Posts by Doubting Bro

297

5000 PAGES OF DOCUMENTS OF JW PEDOPHILE CASES AVAILABLE! B ANDERSON BOOK

by Seeker4 in

barbara anderson has just released a new book on cd that contains some 5000 pages of public court records from the nine lawsuits involving 16 victims that the wts settled secretly in may of this year, plus documents from two other cases the society settled in 2000 and 2006.. .

its called secrets of pedophilia in an american religion: jehovahs witnesses in crisis.. .

the book, and more info from barbara about it, is available here:.

Doubting Bro

Sir82,

I'm thinking that since the records that were obtained came from the courts, how would the WT have known? Is there a system in place that alerts a person that public records about you are being obtained and who is obtaining them? I don't know just asking the question. If they didn't know, I can imagine the chaos in Legal right now.

Seeker4,

I agree that the Sept KM QB more than likely was not in response to this release (assuming the WTS knew what was going on which it seems like it may not). However, I see either 1) another (maybe Dec or Jan) KM QB addressing this, 2) the "Kool-Aid" WT addressing this (hey guys in the Writing Dept - there's your Jan study article), or 3) a special letter to the congregations if Barb is able to get on the talk show circuit or if Dateline, etc does something with it.

If this gets any run, they'll have to do some damage control. Especially if there are documents provided by the WTS to the courts with internal letters showing that the WTS doesn't have the "best child abuse policy among any religious organization" as some apologists claim. I'm almost hesitant to read my copy because when I was an elder, I never had to handle a child abuse case (thank God) and although I would love to think I too would have raged against the machine, its hard to tell how a person would react until faced with the circumstances.

Anyway, the next months should prove very interesting.

297

5000 PAGES OF DOCUMENTS OF JW PEDOPHILE CASES AVAILABLE! B ANDERSON BOOK

by Seeker4 in

barbara anderson has just released a new book on cd that contains some 5000 pages of public court records from the nine lawsuits involving 16 victims that the wts settled secretly in may of this year, plus documents from two other cases the society settled in 2000 and 2006.. .

its called secrets of pedophilia in an american religion: jehovahs witnesses in crisis.. .

the book, and more info from barbara about it, is available here:.

Doubting Bro

AK-Jeff,

I'm willing to wager that if this gets enough publicity, the boys in the Service Department will be cutting and pasting your post. Remember just before the Dateline program aired, there was a letter to the congregations basically telling everyone that the program was not true and that even if mistakes were made in the past, they've been corrected. I believed it back then. I don't believe a word they say now.

How can they damage control their own internal letters shown in context? These guys are good, but not that good.

297

5000 PAGES OF DOCUMENTS OF JW PEDOPHILE CASES AVAILABLE! B ANDERSON BOOK

by Seeker4 in

barbara anderson has just released a new book on cd that contains some 5000 pages of public court records from the nine lawsuits involving 16 victims that the wts settled secretly in may of this year, plus documents from two other cases the society settled in 2000 and 2006.. .

its called secrets of pedophilia in an american religion: jehovahs witnesses in crisis.. .

the book, and more info from barbara about it, is available here:.

Doubting Bro

Another thought that Barb I'm sure is already thinking about. Is there going to be a promotional tour? With that huge settlement by the LA diocese still fresh in everyone's mind, I'll bet there are some talk shows, radio shows, etc that would love to interview Barb and others. Maybe Dateline would be interested in doing a follow-up show to their previous report? Oprah is interested in this issue from a global perspective.

Since these are court documents and not just hearsay, I think some of those talk shows may be a little more interested. I realize that JWs are a fringe group that really doesn't mean much to the everyday person. However, religions covering up child abuse is a hot topic.

297

5000 PAGES OF DOCUMENTS OF JW PEDOPHILE CASES AVAILABLE! B ANDERSON BOOK

by Seeker4 in

barbara anderson has just released a new book on cd that contains some 5000 pages of public court records from the nine lawsuits involving 16 victims that the wts settled secretly in may of this year, plus documents from two other cases the society settled in 2000 and 2006.. .

its called secrets of pedophilia in an american religion: jehovahs witnesses in crisis.. .

the book, and more info from barbara about it, is available here:.

Doubting Bro

Thanks for the link Seeker! I've purchased my copy.

Barb, your efforts to bring this to light and your sacrifices are truely appreciated.

Bethel monitors - how long are you guys going to watch this and not realize something is fundamentally wrong? Do you honestly think that Jehovah is pleased with all the things that have happened with just this one issue? By the way, when the settlement hit the headlines, I swore I'd never give ONE PENNY again. And you've got the nerve to criticize the Catholic church for doing the same thing?

85

Active Elders who post on JWD

by Honesty in

does your conscience torment you knowing that you are misleading the flock of god as you continue teaching them the heresies of the watchtower society?.

why are you staying in the organization and posting here at the same time?.

do you really believe that you can help your families to reject the watchtower society while remaining an elder and visibly appearing to support their lies and false teachings?.

Doubting Bro

Willyloman,

I felt exactly the same way as you did. Knowing that other elders had seen the things I had seen and felt the way I felt, it really helped me see that I wasn't the one who was insane (well, maybe the jury is out on that one!).

I remember some of the first posts I really read were Sir82's recap of the elder school that I was about to attend. When I heard word for word some of the things he brought out, I knew that not only he and some of the others were legit, but they were right about the ramblings of the WTS and in particular their Talmud.

Gary & Open Mind & others in the same situation - Your posting here may be of more help to a struggling JW than anything you say in the KH. So, I really hope that you continue!

Sir82, you talked about being the voice of reason, which is great. You realize that you won't be able to do it forever, but since you're there, even if you help just one person feel a little better then I applaud you. I tried that as well, but finally couldn't deal with it. My wife couldn't understand why I would come home after an elder's meeting and be in a generally bad mood. I just got tired of the fighting and the thickheadedness of some of my fellow elders. Again, I had a great excuse that I was able to exploit which made it much easier for me to step aside without the 3rd degree.

Seeker4 - you're right. But, if there was "hard core" porn and masterbation, that could be enough to be considered "loose conduct" and thus a JC. But, without the "hard core" porn, the most they can do to that kid is take away some privileges. Edited - Open Mind "beat" me to it!!

By the way, it was a thread by Seeker4 that finally moved me from a lurker to a poster and you have no idea what a positive experience that has been!

10

Judicial Question: To All Active Elders..Or Those Requested to Meet...

by Lady Liberty in

jw
friends

dear friends,.

i have a question, that i was hoping someone out there would be able to answer: .

what would happen if the judicial committee recieved a letter from a medical doctor stating that due to a medical condition so & so will not be attending the jc meeting and the situation would be reviewed in 30 days by the doctor.

Doubting Bro

minimus is absolutely correct. I think the direction given would likely be 1) is the letter legit?, 2) what did the person do (allegedly)?, 3) is the person a "danger" to the congregation, 4) did they confess or were they turned in?

My guess would be that they just wait the 30 days and try again. I've seen it take almost that long to get one together due to scheduling conflicts anyway.

After the 30 days, if another letter came, it would likely be ignored. Unless, as Drew's case mentioned, the elders didn't want Bethel involved because it would expose them for something they wanted to hide.

There are no written guidelines (unless it came out within the last 8 months). The procedure would be to 1) call the CO or 2) call the Service desk directly.

85

Active Elders who post on JWD

by Honesty in

does your conscience torment you knowing that you are misleading the flock of god as you continue teaching them the heresies of the watchtower society?.

why are you staying in the organization and posting here at the same time?.

do you really believe that you can help your families to reject the watchtower society while remaining an elder and visibly appearing to support their lies and false teachings?.

Doubting Bro

jgnat has a great point

It is these elders and other nominal JW's that the society is most afraid of.

Why do you think the WTS conductor has been instructed to not include outside research, the flock has been told to not do research outside the WT and the PT has been reduced to 30min with the same outlines? They know there are more than a few elders and others who have serious doubts or completely do not believe anymore. And, it scares them as well it should. I think the crackdown will serve to push more out or at least force them to abandon their positions of authority.

Gary1914, I can relate to what you are going through. When I started posting (was lurking for quite a while before) I too was an active elder. I used wesel words when giving talks (gee I wonder where I learned that particular skill?) and slacked off quite a bit in FS & meetings. However, the final straw for me came when they tried to give me a book study (I had one previously but had moved). I just could not bring myself to conduct that awful, insane Revelation climax book. PLUS (and I think this is the real reason) I had a reason that seemed legitimate to both the local elders and the WTS. That's something else that we should understand about these guys that are still elders. If they step aside, the questioning will be very intense (more so than a publisher would get if they skip meetings and service). A letter goes to the WTS with the stated reasons. If you express doubts (although OTWO did that and he hasn't faced the firing squad yet) you will more than likely get more attention than you would ever want.

I do think these active elders serve a vital link in helping the cults demise. They leak information, discourage loyalty in their local congregations in subtle ways and are difficult to ferret out. Make no mistake, the WTS holds its elders in extremely low opinion and in my opinion would love to figure out a way to replace them with a congregation servant whose loyalty is above question.

To all those guys currently elders, there will probably come a time when you can't stomach it anymore. In the meantime, your insight into what the WTS is up to is appreciated.

28

Comments You Will not Hear will be taking a brief hiatus for the next 2 wks

by blondie in

or so due to health, availability of articles, and personal priorities.

after that, the format will be briefer consisting mostly of the article with fewer comments by me allowing more comments by readers/posters.. love, blondie.

Doubting Bro

Blondie,

Although I usually don't post on that thread, I ALWAYS read your review. Your efforts are greatly appreciated and I hope you enjoy your break. I can understand how exhausting doing that must be because I used to review the WT and using some of your ideas made lots of notes as well as looked up other things. But now, I just can't do it without getting disgusted and depressed.

13

Are there still 'segregated congregations' in the US?

by AK - Jeff in

in the 70's and 80's i recall conversations with some fellow jdubs who had lived in the southern us.

they told me that some areas still had segregated halls - blacks would meet at different times or locations than whites.

is this still true, anyone know?

Doubting Bro

When my parents first came in (early 70s) there were segregated congregations where I lived. However, a year or so later, they were integrated. I was too young to really remember but I've questioned my parents before on it and they said there was some sort of state law. However, I don't believe that because the schools were integrated in the 60s. I remember that hall only had a couple of black families even after it was integrated, but I think that was just a geographical issue. As a matter of fact, my elementary school only had a couple of black kids so I think the congregation was a reflection of that particular community.

Most of my childhood was spent in a congregation that was split about 50-50 between white and black. I never saw any sort of racial issues there and everyone mixed very well. Lots of "gatherings", etc.

91

My Brother Died in a Car Wreck Last Night

by WLG in

jw
friends

i just found out about an hour ago.

he wasn't even old enough to drink yet.. to make it even sh*ttier, he had called me a few weeks ago and asked if he could come out here with me but i couldn't do it at the time.

so of course the first thing that comes to mind is if i had done something different it wouldn't have happened.. he was going through the sh*t as i call it, when witnesses go off the deep end and get into everything in the world to stop hurting and they don't even know what is wrong.

Doubting Bro

(((WLG))) - I'm so sorry for your loss.