Posts by betterdaze

39

Getting Even With The Watchtower SocietyIs It Necessary?

by The wanderer in

jw
friends

getting even with the watchtower societyis it necessary?at the close of their lives as jehovahs witnesses, some individuals have written books, .

created websites and others have approached the media and the legal system about the .

watchtower society.

betterdaze

Let's see: They stole my childhood, messed with my head and my heart for over 30 years, and keep my mother and brother in fearful captivity. Others have had it much, much worse!

They are experts at assisted suicide (no blood), protect pedophiles, and destroy families. They manipulate trusting innocents into unChristian behavior (shunning). They lie, they cheat, they steal. All in the name of God and His son?

They are vile filth.

I wouldn't call it "getting even," but yes, I feel the extraordinary need to advocate for Watchtower victims and warn others. I intend to get the word out for the rest of my natural life. It is my fervent hope to see the Watchtower crumble and the evil men in charge brought to justice.

If I can prevent just one person from getting involved, or assist just one in escaping, all the terror and guilt and walking the narrow path will have been worth it.

Love of humanity coupled with deep hatred of the Watchtower can be a very powerful force for good, IMO. Once you know the truth about "The Truth," it would be inhumane, heartless and cruel to remain silent.

~Sue

16

Are there freemasons in the watchtower society?

by ninja in

jw
friends

any thoughts?

betterdaze

Russell simply borrowed occult/Masonic symbols and ideas to lend legitimacy to his rebranding of a Millennialist offshoot publishing business. That's all, folks!

Egyptian symbols were quite popular at the time; the influence can be found in everything from buildings to cigarette lighters to women's haircuts. The cross-and-crown graphic was a calculated rip off of other Christians.

I did some research on the knight/sword/crook symbols on the early WT covers and determined they were either a poorly-masked swipe of a certain group (which I will not mention here), OR a mish-mash of fancy-shmancy heraldic symbols meant to impress an air of royalty, dignity. The positioning is "pagan" if you choose to view it in a "chi rho/labarum" sort of way... It can also relate to ancient "sky" deities from all over the planet — IF you want it to. You can even squeeze some Da Vinci code around it if you prefer...

The possibilities are endless. I'm not sure Russell himself assigned meaning to these things... it was more Victorian-era art direction than anything else. Not one original idea. And vague enough that we're still talking about the hodgepodge today!

Fraternal organizations were much more popular at that time; every one and his uncle belonged one. They were social clubs with valuable bu$iness networks — that was their function. So Russell dropped catchwords and phrases into his writing that would appeal to these gentlemen. If he could attract one fraternal member to Watchtowerism, that one may bring in his fellows (and by extension, their wives and families).

Cha-ching, cha-ching!

The "Society" — a catchword itself — appears to have been a multi-level marketing plan from its inception.

With some intriguing visuals, IMHO.

~Sue

6

The Rick McLean connection

by Junction-Guy in

jw
friends

folks, there have been several different news stories concerning these settlements, some were the long version and some were shorter.. .

i would suggest that whenever you email these settlement stories to the your local press, or any press for that matter, make sure you include the ones with rick mclean in them.. .

he is america's most wanted pedophile, this is big news!!!.

betterdaze

JG, the link on McLean is included in the press release on the Silentlambs site (will PM). I do not believe his name was picked up in the AP story. If it was, I have not seen it in any of the instances I've read so far today.

~Sue

5

Silentlambs video on Nashville news

by betterdaze in

not sure if this was posted yet.

http://www.wsmv.com/video/13298579/index.html .

gotta love it when the brother says: "you haven't been invited on the property.

betterdaze

Not sure if this was posted yet.

http://www.wsmv.com/video/13298579/index.html

Gotta love it when the brother says: "You haven't been invited on the property."

~Sue

166

Sixteen Child Sex Abuse Lawsuits against Jehovahs Witnesses Are Settled

by Dogpatch in

press release 5/10/07.

http://www.freeminds.org/history/16lawsuits.htm.

sixteen child sex abuse lawsuits against jehovahs witnesses are settled.

betterdaze

There's a submission box on O'Reilly's page to "Send news tip to FOXNews.com."

I sent the URLs for the AP article running in New York Times, along with an article from a few days ago detailing the Brooklyn real estate sale.

Ultimately it's the producers and others who sift and research before it hits O'Reilly's plate.

~Sue

27

Question about Settlement of Child Abuse Cases.

by Blueblades in

i have two points to make that i feel are valid.

correct me if i'm wrong.

1) where are the funds coming from to pay out these settlements?

betterdaze

Thank you for clarifying that for us, Scully.

~Sue

229

ALERT: All Child Abuse Lawsuits have been settled. Millions cashed out???

by What-A-Coincidence in

re: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/8/116108/1.ashx.

a bethel insider in the know told me that all of the child abuse lawsuits where the watchtower bible and tract society was one of the defendants were settled back in the beginning of this year.

i questioned it and called napa myself and they were absolutely settled back then.

betterdaze

...also, the Star-Ledger, Daily Record, Bergen Record / Herald News and Times of Trenton here in NJ.

~Sue

229

ALERT: All Child Abuse Lawsuits have been settled. Millions cashed out???

by What-A-Coincidence in

re: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/8/116108/1.ashx.

a bethel insider in the know told me that all of the child abuse lawsuits where the watchtower bible and tract society was one of the defendants were settled back in the beginning of this year.

i questioned it and called napa myself and they were absolutely settled back then.

betterdaze

***Has this hit the AP yet?***

JG, I e-mailed the press release to [email protected] this morning.

~Sue

20

Since I left...

by RollerDave in

since i left.... so there i was, a disabled single dad bereft of all he had known or believed for 30 years.. i had moved a good 45 minutes away from the area where the events in my introductory post went down, but was now living in an area where i had resided some ten years earlier and still had a few stale connections with the organization.. i was lonely, depressed, pissed off, and really disgusted with the god i had been shown in my years of unfruitful association.. in my mind, he had made me the way i am, which apparently entailed being unable to meet his 'righteous requirements', and was going to kill me for it.

he had endowed all of us with a natural human nature (apart from our fallen sinful nature,) and now expected us to conquer our every natural impulse or desire, even the healthy ones, to survive the big a.. hold off on marriage or kids, no college, no success, no normalcy... the big a'll get ya if ya don't watch out!.

so i railed against him, defied him to just take me, do anything to show he even existed or had any power at all.. i went around saying 'god is an a$$h*le' and the like, but then i realized something that shook my world..... i was just as much a witness outside the organization as i had been inside!.

betterdaze

Welcome, RollerDave!

~Sue

17

Wife willing to leave the DC early on Sunday.

by OnTheWayOut in

jw
friends

you all know i post every jw thing that happens to me.

so here it is.. we had booked an airline to go to the 3-day convention this summer.. dc's for many foreign languages are held in jersey city, nj.

the return.

betterdaze

Kudos to your wife for being so, well.... "reasonable!"

Actually, the Museum of Natural History just unveiled a permanent exhibition on human origins. May not be your cup of tea, but the dinos, butterfly conservatory and planetarium are well worth the visit.

http://www.amnh.org/

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is open late until 9:00 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, too.

http://www.metmuseum.org/home.asp

You don't say which side of the Hudson you're staying on, but Jersey City has public trans into Manhattan (the Stanley Assembly Hall is located right at the transportation hub, Journal Square). Parking in Manhattan is *so* expensive... may want to park at the assembly and take a bus or train into the city instead?

Hope you both enjoy your trip!

~Sue