Just curious, on what grounds would he sue? I was upset by his story also. I was also a bit surprised at their totalitarian attitude. I thought they'd learned some PR savvy through the years. Especially shocking was the wording---removing gangrene or cancer from the organization?!?! what were they thinking? idiots. er i mean untrained volunteers.
I've often wondered if one could successfully sue for punitive damages and lost wages/potential wages because they could not go to college. It would be one thing if one chose not to go, but some kids were raised that way (we didn't land on plymouth rock, plymouth rock, landed on us!!!). and had to turn down scholarships/full rides to major universities, because the implied rule was--you pioneer or else!!
That's not my story, exactly, but I would've given my eye teeth for a college education. I'm doing it at 31 y.o. with a child and one on the way--it's do-able, but it sure would've been easier at 18 with the help of my parents.
okay, i got off the subject. Sorry. So, what are we suing for? Badwillie, ever give up any college scholarships?
just wonderin'
B.
Bridgette
JoinedPosts by Bridgette
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18
Badwillie's Situation - PISSED OFF
by Trilobite ini for one am throughly fed up and royally pissed off with the crap from this organization.. if badwillie will set up a paypal account i will send money to it.
any other takers?.
badwillie - if you agree to this, and there is sufficient support, then get yourself a high powered attorney and sue their asses off.. also: if you do agree, how about we let the guardian know what we are doing.. t.
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Bridgette
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Good Kharma? Bad Kharma?
by bboyneko ini found some ladies purse at the local shopping mall parking lot tonight, it had her entire life in it, her social security card, her cell phone, her cash, her credit cards, even her daughters social security card.. from looking through the contents, me and saffron were able to find out many things about her:.
1)she had recently moved from way out in the country to columbia maryland... 2)she was probably divorced from a man of middle eastern origens.
3)she was white.
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Bridgette
<<I've deleted so many chain letters threatenging me with death, impalement, eye gouging and all that I wonfer if Im doomed with bad kharma forever :)>>>
Oh dear, B-boy, you didn't mention that! I'm afraid you are doomed forever, nice knowing you.
Now, to break this curse, send it to at least 10 people on your mailing list--now!
Stop stalling!
Do it----NOW!
NOW, I say!!!!!!!Fool!!!
Infidel--do you know what you have wraught?!?!?!LOL!
I despise chain letters. -
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Guess What - I am going to come clean!!!!!
by TRUTH into who will listen:.
until yesterday, i did not even know that this discussion group or anything like it existed.
i really did not care.
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Bridgette
Dear Truth,
Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. There have been so many worthy suggestions, that I can add none. But welcome here. You are safe, welcome, and you count. The injustices you suffered matter to us! Please post more.
Love,
Bridgette -
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JW Culture has Changed!
by Amazing inin the late 1960s, i became a jw.
there was a sense of intellectual freedom and more openness to discuss various spiritual and even some social topics.
there was reliance on watch tower literature as an authority, but still the soiciety seem to confine its concerns and left the rest up to individual jws to decide.
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Bridgette
Excellent points, Amazing. I remember reading about the early "brothers", esp. Russell, and thinking, what free thinkers they must have been to break away from traditional Christianity. I used to hear about the title of one of Russell's books, "Food for THINKING Christians" and thinking, we're not taught to think or question at all.
I know if I had not been practically born "in" it, I would never have chosen to become a Jehovah's Witness, but I think I would've had a lot more respect for those earlier "brothers" than the Naze-esque regime that represent their diety now.B.
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Paul Polidoro protects child molesters:
by sf inthe attorney representing the supreme court solicitation case rebutt from a case in '98:.
< http://www.jesus-witnesses.com/elderabuse.htm.
start page.
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Bridgette
Was it relevant whether or not he was an elder (sorry, didn't have time to read thoroughly). What I have a problem with, is not reporting child molestation to the authorities when it happens--turn it over, let them investigate it. If a congregation (elders) who represent the WTBTS' interest at the local level, came into knowledge, or a member was accused before them as a child molester, the thing to do is: HAND THE CASE OVER TO THE AUTHORITIES. Simple. If they failed to do so, they did NOT do their utmost to protect the children of their flock.
We know this organization attempts to protect it's "reputation" to the unth degree. They have no compunctions about witholding information, (esp, that child molesters had come into Jehovah's "clean" organization). Just like suing any big corporation, these court cases set legal precedents. The message here to the the WTBTS: Protect your children, or we will. Report child child abuse to the authorities. It's the law.
Pax,
B. -
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NEWS: I am publicly reproved over UN situation.
by badwillie inmy wife and i met with 3 elders for a "judicial hearing".. our crime: simply put, was talking.
i showed a friend the un website where the wts was listed as an ngo which then led to a 2 hour discussion of various doubts that we both have had.
my wife also showed a friend the un thing but also discussed with her a first hand account of a pedophile cover-up that we knew about in our former congregation.
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Bridgette
hmmmmm.....so they feel they have to "cut out of the congregation like a gangrene or cancer that can spread quickly".
Very interesting wording. Very.......
How Hitleresque. How Torquemada-esque.
And looking at a UN website--viewing public information is now cosorting with those who "speak twisted things".
If they're smart, they'll lighten up, NOT seek to censure, and come clean.
......if they're smart.....My thoughts are with you on your journey, my friend,
B. -
44
Christmas&Thanksgiving-Are you celebrating?
by Vitameatavegamin inhi friends;.
just wondering about this subject of holidays again.
i really miss christmas but don't have enough nerve to celebrate it.
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Bridgette
Well, I've written extensively on another thread regarding this, so I'll try to spare any from redundancy. First of all, if the holidays make you squeamish, don't celebrate them. But please bear in mind that they are what you make them. I personally do not have any compunction about the paganess of the holidays, and in fact embrace it, so the holidays are celebrated with relish in my household. My fav. is Halloween (wish my pic would show here!) I would like to say, Pagans have kind of a bad wrap. It's really a path of reverence of nature. The ancients (as do most pagans today) saw sacredness in absolutely everything--and everything had religious connotations. One would be hard pressed to extract EVERY trace of paganism from their lives--it is EVERYWHERE, believe me. I get so tickled sometimes at what I see. The WTBTS just honed in on the holidays, because they were an easy target, but believe me, if they set out to attack every vestige of paganism, they would resemble something even MORE stark than the Puritans:pure black clothes (then again, for certain festivals, that would be appropo), no wedding rings, no wedding ceremonies, candles, the list goes on and on. But again, I will say: the holidays, are what you make them. Even Thanksgiving bears a strong resemblence to the celebration of the harvest moon. But most people simply want to get together with family. The first Christians saw fit to change the re-birth of the Sun, to the birth of the Son--and it became a day to revere their Christ. It was what they made it. As our society becomes more secular, Christmas becomes more secular: a day to gather with family and exchange gifts--a way to show appreciation and love for one another.
Good luck on your decision and path--the beauty of it is, they are yours exclusively.
Love,
Bridgette
p.s. If you do decide to celebrate any or all of the holidays, enjoy them with a free heart--they are lovely! -
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How to tape secretly?
by OhHappyDay inplease answer me in private:.
i do need to taoe a meeting secretly.
wich kind of equipment do you suggest??.
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Bridgette
I tape meetings all the time (with the attendees knowledge). Make sure that your tape is LONG, or the meeting short. Also, make sure your recorder is quiet when it turns off if the tape runs out.
B-Boy makes a good point. Make sure it's legal. Don't get into any trouble.
Good luck,
B.
p.s. good idea, Julien. You might just visit a radio shack, if you have any of those around and discreetly ask about quiet taping devices. -
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UN vs WT -It doesn't matter
by Dan B indoes anybody honestly think that all this exposure about the wtb&ts and the un really going to matter much in the jw community?
sure, it matters to us, since we already know the truth about the wt.
but it won't even make a dent in the jw population.
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Bridgette
Do I think this religious corporation will topple? No. Do I want it to? Not in particular. But what we do here is keep it honest. We are a watchdog group. There are sadly some who are in, who will be in for life, for various reasons, and nothing anyone says, or logically presents will change that. There's some dubs I know (my mother, for example) who, if they personally witnessed Jesus Christ or Jehovah himself coming down out of the sky, hovering right over Brooklyn and declaring "this org a bunch of crap! They are NOT my personal representatives!", would quietly wait on "new light" and accept whatever the "society" had to say in order to explain it ("it was a weather balloon"). Because most dubs are trained to worship their organization and not their diety. However, for those who DO think adn worship freely, the internet, and what we do here is vital. It's information. Information = Education = Freedom.
Love,
B. -
25
Good Kharma? Bad Kharma?
by bboyneko ini found some ladies purse at the local shopping mall parking lot tonight, it had her entire life in it, her social security card, her cell phone, her cash, her credit cards, even her daughters social security card.. from looking through the contents, me and saffron were able to find out many things about her:.
1)she had recently moved from way out in the country to columbia maryland... 2)she was probably divorced from a man of middle eastern origens.
3)she was white.
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Bridgette
Hey, I thought we were all supposed to be wildly depraved apostates here, totally devoid of any morals whatsoever once we left "mother"? And you go and do something like return a purse with a PLATINUM AMEX CARD?!?!?! Sheesh, man, what are you trying to do?
I find most atheists are moral simply for the sake of being moral and a feeling of citizenship with their fellow beings, versus being moral out of fear of angry hebrew sky-god. But whatever works, imo.
Now, about Kharma (one of my favorite subjects) Slash put it very succinctly: "Kharma simply put is Cause and effect." The universe is a machine. We are not just a part of that machine, but we ARE the machine. For all that we "see" and perceive, there really are only a very few basic realities: Cause and Effect being one of the most basic. Loving, unselfish, compassionate acts feed that machine and perpetuate those energies, just as negative acts can perpetuate negative energies. Like a mathematical formula. I personally prefer the results of loving, compassionate acts, but that's just me.
So, in mommy D's words--"ya done good".
Love,
B.