Posts by Juan Viejo2

10

Anyone done the Landmark Forum?

by avatar in

jw
friends

i am scheduled to do it next month.. if you have completed the training:.

- what did you get out of it?.

- knowing what you know now (post completion) what would you tell others or have done differently to prepare?.

Juan Viejo2

Don't be fooled. Landmark Forum is the natural successor to EST.

My wife's son, daughter-in-law, and niece all went to Landmark a couple of years ago. Just like EST, in order to graduate to the next level you have to proselytize your friends and relatives and invite them to your graduation ceremony. During the graduation, visitors are led off to other rooms where they are shamed into joining themselves.

"Look at the change that has taken place in [person]. Don't you want to support those positive changes? The best way to give support to your [relationship] is to take the course yourself. If you sign up tonight, you will get an immediate [dollar amount] discount."

Then you have to admit your weaknesses [or make some up] in front of the group of strangers. One question that I found particularly troublesome was posed by our group leader: "Think clearly and be absolutely honest. What do you do most often that your [relationship] would find offensive. Smoking? Masturbation? Sneaking snacks? Cheating? Pornography?" You're often doing this in front of your spouse or other family members. Not my idea of fun at all since I admit to many vices (like spending too much time on the computer).

In many ways, Landmark uses most of the techniques of EST, but just not so abusively. They also have similar mind control techniques used by Scientology. Werner Erhard (not! - his real name is John Rosenberg) was known to be a fake and a con-man who lied about his education and . And yet his corporation still has its hands in the Landmark mix for consulting.

My stepson was totally messed up for months after attending Landmark. When his mother and I refused to buy into Landmark's bullshit, he thought we were rejecting him. His controller/sponsor (or whatever they are called now) basically told him that his mother wouldn't support him and didn't love him enough to join in. And me, I immediately became the evil step-father married to his mother having ulterior motives.

It took us nearly two years to get the family relationships back into a more normal mode. I recognized what was going on immediately because I had been through the first couple of stages of EST some 20 years before at the urging of my boss. I didn't want to go, but he was supporting me for promotion and I didn't want to piss him off. He later was fired for pressuring some management trainee too hard to join EST.

I'm telling you the same thing I would tell a potential JW convert: Get the hell out while you can. Even if you survive, the hidden damage could last for months or even years. It's just another money-making cult. Kind of a cross between Tony Robbins (another shyster) and Amway/Mona Vie and the Moonies - except "god" is more of a presence than a personality.

JV

72

Menlo Park KH - Elder Tells All - and more

by Juan Viejo2 in

i've published part one of a three part series about the menlo park kh scandal.

http://ex-jw.com/menlo-park-elder-tells-all-1.

this has been a tough one for me.. the original federal case was dismissed in january.

Juan Viejo2

Deceived,

If you are sending from a remote location like a coffee shop or McDonalds - or even a hotel lobby - the IP you are sending from will not be your own. Spammers set up shop in these places to send out their poisonouse emails and as a result innocent people trying to access sites like mine will be blocked.

Sites like mine and Cedar's JWSurvey.org get hit dozens of times a day by spammers and attackers. If I didn't have those programs up to protect my sites they all would come down in a matter of hours.

You can send me an email from your home with your IP address and I can put it on my "whitelist." That will allow your IP to pass through the blockade.

Use the contact form or email me at spamcheck@ex-jw.com.

JV

22

Watchtower Talk Removed From YouTube As "Shocking And Disgusting Content"

by DT in

jw
friends

there was a youtube video that contained an excerpt of ciro aulicino's talk "you will be with me in paradise".

at some point it was removed by youtube.

it now shows the message, "this video has been removed as a violation of youtube's policy on shocking and disgusting content.".

Juan Viejo2

If anyone really needs to hear it, I have it on MP3 download. There are actually several versions of this talk and I have at least two of them. Send me a PM with your email address if you want me to send you a copy.

Listening to it is like listening to some TV evanglist. Sounds all normal and friendly, but then equates lesbians and homosexuals with serial killers. Won't we be happy when Jehovah destroys them all and their bones are laying all over with birds picking at the flesh. What a clean up we'll will ahead of us.

Pretty sick stuff IMO.

JV

171

Watchtower's Billion Dollars of Property Cannot Be Sold until Outcome of Conti Appeal

by Dogpatch in

30 minutes ago i just got off the phone with some important players in this case, and some things were relayed to me concerning a lot of details of the outcome of the last two days of court.

i am passing this on.

cynthia hampton, one of the main players in the candace conti case (and a close friend of 28 years), just informed me of a further, far more powerful move by the state of california against the watch tower bible and tract society of new york, inc.. by order of the superior court of the state of california - county of alameda (see documents below), until the watch tower's appeal, which won't begin until august 13th and will take up to two years to settle due to due process of law, has forbidden the watch tower to sell any more of its $1 billion in assets in the borough of brooklyn until the appeals case is finished, to assure they won't shelter their monies in the light of this most huge and devastating sexual abuse scandal ever to hit the watch tower society, and perhaps any other single-victim lawsuit.

Juan Viejo2

One point that may have been overlooked: This judgement and freeze on Society assets only applies to the New York corporation. The Watchtower has several other corporations in New York alone, and of course there is the Pennsylvania corporation.

The Watchtower made some big moves in 2001 that were meant to muddy the waters when it comes to Society assets. We all know that IBSA, the Canadians, and Australia/NZ are fair sized branches with sizable assets, but it is doubtful that any are at risk.

Now might be the time for victims in these other countries to start visiting quality attorneys and point them to the Conti case. Rick Simons did a hell of a job organizing everything and even though the laws might be somewhat different, the odds are that attorneys and solicitors in those countries could crack the shell and start the ball rolling there as well. That would also prevent the WT from transferring assets to its foreign branches.

Watch for even more Kingdom Halls to be sold off over the next five years. You can just see the elders being pressured to put the squeeze on for more and larger donations. Any JW over 70 with assets is going to be shamed into signing over their wills and property to the Society. Now it's time for heirs and family members to start taking steps to protect family assets as well as watching out for possible abusers.

Keep your babies and your dollars very close to you at all times if you want to continue to be a JW.

JV

126

Candace Conti video on YouTube - let's send it viral!

by cedars in

i've uploaded a video that discusses the dramatic jury verdict regarding the abuse suffered by candace conti, of which you are all aware.

if you're not yet familiar with the story for any reason, please check out my blog article on the link below.... http://jwsurvey.org/general-information/the-watchtower-punished-society-loses-legal-battle-over-child-abuse-case.

john hoyle suggested i get a youtube video out fairly quickly so that we can spread the message more effectively online.

Juan Viejo2

Attached to brief article at

http://ex-jw.com/conti-verdict-explained

More to come...

JV

126

Candace Conti video on YouTube - let's send it viral!

by cedars in

i've uploaded a video that discusses the dramatic jury verdict regarding the abuse suffered by candace conti, of which you are all aware.

if you're not yet familiar with the story for any reason, please check out my blog article on the link below.... http://jwsurvey.org/general-information/the-watchtower-punished-society-loses-legal-battle-over-child-abuse-case.

john hoyle suggested i get a youtube video out fairly quickly so that we can spread the message more effectively online.

Juan Viejo2

Ann OMaly - Yes, you are right. Clergy guidelines were toughened after all of the cases involving the Catholic Church were beginning to become newsworthy. It was the clergy-penitent confidentiality acts that were revised. Even after those laws went into effect, the Catholic Church continued to ignore the laws and the church suffered greatly from it.

But even under civil law of the 1990s the Conti case would probably not apply - especially when Miss Conti asked for help. When Kendrick approached the elders and confessed his transgressions in private would be considered confidential. But just because someone was an elder would not relieve him of reporting a crime reported by the victim or the victim's family. If Miss Conti had gone to the elders and said, "please do not tell anyone, but Brother Kendrick has been molesting me," the law even then would have required the elder to take some sort of action to protect her from further harm.

The elder's first responsibility, even then, was to take whatever action necessary to protect further harm to the victim, especially someone who was a minor child at the time.

It is clear from this jury's verdict and the award they made, that they did not buy that excuse for a minute. That excuse may be the only thing that gives the Watchtower some relief from the millions they owe Ms. Conti, but it still does not compute for anyone with half a brain as being the right thing to do.

JV

126

Candace Conti video on YouTube - let's send it viral!

by cedars in

i've uploaded a video that discusses the dramatic jury verdict regarding the abuse suffered by candace conti, of which you are all aware.

if you're not yet familiar with the story for any reason, please check out my blog article on the link below.... http://jwsurvey.org/general-information/the-watchtower-punished-society-loses-legal-battle-over-child-abuse-case.

john hoyle suggested i get a youtube video out fairly quickly so that we can spread the message more effectively online.

Juan Viejo2

One more thing:

I disagree with the Watchtower attorney McCabe and even those here making excuses for the elders and the Watchtower ("they should not be responsible for the actions of a non-elder member of the Kingdom Hall")

I think the reason the jury came down hard on the Watchtower in this case is not whether Kendrick was, or was not, a person in authority within the Kingdom Hall. It was the fact that the elders - at the direction of the Watchtower, both in fact (by direction from Watchtower Legal - and by instructions in BOE letters and the Elder's book) and in law did not fulfill their duties under the law to report crimes of this nature to the authorities in a timely manner.

The idea that elders should "wait on Jehovah to sort things out" is so juvenile that the Watchtower leaders should have their brains confiscated. It's like having a kid break a leg during a football game and then having the coach tell him to "walk it off" or he'll be kicked off the team.

Next question: Does anyone at Society headquarters have any common sense? Does Jehovah automatically kill all of the brain cells of Governing Body members as soon as they are appointed? Where is their humanity? Where is their sense of justice just as citizens of the world?

Like Pharaoh, they have hardened their hearts and will soon drown in the sea of public opinion.

JV

126

Candace Conti video on YouTube - let's send it viral!

by cedars in

i've uploaded a video that discusses the dramatic jury verdict regarding the abuse suffered by candace conti, of which you are all aware.

if you're not yet familiar with the story for any reason, please check out my blog article on the link below.... http://jwsurvey.org/general-information/the-watchtower-punished-society-loses-legal-battle-over-child-abuse-case.

john hoyle suggested i get a youtube video out fairly quickly so that we can spread the message more effectively online.

Juan Viejo2

In California there have long been laws requiring immediate reporting of any suspected child rape, molestation, pornography, or physical abuse.

Reporting guidelines are tougher for some categories, like teachers, emergency room managers, social workers and others (primarily civil servants). They are supposed to report any "suspected" cases of abuse (child tells teacher "mommy's boyfriend plays with my peepee") or injury (child covered with unexplained bruises or other injuries).

I was a deputy sheriff in California in the early 1980s. On occasion I would go along with a social worker to someone's home to check things out. One of the first questions we would ask was "exactly when did this injury occur?" Failure to immediately report such an injury would result in at least a misdemeanor charge of "failure to report." Things have only become more strict with higher penalties. Most states add to child abuse laws every year and penalties have increased as well.

My understanding of the law (at least as it was in California in the mid-1980s) is that any third party suspecting or learning of pedophilia or other child abuse MUST contact police or child protection services as soon as possible. In some cases, witnesses or family members aware of such potential criminal activity would call their attorneys first for guidance, but that did not relieve them of making a timely report. In some cases their attorney would call the police and make the report for them - but the report still had to be made. The reason for timely reporting is to effectively stop potential criminal activity and to protect the child(ren) from further harm.

The Watchtower took the position that elders learning of such criminal activity should call the Service Department or Watchtower Legal for guidance. In too many cases, elders were told that WT headquarters would take care of it. The way the WT took care of it was to make an in-house report and file it away. If the elders took it upon themselves to report the incidence to the police either before (as per the law) or after (the minimum action they should have taken) then the Watchtower would come down on them like a load of bricks.

Aside from the fact that these men were elders, under California law they were required to make a report to the police as United States and California state CITIZENS. If you were an elder and you saw a horrible car crash outside of the Kingdom Hall and one of the injured had come to the door for help - would you call WT Legal or Service departments first? or would you call police and an ambulance, get help for the injured, and then maybe call WT HQ?

The logic the Watchtower used then and now is backwards. "Call us first and report later (if we instruct you to do so)" does not agree with California law and it certainly did not in the mid-1990s. It's always been "report the crime or injury first, and then call your attorney for further guidance, if necessary."

The Watchtower did not have a leg to stand on in 1985, 1995, 2005, or now by requiring their elders to "call WT Legal or Service departments first for instructions." By their very written words, in California they were directing the elders to COMMIT A CRIME by not immediately reporting any suspected child abuse directly to the police as soon as they learned of it or suspected it.

Cedars, I think you are fine and don't need to change a thing. Yes, the court case was a civil one and it is unlikely that any criminal charges will come out of this case. But the entire reason for the case and the jury's verdict was because it was determined that the local elders, and by extension the Watchtower, committed crimes by not properly reporting Candace Conti's abuse immediately to local police or child protection authorities.

JV

49

Bill Bowen Just Posted This on Facebook Moments Ago

by jamiebowers in

jw
friends

jane doe vs the watch tower in the oakland, ca case was awarded $20 million in punitive damages..

Juan Viejo2

linuxbob - Thank you.

I already had that link and have downloaded all of the pertinent documentation. Look like Bill Bowen got the final order and it was forwarded to me. What I am looking for and have not found yet is the actual court transcripts. They may, or may not, release all of those. I'll find out how to get them.

In the next few days, I'll publish an article on Ex-JW.com that will condense the case history and will provide PDFs of whatever I can get my hands on.

JV

49

Bill Bowen Just Posted This on Facebook Moments Ago

by jamiebowers in

jw
friends

jane doe vs the watch tower in the oakland, ca case was awarded $20 million in punitive damages..

Juan Viejo2

Just remember, one of the very first members of the modern Governing Body was a pedophile. He was around for years and protected by the Organization in spite of the clear evidence of what he was doing.

Also, Nancy J. Sage's book, Going Undercover to Rescue My Daughter, currently under revision and updating (original still available on Amazon.com) , tells the story of how her daughter and granddaughter were abused by her son-in-law, an elder. The last I've heard, he is still an active JW and has held elder positions even since her book came out several years ago. Her story clearly shows how the Watchtower uses the "two witness rule" to effectively stymie any punishment or exposure of pedophiles within the organization.

I think the biggest victory in this case is the "no gag order" rule. I'm hoping to get my hands on the court transcripts, but I'm sure there will be some redactions due to the nature of the case. I hope that the plaintiffs and their attorneys can hold out for the full amount and not have to sign a no disclosure agreement. If they do, then this victory could become another wasted effort.

JV