what if the society know it only has to lose one big case to lose a whole set of cases on precedent of the first case?.
this means they will lose millions of dollars in lawsuits and settlements.
which means their financial stability is under threat.
WT lawsuits in the US are not going to mean a ripple effect across the world. Our country is the most litigious in the world. We have the most lawyers. Most of the world simply does not do things the way they are done in the states.
I doubt there will be any kind of international outcry that will affect WT operations to any degree that they can claim some international persecution on the subject.
ok, so in the interests of balance....(as it has rightly been pointed out that i am getting more bitter toward the org), can we think of any positive or nice things about jehovah's witnesses?.
just throwing this topic out there....... .
.
There are some nice folks in the org. Deluded, but still, they are nice.
They save a lot at Christmastime and their kids have no illusions about bunnies laying eggs on plastic grass.
They support their local coffee shops!(unless they just sit there and eat their snacks from home, but I only knew one sister who did that)
order of operations is important, so, i'll ask a question before i make assumptions and start "fixing things.".
obviously, the site heavily encourages the viewpoint of former j-dubs and others who have disagreements with the political posturing of the wbts.
i get that, and see your points.
Here is a factor to consider. JWs have been told for well over a decade to not only avoid the internet, but to abstain from participating in any kind of JW site unless it was a WT site.
Are you, looking at a .net site really under any kind of apprehension that this is an authorized WT site? All that JW.org business hasn't clued you in? This site is OLD and it has clearly things in it inappropriate to JWs following the rules.
Scandals and coverups?
Apostafests?
Child Abuse Issues
Private Discussion and Support(!)
Adult and heated debate
and worse. . .
Bible Research and Study
What part of that is encouraged by the WT? They tell you they have more learned men than you to do the thinking for you, even. So, research? Not. Scandals? Not discussed (with approval). Private discussion of the religion or the Bible-discouraged. No independent thinking or spreading diseased ideas to the congregation! Can't admit that anything bad happens and God knows-debate is discouraged!
born in 1950, he apparently became a regular pioneer in 1971.. but wait.... let's just say that he enlisted (or was drafted) in 1968 at age 18.... depending on the branch of service, he would have to complete anywhere from 2 to 4 years of service.
yes, duty in hot combat zones was usually limited to 6-months at a time but you still had to serve a total of 2 to 4 years depending on the branch of service.
assuming he only served 2 years, he would have been 20 years old and discharged by 1970.... how did he get witnessed to, complete a book study, become an unbaptized publisher, get baptized and then become a regular pioneer in less than year???.
Folks could/can? join the military at age 17. My dad did. He was born with and died with the same name though. Really, these guys are running a religion that is based on outright untruths and claiming a superiority to the rest of humanity. He is part of a very corrupted organization. Whether or not he served in the military is truly not going to improve or degrade anyone's opinion of him, is it? I mean. . .really?
Parisi does look a lot like Morris, but the lady who claimed to be grand duchess Anastasia used a physical resemblance in her claims and was ultimately shown to be a fraud (although her mental health issues were such that I don't know she made fraudulent claims knowingly. I think there were others orchestrating it for their own purposes).
Morris, by any other name and whether or not a vet-is part of a douchebag organization and promotes it willingly and knowingly. If he served a term in Vietnam, then, ok. So did my uncle Mike. So what? If he isn't angling for VA benefits, I don't really care.
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/135m-awarded-to-bible-teacher-gonzalo-campos-alleged-abuse-victim-jose-lopez-281031832.html.
(published thursday, oct 30, 2014).
thursday, oct 30, 2014 updated at 11:58 pm pdt.
I think that the WT did this knowing what would happen. Lengthy appeals and the "right" to say that they had not been allowed to testify or present their case. So, they can say that this was not a real trial, yadayadayada. Nothing was proven.
Another why----they would rather be convicted on one sided case than convicted after the facts of their perfidy was shown beyond a reasonable doubt and their own documents and files put into the court record.
Now they will try to have the whole thing overturned with prejudice.
Cowards
about two years ago after i had resigned as a ms, two elders came by to "encourage" me.. the first line of questioning was if i still believed the gb was directing the org.. i asked him "not to interrogate me".. they tried to open to a series of scriptures.. i cut them off with this tasty zinger: "i'm not interested!"..
--.
they have not asked to see me since.. being direct has it's advantages.. .
I think that there are a lot of people trying so hard not to make waves theocratically that they forget tht it isn't a sin or a shame to tell people that you are not interested in speaking with them. I like direct. One does not need to admit anything, simple excuse yourself from any conversation that is accusatory or an interrogatory.
we're 2 years in to our exit from the witnesses.
we're not disfellowshipped or disassociated ... just inactive.
none of our friends speak to us anymore.
I am editing out my post. You not only got a lot of the same suggestions, but you have tried them or can't to much of a degree. Your best bet is your neighbors and neighborhood and just getting out there and meeting folks. And yes, even old ones (who might need help with their groceries or something). Just keep making connections, and you can do good and if something else comes of it, then great. If not, you did something good (excellent example for your little one)
I wish you all good things!! I know things are more of a challenge with a little one. Just keep your head up and smile at all the NON JWs you see in the grocery store. Not everyone is evangelizing you (although JWs are wrong in that many Christians DO-they just aren't keeping records and counting time and they are doing it informally without extraneous literature!)
If someone is harrassing you about your "religion" and you want to maintain good relations without playing that game, here is a line to try, "I can't talk about religious things because of deep trauma that it has caused in my family. I respect your faith and I know the Bible well. If I am ever interested in going to your church, I will sure talk to you about it, but please respect that it is not something I can go into now, it is just too painful"
Our society has a lot of people who TRY to be sensitive. If you are alcoholic or allergic or a recovering addict, most will be nice and your friend but will carefully not feed you nuts or offer you a beer or joint. We can have any kind of malady or trauma and people try to accomodate.
i remember many years ago we would talk about those who leave the org.
something bad will happen to them.
because god was mad at them for turning away from the wt.
Nope, but I am a very pragmatic kind of person. My husband (and lots of other non JWs)has all kinds of superstitions built into faith in weird ways. . . I gently point out that no matter what understanding of God that one has, none of the superstitions are built into his religion (or any faith) but rather they are instilled by culture and individuals who for good or bad reasons, told people stuff to "inspire" them to obedience. And he (and billions) have bought into it.
That being said, I have a "lucky" number (that has never brought me any luck). I just decided it is my favorite number.
I don't think my day will be crappy if I miss a prayer and I don't think bad things that happen are from anyone giving me "the evil eye". I do think that people can deliberately sabotage others' lives and I do think that our own mind-set (OOOOH, I woke up late, God will doom my whole day!!!) can and often does influence our lives dramatically. We have to watch out for that self fulfilling prophecy stuff-THAT can bring horrible things into ones life.
my wife and i are finally free of this horrible cult we will be leaving the south east for the north western part of the us to start anew!!!
our friends and family have no idea of our new beliefs and feelings on the cult so it should be a nice clean break!
hope to connect with some in that area pm me if you'd like.. .
Congratulations.Enjoy the PNW-its beautiful!
...as we were enjoying our weekly sunday "no meetings margaritas.. my friend and i have been meeting for lunch and margaritas ( okay mostly margaritas, we throw lunch in so we dont feel like alcoholics lol ??).
instead of going to meetings.. ( we discovered we could have lunch*margaritas* without the meeting first.).
my jw lady friend still goes out "in service" and stays in touch with her "service buddies" who also know me.. so she was telling me that they asked about me and mentioned that they would like to stop by to see me.
I hope your friend is better soon!
