Posts by sd-7

212

Candace Conti v Watchtower Society | June 3, 2013 | Respondent's Brief - prepared by Rick Simons | A136641

by jwleaks in

jw leaks has published the respondent's brief prepared by rick simons in the case: candace conti v. watchtower bible and tract society of new york & fremont congregation of jehovah's witnesses.

(90 pages).

http://jwleaks.org/candace-conti/.

sd-7

Just from reading the first day's transcript from the trial, I felt like my blood pressure was going to spike. I don't think I can read any more about it without self-destructing. I'd been curious about--and had never really done much by way of research on--this issue of child abuse in the WT. I actually saw the old Dateline special back when it came out, and I was still a JW back then. It disturbed me, but...I somehow shrugged it off (despite secretly visiting the Silent Lambs website at that time. I think I knew something wasn't right with the religion but I was afraid to act on it at the time). But this trial really impressed upon me just how much the Society is capable of for the sake of self-preservation. It's chilling.

I'm thinking I should stop reading it for the sake of my health, and yet after reading the first day, I very much want to read all the rest of the trial. (sigh) Did anyone read the whole thing? How on earth did you handle it?

--sd-7

10

JW HUMOR IS Painful, see what I mean!

by ÁrbolesdeArabia in

the list of photos is long, some are very arrogant like "you go to church and say your a christian, that's like saying i have a motorcyle in my garage and that makes me a evil knivel!!

" what is the common thread of all these photos, head out to the site and see if you find anything funny.

my funny bone is not working, might be for you?

sd-7

Yeah, those are pretty bad. Like, not even a laugh at any of them. It's more like the kind of thing archaeologists would find written on cave walls if JWs were cavemen. That is to say, it gives insight into the culture of what it is to be one.

--sd-7

34

Jehovahs Witnesses and the Curse of Music.

by donny in

jehovahs witnesses and the curse of music.. .

i was inspired to write this after listening to a recent podcast of the thinking atheist by seth andrews.

as many of you know, seth was a devout christian who not only loved contemporary christian music but was one of the hosts of a popular morning show on kxoj in tulsa, oklahoma in the 1990s.

sd-7

"Wipe in the Vasoline"

LOL! What was she thinking about? I've noticed that when you're looking for bad in a song, you'll hear lyrics that aren't even actually what's being said. It's amazing how that works.

--sd-7

77

I just informed the parents about me and the TTATT... heart wrenching

by sosoconfused in

well first i want to thank everyone here for the good points etc... i have received over the last few months.

you guys have really been helpful!.

so the other day my mother wrote me a 3 page letter telling me how she was so scared for me because she could tell my love for the truth was gone etc.. so i decided i wanted to totally rip the band-aid off and get this matter over and done with.

sd-7

I then said Jesus apostles... not the slave... she pretty much called me an apostate. I said why don't you just read the magazine again. She admitted that it didn't matter what changed because if it came from the slave it is coming from Jehovah. I did the ever so familiar face-palm and just moved on

This one needs the Jean-Luc Picard Facepalm...

Facepalm

It's funny because when you actually say what's being expressed in the literature, IN PRINT!!, you're an evil apostate. But when it's studied at the meeting, "How wonderful it is that the light keeps getting brighter!" I guess they just have to make sure they don't agree with you even on stuff that they agree with because it would scare the heck out of them.

--sd-7

77

I just informed the parents about me and the TTATT... heart wrenching

by sosoconfused in

well first i want to thank everyone here for the good points etc... i have received over the last few months.

you guys have really been helpful!.

so the other day my mother wrote me a 3 page letter telling me how she was so scared for me because she could tell my love for the truth was gone etc.. so i decided i wanted to totally rip the band-aid off and get this matter over and done with.

sd-7

Wow SD how theocratic of your brother.

"Oh, you have no idea, sir!" He's an MS and pioneer, giving public talks, at that. I would never say something like that out loud to someone, even if I thought it in my head, much less to family, so it was definitely a shock to me.

Perhaps I should include a link to that classic battle-of-the-family here, just as a refreshing memory (oldies are goodies, truly) and to show you, sosoconfused, you are definitely not alone in having had this stuff happen:

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/190051/1/Ambushed-Famly-Intervention

--sd-7

77

I just informed the parents about me and the TTATT... heart wrenching

by sosoconfused in

well first i want to thank everyone here for the good points etc... i have received over the last few months.

you guys have really been helpful!.

so the other day my mother wrote me a 3 page letter telling me how she was so scared for me because she could tell my love for the truth was gone etc.. so i decided i wanted to totally rip the band-aid off and get this matter over and done with.

sd-7

Wow, this reminds me of my own experience with my family. Only you were actually prepared with documentation--not that it entirely helped, sadly--whereas I wasn't, since I didn't even know my family knew about the judicial committee that had just ended. (Either someone knows I'm sd-7, or my wife told like, everyone on earth; otherwise, the elders violated the hell out of 'confidentiality'.)

Anyway, sounds like a bittersweet moment. My big brother's last words to me after our long discussion about these issues was, "F--- you." So it's safe to say you fared a bit better than I did, ha ha!

But it does sound like a really emotional thing to go through, and I'm sorry you had to deal with that. It's a very painful thing. I never wanted to see my mom or my brother again after our conversation was over. To say nothing of my wife, but then bringing her into that was my own fault anyway.

It's...just sad that these kinds of events are being replayed over and over in so many lives, all because of this religion. How they can refer to this as 'true religion' is beyond me. But maybe that's not a contradiction at all, and this is how true religion really works in its purest form.

--sd-7

8

has anyone see the Dvd

by d in

jw
friends

the older couple i talked in my last thread gave us another video called walk by faith not sight.. i have seen it at their house it is okay not the best tell me what do you think about the movie?.

.

sd-7

Yeah, that's the one, Billy. My wife had that one on not that long ago. I was impressed at the higher production quality, but it seemed to me to be quite strange since it was based on events that are not recorded in the Bible at all. Which means the entire series of events is utterly fabricated.

I didn't really watch it from start to end, of course, so otherwise, I can't say much of anything. Except...it raises questions about what the WT is trying to say here. What if they ask all JWs to go to some specific location because 'the end is imminent'? I think I even asked my wife about that once, and she said she would go, of course. Scary...

--sd-7

25

JW calendar for this month - no accidents? LOGIC FAIL

by Comatose in

it shows a bunch of happified people working on a house.

tagged with the scripture they build houses and have occupancy.

but in the picture they are all wearing hard hats and safety harnesses.

sd-7

That's one thing I often thought about, at least in hindsight. If people in the 'new system' are still mortal, that means they can still die from anything that could kill a human. Falling off of something, getting hit in the head by accident--all that stuff is still possible. Maybe that means they'll get like a Wolverine-type healing factor so they can't die from accidents or something. 'Cause you have to die only from sin in the 'new system'. Maybe the big sin would be not wearing a hard hat, which would amount to 'thrill-seeking' or 'not valuing the gift of life', thus leading to instant death by divine zapping.

--sd-7

34

Jehovahs Witnesses and the Curse of Music.

by donny in

jehovahs witnesses and the curse of music.. .

i was inspired to write this after listening to a recent podcast of the thinking atheist by seth andrews.

as many of you know, seth was a devout christian who not only loved contemporary christian music but was one of the hosts of a popular morning show on kxoj in tulsa, oklahoma in the 1990s.

sd-7

I guess I didn't really listen to much music that had lyrics for a long time, because of the JW issues. Well, that and my love for Star Wars music. Heck, I didn't have my own music to listen to until I was nearly out of high school. At the very least, I knew it was common sense not to share too much of any of my music preferences with anyone else. Now I tend to just not listen to any music with lyrics if my wife is in the car, unless it's something I think can pass the paranoia.

--sd-7

10

Combating Destructive Mind Control Part I

by ABibleStudent in

for the past month i have been reading threads on the jwn that mentioned steve hassans books.

last week while i was at the library, i checked out combatting cult mind control by steve hassan.

i agree with all of what steve hassan wrote about destructive mind control (i may disagree with some of his conspiracy theories).

sd-7

Absolutely, reading Steve Hassan's books is a critical part of understanding what was done to us all. I've read his first two books and am currently reading his latest, 'Freedom of Mind', and I definitely recommend this as essential reading for all you lurkers out there, faders, and all ex-JWs.

Let me tell you, I used to doze off from time to time at meetings. After I read Steve Hassan's books, I never fell asleep at a meeting again. The tone of voice they use and the music they play is also a part of lulling your mind to a standstill. I didn't fully grasp that part until I was mentally free, and hearing my wife listen to the meeting over the phone one day. Everyone has this same zombie-like tone of voice at the meetings, when they comment, the person giving the talk, all of that.

I've also come to understand from my own dealings with JW family members that they will never believe they are under some 'destructive influence' (which is the new term Steve Hassan is using these days rather than 'mind control'). There is a very strong resistance to any attack on the belief system or the leaders. Hassan explains why very clearly. One thing that's said over and over is NEVER to criticize the group, the leadership, or the teachings in front of your family member or friend who is in a cult. (Naturally it's first instinct to do so, but it never turns out well.)

Anyway, this is a very good thread to keep close to the top!

--sd-7