Posts by JeffT

27

A coordinated effort to bring up Watchtower pedophelia to the public's attention.

by Village Idiot in

a statement that phizzy made on jonathan drake's thread on flyers gave me the following ideas.. we should make a flyer on the issue of the watchtower pedophilia issue written with the object of alerting the public about the jw door to door activity.

phizzy suggested the title, "the paedophile at your door".. on that flyer should be the contact information of our most informed member on the subject who's willing to talk to the media.

barbara anderson perhaps?.

JeffT

I think a better use of time and resources would be to go to work on getting legislators to require background checks on anyone working with children: teachers, pastors, doctors; you name it. We might actually bring the power of the law to bear on this problem.

51

“We are not done yet!” – Candace Conti reacts to appeal court decision

by Watchtower-Free in

http://jwsurvey.org/cedars-blog/we-are-not-done-yet-candace-reacts-to-appeal-court-decision.

candace conti (pictured in her interview with abc) has spoken out for the first time about the appeal court decision.

as current and former jehovahs witnesses digest the news that watchtowers appeal against the candace conti verdict has faltered, albeit with the punitive element of the judgment reversed, candace has reacted for the first time by telling me: we are not done yet.. news spread on monday that the state appeals court in san francisco had upheld the $2.8 million compensatory damages in the original june 2012 verdict, but overturned the $8.6 million punitive award against watchtower.. the court decided that, though watchtower had neglected its responsibility to supervise known pedophile jonathan kendrick in field ministry, a church-sponsored activity, the organization had no duty to warn parents in the congregation that a pedophile was in their midst or report him to authorities.. an insightful report by investigative reporter trey bundy has suggested that the court reached its decision because the precedent set by the conti verdict might be too burdensome to enforce.. the burden would be considerable because the precedent could require a church to intervene whenever it has reason to believe that a congregation member is capable of doing harm, and the scope of that duty could not be limited with any precision, the judges wrote.. candaces attorney rick simons responded by pointedly telling bundy: they think in public policy terms that theres too much risk in broadening the churchs responsibility and liability so that it burdens what churches do.

JeffT

It seems to me that a piece of the court's reasoning on this, is that determining the actual level of liability in these matters requires a legislative, not judicial, action. The legislature can pass laws saying that church leaders have a duty (for instance) to warn congregants about child molesters, but not shop lifters.

I think this is what's behind the talk about setting a burdensome precedent. If the court decides that the WTBS is liable it has no way of stating where that liability ends. This would flood the courts with potential suits.

So, what we all need to do is petition our legislators to pass regulations regarding background checks etc for ALL adults who work with children.

26

What Things Did You Not Talk About as a JW?

by minimus in

jw
friends

you have to lead a secret life as a jw.

you're not supposed to over drink, go to night clubs, enjoy worldly concerts, etc.....sex, though is really taboo.

you could never freely talk about your sex life.

JeffT

What Millie210 and OneEyedJoe said. I'm a big history buff, particularly military history, also science of all sorts. I never could talk to a JW about such things. How messed up is that?

56

Question for atheists and nonbelievers

by pressman in

i profess to teach the truth to you all and get you to all to think and believe.

believing in christ through his words and not through evil religious cults, like hoj and jw, can and will save you.

do you all realize that every time you are victorious and receive something of value through your hard work and sweat, it was our holy god who blessed you.

JeffT

I'm a Christian. As such I'm a follower of Jesus, not a follower of other followers. I do not attend any church or profess any particular doctrine because I believe that God wants me to answer any question I have for myself. Like Faye, I'm put off by arrogance.

PS, learn how to right an intelligent, concise paragraph. Your post is unreadably verbose and unfocused.

20

First human head transplant could happen in two years.

by James Mixon in

www.newscientiat.com there goes the argument gay men can't have kids.

JeffT

Here's a better link.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22530103.700-first-human-head-transplant-could-happen-in-two-years.html#.VS2VT_nF8fV

I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for this to happen. For starters keep in mind that surgeons and internists seem to have differing definitions of the word "success." As seen in this quote from the article:

The first successful head transplant, in which one head was replaced by another, was carried out in 1970. A team led by Robert White at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, transplanted the head of one monkey onto the body of another. They didn't attempt to join the spinal cords, though, so the monkey couldn't move its body, but it was able to breathe with artificial assistance. The monkey lived for nine days until its immune system rejected the head.

While the surgical techniques seem to be close, there are a lot of other technologies involved in a transplant. I guess we'll know in a year or two.

PS: where are you going to get the bodies to attach the heads to?

14

Where did the Buzz go?

by snugglebunny in

jw
friends

i recently came across the very first kingdom song i ever heard.

twickenham, 1955. i was just a kid then of course, but i do recall the "buzz" that seemed to permeate everything, not dis-similar to that of an international rugby match.

people were smiling while singing their hearts out, the lunch-time queues for the cafeteria full of old friends getting re-aquainted, young lads and lasses eyeing one another and blushing furiously, sessions 2 untl 4 then 7 until 9.30 giving folk plenty of time to socialise.. where did it all go wrong?.

JeffT

I agree with many of the comments above.

I became a witness in 1973, at age 22. The local congregation was a small, friendly, close-knit group. We had a lot fun at dinner parties, congregation picnics, restaurants after assemblies; it really felt like being part of a family. People were much more engaged with discussions of doctrines, scriptures, how to explain things etc.

This may still be true in some of the smaller congregations, I wouldn't know. But from what I've seen and read, that's all gone away. I think that started with the 1975 failure, but a number of structural changes added to the problem. The GB seem to be intent on regulating every single aspect of the members' lives. They also seem to oppose anything that might be fun. The book study (which was a nice chance to meet in smaller group) is gone. So are the picnics etc. The only new thought I can recall seeing in a Watchtower in years was the generation thing, which has to look silly even to the most die hard Witness. So all they are left with is the treadmill.

105

LATEST NEWS: CANDANCE CONTI VERIDICT READY - WT LOST!!!!!!!

by Viva la Vida in

jw
friends

i'm not an expert but that is my understanding of this: .

opinion filed.. (signed published) the judgment against defendants on the negligence count is affirmed.

the judgment against watchtower on the cause of action for punitive damages is reversed with directions to enter judgment for watchtower on punitive damages.

JeffT

IANAL either but I've been in court on business lawsuits enough times. I agree with cappytan. The actual damages were upheld, the punitive damages were dropped. This is not uncommon with large lawsuits, the original jury slaps the defendant with a ton of additional damages, which get drastically reduced on appeal.

21

Ok, so in the spirit of the April broadcast, what do you want to ask god to fix for you?

by stuckinarut2 in

so by now most of us have heard about (or watched) the april broadcast and the ridiculous "experience" of the guy that asked god to fix his construction leak before he believed in him..... so, what would you like to "pray that god fixes" in your life??.

humorous or serious replies welcome!

(although sarcastic, cynical and funny replies preferred hehe).

JeffT

Maybe God could get the Watchtower to stop writing nonsense.

5

NHS Finally speak out on the Ashya King story.

by nicolaou in

i count brett and nagmeh as personal friends though i've not spoken to them since they left the uk.. my personal interest stated i'm just going to share the link and step back from the discussion.

they are good people, but good people can make mistakes too.

i hope the bbc documentary tonight doesn't demonise them.. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-32219005.