Posts by Cadellin

11

CNN Breaking News: Jury reached a verdict in case involving 2 Philadelphia priests

by AndersonsInfo in

.

i was just informed and hope the info is correct that the jury has reached a verdict in the sex abuse case involving 2 philadelphia priests.

verdict will be announced in court at 2 p.m. est

Cadellin

I was just about to post a link to this story. The parallel b/w the WT case and this RC one is eerie, only this one involves jail time. Notice that this priest is "the first U.S. church official convicted of a crime for how he handled abuse claims" (emphasis added). What he did was almost exactly what elders have been instructed to do: say nothing to congregation members, do nothing to prevent further abuse.

This paragraph is particularly interesting:

"Prosecutors said they showed a pattern at the archdiocese of lying about why priests were removed, sending them to "company doctors" at church-run therapy centers and failing to warn new parishes where they were later transferred.

"They put so many innocent children in danger," Assistant District Attorney Patrick Blessington said in his closing remarks, noting that it can take years or decades for victims to come forward. "That's what's so scary about this. We have no idea how many victims are out there." (Emphasis added.)

106

Plaintiff awarded in punitive damages -21M & 1 dollar. Total award, 28M & 1 dollar. Here's more info

by AndersonsInfo in

the plaintiff, candace conti's goal from the very beginning was to bring enough attention to this problem to incentivize watchtower to change its policy of secrecy.

the award can be explained as it was decided: separate compensatory and punitive damages.

the punitive award is established in law to punish wrongdoing - here, the conscious disregard for others - and deter that conduct in the future.

Cadellin

Also, a huge THANK YOU to Barbara and everyone else for keeping us updated and informed about this important ruling!

106

Plaintiff awarded in punitive damages -21M & 1 dollar. Total award, 28M & 1 dollar. Here's more info

by AndersonsInfo in

the plaintiff, candace conti's goal from the very beginning was to bring enough attention to this problem to incentivize watchtower to change its policy of secrecy.

the award can be explained as it was decided: separate compensatory and punitive damages.

the punitive award is established in law to punish wrongdoing - here, the conscious disregard for others - and deter that conduct in the future.

Cadellin

Universal JW knee-jerk response is that the WT can do no wrong, that anything negative are lies from Satan. Then, just to make sure their position is unassailable, they won't read the evidence or facts surrounding the matter to actually find out. This is a classic page from my dear husband's playbook.

ME: "Well, if their position is right, then reading the evidence will only strengthen your faith."

HIM: "No, I don't want to mess up my mind with twisted reasonings."

Sigh.

110

It took me a long time to write this...i'm staying.

by MsGrowingGirl20 in

it took me a long time to write this....i'm being brutally honest...i am still a reg pioneer...three sundays ago,i was praying and asking god for a sign or something because i was so confused...i told him exactly what i needed to see for me to believe.i was feeling terrible--crying and feeling sick because i was so confused.ten minutes after, i walked into the kingdom hall and to my surprise--my prayer was answered!

i soooo wasn't expecting it, even though i prayed.

so this is where almighty god wants me to be,ii've reasoned.

Cadellin

Msgrowinggirl:

I do feel for you. It's a tough decision to make and, hopefully, you will go on to have a great life. Maybe, down the road a few years, another piece of the epistemological puzzle will slip into place and your eyes will open once again. And you'll want out, this time for real. I only hope you aren't married to some uber-zealous, clean-jawed brother by then, and with two or three sweet kids. Because then it REALLY might fall apart for you. It's lousy disappointing your parents and all your friends as a single person, but holy wars in the middle of a marriage are even worse, as numerous posters here will testify.

Moreover, I think it's swell that God answered your heartfelt prayer so handily. A few years ago, I did exactly the same thing--sobbing, praying my heart out, asking for dry fleece on a dewy threshing floor, etc. I didn't even specify what I needed--left it entirely up to Him. Just that I needed SOMETHING, some kind of help in any form He saw fit. And guess what happened? Nothing.

So, I have to ask...why you and not me? I've lived my life as the quintessential "good girl," by JW standards. I couldn't have prayed more heartfeltly. I was still attending meetings and going out in service, the whole nine yard. And--nothing.

83

Sparlock Drives My Wife to the Brink of Apostasy

by breakfast of champions in

jw
friends

i reported the other night that we sat down to watch the new video, and while my wife was smiling and laughing while watching the first part, she stiffened and became quiet during part two.

it disturbed her deeply:.

"this is ridiculous.

Cadellin

"It was wizards of magic that were led by Satan to find the baby Jesus and reveal his wearabouts..."

I hate it when my wearabouts are revealed. Especially if I'm wearing the polka-dot ones.

BTW, duane, welcome!

36

Today's WT: A Warning To You Loyal Witnesses

by metatron in

jw
friends

it happens without warning.

you have a stroke.

you get ms. you are in a car accident.. they put you in the hospital.

Cadellin

I thought this WT was hitting a new extreme in family shunning practices. Prior to this, they always seemed to acknowledge "necessary family business" as allowable contact. This article, however, specified, "not the slightest contact" or words to that effect. In other words, if readers are meant to take it as it says, absolutely no contact whatsoever.

Someone should make sure the Bulgarian government gets a copy...

26

hey

by jnrtigbfxd0 in

jw
friends

hey everybody im new here.

currently a pioneer in my early 20's, started straight out of high school, now wanting to go to college and working on getting out of pioneering.

also a former bethelite, ill make a thread on that soon.. .

Cadellin

Welcome. Something tells me you have interesting insights to add--speak on up!! We're all ears...

80

"We are at the end of the last day of the last days. The governing body feels strongly about this."

by BroMac in

.

Cadellin

I don't remember the hype leading up to 1975, but I do remember the big hype in the early to mid 1980's, when "The Generation" hit 70 years and the UN declared an International Year of Peace. Convention talks were along similar lines as "we are the end of the end of the last of the last days." I was pioneering then and I remember distinctly being so relieved I was because that meant I would make it through. Let's see...that was more than 25 years ago now!!

More recently, the 2009 convention talks repeated the word "imminent" to describe Armaggedon's timing, in literally--I mean literally--every talk on the program. I kept particular notice. Let's see...that was three years ago.

Imminent? I think not.

364

New DVD "Become Jehovah's Friend"

by treadnh2o in

hey peeps,.

it's been a long while since i've posted (i am completely out - wife and kids still in) but thought you might this interesting.. they came home from the district convention yesterday with the new dvd intended for kids.

they popped it in right away and this is what happens:.

Cadellin

Alas, most JWs will take this vid as "food at the proper time" and swallow it hook line and sinker, without expending one iota of critical thinking about it. What posters on this thread have been doing is subjecting this horrible vid to analysis. Most JWs do not analyze anything published by the WT.

I feel so sorry for Caleb--he seems like a great little kid. But he's got creepy parents, even if his dad has a sexy Antonio Banderas accent. This vid only reinforces the WT's ridiculous opposition to creative imagination, equating any flights of fantasy with the occult. They take the OT prohibition against divination and grotesquely extend it to cover literally anything that isn't of the immediate, leaden reality. And yet, in a paradoxical twist, they reject measurable evidence for such things as evolution, even though it's rooted in the same naturalistic, quantifiable reality that they are supposedly so affixed to. They're so paranoid about the occult that they lump all fantastic play and literature together, making such awesome works as The Lord of the Rings, fairies, elves and unicorns equivalent to clearly occultic productions such as The Exorcist. Why the hell do they think God created imagination anyway????

49

Baptisms decreased critical 26.9% in Mexico

by Gayle in

jw
friends

for 2011, jws in mexico had the lowest baptism number in years, a critical 26.9% decrease from 2010. something is going there!?.

.

Cadellin

While we're talking about Mexico, I've heard about a weird phenomenon. It's become quite the thing for Canadian JWs to spend time in Mexico as "need-greaters" in the English congs, esp. in resort areas--but in other less-touristy areas as well. From what I've heard from family members who have done this, they comb a neighborhood for anyone who speaks English, even if it's a native Mexican who can barely utter a few words. The Hall is filled with either Canadian ex-pats or locals who speak anywhere from badly broken to manageable English.

Seems to me like a colossal waste of time (even more so than regular field service). In their home cong., these same JWs would be encouraging non-native English speakers to attend a cong or group in their mother tongue, would pass the call on to someone fluent in that lang., etc. Down there, by contrast, they waste hours and hours of time trying to find ANYONE who can speak Engl and then get them to come to an English KH where they might understand a tiny fraction of what is said. Is it just me or is that plain weird? Then, in the summer, the snowbirds go home and the cong. shrinks to a quarter of the size.

And yes, there doesn't seem to be the ban on higher ed down there either--my family member was bragging that there are teachers and attorneys in the cong who are also pioneers!!!