Posts by kwintestal

some background: i disassociated a year ago and explained why i was leaving to my mom, who agreed with me and told me that she's been thinking of leaving the dubs for nearly ten years.

she's been inactive for the past year and happier than ever.

kwintestal

Good for your MOM! You gotta get her posting on here now!

Kwin

94

After my un-DF'ing, I have sent a letter to everyone in my hall.

by kwintestal in

in the final installment of my story, i am done with my local congregation now.

in the past month, i have been df'd, un-df'd attended a meeting where i shook everyones hand and smiled ... and now i have sent everyone in the hall this letter, roughly 60 addresses:.

open letter to the north congregation of jehovahs witnesses.

kwintestal

That was a sweet move...and everyone (whether they agree with you or not) will see how you "maneuvered" things.

I thought it was the Holy Spirit that maneuvered things ... oh well. You're right though. I've tried to keep control right from the get-go, and this letter is another way of me keeping that control.

Elsewhere, I didn't know that. Very interesting though. Something else to keep in the vast catalouge of useless information stored in my head.

Something else that I forgot to mention was how I timed the mailing of the letter. I didn't want half the cong. to get it before the Sunday meeting, and half after, so I sent it off on Friday, so it will be delivered on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, before the Wednesday night meeting, so there will be no advance warning that these letters are going to be in the R & F's mailboxes, thus improving the chance that they are read.

Kwin

94

After my un-DF'ing, I have sent a letter to everyone in my hall.

by kwintestal in

in the final installment of my story, i am done with my local congregation now.

in the past month, i have been df'd, un-df'd attended a meeting where i shook everyones hand and smiled ... and now i have sent everyone in the hall this letter, roughly 60 addresses:.

open letter to the north congregation of jehovahs witnesses.

kwintestal

There were several reasons for sending this letter. Here are a few:

Most people know of the News interview where I spoke about child abuse. Me being undisfellowshipped may give the impression that I was "repentant" for that or have had a change of heart. This will let them know, I still am holding my ground on this issue. It adds to the insult the elder body must endure by wrongly DF'ing me.

Although I know of none, I'm sure there are rumours or some discussion as why Mrs Kwin was DF'd. This letter sets that matter straight.

My hopes are this will cause discussion among the members. Elders, and especially the WTS hates the membership talking about stuff like this.

There's others, but those are the main reasons.

I've expected to be DF'd from the minute they unDF'd me. I say, "BRING IT ON!" I wrote this with the thought that a JW would say, "This person is questioning GOD'S AUTHORITY." However a reasonable person (non-JW) will say, this person is just trying to make a good change in a group, and most would find it non-offensive. Face it, most non-JW's are used to this type of critisim of their religious leaders, and it is acceptable.

Lawrence, I forgot about that reading! Shoot! I'll just have to read it on my own here at home. You still planning on hitting the East coast this fall? We just got a new pull-out couch if you don't want to camp!

Kwin

94

After my un-DF'ing, I have sent a letter to everyone in my hall.

by kwintestal in

in the final installment of my story, i am done with my local congregation now.

in the past month, i have been df'd, un-df'd attended a meeting where i shook everyones hand and smiled ... and now i have sent everyone in the hall this letter, roughly 60 addresses:.

open letter to the north congregation of jehovahs witnesses.

kwintestal

In the final installment of my story, I am done with my local congregation now. In the past month, I have been DF'd, un-DF'd attended a meeting where I shook everyones hand and smiled ... and now I have sent everyone in the hall this letter, roughly 60 addresses:

OPEN LETTER TO THE NORTH CONGREGATION OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES
Dear member of the North Congregation of Halifax, NS,
As a member of this congregation, I am writing you in an attempt to make changes regarding how the Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses handles matters regarding child sexual abuse. I am writing this, not in an attempt divide the congregation, but to protect the children within it.
As a child, I was sexually molested by a congregation member. No, it was not within this congregation, however, as you and I know, congregational policy and procedure is directed from the same source for all congregations, therefore all congregations have the same, or similar policies regarding this matter. Because I was the only witness to the event, and because as a 12 year old child I would have been required to make my accusation face-to-face to my abuser (which I was unwilling to do at the time) no action was taken against my abuser, and he is still an active member in his congregation today. Despite mandatory reporting laws in Ontario, the elders that took my accusation didn’t report my abuse to the authorities. No one will know about the accusations that I made against him, not even his wife, so as to protect their own children. The last time I saw my abuser, was 6 years ago at a congregation picnic, playing with young children. Who is playing with your children? I personally know 5 other Jehovah’s Witnesses who have experiences identical to mine. How widespread is this problem? Across Canada and the US, there are too many accounts that have been made public to count, however please look at www.silentlambs.org for more information regarding how big of a problem this actually is.
The problem with pedophiles in the congregation is the reason that my wife is no longer willing to be associated with Jehovah’s Witness and why I will refuse to bring my children to a Kingdom Hall. They must be protected, and I am not confident that they will be at the Kingdom Hall, or at social functions with other Jehovah’s Witnesses.
You may ask, “Why am I receiving this letter? What does Sean want me to do about it?” Well, that is a very good question. First and foremost, talk about the situation with others. That’s the only real way for this problem to be fixed, and for you to educate yourself on how widespread the problem actually is. Second, write a letter to the Watch Tower Society to request clarification by means of a public written publication, that specifically tells its readers to go to the police first with any matters relating to sexual abuse of children. Elders are untrained volunteers, who do not know how to properly investigate charges of sexual abuse. Also, going to the elders first may result in the destruction of DNA, perhaps ruining the only evidence that the police could use to prosecute a pedophile. If the pedophile repents, and the congregation forgives a pedophile, then that’s great, however let these “brothers” serve time in prison too! That’s part of repentance.
Thank you for your understanding regarding this important issue.
Sean Polden

I'm done with the local group now. I've made the elders feel like asses in front of the hall and now have let everyone know where I and my family stand. It feels good to leave on my own terms.

Kwin

9

2004 Supreme court of Canada case with JW's and zoning issues for KH

by kwintestal in

taken from: http://www.lexum.umontreal.ca/csc-scc/en/pub/2004/vol2/html/2004scr2_0650.html.

i stumbled accross this the other day, at this site: the evangelical fellowship of canada and found it interesting.

does it appear that the wts got the help from this group, as well as the seventh day adventists for this court case?

kwintestal

Isn't that what the local JW elders did to you when they DFd you, kwin? That's exactly how they managed to announce that Mr Scully DA'd himself, when he did no such thing.

Yes, that is what they did to me, but my appeal worked and I didn't have to go to the supreme court of Canada! It went as far as WTS legal, and they knew that they didn't have a leg to stand on!

No wonder no-one knows about this, they didn't win! I wonder though if when they do their stats (ex. "We've been to the supreme court and won 25 out of 30 times) if they'll include this, or if they'll say that it was an individual cong, and not the WTS that fought it?

Kwin

18

YOUNG PEOPLE ASK - HOW SHOULD I DEAL WITH MY DOUBTS 01/04/2002

by diamondblue1974 in

young people ask - how should i deal with my doubts?

awake: april 2002. .

we live in a world of many philosophies and many world views and young christians might be tempted to have doubts about the loving guidance set out by the faithful and discreet slave.

kwintestal

he immediately went to the elders with his concerns; Boris remarked ‘I was immediately put straight about the lies I had read in the newspaper and realised that Satan will use all media forms to subvert our faith; it was wonderful to be counselled by the elder concerned about reading apostate literature and I took his advice and studied more about Jehovah and the wonderful promises he holds out for us.’ (Revelation 21:4) I was also counselled not to speak about my doubts with anyone other than the elders because it might subvert others faiths and lead to their ultimate destruction at Armageddon.

How did the elders know that it was "lies"? Did they research it themselves, or did they just know that it was so unbelievable that it MUST be lies. The elders are as much in the dark about these things as the regular publisher most times, unless someone has already brought it up.

Then of course, keep your doubts to yourself, you young people who have asked, because you don't want to KILL ANYONE!

Kwin

49

Its Monday.......................

by defd in

jw
friends

what does the week hold?

kwintestal

My wife is graduating from Nursing school

With armageddon so close, what was the point of that? Did you sell your house to serve where the need is greater? Really though, I hope for a smooth, stress-free transaction. Nothing worse then a good deal that goes sour.

Kwin

9

2004 Supreme court of Canada case with JW's and zoning issues for KH

by kwintestal in

taken from: http://www.lexum.umontreal.ca/csc-scc/en/pub/2004/vol2/html/2004scr2_0650.html.

i stumbled accross this the other day, at this site: the evangelical fellowship of canada and found it interesting.

does it appear that the wts got the help from this group, as well as the seventh day adventists for this court case?

kwintestal

Taken from: http://www.lexum.umontreal.ca/csc-scc/en/pub/2004/vol2/html/2004scr2_0650.html

I stumbled accross this the other day, at this site: The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and found it interesting. Does it appear that the WTS got the help from this group, as well as the Seventh Day Adventists for this court case? It lists both groups as "Interveners" in the case.

Kwin