Can a Jehovah Witness explain this?

[MyWorld]

My daughter is friends with a classmate whose family happen to follow the Jehovah Witness religion. My daughter asked her friend if she could have a playdate after school and her friend said (naturally) she would ask her mother. Her response the following day was that she cannot have a playdate with someone who does not share her beliefs. Keep in mind this came from a 7 year old.

Can someone from this religion actually explain why that is? I find it completely absurd that these children cannot play together outside of school. IF the parent doesn't want her child subjected to a certain show or what have you, could they not speak to me first?

Additionally, my daughter says that her friend only ever plays with those who go to the same church despite the fact that they have been asked to play by other students. Does this religion support that type of segregation? What is that teaching our children?

[Glacier]

There is a huge difference between segregation and choosing who your kids play with. When I was in grade one, I picked up quite a few bad habits from my parents like swearing. Some of the other parents wouldn't let their kids play with me because they didn't want negative influences on their kids. I would assume JWs are like any other parent. Some would call the alleged parental guidance overboard or misguided, but the JWs I know are some of the nicest people around.

[JLives]

I would address the parents personally and put to rest any reservations they might have.

[Queen K]

I most seriously want to know what a person of Jehovah Witness practise believes is going to happen to someone who bears false witness, or lies about another person.

Serious Question here.

[Glacier]

Does anyone know if we have JWs on Castanet? I know we have a diverse group of beliefs here, but I haven't noticed any JWs yet.

[logicalview]

Christmas Party anyone?

Funny, "folks of the persuasion" are so willing to knock on our door, especially on Remembrance Day.

Honestly, it would be nice to know why.

Why knock on an "any" door when, in this case, a valid question is posed?

[Mr. Personality]

I'm not a JW but I grew up in the religion. In this case, it would fall under "good association" which is not to say your child is bad or anything, just that the parent in question feels her child would be better off playing with other JWs I suppose. Also, this has very little to do with the religion itself and a lot more to do with the individual parent.

[kgcayenne]

Ok, so let's look at it this way:

How would you feel if your child comes home and says: "Mom, I don't want to have a birthday party this year. Did you know that there were beheadings at birthday parties, and that's how John the Baptizer died?" or "Mom, __________________________________(insert blatant contradiction of your faith) . Some children lack both the education and the tact to adequately handle differences in faith, which can both misrepresent issues and open up a huge can of worms for either child and/or family. Orrrrr, some children may do quite well in the art of persuasion and overstep parental guidelines on either side.

[Catz]

My daughter is friends with a classmate whose family happen to follow the Jehovah Witness religion. My daughter asked her friend if she could have a playdate after school and her friend said (naturally) she would ask her mother. Her response the following day was that she cannot have a playdate with someone who does not share her beliefs. Keep in mind this came from a 7 year old.

Can someone from this religion actually explain why that is? I find it completely absurd that these children cannot play together outside of school. IF the parent doesn't want her child subjected to a certain show or what have you, could they not speak to me first?

Additionally, my daughter says that her friend only ever plays with those who go to the same church despite the fact that they have been asked to play by other students. Does this religion support that type of segregation? What is that teaching our children?

IMO opion the is rediculous.
The child is 7.
Yes ...I agree...I would talkto the parents and see if something could be arranged.

[JonyDarko]

I agree, talk directly with the parents. But to be honest when I was growing up in the states "3,000 miles away mind you" i came across a nearly identical situation. I don't think it is a coincidence.

[emc group]

sounds like the JWs have similar rules as the world wide church of god, which is what i grew up in. we also were not allowed sleepovers etc unless with people of our own faith. no christmas,could not even color a santa in class like the other kids. as soon as any of these "pagan" things came up i had a note from home that i was to be let out of the room and sit in the library.... boy does that ever help a kid fit in.

same with valentines easter etc.. all pagan. when a person becomes that brainwashed that their belief is the only true one, the mind becomes closed and you loose so much of what the world has to offer.

[SHOZDIJIJI]

Friends of ours out of the blue decided to follow the JW path. Following this they cut of all association with us and alot of other old friends. Their kids were no longer allowed to associate with ours and others. It was hard on our kids and hard on theirs as well. To me JW seems more cultish then religion. The segregation is amazing . I've lived in the middle east where Islam rules but there at least our kids could play with the arab kids, no hassle in fact they were welcomed by the kids families....JW seems strange to me like what are they scared of....

[grumpydigger]

some interesting reading http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/2919/reasons.html

[steven lloyd]

Friends of ours out of the blue decided to follow the JW path. Following this they cut of all association with us and alot of other old friends. Their kids were no longer allowed to associate with ours and others. It was hard on our kids and hard on theirs as well. To me JW seems more cultish then religion. The segregation is amazing . I've lived in the middle east where Islam rules but there at least our kids could play with the arab kids, no hassle in fact they were welcomed by the kids families....JW seems strange to me like what are they scared of....

And I know I knew this at one time but I forget. Why do the "Kingdom Halls" not have windows ?

[Mr. Personality]

Friends of ours out of the blue decided to follow the JW path. Following this they cut of all association with us and alot of other old friends. Their kids were no longer allowed to associate with ours and others. It was hard on our kids and hard on theirs as well. To me JW seems more cultish then religion. The segregation is amazing . I've lived in the middle east where Islam rules but there at least our kids could play with the arab kids, no hassle in fact they were welcomed by the kids families....JW seems strange to me like what are they scared of....

My mom, a baptised JW married my dad, a religion non-descript. They had me and I was brought up (mostly) in the JW faith. I had friends both JW and non. The other JW kids were friends with non JW kids as well as each other. I was allowed to skip school events that went against the faith (Xmas concerts, Rememberance Day ceremonies, etc) if I wanted to (I rarely did).

Even when I moved out here with my parents and informed my mom I wouldn't be attending meetings or anything like that, I was friends with JW kids and non JW kids. I can honestly say in all my years being this close to the religion I have never come across the kinds of things I read about on this board sometimes.I never felt segregated from the rest of the world and I've never met anyone who did.