JW Children Lie in Custody Cases (page 18)

AuldSoul

I think it is kind of funny that oroborus21 suggests letting the thread die but is apparently still reading it/checking it.

bttt

alamb

I agree.

And it's not the posts.........it's the views!

alamb

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/108672/1.ashx

A video of an elder lying on the stand in a Custody Case.

Thank you for posting and contributing. Recently I had considered quitting the forum; however, a poem by Rudyard Kipling ---"If"--- and loving encouragement from dear friends on JWD, gave me pause. I remembered an old brother's comment about the destitute widow. He stated that, "She gave her mite [a coin of small value] with all her might." That unnamed woman did live and still inspires to this day.

Since the recent reactivation of this thread, which I began some time back, we have had over 900 views in twelve days. Dear ol' sKal assured me that lurkers benefit simply by their reading posted material. So it's a real treat for me that some do respond to this all-important work by Ray Franz: IN SEARCH OF CHRISTIAN FREEDOM.

Lying, falsehood, fibbing, untruth, mendacity are all bad. Mendacity [mendacious is used in the Kingdom Songbook] is the most relevant to us of the WTB&TS experience because it implies a disposition to lie, or habitual lying. And who is the Father of the lie? Who might his children be?
This thread is about the bad that has resulted from lying in God's name and then saying it's justified.

CoCo

compound complex

bttt

compound complex

For me, one instance of this was notably impressive. In the 1970s a nephew of mine contracted a sudden pancreas infection that in just three days ended his life. He was only 34. He left behind a lovely young wife and two small daughters. At the funeral, which my wife and I attended, the funeral parlor was packed. As the invited speaker, the Society's vice president (great uncle to the deceased) walked up to the podium, paused, and then in a very loud, almost stentorian, voice said: "Isn't it grand to be ALIVE!" [I still vividly recall the sinking sensation I felt in my heart at this.] After that introductory exclamation, for several minutes he discussed, effectively and dramatically, the meaning of the words at Ecclesiastes 7:1-4. [These verses read (NW): "A name is better than good oil, and the day of death than the day of one's being born. Better is it to go to the house of mourning than to go to the banquet house, because that is the end of all mankind; and the one alive should take it to his heart. Better is vexation than laughter, for by the crossness of the face the heart becomes better. The heart of the wise ones is in the house of mourning, but the heart of the stupid ones is in the house of rejoicing."] As yet my nephew had not been mentioned in any way. Then, after approximately ten minutes, in referring to the words about it being 'better for us to go to the house of mourning,' the speaker said, "And the reason why is that sooner or later we're all going to end up like THIS!" and, without turning, he threw his hand backward in the direction of the coffin where my nephew's body lay. The talk went on with further commentary on the Biblical section but with no other reference to the dead man until the close when the standard statements of the reason of the occasion and the names of the deceased's survivors were given. [ibid., p. 250.]

compound complex

bttt

compound complex

Comments to follow on Ray Franz's burning anger at the organizational attitude to use the deceased as a vehicle for expounding organizational doctrine. Also, his prayer after the "memorial" --- remembering his nephew.

truthseeker

Having read the pamphlet myself and noted Eduardo's comments I still feel that it's purpose is to deliberately downplay "sacred service" in the life of a young JW child, so that the judge is left with little or no impartiality towards the JW seeking custody.

Watchtower speaks with a forked tongue. It is true that most JW kids do not swallow the "what we require of you" hook, line and sinker, but that's not the point.

The real point is the JW legal team know they don't have a leg to stand on were a witness child to say that they go to 5 meetings a weak, read Watchtower literature on a weekly basis, be prepared to die over a blood transfusion, not celebrate any holidays or even their birthday and not to associate with non-witness kids and to believe that Jehovah will destroy everyone at Armaggedon who is not in the ark of Jehovah's organization.

Eduardo, it's not so important what a JW kid does or doesn't do, it's the message that the Society is giving out.

Last week at the Sunday meeting, the speaker brough out that we should tell Jehovah why we can't pioneer.

compound complex

Dear Truthseeker,
Your comments are much appreciated; thank you very much.
CoCo

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IN SEARCH OF CHRISTIAN FREEDOM
Legalism-Opponent of Christian Freedom
Ray Franz, page 250.

I felt a sense of burning anger --- not at my uncle, for I sincerely and honestly believe he thought this was the best way to deal with the situation, the best way to combat the natural sensations of grief and loss. What I felt incensed at was the ORGANIZATIONAL ATTITUDE that allowed a person to feel fully justified to speak in a way which essentially transformed the dead person's body into a vehicle or platform on which to base a talk, a talk that expounded organizational doctrine, but which throughout simply made no mention of sadness at the loss of the PERSON whose life had ended, as though by ignoring this the hurt would be lessened. I kept saying to myself, "James deserves something better than this --- surely the text about a 'name being better than good oil' calls for talking about the name HE MADE FOR HIMSELF IN LIFE. Surely there is SOMETHING that can be learned from his life, something about him that can be said to encourage us, the living." [I had been asked to give a prayer following the talk and I remember feeling somewhat choked up and that I began by saying, "An enemy has come into our midst and has robbed us of a loved one. A wife has lost her husband. Little children have lost a father. A father and a mother have lost a son. And we have all lost a friend." Then, for the first time, I could hear some expressions of sorrow among those attending and I frankly found it a welcome sound. I tried to include some of the good things about the man, things worth our imitating, for I thought, "Surely now if ever is the time to express appreciation for whatever worthwhile qualities he had. We owe it to him, to his memory."] Once again, I do not think my uncle lacked any of the feelings I had or lacked a capacity for sorrow and compassion. I believe he simply reflected his training and a lifetime of disciplining himself against expressing strong feeling about anything other than "theocratic interests." [In the 1980s, when conducting the morning text for the "Bethel family," he emphasized the importance of the work the headquarters staff was doing by relating that, in 1939, when notified by his mother of his father's death, he informed her that he would not be able to make it to the funeral due to the severe press of work at Bethel. His mother angrily phoned Judge Rutherford and, as my uncle told it, the "Judge" ordered him to go to the funeral. This was said with no evident sense of embarrassment, but rather as illustrative of the importance he gave to his assigned work at Bethel, the "house of God." (Compare Matthew 15:3-5.) ; [emphasis: RF.]

JW Children Lie in Custody Cases

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