koolaid-man

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Posts by koolaid-man

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  14

  Greg Stafford Takes a Break

  by leavingwt in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  via a thread at the channel c forum, i've learned that greg stafford of elihu books has stopped writing.

  at this time, i must leave off from doing any more writing or translation work.

  this means my examiner.com writings, my tweets, my blogs, everything.

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  koolaid-man

  Richard Rawe interviewed Greg Stafford on his Dialogue program. Scroll down to Feb. 19, 2011

  http://www.sixscreensofthewatchtower.com/telenetwork/dialogue.php
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  Six Screens calls the Watchtower about the Garridos ..... Audio Clip

  by koolaid-man in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  last sunday july 10, 2011 abc tv pimetime host diane sawer interviewed jaycee dugard.

  she was kidnapped and held captive for eighteen years by phillip and nancy garrido in the backyard of their california home.. it was mentioned in the interview that their was a jehovah's witness connection.

  you can hear the part of the interview mentioning the jehovah's witnesses by clicking on the link below.

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  koolaid-man

  Shamus your monkey language is hard to translate. Could you be help us to connect?
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  3

  Six Screens calls the Watchtower about the Garridos ..... Audio Clip

  by koolaid-man in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  last sunday july 10, 2011 abc tv pimetime host diane sawer interviewed jaycee dugard.

  she was kidnapped and held captive for eighteen years by phillip and nancy garrido in the backyard of their california home.. it was mentioned in the interview that their was a jehovah's witness connection.

  you can hear the part of the interview mentioning the jehovah's witnesses by clicking on the link below.

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  koolaid-man

  Many witnesses in the conscious class came on the Conference call on Sat. July 16. People touched by the tentacles of the Watchtower read the post about the Six Screens call on this forum and come on our conference call. Thank you JWN for your support and reinforcement in exposing The Watchtower Org.

  Internet forums like JWN are helping many witnesses find the exit door at the kingdom halls, many posts made on this forum are resonating with doubting witnesses and are reinforcing their feelings about the Watchtower.
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  3

  Six Screens calls the Watchtower about the Garridos ..... Audio Clip

  by koolaid-man in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  last sunday july 10, 2011 abc tv pimetime host diane sawer interviewed jaycee dugard.

  she was kidnapped and held captive for eighteen years by phillip and nancy garrido in the backyard of their california home.. it was mentioned in the interview that their was a jehovah's witness connection.

  you can hear the part of the interview mentioning the jehovah's witnesses by clicking on the link below.

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  koolaid-man

  Last Sunday July 10, 2011 ABC TV Pimetime host Diane Sawer interviewed Jaycee Dugard. She was kidnapped and held captive for eighteen years by Phillip and Nancy Garrido in the backyard of their California home.

  It was mentioned in the interview that their was a Jehovah's Witness connection. You can hear the part of the interview mentioning The Jehovah's Witnesses by clicking on the link below. We will be discussing the interview and mentioning some things that were not brought up by ABCs Primetime on The Six Screens of The Watchtower Conference Call Sat. July 16- 2011 at 7pm est. It's easy to get on the call, just dial 712-432-8710 and when asked for pin use 9925. Our lines open at 6:30EST and our program starts at 7p.m. So come on early and talk with all of those who have been "touched by the tentacles of the Watchtower".

  Is The Watchtower Society aware of their connection with the Garridos...... listen to Six Screens conference call moderator Rick Fearon as he called The Watchtower in patterson N.Y. July 11 the day after prime Time aired.

  Link to audio clips....... http://www.sixscreensofthewatchtower.com/

  Also on the call will be guest Shirley Jackson and what a story she has to tell. Her story of pain that she attributes to The Watchtower Org. was printed in a major newspaper and brought much shame to the Org. http://www.sptimes.com/2002/08/22/Floridian/Spiritual_shunning.shtml

  Spiritual Shunning
  When Jehovah's Witnesses excommunicate, or ''disfellowship,'' a member, even the closest human ties can be severed without question.
  	From St. Petersburg Times
  August 2, 2002	By Sharon Tubbs
  After 20 years as a Jehovah’s Witness, Shirley Jackson of St. Petersburg was “disfellowshipped,” or excommunicated, in 1995. Family members and friends still in the religion are forbidden to have contact with a shunned individual. [Times photo: James Borchuck] ST. PETERSBURG -- As far as her children and 6-million people around the world are concerned, Shirley Jackson is as good as dead, has been for seven years. In 1995, Jackson, a home health care worker and a nanny who lives in St. Petersburg, was "disfellowshipped," or excommunicated, from Jehovah's Witnesses. Disfellowshipping is among the Witnesses' highest forms of discipline, reserved for those who disobey religious teachings and will not repent. Witnesses are told to immediately shun the disfellowshipped, who are said to be certain to die at Armageddon. Witnesses must pass them on the street without so much as a hello. Sons, daughters, mothers and fathers are expected to cut off relatives, making exceptions only in cases of family business or emergency. "No matter what they tell you, you will always be my daughter and I will always love you," Jackson recently wrote in a letter to her daughter, to no avail. Rather than strengthen families, Jackson says, the Witnesses tear them apart. Disfellowshipping is little known to outsiders, who recognize Witnesses only as the people who pass out magazines on Saturday mornings. But scandal in the denomination has opened a door to its core beliefs and operations. In recent months, at least three Witnesses were disfellowshipped after talking to Dateline NBC about church leaders' handling of child molestation allegations. The action made national headlines and spurred former Witnesses worldwide to step forward with their stories. Jehovah's Witnesses believe disfellowshipping is an act of love, intended to inspire sinners to change their ways so they eventually can apply to be readmitted to the faith. The sanction is based on I Corinthians 5, which directs Witnesses to "remove the wicked from among yourselves" and is necessary, said Witnesses national spokesman J.R. Brown, to preserve the religion's "moral integrity and cleanliness" in a corrupt world soon to be destroyed by God Jehovah. Jehovah's Witness elders -- all are men -- are the equivalent of ministers in other religions. Though unpaid, they take on responsibilities such as teaching Bible lessons and passing on denomination policy. They also investigate Witnesses accused of committing crimes against other Witnesses. In some of these cases, the police are never called. Among the elders' primary tasks is serving on small judicial committees that hear confessions and decide whether an offense is worthy of excommunication. Excommunications are announced to the congregation, but elders never say why a person was expelled. Witnesses can only guess from a long list of offenses that range from smoking cigarettes to manslaughter. Homosexuality, fornication, drunkenness, slander, fraud, gambling, apostasy, fits of anger and violence, and adultery are others. The excommunication announcement tells members to begin shunning that person. If they don't, they, too, risk being disfellowshipped. Fear of being disfellowshipped is gripping for many Witnesses. Because they believe that only Witnesses will be saved from death, many don't associate with non-Witnesses. Being disfellowshipped, then, means losing your circle of friends, not to mention family members who remain in the faith. Elders disfellowship 50,000 to 60,000 Witnesses around the world each year, Brown said. "It's not an unusual occurence, as far as we're concerned," he said. Jackson, 54, had been a Witness for nearly 20 years when she began having doubts. In 1993, she said, her husband gathered his belongings in the middle of the night and abandoned her as she and her children slept. She said he had been violent, and she decided to divorce him. But Witnesses told her the only biblical justification for divorce is adultery, which she could not prove he had committed. Jackson was also on shaky ground with the Witnesses because she had close friends who were not in the faith, she said. In interviews, Jackson and several others said Witnesses are not allowed to socialize with non-Witnesses unless they are proselytizing. Brown, the Witnesses' spokesman, said this is not true, although differing interests sometimes make such relationships difficult. After her husband left her, Jackson continued going to the Kingdom Hall five times a week and performing 10 hours of door-to-door service each month, but she didn't feel very spiritual. One day while going door to door, Jackson mentioned to another Witness, "When I go into a Kingdom Hall, I don't feel God's presence is there." She became even more disillusioned in the mid 1990s when, she said, elders dismissed her suspicions that a fellow Witness was sexually abusing his 8-year-old daughter. No one called the police. But law enforcement authorities eventually got involved, and the girl was found in a trashed home, having eaten ketchup sandwiches to quell hunger, Jackson said. Some months later, Kenneth Donald Weaver was arrested and placed on community control in 1995 for sexual activity with a child. Weaver, who has a lengthy criminal history, is now in prison. Wavering in her beliefs, Jackson decided not to attend an annual assembly for Witnesses. Her daughter was upset and told elders. They went to her home for a visit. They had charges against her, Jackson said: One charge was "speaking out against a brother" with regard to the child molestation, she said. She said they told her to stop cavorting with her non-Witness friends. And someone had told them what she had said about not feeling God's presence in the Kingdom Hall. The elders told her she had 24 hours to change her ways, Jackson said. She refused to comply and was disfellowshipped, her name announced in front of the congregation. She was not present. Her daughter was 17 at the time. She moved out to live with other Witnesses, has not held a conversation with Jackson since and is now married and living in Alabama. Two of Jackson's three sons are also Witnesses and don't speak to her, she said. William Bowen, a former Jehovah’s Witness elder, stands near the Kingdom Hall in Marshall County, Ky., where he worshipped before he was disfellowshipped for criticizing the church’s handling of child sex abuse allegations. [AP photo] As with the Catholic Church, child molestation cases have brought the inner workings of Jehovah's Witnesses to the forefront. One case in Kentucky prompted former elder William Bowen to start asking questions. At the center of the cases is the two-witness rule. The Witnesses abide strictly by their Bible, the New World Translation. The translation is published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, the nonprofit organization in Brooklyn, N.Y., that acts as the Witnesses' headquarters and overseer. Deuteronomy 19:15: No single witness should rise up against a man respecting any error or any sin, in the case of any sin that he may commit. At the mouth of two witnesses or at the mouth of three witnesses the matter should stand good. As far as the Watch Tower is concerned, that means Witnesses can't take action against someone unless at least two people can verify an offense happened. That standard is difficult to meet in cases of child molestation, where often only the victim and perpetrator are present. About two years ago, Bowen began to suspect that a fellow elder in his congregation near Paducah was abusing the elder's daughter. In a review of Witness files, Bowen found that the elder had previously been accused of molesting someone else. Bowen says he got further proof that the daughter might also have been molested. In keeping with Witness policy, he called the Watch Tower's legal department in Brooklyn for guidance. The department is staffed with lawyers who are Jehovah's Witnesses. When Bowen described the situation, he says, he was told there was nothing to be done -- the man had denied it, so there weren't enough witnesses. He would have to "leave it in Jehovah's hands." Other former Witnesses who served as elders around the nation have since reported similar experiences. Disgusted, Bowen resigned as an elder and started a nonprofit organization and a Web site for Witnesses who were victims of molestation. Thousands logged onto his "silent lambs" site, he says. Many told stories of abuse that elders did not believe. Bowen, 45, went public with his story. He and several other Witnesses were featured on Dateline NBC. One woman, Barbara Anderson, had worked in the Watch Tower's research department and was concerned that the organization wasn't following up on abuse cases. Bowen contends that tipsters told him the organization keeps a database with the names of 23,000 accused molesters. Brown, the Witnesses' spokesman, would not discuss specific cases, but he scoffed at allegations that Witnesses protect child molesters. Yes, Witnesses believe in the two-witness rule, he said, but that's not the only way wrongdoers can be caught. "It cannot be said that we will do nothing unless there are two witnesses," Brown said. He said Witnesses are not required to report crimes to elders before calling civil authorities. Victims and their families are free to call police at will, he said, although some don't choose to. Elders' investigations work hand-in-hand with what Witnesses sometimes call "Caesar's law," Brown said. "We're not handling the criminality of this," he said. "We're handling the sin." The Watch Tower does keep records of people accused of molestation, but the number in the database is far fewer than 23,000, he said, declining to give a specific figure. Watch Tower officials use the database to ensure that a person against whom a credible allegation of molestation is made won't be elevated to positions of authority. Also, Brown said, if a person is accused in separate incidents, Witness officials have a record of that history and will look into the matter seriously. After the Dateline program aired in May, Bowen, Anderson and Anderson's husband were disfellowshipped. A couple who said their daughter had been abused by a Witness were also threatened with excommunication. The modern Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society began with a small group of Bible students near Pittsburgh and was incorporated in 1884. Back then, about 50 believers traveled door-to-door full time, spreading their beliefs. They were largely successful in the next few years in convincing people that the end of the world, or Armageddon, was imminent and that only Jehovah's Witnesses would survive. Witnesses don't believe in a burning hell. Non-Witnesses will simply be killed in the end. The vast majority of Witnesses will live forever on Earth, which will become a paradise once rid of the evil perpetuated by a society of nonbelievers. A select group of Witnesses -- 144,000, to be exact -- will live in heaven with Jesus Christ. This, based on a passage in the Book of Revelation, is referred to as "the heavenly hope." The denomination's governing body and a workforce of other Witnesses operate a massive and well-organized religious base with a legal department, publishing house and printing facilities that ship Witness literature and Bibles all over the globe. The Watch Tower keeps detailed accounts of the number of hours each Witness goes door-to-door, the number of home Bible studies completed and records of those who have been disfellowshipped. The governing body also establishes policy for Witnesses to live by that it says is based on the Bible. Witnesses cannot vote, receive blood transfusions or salute the flag, among other restrictions. Not even the marriage bed is beyond the Watch Tower's purview. Brown said Witnesses believe that sexual activity between men and women should "follow the normal course" of things. "We feel that oral or anal intercourse would go beyond that." Couples are often counseled accordingly before marriage, Brown said. Guilt-ridden Witnesses have gone before judicial committees to confess wayward sex acts with their spouses. The Watch Tower predicted several times in the 1900s that Armageddon would occur. The organization grew as people were baptized Witnesses, hoping to join the only "true" religion before it was too late. Joseph F. Rutherford, once the Watch Tower's president, was convinced that 1925 would mark the year that forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would return to earth. Rutherford had a large mansion built in California so they would have a place to live. The mansion was later sold. Decades passed. Then Witnesses declared that the end would arrive in 1975. Some sold their homes, packed up and hit the road, going door-to-door to recruit as many people as they could. Young adults refused to go to college. Couples put off having children. Diane Gholson of Spring Hill was among those anticipating Armageddon. In 1974, she feverishly wrote letters to her husband's Baptist relatives, begging them to become Witnesses before it was too late. "When it didn't come, my husband said, 'Maybe they're off by a year,' " she said. They waited. And waited. By 1980, Gholson said, they'd had enough. In 1982, they were part of a group of Witnesses who participated in a march at Watch Tower headquarters. Watch Tower leaders, they charged, were nothing more than "false prophets." Gholson was disfellowshipped. Shirley Jackson, who had been baptized in 1974 in case the end did come, was unswayed, however. She accepted the Watch Tower's explanation that the "light" of God's word was getting brighter. Brown says disfellowshipping inspires wrongdoers to come back to the religion. Those who want to reapply can do so, but they must adhere to Witnesses' policies. They are allowed inside the Kingdom Halls but are ignored by the other congregants until readmitted to the faith. Each year, Brown said, 30,000 to 40,000 are reinstated, having "come back to their spiritual senses." Jackson now goes to Glad Tidings Assembly of God church in St. Petersburg. She is happy there and says she can sense God's presence in the sanctuary. She regrets ever believing what the Witnesses taught her. Only her youngest child, a 17-year-old son, was not baptized a Witness. He lives with Jackson and her new husband. "It hurts," Jackson said of her broken family. "But I'm not bitter. I want to help people who are going through this." -- Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report.
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  7

  Jehovah's Witness died at hospital after refusing blood transfusion?.

  by koolaid-man in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.sthelensreporter.co.uk/news/local/jehovah_s_witness_died_at_hospital_after_refusing_blood_transfusion_1_3572183.

  jehovahs witness died at hospital after refusing blood transfusionletter from ann marr, chief executive of st helens and knowsley teaching hospitals nhs trust.

  published on thursday 14 july 2011 03:00. .

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  koolaid-man

  http://www.sthelensreporter.co.uk/news/local/jehovah_s_witness_died_at_hospital_after_refusing_blood_transfusion_1_3572183

  

  Jehovah’s Witness died at hospital after refusing blood transfusion

  letter from Ann Marr, chief executive of St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

  Published on Thursday 14 July 2011 03:00

  A JEHOVAH’S Witness died after a doctor ruptured her spleen and liver during a routine procedure.

  Despite suffering massive internal bleeding, Jean Gilman refused to have a blood transfusion and died four days later.

  Medical staff at Whiston Hospital were later investigated over a potential manslaughter charge but the Crown Prosecution Service ruled there was insufficient evidence to proceed.

  Hospital bosses last week apologised to Mrs Gilman’s family and admitted mistakes in her initial treatment.

  But her family are still angry and insist they have expert testimony stating a blood transfusion would NOT have saved Mrs Gilman.

  Her widow Peter, 62, of Porlock Avenue, Sutton Leach, said: “By the time she was operated on it wouldn’t have helped to have blood transfusion.

  “Anyway, that it not really the issue. The issue is that they knew she was a Jehovah’s Witness and would not have taken blood products, so carrying out that procedure in the way they did was even more reckless.”

  A mum of three, Mrs Gilman had three grandchildren and had been a Jehovah’s Witness for almost 40 years.

  She was taken to Whiston Hospital in March 2009 after going to her GP complaining of shortness of breath.

  X-rays showed she had had fluid on her left lung requiring a pleural aspiration to remove the fluid.

  However, rather the follow British Thoracic Society Guidelines and use to an ultrasound machine to locate the fluid, the doctor attempted to guess where to insert the needle.

  Later that day her health began to deteriorate and that night she rushed into the hospital’s operating theatre suffering massive internal bleeding.

  Four days later she was dead.

  Mr Gilman, a retired chemical plant manager, said: “I was with her on the Friday afternoon and we were talking, saying that she might be allowed home that day, when a pair of doctors came in and said they were going to drain the fluid from Jean’s lung.

  “He then inserted the needle about four times, but each time he just drew blood, not fluid. Then they just left. There was no explanation, nothing.”

  The family say despite signs her health was rapidly deteriorating medical intervention came too late - although the hospital insist her treatment was ‘timely and appropriate’.

  The full picture and the fact the plural aspiration procedure had ruptured Mrs Gilman’s internal organs only emerged when St Helens coroner Christopher Sumner refused to sign off her death certificate and ordered a post-mortem by conducted.

  Once the police probe ended, the Gilman family launched a civil case, which culminated last week when the hospital trust’s chief executive Ann Marr wrote to Mr Gilman.

  He said: “In the letter, she apologised and said there would now be a ‘serious untoward incident’ review. Why has it taken so long for this?

  “As far as we know the doctor in question is still working, although not at Whiston. We are now just waiting for the inquest to try and get more answers.”

  A hospital spokeswoman said: “Mrs Gilman underwent a procedure carried out by a senior doctor who had performed this procedure many times. On this occasion the doctor did not follow guidelines and made a mistake.

  “Thereafter, she received timely and appropriate care but as a Jehovah’s Witness she chose not to receive blood products and her life could not be saved.

  “A subsequent police investigation concluded that no charges should be brought against any party. The Trust would like to offer again its sincere condolences to the family of the late Mrs Jean Gilman".
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  162

  PROTESTS AT WATCHTOWER CONVENTIONS

  by Lawrence Hughes in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  dear friends,.

  as you may know, the watchtower society takes great pride in its district conventions.

  please contact me if you can attend any of these protests.. there is no reason why every district convention in the world could not have a protest and receive media coverage to expose the watchtower society.

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  koolaid-man

  Good idea Momma-Tossed-Me, I just might try your suggestion. Thanks Rick
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  3

  Fitchburg; Leominster Mass

  by bobfleur in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  any one here from fitchburg mass area?

  i'm hoping to pm or email with any active or ex witnesses from area.

  bob.

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  koolaid-man

  Hello Bob I live in Tewksbury, Ma. about 30 miles away. please contact me.
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  125

  Once again I say goodbye

  by mouthy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i find the board is getting very unfriendly of late.

  used to be great to be aboard.

  but the snipping that so many.

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  koolaid-man

  Mouthy you can see by all the post that you are well liked on this forum. JWN should give you a gold star!

  You have been a good example of how people should conduct themselves on internet forums. You are a real diplomat very tactfull and considerate. You always chose to respond rather than react.

  I do share your sentiments this forum is rapidly changing and the posters are becoming more aggressive and destuctive. Honest hearted, well intentioned posters know who these habitual badgers are and they are making fools of themselves. Their constant bickering and ridiculing is undermining the integrity of this board.

  Mouthy you have been and always will be a source of inspiration and have motivated my wive and I to stand tall without fear exposing The Watchtower Organization. Thank you Rick
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  41

  Leaving The Watchtower.... don't leave God behind, attend WNFJ convention.

  by koolaid-man in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if you have never had the opportunity to go to a witnesses now for jesus convention hosted by former jehovah's witness joan cetnar, this may be your last chance.. after 33 years this very well could be the last year joan will host the convention.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqdddryv3hs.

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  koolaid-man

  Designs it is good you went to university to sharpen your intellectual skills up and that is commendable. Designs how are you sharpening your spiritual accomplishments up?
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  41

  Leaving The Watchtower.... don't leave God behind, attend WNFJ convention.

  by koolaid-man in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if you have never had the opportunity to go to a witnesses now for jesus convention hosted by former jehovah's witness joan cetnar, this may be your last chance.. after 33 years this very well could be the last year joan will host the convention.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqdddryv3hs.

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  koolaid-man

  Thank you Mouthy for speaking up. Sorry you got hit in the crossfire, but the fact is many on this forum find it satisfying to attack anything I say, and immediately refute every post I make.

  Mouthy we do not know who these posters are..... Many obviously will not identify themselves, it only stands to reason that some ( NOT ALL ) are Watchtower operatives deliberately attempting to discredit anything that brings reproach to The Org.