Video and pictures just coming in from the world wide protest!

by koolaid-man 90 Replies latest jw friends

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  Butterflyleia85

  Props to you guys, Koolaid-man! Good to see JW being exposed in some way!
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  chrisjoel

  "were not trying to hurt people....but have these people who jesus christ died for come to him"

  YIKES!!! I admire the zeal ....but.....

  I would never mix "born again" or "the true jesus message" with leaving the Society. I would much rather have stayed a JW than contemplate coming to JESUS, which seems to be the theme of these protests .. .IF someone wants to leave they might be ignited a little by your protest but if someone reallly wants to leave it will be because they have the intention already i would think...The whole come to jesus is a giant turn off. ....and I suspect this is done partly because of family still in the WT but also partly to show that you have "something better than they have"..you have "Jesus". I personally am not intrested in coming to jesus.

  JESUS SHOULD COME TO ME.
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  brotherdan

  He already did, Chris. He came and died for you.
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  Nick!

  Well done Rick!

  I know, one may feel discouraged by the tiny number of protesters. But what really counts is that these public protests have started.

  We in Italy didn’t know earlier last year that there was the Brazilians had decided to organize their protest to take place on January 21 st .

  We had our in Rome, in front of the Italian Parliament on December 1 st . The reason we had it then rather than now is that our objective was to counter a law project which was being examined by the Parliament exactly during that period, in order to prevent its acceptance. That law would give larger freedom to the Watchtower in that country with several added privileges, one of which is collecting 0.8% of the income taxes for the Watchtower “social” values.

  We had a chance to give two conferences publicly on the square in front of the Parliament. The first was by Achille Aveta who is a long time dissident, who participated in the translation of Ray Franz, Jim Penton and Carl Olof Jonsson books. I was the second speaker to expose this crime against the freedoms granted by the Italian Constitution and the Declaration of the Human Rights. Reference was made to the Brasilian manifestations and court case which took place already last year, and the court case in Belgium, which after three levels of judgment, as to be re-examined by the appeal court next month of April.

  We take these initiatives seriously, as it is only by widening the protest that we will be heard.
  This is why, the manifestation in Rome was preceded by TV interviews one of which lasted an hour and was followed by several TV programs to explain why we did hold the manifestation. This has created a reaction from the WT branch office in Rome who wrote to the TV owner trying to intimidate them. But even after this intimidation letter, a new interview took place in the same TV station.

  T housands of tracts exposing the WT in this discrimination issue were distributed in Rome that day and in the following weeks, on the public squares. This tract distribution has continued during the month of December and January in other Italian cities.

  Not to let the fire die, we plan other initiatives during the year in Italy.
  Our next meeting, with people coming from all over the country will take place in March in one of the large Italian cities. We got support even from the local Police Union !

  During my conference in Rome, I proposed people to join me in the protest against the WT ostracism during the trial in Belgium which will take place I April. Some of the attendees have expressed their interest, even if this will mean traveling far at their own costs.

  I am in contact now with the dissidents in Belgium and in France and will try to get the protest going during the trial.

  It is not the NUMBER of people participating in the manifestations that is really the key.
  We NEVER had any manifestation in the past, and now, in spite of the relative small number of participants we have had our FIRST one! The fact that we had our fist one give us the motivation to continue, getting more and more attention and participation as people start to be more bold.

  This is why we encourage you not to be defeatist and stop even before you start, but to stand up and get together with others who have the same motivation and plan your next move.

  I personally believe that we should get our act together internationally, setting up a kind of organized group to start at least by exchanging ideas, plans, experiences and in the long run be a strong entity standing up against the Watchtower.

  Expectations need to be managed. No one in its sane mind could expect that from one day to another things will change, nor should we expect to take down the WT.

  Our aim should be a clear and loud voice to let the public opinion know about the dangers of becoming a JW. We should not fight the disfellowshipping provision. Any entity has the right to establish its entrance and expulsion procedures and principles. But NO ONE has the right to teach its members to hate their ex members , ostracizing them and discriminating them. At least in Europe this is against the law, but unfortunately when the WT organization has been “recognized” as a religion in most European countries, this issue was NEVER brought up by opponents. The only earlier issues were blood, military service and political elections, but the discrimination issue was never brought up before.

  The court cases in Brazil and in Belgium are probably the first ones where “discrimination” is the charge against the WT. I don’t know what the case is in the USA, but if we do not try we will never know.
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  minimus

  IT WAS FREEZING this weekend! OMG! How long were you out there for??
• 

  Butterflyleia85

  Our aim should be a clear and loud voice to let the public opinion know about the dangers of becoming a JW. We should not fight the disfellowshipping provision. Any entity has the right to establish its entrance and expulsion procedures and principles. But NO ONE has the right to teach its members to hate their ex members , ostracizing them and discriminating them.

  So awesome!

  In USA here in my area EastCentral... well I feel like some are ok with smiling maybe even waving if they have experience with disfellowshipment and no other Jehovah's Witness is around, while others stick their nose up and don't even look at you... bullying it feels like, snobbish attitude. When the members may not say your evil or died to them, we were warned by them when we were in that that is what they will be thinking of us... they aren't even aloud to pray for us if we aren't trying to become a Jehovah's Witness (showing effort they say). It hurts to feel hated by your own family... even if they secretly tell you "oh we love you we just wish you come back" that's not what they thought about with the other DFed members back when it wasn't your family or friend, or what they thought when upholding God's Standards that this is a way we should be thinking about DFed members. It's so confusing and hard, mixed emotions is what they pull.
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  brotherdan

  I posted this on another thread, but my MIL is df'd right now. She was sitting in the library, waiting for a meeting with the elders and I went up and talked to her. She talks to me all the time and comes over to our house all the time. But at the meeting...it was different. She eventually said, "We shouldn't be talking, there could be trouble." I told her that I didn't care if I got in trouble, but she said, "No, it would be trouble for me."

  That's pretty sick. She could get in trouble for letting her SIL talk to her. Crazy cult, man...
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  Ding

  I wasn't aware that DFd people were required to shun JWs in good standing.

  I thought it was just the reverse.
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  Butterflyleia85

  We (Dfed) arent allowed to show a rebelous attitude, but a humble attitude when trying to get back in. I was always cautious too when I went back to the meeting to get back in not to talk to others long and make sure I mentioned I was DFed. Even if they say it's ok I'm not worried... I'd feel like if an elder saw I was talking to them that I would be judged for my actions (especially at meetings, conventions, or assemblies).
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  brotherdan

  I wasn't aware that DFd people were required to shun JWs in good standing.

  Yup. If they are trying to "come back" then talking to others shows that they are not treating their df'ing with respect and it shows a rebelious attitude. Pretty sad...