Mephis

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Posts by Mephis

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  23

  Changes to reporting

  by Formerbrother in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so it seems placing literature is not so important anymore, now that we live in a digital age.. we are being pushed to show videos instead.

  this is the new reporting from next month, just hrs and any literature placed in one box and then how many videos you showed in another box.. bib changes for sure..

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  Mephis

  The letter to the elders telling them about these changes also said that the number of videos shown etc. isn't even to be reported to the branch. The CO will look at the numbers, but that's about all. I suppose it would be embarrassing if lots of views were 'placed' and Brooklyn knew that there were far fewer views actually made.
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  21

  WTBTS Submissions to Royal Commission on abuse: The response document in FULL

  by JWchange in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  it is not obvious if someone has already put the responses and excuses to the findings of the royal commission, by watchtower on this forum somewhere, sorry if it is already posted.

  click on the link below, and scroll down to 'submissions' near bottom of page and you can download the full document.

  if this link doesn't work.

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  Mephis

  The full context of that quote from the newspaper. I don't think it's actually a compliment...

  
  http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/hypocrisy-in-the-jehovahs-witness-church-laid-bare-at-child-abuse-royal-commission/story-fnpn118l-1227465186315

  
  

  Max Horley, a lifelong Jehovah’s Witness, was one of two people to whom she reported the abuse in 1991. He told the commission he had thought it a “serious breach of trust” by Neill but never considered that the police should be called in.
  He said he had made notes of their discussions but protocol insisted that they be destroyed to protect the victim, the accused and the rest of the congregation in case they fell into the “wrong hands” — including their wives.
  While people from other churches dragged to the royal commission have obviously been coached by PR gurus and lawyers in how to present themselves and say the right thing while giving evidence, the Jehovah’s Witnesses were totally devoid of artifice.
  Asked if he would do the same thing today and destroy the notes of any allegations of sexual abuse, Mr Horley was unequivocal. “Yes, that’s our practice,” he said.
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  34

  The lord of the rings

  by BlackWolf in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  now that i've found out ttatt i've been indulging in a lot of so called "spiritistic" entertainment lol.

  i recently watched all of the lotr/hobitt movies and man were they awesome!!!

  who knew spiritism could be so much fun lol.

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  Mephis

  Would try the His Dark Materials series if you're catching up some with fantasy stuff. There was a film made, but watch out for the BBC series coming within the next couple of years. It should be most excellent. If Stardust was on the verboten list, then that's not so bad either for a film version of the book.
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  475

  What is the alternative to JW?

  by Formerbrother in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i mean this with all due respect, i would like to hear from genuine people who think jw have it wrong and then what is the truth?.

  im not talking about silly little quibbles here and there.. is jehovah real?

  the the bible is word?

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  Mephis

  So in the late 1800's Br Russell had to get everything spot on accurate and understand the entire bible straight away?

  What exactly did Russell get right which is still believed today by JWs? They no longer believe that Jesus arrived in 1874, whether invisibly or not. His ideas on the creative day have been rejected after 1975 proved a letdown. The rapture did not happen on any date suggested or even implied by Russell. Even the 1914 date had to be amended because he thought Armageddon would come on October and JWs now claim they were predicting just a year and they're right because WW1 started in, erm, August. His whole views on every story of the bible having symbolic significance in the 19th and 20th centuries has just recently been abandoned. He thought the faithful and discreet slave was a single man, that's now been amended to a group. The pyramids of Giza no longer are the guides to understanding the bible. When was Studies in the Scriptures last in print from the WBTS anyway?

  Arianism isn't new. The 144,000 idea is pretty unique but then there's more annointed now than there has been for decades, so something funky is going on with how God counts up to 144,000 if he was right. Non-belief in Hell? That's not unique either.

  What are the things he got right which other religions don't also preach? It's a Trigger's broom of a religion. The 'truth' of the 1870s is very far removed from the 'truth' of 2015. Assuming there is a single truth to be discovered, if Russell was so wrong about so much, what guarantees are there that his successors aren't equally as wrong? Because they say so? 'Millions now living will never die'. Nope. They're dead. "Jesus evidently meant overlapping generations"? Really? How many generations overlapped in the 30 odd years between Jesus supposed words and Jerusalem's destruction?
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  155

  Survey: How long were you in the cult vs what year you were baptized

  by ILoveTTATT2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi people,.

  i want as much data as possible on the effect of the internet on the time captured by the cult.. please answer the three following questions about yourself or about someone you know (for example, if your parents or grandparents were jw's and left).

  1) were you raised as a jw, or did you convert?.

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  Mephis

  Hi Mephis,
  So essentially 0 years? Can you estimate perhaps the months?

  I was fading before baptism. :D But I'm sure I'm not alone in having done the baptism thing whilst a non-believer and for family reasons rather than my own beliefs. Just put me down as 0 I guess? Otherwise you're working with minus numbers!
  
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  45

  Closest to the truth?

  by punkofnice in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i know many jws that state that the watchtower corporation is the 'closest to the truth'.

  thus they quiet their cognitive dissonance.. i don't have access to a corporation library any more.

  is this a stance that the watchtower corporation has actually claimed?.

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  Mephis

  I heard similar arguments used when I was inside. It was more the exposition JWs do to try to resolve the contradiction of being told things like righteous men in 1879 had the truth but their truth is not the truth that JWs currently believe. It was typically followed by the "and, anyway, where else would we go?" reinforcement. "Perfect organisation but imperfect people", but never the claim "doing imperfect thing perfectly".
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  12

  ARC: WT cf VAG

  by Joe Grundy in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  (i never was a jw).. as a retired child abuse professional, i followed (and continue to do so - it's an ongoing process) the arc proceedngs closely.

  my understanding is that the purpose of the arc is to establish what current practices exist in various organisations and institutions, how those practices compare with accepted best practice, and what organisations and institutions need to do to bring their procedures and policies into line with best practice.

  (and to find a way to compensate victims for what's been done wrong).. wt is case study #29 in the arc process.

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  Mephis

  One of the things which stands out in countries which are shaped by a more British form of common law is the very American conception of freedom of religion, as shaped by the First Amendment. It's something Candace Conti's lawyer has picked up on in the past too. The First Amendment should not be seen as a trump card to play every time one wishes to evade legal responsibility for one's actions. It's curious that a group which feels able to publish articles on how relative freedom is, should not see how freedom of religion works in many common law countries.

  It's something which will come up in Britain too, I'm sure. How to frame legislation when a religion is kicking furiously against common sense on very serious subjects. It's not a new issue. eg Even in India one rarely sees Hindus forcing widows to commit suttee these days. Very minded of Napier's response to complaints about a ban there, colonial overlord though he may have been.

  Realistically, I think survivors who've spoken on the issue are probably correct - ultimately it's the cost of not having those policies in place which are going to force them to 'new light' things to have them. I believe that survivors have every right to restitution in any case, but I think each one who steps forward and takes things through the legal process also is helping towards pushing the WBTS into better safeguarding children in future. It's negative publicity, it's the financial cost, and it's people inside gradually realising that the men in Brooklyn are saying one thing but doing another.
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  13

  Wilmington Delaware Media report in another Topic

  by truthlover in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  sexual abuse by a female member of a 14 year old in the congregation and elders being sued by the county --- now that co's are liable for the elders only - does that mean the elders will lose everything if fines are levelled against them, since the society has washed their hands and separated themselves by setting the co in place??

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  Mephis

  The individual liability is somewhat obscured in the UK given that elders are typically trustees of the local 'charity' (ie congregation) here in the UK too. So one has a situation where the elders, as trustees, are themselves personally and collectively responsible for their actions as individuals. In JWland though it typically would fall onto the congregation to pay compensation, as the elders are acting on its behalf, and via the congregation pass up the WBTS corporate chain.

  They have recently tried to break that link by introducing COs into procedures, who they claim operate under a non-charitable body (Christian Congregation of JWs), but their last attempt to argue that here in the UK was laughed away by the judge presiding.
  
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  59

  $1.2 billion coming, still 12 properties to go

  by the girl next door in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  but still, they ask for more at every opportunity.

  send in that ice cream money kids!.

  http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/2015/12/4/sales-watchtower-headquarters-and-two-other-jehovah%e2%80%99s-witnesses-properties-could.

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  Mephis

  The only thing which has really changed with these sales is the date of them I think? Wasn't the big move out of Brooklyn, and the sale of the property, meant to have been 2017? But now they're moving even faster, which gets the money to them a year or thereabouts sooner.

  Cynical me would look at the timings of their appeals for money and announcement of cuts and wonder if they've been deliberately done before the next big property sell-off hits the news though...
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  155

  Survey: How long were you in the cult vs what year you were baptized

  by ILoveTTATT2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi people,.

  i want as much data as possible on the effect of the internet on the time captured by the cult.. please answer the three following questions about yourself or about someone you know (for example, if your parents or grandparents were jw's and left).

  1) were you raised as a jw, or did you convert?.

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  Mephis

  1) Raised

  2) 1995 (aged 18)

  3) 1995, what is now called a fade began before baptism. Complex situation but should have been braver.