Consider the primal impact of listening to your own "dear leader" expulse on policy in such a matter-of-fact way. Far more devastating to the average JW, especially those close to the subject. In my opinion, devastating, but not immediately obvious in its effects. Allow this man's voice to stew around in a sensitive person's heart, and I can almost guarantee you it will nauseate them. What effect will that have on public opinion of a leader of 6 million plus, possibly the most powerful of the GB, in the collective minds of the members? Don't underestimate the hidden ripples in the pool on this one, folks. Randy
Theodore Jaracz aware of molestation issue in 2001 before Dateline
by Dogpatch 31 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse
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Dogpatch
One reason many of us at Bethel considered working in the offices and being part of policymakers as LAME was because, unless you were really lucky, and had excellent game and style, you were going to have to suck their "member," for lack of a better option. Compromise, baby! Then you suck. And yet many who are here on this board would not be a part of that, even as most of us knew little about the policy-making anyway. My main "in" was through Cabeen, and in turn Franz, et all with that connection. Plus all the stupid Bethel elders meetings where all the alpha males took their turn at peeing in their corner, and asserting themselves as pack leaders. That's really what it's about, folks! More animal of a game than you know. I considered a transfer to the Service Dept. as a demotion. :-)) Not into "members." Others see how far they let it take them. Sure, I was a fundy. I used to canvass L.A. airport with hundreds of magazines in one hour, snuck into apartments illegally to witness all the time. They had me as a true believer, and that was more of my problem than theirs, but they were ready-made for my needs. Dope for the dope. :-)) Randy
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undercover
How many times did Teddy say "Bible principles" Geez...
I wonder if he believed the BS he was shoveling...or if it was his standard MO when handling someone who questioned or doubted, "Trust in Jehovah...appy Bible principles...blah blah blah..."
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Dogpatch
Ted really believes it, he is an honest man as far as I can see, and is personable, good style I guess? makes a good religious leader, as he is a corporate man. I was, too. But the dissonance ate away at me in a very short time after becoming a Bethel elder. Bethel changed you. You were never the same. I am sure every Bethelite on this board, and those lurking now, can attest to that. Right this very moment, I am quite sure there are numerous good guys who await and wonder if the moment of the catalyst will soon hit. I wonder. R
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Mary
Randy said: Ted really believes it, he is an honest man as far as I can see, and is personable, good style I guess? makes a good religious leader, as he is a corporate man. I was, too. But the dissonance ate away at me in a very short time after becoming a Bethel elder. Bethel changed you. You were never the same.
This is what I don't get: Assuming that Ted Jaracz has read CoC (and I'd find it incredibly hard to believe he hasn't), how in god's name can he still honestly believe that what they're preaching and teaching is correct???
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stillajwexelder
Theodore Jackass is an evil man
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nameless_one
Thanks for posting this, marking for reference.
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knock knock
That's what struck me as I listened to the call... he believes it! And the lines he used that flowed so easily.. the very same ones used by virtually every witness in this country to be sure if not the world. And I wonder too HOW can they do it? To be able to sit there and talk about the things "other" religions do knowing full well what their religion is guilty of.... robot? plain run of the mill psychopath? what is it?
At any rate, thank you Randy for the link if only to hear Alan's voice. He sounded a bit uneasy at first or is that just his manner all the time? :) -
willyloman
The tedmeister spoke at a "special meeting" for elders in Long Beach, CA, and I can tell you he is on another planet. I felt icky just being there. Which is one reason I never went back.
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Dogpatch
Sometimes it is hard for us to make the distinction between the finer character traits of an individual. :-))
Fundamentalists (TRUE BELIEVERS) are a real character study. I have studied them in-house for decades, from many religions as well as social groups.
They often have two fundamentally different psyches going on simultaneously. They may actually be very honest people, in each of those spheres, yet because they are living in a form of non-awareness, they cannot actually see what you and I see that is faulty about them (Jaracz will never really see the point of this discussion--his mind will not allow himself to go there unfortunately.) They are not stupid, or immoral necessarily. The same lesson in Nazi Germany: it's a kind of mental compartmentalization, with each compartment having its own rules and ethics relatively independent of the others. We all do it sooner or later, and we will usually acknowledge it in relaxed times (think normally-upright persons telling bigoted jokes), but as to fundamentalists, THEY DO NOT ALLOW THEMSELVES TO GO THERE.
I can admire SOME things about people I generally don't like, or maybe even despise. That doesn't implicate me in their overall morality. If that is even an issue.
I can dislike SOME things about people I generally like, or maybe even love.
We tie up so much loaded language (i.e., emotional language in this case) in our conversations that other people, if they are going to determine the truth of our report, actually have to put on a mental filter to interpret what we are saying, so as to get a more objective stance on a matter. Street talk is a perfect example of "heavily loaded" language. It is aggressive, provocative.
We all say things in anger, or when we swagger we get cocky, but the sign of a balanced, comfortable head is to give credit where credit is due. It makes your story more believable and less likely to become a lynching. I do not consider Jaracz an "evil" man (in my book that means with intent to harm or devour), unless there is something I don't know about.
The point of this post is not to dog Jaracz so much as to wake up those of you who are reading this who are on the fence. KNOW your leaders. Can you live with this? I would imagine if Jaracz heard this tape he would agree with what he said still! That's what you need to understand from this. He was not "caught" in a down moment. Jaracz likely does not have down moments. Probably always on! :-))
Recommended source:
The True Believer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_True_Believer
Randy