Charging $150 To Tell Your Stories

by Bangalore 178 Replies latest jw friends

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  _Morpheus

  The idea that is a mob is laughable. Its a discussion forum with no ability to bring legal charges. Consider too that these are not baseless charges (as noted they are not charges, this isnt a court of law). LLOYD brought this up. LLOYD wrote this in a book. LLOYD had the book published. Nobody here had anything to do with it. Its very common for authors to be asked about things they wrote or to clarify passages of a book. LLOYD is the one who refuses and is dodgy. Just make a simple statment.... i never sexted with underage girls, i used the term ‘girl’ colloquially etc etc. instead he accused someone of being interested in his penis.

  Dont blame readers for reading.
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  Hecce

  Diogenesister
  I just feel because exitting jw's can be so vulnerable to hero worship, they need to know their stories are worth so much more than a name check at the back of an ambitious you tubers pamphlet.

  I like this, it makes a lot of sense; I just saw a comment comparing Cedars book with Crisis of Conscience. To me that is quite a leap, his book is just a copy and paste of all the discussions about the Watchtower doctrines and failures, you can find this in the net for free.
  
  
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  Ruby456

  I honestly don't know why LLoyd feels that he needs to reveal warts and all. does he somehow think this will make him seem more authentic and therefore more trustworthy? I think JP said it very well - that some people want to be the change they want to see whilst others are happy to do what they can (or else he said something like that).

  However, for many of us women we are forced by circumstances beyond our control to actually be the change we want to see and perhaps this is also so for those who are diagnosed as being mentally ill and who may seem to have no choice but to act out what they have been dealt by life. However, in thinking about this some more perhaps all xjws are forced by their circumstances to be the change they want to see. But if this is the case then Lloyd isn't that outstanding after all surely?

  edit: okay the direct quote sounds much better than my paraphrase

  For some activists, it’s all about the cause. For others, they are the cause. jp (p.2 of this thread and a keeper quote definitely)
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  punkofnice

  Smiddy3 - I would be happy to be payed $150 for telling my story not charged $150 for telling my story

  Yep. Same. Or for free. Certainly not 'contribute™'. As S Lett says after doing the maths (not 'math', thank you, I'm British....he smirks in good humour), I have more going out than coming in.
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  _Morpheus

  Cedars trash being compared to CoC... a book written by someone on the wt governing board, who was intimately aware of and involved in the decision making process..? Cedars was a rank and file dub. As hecce said, cedars is simply regurgitating the reasoning and logic of countless others before him, and if it helps then bully! But he cannot ever compare to the wealth of first hand gb information found in CoC.
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  Simon

  child sex abuse is too heavy an accusation to just toss around because Cedars gets more views, makes money, AND disagrees with you

  It seems to be a 'thing' in todays society to base your principles on whether you agree or disagree with someone politically or over some other cause. The people who do that seem to then read things backwards and assume that others' criticism of someone's actions based on principle as having to be driven by disagreement with them instead.

  Can't we just condemn bad things for being bad on that basis alone?

  And no one here is accusing him of child sex abuse or being a pedophile but cybersex with "girls" is a point on the spectrum of behavior that is closer than many people find acceptable and is often a point along the path that some go. It can be considered grooming.

  For me, it's alarming that someone like that wants to be involved with people who have been victims of abuse. Abusers often target victims of abuse so anyone dealing with them should be absolutely whiter than white when it comes to reputation and motivation. This + using a fake identity = alarm bells.

  He was probably early twenties at the latest and yes, kids that age are girls and would describe themselves as such

  I think if I was involved with any early-twenties "girl" I'd use the term young-woman. "girls", especially when talking about sex or cybersex, means something very different to most people. If it's just that he's a bad writer and it's a mess that he created because of it, he could clear it up when people have asked what he meant but AFAIK he has refused to for whatever reason.
  
  
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  StephaneLaliberte

  _Morpheus: The idea that is a mob is laughable. Its a discussion forum with no ability to bring legal charges. Consider too that these are not baseless charges (as noted they are not charges, this isnt a court of law). LLOYD brought this up.

  Many people online hang on to the specific meaning of words and derail conversations on these. Obviously, by charges, I meant accusations. By mob, I meant a group of people that act against someone without carefully weighting in the evidence.
  

  As for Lloyd brought it up? No. The pedophile accusations were out before his book was published. Now people play the word definition game while using his book to add wait to previous accusations.
  
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  StephaneLaliberte

  Simon: If it's just that he's a bad writer and it's a mess that he created because of it, he could clear it up when people have asked what he meant but AFAIK he has refused to for whatever reason.

  Yes, it is a mess he has created for himself. Now a days, you can't say or do anything without being accused of something. Thus, a better writer or publisher would have seen that one coming. Problem with Lloyd however is that he is also prideful, so, everyone else is wrong! He doesn't have to explain himself over such a stupid allegation.
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  thebrokenkite

  @Simon Good points, especially regarding the peculiar choice of words. His evasiveness is also particularly odd. However, having dealt with some aggressive ex-JWs for my very mild criticisms of their protest, I understand why he may not wish to engage them if they are the ones questioning him.

  Also, while no one here may be overtly accusing him of pedophilia, I don’t think we can pretend this cybersex issue is independent of the former. If anything, it’s quite clearly being hinted at as corroboration.

  The reason why I question the motivation behind the pushing of these rumors is because I’ve never encountered any evidence for them. The source has never come forward and made his, her, or their case. Personally derisive and unrelated comments are always attached to these accusations of him, which makes them lose credibility in my eyes. They are in no way factually presented and have an obvious bias.

  These rumors also seem to be most prominently featured by his YouTube competitors and their followers in the know, who I believe have more in common with Cedars than they think, theism and evangelism aside. They’re too often in it for themselves, but do help different audiences along the way.
  
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  Simon

  As for Lloyd brought it up? No. The pedophile accusations were out before his book was published. Now people play the word definition game while using his book to add wait to previous accusations

  That just makes it sound worse - that this term was deliberately used to obfuscate things to counter this accusation so he can point to a semi-explanation and claim it's been "explained". Where did those accusations come from if not from his book?

  It really comes down to a simple question - how old are the girls involved. He doesn't have to answer but people can decide for themselves how to interpret that.