Posts by JeffT

21

Suppose I ought to introduce myself.....

by Andy Dufresne in

jw
friends

i've left a couple of semi-"humorous" remarks, but not yet said a proper hello....but firstly thank you, to all, for this site and all its comments.i have been lurking on this site for 4-5 years, awake for 5-6 years and seriously fading for the last 4 years.

i am now "out" and widely considered "out" by the congregation but due being very cautious and playing a very long game, (and having a wife who understand the repercussions of blowing the whistle on the few viewpoints i have discussed with her) i have not been df'd of da'd.

this forum has been a crutch and guide as well as helping me wake - and the humour many on here use has been a welcome relief.

JeffT

Welcome, great screen name. I've always thought that movie is a good allegory for escaping the Watchtower.

10

The Particulars of Claim in Otuo v Morley and Watch Tower

by akromo in

in the high court of justice claimno: hq14d02898 .

queens bench division.

1. this is a claim in slander against the first and second defendant..

JeffT

I will admit that I don't know much about English law. I am generally familiar with how US courts work, and the basis of a lot of our law can be found in English common law.

The big issue here is did he really commit fraud. In US Courts the truth is an absolute defense. If he committed fraud, they didn't slander him when they said he committed fraud. It I was representing the plaintiff the first questions I'd ask would be "Were the police called? What proof do you have that there was fraud? If you did not call the police, why not? Did the victim of the fraud call the police, or sue for damages?"

This could be an interesting one to watch, if the DF'd him on the heresay of a couple of other people, he may have a case.

15

Is downloading Jw application dangerous?

by nakanozzi in

hi, everybody.. romor has it that here in japan, downloading jw application is dangerous because once.

you download it, borg will know your every activity on the internet.. is this true?.

does anybody know about that kind of thing?.

JeffT

whereas cookies can identify the previous web page the visitor last opened.

Everybody should go to a pornsite for a minute before visiting the WTBS website. That would give them something to investigate.

40

New K.Hall Design, Mansfield

by BluesBrother in

jw
friends

not mansfield u k , but mansfield in u s a - it doesn't look much, does it?

in fact even the uber dubs on j w talk are not impressed (that must be a first!

this thread of theirs is publicly readable:.

JeffT

I've worked in real estate. They'll be doing well if they can sell that thing for what it cost to build. It has no appeal whatsoever, it will go for a low price because anybody who can afford something nicer won't buy it. If you're in business, you want a building that will make people want to come in. Business like CVS would probably build something to their own design. And if it sells a year from now, everybody in town is going to call "the old Kingdom Hall."

15

How Corrupt Is WT?

by thedepressedsoul in

how corrupt do you think they are?

if so, in what ways?

i've been compiling my own list and thoughts.

JeffT

Legally corrupt or morally corrupt? There's a difference. I think they may be brushing up against the legal line on a lot of things, I don't believe they've crossed it.

Morally, they have a lot to answer for: false prophecy, harboring child molesters, lack of financial transparency for starters.

38

Giant Leak of Offshore Financial Records Exposes Global Array of Crime and Corruption

by JHK in

millions of documents show heads of state, criminals and celebrities using secret hideaways in tax havens... [...].

what about watchtower society's holy money?.

https://panamapapers.icij.org/20160403-panama-papers-global-overview.html?goal=0_ffd1d0160d-4ddea55429-100339089&mc_cid=4ddea55429&mc_eid=bfe834e473.

JeffT

Lawsuit losses do not warrant trying to hide money in off shore accounts. The potential losses from lawsuits measure in millions. The WTBS has assets measured in billions. Unless they get much bigger, lawsuit payouts are not going to be that big a problem. Attempting to hide assets from the courts is a federal felony. I used to work for some one who tried it and ended up in prison for that AND tax fraud.

You launder money when you have it via criminal activity. I have yet to see that the WTBS has done anything illegal.

38

Giant Leak of Offshore Financial Records Exposes Global Array of Crime and Corruption

by JHK in

millions of documents show heads of state, criminals and celebrities using secret hideaways in tax havens... [...].

what about watchtower society's holy money?.

https://panamapapers.icij.org/20160403-panama-papers-global-overview.html?goal=0_ffd1d0160d-4ddea55429-100339089&mc_cid=4ddea55429&mc_eid=bfe834e473.

JeffT

Why would the WTBS bother with offshore accounts? They already have tax exempt status. The R&F don't seem to care where the money goes. I don't see who they need to hide it from.

15

A blog post on my 65th birthday

by JeffT in

jw
friends

putting this out there for everybody.

.

http://pathologicallyintellectual.blogspot.com/.

JeffT

Putting this out there for everybody.

http://pathologicallyintellectual.blogspot.com/

8

JW-Facts--Here is that Circuit Assembly Financial Report Form you wanted!

by Atlantis in

our "spy" was able to get in and get out undetected.

we thank him/her for their kindness and courage.

remarks were made that the assembly this person attended only kept the women in their place.. i remarked to this person that one of these days the watchtower is going to "put down" the wrong woman who is going to clean their clock with a massive discrimination lawsuit!.

JeffT

Mephis, thanks I missed that, as I said I was headed for work. So what happens if the brother authorized to transfer funds doesn't like the request, or thinks it is for a frivolous purpose? My inner accountant is not liking the idea of transferring money between entities like this (among other things). I will probably write more on this tomorrow. The lack of transparency is stunning.

29

Diddling, adjusting, changing Doctrines? Why not leave it alone?

by Terry in

i have kept on asking myself why the jw's put targets on themselves by constant diddling with their own doctrines?

why not leave it alone?.

mainstream christianity has fixed teachings.

JeffT

The WTBS has two fundamental problems in this.

1) they have no standards for hermeneutics and exegesis, that is the methodology of used to understand a text and the resulting interpretations. These would include careful analysis of who wrote a particular text, who he was directing his comments to, as well as close critical textual examination of a text. The WTBS runs into trouble because it doesn't apply any of this to any text, everything is taken as literally true and subject to their understanding of what that means. Since they have no standard method for explaining a verse, they can just shoot from the hip all the time.

2) A classic method of control is to constantly move the goals, purposes etc of whoever you're trying to manipulate. I've worked for a couple of control-freak bosses and it is very much like have the GB as your boss. You have to do it exactly right, or you'll get in trouble, but what is "exactly right" changes constantly. You're lucky if you get to find out in advance what that is.

edited to add: I spent some years as a member of a "mainstream" church. That church and a majority of other protestant denominations all agree on what they consider major doctrines: salvation by faith, the divinity of Jesus, Baptism, regular communion etc. All of minor points are left to the individual to decide for himself, and are not considered major points for argument. Most of the differences between churches involve worship style and governance, not doctrine.

The WTBS regards individual thinking as intolerable.