DT

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Posts by DT

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  12

  I am POd right now. Have they infiltrated the media?

  by Tired of the Hypocrisy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in a previous post http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/156153/1.ashx.

  i showed how i was making some local headway in warning the community about jw's and the danger they pose as a cult and as protecting child molesters.

  well the post i made with the link to nbcs story on the lawsuit payout got deleted by community correspondent.

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  DT

  A blog that you control may be a good option. Not only are you sharing information with the public, but you can give a boost to critical news articles and websites by linking to them. The effect goes far beyond the traffic you personally send. It also helps their performance in search engine results, which can make a big difference in the flow of information. It's important to get a Google page rank of 1 or more to give your outgoing links weight. That shouldn't be too hard if you are willing to trade some links with other xjw bloggers. If you make good use of keywords in your articles you can also get a significant amount of search traffic from that. Linking to current news articles can also result in a spike of traffic and give that article more exposure.

  Unfortunately, the traditional media seem unwilling to take the lead with regards to certain controversial subjects like Jehovah's Witnesses. However, they may be willing to occasionally follow the trends that are emerging on the Internet.
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  42

  WATCHTOWER COMMENTS IS BACK! Whole KNOCKING story...

  by V in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  happily announcing that watchtower comments is back up on youtube with all study articles restored.. to answer the knocking producers, i removed the introduction, including all 3 seconds of prirated knocking video and replaced it with a lovely animation.

  the rest of the content is the same.

  check out the videos here:.

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  DT

  Tuesday,

  Thank you for sharing the results of your correspondence. They seem to be far more concerned with criticism than with copyright issues and they are still ignoring the issue of fair use. I would think that as documentary film makers, they would be more concerned with allowing people to debate important issues in a reasonable manner, such as by making fair use of copyrighted works. It's also ironic that they chose not to interview former Witnesses in their propaganda piece and then deny them a voice by disabling comments on their Youtube videos. (The ones on their channel, others are now allowing comments.)
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  42

  WATCHTOWER COMMENTS IS BACK! Whole KNOCKING story...

  by V in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  happily announcing that watchtower comments is back up on youtube with all study articles restored.. to answer the knocking producers, i removed the introduction, including all 3 seconds of prirated knocking video and replaced it with a lovely animation.

  the rest of the content is the same.

  check out the videos here:.

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  DT

  It's great to see them back up. I fixed my links to the videos. I couldn't find the introductory video and the one for the week of 3/3/08.

  I'm sure sure this was a big pain for you, but at least this situation helped to advertise the controversies surrounding the "Knocking" documentary. I'm sure there will be more questionable copyright challenges in the future towards those who criticise the Watchtower Society. I think we now have a better idea of how to respond.
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  65

  The Watchtower Society Shows Their True Colors Again

  by TooBad TooSad in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  in the new may awake magazine there is an article "is philanthropy the answer?

  i knew what the answer.

  was going to be before i even read it.

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  DT

  This might be a good article to send to the charity commission in the UK.
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  12

  Jehovah's Witnesses Grow by 'Devious' Methods

  by DT in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i thought this was an interesting news article.. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/969459.html.

  it discusses the work of jehovah's witnesses in israel..

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  DT

  I thought this was an interesting news article.

  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/969459.html

  It discusses the work of Jehovah's Witnesses in Israel.
• 
  4

  Big News About "Knocking" on Youtube!

  by DT in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i think i uncovered an important development in the "knocking"/youtube controversy.

  a few days ago i was reviewing the knocking excerpts on youtube and paying attention to their viewer stats and whether they allowed comments.

  none of the videos i saw were allowing comments.

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  DT

  I thought I would better clarify why I think this is important. Uploading new Watchtower Comments videos will be damaging because they will have to start over with new links, viewer, stats etc. However, it appears that some of the "Knocking" promotional videos have also taken a hit. This will hurt them in search results and popularity. Furthermore, they are less valuable for promotion because they allow comments, some of which will be critical of the film's omissions and distortions.

  The legal threats from "Knocking" are frustrating because it's not practical to fight them. It's more practical to edit the videos and suffer the loss of the original links, comments, etc. However, practical considerations go both ways. The people who make money from "Knocking" will also be hurt by this negative publicity. I'm thankful to JWD for providing a good forum to discuss this. Some of these threads about Knocking's legal threats are already doing well in search results and will probably help counteract that propaganda piece for a long time in the future. The promotional videos on the knockingdirector channel are still preventing comments, but this won't stop people from being exposed to criticism of the film. Hopefully, this will be a lesson for those who may be tempted to make frivolous copyright challenges in the future.

  Here are some of the other threads on this topic.

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/12/155256/1.ashx

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/155346/1.ashx

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/155355/1.ashx

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/155377/1.ashx
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  13

  "Knocking" by David Ian Miller (San Francisco Chronicle, May 14, 2007)

  by sf in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  http://www.cesnur.org/2007/knocking.htm.

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  DT

  It doesn't sound like the director was ever baptised. He would have had a hard time working on this film if he was being ritually shunned. I can kind of see how he might decide to make a film like this and possibly reduce tensions with his mom. The problem is that you can't have a normal relationship with anyone in that cult. Even if he joined the cult, the love would still be conditional and could be withdrawn at any time.

  There are also many thousands of people who are in a much worse situation of being totally cut off from their family. Their only hope is that their relatives will leave Jehovah's Witnesses or they will change their policies or the religion will collapse. He did these victims a great disservice by making a proJW film that glosses over these facts.
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  13

  "Knocking" by David Ian Miller (San Francisco Chronicle, May 14, 2007)

  by sf in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  http://www.cesnur.org/2007/knocking.htm.

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  DT

  Thanks for posting this.

  And because they aren't political and they don't wield any influence or power, they don't have a seat at the table.

  Except for their UN involvement and who knows what else.

  but the Witnesses pledge allegiance only to God.

  Actually the governing body who tell them what God wants.

  There were about 35,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany and Nazi- occupied lands, and of those 13,400 were sent to Nazi prisons and camps and about 2,000 died.

  Does anybody know if 2000 dead is accurate? Hasn't the Watchtower Society published figures that are much higher and much lower than that?

  And what's not widely known or understood is how Jehovah's Witnesses have expanded freedom for everyone, because in fighting for their own rights, they have won rights that are applicable for everyone, even the groups they disagree with.

  Except for their own members who must obey the governing body or face ritualised shunning.

  They do allow contraception, so for married couples sex can be for recreation, not just for procreation

  Provided they follow the rules on what kind of sex the governing body says married couples can have.

  If you figure there are 7 million Jehovah's Witnesses currently, only a small percentage --about six or seven thousand -- claim to be on that list.

  It's over 9,000.

  And so Jehovah's Witnesses are fulfilled by going door-to-door and telling people this "good news," as they call it. That's where their activism ends, because they feel that they don't need to fix the problems of the world today -- they just need to tell people it's going to be fixed soon.

  Yes, that is where their activism and charity ends.

  Each year, 30,000 witnesses are dis- fellowshiped, but a large number return.

  If it's still only one percent a year, wouldn't it be more like 70,000?

  What's bad is when you go around and hurt people, because you are trying to force them down a certain path.

  How about deceptive recruiting practices and then extreme punishment if you don't follow their rules? Or how about a blood ban that kills thousands?
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  4

  Big News About "Knocking" on Youtube!

  by DT in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i think i uncovered an important development in the "knocking"/youtube controversy.

  a few days ago i was reviewing the knocking excerpts on youtube and paying attention to their viewer stats and whether they allowed comments.

  none of the videos i saw were allowing comments.

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  DT

  Is that channel operated by the Watchtower Society, or did the Youtube user just decide to link to an official JW site?
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  10

  E-mailed legal theats (re: V's Watchtower Comments videos)

  by B_Deserter in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just did some searching and found one thing about cease-and-desist letters.

  basically, they're not legally binding, but a threat of legal action.

  now, for e-mail, the source of the message can be easily manipulated and falsified.

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  DT

  This thread is already doing well for a Google search for Watchtower Comments. I thought I should provide some links for those who want some background information. Here are some other discussions on the subject.

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/12/155256/1.ashx

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/155346/1.ashx

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/155377/1.ashx

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/11/155430/1.ashx

  Here are some links that discuss why "Knocking" is such a controversial film.

  http://www.pressbox.co.uk/detailed/Society/Jehovah_s_Witnesses_PBS_Film_KNOCKING_Omits_the_Facts_33760.html

  http://www.freeminds.org/women/knockingresponse.htm

  http://knockingjw.blogspot.com/