Dateline Precursor: CBS 60 Min. w/Leslie Stahl

by Room 215 24 Replies latest jw experiences

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  Room 215

  How many of you out there remember the CBS 60 Minutes program several years ago when correspondent Leslie Stahl examined the JW child custody issues? It may well have provided a clue as to how the upcoming Dateline segement will play out.
  
  Predictably, the Society emerged with something of a black eye, especially because of its cowardly refusal to produce even one GB or Bethel bigshot spokesman to defend its duplicitous policies.

  The best JWs could muster was a local JW elder, a lawyer by profession, who stammered and sweated under the withering barrage of hard but fair questions posed by Stahl.

  It should have been an eye-opener for JWs who had every right to wonder why not one of the ``courageous defenders of pure worship'' in residence at Bethel, so adept at delivering their pompous bombasts while milking applause from worshipful, uncritical audiences of tens of thousands at their District Assemblies, shrank from what by all appearances was a perfect opportunity to ``defend the truth'' and ``give a witness'' to a prime-time national audience.

  I also recall that the silence of JWs after the airing of the segment was deafening, and about as welcome as a fart in church... err...I mean Kingdom Hall.
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  LDH

  LOL!

  Right on, Room 215! They hide behind the rank and file at every chance they get. It should be a wake-up call why they constantly AVOID the media.

  Lisa
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  Makena1

  Room215 - I did not get to see that particular segment, however, I recall several of my "fellow elders" at the time denouncing how one sided (aka anti-JW)it was.
  
  Perhaps it was one sided - because as you wrote no one from Bethel was willing to refute the evidence.

  The upcoming Silentlambs piece should result in a bigger "black eye".
  Mak

  Some men worship rank, some worship heroes, some worship power, some worship God, & over these ideals they dispute & cannot unite--but they all worship money.
  - Mark Twain
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  Mister Biggs

  Good point, 215!

  Made me think about how Jesus was approachable and humble and the WTS always suggests that elder's be approachable and humble.
  Jesus face was also well know among the people in his time.
  Should not the GB be the same way? Didn't Jesus defend the truth?

  Try this one day: Write a letter to the GB and invite them over to your house for a meal or, even better, tell them you'll visit Bethel and you'd like to get together with them to meet them and share a meal together. You'll see how "apporachable" they are!

  Sorry for ranting. I probably sound like the Unabomber and his Manifesto! LOL!
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  Hmmm

  I remember that piece.

  She brought up the question of whether JW kids were allowed to associate with non-JW kids. The lawyer "spokesman" said something like 'well, if you were a dentist, you would mostly associate with other dentists, and your children would play with their children...'

  She looked at him and said (paraphrasing) 'You don't expect me to buy that explanation, do you?'

  At the time I was still strongly indoctrinated. His response sounded very reasonable, and I wanted to sock her in the mouth for such blatantly biased coverage.

  Hmmm

  [Edited to combat my comma fetish]
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  waiting

  The lawyer "spokesman" said something like 'well, if you were a dentist, you would mostly associate with other dentists, and your children would play with their children...'

  LOL! Yeah, just insert whatever (white, black, hispanic, doctor, mechanic, etc.,) and see that it STILL means bigot/racist. Jerks.

  Interestingly, Dateline had their show on repacking meats last night. You should have seen the sweatin' meat managers at Krogers, WinnDixie, almost ALL major grocery chains lying through their teeth. Even their corporate spokesperson (on screen) was going to answer a question - and the VP behind her said "Don't answer that." She didn't - and the VP wouldn't allow herself to be on camera. It was a hoot!

  Damn! I hope Dateline's as good with the WT!

  waiting
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  MikeMusto

  When your a who's who like me....You always avoid the media
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  Room 215

  Hmmm and waiting: What an inane response! That a widely read, well-traveled, well-educated and affluent demographic group like dentists would limit their social interaction to fellow dentists!

  Whether it's what they print or what they say for public consumption, they're their own worst enemies, by far.

  And Biggie.... I bet you could tempt them with an invitation to Daniel, Jean-Georges or Le Cirque .... your treat, of course!
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  Mister Biggs

  Hey, 215...
  Or I could tempt them if I told them that a sizable donation would be made.
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  AMNESIAN

  I still have the ep on videotape. I was so offended by the segment at the time that I drafted a rebuttal letter to the producers that I wound up never sending. I did stop watching "60 Minutes" for quite some time and developed quite the cynical attitude toward those Stahl stories whenever I did watch. <shakes head>.

  My own reaction then is probably a reliable indicator of what to expect from sincere true believers in reaction to next week's Dateline piece. Otoh, I don't believe there are nearly as many true believers in the organization today as there were back in the 20th century when the GB had not done as much back-peddling, waffling and about-faces as they have in years hence and there was still the expectation, however dwindling, that Armageddon might occur before the year 2000 [8>].

  What I personally expect is that there will be plenty of JWs, already wrestling with doubt and loss of confidence, who will dutifully protest the unfairness of the pedophilia report and the treachery of "apostates" with their lips while harboring profound concerns privately---concerns whose pernicious effects on the religion will become increasingly evident to the leadership.

  Anyway, your post causes me to plan to re-view that "60 Minutes" piece sometime before Tuesday.

  Btw, why is this topic posted to this forum? Just curious.

  AMNESIAN