GLTirebiter

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Posts by GLTirebiter

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  120

  Do YOU Believe That JWs Have A Huge Problem With Pedophiles?

  by minimus in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  i don't think there are more pedophiles in the religion than there are in others.. i understand that one is too many.

  but i think some believe that it's an epidemic within the organization.

  i believe their 2 witness rule can help pedophiles secretly abuse kids.. but i don't think that this particular crime dominates those in the religion.. .

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  GLTirebiter

  JWs have established progressive policies to investigate, and if proven, publicly reprove/disfellowship rank & file members, as well as it's leaders, for outrageous sins such as Child Abuse.

  That is part of the problem! The Watchtower takes it upon themselves to do the investigation, try the facts, and administer punishment. Their obligation is to report it to the lawful authorities, without delay, without exception. Having somebody "reproved" or "disfellowshipped" is not the same as having them face the lawful punishment for their act. In particular, it doesn't place them on the sex offenders registry, a key method of protecting children from known offenders.

  The Watchtower's "progressive" policy states the elders are to report when required by law, no more (they consider an anonymous call from a public telephone sufficient to meet that obligation). Victims and witnesses are warned that they would be "creating a division" if they make their own report after the elders decide not to (as they often do, because of the notorious "two witness rule".) In short, they have policies that look good on the surface, but are more about protecting their image than with justice for the victims.

  Other churches adopt clear, no-excuses policies:

  ARTICLE 4. Dioceses/eparchies are to report an allegation of sexual abuse of a person who is a minor to the public authorities.

  Dioceses/eparchies are to comply with all applicable civil laws with respect to the reporting of allegations of sexual abuse of minors to civil authorities and cooperate in their investigation in accord with the law of the jurisdiction in question.

  Dioceses/eparchies are to cooperate with public authorities about reporting cases even when the person is no longer a minor.

  In every instance, dioceses/eparchies are to advise victims of their right to make a report to public authorities and support this right."
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  18

  Stack all Society's literature together in one pile -- how tall?

  by FatFreek 2005 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  any of you math wizards willing to try a guess?

  i mean everything -- books, magazines from 1879, booklets, pamphlets, tracts, etc.. it may be an interesting number.

  ten feet?

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  GLTirebiter

  My Ex's collection of bound WT and Awake volumes (about 50 years worth, IIRC) took up about 8 feet of shelf space. There was another 3 or 4 feet of other volumes: various "192 page books" and copies of the NWT--but there were many duplicates among those. But if you consider everything back to Russell's tracts and Sudies in the Scriptures, not to mention Rutherford's phono records, it should easily top twenty feet.
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  88

  Your Thoughts, Please (Seriously)...

  by AGuest in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  may you all have peace!.

  on occasion, dear ones post questions on the board that have a "legal" undertone.

  sometimes those questions are just trying to get a sense of what questions such one should ask (perhaps of an attorney), sometimes they have to do with very ordinary events, and sometimes they really do require in-depth legal assistance/analysis.

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  GLTirebiter

  Hey Clarinetist--I'm glad you got that mess worked out. You guys be more careful next time, OK?
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  57

  It's my birthday :-)

  by poopsiecakes in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ...and i'm shamelessly looking for love from my jwn peeps!

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  GLTirebiter

  Happy birthday, poopsie!
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  12

  CANNONBALL!!!!

  by ziddina in

  1. social
  2. humour

  since nobody was injured, i found this way too funny!!!

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj-cerr0voy.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cocjh_h3jfi.

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  GLTirebiter

  "They have insuranced for things like this"--I wonder how much the premiums just went up?

  This could be the most popular episode yet!
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  28

  Why the hell do I feel like this suddenly?!?!

  by freshstart in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  today i saw a friend that is still a hardcore jw.

  she knows we're not going to meetings, but seemed pretty cool with it and was willing to have lunch with me, so i thought why not?

  she mentioned something about the convention coming up in a couple of weeks, and all of the sudden i got so nostalgic and felt like maybe i wanted to go.

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  GLTirebiter

  When you are reminded of it, it's natural to want to return to a lost emotional attachment. It's like being divorced, dreaming of what once was, and waking to thoughts of the one who no longer sleeps beside you.

  As Shelby noted, the words can be a trigger that selectively recall the good memories while temporarily masking the pain that convinced you to leave. Stit back, relax, and think about it clearly. When hindsight seems to be 20/20, it may be because of the rose-colored glasses we are looking through.
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  18

  JW is union member for years....?

  by blondie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/16655276/article-tim-bailey-a-well-traveled-%e2%80%98country-boy%e2%80%99?instance=home_features.

  bailey, who had been transferred to bricklayers local no.

  9 in pittsburgh, retired in 2008. having remained a union member through the years, he receives a pension as a benefit.. .

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  GLTirebiter

  Many Witnesses I know work in trades where union membership is required: grocery store clerks, electricians, truck drivers, etc. If they work in a "closed shop" where joining the union is a condition of employment, that can hardly be held against them.
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  33

  My Husband's Kids Have Cut Him Off

  by headisspinning in

  1. social
  2. family

  well, my husband's worst fear has happened.

  he told his kids, ages 15 and 10 that he was coming to visit them over the holidays.

  his ex-wife limits his telephone contact to one call per week, so when he called them last week to arrange the specific days he would see them, his son told him that he got baptized back in september and would no longer be willing to see his father.. this came as a complete shock.

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  GLTirebiter

  I feel sad for him, but even more so for the children. When an ex-spouse interferes with children having a normal relationship with their other parent, in the long run it hurts the children more than her intended target. Whether the interference is active ("Remember what they said about apostates at the last assembly?") or passive-aggressive ("If you don't really want to see him, that's okay honey!"), this is emotional abuse--what they call parental alienation syndrome.

  With her appearing to be beyond the reach of common sense, reason and civil behavior, doing anuthing about this menas hiring a lawyer, probably going to mediation or the family court (several times), and dealing the time, hassle and EXPEN$E of doing all that. But if your husband does nothing, she gets her way by default. She knows this, and is using it to her advantage.

  For the sake of the children as well as your husbands, I hope you can restore some semblance of a normal family relationship with the children.
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  22

  Pose THIS QUESTION and watch JW"S REALIZE they have been DUPED!!

  by foolsparadise in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i told a current longtime jw friend who hasn't been to a meeting in months now :) this statement:.

  "if jw's were so honest and this was the true religion that they really and i mean really believed was the truth, how come they never tell any of their return visits or children before babtizim that if they ever choose to think differently and believe differently and decides they no longer want to be one of jehovahs witness, they will be shunned by all former friends and last but not least family??!!

  do you really think if they were told this "disclosure" at the time of studying they would continue?

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  GLTirebiter

  I agree with OTWO. Any of those "stumper" questions will only work on somebody who is ready to hear it. That may be before they begin "studying", or after they have come to similar conclusions on their own and already are heading up the road away from the Kingdom Hall. For those who are mentally "in", these tactics only reinforce the persecution complex--in their eyes, it is a Watchtower prediction coming true right before their eyes, so it does more harm than good.

  It's better to prove the Watchtower wrong by being living, breathing proof that non-Witnesses are not all disgusting liars, cheats and thieves. It is said that "living well is the best revenge." That is also a strong rebuttal to the Watchtower's caricature of all us "worldly" people. In other words, actions do speak louder than words!
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  17

  Is being a JW that serious?

  by Skratch in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  before i decided to post my thread i went through this most of this site and tried to see everyone elses experiences and childhoods, unlike some ppl i never told my friends i was a jw because i just knew that would make me uncool to everyone and i wasnt brainwashed like the rest of the jw's i saw and really followed there life by the jw principles.

  its sad how some parents have there kids so brainwashed by this stuff its so pathetic i feel sad for some of them, they probably have no friends in school.

  growing up in a jw household i always thought alot of there rules are intense and dont allow humans to have any fun i mean come on i can't play pokemon?

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  GLTirebiter

  Welcome, skratch!

  if they did they probably wont a real jw in the first place

  Think about what that statement really says. It means "We are special, we are better than everybody else. They aren't special, so they couldn't really be one of us!" This proves only the arrogance and hypcrisy of those saying it (an attitude not unique to the Watchtower religion, nor to religions in general).

  You're doing well to recognize the crazy Watchtower attitudes. Just be careful, when rejecting their foolish pride, to keep enough humility to avoid mirroring that same attitude from a different extreme.