09.11.2010 | 15:30
Jehovah’s Witness in Iceland Accused of Sex Offences
Women who have been members of Jehovah’s Witness in Iceland claim that sexual and domestic violence is practiced within the congregation and that such offenses are hushed up.
Svanberg Jakobsson, spokesperson for Jehovah’s Witness in Iceland, confirmed to ruv.is that suspicion of such offenses have surfaced within the congregation but denied that they are hushed up.
Jakobsson stated that cases of alleged offenses are investigated within the congregation and if there is reason to do so, they are reported to the police. One case of sexual abuse has been reported to the police by the congregation, he said.
On Sunday a young woman declared on the news on RÚV that she had fled the congregation after realizing that sex offenses were being covered up.
RÚV is aware of some of Jehovah’s Witness’s former and current members having sought professional help after suffering sexual abuse within the congregation.
betterdaze
JoinedPosts by betterdaze
-
4
Jehovahs Witness in Iceland Accused of Sex Offences
by betterdaze in09.11.2010 | 15:30. jehovahs witness in iceland accused of sex offences.
women who have been members of jehovahs witness in iceland claim that sexual and domestic violence is practiced within the congregation and that such offenses are hushed up.. .
svanberg jakobsson, spokesperson for jehovahs witness in iceland, confirmed to ruv.is that suspicion of such offenses have surfaced within the congregation but denied that they are hushed up.. .
-
-
betterdaze
-
8
New book out
by mouthy in"to thine own self be true" by catherine de boer.. in it is the stories of two ex jw's.it cost's $106.00 .
but i believe you may get it from the library...( or on amazon.
-
-
betterdaze
Product Description
Individuals who experience momentous shifts in self- understanding due to their disengagement from a social group (for example, a religious, cultural, professional, gender or sexual orientation group) can create or reclaim their identity through the telling of their stories. In this study sixteen stories of social group disengagement were collected and analysed. The study proceeded from the distinction made by social psychologists between personal identity, self-definitions derived from an understanding of one's self as unique, and social identity, self-definitions derived from an understanding of one's self as a member of social groups. Findings suggest disengagement is the product of mounting feelings of incongruence between one's personal and social identities, ultimately culminating in the privileging of personal over social identity. The results speak to the indomitable nature of the self to develop and the painful and destructive ramifications that occur when individuals live with high levels of incongruence between their personal and social identities. Guidelines for direct social work practice are presented.
About the Author
Dr. Catherine de Boer is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at Memorial University of Newfoundland. She is currently researching the implications of forced identity transitions, such as those predicated by unemployment, injury, and illness,and the ways in which a ?good ending? is storied and achieved. -
Jehovahs Witnesses Keep Convention Center Home: 810 years
by betterdaze injehovahs witnesses keep convention center home.
posted: wednesday, november 3, 2010 2:50 pm.
by harry saltzgaver?executive editor | 4 comments.
-
betterdaze
Jehovah’s Witnesses Keep Convention Center Home
Posted: Wednesday, November 3, 2010 2:50 pm
By Harry Saltzgaver?Executive Editor | 4 comments
They’re back.Actually, they never left. But the Jehovah’s Witnesses have signed an agreement to make the Long Beach Convention Center its gathering home for the next eight to 10 years.
Steve Goodling, executive director of the Long Beach Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, made the announcement last Thursday at the CVB’s annual meeting. The agreement translates into about 400,000 hotel room nights, or $4.5 million in Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT or bed tax) directly to the city.
Jehovah’s Witnesses have been gathering in Long Beach for regional and national conventions for a number of years. They have exchanged their work for the space rental, doing things including renovating the ground floor meeting rooms.
Goodling said this contract extension includes resurfacing the Long Beach Arena parking lot, adding planters to the front entrance of the arena and carpeting in the ballrooms and promenade of the Convention Center. In exchange, they will have meeting space for 14 or 15 weekends a year.
Goodling said final values still are being worked out, causing the uncertainty about the number of years the agreement will be in place.
That announcement followed the official blessing of a six-year deal with Hot August Nights, a mega-car show based in Reno, Nev. Goodling said the group will continue to produce its multi-week event in Reno, but add a five-day affair including the first weekend in August in Long Beach. That deal is expected to bring in $810,000 in TOT plus a large amount of spending in the area.
During the meeting, which took place in the Terrace Theater lobby and attracted more than 200 industry and community leaders, Goodling offered a list of CVB accomplishments, beginning with five major awards from travel and convention industry magazines and associations. He said Long Beach’s booking pace in 2010 was 55% higher than it was just eight years ago, with an estimated $618 million total future economic impact. That is figured on booking of 238,002 room nights.
In 2010, the city will receive approximately $14 million in TOT revenue, with half going to the general fund (which pays for most city services) and the other half to the Special Advertising and Promotion (SAP) fund.
The city pays the CVB more than $3 million (a contract that was reduced by 10% in fiscal 2011) to promote the city.Finally, Goodling touted the CVB’s presence on the Internet, with www.visitlongbeach.com averaging more than 120,000 unique visitors per month. The bureau also is on Twitter, with 3,954 followers.
-
5
When religion is the bully: Joel P. Engardio
by betterdaze inwhen religion is the bully.
by joel p. engardio.
the news of gay teen suicides this fall made me think of my college friend jeff.
-
-
betterdaze
When religion is the bully
By Joel P. Engardio
The news of gay teen suicides this fall made me think of my college friend Jeff. When I heard he was depressed and struggling with being gay, I wanted to say it gets better. But I didn't know if it would. I was also gay and too afraid to tell him. Nothing I saw in 1992 gave me any hope. There was no "Glee," no "Ellen" on TV to counter the politicians and religious leaders who demonized me in prime time. Even the Brady Bunch dad had died of AIDS.
We both liked playing tennis, so that's what we did instead of talking about our pain. Then one night Jeff jumped off a parking garage. He was 19.
Gay kids are made to feel worthless from a variety of sources: religion, the culture, bullies at school. I don't know which of these Jeff internalized. For me, it was religious-based shame.
My mom is one of Jehovah's Witnesses and when I told her I was gay, she mourned as if I had died. Not being able to see her son in God's Kingdom was a devastating thought. Many religions share the same belief about homosexuality: a human imperfection that is sinful to act on. I remember at age four or five hearing a Bible scripture about "men who lie with men." I knew the elder was describing what I would be when I grew up. By the tone of his voice, I knew it was something very bad.
It isn't easy growing up gay in any religion that deems gays unworthy, but how can we make gay kids feel better about themselves when they hear anti-gay religious speech that is protected by the First Amendment? Restricting speech isn't the answer because banning the phrase "gay is sin" only makes it easier to ban "gay is OK." The solution is more speech telling gay kids they are good and beautiful people, to counter the negative messages they hear in church, school and in the media.
I recently made a video for the "It Gets Better" campaign, which asks gay adults living open and happy lives to tell gay kids to hang in there. I thought about how this kind of speech would have been impossible when gays were criminalized and shamed into silence. I also thought about how my mom's religion was once denied the ability to speak freely. But in fighting for their own right to live and worship as they choose, Jehovah's Witnesses won 50 U.S. Supreme Court cases that expanded individual liberties for all Americans. The irony only starts there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kH9X0jSjP8&feature=player_embedded
When a federal judge ruled this summer that a ban on gay marriage in California was unconstitutional, his key legal precedent was a Jehovah's Witness case from 1943 that said the fundamental rights of a group - no matter how unpopular or marginalized -- can't be taken away by majority vote. A coalition of religions had supported the gay marriage ban, but Jehovah's Witnesses remained politically neutral. They demonstrated the Bill of Rights at its best: exercising religious freedom without the need to legislate beliefs that force everyone to live their way. Yet the irony ends here.
The fact that Jehovah's Witnesses don't block gay couples outside their religion from getting married is little consolation for a gay kid who is told he is a product of Adam's sin to his core. It is especially tough when the religion shuns.
A religion that says gays must remain single and celibate will have a hard time recruiting gay members. But what happens when the religion has gay kids? Among Jehovah's Witnesses there is no easy exit for the adolescent who skillfully parrots theology at age 10 or 12 and decides in his late teens or early twenties that the religion isn't for him.Anyone who officially joins through baptism is subject to shunning if they don't follow the agreed upon rules.
I was never baptized and it saved my relationship with my mom. Gay kids who got baptized before they could come to terms with their sexuality are not so fortunate. In the most extreme cases, parents cut all contact with their shunned adult children.
Freedom in America is complex: gays seek equality from a Constitution that gives religions the right to say gays are sinners. That's why the "It Gets Better" campaign is so important. It provides the hope a gay kid needs when he is being raised in an anti-gay religion. No kid should be so overwhelmed with who he is expected to be that killing himself is the only way to deal with who he is.
I wonder if parents with religious objections to homosexuality have fully considered the consequences of insisting their gay child follow a faith that works for them but not their child. Can the religious parents who lost a gay child to suicide or shunning ever find peace with the outcome? Or would they rather have a relationship with their child, alive, separate from their religion? I think that's why my mom cried so much when I told her I was gay. I know she won't come to my wedding if I'm ever allowed to get married, but I also know she is glad I'm still around.Joel Engardio is a 2011 MPA candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. His essays have appeared in USA Today, Washington Post.com and on NPR. Engardio directed KNOCKING, an award-winning PBS documentary on Jehovah's Witnesses.
By Joel P. Engardio | November 7, 2010; 9:37 PM ET -
10
Money making idea
by mrsjones5 inrecently i made a pair of legwarmers for a 2 year old sister of my youngest son's classmate.
i did it because she's a cute little thing and she's taking ballet.
today her mom told me that the other mothers from the ballet class asked where she got the legwarmers because they can't find them anywhere.
-
-
betterdaze
Haven't done business with ArtFire yet, but they seem to operate along similar lines as Etsy.
http://www.artfire.com/
~Sue -
10
Money making idea
by mrsjones5 inrecently i made a pair of legwarmers for a 2 year old sister of my youngest son's classmate.
i did it because she's a cute little thing and she's taking ballet.
today her mom told me that the other mothers from the ballet class asked where she got the legwarmers because they can't find them anywhere.
-
-
betterdaze
I think it's a great idea. Please please please check out Etsy before considering eBay, it's specifically for handmade items and the community ROCKS!
http://www.etsy.com/
Good luck!
~Sue -
75
I'm coming out
by MsDucky ini just found out that i have breast cancer on thursday (see topic http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/medical/190249/1/i-was-in-the-hospital ).
my sister has breast cancer too.
she has had it longer than me.
-
-
betterdaze
MsDucky and Podobear, sending best wishes for your strength and healing.
~Sue -
3
11 Hurt In Plunge 'Fleeing From Devil'
by betterdaze in11 hurt in plunge 'fleeing from devil'.
5:03pm uk, saturday october 23, 2010. alex watts, sky news online.
eleven people have been injured jumping out of a second-floor flat window after apparently thinking they had seen the devil.. .
-
-
betterdaze
From Le Figaro:
"According to Yan Devane, secretary of the county police union UNSA, people were surprised during a voodoo ritual." -
3
11 Hurt In Plunge 'Fleeing From Devil'
by betterdaze in11 hurt in plunge 'fleeing from devil'.
5:03pm uk, saturday october 23, 2010. alex watts, sky news online.
eleven people have been injured jumping out of a second-floor flat window after apparently thinking they had seen the devil.. .
-
-
betterdaze
11 Hurt In Plunge 'Fleeing From Devil'
5:03pm UK, Saturday October 23, 2010
Alex Watts, Sky News Online
Eleven people have been injured jumping out of a second-floor flat window after apparently thinking they had seen the devil.
Police are investigating the incident which took place in the early hours in the small town of La Verriere, west of Paris.
Officers said some of the injured were children including a four-month-old baby, who is in a serious condition in a children's hospital in the French capital.
"Thirteen people were in an apartment on the second floor when, at around 3am, one of the occupants heard his child crying," said Odile Faivre, the deputy prosecutor in Versailles.??" The man in question, of African origin, who was completely naked, got up to feed his child, at which point the other occupants took him for the devil.
"He was seriously wounded in the hand after being stabbed with a knife before he was thrown out of the apartment, via the door." ??The 30-year-old man then tried to force his way back into the room.
"That's when the other occupants tried to escape by jumping out of the window, panicked by a fear of the devil," said Ms Faivre. ??Police are questioning the naked man as well as another man who jumped from the window with a two-year-old girl in his arms.?? Seven of those injured - who were African, possibly from Angola - were taken to hospital for emergency treatment.?? Detectives are trying to find out if the group jumped voluntarily or were forced to jump. -
9
jehovah witness business !
by man in black inholy cow, i remember reading this catalog back in the early 80's, i never thought someone going out in service would need all this stuff !.
i was amazed at page #3,,,,,, making a magazine presentation .
"lay the magazine on top of the bible" (shows where the witness loyalty really is).. .
-
-