Please allow me a small opinion, sparked by some drum bangers who are determined to expose and "bring down" the WTBTS. One way that this is done is by attaching a persons religion to a crime report.
For example, rapists who are JW's are frequently brought up here. Child molesters and pedophiles. However, recently we have been reminded again that the largest Christian denomination, The Catholic Church, also suffers from the same problem. You will on occasion have their religion brought up, but, the only thing it means is that the person happened to be Catholic, or a JW, or ..... Did they commit the crime because they were Catholic or JW?
Well, if its child molestation we are talking about, probably so. It is pretty clear to see by now how pedophiles use organized religion and their protected status in this country to hide and commit their atrocities.
My point though is simple. Other crimes, such as murder, or theft, or drug possession, and we hear about it on these boards. As if we are trying to prove something.
In a sense, I do think it needs to be exposed for any lurkers here. At the same time, any reasonable lurker who is a JW, perhaps is doubting, will not try to attach any more to the crime then any other reasonable person would.
In short, I strongly feel that trying to attach the "they were a JW" to criminals who happen to be JW doesn't really accomplish a whole lot. I was a JW. I am not a murderer, a pedophile, a drug dealer. I am an upstanding citizen in most ways. (although Republicans might hate my guts....) In any case, my being a JW, or leaving JW's had little to do with me being a non criminal, tax paying citizen of the United States.
I do the right thing because thats how my momma raised me. I still harm no one. I went in the JW world from being the best to a level just above Satan and Judas, all because I disagree with the GB. So their labels I don't care too much about.
I get that the idea is to say "See? Hey you doubting JW lurkers, when you read in the WT that you are part of the greatest little religious club known to man, you aren't, you got just as many weirdos as the next religion, so cut it out with how great you are..." I get that. But you know, it was impressive 15 years ago, and now?
Now, whether you like to believe this or not, JW's are an accepted part of the religious scenery of this country. People get that JW's are weird, will knock on your door and tell you that Paradise is a Watchtower away. Many people today aren't going to fall of JW's line of crap. They are going to go on the internet and compare what others are saying.
That's why sensationalism works against "the cause". (whatever that is these days) Information, reasonably presented with life stories that report instead of exaggerate, that minimize emotions instead of emphasize them (no matter how painful or real those emotions are to us) continues imo to be the best way to expose JW's for what they are.
I think we also have to realize, there are a lot of damaged people in the world, and they gravitate to cults. JW's are the cult we know best, but they aren't the only cults out there (see: Scientology) and if they don't go here, they WILL go somewhere else, I assure you.
So relax. Imo, to make the exposing and taking down of JW's as one's life work is to still give ownership of your life to the WTBTS, just from the other side of the tracks.
Love you all. (ok, most of you I love... some of you I tolerate... )