sparrowdown

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Posts by sparrowdown

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  34

  Dutch House of Representatives formally requests the government to start an investigation re. JW child abuse

  by Anders Andersen in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  today the dutch house of representatives unanimously voted to petition the government to start an investigation into jw child abuse issues.. the request from the house of reps. came after jw nl refused to listen to repeated and serious requests from the government to start an independent investigation themselves.. now it's up to the government to either accept the request by the house of reps. and start an investigation, or refuse to do so and explain to the house why.

  it appears the minister of justice is not unwilling to start an investigation though.... collection of dutch news items here.

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  sparrowdown

  Cue WT's standard response.

  David Splaine with a whiteboard, a pointer and a list of the three D's of fighting child abuse accusations.

  Deny

  Discredit

  Destroy
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  47

  Why didn't I leave back then???

  by silentbuddha in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  sunday my old bethel roommate came up to visit me.

  he left a couple years ago and he wanted to catch up and reminisce.. while we sat back remembering crazy things we saw take place at bethel he reminded me of a creepy instance with bro.

  swingell.. it was a saturday morning and we decided to actually go get breakfast.

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  sparrowdown

  I didn't realize kimonos were considered "drag".

  The upstairs neighbour in Breakfast at Tiffany's wore one all the time and he was just racist not transvestite (lol, that's called a joke).

  What it is evidence of is a toxic heirarchy and who not to criticize. Yes a red flag that all is not what it seems at the big house.

  I have no sympathy for bethelites full stop, but surely just being there for any length of time would send anyone a bit "eccentric".

  Though it sounds more like to me he figured he had earned the right to not give a f**k.
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  7

  Scared Kids with cognitive dissonance

  by Wakanda in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  this is not about sexual child abuse, and i apologize if i put it under the wrong subject area.

  stream of consciousness writing: .

  i was just thinking about how before i became more of an uber dub in my teen years i was a very frightened child.

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  sparrowdown

  Yes, for supposedly the most "safe loving" place to be, being a part of the congregation of JWs is a cold, frightening and very isolating experience. Being a "frightened child" probably had something to do with becoming an "uber dub" in your teens. I think many become uber in an effort to control the constant anxiety that comes with "not doing enough"

  WT is the exact opposite of everything they claim to promote. Love, family bonds, safety, spriritual/emotional/psychological good health, true friendships, satisfying "work", knowledge and facts, truth and honesty.... you name it whatever they claim to have the opposite is what they are!

  The authentic personality is subverted, broken away and "murdered" and replaced with the WT personality- quite diabolical really.

  Good for you that you can see these causes and effects now.
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  23

  Very little that is factual in the Bible?

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mryipltf3i.

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  sparrowdown

  Now that I believe the bible to be writings put together in one handy go-to place for the purpose of political control and social engineering it feels weird to hear people talk about it literally. It's a non-argument really.
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  12

  Something that really ticked me off about seeing the video of New Head Quarters of J.W.s (Warwick)

  by StoneWall in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when i was a jw it was always emphasized that we should trust in jehovah completely.

  jah will protect his people do not trust in man, throw your burdens upon jehovah etc.ok now if that's true wouldn't it mean that if jehovah was going to protect anywhere it should be his world head quarters right?.

  we were told to not trust in ourselves (such as guns,walls for defense and protection) but to leave it in jehovah's hands and he would provide a means for escape etc.so as i'm watching some pro-wt vid's about the facilities in warwick i noticed something they didn't show on them or focus on and only reason i know about it was because of the w5 newscast as well as the vids the protesters shared.they conveniently leave out the parts of them putting walls/fences and gates as well as a "guard shack" at entrance instead of relying on jehovah to protect them.the guard house even has a "no trespassing" sign in the window.

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  sparrowdown

  
  
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  29

  Watchtower Spies and Secret Agents

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i'm posting this link:http://jwdivorces.bravehost.com/spies.htmlonce you start reading it you won't be able to stop.fascinating and well-documented citations which give credibility to the belief that such a sneaky, underhanded, and often illegal practice has been secretly promoted for decades by watchtower society world headquarters..

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  sparrowdown

  JP - I agree with you "keystone cops" - indeed, clueless nitwits with delusions of real power. Useful idiots to the GB.
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  114

  The biggest news of the year for Mr. and Mrs. Totally ADD

  by Still Totally ADD in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is bigger than christmas and birthdays wrap into one.

  thanks to the australian royal commission our youngest son has woke up.

  we received a e-mail from him tonight where he apologized to us for shunning us all these years, how bad he felt for doing this.

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  sparrowdown

  Fantastic news! So happy for your family and your son will get the needed support as he navigates his way out of this horrible cult.
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  29

  Watchtower Spies and Secret Agents

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i'm posting this link:http://jwdivorces.bravehost.com/spies.htmlonce you start reading it you won't be able to stop.fascinating and well-documented citations which give credibility to the belief that such a sneaky, underhanded, and often illegal practice has been secretly promoted for decades by watchtower society world headquarters..

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  sparrowdown

  Elders don't operate in a vacuum. Cults are run top down. The top would know this sort of thing goes on and at the very least don't stop it, at worst covertly encourage it.
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  19

  On leaving JW's and hating religion...

  by Jehalapeno in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it's been nearly 4 years now since i completely woke up to the watchtower lies.. thinking back on my jw life, during the time i believed, the organization truly did teach us to hate all beliefs that were contrary to the watchtower's.. i hated "false" religion.. so, when i finally woke up and applied critical thinking to my beliefs, i just went on hating religion in general...only this time i added jw's to that list.. a few months of waking up, i decided to base my beliefs on evidence.

  i didn't want to have a set of beliefs unless there was some logic or evidence behind it.

  so, now i consider myself an atheist.. and i kept on hating religion.. within the last six months or so, something has changed.

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  sparrowdown

  Religion has a helluva lot to answer for that I'm not sure I can ever forgive. It has been a haven for all types of abuses of power, torture, rape and murder included. It's a parasite financially and, by extension of it's wealth and power politically influential and that makes it all pervasive and dangerous. It likes it's secrets too much for my liking.

  Personal faith and belief that contributes to the fabric of a healthy functioning society that protects children I don't have a problem with.
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  29

  Watchtower Spies and Secret Agents

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i'm posting this link:http://jwdivorces.bravehost.com/spies.htmlonce you start reading it you won't be able to stop.fascinating and well-documented citations which give credibility to the belief that such a sneaky, underhanded, and often illegal practice has been secretly promoted for decades by watchtower society world headquarters..

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  sparrowdown

  Re elder stalking I think WT's official policy would be carefuly worded to say it never happens but I've seen evidence of it too many times in too many congregations to know that it happens alright.

  Even if there is no evidence of it in your experience "absense of evidence is not evidence of absence"!

  I'm personally aware of elder stalking that was carried out on various individuals (and families) one was a guy that hadn't been baptized that long and was fading and attending a church in the area, in a smalltown with jdubs lurking around every other corner you can bet one of them will see you and the congregation will gossip about it. Everyone in the cong knew of both the fader's activities and the elder "sting" operation it was a big deal in the area, in fact two other brothers and a sister ended up followed the guy out!

  Another situation, another state, involved an XCO who slept with a prostitute so he could get a scriptural divorce, get reproved and remarry. The local body of his elder buddies helped him navigate the whole process and discredit his wife who believed (quite rightly) they were all in on it. Bethel sent out "undercover" brothers because the elders told the branch the CO's wife was in an "apostate ring" and they monitored and observed the sisters in that cong for months. It wasn't until a younger sister came forward and claimed the XCO and herself were having an affair did they turn their attention to the XCO. The most they did was disfellowship him and he was reinstated in six months so he got what he wanted afterall. The XCO's wife who is my friend and a nice person to boot was devasted by it all and is now a "marked woman" so to speak. Sounds far-fetched but I have first hand knowlege of these events they are "on the record."

  Oh it happens tho WT would deny it officially or in a court of law.