What is the power the Internet has against the WTS, and how best to use it?

by jwfacts 43 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  blondie

  Many JWs feel that if no human sees them, it is okay. Computers and the internet are perfect for that. It is hard to monitor what a person reads and views. When people had to go to libraries or buy books through the mail, another JW might see them or at home might intercept the mail. With a few intelligent keystrokes, you can block even family members for seeing what you read/view. That is why computer porn is a growing and persistent problem in the JW community. As IT gets cheaper and wider ranging and more available, the average JW home will all have a computer or several just as television/videos/DVDs have grown.

  Is the WTS worried? They'd be stupid not to be.

  *** w51 3/15 p. 164 Time Better than Money ***

  But instead of a moderate use of television by people generally, what do we frequently find? The evening meal over, the family rush for their seats before the television screen, there to sit for hours, till bedtime. No time for family conversation. No time for study. No time to serve God. Only time for television. Just time to sit before the screen and soak up propaganda and entertainment. So absorbed are they that they may refuse to leave their seats before the television for an hour a week, to share in a home Bible study.

  But will television deliver them at Armageddon? Will their little god of the living room shelter them from Jehovah’s wrath? Time consumed on it might have been used to study, to transform their mind, to make it over, to gain godly wisdom, which is not to be compared to rubies, silver, gold, money or television; but instead they will be "destroyed for lack of knowledge". (Hos. 4:6) The marvelous invention has been misused by them till it has become a satanic snare to capture their mind, to keep their eye glued to a television screen, not allowing them time to see the sign of the second presence of Christ or to mentally discern the import of such sign and learn what they should do to successfully meet the crisis.
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  jwfacts

  SlimBoyFat, you have a lot of interest in defending the WTS for someone who claims not to be a JW. I have to disagree with your comment. Apostates do not need large conventions, we are not a religion, we need regular support groups to meet in cities, and the internet facilitates that through meetup.com etc. The Internet provides what is needed now in the way of information dissemination . The internet has had an impact, look at the growth rate of the WTS since the internet. A recent newspaper said how Christianity and Church attendance is growing rapidly amongst youth in Sydney, but that is not happening for the JWs anymore. (and good point fullofdoubt)

  Penny, very true, it is still a slow slog, but no where near as slow as before. I have been working in the Internet industry since 1998, but did not look up JW information until 2004. However, Internet usage patterns are changing rapidly, and i doubt it will be long before the internet is where people go naturally as their first stop for information. Tonight I received an email from a 20 year old JW doing research on the word Jehovah who entered my site from that page, and now wants more information on what organisation teaches truth if not the WTS. That would never have happened if she had gone to a library to find an encylopedia.

  Almost all the information that is needed has already been developed. There are great articles on all the changes, the scandal, the ridiculous doctrines of the past and also why many current doctrines are wrong. Freeminds is a very extensive site. However, all this information is very scattered over the internet, and difficult to locate. Some information is very poor quality and other information is sensationalised to the point of being damaging to the reputation of former JWs. What would be great is to build an easy to navigate portal to all the information, and store quality information on every subject within a database on the portal.

  The work involved would take a lot of effort and some cost, which means several people would need to collaborate on it. As Jnat says, someone needs to proof read the information. How could consensus be reached as to what is accurate and of a standard worth referencing? Also, can a site exist that includes information both for and against Christianity and still be effective? Greendawn, as you say, it is growing organically and this is already effective. Some guidance will speed up this growth.

  The concept of Wikipedia could be applied to a JW portal. However, it would be a prime target for vandalism by JW apologists, far more so than already occurs on Wikipedia, so I think a development area would be necessary, with only approved people able to move final copy into the main site.
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  jgnat

  Nicolau has a wiki-style portal, as well as Reexaminer. It only takes a few minutes to reverse vandalism.

  Nicolau's: http://www.watchtowerwiki.org/index.php/Main_Page

  Reexamine: http://www.reexamine.org/index.php?title=Main_Page
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  jwfacts

  Thanks JNat. I had heard they were coming but did not know they already existed. Nicolau's site is quite empty, I wonder if it would be worth dumping all the Wikipedia JW stuff into it as a starting point, so that people can build on it from there.

  The other thing is to get these sites easily found by search engines. The best sites need to be optimised for the search engines so that they appear at the top of searches. One way to achieve this is to organise all the quality sites linking to each other.
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  Lapuce

  SlimBoyFat, you have a lot of interest in defending the WTS for someone who claims not to be a JW. I have to disagree with your comment. Apostates do not need large conventions, we are not a religion, we need regular support groups to meet in cities, and the internet facilitates that through meetup.com etc. The Internet provides what is needed now in the way of information dissemination . The internet has had an impact, look at the growth rate of the WTS since the internet. A recent newspaper said how Christianity and Church attendance is growing rapidly amongst youth in Sydney, but that is not happening for the JWs anymore. (and good point fullofdoubt)

  I get the same impression too, I wonder why they would need more Pro-JW sites, as they already mentioned number of times the dangers of the internet, its like saying dont do what I do, but do as I preach or say...

  Lapuce
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  jgnat

  As you will quickly find out, trying to organize the ex-JW community is as productive as herding cats. Nicolau was tossing the idea around of copying the wikipedia material, but why? We can always link to that source, as it is a vital community and materials are regularly updated. Nicolau, more than anything else, needs CONTRIBUTORS.

  That means US as in YOU AND ME. Good luck herding the cats.
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  DannyHaszard

  EVERY SELF-RESPECTING ACTIVIST BOOKMARK THESE LINKS check often and sign up for the news alerts via email from google and respond & reply to articles

  http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=jehovah&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d http://search.msn.com/news/results.aspx?FORM=MSNH&q=jehovah http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/search?p=jehovah%20&ei=UTF-8&fl=0&x=wrt TIP-USE THE SINGULAR JEHOVAH KEYWORD AND NOTE THAT 90% OF THE CRITICAL NEWS WILL BE FROM GOOGLE The reason for using the single Jehovah keyword is this will cover everything, about 15% will be irrelevant to us (other religions use the Jehovah name)
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  jwfacts

  You are right again jgnat. Former JWs do not have an interest in forming their own organisation, as being an xjw is just a stepping stone into finding the life that you were meant to be living. The way JW internet references have developed so far has been very effective. It is probably easier for individuals to run sites, with help from others providing information.

  Building websites is becoming progressively easier. I am not a programmer, but am currently building an ecommerce site with a payment gateway and MYSQL database for a business of mine. It is based on a $150 template I purchased. Similar portal templates are only $50. When I get some other stuff out of the way I could set up a portal, and get input from this site as to the best articles and sites on the net to link to.

  Does anyone have information about copyright laws in regards to Watchtower publications? How is it that all the old publications are freely available on the internet? How many years back do copyright laws go? Can the Watchtower CD Library be loaded legally onto the web?
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  Fleur

  I think that the best way to 'use' the internet to help get people out is to be kind. Don't overwhelm them with info all at once; newbies are likely shell-shocked at the idea they're even looking at a site like this or freeminds or whatever brings them here.

  Isolation is how the WTS keeps people down. They isolate DF'd people from their families. They isolate JW's in their own little bubble by banning the internet for research, etc.

  So many suicides in people newly out of the Borg...I think that the best thing to do with the 'net is to remind people that why ever, or how ever, you left the WTS, or are considering leaving, that someone out here has already walked the road you are just stepping on to. That you can survive and make it through and what's more, all of us 'out here' are not crack addicted prostitutes.

  We're regular people. Dare I say it with this lot...lol...we're in the range of "normal' for the first time in our lives in many cases. Some people, the Dwight Schrute's of the world, may never make it from JW-dom to 'normal' but heck, we can try with them can't we?

  It took me more than two years after my df'ing to get the nerve to type "JW's" into a search engine. The programming was that strong. I still believed then that I was living on a clock, that I was going to die at Armageddon but that I'd be living for real at least in the meantime. The biggest thing was finding out the truth about the "Truth".

  To all lurkers, take courage. You're not on this journey alone.

  essie
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  jwfacts

  Fleur, what you say makes me wonder how to get JWs looking in the first place. Would banner advertising do it? If so what would work. I would be interested in ideas of slogans for banners that would encourage a JW to click on it, and what search words should trigger them.

  What you mention is very important, the articles need to be sensitive to the emotions of a JW, avoiding bitterness (not always possible when discussing being shunned) and giving a positive message for how to move on.