the Organisation !!

  • February 14, 2015 at 1:16 pm
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    Child abuse is not always physical:-(
    When a child is young, why bring fear and death into their minds? Of course these JW parents love their children, but their fear and conditioning of their imminent demise, if they don’t obey, reinforces their child’s indoctrination. And the abuse cycle keeps revolving:-(

  • February 14, 2015 at 1:27 pm
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    If I held a spiritual gun next to your head and told you you were free, would you believe me?

  • February 14, 2015 at 1:33 pm
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    Gary, a very pertinent point, sir. The WTBTS abuse children in so many appalling ways. We must unite and fight this evil cult.

    Cuthbert,

    In continuation of my reply to your comment.

    You say, sir, that there is no evidence that any of the bible stories were true. That is incorrect. The Jews’ exile to Babylon is a bible story proved by archaeological evidence.

    Indeed, we use this reliable evidence to disprove the WTBTS lies about 607 and 1914!

    You also say that anyone who believes in Christianity must believe that Homo Sapiens are only 6000 years old. I am sure that there are many Christians who do not believe this nonsense. They know, as we do, that Homo Sapiens are at least 200,000 years old.

    Not all Christians are fundamentalists.

    Calling anyone a fool, or stating that their beliefs are delusional is no way to conduct an argument, or to state a point of view.

    I agree with you. The bible is unreliable and full of crimes against humanity. I simply do not feel the need to be rude about it.

    I am disappointed at the criticism levelled against me. I have made it plain that I am an Atheist on many and diverse occasions.

    To be accused of proselytising for the Lord is on one hand very funny and on the other rather insulting.

    Anyway, I have made my position clearer, which can only be a good thing.

    We can all agree that the WTBTS is a mind control cult that has damaged and continues to damage the lives of eight million people. Many of us have loved ones who are still entrapped in it.

    Let us all work together to achieve our common aim.

    Peace be with you, Excelsior!

  • February 14, 2015 at 2:02 pm
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    I can only echo the words , to the Watchtower, of the song Revolution.

  • February 14, 2015 at 2:12 pm
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    @Charles, Shanti & Pickled Brain

    Thank you. Ted is right as usual – it is great that we can empathise with each other. There is more compassion and understanding on this site than I ever found within the Organisation.

    This post reminds me of the hours of boredom I had to endure sitting through endless meetings as a child. I often wondered why I found it so boring and meaningless when everyone else seemed to be fully engaged with what was being discussed from the platform.

    Toilet breaks were a No No and anything unrelated to the meeting was forbidden, so I used to amuse myself by playing little games in my head and counting different objects that I could see, in order to make the time pass quicker. But believing that I was the only one who felt like that made me think that there was something wrong with me.

    It took until I was SIXTEEN that I found to my amazement that there were indeed others who were bored rigid too.

  • February 14, 2015 at 2:23 pm
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    Oh, p.s, “well you know”(in the song revolution), is a scouse way of saying, blah blah blah, yeah I don’t believe you and , well you know.x

  • February 14, 2015 at 2:44 pm
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    Excelsior, I have always understood where you were coming from as I knew from earlier posts that you are an atheist. I get that you were trying to help those still indoctrinated by using their language so that they could soften any wall they may put up. I for one look forward to your comments & have never taken them as anything but that. I can say that because it wasn’t that long ago that I was one of those people that still had a wall of defence up to anyone critical of the Bible. It has taken me a while to drop that but I’m here now with your help.

  • February 14, 2015 at 3:17 pm
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    Try, ‘Maggie’s farm’ in relation to the Watchtower Society;

  • February 14, 2015 at 5:22 pm
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    Excelsior. I always look for your comments with great interest
    so I knew the approach you were using. Putting yourself in the
    shoes of someone who is still a believer in Christianity and the
    Bible, and so reasoning from their viewpoint.

    I think the reason there was a slight misunderstanding, was,
    because you do it so well, hence Scrubmaster got the wrong
    impression. I do think though, it would have been better if the
    abusive remarks had been left out.

    However as The Bard said, “Alls well that ends well”.
    Best wishes.

  • February 14, 2015 at 6:10 pm
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    I really feel for the kids that are in the JW’s now, at least when i was in it i didnt have video’s brain washing me into staying in it, words were bad enough! I left it in 05 after 38 years, i was born into it. I had it drummed into me that if i left i would die a horrible death at armagedon. And another lie was told to me that during my time in the “world”, i would be really unhappy, and that i would probably end up on drugs…..so far i’m ok…no drugs, wonderful husband…hmmm go figure huh?!

  • February 14, 2015 at 8:24 pm
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    Prodding a young child to keep them awake is definitely physical abuse, and telling them they’re going to die if they don’t pay attention is a form of verbal abuse, in my opinion; it should be banned.

    If any of us kids had the misfortune of sitting next to my father at one of those mind-numbingly boring meetings, and we happened to nod off, it was a pinch of the thigh and then a sharp twist (meeeemorieeeees that light the corners of my mind ……….. ).

    But there is hope! As of 2014, it is now illegal to spank your child in 44 countries. The planet is evolving.

  • February 14, 2015 at 11:26 pm
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    @ Ruth ,Such a LOVELY comment of yours. !’ Should help & Encourage others to Leave!!

  • February 15, 2015 at 2:29 am
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    @Ruth
    I too was given the same threat that I would become a debauched drug addict if I left the Org, and have a miserable existence with imminent death at Armageddon.

    Actually if I had stayed I probably would be a drug addict (addicted to prescription anti-depressants) and have been living the same miserable existence that I had when I was an active-JW. Thankfully I enjoy every minute of my (drug free) life now without the chains of Watchtower around me.
    I am glad you too have found happiness.

    @Charles
    I was subjected to quite a lot of chastisement if I messed around, (on one occasion my Father who was conducting the Watchtower at the time stepped off the platform and in front of the entire congregation gave me a loud smack when I was fidgeting – I was totally mortified) so I learnt from an early age to sit still and behave.

    I found out later that other children that I grew up with lived under the fear of beatings when they got home from the meeting. One Elder would remove his belt and beat them mercilessly with the buckle end if his daughters had misbehaved.

    Another sister (who I would guess had religious mania) would force her oldest son to beat his younger brother after the meeting.

    None of the children I mention above are now JWs.

  • February 15, 2015 at 4:40 am
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    My sincere apologies to Scrubmaster for mistakenly
    using your ID in my comments regarding Excelsior.

  • February 15, 2015 at 4:42 am
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    “(on one occasion my Father who was conducting the Watchtower at the time stepped off the platform and in front of the entire congregation gave me a loud smack when I was fidgeting – I was totally mortified)”

    How awful, Rosie! I suppose you were just starting to regain a modicum of self-worth when it was knocked out of you again by a four-year-old telling you she hated you!

    If it wasn’t for my mother (an absolute darling and only a Witness because my father would have made her life more of a misery than what he already did) who knows where I would be today. In some ways being a JW improved him. He used to both verbally and physically abuse all of us. The physical abuse stopped when he was baptised, but the verbal abuse continued until I became older and reported him to the elders. There was one elder who couldn’t stand him and called me aside after a meeting one night and said to me, “Let me know if you ever have any problems with your father”. It was nice to have that support. One thing that has helped me greatly in this whole business is coming to the realisation that people only behave as well as they’re functioning and as they function better (or evolve) they behave better. It takes longer with some than with others, but I think we’ll all get there in the end.

  • February 15, 2015 at 7:43 am
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    @ Excelsior

    I don’t feel comfortable with the notion that I have to ‘tolerate’ people, which in turn suggests I am tolerated by those of faith. And whilst I may respect individuals, I certainly have no respect for religious ideas. Why should I? I think religious claims should be subject to the scrutiny and reason that we apply to all other areas of our life.

    As I said before, please do not make any suggestions here that people should be applying some kind of religious dogma to their lives. It is distasteful at best.

    Cuthbert

  • February 15, 2015 at 8:18 am
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    Cuthbert,

    So your philosophical reponse to people’s religious beliefs is to offer no acceptance or tolerance whatsoever?

    Need I remind you that, whether we like religion or not, and we both would prefer there not to be religions, they nonetheless enjoy the membership of billions of our fellow Homo Sapiens?

    How should I approach the problem of how to talk to people who were once in a cult that abused scriptural, Christian dogma?

    Contrary to your opinion, I am not suggesting that anyone follow any religion. I am merely trying to converse and debate with religious people, or former religious people, with the religious book they follow, or once followed.

    Rather than continue to accuse me of what I am patently not doing, why don’t you offer me a way to improve my involvement on this site?

    I have offered you my dilemma. Please offer a solution.

    I am sorry that you do not feel comfortable having to tolerate other people. It is not easy.

    I’m afraid that, unless you buy a piece of land with a well and enough space to grow your own food requirements, you are just going to have to tolerate other people. It is called living in modern society!

    I am honestly interested in how you can help me to talk to religious people without coming across as one of them.

    Peace be with you, Excelsior!

  • February 15, 2015 at 9:06 am
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    In Genesis 7:7 it states that Noah, his wife, his sons and their wives were on the ark. So, do they want us to believe that the little boy and girl playing with toys are his son and daughter in law? That’s a stretch, don’t you think?

  • February 15, 2015 at 1:47 pm
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    This video bring backs terrible memories of being beaten in the back of the hall (and again at home with a belt) for daring to fidget or talk during boring meetings. Sitting through assemblies and conventions was like torture for me as a child. The look on Sophia and Caleb’s face in the car after the meeting says it all. They were terrified just for those minor little “mistakes”. I used to pray to Jehovah for some kind of Sunday school. I never understood why we didn’t have. What an abusive religion. I am so glad to be free of it and raising my children in freedom.

  • February 15, 2015 at 6:15 pm
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    The whole reason Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t baptize babies is because they don’t fully comprehend what it means to dedicate your life to Jehovah. I started getting pressure from elders starting at around 15 to get baptized, because I couldn’t rely of my parents anymore to get me through Armageddon. I understood what it all meant, even though my heart didn’t feel it, so that meant if I knew what was right, and didn’t get baptized, I would surely die at Armageddon. Up until then, yes I had been spanked and severely punished as a child for not paying attention, as did all my friends in the hall, but it was not because I was going to die at Armageddon, because I think people understood that kids didn’t comprehend that, it was just more embarrassing for my Dad to be that parent with the loud kids. He wanted to be exemplary and wanted to make people think he was such a good parent.

    Even up until a few years ago, when my own kids were little, they would be angels up until a certain point, and they hit their limit, and would start making noise, and I would get all kinds of dirty looks. My own sister pressured me to spank my kids (at 1 or 2 yrs old) In fact, she even spanked my kids at the meeting, in my absence, even though I didn’t spank them. It personally didn’t make me feel like I had to spank them, but I can see it in other parents when it happened to them. They just feel embarrassed, and they get frustrated that they are getting the dirty looks, so they get up and take the kids out and spank them.

    They are right with not baptizing babies since babies don’t understand, but the message here is, kids who are so young where they are playing with toy cars and maybe at an age where they still take naps, are supposed to now get what it all means, so I suppose what kids nowadays are going to go through is going to be unimaginable. I stayed in for a long time for a fear of dying at Armageddon, but my fear of Armageddon didn’t really go into full swing until I was old enough to get baptized, and I was completely brainwashed and terrified of dying at Armageddon. I feel so sad for these precious little ones that are going to be affected by these delusional power-hungry con-artists in New York. They assume that all kids are the same, and they have the same attention spans, amount of energy, etc. How unfair, I can’t imagine the long-term impact this could have on the mental health of a child, if this attitude towards children will become expected of their parents.

  • February 15, 2015 at 8:23 pm
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    I have seen many youths leave after enduring torture at the hands of cruel parents, as time has gone on my eyes have been opened, this was particualry true after watching a parent die, wasnt suposed to happen, that was my dad, unbaptised non JW, mum thought it was great for hime to die, now he will be reserected, i screamed, if he was alive when this falso promise occurs (armegedon) how could a god of love let us through without him, & what about all your other non JW family members, i can’t imagine being in this new system saying where’s Dad? totaly flawed, oh yeah the answer, Trust in Jehovah, how is a god of love going to slaughter all those children???

  • February 16, 2015 at 5:21 am
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    Warren,

    The bible can be used to justify whatever people want it to.

    The scriptures I referred to in an earlier post are relevant here. Please read Matthew 25. There is no mention here of children being killed, or any of the other monstrous abuses that the WTBTS claim for God. 1 John 4 is also a good passage to read to refute all the doomsday nonsense of the JW cult.

    I don’t believe in Judgement Day. I am not a Christian.
    If, for sake of argument, there is a Judgement Day, then the scriptures I have listed offer a very different prospect than the wholesale slaughter of billions of people.

    I for one have no fear about Armageddon. I don’t believe it is going to happen, but, even if it did, it would not be as the WTBTS describe it. My compassionate lifestyle would ensure my survival.

    I hope this has been of some comfort to you.

    Peace be with you, Excelsior!

  • February 16, 2015 at 6:40 am
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    For parents who believe in God, if they want to teach their children to believe in God and want to teach them little songs like “Jesus loves you, this I know, for the bible tells me so” is fine to me. It teaches them that they are loved by their God. But to teach them a song like “Jesus will kill you this I know, for the bible tells me so”, isn’t acceptable to me but this is exactly what the
    Watchtower does with no conscience at all. The only difference is that it isn’t put into a children’s song. It’s just put into a cartoon for children instead.

    When it comes to Christendom using the thought of burning in hell, the Watchtower doesn’t miss a chance to accuse them of using that as an incentive to keep those people going to those churches in Christendom but the Society says “we are different”. They say they don’t use the threat of burning in hell to keep Witnesses in the “truth”. When people die at Armageddon, it’s not the same as using hell fire they claim. But when you listen to Morris’ talks and Losch’s talks, that is exactly the same kind of death that they are talking about, except instead of burning in hell for ever like some churches teach, it’s just once they have to die so that’s supposed to be a “better” way to die.

    This is a quote from the 1975 Watchtower January 15, page 58. Paragraph 26 was talking about how the churches use hell fire to keep people going to their churches. This is the next paragraph, paragraph 27:

    “Fear of punishment is not the proper motivation for serving God. Jehovah God wants our worship to be motivated by love. That has always been his desire respecting his intelligent creatures.”

  • February 16, 2015 at 7:43 am
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    @Melka, I loved your comment!!
    @Jerry O’Connor, I am so glad you are okay!!

  • February 16, 2015 at 4:28 pm
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    I finally was able to watch the video.

    First thing, that came to my eye was the kids, sitting in the back of the car. Look in their faces. Why paint kids with such ashamed and fearful faces?
    This is, where it begins “you know, you did sth wrong, eh?”
    Calebs Dad does not say “You will die, if you are not paying attention.” At least I cannot read this between the lines… But what about the kids? They “know”, that their lives depends on it.

    And when they sit in the KH at the end, it was very comfortable, that the speaker was telling the story of Noah.
    “He did exactly like he was told”… yes… fine… “listen, obey and be afraid”. Amen

  • February 16, 2015 at 6:18 pm
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    Excelsior!, thanks for your comments, i recall as a 12 year old when Mum got sucked in & my brother & i were forced to go along, due to the impending doom of 1975, we were confused & tried to spread this message to others, i think dad was happy to have some peace & quiet in the house while we were out, i sometimes think of a slogan on a tee shirt, picture a donkey chasing a carrot, & the caption 40 years on from 1975 & still chasing after the carrot.

  • February 16, 2015 at 6:31 pm
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    Does anyone remember that stupid song that had the verse, “He says use the rod”??? (Referring to Jehovah to beat the children with a stick)
    I hated singing that! I hated getting beat, and I mean getting beat like I owed my parents money of something!
    My ‘good’ Jehovah’s Witness parents would beat us for the smallest irritations (although the most serious beatings would take place at home my mother wouldn’t hesitate to slap or pull our ears in front of others up till our teenage years). I couldn’t believe the swearing and name calling out of my Christian parents! It was horrible abuse sanctioned by the Watchtower Society. They whipped up my already twisted parents, winding them up because The End was so near and we just had to get through, no matter how distasteful it was. Like a painful operation, remember that illustration?
    Thank god I didn’t suffer any sexual abuse but I’m going to be dealing with this other shit for my whole life, unfortunately.
    And after all I had to put up with from everyone inside and outside of the cult for 40 years, when I stop going to “Meetings” I’m shunned and lose long-time friendships. There’s loyalty for ‘ya!

  • February 16, 2015 at 8:33 pm
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    “Calebs Dad does not say “You will die, if you are not paying attention.” At least I cannot read this between the lines…”

    No, waytodawn, you’re right, but in my congregation, back in the sixties and seventies, it was a common threat by many parents to their kids (my father was one of them). I don’t know if any threaten their kids that way nowadays, but if they do, it needs to be stopped.

  • February 17, 2015 at 1:08 am
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    To add to my previous comment, the father says, “He paid attention, and it saved his life. Paying attention at the meetings can help save YOUR life!”, so even if it’s not said, the implication is that he could die at Armageddon if he doesn’t pay attention.

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