Latest CO visit. Heavy pressure on youth and programming children.
I wanted to share my thoughts from the CO visit currently taking place in my congregation. Listening to this talk (based on Joshua 1:8) made my blood boil. I decided to post this here so you can see the current corporate agenda being pushed. The main goal of this visit is absolute conditioning of youth and children, along with heavily guilt-tripping.
1. Formatting the "ideal servant" from childhood The CO provided a checklist of qualities that a young person needs to develop: - Learn to read and write well (but with only one goal: consuming borg literature).
- Developing listening skills and empathy. - Cultivating humility and modesty (read: be submissive and don’t stick out with your own opinions).
- Setting goals for full-time service. 2. Three videos for kids and teens – a total guilt-trip festival During the talk, they played three videos targeted directly at the youth. Their hidden purpose is weaponizing guilt—making them feel like they aren't doing enough and "encouraging" them to take on more corporate load. Videos 1 and 2: They show kids learning to read (using JW literature, of course), taking notes at meetings, and raising their hands to comment. The message is simple: you need to do more, and that will motivate you. Face-to-face conversations are supposed to serve only one purpose - making arrangements for field service so you can pioneer together. Video 3: Absolute propaganda. Showing how "wonderful" life is for young people in Bethel, on construction projects, in unassigned territories, or in Albania. Everything is presented as cheerful, colorful, and fast-paced. Continuous growth, training, new assignments, etc. Typical corporate brain scrubbing. 3. Shaming young brothers and a toxic definition of a "good husband" This is where the heavy dichotomy kicked in (a black-and-white world: JW things vs. worldly things): Discouraging higher education: A classic. Movie used the example of the Apostle Paul, claiming that Paul "considered what he gained as garbage" (referring to his education), so university is a direct threat. Fear of materialism: Young people are told to live simple lives, focus on pioneering, and joyfully accept every single task in the congregation that the elders throw at them. The definition of a husband: A good husband is ONLY one who puts spiritual things first and has "privileges/assignments in the congregation" (like being an MS or elder).
Listening to all of this made me feel awful. Because of this twisted definition of "spirituality," I am automatically labeled as a "substandard" husband because I no longer chase corporate titles in the congregation.
But what hit me the most is that this entire program focuses on things, work, tasks, stats, and procedures, NOT on God. In one of the videos, a quote literally shook me: "I dedicate every single second to Jehovah." As someone who has started reading the Bible on my own, I know that dedicating oneself to God doesn't look like this! This isn't a 9-to-5 job at a publishing company in Warwick, ticking off boxes for microphone duty and cleaning Kingdom Halls at the expense of your own future and mental health. The desperation with which they are grabbing these kids by the throat right now is just terrifying. Are you guys seeing this same concentrated attack on the youth during your CO visit or any other situations?