Lime that was very well put.
The Advocates for Awareness of Watchtower Abuses (AAWA) [WARNING]
by Simon 226 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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ballistic
Are you serious? People were added to a facebook group without their permission? How is this done? With their email addresses? I can't believe it.
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ballistic
Just to add, it might not be a great idea to post the JWD IDs of those affected by this security breach, because people googling "AAWA"
to find out what it is they have seen their facebook buddies join, will undoubtedly get search results for this site and will see the affected members
in these specific threads such as the first page of this thread.
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Butterflyleia85
nicely said lime! i also agree with truejw. thanks simon for this post!
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rebel8
Yes, someone added me without my permission. Apparently Facebook allows your friends to add you to groups without your ok.
I don't know if anyone saw it on my page but it appeared in my feed. I was humiliated.
It's taken me a LONG time to distance myself from the wacko cult identity with my non-jw family (large extended family) and now BAM! it's on my Facebook feed, giving the appearance I'm either still a dub or I'm a seething, bitter opponent--wasting many years of working to gain their credibility. I am really pissed off.
Non-jws do NOT UNDERSTAND THIS STUFF. It must be presented to them in a careful manner, if they are to understand at all. Not in a farking Facebook feed that says "anti" anything.
I don't know who is "running" the group but she may not be one of the leaders.
This person did something similar to me before and I had a full convo about it with her. She agreed not to. I think she is just overenthusiastic and extremely open about it herself, forgetting others are not. I don't think she is a malicious person.
However, I think that behavior (not specific to her, just generally) may be indicative of a lack of boundaries. Think about the Reasoning book and all the dishonest, high-pressure sales techniques in the ministry school. It can take a very long time, and numerous hard lessons, for us to learn about boundaries.
We all have some leftover behaviors that we need to purge from the far reaches of our brains, I'm sure.
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ballistic
Yes, someone added me without my permission. I don't know if anyone saw it on my page but I'm sure they did--it appeared in my feed.
Do you know who exactly was responsible for this? And did they have your email address prior to this? I am just wondering how it is done.
Also, there's a lot of spam on facebook that you click on something and it goes to onto your timeline without you intending so you may be able to bluff it, just a thought.
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EdenOne
Rebel8 wrote: "Think about the Reasoning book and all the dishonest, high-pressure sales techniques in the ministry school. It can take a very long time, and numerous hard lessons, for us to learn about boundaries. "
Rebel8, as much as a sympathize with what happened to you, that statement is an overgeneralization about a supposed acquired behavior by the Witnesses. I know all sorts of people who exhibit that sort of behavior and never had anything to do with the Witnesses. More likely it has to do with education - or lack thereof.
Eden
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fizzywiglet
I don't know who is "running" the group but she may not be one of the leaders.
This person did something similar to me before and I had a full convo about it with her. She agreed not to. I think she is just overenthusiastic and extremely open about it herself, forgetting others are not. I don't think she is a malicious person.
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Sounds like the same person who force-added me and many other mutual friends of mine. She's not a board member, but she is a coordinator and has been involved in the project since the planning stages, if we're thinking of the same person (JBD).
I don't think she's malicious, but when she was confronted about it on the page (this may have been after you left the group), she was extremely snarky, rude and defensive towards those who were complaining about being force-added. Her defense at the time was, "What, are we supposed to PM 1,000 people and ask them to join? That's way too much work!" Because, you know, cutting corners for the sake of appearances and padding your numbers is totally ethical.
So yeah, maybe not malicious, but it does seem your prior conversation with her didn't leave a lasting impression or teach her anything about restraint or sensitivity - and really, since you'd already had a prior discussion with her about it, there is absolutely no excuse. She should know better. She DOES know better. But she was definitely encouraging the force-add approach to the rest of the group as a valid way to bulk up membership numbers, and getting outright snotty with those who objected. It's worth noting that despite the confrontation, AAWA board members remained silent on the subject and did not act to rein her in until it blew up into an issue here on JWN several days later, and they still refuse to remove the force-adds, though they admit to force-adding 1,000 strangers they know nothing about, including JW apologists/elders/moles and individuals with no interest in activism (many of them faders or those with JW spouses/children who might have access to their Facebook accounts).
I think it was Black Sheep who summed it up best...they indiscriminately corralled 1,000 "foxes" and "hens" together in the henhouse in one mass roll-up, and now are going, "Well, we've shut the door to the henhouse, so the problem is now fixed!" Except, they're ignoring that they've left the foxes in there. (With many hens who never asked to be there in the first place.)
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ballistic
Anyone, I don't care what kind of education they've had, should know that that is an outrageous and dispicable thing to do.
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Band on the Run
There is a side to this matter that makes me proud to be in such company. We are discussing the benefits and costs of such approaches as a rational community. We are informed. We see each other as peers. This shows the WT view of thinking no longer holds us captive. Right on.