Posts by OrphanCrow

3

Religious Repression and silencing dissent.

by biblexaminer in

do you want to stop religious repression?.

contact .

u.s. commission on international religious freedom .

OrphanCrow

Vidiot: ...whilst pretending to advocate it, don't forget.

and...whilst petitioning the United Nations for their right to repress

http://search.ohchr.org/results.aspx?k=Jehovah%27s

22

Chairman of the St Petersburg-based Administrative Centre of JWs issues press release - Forum 18

by OrphanCrow in

according to the latest forum 18 article, this is what happened in russia on march 15:.

http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2265.

with immediate effect, a 15 march suspension order forbids the administrative centre and all its local religious organisations from "using state and municipal news media, organising and conducting assemblies, rallies, demonstrations, processions, picketing, and other mass actions or public events, and using bank deposits, with the exception of use for making payments connected with their economic activity, compensating for losses (damages) caused by their actions, and paying taxes, fees, or fines, and making payments based on labour contracts" .

OrphanCrow

According to the latest Forum 18 article, this is what happened in Russia on March 15:

http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2265

With immediate effect, a 15 March Suspension Order forbids the Administrative Centre and all its local religious organisations from "using state and municipal news media, organising and conducting assemblies, rallies, demonstrations, processions, picketing, and other mass actions or public events, and using bank deposits, with the exception of use for making payments connected with their economic activity, compensating for losses (damages) caused by their actions, and paying taxes, fees, or fines, and making payments based on labour contracts"

I am curious how, when the WT had been forbidden from "using state and municipal media", the WT managed to issue a press release from the Russian branch. I guess it wouldn't violate the terms of the court order if the release was done through media outlets not specified in the order.

This is what the WT's man in Russia said in their press release:

Vasily Kalin, chairman of the St Petersburg-based Administrative Centre, described the liquidation attempt in a press release on 21 March as "absurdity and savagery", and observed that "the most disturbing time of their lives is coming" for Jehovah's Witnesses.

"Most disturbing time of their lives is coming"? We all know what that is code for. It means the Great Tribulation. Unbelievable. The WT is stirring up Armageddon fears. The WT is sending out their end of the world warning. This is exactly what Russia is pissed off about - fear mongering speech. The JWs think they can get away with it by calling it "religious freedom". Freedom my ass. Freedom to do what? Put the fear of God in everybody? God is going to kill all of you?

Kalin noted the likelihood that individuals would face criminal prosecution if they continue to meet for prayer or Bible study after liquidation: "For what? What are these people guilty of? That they study the Bible in the 'wrong' way, as it seems to some? That they consider theirs to be the only true faith? Or are they guilty of not resorting to violence, following the gospel commandment 'put the sword back into the sheath'?"

"What are these people guilty of?" he asks.

Oh. Let me break it down for you, Mr. Kalin.

"That they study the Bible in the 'wrong' way, as it seems to some?"

Yes. That is a problem. Let's talk about blood. The JWs is the only religion, that follows that old dusty Abrahamic book, that interprets those poorly translated scriptures to say that God hates blood transfusions. Out of all the hundreds...no, thousands, of religions and sects that interpret the Bible and try to follow its ways for a moral code in their lives, the JWs are the only religion that forbids blood transfusions. Well, they sort of forbid blood - just the part that carries the oxygen you need to stay alive...I am still looking for the scriptures that talk about blood fractions. And cow's blood is okay. "Wrong way"? You betcha it is the wrong way. Wrong enough that people die each and every single day just because of the WT's wrong way.

Wrong way? Yes. The WT's bastardization of the "Holy Scriptures" is legendary. The changes they have made to the Bible in order to fit their twisted philosophy are many. If they really want to claim to be a religion that follows the Bible, they should read Revelation 22:19.

"That they consider theirs to be the only true faith?"

And Mr. Kalin, the WT man, doesn't see the problem with this? That the JWs view themselves to be a special group? An elite one? Better than the best of the best? The most true of all?

Yes. That is a problem. That philosophy is called elitism. Synonymous with supremacy. And the root of that philosophy is disrespect. Disrespect for anyone not as good as they are. They lack respect for others and do not contribute to a unified community. Their social value is negligible. They refuse to integrate or negotiate. They consider themselves to be the elite.

"Or are they guilty of not resorting to violence, following the gospel commandment 'put the sword back into the sheath'?"

Let's talk about the violence. Firstly, the violence was thrown in Russia's face by Mr. Kalin using the word "savagery" - a violent descriptive word. The immediate image that came to my mind, as an exJW, when he labelled Russia as being "savage", was the old red Babylon the Great Has Fallen God's Kingdom Rules book that the WT published in 1963. The savage beast with the number 666 on its chest. That incredibly inflammatory, political book that I studied as a small child. The book that imprinted images of a horrible enemy - Russia - on all the JWs worldwide and anyone else who would read that book.

"Not resort to violence"? What about all those violent acts that have been committed on tiny, small children by JW men? The violent acts that those children carry inside their souls for the rest of their lives? What about that violence? Why didn't the WT men put their "swords back into their sheaths" instead of inflicting violence with their swords on innocent children?

What about the violence inflicted on the JW women? The ones who come for help because their husbands are beating them, raping them, hurting them. And they are told to go home and pray. Home to the violence.

What about the violence of tearing apart of families through the practice of shunning? The wounds inflicted on people's hearts that leave the invisible scars of trauma? Or maybe never heal - the wounds continue to bleed always. The ripping and tearing away of their very identities and who they are. That destruction of family is the result of violence - psychological, emotional and spiritual violence. Inflicted on people by the WT's philosophy of elitism - the special class. The special, elite people who are better than everybody else.

What about the violence of the pain experienced of a dying body that is screaming out for the oxygen they need to live? Because they have been told to refuse a blood transfusion? The one forbidden part - the part that carries the life breath - the air that their God gave them to live. They can't have that. No blood. So their bodies scream in violent agony while they slowly, slowly die. Is that not violent? I call that violence. Quiet violence. One by one.

21

HLC Letters and Documents

by wifibandit in

as i release a set of hlc letters and documents that i have received, i will add them to this thread.

also, in the future, any other hlc documents will be updated here.

when you see me update, it may be a new letter.

OrphanCrow

Laymen.

Giving medical advice to doctors.

They lack the expertise to evaluate medical studies and sources, but they pressure medical doctors into accepting their direction on what is best for the patient

19

Should Blood Transfusions be forced?

by Fisherman in

1.there are times when a doctor decides that the only life saving medical treatment -short of a miracle- is a blood transfusion.

in such a case, what should be done when a person refuses treatment on religious grounds and why?.

2. should a person be allowed to "mutilate" his body and why?.

OrphanCrow

Outlaw: WTF does that mean?

Eh...it probably has something to do with that sign language video

9

A nurse describes a noblood death

by OrphanCrow in

the jehovah's witness protection program.

my first clue that 'something was up' lay in the fact that it was 7 am in the intensive care unit and getting to my patient was a challenge for all of his visitors in his room.my second clue that 'something was up' lay in the fact that my patient was african-american and all of his visitors were white.now before we get all racially sensitive, i am very aware that many families are blended in many ways and many of us are close friends with people of all races.

however, in the hospital where i work, it is an uncommon sight to see a room full of white people at the bedside of a black man at seven in the morning.

OrphanCrow

The Jehovah's Witness Protection Program

My first clue that 'something was up' lay in the fact that it was 7 am in the Intensive Care Unit and getting to my patient was a challenge for all of his visitors in his room.

My second clue that 'something was up' lay in the fact that my patient was African-American and all of his visitors were white.

Now before we get all racially sensitive, I am very aware that many families are blended in many ways and many of us are close friends with people of all races. As well it should be. However, in the hospital where I work, it is an uncommon sight to see a room full of white people at the bedside of a black man at seven in the morning. Just sayin'.

My patient was a Jehovah's Witness and was losing a great deal of blood. He chose not to receive a blood transfusion. Fair enough. I respect his decision. But I had work to do, so I asked that only two visitors remain in the room. Three men remained.

The oldest of the three, a diminutive man dressed in a white shirt, beige trench coat and glasses with 'flip-up' sunglass lenses stood staidly at my patient's bedside and without introduction said, "I would like to speak to the doctor". I asked my patient if it would be OK for the man to speak with the doctor on his behalf. He consented.

When the doctor arrived, the little guy in the trench coat said "We want EPO and Iron only. No blood products. Fingerstick blood samples only".

The plot thickened. I suspect that these men were from the "Jehovah's Witness Hospital Liaison Committee". or what I referred to as the "Jehovah's Witness Protection Program". Although they never did introduce themselves or state their relationship to my patient it was clear that they were at his bedside to advocate for his choice not to receive blood.

My problem was not with my patient's choice.

My problem was with the fact that the JWPP guys came off all self-righteous and pushy. No "please's" or "thank you's". It was clear that they considered us, the health care team, to be the enemy. At one point, another JWPP rep abrasively questioned, "Why is it taking so long to give the EPO and Iron? Didn't the doctor order it?" Sucking it up, I chose not to say "It's been 15 minutes."EPO" and Iron are not going to save this guy." But instead, I gently informed them that "these medicines would be given in a timely manner, but that they were not considered 'emergent' at this time."

My JWPP team seemed sadly misinformed.

Explaining that "fingersticks" are a great alternative to classic blood draws if you haven't already lost 3/4 of your circulating blood supply was received with incredulity. I had to show them my patient's white, almost translucent fingertips in order to prove the point. I still don't think they believed me.

"EPO" (as they referred to it) is actually "Erythropoetin" a building block of red blood cells that is normally manufactured in our bone marrow. My patient had no difficulty in manufacturing red blood cells. He was just losing them at a rapid rate. "EPO" may not hurt - but in the immediate treatment of profound blood loss, it was not going to help.

Iron is a component of our blood that helps carry hemoglobin (oxygenated blood). Again, without an adequate supply of blood, giving Iron is somewhat moot.

An incredibly courageous choice. My patient knew that receiving blood would save his life and that we were ready to give it to him but he chose not to receive it. Was it his strong faith? Was it his fear of being shunned? Was it the fact that he was not strong enough to change his mind? I will never know.

I do know that his decision was respected by all members of his health care team. I also know that the JWPP could have chosen to sit with him and hold his hand throughout the night while he lay dying in a hospital bed, but instead he was left alone, holding the hand of a health care worker, a nurse he had just met a few hours earlier.

Comments in response to this blog are interesting:

http://www.joanyspot.com/2011/12/jehovahs-witness-protection-program.html

26

In the yearbooks, why 'lands' not 'countries'?

by LoveUniHateExams in

why does watchtower say that the 'world-wide preaching work' occurs in x amount of lands, not countries?

well, i have a theory.

hear me out.

OrphanCrow

Londo: This was brought up at the ARC.

Yes, it was. I remember being a bit puzzled as to why Angus was pursuing that line of questioning. And then I did some unrelated work using the WT's old yearbook service reports and it occurred to me that Angus was trying to get at how the WTS had no respect for "earthly" governments - to the point that the WTS defines their own countries/lands with little to no regard for secular authority.

I even went and dug around in the videos and transcripts from the ARC to re-visit Angus' questioning but he had dropped it without pushing too hard. I think that Angus threw the hook out but the WT guy didn't take it.

26

In the yearbooks, why 'lands' not 'countries'?

by LoveUniHateExams in

why does watchtower say that the 'world-wide preaching work' occurs in x amount of lands, not countries?

well, i have a theory.

hear me out.

OrphanCrow

The WTS has historically used "lands" to refer to any land surrounded by water. That way they can count little wee islands as "lands" to make it seem like they have more impact than they really do.

The other thing that using "lands" does, is that it is a f*** you to "earthly" governments that define countries by politically determined borders. It is the WTS' attempt to lay claim to being in charge of the entire world.

The use of "lands" as a geographical determination reveals the WTS' arrogance in defining the world in their way and not anybody else's way.

27

JW Letter Writing Conspiracy

by freemindfade in

just had a wild conspiracy theory.

get your tin hats everyone.

what if this mass letter writing is all a bethel conspiracy to increase declining service hours?

OrphanCrow

This letter campaign is the GB's way of "going to war" - they are using paper missives to launch an assault on the Kremlin.

The GB views each letter as a "bullet" directed against the big bad Russia. It is a physical assault in the form of paper objects. That is why this is a letter campaign and why emails are not to be used. The GB wants a literal, physical attack to happen - of course it is just paper - but it is still a physical assault.

The GB is stamping their feet and throwing a hissy fit.

This will not end well.

10

RED HERRING

by biblexaminer in

if you have the inclination, call the number and ask ..."is russia banning "reading the bible, singing and praying with fellow worshippers"??.

can you say red herring?.

maybe they should add "feeding your children is clearly not criminal, neither is helping an old woman cross the street".

OrphanCrow

bibleexaminer: Why, exactly, does the WATCHTOWER have a picture of a church in there?
AhA! They are appealing to the mentally weak. They try to make people believe that Russia is shutting down the churches!

No. That is not it at all.

They are using the image to illustrate the connections between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Kremlin.

10

RED HERRING

by biblexaminer in

if you have the inclination, call the number and ask ..."is russia banning "reading the bible, singing and praying with fellow worshippers"??.

can you say red herring?.

maybe they should add "feeding your children is clearly not criminal, neither is helping an old woman cross the street".

OrphanCrow

"Reading the Bible, singing, and praying with fellow worshippers is clearly not criminal"

Of course it isn't...but that is NOT the whole picture concerning what is going on in Russia with the JWs.

If that is all the JWs did in Russia, there would be zero problems for them but we all know that the JWs did not, could not, would not, stick to doing just that - meeting and praying together, reading the Bibble, like other religions do.

No...the JWs had to go and try to spread their viral ideas everywhere - they couldn't keep their anti-government apocalyptic message to themselves - they had to tell everybody else in Russia that their religion was the only true one and all people except JWs would be killed soon by their god.