news bulletin: fessler versus watchtower – opening statements and motions in jehovah’s witness child abuse trial – day 1. .
posted on february 12, 2017. city hall, philadelphia, pennsylvania.
on a cold philadelphia morning the 7th of february, 2017, stephanie fessler walked into the court of common pleas of pennsylvania, first judicial district, civil trial division.
Dead right sparky one, in fact they used to term ministerial servants " deacons" at one point, so much for the lay persons claim. How many times have they insisted they are ministers of religion even....especially whilst trying to avoid various civic and military duties.
Elders = vicars/priest/pastor
CO = bishop
Branch staff = archbishop
GB = ( you guessed it) Popes!
ever since i came out of the witnesses, i've become very political.. i've heard lots of arguments back and forth for many things.. in the u.s. there is the argument that it is "racist" to want to deny entry to muslims.
while there is freedom of religion, there is also the very valid concern of maintaining democracy and a justice system that is based on modern values.we as exjw's constantly quote the pew center for statistics on jw's such as: they are last place in the us for members of a religion that go to university, and second-last for poverty levels of members of a religion.
we accept those statistics and mention them as proof of how damaging the jw's are.now, let's use the same center for some very scary statistics on islam:http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/07/22/muslims-and-islam-key-findings-in-the-u-s-and-around-the-world/.
good post I loveTTATT2 , the western democratic nations are going to rue the day they let in so many muslims.
What I don't understand Smiddy is that we in Britain ( I know you're a Brit)and France have had fairly large Muslim communities for at least 60 years - in some places they are in the majority. We haven't had any *problems, so why all the trouble now?
I have my own theories, but even so.
*Edited to say no problems specific to their being Muslim immigrants . Certainly didn't hear anything about the "S"(sharia) word.
ever since i came out of the witnesses, i've become very political.. i've heard lots of arguments back and forth for many things.. in the u.s. there is the argument that it is "racist" to want to deny entry to muslims.
while there is freedom of religion, there is also the very valid concern of maintaining democracy and a justice system that is based on modern values.we as exjw's constantly quote the pew center for statistics on jw's such as: they are last place in the us for members of a religion that go to university, and second-last for poverty levels of members of a religion.
we accept those statistics and mention them as proof of how damaging the jw's are.now, let's use the same center for some very scary statistics on islam:http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/07/22/muslims-and-islam-key-findings-in-the-u-s-and-around-the-world/.
Rainbow _Troll Can you tell us anymore about these " satanic verses"? About these daughters of Allah please?
i am interested in finding out on a small scale the extent of which shunning has impacted on you personally.. my own experience is that when i faded about 12 years ago.
the woman whose house the book study was held at (and who was virtually a neighbour) walked right past me in my own street.
i remember it so well.
Baby girl30 So much so that they have walked right by me and literally acted like I do not exist. It's really pathetic...
Unshaklethechains God help those with low self esteem and those with mental health problems, those especially who are young. I mean for God's sake one poster has experienced shunning since 16!!!!
This just makes me rage, and I'm a mild mannered type in person.
But I genuinely believe that parents who do that - walk past their kids, shun from 16, shun the depressed, the Ill, the grandkids, the pregnant hell anykids, should be charged by the government for a full course of psychotherapy for their children no matter their age and should be publicly named And shamed as unfit parents. Ooooo how I wish I could prosecute them for child abandonment!!! We are all our parents children.
Monsters!
noas a current or past jehovah's witness, do you / or did you feel part of a spiritual paradise with full liberty in christ as the watchtower society/organisation describes?.
or do you / did you feel you were wearing a proverbial straitjacket in the sense you feel / felt restricted and controlled by the watchtower society / organisation?.
Rainbow_Troll That's truly horrific, thank goodness you were mature enough and educated enough not to take his vile insults seriously....imagine him saying that rubbish to a teenager with no knowledge except WT indoctrination and low self esteem ( which is endemic in jw's). Then imagine that believing him or herself possessed. I won't draw a picture of the likely consequences.
I'm sorry this happened to You.
Unshacklethechains To answer I believed in the spiritual paradise as a child and young person but as an adult I found it oppressive.I don't know whether I had childish blinders on at first but I think the control has tightened. Things like family shunning was not expected and strictures on appearance have tightened, in my opinion.
As I matured I was much too individualistic to cope with the rules and regs, which I often pushed to the limit.
I think I was in love with the "idea" of this spiritual ideal....no war, brotherly love etc but found the reality of it wasn't for me. Or rarther the WT reality of it.
noas a current or past jehovah's witness, do you / or did you feel part of a spiritual paradise with full liberty in christ as the watchtower society/organisation describes?.
or do you / did you feel you were wearing a proverbial straitjacket in the sense you feel / felt restricted and controlled by the watchtower society / organisation?.
Smiddy Russia today is not to be confused with the USSR (United Socialist Soviet Republic ) as it was back then.
For young people who dont understand that I recommend watching the satirical movie Dr Strangelove its a classic yet identifies us oldies who lived through that era.
Couldn't agree more Smiddy, although not around in the sixties it carried over to the seventies and early 80s and that era had a profound effect on those of us joining the WT. Even ordinary folk felt a real sense of fear and Armaggeddon in the form of a nuclear winter seemed a very real prospect.
As young people even without the Watchtower many didn't envisage reaching old age within our present society.
yesterday i had an interesting visitor—my long-time school friend.
we both studied with jws together, and he progressed to dedication and baptism whereas i stopped before the final step and got transferred to another place.
after the routine conversations, he said: “you know how much your family members long to see you take up the truth ….. before it is too late, i would suggest you start tasting jehovah.”.
I think I understand your words with a little poetic licence...I think it would register well with a JW , it made me think of Corinthians ...
" When I was a child I thought like a child, spake like a child.....( fairytales),when I became a man, I put away childish things?"
i was recently at a sunday watchtower, reading one of the novels i have on my ipad to help me get through the dreadfully boring event.
every once in awhile though i'll glance at the article just in case anyone is peeking at my screen, and in the article, i noticed these paragraphs.. 3. how did exile in babylon differ from the slavery the israelites had experienced in egypt?.
3 what the prophets had foretold came to pass.
I was just reading the hilarious story in 1 Samuel 16 Where the Philistines, for stealing the ARC OF THE COVENANT get struck with a bad case of piles! ( Well, their 5 leaders). Then there is the ridiculous story of the cows, and deciding whether it was God who cursed them with piles based on which way the bloody cows went.
Well, cows go toward the Isrealite village so they decide to send the ARC back to the jews on the cows. Just to make sure old Jehobo wouldn't get mad they decide to send 5 GOLDEN statues OF HEAMORRHOIDS! !Don't know whether still attached to the arse, or which king posed as the model!
Any road, off they send the Arc and the GOLDEN PILES on the back of the cows, it turns up at the village and ever fair God decides to KILL 70 men of the village for peeping at the Arc, presumably to see what the damn thing was!
So, thieving the Arc gets you piles.
Looking at it gets you death.
everyone here has read mt.
25 and knows the illustration of the virgins with the lamps.
i have mentioned this illustration in conversation with several dubbies, to draw attention to their foolishness in following watchtower's false reasoning.. in the illustration, there are two kinds of virgins, or people.
Excellent analogy. Really enjoyed that though sadly it applies to msny folks. I like the appeal to two aspects it would have for dubs too.
...would you choose to ban the jw religion?.
if you wouldn't ban them what, if any, changes would you force upon them?.
All religions must pay all 'volunteers' or member's of 'religious orders' a working wage
That's a great idea and will prevent many ills.
