At least 125 known to have had allegations against them in Australia did not go to judicial committee because of the two witness rule. (source: opening statement pdf).
Mephis
JoinedPosts by Mephis
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The Australian Royal Commission hearings on the JWs handling of child abuse begins here in the US later today. It will be streamed.
by AndersonsInfo inthe royal commission hearing starting on monday, july 27, 2015 - australian day and date - (and it could go on until august 7th depending on how many witnesses testify) regarding jehovah's witnesses handling of child abuse is supposed to be streamed.. it could be that the hearing will only be audio not video although we were informed it will be streamed.
we'll find out in a few hours.. i live in the central time zone of the us and right now here it is sunday, 3: 45 pm.
in sydney, australia, it is 15 hours ahead of us.
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The Australian Royal Commission hearings on the JWs handling of child abuse begins here in the US later today. It will be streamed.
by AndersonsInfo inthe royal commission hearing starting on monday, july 27, 2015 - australian day and date - (and it could go on until august 7th depending on how many witnesses testify) regarding jehovah's witnesses handling of child abuse is supposed to be streamed.. it could be that the hearing will only be audio not video although we were informed it will be streamed.
we'll find out in a few hours.. i live in the central time zone of the us and right now here it is sunday, 3: 45 pm.
in sydney, australia, it is 15 hours ahead of us.
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Mephis
This elder is being absolutely skewered here on how grossly inadequate the policies he's been told to follow are. He can clearly see just how bad it is having to answer these questions. -
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How do jw's explain vestigial organs in humans?
by purrpurr ini only recently became aware of cases of people being born with tails.
having looked into it this is a evolutionary leftover and we have many other examples within each one of us like the appendix, wisdom teeth, and muscles to move the ears.
plus many more, this seems to me to prove evolution completely.
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Mephis
I don't recall it being cited from a WT, but the explanation I was given was that the Bible forgot to mention god playing about with human internal organs around the time of the flood. Or words to that effect. Something to do with us needing to be changed from vegetarians to omnivores so body bits needed some rejigging to allow it. I once tried to get a reasonable answer on evolutionary hangovers (snakes' legs, I was curious about the whole punishment of being made to wiggle on their bellies thing) during the time the Creation book was the Tuesday night staple, but was effectively told not to worry my little head about it and to ask in the new system instead.
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The Report - BBC Radio 4 about Jehovah's Witnesses and Child Sexual Abuse can now be heard
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0612hjs.
the report about child abuse and jehovah's witnesses is now live.. jehovah's witnesses handle child abuse cases.
jehovah's witnesses and child sexual abuse, the report - bbc radio 4 .
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Mephis
It's very powerful reporting. Damning of the policies they follow.
I'm uploading to youtube (should be available soon), should anyone not be able to listen to this via the BBC.
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Did you know WTBTS applied for Holocaust compensation?
by umbertoecho indid you know that the wtbts applied for these compensation funds?
i had no idea and if this has already been addressed then so be it.
i find it interesting due to the fact that so much is made of the jws being in camps during ww2 and nothing else is expressed about the other millions who died in these camps.
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Mephis
From what I recall, it was for both themselves as an organisation and to help JWs who'd suffered too. Both were within the terms of various holocaust compensation schemes. I'd question some of the things they suggest in that letter of application (asking to be considered as heirs for those who died without them, and the educational aspect I'd be concerned about given their exceptionally narrow focus), but they were banned, probably did suffer losses as an organisation which would entitle them to some compensation etc.
I just hope that their arrangements for survivors has never put inappropriate suggestions to those in receipt of compensation just for signposting them to it. There were complaints over the secrecy not permitting proper monitoring of what was happening.
eg http://www.swissbankclaims.com/documents/doc_74.6_hsp_4.pdf
(NB: note that the JWs didn't give a stuff if you'd suffered because of being a JW but were no longer one in the early 2000s....)
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People should learn more about the Bible flaws
by opusdei1972 ini have noted that the main problem for those who are seduced by the watchtower society is their ignorance about the bible itself.
people who believe that the bible is the word of god usually ignore the studies on textual criticism and how scientific criteria forbid absurd stories like that of the global flood.
so, i strongly believe that students in schools need at least an obligatory course on "the bible" through the point of view of science and the textual criticism.
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Mephis
Oh Lars. No. If you can overturn orthodoxy convincingly, you get tenure. In the sciences, it puts you in for a Nobel prize. In history, it takes longer to filter through but new ideas, supported by evidence, do percolate and shift prior views. (My own field has seen massive changes in accepted views since the 70s, all because one academic asked a question no-one had thought to ask before - though I'd expect the History channel not to have caught up for another 10 or 20 years yet!). Questioning is encouraged - in fact, it's part of the academic process of comparing and contrasting arguments and weighing up the evidence. And dishonesty is harshly penalised when discovered to have been intentional. One simply cannot equate religion and higher education. Although I do take the point that there can be politicisation of some things which taints research. I've seen academic papers given in one language missing critical conclusions available in others. It happens at times and says more about humans and politics than it does about higher education. The truth will out... -
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People should learn more about the Bible flaws
by opusdei1972 ini have noted that the main problem for those who are seduced by the watchtower society is their ignorance about the bible itself.
people who believe that the bible is the word of god usually ignore the studies on textual criticism and how scientific criteria forbid absurd stories like that of the global flood.
so, i strongly believe that students in schools need at least an obligatory course on "the bible" through the point of view of science and the textual criticism.
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Mephis
If you treat the bible as one would any other ancient text, it's fairly profitable. There's a lovely breakdown of logic in the view that "the bible is accurate because parts of it have been supported by archaeology". Well, yes. It's the parts which aren't supported which tend to be the big ones though - creation myths, flood sagas and dead men coming back to life. It's of little surprise that around the time a scribal tradition arose in the community of exiled Jews that things get into synch with the histories of other nations. One is also tempted to see the mythologies of at least one nation entering into the Jewish origin myths (eg creation cycle, flood saga, Moses' birth etc.). It's fairly amusing to see the same story, when on a Babylonian tablet, identified as myth but when found in Jewish tales claimed as literal truth.
I think it's difficult to put this into schools in countries where there are strong faith traditions which will push against anything which is directly highlighting problems within the beliefs of a particular religion. There shouldn't be room, however, for children to leave school without at least being shown the scientific evidence for the origins of life. History has a hard enough time getting adequate time on the curriculum here (and is subject to all kinds of political interventions and directives in any case), so I can't see how one could shoehorn that into a packed schedule. Overall, isn't the best thing to do to ensure that children are equipped to use their brains and be critical in the information they believe? A general approach seems best suited - whether to understand how marketing works or how to research the beliefs of a religion or even how to look past the headlines. One could almost link it in with the similar subset of skills used to critique a text.
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July Broadcast Denies That JW Children Die Rather Than Have Medical Care
by BluesBrother inanthony morris 3rd delivered the broadcast this month and advised that lies are circulated that they let children die rather than have medical care .
he says this is so inaccurate as to be a boldfaced lie ...... further he says it is "up to the parents to determine what would be the best treatment for their children" .
now, does this mean that parents are really free to make a decision to accept blood for their minor child, if they so choose?
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Mephis
Oh, they never lie. They dissemble, evade, prevaricate, confound, confuse, distract, obscure, subtly misrepresent and willfully misunderstand with what often appears to be a positively gleeful relish and are generally perfectly capable of contriving to give one an utterly unambiguous impression of their future course of action while in fact intending to do exactly the opposite, but they never lie. Perish the thought. (Iain Banks)
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Candace Conti Settles
by Nitty-Gritty inhot topic on topix seems to be candace conti settlement.
but it's all quiet here.
are you guys aware that your hero, who was not in it for the money but to change policies, settled without changing anything?
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Mephis
I'd wait and see for changes. I doubt you'll see them broadcast in the WT - they're more likely to be tucked away in letters to elders. Regardless of that, Candace's bravery in speaking out and fighting this has helped place the WBTS under intense scrutiny even here in Britain. And she's also set a precedent for others who have been through similar things to take action. -
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Time Magazine Article: Now’s the Time To End Tax Exemptions for Religious Institutions
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://time.com/3939143/nows-the-time-to-end-tax-exemptions-for-religious-institutions/?xid=newsletter-brief.
june 28, 2015 .
nows the time to end tax exemptions for religious institutions.
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Mephis
From a British perspective, I'd be very much in favour of a much tighter restriction on charitable status being given to religions. I really do not think that 'preaching' should automatically count as a 'public good'. Maintaining a listed building (as JWs do in eg Manchester), should give some exemptions. And those religions which do offer charitable works should of course get an exemption or be able to have those parts of the religion listed as charities in their own right. In effect, push the charitable aspects away from the religious parts as much as possible. Many religions do this already.
The Plymouth Brethren case here in Britain has already indicated that there is some appetite to look at the idea of 'public good' more broadly. I'd like to see it pushed further, although I think it is an unlikely scenario here without really looking at the role of religion in British society. We still effectively have a state religion after all.