Balaamsass2

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Posts by Balaamsass2

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  98

  Greenlees & Chitty -- Some Sources

  by AlanF in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  posted on an email message board:.

  posted on an email message board:.

  posted recently to the h2o message board:.

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  Balaamsass2

  btt
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  77

  I LOST IT ... my JW rant today

  by talesin in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, i just couldn't hold it in anymore.. today, i exploded, talking to my mother about the family inheritance and how i am being screwed.. i told her i had been so angry lately, and just had to tell her what i was thinking, because the anger was slipping out at times, and i was making snide anti-jw comments .... which is not my way.

  i'm usually quite direct.. i told her that i couldn't take being treated like a piece of dog you-know-what on the bottom of someone's shoe any longer.. that in the past couple of years, i had learned so much filth about the jws that i was getting more and more disgusted day by day.. i started shouting ... there is nothing wrong with me!!!

  why do i have to be shunned when they hide child molesters???.

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  Balaamsass2

  Good to hear from you!

  3rd Gen and the Ass
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  11

  not on JW.org : Law student recounts surviving child abuse by Jehovah's Witness and congregation Elders.

  by Balaamsass2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  by rebecca haines.

  august 12.

  photo/ rebecca haines ariel "arrie" wilson is now moved into her new home in topeka, kan., with her husband and daughter where she will pursue her law degree at washburn law school.

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  Balaamsass2

  An interesting part of this story is the fact that this 9-14 year old girl was accused of "seducing" the young adult as if a child could possibly have consensual sex. These Elders tormented the VICTIM...a child publicly.

  I have heard of a number of instances like this.
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  11

  not on JW.org : Law student recounts surviving child abuse by Jehovah's Witness and congregation Elders.

  by Balaamsass2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  by rebecca haines.

  august 12.

  photo/ rebecca haines ariel "arrie" wilson is now moved into her new home in topeka, kan., with her husband and daughter where she will pursue her law degree at washburn law school.

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  Balaamsass2

  By Rebecca Haines

  August 12. 2014 8:58AM

  'Take the bad and turn it into good'

  This is Ariel "Arrie" Wilson's story of how she has found hope and strength despite living a nightmare in her youth.

  After experiencing four years of sexual abuse, watching her family rip apart and be rejected by both sides of a divided church, a Carthage woman now serves as an advocate for abuse victims and anticipates law school this fall. This is Ariel "Arrie" Wilson's story of how she has found hope and strength despite living a nightmare in her youth.
  
  Living in Abuse
  Arrie was eight-years-old when her sister, who is about seven years older, was married.
  “I was excited,” Arrie said, “everyone told me that I was getting a new big brother. My sister’s house was cool, she had cable, her freezer always had ice cream in it and I could play outside with her dogs. The cool part was that her new husband seemed just as eager to spend time with me too. At first, it was innocent playfulness.”
  A year after they were married was when he first abused Arrie; she was nine.
  “I remember I knew it was wrong, but I didn’t want to say anything because I felt like it was my fault, I felt guilty,” she said. “That abuse continued until I was 13, every time I was at their house, which was often. It happened hundreds of times. He never outwardly threatened me, but he made me feel like we were both guilty; that if I said anything I would be just as bad as him, and my family would disown me or fall apart. He told me that he was in love with me, and that they wouldn’t understand. So I never said anything. While I knew what was happening was wrong, I believed that he loved me and I felt that if I always gave him what he wanted he would never do the same things to someone else. I thought I was protecting others.”
  Four years passed, and Arrie noticed his focus shift to other girls, one of which was her best friend. Arrie said she found the courage to tell her everything.
  “She was the first person I had even considered telling,” Arrie said. “She cried with me, and agreed that together, as two 13-year-old girls, we could watch him and prevent him from doing the same thing to anyone else. We tried for about a month, but it was out of our control.”
  
  Reporting the Abuse
  It was in August 2003 when Arrie, with her best friend by her side, told her mother everything that had happened. By the next day, the police were involved and Arrie was interviewed at the Children’s Center. As Arrie was fully supported, charges were filed and the lengthy court process began. To this day, Arrie expresses her gratitude and respect for Betsy, the victims’ advocate at the prosecutor's office, and her counselor, Jeanette Eldred, who was with the Ozark Center.
  “During this time everything (he) said would happen, did,” Arrie said. “My family fell apart. My family were all members of the congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and it split apart the church as well. It was my worst nightmare. He was disfellowshipped from the church, but not for child molestation, rather, adultery. There were members in the church that said I should have been disfellowshipped as well; they said that I seduced him. We switched the congregation that we attended, but I was still looked at as a whore, someone that was not a victim but rather a perpetrator. I remember there was an elder that felt so strongly on the matter that he actually gave a sermon on 'It is not rape if you do not scream.'”
  Efforts to contact the Jehovah Witness Kingdom Hall, Carthage, for comment were unsuccessful.
  Arrie's abuser was sentenced to 10 years of incarceration, with a requirement to serve 80 percent of his time and his name will always be listed as a registered sex offender. At his sentencing hearing, Arrie gave her victim impact statement.
  “It was scary, but something that I felt I needed to do,” she said. “I wanted my voice and feelings to be heard. I had Betsy there with me as I read it to the judge. I remember I told the judge that I felt the 10 years would give me the time I needed to heal.”
  
  Living after Abuse
  Arrie tried to just be a 14-year-old girl.
  “I was never like everyone else my age,” Arrie said. “I was focused, I knew what I wanted to do from that point forward. I was determined to heal and turn my childhood into something positive.”
  Arrie graduated high school at the age of 16 from her home-school program in 2006. She has a class ring in which she chose to inscribe a gavel as a symbol of her dedication to become an attorney. A year later, she started to steer away from the church, and moved out of her mother's house and in with the man who would later become her husband. She was disfellowshipped; which means “subsequent shunning of an unrepentant wrongdoer,” according to Watchtower, 1981.
  Arrie and William Wilson were soon engaged, and she found happiness.
  
  Facing the Abuser
  Periodic news involving Arrie's abuser set her back into a state of helplessness and shame. But, she chose to rise above her emotions and face various challenges head-on.
  A few years passed, and Arrie and William had a baby girl, Phoebe. Arrie was enrolled in criminal justice classes, and loved it. She knew her abuser would be released soon and return to the area. When he was released June 24, 2011, Arrie didn't leave her home for two days. Finally, rather than suffer the emotions of a victim, with the consent of her counselor and the probation officer, Arrie set up an appointment to see him.
  “I just wanted the first time I saw him to be on my terms,” Arrie said. “I wanted to take the fear away, get the questions I had answered and empower myself … I prepared myself for the fact that he could not be helpful at all. I was OK with that. I knew that the meeting was about giving myself the forgiveness I needed and empowering myself, regardless of the outcome of the meeting.”
  To her amazement, he answered her questions in the two-hour conversation.
  “When it was over, I felt like a weight was lifted from my shoulders,” Arrie said. “Questions that I had for years were answered, but most importantly, I was not afraid of him anymore.”
  
  A Future Past the Abuse
  Arrie graduated from Crowder College with an associate degree in December 2012, and she graduated from Missouri Southern State University with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice administration in July this year. After taking the LSAT, she was accepted into different law schools and has chosen to attend Washburn Law School in Topeka, Kan., this fall.
  Phoebe, now four-years-old, and William are with Arrie currently in their new home.
  In accordance to the faith, Arrie can no longer communicate with her best friend (and some family members). According to www.jw.org, “disfellowshipping takes place only if a member of the congregation unrepentantly engages in gross sin … What is accomplished by disfellowshipping? It keeps Jehovah’s holy name clear of reproach and protects the fine reputation of his people. (1 Peter 1:14-16) Removing an unrepentant wrongdoer from the congregation upholds God’s standards and preserves the congregation’s spiritual cleanness. It may also bring the unrepentant one to his senses.”
  “I don't hate the people, I still have family that are Witnesses,” Arrie said. “I do hate that the leaders are incredibly closed minded. I hate the shunning … It has in a big way turned me off of religion. I have visited a few different churches now and have yet to find one that I like. I feel that for now I have spirituality and try to live a moral life. I have always felt that the biggest thing we should do is love and respect others regardless of their faith.”
  Arrie served as a volunteer for rape victims in the ER with the Lafayette House, and hopes to continue advocacy in law school.
  “I want to take my experience and use it to help others in similar situations,” she said. “While someone may be victimized, and it can feel overwhelming at times, it does not have to negatively define your life. I do not see myself as a victim, but rather as someone who survived and made the best of a bad situation. I learned that the hardest part of healing for me was forgiving myself, for something that I was not guilty of. Perpetrators like to push their guilt onto their victims so they can justify their actions. Take that guilt and shame and give it back to them, take the bad and turn it into good.
  “My hope for the future is that I will be able to help bring change to the criminal justice system. I feel that in our area cases that are not a sure win for the prosecutor are often given a significant reduction in charges with a plea agreement or charges are never filed. I want that to change. I am all about restorative justice as well. I think we need to do what we can to heal everyone involved and to help them move on after something so traumatic happens. I want to also help bring awareness that it is never the victim's fault, and they should never be ashamed.”

  http://www.carthagepress.com/article/20140812/NEWS/140819777

  
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  38

  "We Love You All Very Much"

  by Apognophos in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i'm not sure if this has been discussed before.

  you guys might recall that when the 2013 yearbook came out, the letter from the governing body ended a bit unusually:.

  we love you all very much.

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  Balaamsass2

  
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  51

  Are JEhovah's Witnesses reaching out to the Gay community ?

  by Watchtower-Free in

  1. social
  2. humour

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  apostate & ex-jehovalarious meme collection.

  https://www.facebook.com/groups/jwmeme/.

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  Balaamsass2

  There is always room for one more in the Bethel spa!

  
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  45

  Is the Watchtower Intentionally Trying to Force People to Leave the Organization?

  by kneehighmiah in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the leaks from the new november watchtower are alarming.

  they will disturb even longtime jws who haven't surrendered all rational thought.

  it's become so cult like its scary.

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  Balaamsass2

  Put up or get out!

  
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  68

  Outrageous propaganda. "Treat your disfellowshipped loved ones like they're dead, but without mourning them." NOV 2014 study Watchtower

  by Watchtower-Free in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

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  Balaamsass2

  Another progressive thinker
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  15

  GB member visits Bolton--UK

  by bigmac in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ive pasted the following from a uk xjw facebook page.:.

  i found out last night that thursday,just gone, a member of the gb came to rosehill congregation in bolton to tell them the gb will now be more active and a more prominent part of their lives, this is to build trust and make it so when they revel new direction in the future, people don't push against them and they follow them.

  it's a long shot shot but what are the chances he will be at any other meeting in this district this sunday and how can i find out?.

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  Balaamsass2

  How exciting!!!!!!! UK JWs can line up to touch him!
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  55

  More JW bragging about the Landover, MD. convention. Please have barf bag at the ready before reading

  by AndDontCallMeShirley in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the following e-mail is circulating among jws about the international convention at fedex stadium in landover, md.

  note the all-too-familiar jw claims: everything they do (including the simple act of parking cars) is proof of jehovah'stm blessing, and everything wt did at the convention was the fastest, greatest, best ever.

  oh, and the never-fails-to-get-mentioned alleged 'persecution'/resistance from some unnamed authority who tried to get in watchtower's way and hamper the effort...but jws prevailed anyway (as always):.

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  Balaamsass2

  Holy spirit must have ADD or be on vacation......totally blew it on planning the 8/22 Convention in Africa for 50,000 attendees........