Daddy Dream Killer - Then

So, who was DDK (Daddy Dream Killer) really? DDK really was a good man, sorta. He was a provider. He worked, he played, he disciplined, he conned.  As you may suspect, a successful religion demands and gets conformity. Large groups of conformers are made up of smaller groups of conforming families led by conformists looking to have positions of authority in the organization. To get your family to conform is to have power and admiration of others and therefore you are seen as an example and your meteroic rise to become and Elder (A Hitler like personality with Ministerial Servants that act like SS Guards) is swift and to much fanfare.

For many men who lack professional pedigrees and careers, the promise of rising to a 'position of responsibility' over others is highly sought after. The more in conformance to JW policy your family appears to be the more you are an example to other struggling families; you and your family are an example of fine spiriutality and are therefore qualified to lead others families out of their blindness.

All DDK's know this one fact: In order to meet the conformance ideals of the JW organization, all independent thought, aspiration, inspiration that is outside of organization activities must be squashed! This is where DDK's excel.  It is a sign of spiritual weakness and a lack of control over the children or the family of the DDK to express any interest in extra curricular activities that may conflict with the ideologies of the organization.

The DDK must be a DDK to keep his position of authority and admiration from the congregation. He has HIS family in control and in submission.

However, dont look too closely. Stopping by the home without prior notice may find  the DDK speaking abusively to his wife, over-drinking, over-eating or berating his son or daughter just because he or she wants to play in the school band....or wants to learn how to play chess in the school club....or wants to play  basketball on the high school team - wait...its almost time for the meeting. Time to make the DDK look good - smile and make sure you raise your hand at least three times during the Watchtower study....LOL!

My DDk was the most popular in our Kingdom Hall. A symbol of compassion, humility, strength, spirituality, blah, blah, blah! Many would call the house late at night, early in the morning with their problems and be met with the kindest most loving words I NEVER heard in all my life - who was this man? But that is the MO for the DDK! To remain a successful DDK and keep your eldership one must be a politician for the people, but at home DDK activities go into full effect.....fulll effect.

Lastly DDK's efforts were strong and unrelenting - so what were the results of DDK's efforts?

Up Next? DDK-Now.

Disfellowshipped and Living My Dream: Daddy Dream Killer

Disfellowshipped and Living My Dream: Daddy Dream Killer: I am here, in my present to discuss my past and my future and how they have been impacted by others, outside my control. For many years, my...

Daddy Dream Killer

I am here, in my present to discuss my past and my future and how they have been impacted by others, outside my control. For many years, my ability to control my own destiny has been hampered by my seeming inability to release and let go of the harmful indoctrinations and ideologies that others had for the direction of my life.

I intend to blog often and maybe someday turn this into a book. I wont be nasty, deragatory or negative if I can help it. I want to be frank, honest, up-front with a twist of humor while discussing the role that religion has played over the course of my life.

You see, I was raised as a Jehovah's Witness! While the very name may recall to your mind early Saturday mornings where you were awakened or had your cartoon watching time interrupted by a unexpected knock on the door, its much, much more than that.

Its about unfulfilled dreams, stolen childhoods, harsh discipline, repression, intolerance, elitist cliques, favortism and class distinction. There is a tendency to divert into the discussion of scripture in these conversations. However, I want to deal with the human side. I want to discuss the after effects of being heavily involved in a religion that labels every one else a CULT but refuses to acknowledge their own cult like practices.

Now begins my personal story. My mother was baptized as a Jehovah's Witness right before I was born, with the absolute BEST of intentions. She truly believes that someday a paradise earth would come about and her new and precious baby would not experience the cruel world she had come to know.

My mother spent my early teenage years trying to convince my cigarette smoking, beer drinking, abusive and womanizing father to give up his 'worldly ways' for the 'truth' a it is often called. During those days, I was a whimsical kid, engaged in the daily grind of playing with rocks, chemicals, worms, trucks and other boy like things while dreaming of doing something really cool with my life. Yeah I had some pretty serious dreams. I was a good kid - playful and observant of the natural world around me - always mixing some sort of chemical and getting punished for the reaction it gave - yes I was a kid in love with science.

Crash, bang and boom! No, that is NOT the sound of one of my science experiments going bad! It is the sound of my father crashing and destroying my world. What happend? He came into the 'Truth".

Enter Daddy Dream Killer.....DDK, a catchy phrase for a serial killer, perhaps. But for a kid like me with hopes and dreams...it would be years before I could laugh this one off.....