Wonderful! Welcome to the rest of your new life in freedom!
littlebird
JoinedPosts by littlebird
-
31
Hey...no more lurking...
by pmgirl inhey,.
this is my first post on this forum after months of reading and lurking on here.
i'm glad to be able to say that my husband and i finally sent our letter saying we want out and are wait to hear back for a potential jc meeting--that we won't be attending.. we had so many doubts it was impossible for us to continue living the lie.
-
-
-
26
Do you pray these days?
by highdose ini was wondering if anyone here prays anymore?
what do you call god?
what role do you think god plays in your life?
-
-
littlebird
Choosing Life, check your pm's.
-
26
Do you pray these days?
by highdose ini was wondering if anyone here prays anymore?
what do you call god?
what role do you think god plays in your life?
-
-
littlebird
Yes, I do. I call him "Father" like Jesus did in the Lords prayer. It was difficult at first. After being duped by the Wt, I didnt trust anything to do with religion. I didn't know if I even believed in God anymore at all. It took time. I guess I was agnostic for awhile, but I didn't totally give up on the possiblity that God existed.
Everyone has different opinions as to whether or not God hears prayers when we were witnesses or not. My personal opinion, for what its worth, is that God hears those who approach him in faith. I know I had prayers answered then, and I've had prayers answered now, things no one could know about or things that could not be just left to chance. My faith has been restored.
Like Cantleave , Im thankful for this site. I'm thankful for the christians, other religions, atheists & agnostics. Each person's comments have helped me through the different stages I have gone through after leaving the JWs.
-
19
Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 8-23-09 WT Study (SPEAK TRUTH)
by blondie incomments you will not hear at the 08-23-09 wt study (june 15, 2009 pages 11-20)(speak truth).
review comments will be in red or comments heading.
wt material from today's wt will be in black.
-
-
littlebird
Thank you Blondie,
Made me think of them lying when they claimed to be a friend of the court, or whatever it was called, during the tax case with Jimmy Swaggert.
BTW, did the Wt have to pay workmans comp?
-
-
-
-
-
-
littlebird
I'm so sorry stillin for what your daughter and your family have gone through.
You are correct that the Jw's should not be painted with a wide brush that they are child molesters, I hope my comments did not imply that I feel that way, because I dont, at all. I only disagree with the WT's way of handling the cases.
-
-
-
littlebird
Yes, stillin, I do believe someone could be wrongly accused. However, the protection of children should be the top priority. Other individuals have to report an accusation whether or not someones life is ruined, teachers, daycare providers, doctors and yes, clergy.
Many witnesses don't go to the police because of the reasons I've already stated, and also because they don't wish to take a brother to court, they are fearful of bringing reproach on Jehovah's name. Im not saying I agree with it, because I dont, I've just seen it happen.
It is not up to the elders to judge whether a person is guilty of child molesting, but it is also not their job to decide that a child is lying either. Thats what our legal system is for. If people would just take their children to the police, instead of the elders, I believe that would be the best first step. If the news got around the hall, the elders could just tell others to let the legal system do it's job, then parents would be able to make their own decision as to whether or not they want their children around the accused. The way it is now, the parents have no clue. They have trust in the leaders of the congregation to protect them and several times these acts of abuse have been committed by elders and servants who were known to be molesters by the WT. Did you know that when we were distributing kingdom news 37, that condemned the catholic church for their child abuse cases, the WT was settling cases of their own? It was hypocrisy at its finest.
Suppose your child came to you about brother/sister so & so. They were molested. Maybe at another witnesses house, out in service, at the hall, wherever. You're upset, confused, distraught, and you go to the presiding overseer for advise, "What do I do?"
The elders will question your child. They call the legal dept. If you are in a reporting state, great! If you are not, oops. Depending on who your body of elders are will depend on the advice you get.
They will confront the accused. If that person denies it, this is what you could be told. You could be told that "We can't tell you what to do, but, if you do tell anyone, you could bring reproach on Jehovah's name and ruin brother/sister so & so's life . If you didn't see it, and there's no witnesses, how do you know your child is telling the truth? You could be slandering this person and cause divisions in the congregation. In these situations you just have to wait on Jehovah. Right now everything just between your family and the body of elders, that's where it needs to stay or we'll have to take action against someone, if we cant prove brother/sister so & so did this, you could be counselled and possibly disiplined for slander. "
So my friend, you have two choices as a parent. You can believe your child and take the chance of ruining someone's life and go to the police, knowing without "two witnesses" you could be disfellowshipped for slander. Or you can shut up and risk ruining your childs life and possibly other childrens lives. It's up to you.
-
-
-
littlebird
Hello stillin,
The issue isn't how many molesters there are within Jehovahs Witnesses, but rather the policies that the WT institutes that protect the molester and leave the children vulnerable.
1. The 2 witness rule. Molesters don't usually have an audience.
2. Only reporting accusations in states that require them to report.
3. If you, as a victim, cannot prove your charge, you can be reproved or disfellowshipped for lying and if you speak of it to others, you will be punished for causing divisions. I know of 2 cases personally.
4. Since the accusation is kept quiet, other members, who are not elders, are left unaware that there is a molester is amongst them.
These are just of few of the problems. You can visit silentlambs.org for more info.
-
23
Debunking the "Faithful and Discrete Slave" concept
by Awakened at Gilead inmy latest video... check it out.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzyjca1-q60.
-
-
littlebird
Very Good Job! Thank you for the time used spend putting this out there.
-
31
Your thoughtful opinion is requested, please, on a possible proposal to free my wife from JWs
by lifelong humanist insix years 'jw free', my wife is still in, although she's now nowhere neary as zealous as i was when in.
for this i'm grateful.. please take a moment to review my current situation as far as my wife's involvement is concerned with our 4, adult male children:.
my wife regularly contacts my dfd son, invites him and his wife to visit us, along with their 4 year old son, and thinks absolutely nothing of it!
-
-
littlebird
Don't Do It!
You'll be acting just like the JW's that you want her want out of, sneaking around and tattling. You would be better off to keep inviting your sons over and maybe some friends, this will show her that "wordly people" arent the big, bad wolf she's heard they are. If you are worried about her spiritually, remember she is "sanctified" by the believing spouse. My Jw spouse keeps trying to get me back in, this is causing a huge divide, so I suppose, the reverse, will only cause you more distance and she will see you as a tool of Satan trying to pull her out of the truth. Be Careful!