Posts by freddo

28

advice please/data protection

by Phoebe in

jw
friends

i have just received an email from an elder's wife regarding the new data protection laws.

between the lines it sounds like she has been asked to contact me.. she says they 'don't want to leave me out' so they want me to fill out the form as 'i'm still part of the congregation'.

also, my blood card needs updating, apparently.. the elder in charge will be in contact.. obviously, i'm not doing either, but what do i do?

freddo

You have a pm Phoebe.

TLDR?

Don't sign it. Say no. "No I won't be signing that." is a complete discussion.

They may ask why or state veiled consequences and the answer is still "Nevertheless I won't be signing that."

5

Spent weekend with 2 all in JWs

by JaniceA in

(warning, rant ahead) .

so much indoctrination!

one who is battling terminal illness was going on about how jehovah blessed them with a good used trailer years ago when they were homeless.

freddo

Good of you to spend time with them JaniceA. A truly kind act.

23

interview with an apostate- morpheus

by _Morpheus in

when i saw simons thread and the "interview" series of threads that came from it i really enjoyed reading the life stories of those that shared.

a bump for newer people seems like a good idea and i figured i would add mine as well.

again, thanks to simon for the concept of a guided interview thread and the template.. tell us a little about yourself and your family.. hmmm... easy question, hard answer.

freddo

Really good! Some points chime with me and are very useful indeed.

You wrote:

"Did you convince anyone else to leave with you?

i did! not at the same time but i have convinced 8 people thus far to see ttatt. my parents and brother among them. My sister saw the light long ago on her own."

That is fantastic news - especially without getting df'd too.

63

2018 Convention movie: Jonah.... oh my god it's bad......!

by stuckinarut2 in

so, once again the society has produced a cringe-worthy, spew-inducing piece of "cinema".. i don't recognise this religion anymore...... enjoy this review:.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f0tovqkfem.

Lloyd's commentary posits that she is put in the video (no mention of Jonah having a sister or a wife in the Bible) to represent a good loyal wife urging her reluctant "loved one" to do as Jehovah says without question.

I understand that it would be to much of a stretch for even the WT to give Jonah a wife in this video for him to leave behind while he goes off doing Jah's will - but fast forward to the present day and she is there as a role model for all the loyal sisters to urge their male family members to "put Jehovah's (AKA the GB's) requirements first and foremost.

And woe betide any male jw who wavers because said loyal (to the GB) wife/sister/mother will get their panties in such a bunch that their marriages and family life will come crashing down before they admit it's a bunch of hooey.

RANT narrowly avoided.

25

Can You Make Sense Of Jehovah’s Witnesses?

by minimus in

jw
friends

as a child growing up, i would see different arguments to defend a certain belief.

it may have required mental gymnastics in order to make a point but there was an actual attempt to explain, teach, and educate....even if the belief or teaching was bogus.. nowadays, it appears that jws couldn’t explain any belief.

they are drones and do as “mother “ has directed..

freddo

Dunedain's post so chimes with me - not that I count myself as bright as Dunedain's father. But as a reader with a thirst for knowledge, the 1970's fitted the (now obviously wrong) predictions of Freddy so perfectly when I was a teenager.

The late 1960's to 1975 was perfect - a 75 year old born in 1900 saw 1914 "with understanding" - the horrors of WW1/WW2 - the rise and fall of Hitler then Stalin and the nuclear age with fear of WW3 around the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.

"Signs in the stars" with the space race, Vietnam and the King of the North (Communist bloc) pushing into Eastern Europe and putting the King of the South (USA/UK) on the back foot.

Even the jolt of '75 didn't stop the steam roller, because the generation could be stretched to the end of the 20th century - which it almost did.

Now it has crumbled into theatrical scenery - very pretty on the outside but hollowed out and fragile.

How anyone goes with "explane's" overlapping generations (104 years into "invisible kingdom rule") and predict paradise "soon" is beyond me and crazy.

Good money after bad comes to mind; emotionally invested senseless fools pretending the emperor has any clothes at all - let alone new ones!

17

Qualifications of elders question

by charity7 in

hi guys!

i thought you guys would be able to clarify something for me.

according to jw’s what qualifies you to become an elder and who does the appointing?

freddo

In theory you "meet the qualifications" of at 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9.

In fact to be an elder you have to have a penis, be late 20's or older and have either or preferably both a brown nose or tongue from licking the derriere of the prominent elders in your congregation and of course the CO when he visits.

Putting 10 hours a month on your report with a "balanced ministry" (a handlful of RV's and "placements") which if you have kids would include a "family study" helps enormously.

You need to be "visible" as in out cart-minding or door knocking weekly or at least 3 times a month.

Attending nearly all meetings regularly and "participating" by answering up.

10

Governing Body speaker ratings

by Fay Dehr in

ok, it's time.

we've had opportunity to observe the 8 gb members speaking ability.

now it's our turn to give our honest ratings...using their own form, of course!

freddo

I'd give them all a "Z - minus".

39

How many people have been woken up by the A.R.C??

by karter in

jw
friends

i know of 1 that watched the video and never went back.. i think for some it was a the sum of the total or the "last straw" if you like.. karter..

freddo

Also ...

I had two goons on my case last year and I directly told them my concerns about the ARC. They didn't ask what I was talking about. They knew.

I told them I was embarrassed and ashamed by how bad "we" looked as jw's. One of them was dumb enough to say "Well, did you see the catholics? We weren't nearly as bad as the catholics".

I bared my teeth a tiny bit and snorted "Not as bad as the catholics! The catholics?! Haven't we spent the last century deriding and exposing the catholics as tools of Satan? Is that all you've got? I thought we were the one true religion!"

He shut up at that point and his sidekick told me I was being negative and i should stop causing divisions by mentioning it.

39

How many people have been woken up by the A.R.C??

by karter in

jw
friends

i know of 1 that watched the video and never went back.. i think for some it was a the sum of the total or the "last straw" if you like.. karter..

freddo

A fair few elders here in my neck of the woods in the UK know about the A.R.C.

One of my cong elders deluded himself or lied about it by saying to me that "Geoffrey Jackson went to see his dying father and got pulled off the plane and stuck in front of the commission as soon as it landed."

I bit my tongue and a week later went up to him at the hall and said I had watched the ARC and checked what he had told me and found it untrue and that I found out that far from being "pulled off the plane" Geoffrey Jackson had been given several weeks before being called because of his father and that Tokley (the WT brief) had tried his best to get him excused.

I went on to say that Jackson had been given permission to be questioned via video link in Mid-August and that his father hadn't died until the 30th September. The elder told me I obviously had a lot of time on my hands to do "all that research".

3

Latest JW Child Abuse Policy?

by DATA-DOG in

i was told that a letter was recently read at the meetings that addressed “jehovah’s witnesses’” views of child abuse.

( let me guess, they abhor it..) .

a relative informed me of this announcement as if it negates our discussions on the org’s mishandling of thousands of cases of abuse.

freddo

The Roman Catholics have leapfrogged the JW's - note this from the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission. (Bold and italics added by me.)

"Statement on the obligation to report suspected sexual abuse to civil authorities:

Following recent press coverage the following statement was issued by Cardinal O’Malley From Vatican Radio – 15 February 2016 Statement from the President of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors Cardinal Seán O’Malley, OFM Cap., president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, together with all the Commission Members, issued today the following statement on the obligation to report suspected sexual abuse to civil authorities:

“As Pope Francis has so clearly stated: ‘The crimes and sins of the sexual abuse of children must not be kept secret for any longer. I pledge the zealous vigilance of the Church to protect children and the promise of accountability for all’. We, the President and the Members of the Commission, wish to affirm that our obligations under civil law must certainly be followed, but even beyond these civil requirements, we all have a moral and ethical responsibility to report suspected abuse to the civil authorities who are charged with protecting our society”.

Cardinal O’Malley’s statement continued, “In the United States, our Bishops’ Charter clearly states the obligation that all dioceses/eparchies and personnel report suspected abuse to the public authorities.

Every year at our November meeting, at a training session for new bishops, this obligation is reaffirmed, and every other February the Conference runs a second training program for new bishops which also clearly and explicitly includes this obligation. As the Holy Father’s advisory commission for the protection of minors, we recently shared with Pope Francis an overview of the Commission’s extensive education efforts in local Churches over the past two years and reiterated the Members’ willingness to provide this material at courses offered in Rome, including to the annual training program for new bishops and to the offices of the Roman Curia for their use in their own child protection efforts”.