Posts by Juan Viejo2

24

HELP!!! Need Contacts in Portland-Gresham Oregon

by Juan Viejo2 in

a very special request for help - not money - just information!!!.

i normally would not ask this kind of a favor, but this really is important.. i am working with portland area investigators and journalists who are doing research on the whitney heichel /jonathan holt murder case and one other case involving other serious criminal activity.

they are particularly interested in anyone who might have attended kingdom halls in or around gresham and might know some of the members, former jws, or other related contacts in that area.. if you are from that area, or have connections there, please contact me via pm.

Juan Viejo2

shadow -

I'm not sure why you would attack my efforts to help independent investigators get more information about this and other cases in the area.

And, yes! I have an agenda. But I doubt it has anything to do with what you are accusing me of promoting. If you consider yourself an honest-hearted person who cares about the personal safety of Jehovah's Witnesses and their children, you should be offering your support - not trying to accuse me of ulterior motives.

I simply want to connect investigators and journalists to anyone who might be able to provide some background and maybe some leads that have been missed on the Heichl / Holt case and another that involves the same area.

During and after Ms. Heichl's funeral the JW elders, friends and family were all over the local newscasts. Their words were guarded, but always positive toward the Watchtower and the JW members of the local congregations. As sad as this case was, dozens of locals were willing to be interviewed on TV and by the press during the week or two after the case broke. But after the funeral, investigators and reporters have been thwarted in their attempts to get more background information. As expected, the JWs have returned to their usual policy of maintaining a "conspiracy of silence."

That's my agenda. I just want to help the investigators find additional sources so that they can report on the broader story. I have other prominent ex-JWs working on this with me as well. Why? Because we feel it is absolutely imperative that the truth (not "The Truth(TM)") get out.

I would urge any active JW of the Gresham OR Kingdom Hall to please make yourself known and come forward to offer your help in honor of the memory of Whitney Heichl.

JV

24

HELP!!! Need Contacts in Portland-Gresham Oregon

by Juan Viejo2 in

a very special request for help - not money - just information!!!.

i normally would not ask this kind of a favor, but this really is important.. i am working with portland area investigators and journalists who are doing research on the whitney heichel /jonathan holt murder case and one other case involving other serious criminal activity.

they are particularly interested in anyone who might have attended kingdom halls in or around gresham and might know some of the members, former jws, or other related contacts in that area.. if you are from that area, or have connections there, please contact me via pm.

Juan Viejo2

A VERY SPECIAL REQUEST FOR HELP - NOT MONEY - JUST INFORMATION!!!

I normally would not ask this kind of a favor, but this really is important.

I am working with Portland area investigators and journalists who are doing research on the Whitney Heichel /Jonathan Holt murder case and one other case involving other serious criminal activity. They are particularly interested in anyone who might have attended Kingdom Halls in or around Gresham and might know some of the members, former JWs, or other related contacts in that area.

If you are from that area, or have connections there, please contact me via PM.

If you are currently an Jehovah's Witness attending the Gresham Kingdom Hall and have possibly helpful information, please contact me. Your identity will be protected. Please understand the importance of this case. Do the right thing and come forward if you have anything that might be helpful. Your identity will be protected - guaranteed.

As would be expected, JWs in that area have gone into hiding and for the most part have refused to talk to investigators and journalists.

My guess is that there are a few on this board that either know people in that area who have left or faded that might be able to provide some additional background information to serious, professional journalists and investigators. I know a few members of this board who were from the Portland, OR area and were associated with Meetups there. I live in central Oregon myself, but was not a JW here and have only attended meetings here on a very irregular basis and never at the same Kingdom Hall twice. So I have no personal contacts myself in the Portland area.

You will be dealing with me first, and then, if you have some information that might be helpful, I will put you in contact with the professionals. I will not reveal your identity, contact information, or other specific information - the choice to do that will be left to you if you so decide.

If you know anything or anyone in or near the Gresham, Oregon Kingdom Hall(s), I urge you to please contact me. I will provide my personal email and phone number to you when you PM me. Your identity, location, and contact information will be kept completely confidential. If you have contacts in that area, please ask them to contact me. I will assure them the same level of confidentiality.

I think there are enough members of this board who will vouch for me and my commitment for justice for victims of the Watchtower's mishandling and cover ups, especially involving criminal cases. You can read some of my investigative articles about my research and involvement in the Menlo Park Kingdom Hall takeover and the Candace Conti child abuse court cases at Ex-JW.com.

Those who know me well will confirm that I am absolutely dead serious and totally committed to whatever I become involved in. I just need some help from anyone that might have some information to share.

If you are not from that area, but know someone who is a JW or former JW, please pass this information on to them and ask for their help on behalf of the victims of not just one, but possibly other, shall we say, "less than legal" acts.

You may also contact me by using the website contact forms located on Ex-JW.com and WatchtowerWatch.com.

I don't want to get over dramatic about this, but if you can help us in any way you may right a wrong and potentially protect someone else from harm.

JV

10

Funeral Service for JW's Killed in Bus in Miami --- The Kingom Hall Has PEWS ????

by RubaDub in

jw
friends

on the local news in miami on saturday, they reported that they were having funeral services for the two jw's killed in the bus accident at miami airport.

the reporter was standing outside the kh in the westchester area and you could clearly see the sign and the people entering.. they said approximately 750 people were in attendance which tells me that it must be a tri-plex kh like many others down here since there is no way you can put 750 people into a typical kh.

they likely had an audio or possibly an audio and video link into the other two kh's.. they showed the inside of the kh as people were entering.

Juan Viejo2

I wonder if those poor JW families got to hear more than the typical 2-5 minute obit rehash on all those who died in the crash? I wonder if they extended the obit part because of the local press being there? If not, I would love to hear what the local press's reaction was if hardly anything was said about the victims and then they had to sit through another generic 20-minute public talk.

I'd really like to find a way to sneak a camera into a JW funeral. Maybe someday I'll get audio. When I share my own experiences (my parents and other family) with JW funerals with non-JWs, they think I'm exagerating.

JV

31

What is up with the influx of electronic readers at the Kingdom Hall

by wannabefree in

jw
friends

crazy!.

the local publishers seem to be jumping on the e-reader bandwagon.. sisters even in their 70's are showing up at the hall with ipads loaded with publications for the meetings for crying out loud!.

a couple of these elderly sisters are having me get theirs ready ... should i add coc and captives of a concept ... perhaps studies vol vii ... to the library for them.

Juan Viejo2

I have apps for my new SmartPhone that include the NWT, a KH finder, and two versions of the WT Library (limited to post-2000 pubs). Of course, if you are desperate you can login to JW.org and read the mags and books online.

It will be interesting to see how the Watchtower deals with this over time. I think they will take a hard line for a while if they see too many on their e-readers, smart phones, and pads. But they may not like the eventual reaction, especially from newer and younger members, if they ban the use of them completely around KHs and Assembly Halls. I guarantee you that the next generation now still in their "little boy" pants will not give up their electronics as easily as earlier generations.

I think that is a good thing. The WT and GB better learn how to deal with it and find a way to use the new technology to their advantage and not demonize modern communication technology they way they have done with computers, the Internet, and advance medical treatments. Eventually they will realize we are not herding sheep and fishing for mullet like the people of Bible times, but actually live in an era of instant communication, fast food, and bloodless surgery.

JV

31

What is up with the influx of electronic readers at the Kingdom Hall

by wannabefree in

jw
friends

crazy!.

the local publishers seem to be jumping on the e-reader bandwagon.. sisters even in their 70's are showing up at the hall with ipads loaded with publications for the meetings for crying out loud!.

a couple of these elderly sisters are having me get theirs ready ... should i add coc and captives of a concept ... perhaps studies vol vii ... to the library for them.

Juan Viejo2

When I attended 2012 summer convention session I saw them everywhere. JWs sitting in front of me and off to the side all had iPads. I notice that, like me, several were looking up scriptures in the NWT from their pad rather than in a Bible. Several gave their pads to their children to look at when they started getting restless.

I finally pulled out my own Droid and started catching up on my emails and sending text messages. No one even gave me a second look (in spite of the fact that I had no badge and wasn't wearing a tie).

I certainly hope that more JWs will spend time, especially while sitting in the cheap seats at stadiums and larger convention halls looking up ex-JW websites and watching JW themed videos on YouTube in order to stay awake...

JV

13

Obtaining publications

by goddidit in

what would be the easiest, cheapest way to obtain jw publications, even hardbacks?.

they don't come to my door so often.

what if i visit the nearest kh?.

Juan Viejo2

Most of the older stuff is available online in PDF form. Most recent material can be downloaded in PDF form direct from JW.org. If you ask nice nice for a particular book or magazine, many here will PM you and offer to send you a link or a copy as an attachment. I personally have about 80% of everything they've published except for WT and AW! mags from about 1945 to 1970.

Really though, most of it is trash. I hate to say that, but it is true.

JV

29

HOW DE JUDGE STOLE CHRISTMAS.....

by Mary in

jw
friends

de judge hated christmas!

"i must find a way to keep christmas from coming!".

i must stop christmas from coming!

Juan Viejo2

"Not fair! De Judge is too drunk to defend himself against these baseless accusations."

No! De Judge is too dead...
JV

63

My DEATH as an Intellectual

by Terry in

i had been a straight a student.

i had a prodigious memory for facts, dates, quotes.

i once recited the entire rime of the ancient mariner in english class.

Juan Viejo2

Terry ===> PM <===

JV

89

1975 - A weak argument?

by Christ Alone in

i posted this on an older thread, but i wanted to get an honest opinion about this from all of you.

i think taking the 1975 approach with a jw is...weak.

was it wrong (and false prophetic) of them?

Juan Viejo2

It was pretty clear that the WT leadership, specifically Fred Franz, was pushing hard that something would happen in 1975. You can tell that was the case about his reaction when nothing significant occurred in October that year - as he had prophecied. What is my evidence?

Because Franz immediately followed up with the excuse that maybe the count should have started when Eve was created - not Adam. He had no idea if Adam had lived days, months, or even years before Eve was popped out of his rib cage.

One other possibility that Franz and other floated was that the time started when Adam and Eve were tossed out of the garden. No way to calculate that either.

What they really missed in all of this is that there is not one single reference in the Bible that supports "creative days" being 7000 years long. That is totally a Watchtower hyper-myth. Many evangelical religions do not tie creative days to any specific time periods, but some suggest that each creative day was 1000 years. (A day unto the Lord is as a 1000 years,etc.) In fact, a candidate for Congress in the recent USA elections actually stated that he believed the earth was less than 9000 years old - which of course is nonsense considering how long human society has existed.

Those of us who were around at the time remember very clearly what was happening at assemblies and in our Kingdom Halls. Not a single meeting went by that some mention of 1975 was made in passing or directly from the podium. My parents called me (I wasn't in during the early 70s) and begged me to repent and return to The Truth for my sake and that of my children "because the brothers at Bethel are saying that we only have a couple of years left."

They loved me and sincerely did not want me or my family to die in 1975. My father was an elder at the time and privy to all the insider talk based on letters and information passed on from Bethel.

Anyone denying that the leaders of the Watchtower at all levels were pushing the belief that Armageddon was coming in 1975 is simply in denial, or worse.

JV

15

Six screens program

by stuckinamovement in

jw
friends

so for the first time i dialed in.

rick fearon....what a joke.

he sounds like a new jersey 3rd grade retard with tourette syndrome trying to play the role of pt barnum.

Juan Viejo2

SixScreens -

If this is the first time listening in, give Rick a break. He lives in Massachusetts and has a very strong New England / Boston accent. The call will have its good moments and a lot of low moments, but the nature of the conference call does not allow Rick to prepare or script it.

With featured guests Kathleen Conti and then later, Jim Penton, Rick gives us access to some of the most interesting ex-JWs and other critics.

Don't be too quick to slam Rick. He has his faults and has gone a bit overboard at times, rightfully earning him a lot of criticism here and from other sources - but he does provide a valuable resource to the rest of us. He means well and we need to give him credit for that.

JV