done4good

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Posts by done4good

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  49

  I sent this to Angus Stewart this morning (Easter Standard Time)

  by Viviane in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i just sent this email to angus stewart:.

  i hope this email finds you well.

  i would like to say thank you for your work on the royal commission, particularly in your handling of the jehovah's witnesses elders and experts during questioning.

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  done4good

  Nice work, Viv!

  This is precisely the kind of thing that can be done in the information age, and has huge implications on speeding the effects of social evolution. Again, great work!

  d4g
  
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  53

  Just wrote my DA letter....

  by dubstepped in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my wife and i planned on fading but the elders now want a shepherding call and we are just done.

  i know that many play the game to try to stay in, but i'm not a game player and neither is my wife.

  our families already shun us because we reached out to a disfellowshipped family member.

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  done4good

  While I will state you are not necessarily "playing their game" if you DA, (so congrats!), however make sure this is what you want to do. It will put the exclamation point on your position, and you will have no chance of reaching loved ones still in. I speak from experience 8 years later.

  d4g
  
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  6

  Even though I believe in God I still believe Religion is bullshit

  by KateWild in

  1. social
  2. humour

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r-e2ndstue

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  done4good

  God = Highly improbable.

  Religion = 100% bullshit.

  d4g
  
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  37

  Watershed moment???

  by sparrowdown in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  will this rc turn out to be the beginnings of a watershed time in wbts history?.

  do you have any thoughts regarding this?.

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  done4good

  VIdiot - It certainly feels like a game-changer.

  What I will add, is what is very different about how the RC is going about this trial, (as opposed to the civil hearings such as the Conti case), is that the RC is really making an effort to understand both the psychology and sociology involved withing the organization, and its effects on its members, and nailing it. This is perhaps the first time that has taken place. If that trend continues, the domino effect can take place perhaps much faster than anyone expects. First Australia, then the UK, then Canada, (since all are Commonwealth nations). The US would certainly feel that pressure, so this could cause things to change quickly.

  It is difficult to time social evolution, but it happens for sure.

  d4g
  
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  18

  Well written, scathing article that summarises first 3 days of RC hearing.

  by Pants of Righteousness in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  there's been quite a number newspaper articles quoted over the past week, but i would recommend this as a good summary of the first three days of the royal commission hearing in australia - complete with some scathing commentary.. apologies if this has been posted elsewhere, but have not seen this posted previously.. https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/law-crime/2015/08/01/royal-commission-examines-jehovah-witnesses-cover/14383512002194.

  just one thing that is not quite right is that the article refers to joe bello as a narrogin elder.

  the assualts took place while the victim was part of the narrogin congregation.

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  done4good

  Well written, damning, and any intellectually honest JW could read that and know it is the truth, if not blinded by the cognitive dissonance it will cause.

  We need a well summarized, scathing article like that here in the US, from a credible source like the NYT. That will cause more than a few seeds to be planted.
  

  d4g
  
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  37

  Watershed moment???

  by sparrowdown in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  will this rc turn out to be the beginnings of a watershed time in wbts history?.

  do you have any thoughts regarding this?.

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  done4good

  Short term - Not much.

  Long term - You bet.

  d4g
  
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  104

  Do you feel vindicated by the exposure of the WT Society in Australia? It seems like a feeding frenzy on here! I love it. You?

  by Wasanelder Once in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  are you pleased with the exposure of the society in australia?

  do you feel personally vindicated by it?

  do you think it gives you credibility with others now that all the things you said were going on, actually are documented?

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  done4good

  As a side point, are there reasons why the cases of unreported abuse you know about remain unreported? Are you or others you know in a position to support the victims in making a report now?

  I would love to be able to report these cases. The trouble is I have no specific information as to who the victims themselves were, and in all but one instance, don't know who the alleged perp was, (that one I know of I was warned about when I started attending that hall in the late '90s, but never was any specific information given about the "who to" or "when" any of his abuse took place). This rest are all based on information I heard from elders and others that "there are known pedophiles in our cong", and they don't say "who". The folks are trusted sources to me, (so I know what they are saying is credible), but that is not going to hold in court of law. This is also over the course of time I was "in" and I am long since out, (10 years). As I stated before, there are likely others here much closer to the actual cases themselves that could speak to specific cases with enough detail to incriminate someone. I unfortunately do not have this.
  

  To your point, there is a significant difference between trying to build a legal, (criminal or civil), case against the WT with respect to its manipulative practices regarding social stigmatization of those who are victimized, and what is the much more elusive, (however salient), issue of how the organization and its complex social structure prevent justice from being carried out for the sake of those victims and their families, (especially in the USA where religious freedom issues appear to trump all). This is the crux of the problem and why it is so difficult to change the way these cases are handled in the congregations of JWs.
  

  d4g
  
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  11

  Seduction, psychosis and radicalisation

  by Half banana in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the jw delusion is a psychosis i.e.

  the holding on to a belief irrespective of sound evidence to the contrary.

  it has everything to do with the indulgent pleasure of embracing an all encompassing idea which promises to resolve every human frailty and inconvenience.

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  done4good

  Xanthippe - Only when our emotional security has been seriously disturbed. When someone suffers at the hands of elders who don't give a damn or becomes ill through slaving away pioneering etc then the comfort zone starts to crumble and we start to look outside of it for explanations.

  That is precisely it. Stable and intelligent folks generally don't make good converts to JW, however already stable and intelligent JWs also don't see the need to leave. They have long since learned to rationalize what they perceive as logical inconsistencies, and injustices, so they do not see the need to investigate further. It takes something to take them out of that comfort zone to see the light.
  

  d4g
  
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  104

  Do you feel vindicated by the exposure of the WT Society in Australia? It seems like a feeding frenzy on here! I love it. You?

  by Wasanelder Once in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  are you pleased with the exposure of the society in australia?

  do you feel personally vindicated by it?

  do you think it gives you credibility with others now that all the things you said were going on, actually are documented?

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  done4good

  I am not exactly sure what defines "documented" in this context, (JCs and kangaroo court type hearings by their nature have little in the way of paper trail), but I am sure many who have experienced this situation, (many are on this board), could speak to it.

  In my own experience, I know of at least 5 individuals from 3 congregations where their alleged crimes for child molestation were never investigated by police, and the alleged criminals are free roaming in the congregations. This simply would not happen if the parents felt free to speak about the matter to the authorities. The reality is the parents are fearful that they will lose their social environment if they do so. That type of unnatural fear is paralyzing, and is created, fostered and sanctioned by that environment itself.

  This is purely anecdotal, however the situation is no different from one where a very good friend of mine was removed from his position as elder, (and as a consequence treated as a pariah in the congregation and forced out of it by default), for suing a fellow "sister" for literally fraudulently taking his life savings from him, (over $1M). This "sister" was found criminally guilty in federal court and is serving 7 years in federal prison, yet she was never JC'd and remains in good standing. This friend of mine is now 60+, broke, and having to work 3 jobs just to keep up expenses. He will never have a retirement. He was a very successful person prior to this, and pretty much my idol as a young person.
  

  Such is the pattern of the kangaroo court known as "Theocratic Justice".

  d4g
  
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  104

  Do you feel vindicated by the exposure of the WT Society in Australia? It seems like a feeding frenzy on here! I love it. You?

  by Wasanelder Once in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  are you pleased with the exposure of the society in australia?

  do you feel personally vindicated by it?

  do you think it gives you credibility with others now that all the things you said were going on, actually are documented?

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  done4good

  NG - Because the question is about a second party (elders) reporting. But regardless of whether it is mandatory or not, the victim/parents are free to report it whenever they want. Obviously.

  Obviously, you are either the most intellectually dishonest person I have come into contact with in some time, or the most naive, I am really not sure which. I will give you the benefit of the doubt that it is the latter, so I will enlighten you a bit...
  

  IF the parents either go to the police first, or go after the elders have determined no two witnesses to the crime exist to allow for a JC, the parents will be DF for either "causing divisions", "slander", or some other such catch-all type infringement. If not actually DF, the parents will be put through hell by the elder body, and essentially forced out of the congregation to save face. This is a regular occurrence in almost every congregation, and is the entire root of the problem. The policies the organization holds to are designed to protect the organization at all costs, (human or otherwise). The policies are neither moral nor do they ultimately exist for the benefit of the congregation members. When it comes to the organization's interests vs. that of the well being of its human members, the organization wins every time. Believe it.

  Yes, the 7 men leading this mess in Brooklyn are both stupid and evil.

  d4g