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

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.

22

What Qualifications does Geoffrey Jackson have as a Translator of the Bible ? In any Capacity ?

by smiddy in

geoffrey jackson left school at the age of 15 and began pioneering , he never attended a university ,never studied ancient greek ,hebrew or aramaic at any recognized teaching academy , he has no certificates or credentials / qualifications from any place of learning that is approved by a competent body of religious instruction .. and by his own words at the australian royal commission , under oath he stated that was his primary role as a translator of scripture into other languages .. a 15 year old drop out from school in australia is the chief/ prime translator of the bible for jehovah`s witnesses world wide in their many languages that they preach in .. it would be very interesting to see his report cards for those few years he did attend school .. is it just me , or does anybody else see that his qualifications don`t come up to scratch to be a translator of the old testament or the new testament scriptures , and be taken seriously as a translator of either , into any language.. if i am wrong anywhere in this post feel free to correct me .. smiddy.

OrphanCrow

Jackson does not meet the basic requirements that the Forum of Bible Agencies has in place for Bible translators.

Jackson is pitifully underqualified.

file:///C:/Users/PC/Downloads/FOBAI+Translation+Consultant%2527s+Qualifications.pdf

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS
Linguistics: A minimum of one academic year of training (or equivalent) in descriptive linguistics. Areas to be covered include sociolinguistics, phonology, grammar, discourse studies, cognitive linguistics, pragmatics, semantics, and language typology.
Cross-cultural studies: At least one graduate (or upper undergraduate) level course in anthropology or cross-cultural studies.
Biblical languages: A good knowledge of New Testament Greek and/or Biblical Hebrew (preferably both). More precisely, the minimum standard expected is a basic knowledge of the morphology, syntax and discourse structure of the language. One should be to read the original text with understanding (with the help of reference tools) and to use commentaries that refer directly to the original text. There should be an ongoing commitment to use and develop this knowledge.
Biblical studies: A minimum of one academic year of concentrated study at the graduate (or upper undergraduate) level in Old Testament and New Testament. Areas to be covered include Biblical languages (see above), principles and practice of Biblical exegesis, and the historical and cultural background of the Bible.
Translation consultants should normally have an M.A. or a Ph.D. or the equivalent in one of the above areas (or a related discipline), and the minimum described above in the others. Formal qualifications may, however, occasionally be waived where the person concerned has other special strengths and/or has demonstrated his or her competence through long service and/or through the publications he or she has authored.2

6

The news just keeps getting worse. Prepare yourself.

by Esse quam videri in

rcmp reports for july 14 to 20 .

wilkie, saskatchewan, rcmp reports for july 14 to 20.

- rcmp received a complaint of individuals loitering behind a business.

OrphanCrow

berrygerry: Reminds me an interior BC town (10k pop.).

Wilkie has a population of 1300. A little wee prairie town.

22

Watch Tower Society owns web domains: www.MT2414.com and www.PS8318.com

by Gilgamesh in

(my apologies if this was already discussed somewhere else.).

i noticed that the domain www.mt2414.com was taken, and when i tested it, it was a mirror of the log in portion of the www.jw.org site, where you can look up assemblies, kingdom halls, and make either one time or recurring donations.

so i created an account there (you can use fake form information as long as it's a real email address for email verification).

OrphanCrow

STA: What value can it have?

*lol! njws...me too!

To bypass the ban in Russia.

The http://www.mt2414.com/ sign in page is in the Russian language.

Gilamesh: ...the Russian version of the site had been flagged as the most used subdirectory. (I assume these are attempts to get around any bans or restrictions on jw.org.)

12

How are you spreading TTATT?

by vinman in

just wondering if anyone has used any underhanded ways of spreading ttatt.

i mean, has anyone made up business cards or tracts and spread them far and wide?

i would love to engage in this "alternative witnessing".

OrphanCrow

I have collected brochures from Social Services on child abuse, elder abuse, how to get legal help, where to go if you are an abused woman, etc, and stuck those brochures in the doors of Kingdom Halls.

Rationality rarely works when confronting JWs about why they are one. I think that making JWs aware that there really is help for them on the outside appeals more to their emotions than their (lack of) rationality.

I usually don't bother tackling their theological errors. Most people who are JWs make the choice to be one do so because of an emotional reaction, not a rational reaction. I used to get into theological debates with them but now I just talk to them about their child abuse issues or the blood transfusion ban.

All of my friends and most of my acquaintances know that I am an ex-JW. Whenever religion has come up in the conversation, I always self-identify as a cult survivor. Most people are quite alarmed about the inside, insiduous practices of the JWs - they just think that they are those annoying people who knock on doors and don't celebrate Christmas or birthdays.

I have plans to do my best to stop the JWs from setting up a table at the university this coming semester. It won't be hard to get the women's rights groups to make a stink about the JWs recruiting on campus once I show them videos of Jackson's testimony revealing how JW women are denied basic human rights. If that doesn't work, I will print off the extensive list of Religious Studies classes that the university offers and give it to the JWs that man the tables. If they want to claim that they are "Bible educated" then it might be a good idea for them to see what "the world" has to offer in religious/Bible education - which far surpasses the WTS education.

I also sometimes do things like send off emails to international organizations such as Amnesty International and children's rights groups. Every once in a while I get the urge and I do another email campaign.

36

NWT is soooo inaccurate....

by iwasblind in

hi this is for the lurkers.. please start reading from another translation and use tools like www.biblehub.com to verify the differences you find.. biblehub has an interlinear and a strongs concordance and heaps of dictionaries and commentaries.. you don't have to be a translator but you can clearly see how the watchtower bible and tract society has changed the bible to devalue jesus, to support their idea of a paradise earth hope for christians and many other false doctrines.. i could never understand why the jw's where attacked when they chose to translate the bible - now i know.. seriously people, there are a lot smarter people than me on this forum and heaps of research.

.

don't be afraid of the truth!.

OrphanCrow

TheOldHippie: Strange then, that Jason BeDuhn acknowledges it - together with the Catholic New Jerusalem Bible - to be the most accurate and least corrupted one among the ones he investigated. (Apart from the use of THE NAME in the NT.)

A review of J BeDuhn’s “Truth in Translation”

The Watchtower organisation claims in its publications that Dr BeDuhn is a leading, independent academic, a specialist in biblical languages. It is therefore necessary for us to check these claims.
Dr Jason BeDuhn describes his post as “Associate Professor of Religious Studies.” 9 This is United States terminology for what I believe we in the U.K. would call an assistant college or university lecturer – a post well deserving of respect, while not being that of a leading academic.
He further explains that he works in the Department of Humanities, Arts, and Religion of Northern Arizona University. I note that he does not refer to having any formal qualifications in linguistics and that there is no reference to Koiné Greek in his university degrees, although of course it may have been a component of his undergraduate or postgraduate studies. He also does not make any reference to any qualifications in the other biblical languages, Hebrew and Aramaic.10
He thus presents no evidence of being an expert in the field of Biblical languages.
I further note that his speciality is not Christianity nor even Judaism but comparative cultures. The North Arizona University (“NAU”) website heads its page on him11 with the title “Comparative Cultural Studies” and states that “His areas of research include Biblical Studies, Ancient Christianities12, Manichaeism, Religions of West Asia in Late Antiquity, ritual and and [sic] self-forming practices, and method and theory in the study of religion and history” – again with no reference to linguistics or languages studies or qualifications in these areas. I assume that this description of Dr BeDuhn for publication by his university must at least have been approved by him, and may even have been drafted by him.
Neither he nor NAU makes any reference to him having been involved in any Bible translation project, whether into English or into any other language. At the time of writing “Truth in Translation” (which was published in 2003) he had also not been involved in the translation of any other texts – whether ancient or modern – into English nor into any other language. 13 So all the evidence indicates that he is not a translator of Biblical texts.

...and more at link...

Conclusion by author Trevor Allin about Beduhn's credentials:

I believe that we are thus justified in concluding that BeDuhn is not an acknowledged authority on theology, Bible translation or linguistics, that he is not recognised as an expert in these areas by fellow academics and that he is not consulted or quoted by them in their articles and other publications.