Posts by JeffT

3

NZ Kingdom Hall Going Up For Auction June 23rd

by Newly Enlightened in

https://www.bayleys.co.nz/2313423.

https://www.bayleys.co.nz/news/commercial/prayers-answered-for-community-groups-or-property-developers-as-former-church-is-placed-on-the-market-for-sale.

JeffT

Nice looking KH. Where is the congregation going to go?

Never mind, I saw it. The Watchtower continues to grow -- smaller.

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

I'm thinking of a list of questions to ask Lloyd when it's time for interrogatories and depositions. As you know I'm a retired accountant and I've been involved in some legal arguments about financial matters. I'm basing this on the US court system. From my initial scan of the post by pr0ner the Croatian system looks much like the US. My questions would mainly be about financial matters. Since Lloyd brought up the use (or misuse) of Patreon funds, he made it fair game.

I sued somebody once, about thirty years ago. I really hope I don't have to do that again. Discovery was a nightmare, there is no such thing as privacy. The defendant can ask for any information they want: copies of bank records, receipts, expenses, credit card records, travel records, you name it. You don't get to refuse, the judge will dismiss the case if plaintiff doesn't get what they want.

Stevehowell: You've been on this board 4 hours, you can't dictate what we say. Evans is a very real problem for the XJW community, we can and should talk about how to respond to him.

My opinion: I'm afraid his antics will poison the well in our battles against the WTBS. We don't need this, but we can't ignore it.

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

JeffT

I read a good quote last night. The book is about the end of WWII and covers (among other things) the mass rapes by the Soviet Army. After the war ended, Germany was completely destroyed, many of the men were dead or in prison camps and the women turned to prostitution to stay alive. The author (Antony Beavor) writes "there is a fine line between prostitution and rape."

The difference between rape and prostitution, especially when there is a very real difference in power between the individuals involved, is the question that one needs to ask when a First World tourist is hiring sex workers in a Third World country. It may look like a mutually consensual arrangement, but is it? I think the answer to that questions bears directly on one's qualification to represent themselves as an advocate for victims of sexual abuse.

27

Will the ministry ever resume?

by optimisticskeptic in

jw
friends

going on 2+ years of no public ministry.

can't imagine anyone is really enjoying letter writing still or that it's remotely effective.

i'm a little shocked that we haven't resumed yet but i guess that's what happens when the org is run by a bunch of old people (ie high risk for covid) and a bunch of other sheltered germaphobes.

JeffT

If the WTBS wanted to become more mainstream there were always a couple of hard to unwind issues: shunning and field service. I think they may take this as an opportunity to finish up with the later. They could keep up the letter writing and actively encourage "informal" witnessing. While that's going on they can just let the Saturday morning drag yourself door to door business die on the vine.

This may leave them looking for something to keep everybody busy. Based on past experience, I think they may find a way to pull another rabbit out of the hat.

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

JeffT

Somewhere way back toward the beginning of this thread, I brought up a film I saw while in rehab. It featured several interviews with trafficked women. They describe smoking crack to make sex with strange men tolerable. Then they have sex so they can buy more crack, so they can have sex with more men, so they can buy more crack...

These are not consensual relationships.

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

JeffT

He says "I would like to reiterate that as a professional activist I get to spend my wages as I please." (from point 5)

Putting on my accountant hat I wish to point out this is not true, at least not in the United States. If his patrons are donating money and claiming a charitable deduction he has some hoops to jump through. (It is my understanding from reading up on IRS standards that if one is donating to a foreign entity, that entity must act as if it was in the US). This means he must report to a board of directors that makes decisions about spending and his salary. His financial statements must be available for review and produced under the direction of a licensed auditor. And he must have separate accounts for personal and company funds.

I have seen no evidence that any of this is happening.

9

The attorneys gave us bad advice.

by Lost in the fog in

the attorneys gave them bad advice, and when contacted the wt says we don't comment on specific cases.

what a cop out!.

https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20220521/jehovahs-witness-elders-who-failed-to-report-child-abuse-got-bad-advice-say-local-pastors-attorneys.

JeffT

There's a basic lesson here: Lawyers work for whoever signs their checks. In this case the WTBS. All JW elders should have a lawyer who works for them lined up and ready when needed.

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

JeffT

Does he realize that now that he's plastered their faces all over the internet those people in the van with him may never be able to go home. If the Russians win this war their military police will be hunting down Ukrainians who didn't surrender or aided the wrong people.

Of course, given a choice of self-promotion or actually helping, some people will always choose self-promotion.

30

Some Jw's are the worst employees

by Foolednomore in

jw
friends

i found a company and employed an elder as an underwriter and two ms as sales and marketing.

anyway, this elder will delegate his work to the ms in sales and marketing, so he can go home early.

he knew when he got started that this would be a 10 hour a day job with some saturday.

JeffT

JW's may also be not good tenants

About the time I was starting to become really disillusioned with JW's my wife and I were managing an apartment building in a Seattle suburb. We were employees of the company that had the contract to manage the building.

So I was contacted by an elder about a couple moving up from Portland, Oregon so she could get a particular medical treatment (this by itself is another post some time). I said yes I had apartments available have them contact me and we'll get the paperwork together, I'll need a deposit etc. I then hear nothing until they drive a U-Haul into my parking lot.

I managed to get the paperwork done and collect a deposit, but not without an argument. They, and the elder that initially contacted me, all seriously thought I could just waive all that since we were all JW's, and I managed the building. I pointed out that they were asking me to steal from my employer's client. I'm not sure they ever did get their heads around that, even after I explained it very carefully.

Over the next few months, we had no end of trouble with collecting rent and dealing with various rules violations (such things as ignoring reserved parking and the like). Eventually some poor sucker in another congregation arranged for them to live somewhere else.

36

New JW.Watch Website - Plans, Ideas & Submissions

by Simon in

i want to create a new site to help people leaving the wts.. the idea is that it will be curated content of articles and videos on specific subjects such as how to fade, how to handle family, personal experiences of leaving, mistakes to avoid, plus practical life matters impacted by the wts such as how to create or rebuild a career, planning for retirement, getting counselling, making friends etc.... the idea is that it should be lots of voices to share the love and promote lots of people's channels so it becomes a more effective resource (hopefully there will always be something informative and appealing to the people visiting).. if you have a youtube channel that you would like featured, or maybe have some specific video or series that would suit, i'd be happy to include them.. likewise, if you have a subject you'd like to write about and can share some practical knowledge and guidance on, or have a life-story you'd like to share because your experience could benefit others, please let me know.. i bought a domain and setup some placeholder content:.

https://jw.watch.

please message me or post here if you have any questions or ideas..

JeffT

I can think of a couple of things I'd like to bring to the table. With my background as an accountant, I have considerable knowledge of financial management. I'm not a lawyer, but I've handled lots of legal documents and have some (both fortunate and unfortunate) experience wit the law.

I've noticed that lots of people (not just XJW's) have some gaps in their knowledge of these two subjects. In the U S at least, I lay this problem at the feet of our educational system. On this board I'd be happy to answer questions about these subjects. I have from time to time attempted to read the tea leaves in regard to the Watchtower's money management.

And I'm always happy to blather about my books.