detective

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Posts by detective

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  16

  227 Baptism Questions - Makes Your Head Spin

  by Amazing in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  optional questions no optional questions on this part.

  [optional questions no optional questions on this part.

  optional questions none for this part.

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  detective

  Thanks for all the help. I'll check out kent's site for the org. book.

  You learn something new everyday. Even when you don't want to. even when you just want to crawl back into bed...
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  10

  new massachusetts law

  by troucul in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  anyone have any opinions on what effect the new massachusetts law will have on dubba's?

  (priests have 30 days to report any sexual abuse-or they will face criminal charges).

  if you ask me, i foresee the borg's defense as:'we don't have priests, therefore the law does not apply to us'(by altering their terminology they can create loopholes).

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  detective

  Actually, I was just thinking about this myself. I live in Massachusetts and was pondering just what the new mandatory reporting law will do for children's welfare. I'm not familiar enough with the laws language but I'd imagine there has already been plenty of scrutiny of the law by groups looking for loopholes in it. Primarily, i'm thinking of groups who feel it's in their best interest to keep pedophilia hushed to save money or save face.

  For example, I understand that this law mandates reporting of alleged abuse by all clergy. Not simply Catholic clergy.

  Here are the potential loopholes I was turning over in my head last night in regards to Jehovah's Witnesses:

  * no clergy classification (uh, suuure)

  * "confessional" exemption appears to only extend to Catholic confession, however, would an elder who hears a confession from a r&f JW also be exempt from reporting it?

  * Would the accusation from a r&f witness immediately initiate the mandatory reporting process by elders or would they take it up with the accused and look for a confession (thereby nullifying the elders responsibility to report the crime?)

  That's just a couple of things I've been ruminating over. There are definitely loopholes, I'm not really sure what they are.

  Either way, it's still a pretty sick concept that the WTBTS will disfellowship someone for pedophilia (well, allegedly) but will allow that person to go scot free among the "worldlies" without warning. As if expulsion from the group is somehow enough punishment to curb a deviant's criminal behavior. How little regard do they have for "worldlies" that they'd allow a pedophile to roam free after expelling him/her? Is it somehow okay because they have protected the witness children but to hell with the worldly ones? Or, is it just enough to know that they've tossed someone to save their group's reputation and funds, knowing they can distance themselves from the offender by stating that they are disfellowshipped? Are they responsible for allowing someone they acknowledge to be a pedophile to go free just because they've locked their doors to them? Isn't that similiar to the idea of the cardinal moving a known offender from parish to parish (in theory, that is)?

  Is the responsibility of the witnesses to protect ALL children, not just their own? And I say this, knowing darn well that they don't do squat to protect even witness children with their pathetic policies now.
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  28

  Become a Witness??

  by littlelamb in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hello all...well i am very new to this site.

  i have recently been contemplating of fiding out more about the jehovah's witness religion.

  i have done some research, have talked and am friends with witnesses, and am ready to take it a step further.

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  detective

  Did you know that cult experts such as Steve Hassan have outlined common characteristics of high control groups (aka cults)? Did you know that the watchtower bible and tract society (jehovah's witnesses) utilize many of the techniques and demonstrate many of the characteristics of a high control cult?

  You can learn more about these types of characteristics by visiting www.freedomofmind.org (cult expert Steve Hassan's site).

  It might be helpful to learn more about these types of groups to be sure that you won't be mislead in your search for a greater meaning to life.
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  7

  Problem - Java Scripts

  by Guest 77 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my problem is getting tons of java scripts 'only' when i come on this forum.

  i've contacted a local technician and he is dumbfounded.

  i intially had problems getting on this forum for reasons i cannot explain, then, when i finally hit base, these java scripts/gremlins took over.

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  detective

  I'm no longer getting the error messages. FYI.

  Thanks, by the way!
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  7

  Problem - Java Scripts

  by Guest 77 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my problem is getting tons of java scripts 'only' when i come on this forum.

  i've contacted a local technician and he is dumbfounded.

  i intially had problems getting on this forum for reasons i cannot explain, then, when i finally hit base, these java scripts/gremlins took over.

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  detective

  I'm getting the following error message: invalid character. I haven't had this problem when accessing this page from my work computer before. These error messages started yesterday. Possibly related to the new book ads? I'm using windows 95 if that's helpful.

  Dunno.
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  26

  An e-mail I received this morning

  by borgfree in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a friend sent this to me this morning.

  i know this kind of e-mail is circulated a lot, and maybe this one has, but i have not seen it before.. as one of jehovah's witnesses i would have simply ignored the message in this e-mail.

  now as an ex-jw i see it in a totally different way.

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  detective

  Double Edge,
  I don't think it's a particularly negative thing at all to be unmoved by this type of story. It's a little too touchedbyanangelhallmarkhalloffame sentimental for me. I like my heroes flawed, I like my stories to be gritty and I like being left to chew on something other than the PAXnetwork version of palatable reality.
  Don't get me wrong- I will sometimes surprise myself by getting misty-eyed over some pretty awful pap. It's not as if I don't understand where this story is going.- don't judge a book by it's cover, listen to god, reach out to others, admire noble people because they come in "strange" packages....and so forth.

  It just doesn't move me. Not a whit.

  You know what would make this story more interesting to me? I want to know about how bad this man smells, how his teeth are rotting out and how it's difficult to even sit near him, let alone hug him. He's homeless, darn it! His skins probably bad, his teeth pretty well a lost cause and he's more than likely hygenically challenged. And you know what? And he sounds like he might be a little bit crazy. too. Now, if our narrator thought so- that'd be interesting.
  If he weren't a carebear version of a homeless guy, I might be moved! Heck, I'd like it if he were downright ornery to boot.

  Let's throw in some irony... howsabout guy who took extended lunch loses his job due to his slacking off? Now his faith is really tested. Here he was being a good guy and he loses his job? Or, what if the homeless man stole his wallet- now that'd be interesting! Still predictable, mind you, but heading in the right direction as far as twists go.
  Maybe the homeless man gets hit by a truck and dies. Several years later our narrator passes the very same homeless man in another city- give it sort of urban legend twist. That'd be interesting (though equally predictable).

  The problem I have with the story is that it's easy. It's very tidy and life isn't that tidy. At least, not usually. And if it were, it really wouldn't be that interesting, would it? I don't like my epiphanies pre-packaged.

  There's nothing inherently wrong with the story, it just doesn't speak to me. And I have no problem with it speaking to someone else. Like I said, I've choked up over some pretty cheesy stuff in my day so I really ought not be casting any stones in that area.

  If it works for you, then great! It's not my personal taste, but I do appreciate Borgfree's offering it up. And I can always use a reminder to be compassionate.
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  28

  I feel so guilty

  by Leander in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  these past few weeks i've spent a lot of time trying to decide how i want to proceed with the rest of my life.

  one of my first decisions to carry out is to break free from the wts.

  even though i've been a life long witness i feel no guilt or hesistation in leaving the only religion i've ever known.

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  detective

  You want to spice up your life? tell your wife that you don't want to be a witness anymore and let the chips fall where they may.

  That oughta do it!

  Maybe she won't want to be married to you anymore if you don't want to be witness?
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  26

  An e-mail I received this morning

  by borgfree in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a friend sent this to me this morning.

  i know this kind of e-mail is circulated a lot, and maybe this one has, but i have not seen it before.. as one of jehovah's witnesses i would have simply ignored the message in this e-mail.

  now as an ex-jw i see it in a totally different way.

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  detective

  Dedalus, I agree with you.

  Color me evil.

  Speaking of bible peddlers- again I'll refer back to the late, great Flannery O'Connor who takes the bible toting salesman to even more amusingly twisted levels. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this southern writer, she has a notable collection of short stories to her credit. Her story of a bible salesman gone a bit awry is a classic. Assuming my memory isn't failing me, the story is entitled "A Good Man is Hard to Find".

  p.s. to Dedalus, I have a couple of poems that may appeal to you a bit more than the above fuzzy, feel good story. I found them in some poetry mags a few years back. I realize I don't know you, but I have this feeling...
  I'll try to post them later if I ever get my lazy self motivated.
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  8

  Don`t know much about the bible!

  by Beans in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  has anyone read this book?

  my good friend quotes read it and gave me a brief description about it and said that if the research done on this book was correct it gives great sceptacism on bible facts and credability!

  now i believe one example was the dude who wrote the first five books in the bible (moses i think but i can`t remember) but in the fifth book it says that he lived to be 900 so odd years in the third person revealing that it was not this person who wrote these books?.

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  detective

  Ah, I think GSX is talking about the bible, not about the book Don't Know Much about the Bible by Kenneth SomethingorotherIforgethislastname.
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  16

  227 Baptism Questions - Makes Your Head Spin

  by Amazing in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  optional questions no optional questions on this part.

  [optional questions no optional questions on this part.

  optional questions none for this part.

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  detective

  Do you also have to pee in a cup prior to baptism?? Egads! They certainly keep people toiling away for the privledge of gaining god's love.

  I'm unfamiliar with this, so pardon if this is a silly question but the book that had these questions also has the answers alongside of them? Yes/no?