i was reading another thread about the witnesses so-called "pioneer school," and there occured to me the question as to why these people are called pioneers.
i may be wrong on this [and may someone please correct me if this is indeed the case], but to my knowledge, the word pioneer does not appear in any manuscript of the bible.
in any case, because my curiosity was piqued, i looked up the etymology, the "true root" meaning of the word.
The earliest WT reference I can find is 1928 as "Pioneer Colportuers"
I believe Colportuers was probably the more accurate name. Auld Soul did a thread on the meaning of Colportuers last year - http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/12/146495/1.ashx
": a peddler of books, especially of bibles and religious books and tracts; also : a missionary or publicist for some usually religious cause"
so my move to a new city is now complete.
it comes at the expense of losing my wife and my life for the past 30 + years - i still somehow feel at peace.
my wife cheated on me.
Enjoy your new life and your new found freedom. Make your own paradise.
i had some with a shrimp cocktail and let me tell you about blew my head off... this is not me but a youtube example.... .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zznqlbcx3_m&feature=related.
I love wasabi !! Always keep it around the house to eat with baked fish.
Wasabi mashed potatoes are good too.
i've been 'going out' with a beautiful girl and we have a great time together.
we have a lot of similar interests and always have stuff to talk/do.
the problem is that she's a jw, and i know there is no way i'm going to become a jw.
Welcome to JWD.
Len Miller (Fatfreek on JWD) wrote a paper on the changes / flip flops the Watchtower Society has made. Perhaps you can use some of this info from the WTS publications.
Here's the link: http://users.oeccwildblue.com/millerlr/PivotalYear1988SodomGomorrah.pdf
i actually went to the service meeting last night and low and behold the announcement was about the wtbts not charging interest on the loans on kingdom halls anymore but they still had to pay back the principle balance , i never knew they charged interest but think that it was a very dishonest thing for them to do to begin with .
you have to borrow money to pay for a building that the wtbts owns?
to charge interest is a very worldly practice since it was against mosaic law to do so and clearly jesus would never have asked anything of the sort .
This is off your original topic but since you asked for more info -
so which is it , did the WTBTS settle out of court or did this thing actually go to trial? I do stand by my statement of the family or legal guardian of a child not doing something to protect the child. In the catholic system the church is the legal guardian of the orphans thereby placing the guilt on the church for not protecting them .
Here's the thread where it was announced on JWD - http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/11/133819/1.ashx
The 9 cases involving 16 victims were all settled out of court. Note also that the WTBTS required the victims to all sign confidentiality agreements to effectively silence them. Thanks to Barbara Anderson, she & her friends contacted all the courts and purchased copies of all of the court documents. Bet the Society was shocked they were released. One of the courts accidentally sent Barbara a copy of one form that had the amount of that settlement.
I agree with you 100% that the JW parents should have gone directly to law enforcement. However, they are trained [brainwashed] to go to the elders with any problems. The elders were not advising them to contact law enforcement. Quite the opposite - according to many people that have come forward. They were threatened with being disfellowshipped for slander if they told anyone.
The elders are trained to contact Bethel Legal Dept first. At that point the form, Child Abuse Telememo, is completed. Did you read the questions on it? Legal dept determines how widespread the knowledge of the pedofile is. If very few know about it then it's easier to cover up.
It appears you are under impression the children molested in the catholic system were all orphans. While probably there were many who were orphans, there were also many who had families and lived with their family. The catholic clergy were molesting the children and covering it up just the same as the Watchtower. One thing I found interesting is that the catholic church did not make their victims sign the 'gag orders' silencing them.
There are many situations where the JW elders have covered up for pedofiles. Even allowing them to either continue to serve as elders, ministerial servants, publishers, etc. or allowing them to be re-appointed to those positions of authority. This is all explained in Barbara's Commentary that I mentioned to you earlier. Please take the time to read it.
sorry if i seem a bit outta sorts, but +#'* me i have had a bad time these past months.
i honestly thought i was condemned to die (deep down i still think i am).
i left the borg about a year ago with my wife and family all intact (or so i thought).
but somewhere deep down inside i "know" that it is right
If I may ask, "what" is it that you "know" is right?
i actually went to the service meeting last night and low and behold the announcement was about the wtbts not charging interest on the loans on kingdom halls anymore but they still had to pay back the principle balance , i never knew they charged interest but think that it was a very dishonest thing for them to do to begin with .
you have to borrow money to pay for a building that the wtbts owns?
to charge interest is a very worldly practice since it was against mosaic law to do so and clearly jesus would never have asked anything of the sort .
I really don't get how the WTBTS is responsible for the child molestations that go on in the various kingdom halls
Barbara Anderson has now made her Commentary part of the CD available on the website - http://www.watchtowerdocuments.com/
Please take time to read it. It's about 100 pages. The link on the website is on the left side of the screen below the picture of the CD cover. Pay particular attention to the Child Abuse Telememo. There were copies of 3 forms. The latest is a 2-page form. Read all the questions the WTS legal dept asks the elder when he calls them to report a pedofile. Make sure you don't miss that very last question on page 2 of the form.
The 5000 pages of court documents are on the CD if you want to purchase it.
not the actual bluegrass here in kentucky, just a family here that have decided to stop being part of jehovah's witnesses.. .
my wife and i were both raised in the organization and it is still a difficult journey for us.
her family is still active and that makes it tough for us to go quietly.
Welcome to JWD. Enjoy your new found freedom.
i actually went to the service meeting last night and low and behold the announcement was about the wtbts not charging interest on the loans on kingdom halls anymore but they still had to pay back the principle balance , i never knew they charged interest but think that it was a very dishonest thing for them to do to begin with .
you have to borrow money to pay for a building that the wtbts owns?
to charge interest is a very worldly practice since it was against mosaic law to do so and clearly jesus would never have asked anything of the sort .
Hi heathen - you said, "they have the farm that grows food for the bethel people and they do send relief to the afflicted around the world"
I think Dagney meant they don't provide assistance for people in crisis or in need of basics. No medical assistance, no feeding the poor, etc.
I don't think growing food for the bethel people that are working basically for free counts. They have to feed them to keep them working to produce more literature. That food along with their room, laundry services, cleaning services, medical, etc is payment for work done. Do they still have the farm? I thought I heard they had done away with most if not all of their food processing business. (I could have misunderstood that though)
In my nearly 60 years around the WTS I have never known of them to send relief to anyone. I know the 'brothers' went to areas hit by Katrina and rebuilt some homes & Kingdom Halls for the JWs. My relatives went down and worked. They paid their own way. I question how much $$$ the WTS actually spent on that. They were even telling people not to write on their donations that it was for Katrina. They could get in trouble for not spending the donations they received for the specific purpose it was sent.
From what I heard, those people assisted were expected to turn over their insurance money to the WTS. Someone here on JWD just recently said she was asked for the insurance money after they had worked on her home.
I was talking to someone not too long ago that served full time in Central America. He was very disturbed seeing the people living in such poor conditions. He expressed concern about the people's physical needs and was told they were there only to provide spiritual food (i.e., WTS literature).
In 2001 they took in about $950,000,000 according to one (secular) report. Each year on the Service Report they show what they spent in caring for special pioneers, missionaries, and traveling overseers in their field service assignments. In the 2007 report it was $121,000,000. In 2006 it was $111,000,000. In 2005 it was $104,000,000.
I truly believe if they were spending $$$ on the homeless, battered wives and children, orphans or widows they would be singing it from the rooftops. Of course we know they have spent $12 to 13 million to settle the pedofile court cases and hush up the victims.
but he promises to appeal.. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/rtgam.20080620.wtransfusion21/bnstory/national/home.
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5incWXYI-M0oe-5mRu83yWTPjWiPg
This article says,
"Lawyer David Gnam, who represents the Watch Tower Society and was named in the lawsuit, seemed relieved the case is over. He said Hughes should let the matter rest."
... "Mr. Hughes has been on national television and in front of Osgoode Hall Law Society saying I murdered his daughter. I do not appreciate those comments because they are obviously untrue."
"The Watch Tower Society will seek to have Hughes pay its court costs, he said." ...
