Posts by under the radar

22

Elder Is Dodgy Used Car Salesman

by pale.emperor in

just thought i'd relate this story for any lurkers out there.. here in the north west of england there's an elder called george ashton.

the ashton's are a big family, most of the men are appointed as elders or at least min servants.

george owns a used car dealership and almost all jws in liverpool looking for a car have heard of him.

under the radar

My own rule is that I never do business with a JW unless it's a personal friend that I have complete confidence in and who just happens to be a Witness.

Of course, that situation doesn't arise very often. Those that know me are well aware that I no longer consider myself a JW. In fact, several in my family consider me a "dangerous apostate." Dangerous because I can out-reason the vast majority of them and know the Bible better than most. (Know as in "have knowledge of," as opposed to "belief in.")

Paradoxically (and thanks to Simon and this board), I often know more about the "current truth" they're supposed to believe now (after all the changes) and be ready to die for than they themselves do. More than once, when I mentioned something about the latest "new light," they scoffed and called it apostasy. The few who actually looked it up then claimed I misunderstood what they said. What they meant was...

Then it's, "Where did you get that information? It hadn't been released yet!" The source is more important than its accuracy. Go figure...

Sheesh! This forking cult is a festering boil on the butt of humanity. And so are all the others!

15

Today is a BIG anniversary for me...but--of what?

by TerryWalstrom in

today is a big anniversary day for me!.

october 23, 1967, was a monday.

i stood in front of district judge leo brewster as he sentenced me to six years in federal prison.. .

under the radar

The sneaky bastards also warned people like Terry that they could not under any circumstances tell the judge they had been advised not to accept alternative service. They also could not let the judge know (wink, wink) that they would perform the alternative service if sentenced to do so. They just couldn't agree to it beforehand.

I had a first cousin who had the same travesty foisted on him that Terry did. He did his time and was forever marked because of it. But an acquaintance of mine who was about the same age as Terry and my cousin lucked out. He actually got sentenced to alternative service and served his time as an orderly in a hospital. He did such a good job that they hired him as a supervisor when his time was up.

Same situation, same conscientious decision, but very different outcomes. This is the kind of crap that happens when self-appointed religious "leaders" impose their capricious interpretations of ancient fairy tales on innocent but susceptible followers.

"The Children Act" movie now available in iTunes

by under the radar in

jw
friends

i just discovered yesterday than the children act, a british movie starring emma thompson based on the book by ian mcewan, is available for rent or purchase in the us itunes store.

it's $7 to rent, or $15 to buy with itunes extras included.

it's a bit higher on amazon, and is not included with amazon prime video.. i listened to the unabridged audiobook a few weeks ago and thought it was great.

under the radar

I just discovered yesterday than The Children Act, a British movie starring Emma Thompson based on the book by Ian McEwan, is available for rent or purchase in the US iTunes Store. It's $7 to rent, or $15 to buy with iTunes Extras included. It's a bit higher on Amazon, and is not included with Amazon Prime Video.

I listened to the unabridged audiobook a few weeks ago and thought it was great. The female narrator has a very pleasant British accent and sounds a bit like Emma. My wife and I listened to it while driving on vacation and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The movie follows the book very closely, probably because the same author wrote the book and the screenplay. A few things had to be compressed or omitted so the movie wouldn't be too long, but that's to be expected.

The underlying story is more about a female judge's struggle to cope with her overwhelming workload of highly emotional cases, and the sudden discovery that her marriage is in jeopardy, than with the JW case specifically. Mrs. Justice Fiona Maye (Emma Thompson) is dealing with an almost continuous stream of heartbreakingly difficult legal cases, some of which require her to make gut-wrenching life-or-death decisions regarding medical care. Lives are literally in the balance. Then she is jolted by her long-suffering husband's response to her seeming neglect of him and their long-time marriage.

The case involving a nearly adult JW boy who is refusing the blood transfusion he needs to save his life is woven throughout the story, though the specifics of the case are not really the main focus. The book and movie do a good job of explaining the views of the JWs and the doctors, though they don't get the JW theology exactly right. The one Kingdom Hall scene is entirely unrealistic, nothing at all like the excellent scenes in the Apostasy movie. No doubt it will be seized upon by JWs to discredit the whole movie, and that's a shame. Like all good stories, there is a twist at the end you don't see coming. You may think everything has been resolved fairly early in the movie, but you'd be wrong.

For what it's worth, I do recommend The Children Act. It's well worth watching. I might wish for a different, more satisfying ending, but that's true of a lot of movies I see nowadays.

18

The GB's modesty knows no bounds

by neat blue dog in

sarcasm intended obviously 🙄.

in the intro from the latest ezekiel book:.

as youread through its 22 chapters and meditate on thebeautiful illustrations found therein, you will beamazed at all the careful research that has goneinto its preparation.. they call themselves the faithful and discreet slave, but how discreet is it really to be constantly bragging about yourself?

under the radar

The "leaders" of the Society have been evermore self-aggrandizing for as long as I can remember. I said as much to my parents, faithful and sincere JWs for decades, in a moment of frustration. They insisted that "the Brothers™ are humble!" Only out of love and respect for my parents was I able to restrain my reply to a simple, "They sure don't seem like it to me."

My problem with the Society is not that they're wrong about so many things. Heck, it's all fairy tales and fantasy anyway. Their interpretations and explanations of stories in the book of Jewish fables are not even consistent within themselves, but even that is not my main problem with them.

Their main "evil" in my book is that they require, actually demand, blind acceptance of whatever their truth du jour happens to be. What is a required belief today might have been apostasy yesterday, and may be apostasy tomorrow. And those who saw what is now accepted Truth™ a bit early and were castigated (or worse) for it will remain "apostates" because they "ran ahead of Jehovah's chariot." The self-appointed GODs (Guardians Of Doctrine) in New York demand their followers believe what they say, when they say it, and not a minute before or a minute later than when it's deemed "current truth." All under the threat of something a JW fears worse than death: being labeled an apostate and thrown out.

Something even worse may be coming down the road. The sheeple are being conditioned to "obey whatever instructions" they may receive, even if they seem foolish or don't make sense from a strategic standpoint. Who knows what evil or self-destructive things the Society's blindly obedient lemmings may be ordered to do.

There are few things more dangerous than people who have turned their thinking over to someone else. Unquestioning obedience has never worked out well in the end.

33

Court documents reveal Watchtower's tactics in Montana child abuse case

by LevelThePlayingField in

there were numerous objections and claims that watchtower lawyers made to try and get out of being held responsible for their negligence and malice.

here’s the juicy ones:.

montana is a mandatory reporting state, but watchtower lawyers claimed that the law for reporting abuse only applies to “individuals” and they are “corporations”.

under the radar

They're dug in too deep to see an obvious solution: They could just say Nu-Lite™ has revealed that the two witness rule only applies to congregational action and that they now realize that any potential criminal cases must be reported to authorities to protect the Borg from being accused of condoning or covering up criminal conduct. It's simply a matter of "rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar's."

I think the GODs (Guardians of Doctrine) in New York are just too blinded by fear of looking bad to realize that if they immediately reported accusations of child abuse and let the law take its course, it would actually enhance the Borg's reputation. They could say they're not taking congregational action "until the matter is established," but are restricting the accused's "privileges" to avoid the appearance of impropriety. Then they could claim to be law abiding instead of having the reputation of protecting molesters and doing nothing to protect children, all to avoid looking bad. They railed against the Catholic Church for decades for doing the exact same thing.

27

Do Jehovah`s Witnesses lie to receive Government benefits ?

by smiddy3 in

jehovah`s witnesses do not respect the ,governments of any nation from my experience with "witnesses" over 33 years as a card carrying member.

the governments are to be exploited taking advantage of all the provisions govt`s, hand out to their citizens.after all the govts, are under the control of satan the devil ,he is the ruler of this world and is at enmity with god.. so they feel justified in practicing deception as they the gov`ts.

being opposer`s of truth have no right to know the real truth.. i personally knew of pioneers who had no intention of finding work but were happy to take unemployment benefits from the govt.

under the radar

I don't like to get into anyone else business, but if I personally knew of anyone taking benefits they weren't entitled to, I'd turn them in in a heartbeat. Especially if they were doing so in order to pioneer. That way, I could not only help get someone who didn't deserve it off the dole, but could hope to bring reproach on the J-dog's name at the same time by making it known what they were doing.

37

How were God’s true worshipers to determine virginity of pagan girls?

by Ireneus in

in the genocidal instructions supposedly given by god we find this interesting command: “now kill all the boys.

and kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.” (numbers 31:17, 18).

in the midst of killing and plundering, how were the israelites to determine whether each girl “has slept with a man” or not?.

under the radar

This whole concept is disgusting, and shows once again that the supposed "god" of the book of Jewish fairy tales is not worthy of respect, much less worship.

In those days, female virgins wore distinctive clothing that denoted their status as such. A "violated" girl or woman, even one who had been raped, could no longer wear this garb, as this would have been considered "false advertising." Similar to a soldier impersonating an officer.

Check out the appalling story in 2 Samuel 13, when David's son Amnon rapes his own half-sister Tamar. Verse 19 mentions her special robe, which she tore off after the rape.

By the way, the very special David, "who God loved," didn't even punish Amnon. "Oh well, whatcha gonna do?" It was another of David's sons, Absalom, who killed Amnon out of revenge a bit later.

Doesn't all this make you wanna fall down and worship the Divine Creator who favored such men?

5

How would the Borg view IVF?

by purrpurr in

specifically if an unwed woman decided she wanted a kid without the hassle of dating/relationship /trying to get pregnant etc and just got a sperm doner with ivf?

surely it's not fornication?

the whole process is far removed from sex.

under the radar

Everybody above is right. The Society takes the ridiculous position that a married couple can only use their own egg and sperm for IVF; it's adultery and/or fornication to use anyone else's. Even using a surrogate is forbidden. Talk about man-made arbitrary rules...

It's kinda like what they do about the blood issue. They blow some dubious "principle" all out of proportion to make a new "law" and enforce it like it came from the mouth of the big J-dog himself.

In the case of IVF, though, they completely ignore a clear principle that actually IS in their book of Jewish fairy tales. No ambiguity or uncertainty here. Not only is the principle behind modern-day IVF allowed, it was actually mandatory in some cases. There is at least one specific example where someone (Onan) was killed by sky daddy for NOT upholding that principle. He disrespected the brother-in-law marriage arrangement by using his widowed sister-in-law for his own gratification and then spilling his seed on the ground, defeating the whole purpose. See Genesis 38 or the Wikipedia article "Onan" for all the gory details.

Brother-in-law marriage, provided for and in fact required by the Mosaic Law, clearly demonstrates that the physical exchange of DNA does not constitute adultery. The "sin" is in the unfaithfulness and deception. That's why most everyone except religious zealots accept that donating one's eggs or sperm to help someone is not a sin at all, but instead is an unselfish act of the most personal kind. And that's without even considering that modern IVF in clinical in nature, while brother-in-law marriage involved actual intercourse, almost certainly repeatedly, until the desired results were achieved.

I believe the same thing applies to surrogacy, where a couple's fertilized fetus is implanted into another woman. The surrogate gives the couple the wonderfully unselfish gift of carrying their baby to term, all the while considering the baby to be theirs and not her own. How can that be wrong?

I have no use for religious leaders who use their influence and "authority" to run other people's lives. In the end, it's all about power, control, and money.

13

Numeracy

by jws in

i recently saw on a website where a guy i know posted a link to a video by graham hancock.

now this guy is a nutjob kind of like the ancient alien guys.

this pyramid has been a fascination of crackpots for years.

under the radar

Basically, you can correlate anything to anything else if you try hard enough. Especially if you're willing to fudge things a bit to make them fit better (think "Pyramid inches.")

But this denies a scientific principle that has been proven over and over again: Correlation is not the same as causation.

The fact that two or more sets of facts or events can be shown to correspond statistically does not prove that either one actually causes the other. There are usually many other factors in play, some unknown.

My hat's off to jws for starting this thread. I like the way he used logic and reason to demonstrate the folly of looking for hidden signs and meanings to prove a hypothesis you've already accepted as fact. That's pretty much the opposite of the scientific method.

Oh well, whatcha gonna do? People are gonna believe whatever they wanna believe... no proof or logic required.

19

Accounts report at Circuit Assemblies to go away

by LevelThePlayingField in

i was at the regional convention and asked an elder why is that at the assemblies their is an accounts report but not at the conventions?

he said, well actually they got a letter and in it said that in a little while they will do away with the accounts report stating how much the assembly costs for the weekend and just go to donation basis like at the conventions.. my first thought was, "they will donate even less now.".

anybody else hear about such a thing?.

under the radar

I'll bet dollars to donuts they'll still find a way to ~~extort~~ encourage contributions. They may not announce a "deficit," but they'll for sure announce that the "costs" for this "grand spiritual feast" was X-thousand dollars.

I can hear it now: "I'm sure you brothers will keep this in mind when making your generous contributions from your unrighteous riches. Remember, we must put the Kingdom™ first! The Bible warns we must not appear before Jehovah empty handed!" And so on and so on, ad nauseam...