Posts by darkspilver

5

Child abuse files. Request to return files before litigation

by sp74bb in

jw
friends

a group of former jw in spain has decided to request through law the return to any file regarding child abuse.

an official request has been sent today and a copy of this one has been copied to the ministry of justice and other government officials.. starting jan 16, we expect to get our request and receive the confidential files regarding our sexual abuse years ago.. we will keep you posted !.

.

darkspilver

In the so-called "publisher's file" that I signed at the time there was no indication that I authorized the transfer of my data to other entities, not even the matrix of Jehovah's Witnesses or the so-called Governing Body.

Google translate of the Current? (Spanish) S-21 Form:

I hereby expressly consent to the inclusion of my personal data in a file owned by the Spanish entity "Jehovah's Witnesses". I give my unequivocal consent for my personal data to be transferred internationally to the Jehovah's Witnesses' ecclesiastical board known as the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses, based in the US state of New York, as well as To other international entities linked to the world religious confession of the Jehovah's Witnesses. I am informed of my rights of access, rectification, cancellation and opposition that can be exercised before "Christian Witnesses of Jehovah", with address in Ajalvir (Madrid), Ctra. Torrejon-Ajalvir (M-108), km. 5, or sending an email to arco.es@jw.org.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwqmWMK7dwtlN2sxYmVQeHFCOXM/view

I thought that the signing of the S-21 by publisher's was now considered not necessary which is why it has been removed from the English version (two elders reviewing with an individual about becoming an unbaptized publisher review how the card is used, and by the very action of submitting a S-4 they are deemed for that information to be used for a pastoral care etc etc)

5

Child abuse files. Request to return files before litigation

by sp74bb in

jw
friends

a group of former jw in spain has decided to request through law the return to any file regarding child abuse.

an official request has been sent today and a copy of this one has been copied to the ministry of justice and other government officials.. starting jan 16, we expect to get our request and receive the confidential files regarding our sexual abuse years ago.. we will keep you posted !.

.

darkspilver

Google Translate of letter:

Miguel García Lopez Av. 08913
BUROFAX WITH PROOF OF DELIVERY AND RECEIPT ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Date: January 9, 2014 /
D. Alberto López Mayo Chairman of the National Board of Jehovah's Witnesses Crta M-108, Km. 5 28864 Ajalvir, Madrid
Serve this burofax with certified content to demand that this confession proceeds to give me all the documents relating to the case of child abuse that I denounced to the Corps of Elders of the congregation of his confession in Castellar del Valles.
The letters and internal documents of the confession show not only the existence of documents, records and annotations in the local congregation, but also that some or all of these documents are transmitted for the storage, custody or treatment of the data to the national headquarters Of Jehovah's Witnesses in Spain.
Before starting other legal actions, I invite you to group all the documents relating to me so that you can withdraw them either personally or by person with sufficient power for your facilities in Madrid from next January 16, 2017.
In the event that they do not have such documentation, they must deliver a document signed by a person with sufficient power to proceed with their destruction and to withdraw any information relating to me that they have assigned or delivered to other institutions outside the realm of the Kingdom of Spain.
In the so-called "publisher's file" that I signed at the time there was no indication that I authorized the transfer of my data to other entities, not even the matrix of Jehovah's Witnesses or the so-called Governing Body.
I will send a copy of this burofax to both the Ministry of Justice and all the administrations involved in the defense of my constitutional rights.
Signed:
D. Miguel García Lopez DM

This appears to be Miguel Garcia requesting a copy of his own personal information that the Bethel in Spain has on him.

He also appears to be asking for the Bethel to contact his congregation on his behalf and get a copy of his personal information that that congregation is holding on him.

Miguel Garcia's letter is dated Monday 9 January 2017, and he wants to pick up all the above information himself from the Spainish Bethel seven days later on Monday 16 January 2017.

24

Press in SPAIN report JW members go to JW headquarters to file a complaint for not receiving documents on cases of abuse they requested

by AndersonsInfo in

http://www.lainformacion.com/politica/derechos-humanos/exmiembros-testigos-jehova-denunciaran-entregarles_0_990801892.html.

http://www.telecinco.es/informativos/sociedad/exmiembros-testigos-jehova-denunciaran-entregarles_0_2308950586.html.

https://okdiario.com/sociedad/2017/01/16/ex-miembros-testigos-jehova-acusan-organizacion-ocultar-ley-miles-casos-abusos-sexuales-menores-671613jehovah's witness members will report to the organization for failing to provide them with documents regarding child abuse.

darkspilver

The auto-translation isn't helping here unfortunately

I presume this is in response to the letter of Monday 9 January 2017?

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5743526530777088/child-abuse-files-request-return-files-before-litigation

I understood the two time periods allowed for a response is either 21 days or 40 days, with an extension possible up to 60 days? Why have they followed up after only 7 days (and actually four 'working-days' if you exclude the day it was apparently received?)

The article does say there was a 'negative response' - translation issue here: does that mean WT wrote and said they refused to provide the information, or they wrote and said they had 'nothing' or simply that no response was received?

Are they requesting only the specific files dealing with themselves specifically? (In which case they would send some proof of who they are - otherwise any one could write and claim to be somebody they are not and ask for private information.

Or, are they requesiting for all the files that the WT holds? That would be a breach of privacy though wouldn't it be? You can't ask for private information on other people, unless you have their permission?

Have they actually asked the right people? I understood from Trey Bundy's Reveal's reportage in the US, that the 'confidential files' are actually kept by the individual congregation, not WT - surely that would mean the request would therefore need to be made direct to the congregation/s in question?

26

Every Country and Land... Except Oman

by ILoveTTATT2 in

jw
friends

so the other day someone asked me what use was it to make the list of countries in which there have been reports.... well... to know that, as far as i can tell, there has never been preaching done in oman.. it has never appeared in any report, and the reports go back to 1926!.

all other countries and lands have appeared, but not oman.. so there... first useful fact about the watchtower that we can get from 90 years of data..

darkspilver

Assuming that pre 1959, "Korea" meant both North and South, then yes, even North Korea at one point was "unbanned".

'Korea' was being listed in the Annual Report during the early 1930s when the Proclaimers Book reported:

Proclaimers Book, page 433

In the Far East too, pressure was building up. There were arrests of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Japan. Large quantities of their Bible literature were destroyed by officials in Seoul (in what is now the Republic of Korea) and Pyongyang (in what is now the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea).

The history of the JWs in Korea was featured in the 1988 Yearbook - when again Pyongyang is referenced - also the following:

Yearbook 1988, pages 142-143

Brother Lee, who is presently serving as an elder in a Seoul congregation, traveled the length and breadth of the land, reaching into what is now North Korea and even into Manchuria. He would order literature from the Seoul office and have it sent ahead to the next village or town. This was his life for three years until 1933 when the witnessing work came under difficulty.

Thus I would reasonably expect the 'pre-partition' (1948) Annual Report for Korea during the early 1930s to include the preaching work that was being done in what is today known as North Korea.

31

Griffin Assembly Hall (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) now a Megachurch

by Sanchy in

jw
friends

my mom, while pregnant with me, was one of thousands of jw volunteers to work on the construction of this once beautiful assembly hall in south florida circa 1984. it had a beautiful pond, waterfall, and even a resident alligator.

many remember it as well for it's huge plaster murals on the walls showing scenes of paradises.. pics as it was before (sorry for the low quality, struggled to find good pics of the auditorium as it was, if you have any good ones, do share them):.

.

darkspilver

why did the org sell it?

Maybe because....

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/198449/ft-lauderdale-griffin-rd-assembly-hall

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Palm_Beach_Christian_Convention_Center

26

Every Country and Land... Except Oman

by ILoveTTATT2 in

jw
friends

so the other day someone asked me what use was it to make the list of countries in which there have been reports.... well... to know that, as far as i can tell, there has never been preaching done in oman.. it has never appeared in any report, and the reports go back to 1926!.

all other countries and lands have appeared, but not oman.. so there... first useful fact about the watchtower that we can get from 90 years of data..

darkspilver

Singapore?

Yes, listed on my data dump on my earlier post (approximately the 21st country listed - as it wasn't alphabetical back then)...

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/6580967776976896/_post/5556505736642560

And if any one thinks what about North Korea? - remember Korea was partitioned in 1948 - and Korea, as a whole, was listed individually in the annual report prior to this.

26

Every Country and Land... Except Oman

by ILoveTTATT2 in

jw
friends

so the other day someone asked me what use was it to make the list of countries in which there have been reports.... well... to know that, as far as i can tell, there has never been preaching done in oman.. it has never appeared in any report, and the reports go back to 1926!.

all other countries and lands have appeared, but not oman.. so there... first useful fact about the watchtower that we can get from 90 years of data..

darkspilver

But, they were listed individually back then - I suspect that was due to a mix of changing attitudes and views in the countries and a bit of naivety on the part of WT - but still, counted and listed separately as shown above.

Also remember the Iranian Revolution (and the downfall of the Shah) took place 'relatively' recently in 1979.

Presumably those countries are now combined in the 'other countries' total at the end of each annual report.

It's also why I've said previously that it's an interesting geo-political exercise - remember ILoveTTATT2 is going back to 1926....

Saudi Arabia was only founded in 1932.

Alaska and Hawaii only joined the United States in 1959.

Then there's all the colonies getting independance with major changes of government and often names.

The 1950s were a very interesting time in the 'Eastern Block' - the Berlin Wall only went up in 1961.

And then the 1990s with the dividing up of USSR, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia etc

26

Every Country and Land... Except Oman

by ILoveTTATT2 in

jw
friends

so the other day someone asked me what use was it to make the list of countries in which there have been reports.... well... to know that, as far as i can tell, there has never been preaching done in oman.. it has never appeared in any report, and the reports go back to 1926!.

all other countries and lands have appeared, but not oman.. so there... first useful fact about the watchtower that we can get from 90 years of data..

darkspilver

JWs were reported in Saudi Arabia? Seriously?!

Yes, and Iran and Kuwait....

16

Goal: To digitize all WT statistical data

by ILoveTTATT2 in

jw
friends

i have the goal of digitizing all wt statistical data, as much as possible, as far back as possible.user 88jm.

i recently did 1980 and i had a friend help me with 1979 and 1978.. do we have any volunteers to help me with previous years??.

it's a lot of work, but if you know excel you can make some macros that will speed up the work..

darkspilver

Hi ILoveTTATT2!

Haha, yeah, I meant mostly the changing names of countries - from A to Z especially considering the historical nature of the data!

That's A for Aden Protectorate - now Yemen
Through to Z for Zaire - now Congo, Dem Rep

Some might take issue with how WT divides up the countries/territories, but I think they do a fairly good job for an organization that operates as worldwide as they do.

But, of course that is not to say that it can be a geo-political minefield!

There's the issue of the dividing of places like Alaska and Hawaii from the USA - but they're separated from the main body of the USA, so to count them separately, in this context, can make sense. But you also need to remember the geographical history too...

Ask an American - when did Alaska and Hawaii join the Union?... and the answer is 1959

Less obvious, although a sea-girt territory, is the counting of Newfoundland separately from Canada up to 1981 - but again, there's some history behind it - in particular WT history and the way it operated....

Ask a Canadian JW - how many Branch Offices has the WT has operated at any one time in Canada?... and the answer is two

One in Toronto, and another, up to 1981, in St John's in Newfoundland

Likewise the WT has operated Branch Offices over the years in both Anchorage (for Alaska) and Honolulu (for Hawaii), which helps explains why these territories also have been separated out in the annual statisitcs over the years.

But much more onerous than the above is the naming by the WT of the Falkland Islands as the 'Malvinas Islands' up to 1982

29

Is it OK for JW employees to sell lottery tickets?

by Iamallcool in

jw
friends

i do remember reading an article that it is not ok for jw to sell cigarettes at gas stations, etc... i was wondering what about lottery tickets?

they do sell lottery tickets at few restaurants around my home.

if jw works there and rats me out to the elders, i would not give a damn about it but i still prefer not to hear from the elders about it..

darkspilver

For some reason I do not believe you. LOL!

You should believe slimboyfat - he's good