AudeSapere

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Posts by AudeSapere

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  15

  Bad things happen in spiritual paradise

  by wannaexit in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i bumped in this story this afternoon.

  it's about a family of jw's.

  it's an unbelievable story of murder that took place in 2014.. so much for spiritual paradise.. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dateline+tangled.

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  AudeSapere

  Dang! I watched half of the video a few days ago. Now it's marked 'private' and I cannot see the remaining 20 minutes.
  
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  19

  Alone

  by Deleteandrestart in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  since i woke up one year ago , i've been doing a somewhat controlled fade , the experience i've had has been a very solitary one , i don't mean by not seeing anyone i know because i know hundreds in several congregations and i was an elder .

  but just coming to terms with the fact that this was no longer the solution to life's problems, that i'd wasted so much time, that as i sat in the kh and heard everyone comment, my heart was no longer in it , i no longer fitted in ..... i felt that they were in the congregation all under the spell or some form of hypnosis from the wtbts,.

  it was like for the first time in my experience at the kh , that i was the only one to see what was actually going on , the indoctrination, the guilt tripping, i could see it all as clear as day , and yet i had as it where a metal gag over my mouth, i couldn't speak to anyone about it for fear of them turning me into the spiritual police.

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  AudeSapere

  Deleteandrestart wrote: I refuse to let the wtbts deprive me of a lifetime of friends and contacts

  At some point you will get weary of always having to watch your words and silence your thoughts and you will likely find that it is often much more rewarding to have a handful of friends who accept your for who and what your are than to have an army of acquaintances who would drop in a heartbeat if they suspect that one wrong word from you would threaten their fragile faith.

  From your comments, it sounds like maybe your business and income are primarily tied to the JW community. I could be wrong, just getting that vibe from this thread.

  Start expanding your professional and social network. Start now.
  

  Seriously, two or three friends that have creative thoughts or similar interests or enjoy similar activities to you. Even neighbors who may just be available to drink a beer for 30 minutes while watching the cars go by or the sun set. So much more enjoyable than enduring people forced to be nice then forced to shun with a simple 15-second announcement from the platform.

  And sleeping in on the weekends is priceless! Seriously.

  -Aude.
  
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  11

  $13.5M award vacated in Jehovah’s Witness abuse case

  by StephaneLaliberte in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  ruling gives church chance to turn over disputed documents.

  http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/apr/14/jehovahs-witness-lopez-sex-abuse-appeal/.

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  AudeSapere

  From Page2 of the article linked in the OP: ... However, the appeals court disagreed with the judge’s order for Losch’s deposition, saying Lopez’s lawyers did not prove that he was key to the case as a leader in the governing body...

  
  

  It's like a shell game - trying to find a responsible person within that organization.

  First it's tough to know which of the many legal entities of the WT org to go after. THEN you have to try to pin down the responsible person(s). Nearly impossible as each one says "not my department", "not my area of oversight", "I was just doing what I was told on the phone by the (anonymous) rep at WT HQ Legal".

  Watching the Australian Commission hearings was infuriating, yet so insightful. It allowed us to clearly see the shell game perpetrated by the men in charge within the organization. The local elders, the WT Legal Counselor for Australian Branch, Geoffrey Jackson - a GB from HQ. They all just came across as weasels.

  The prosecuting lawyers in these cases are going to have to go after Jehovah himself to find the party responsible for the abhorrent practices relating to child sex abuse. Either that, or the local elders.

  It's likely that the most damning documents are shredder-bound. Or have already gone missing.

  So HAPPY to be out of that organization. Some of just seems so incredibly criminal. All masquerading as an odd but docile religion.

  -Aude Sapere. (meaning: Dare to Know; Dare to Have Wisdom/Understanding; Dare to Think for Yourself.)

  
  

  
  
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  10

  Three reasons why I may have to back.

  by Crazyguy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i look back over the last two years of my life with all the experiences i have read about here and other places and these are three experiences that stand out to me.

  recently in another post a girl relates her experience of being in the borg and her mom literally threw her away by giving her over to the state after she accused an elder of groping her.

  two; i met the man that wrote the insight books for the borg and even though he was at the time the brians of the borgs doctines when he faded his family , brother and his kids are shunning him.

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  AudeSapere

  Or... Live your life to the fullest degree that you choose. Find what makes you happy and do it.

  If family is happy where they are, let them be happy.

  Make sure they know they have your support. Then, when the contradictions and injustices of the organization hit each one personally, you may be the first to know.

  Just a thought.

  -Aude.
  
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  11

  Jehovah's Witnesses - Emotional Blackmail - Fear Obligation Guilt

  by JT-LadyC in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  after leaving the jehovah’s witness religion, we had the opportunity to read emotional blackmail by susan forward, ph.d. we could relate to the stories she discusses in the book and could make a direct correlation to our lives as jehovah’s witnesses.

  while the experiences are somewhat different from what we encountered in our personal lives, we could readily comprehend how individuals use emotional blackmail to make others develop fear, obligation and guilt in order to manipulate them into furthering their own agenda.this podcast explains in great detail how jehovah’s witnesses live in the fog.

  no one can dispute these comments as every current and former witness is most familiar with the culture of the organization!this podcast references the experience of a sister that lived in an iron lung and her experience was used as a tool to measure the faith of jehovah’s witnesses with otherwise good health that did not live up to the daily demands of the watchtower.

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  AudeSapere

  This is a GREAT video! Well-worth the listen.
  
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  24

  Please, tell me.

  by andrewlya in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hi, i am a christian and i would like to know jehovas witness's belief in god and whether you believe jesus is god.

  please, any statements back up with biblical verses,thank you and god bless, in jesus's name.. i am new on here, so please be patient with me :).

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  AudeSapere

  Current, active Jehovah's witnesses are not permitted to discuss any concerns they may have with their religion or with their religious leaders.

  When this discussion board started, it was ONLY for active Jehovah's witnesses. But a funny thing happened when those active Jehovah's witnesses started talking - anonomously - about their questions and concerns... The *real* truth started to come out.

  Now, this board is the largest and longest running discussion forum for all things related to JW's. And while there are some active witnesses, the majority, by FAR, are inactive, EX-Jehovah's Witnesses.
  

  Welcome.

  -AudeSapere (meaning: Dare to Know; Dare to Have Wisdom/Understanding; Dare to Think for Yourself)
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  40

  Closer/death/Funerals

  by Leela1 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  hello all i am fairly new to this site even though i have been da since i was 16 years old i am now 35 years old.

  i have had very little contact with my family since i left maybe a handful of times over the years.

  i thought i put the past behind me and moved on i have 4 amazing kids of my own really supportive partner and great friends who have become my family.

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  AudeSapere

  Heartbreaking. You are in the absolute right place to find others who *get* what you have been through.

  I'm so sorry. You were so very, very young when your family turned their back on you. It is criminal neglect, in my opinion.

  Welcome to JWN. I'm really happy that you found us and look forward to hearing more of your story.

  Aude.
  
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  19

  My meeting yesterday

  by stephanie61092 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  so i just wanted to jot down some thoughts and feelings about my meeting yesterday.... first, the wt, paragraph 16. i couldn't help but laugh to myself at the blatant hypocrisy.

  god’s word admonishes us “to live with soundness of mind ... amid this present system of things.” (titus 2:12) having “soundness of mind,” or being sober-minded, should certainly come into play when the explanation of a diagnostic method or therapy seems strange or mysterious.

  can the practitioner or the one promoting it explain satisfactorily how it works?

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  AudeSapere

  Thank you for this OP. I like it. A lot~!
  
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  25

  The JW Spin - why governments and opposers should let jws handle abusers themselves

  by Robo Bobo in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  i came across this blog - it is one of the evilest things i've ever read.. http://dismythed.blogspot.com/2016/02/flip-side-news-opposers-want-ex.html.

  you might not want to click on it because a) you'll give it more traffic and b) it will make you mad.

  in summary it states that since only 11-17% of molesters are repeat offenders, witnesses guilty of abuse should be dealt with inside the congregation as long as they confess.

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  AudeSapere

  I can understand not wanting to cause distress to the abuser's family.

  However, in my experience, an abuser, is an abuser, is an abuser. Two specific cases that I can think of, sex abuse was rendered on a non-family member, but the same abuser was physically (beating) the family members. Different kind of abuse, but abuse nonetheless.

  Attempting to shield the family from distress is not necessarily doing them any favors. It might actually help fix other abuses that are occurring within their home.

  You really just never know. Might be better to bring the offender to justice...?

  -Aude.
  
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  12

  My crazy experience, from pioneer to jail bird

  by Nodoubter in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  first let me introduce my self, i am a 33yo male show spent much of his youth in the jw cult, i was not raised into the truth however thought i found it at the age of 11 when a well caring brother knocked my door, i had no father figure so this brother was everything to me, like a father, i quickly began attending meetings even when my mom used to oppose, i was taken like an example kid because i was an "orphan" in the spiritual sense, i got baptized when i was 12, and spent the rest of my teenage years being this good kid everyone thought i was, i hated that attention and pressure however it felt good to be doing good things, when i was about to finish high school i started to get into punk and ska music, i used to listen to it in secret, one time an elder found out and went to my house when i wasnt there, he went into my room and took all my cds, this was my first time i felt like i was being invaded of my privacy, i was made to feel guilty for liking this music and lost all my priviledges..theres a lot more i can say but i will stick to the main points, i became a reg pioneer, i became an ms, the whole thing, living in new york allowed me to visit bethel many times and had many many friends there, at the head quarters and walkill, in my cong we had bethelite elders etc, so yeah i was "in the club" , i always had a doubt in the back of my mind if what i was doing was the right thing, i used to rent the basement out of en elders house, he is what made me turn, he was the mos unloving person i ever met, for instance he would turn off the heat during snow storms, sometimes due to my pioneering i had no food and he knew this, well no food from him etc.

  yet all this time i thought i was doing the right thing, eventually i feel in love and started dating this beautiful pioneer girl, daughter of pioneer parents as well, i never felt fully excepted because of my spiritual orphan status and no family in the truth, eventually got to a point where i could not communicate with her and her parents used to pick up the calls, they told me i could not continue to pursue a relationship with her, i was devastated!

  long story short i wanted to see her etc, they put a restraining order and labeled me a stalker, made a mistake of sending her an e-mail and well, that got me arrested!!

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  AudeSapere

  The JW elders claim 'clergy' when it suits them. However, in most bonafide religions that I know of, the 'clergy' visit and give consolation and encouragement and refuge to the 'wayward' members.

  JWs have a horrible reputation for kicking and abusing their members just when they need an understanding confidant the most.

  I'm sorry you had to learn that the hard way.

  Welcome to JWN~! I look forward to hearing more of your story as it unfolds.

  -AudeSapere. (meaning: Dare to Know; Dare to Have Wisdom/Understanding; Dare to Think for Yourself.)