What you are in effect saying is that the little girl on the Awake cover is better off as a child prostitute because she'd be far worse off as a witness child who was being abused or needed a transfusion. That is simply not the case. It was a rotten comment to make, it diminished the suffering of that little girl and tried to suggest that there is something wose out there than being a child prostitute.
The Most Tasteless Awake Cover ?? - Feb 8th 2003
by BluesBrother 45 Replies latest watchtower bible
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Jringe01
As I said there are no degrees of better and worse in this situation. Both are equally horrid and to suggest that being a witness who is being abused (and/or needs a transfusion) is worse that being abused by hundreds of men makes being the prosituite seem less serious.
This is a VERY sensitive topic with me. I'm sorry I overreacted but your comment touches a very raw nerve.
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wednesday
The only thing that makes me think that she may be a child prostitute, given the area it is shot in, is the earrings and the hollow eyes. Her dress does not look all that gaudy to me ( and btw, her arms look healthy to me, not pudgy). As a matter of fact, take away the earrings, and she just look like a very poor young girl .
I don't know if you have seen some second and third graders in the USA lately but they often dress much more gaudy.
Didn't they ever have a cover about masturbation? How can i over come this or some such nonsense? Poor kids, as if being pre -teen was not a hard enough time.
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james_woods
Being abused by a close relative in secret, and having to live that lie (with the church supporting the abuser) is, IMHO, worse in a psychological sense. It makes the child feel guilty, rather than just a victim of circumstance. Further, in the course of the physical torment, there is the special brand of witness mental torment - enslaving the child to a lifetime of cult behavior. All JW kids, not just the sex or physical abuse victims, face this mental abuse.
Being dead is worse. And yes, I realize that many child prostitutes do end up dead. But so do witness kids that need a blood transfusion - dead is dead.
Further (back on topic) - the use of such a picture may be appropriate for law enforcement or legitimate reform charities who are trying to solve the problem - but not for exploitation.
Look, my point here is that the very organization that used this picture and profited from it (both for circulation money and for propaganda purposes) - does this:
Tells witness families to let kids die rather than take a blood transfusion.
Demands two witnesses to prove a crime of child molestation. (impossible in almost any concievable situation - and they know it).
Often hides known abusers, or lets them move to another congregation to find other victims. Kept a central list of such names for years in secret and never used it to warn possible future victims.
Has been known to accuse victims of bearing false witness or being disrectful to older persons.
And - most tellingly - actively teaches it's people to contribute to their religious propaganda efforts rather than to make any effort to help children like the prostitute girl victim. They have no business using this girl's picture on their filthy magazines.
If what I said sounded harsh, then I hope those offended will consider that we all hate any abuse of kids, including the special secretive case of JW child abuse, and including their enslaving mind control of kids.
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Jringe01
OMG...can you imagine what a masturbation cover would look like????
That's a subject for another thread and someone with photoshop.
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Jringe01
Being abused by a close relative in secret, and having to live that lie (with the church supporting the abuser) is, IMHO, worse in a psychological sense. It makes the child feel guilty, rather than just a victim of circumstance. Further, in the course of the physical torment, there is the special brand of witness mental torment - enslaving the child to a lifetime of cult behavior. All JW kids, not just the sex or physical abuse victims, face this mental abuse.
Who says child prostititutes don't suffer the same feelings of guilt (Mommy doesn't want you any more because you were bad)? It has proven to be an effective tool in the hands of abusers so it's only logical to assume that it is used to keep the children in line. True most children don't have a church harbouring the abuser (that we know of) (Unless they were Catholic before the scandals) now it's the community that in essence protects the pimps by not taking enough action to get rid of this scum and allowing them to flourish. To whom does the child turn? Where can they go for refuge? who can they trust except the devil they know (it's designed that way)
The same methods cults use to control people can also be used in one on one relationships and also by the state to control it's citizens. It doesn't have to espouse a "religious belief" or veneer of religion to be cult like. After all even the bible admits that gods are not required to be almighty creators and live in a mystical place. Alcohol can be a god, so can drugs, sex, food etc all with their own "cult like" behaviours.