Posts by OrphanCrow

324

VA shooting suspect was raised a JW! He mentions it on his Twitter account

by WingCommander in

jw
friends

anyone in the usa following this morning's shooting "on-air" live tv will know what i'm talking about.

bryce williams (not real name, but on-air name) shot and killed 2 people on live television this morning in roanoke, va. he was wearing a go-pro camera, and uploaded his first-person video onto his social media accounts.

i've seen his twitter feed (before it was taken down), and not very far down he mentions being raised a jw.

OrphanCrow

flipper: When I talk about " mental illness " this is the type of person I'm referring to- Ted Bundy types who manipulate other humans for their own secret twisted purposes...

Flipper, please allow me to be pedantic about your statement.

Ted Bundy, and serial killers like him who are psychopaths, are not "mentally ill". They have a "mental disorder" that makes them different than what we think of as normal people, but they would not be classified as "ill".

Illness implies a disease or condition that is treatable and/or curable. A psychopathic disorder is not curable - a psychopath has a permanent disorder of the mind. And, they are fully aware of what they are doing - it is their motives that are twisted and dangerous to people around them.

Psychopaths are not sick - their condition is normal to them. "Mentally ill" is not the category that they fall into and as such, psychopaths should and can be held accountable for their actions. Mentally ill people are not neccessarilly accountable for how they behave.

95% of mentally ill people are not violent. 95% of violent acts are committed by people who are not mentally ill.*

*sorry...can't provide a reference...this was a statement made by a psychiatrist speaking about war veterans with PTSD.

23

Getting the Urge!

by Theburstbubble in

jw
friends

evening folks, so as some of you may know we have recently decided to leave the witnesses and can see it for the man made organisation it is.

so, why do i get the urge to go back and feel guilty for not being there!

it's like my mind is telling me to be logical about it all but then something keeps pulling me back.. don't get me wrong i really want to break free from it all and i'm resisting the urge to go back as i have been miserable in the truth for a long time as i've known it's not right and want to do the best by my daughter.

OrphanCrow

Theburstbubble: So, why do I get the urge to go back and feel guilty for not being there! It's like my mind is telling me to be logical about it all but then something keeps pulling me back.

Burstbubble, I think you are probably feeling the effects of "comfort zone".

When we move into new environments, even when that new place is a better place to be, our conditioned pysche is uncomfortable and we often respond with the urge to seek out what is the most familiar, not neccessarily that which is the best.

It's okay...you just have to give yourself time to adjust to your new surroundings. Pretty soon, that old comfort zone will be replaced with the new and better comfort zone. Give yourself time and make yourself familar with your new world.

Take Wisdom's advice and plan fun events exactly at the time that meetings are scheduled. Go to the zoo or watch a movie or bake cookies....

Good luck.

54

WHEN people leave a cult...MAN landed on the moon? Or critical thinking......

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

i believe anyone who has voluntarily left a cult has shown they can adapt to new solutions, and have used " critical thinking" skills otherwise most would not have left.. yet i believe a safe place for support is still needed and this safe place i believe is searched for.. now i may not measure up to much in ways of education, but for me personally " critical thinking skills" = " new" a " new" way of thinking, that takes time for me the individual to be visual and to contemplate.

and the more i read about " critical thinking," the more convinced i am that i can live with the ridicule of those that claim i do not possess it.

furthermore i would say those that criticise others " critical thinking skills," often luck the sensibility and thoughts to snore, spit, and fart....nor would they understand a room full of tobacco smoke and cheap booze...where " critical thinking " can often be found in its most profound, in the most sensitive poems and "pictures" that were ever drawn.

OrphanCrow

cappytan: I would venture to say that the fact that someone was able to leave the cult means they have at least SOME measure of critical thinking skills.

Not neccessarily.

The 'fact' that someone was able to leave the cult is not always evidence of rational thought. Most people are attached to the cult because of an emotional attachment, not a rational attachment.

Leaving the cult is often an emotional choice and has little to do with the concept of critical thinking.

Critical thinking skills do not (and should not) require an emotional involvement.

10

Ambulance chasers

by Diogenesister in

mornin',.

not feeling too clever at the moment...so sent off to the hospital for more tests....off the bus, round the corner......run slap bang into my first one...its witnessin'cart himself!!

right outside the hospital gates!

OrphanCrow

secretslaveclass: Do they first make you swear to serve the GB before administering first aid? And when they drop you off at the hospital do they ask for a donation?

Dunno...but I betcha they don't carry blood in that ambulance.

324

VA shooting suspect was raised a JW! He mentions it on his Twitter account

by WingCommander in

jw
friends

anyone in the usa following this morning's shooting "on-air" live tv will know what i'm talking about.

bryce williams (not real name, but on-air name) shot and killed 2 people on live television this morning in roanoke, va. he was wearing a go-pro camera, and uploaded his first-person video onto his social media accounts.

i've seen his twitter feed (before it was taken down), and not very far down he mentions being raised a jw.

OrphanCrow

WC: Hey Simon, who was it again who stood up to an armed terrorist with an AK-47 shooting people on a train in France in the past week? Was it French citizens? Where were the Mounties???? I do believe it was (3) American Military servicemen on leave.

Aw, WC...now you are just being silly.

Lol! The Mounties are in Canada. Why would you expect them to be on a train in France????? Silly boy...

American Servicemen. Yes. Trained military servicemen. Not some American soccer mom with a handgun in her purse or an American kid who got his hands on his dad's pistol from the bedstand.

324

VA shooting suspect was raised a JW! He mentions it on his Twitter account

by WingCommander in

jw
friends

anyone in the usa following this morning's shooting "on-air" live tv will know what i'm talking about.

bryce williams (not real name, but on-air name) shot and killed 2 people on live television this morning in roanoke, va. he was wearing a go-pro camera, and uploaded his first-person video onto his social media accounts.

i've seen his twitter feed (before it was taken down), and not very far down he mentions being raised a jw.

OrphanCrow

cappytan: Self-inflicted gunshots are also more likely if you own a gun, because if you own a gun, you're likely to choose that method if you decide to take your own life. That doesn't mean owning a gun increases the risk of suicide. It just increases the likelihood that should you decide to commit suicide, you'll choose that option.
Selection bias, again.

Cappytan, that isn't really selection bias.

Australia has collected data and has recently published the findings on homicides and suicides related to firearms:

"In the decade after the gun control law was passed, gun homicides fell by 59 per cent and firearm-related suicides fell by 65 per cent. There was no related increase in non-firearm homicides and suicides.
An earlier study estimated that 200 lives were saved every year thanks to the decrease in suicides alone."

The entire article can be read here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/08/26/gun-control-mass-shootings_n_8043364.html

"...earlier this week, a study by the American Sociological Association came out debunking the NRA's contention. It reported that the U.S. — which has nearly half the world's civilian-owned guns — is also home to 31 per cent of the world's mass shootings despite making up only five per cent of the world's population.
"That is not a coincidence," wrote study author Adam Lankford. "My study provides empirical evidence, based on my quantitative assessment of 171 countries, that a nation’s civilian firearm ownership rate is the strongest predictor of its number of public mass shooters.
Until now, everyone was simply speculating about the relationship between firearms and public mass shootings [defined as killing four or more people]. My study provides empirical evidence of a positive association between the two."
Of course, America's gun violence problem goes much deeper than mass shootings. While those garner the most attention due to their shocking nature, Vox recently reported that America has 29.7 gun homicides per million people compared to 5.1 here in Canada or 1.4 million in Australia.
As well, gun-related suicides outnumber homicides two to one in the U.S.
But gun control actually has a measurable test case: Australia."

*to add - some interesting data on worldwide school shootings at this site here:

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777958.html

41

Did Geoffrey Jackson Commit Perjury, or Just "Spiritual Warfare"?

by The Searcher in

mr. jackson was pressured by angus stewart to answer if the org condoned corporal punishment, to which he openly stated that the org does not condone corporal punishment for j.w.

children.

this "fact" has never been revealed in the org's literature, in fact, this article which was published under geoffrey jackson's supervision, by definition demonstrates the org's approval of corporal punishment for j.w.

OrphanCrow

defenderoftruth: Attempting to mislead a Royal Commission is a criminal offense. If charged and convicted.. could face a fine of up to $20,000 and up to five years in prison.
Can anyone confirm that the above quote is true?

It is a true statement.

The RC into Child Abuse in Australia is not the only Royal Commission that is currently being held in Australia. There is also a RC into Trade Unions and Governance being conducted. And, in that RC, a witness has been charged with perjury:

Unions royal commission: witness charged with perjury

*to add - try this link if that one doesn't work:

Tuungafasi Manase charged with perjury

A witness at the royal commission into trade union governance and corruption has been arrested in Canberra, and charged with perjury.
Tuungafasi Manase, who works as a formworker in Canberra, was arrested by ACT Police tonight and charged with giving false or misleading evidence to the commission.
It’s the third arrest with criminal charges arising from the proceedings in Canberra in as many weeks, and the first for perjury flowing from the commission.
.........Commissioner Dyson Heydon warned Mr Manase about perjury. “Your duty is not intentionally to give false or misleading evidence...” the Commissioner said.
“If you were to break that duty it would be an offence punishable on conviction by imprisonment for five years or a fine not exceeding $20,000. You understand that?"

16

Will Criminal Investigation And Prosecution Of The Governing Body Ever Happen Because Of The Policies They Made?

by Brokeback Watchtower in

so far in more recent times they have only been called to take the witness stand in court twice to my knowledge one was a no show in defiance to a court order in which he gave a sworn false statement to the courts claiming austrian citizenship.

and the other jackson who gave a terrible witness to the court full of lies and misleading statements.

all this shows how damaging their testimony is when brought before authorities who demand answers for their behavor and policies.. i personal hope for that day to come and have a gut feeling that we will be seeing a lot more of these guys called to court to explain their actions and impose big settlements over their not living up to their fiduciary duty toward children who have been molested by ministers(elders,ms, co, branch personal) they have appointed.

OrphanCrow

jonathon:
The Org didn't just require all the Australian Branch's money to be sent to the US for no reason, after all.
When did this happen, is there a letter someplace?

Financial Statement for Australian Branch:

file:///C:/Users/PC/Downloads/WAT.0009.001.0004.pdf

The Australian Branch transfered $10,236,291 for "donations and overseas aid" in 2014 and showed a deficit of $1,703,164 for the year.

36

How many here believed, down deep in your heart that the end would come in 1975?

by James Mixon in

i was straddling the fence on that one, just in case they were right.

i don't recall.

telling anyone this is your last chance.

OrphanCrow

fulltimestudent: Nathan was a sick man (from cancer) at this time, but I noted a tone of irritation in his voice, when he introduced Freddy to speak, by saying that there was no longer enough time left in 1975 for all the things that Brother Franz says must happen before Armageddon, to happen. Therefore Armageddon was unlikely to be coming in 1975.
Worse, the following year, they sent Doug Held*, a Canadian who had been a former Branch overseer in Australia out here to firm up our faith (haha). Doug did that by telling us that Armageddon was likely to be 20 years away...

What??! Damn...I was gone by that time. Guess I missed that "new light"!

jamesmixon: OrphanCrow: enjoyed your story, good for you. I wonder how many young folks were damaged that came out of the 60's and 70's from the end of the world crap....

Thanks, James. I would imagine that there were many people damaged by the '75 fiasco besides myself. That was a particulary cruel teaching that left a lot of people with lifelong scars.

Magnum: You're a gal?????? The whole time I've been reading your posts, I've been picturing a guy! Maybe I missed some clues along the way. Don't know why I was picturing a guy... just was.

Heehee. You are not the first or only one to think I am a guy. My cover has been blown now.

Maybe it is because I have been out for so long...I don't think that I talk like a JW woman. I never have and I never will. I don't mean this disrespectfully, but...I think that most people who come out of the JW cult expect women to be a little quieter than I am.

:)

36

How many here believed, down deep in your heart that the end would come in 1975?

by James Mixon in

i was straddling the fence on that one, just in case they were right.

i don't recall.

telling anyone this is your last chance.

OrphanCrow

How many here believed, down deep in your heart that the end would come in 1975?

I did. Those were terrible years leading up to and following 1975.

I left the JWs in summer of '71. I turned 14 years old in the fall of '71. I had already figured out that I wouldn't live much past my 17th birthday so I figured I must as well live life to the fullest I was able to and I didn't want to die a virgin! lol!

So, I became pregnant in the spring of '73 and I spent my pregnancy in fear, lots and lots of fear - that my baby would be killed by Jehovah.

My baby was born in early 1974 when I was sixteen. I truly believed that neither him or I would survive for more than a year or two. Those years that followed were pure hell, but I knew one thing for certain - I didn't want to die as a JW. I hated being a JW for many reasons. Those reasons don't really matter but what did matter was that I had no point of reference in which to debunk the propaganda that I had been fed since I was born.

The threat of eternal damnation was ALWAYS in the back of my mind....every minute of every day and in my nightmares at night. I spent the next several years just hanging on to the hope that maybe, just maybe...the JWs were wrong about the end of the world in 1975 but it would take several more years before I was able to deprogram that erroneous teaching.

It wasn't until I landed in a drug and alcohol rehab when I was 27 (yay! I had made it ten years past the date I thought I would be dead...and my baby was already almost a teenager) that I was forced to confront the demons that had stuck a paper bag over my head and pushed me to the edge of the cliff.

That was in the days before the internet. I give thanks to Gary and Heather Botting for their book "The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses" and to James Penton for his book "Apocalypse Delayed". Penton's book was my "bible" for many years. I can still remember the minute of the day that everything clicked and I knew for certain that the JWs were wrong, horribly wrong. I will never forget that moment.

I was by myself, driving down the highway and all of a sudden, it was like I had driven into another dimension...it was almost like a brilliant flash, and the world looked bright, clean and REAL for the first time in my life. I cried and laughed at the same time and finally, finally I was able to say, and I said it out loud "I am part of this world! I AM wordly!"

And I still am. 40 years later, I am still here. And so is my son.

Fuck the Watchtower Society. Kiss my ass you bastards. I am worldly and proud of it.