Posts by under the radar

36

Small details...

by Garrett in

jw
friends

a witness friend wanted to meet up recently and talk.

since this person was a close friend and who i thought had a level head, i'd go ahead and speak with him.

our conversation actually helped me figure a few things out not only for myself but also about the witnesses.. so we're talking and i'm telling him my experience and the doctrines that i disagreed with as well as the scandals that made me disgusted with the organization.

under the radar

By golly, I guess you could say it really is the same bicycle or hatchet or whatever under the "overlapping parts" doctrine. Hmmm...

31

and Moses came down the mountain on his....DUCATI

by snare&racket in

jw
friends

worst day in the last ten years, was the day i hit 0.00 with one and a half years of university to go.

nobody to turn to, nobody to ask for help.

i was 32 and as an ex jw had two family members in contact with me.

under the radar

Congratulations, Snare! Maybe not so much for getting another bike, but for persevering with your education in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. My hat's off to you, Sir!

7

Question for non-jw spouses

by FreeGirl2006 in

a dub i know was recently reinstated.

she was dfd for leaving her hubby for another man.

she married the other man and then began the process of being reinstated.

under the radar

In some cases, the people involved as just as vulnerable to the pie-in-the-sky promises of the Truth™ as anyone else. Some may be seeking to assuage their "guilt" over past "sins."

I left the organization back in 2000, though I have never been officially DA'd or DF'd. But I digress. Back in the 90's, there was a new Circuit Overseer appointed and everyone was abuzz about him and his wife. Turned out she did not like being asked about how she "came into the Truth™." When cornered, she would admit that she was picked up in a bar by a JW who was "on his way out." Though I doubt he was actually "witnessing" to her at the time, she was intrigued by some of things he told her about the JW's. She stopped seeing him and eventually "studied" with the JW's, and the rest is history.

Genuinely good people can sometimes do things that they are later ashamed of, perhaps deeply regret. That can make them susceptible to tales of a Sky Daddy who will forgive their "sins" and bestow blessings galore upon them. Maybe it's a way of distancing themselves from their past.

8

SIMPLE and easy way to prove Jehovah's Witnesses are a dishonest organization

by Watchtower-Free in

simple and easy way to prove jehovah's witnesses are a dishonest organizationmost jehovah's witnesses do not realize that their elders secret manual instructs the elders to deny people their rights to record their own conversations and interactions with the elders.

this includes judicial meetings and so-called shepherding calls.elders have even been warned at their elder training classes that if they allow themselves to be recorded the watchtower society will not defend him in court if they are sued.elders fear being recorded because they do not want to be held accountable and responsible for their words and actions.

no elder has ever given me a cogent reason for refusing people their rights to record interactions with elders.what this creates is a unfair power balance between the elders and anyone they are talking to or judicially dealing with.

under the radar

I think the main reason the Society doesn't want certain meetings and especially judicial committee meetings recorded is deniability. In case some elder says or reveals something the Society wishes they hadn't, they can always say someone misunderstood or took it out of context. A recording reveals exactly what was said and is not so easily dismissed as someone's personal memory or even written notes.

The Society can be very duplicitous when it needs to, and is always more concerned with protecting its own power and financial interests than anything else. They can play hardball themselves, but scream first and scream loud when their "rights" are infringed upon.

10

Fresno man facing murder charge after shooting a Jehovah’s Witness who refused blood transfusion

by Tenacious in

a fresno man is facing murder charges in court this week for the shooting death of a jehovahs witness who later died after refusing a blood transfusion.. according to police, quevedo and silva argued over over gang membership with quevedo returning later in the evening to shoot silva through the security door at his home.. silva reportedly told a fresno police officer jehovah, jehovah, im dying, im dying, as he was taken to a hospital where he died during surgery after refusing a blood transfusion because he was a jehovahs witness.. it is the belief of many jehovahs witnesses that it is against gods will to have a blood transfusion.. according to defense attorney antonio alvarez, quevedo should not have been charged with murder because silva refused a transfusion that could have saved his life.. prosecutor gabriel brickey disagrees and will call fresno county pathologist michael chambliss to testify that, even if silva had received the transfusion, he would have died because one bullet hit a a major vein.. quevedo has already served time in prison for felony battery and theft and was on supervised release when he was arrested for shooting silva.. if convicted of murder he would face life in prison.. original story with suspect picture can be found here: fresno shooting.

under the radar

I'm certainly no lawyer, but I have long heard about the legal principle of "You take your victim as you find him."

That means that whatever happens to someone as a result of an accident you cause or action you take, you are responsible for those injuries and/or losses even if another person would not have been affected to such a degree. For example, say you carelessly rear-end a car. An elderly person might have serious injuries and even die, whereas a younger and healthier person might not have been injured at all. You have to deal with the consequences of what actually happened due to your actions, not what might or might not have happened under different circumstances.

Another legal principle I've heard about is "Intent follows the bullet." If you shoot at one person but hit another, even entirely by mistake, you are just as guilty of attempted murder or murder itself as if you had hit your intended victim.

In this case, absent being shot in the first place, the victim would not have needed a blood transfusion. And no one can say for certain a blood transfusion would have saved this particular victim. Either way, the proximate cause of death may have been exsanguination, but the manner of death was homicide.

49

New WT video: Like taking money from a baby!

by WingCommander in

jw
friends

just when you thought may's jw dot org video featuring wide-eyed cult lunatic gb lett guilting the masses into giving every last dime they have couldn't be topped, your children will now be fed a guilt-inducing cartoon in which they are guilted into giving every last cent they have to the wt cult.

the wt entitles this one, "give us your money!

even your children are to be shaken down!

under the radar

This is a truly disgusting example of the WT’s latest brainwashing techniques. The overt and subliminal messages in this short cartoon are so obviously self-serving it’s painful to watch. It makes me angry to think of young people being manipulated and emotionally coerced in such a way. Dang, I hate this organization!

26

Watchtower Society now PROMOTES using Social Media / Networks?

by FusionTheism in

jw
friends

have you seen this?.

http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/family/teenagers/whiteboard-animations/social-network-smart/#?insight.

under the radar

When it comes to ripping into the Society over its money-grubbing greed, brain-washing mind-control tactics, self-serving doctrines that are subject to change and even flip-flop whenever there's an advantage to doing so and yet are required articles of faith for the rank and file, not to mention their ridiculous interpretations of various prophecies over the years and the evermore self-aggrandizing of the Governing Body... I'm right in there! I hate the organization and its policies (but NOT the individual members) with a passion!

That said, not everything the Society does is bad, even if its underlying purpose is to reinforce the notion that the Society is a reliable source of sound advice and good information.

I saw nothing objectionable about this particular "PSA" about online safety for social media sites and the like. Everything in the little video was correct and actually, though it pains me to acknowledge it, good advice.

If only the rest of their policies and teachings were geared towards the true best interests of their followers, and not so self-serving and dictatorial... Don't hold your breath.

24

I SAT THROUGH TODAYS WT STUDY WITH A CHEEZER! !

by brandnew in

jw
friends

may 10th, the whole study was about covering up their mistakes, and putting it off on "recent refinements of understandings".. you could just look at the elder on stage and know he was not feelin this study.. when a neewbie answered and said" lots of unexpected changes are happening" i about fell outta my seat !

!

!.

under the radar

I personally believe the whole concept of some all-powerful Sky Daddy and the organized religions required to worship him "properly" is a giant festering pus-filled sore on the face of humanity.

That said, I don't really have a problem with the Society (or any religious group) changing their interpretation of various passages and prophecies, as long as they clearly announce that it is a change. I could actually respect a group that frankly admitted they were wrong before and explained why they believe they have it right now. You can always chalk it up to "further research and reflection" or more related information coming to light.

The real problem, as I see it, is the required acceptance of whatever the Truth© is today. You might call it the Truth de jour. Faithful JW's are not only required to accept every new teaching or interpretation that comes along, they are also required to fully embrace it, believe it is the true interpretation, and teach it to others. That inevitably leads to the situation where "what was apostasy yesterday is required today, and what is required today might be apostasy tomorrow." Sometimes it even goes back and forth.

How many people have died or were prepared to die for a belief that has now changed? Think organ transplants and the use of blood "fractions." How many young men went to prison rather than "compromise" with the military authorities and voluntarily accept civilian service in lieu of being drafted when later that very "compromise" was encouraged and commended as "staying faithful"?

Doctrines and organizational policies will always be subject to change and reinterpretation to suit the needs of the organization, often driven more by political, legal, or financial considerations than anything "spiritual." The real shame is that individuals must continually change their own viewpoints to match whatever the latest "light" from New York is, regardless of how ludicrous or contradictory to former teachings it may be.

"Current Truth©" is a moving target, but the penalty for failure to keep in step is the dreaded branding as an apostate. Fear, social coercion, and emotional blackmail are effective tools for keeping the masses in line.

9