Posts by nugget

39

Need someone to talk to

by Anonymous17 in

hi i've been a jw my whole life and i'm 17 now.

i've never had a mine of my own and recently i started thinking more open minded and i know the being a jw isn't for me.

i feel like i've been in a bubble my whole life.

Start discreetly building your life independent of your parents. Do you know what you want to do with your life? What career you would like? Look at grants and assistance available to you so that if your parents decide to pull the rug out from under you there is support you can access. Start to build a support network outside the organisation. Reconnect with relatives and friends so you have people to go to and confide in.

having goals and direction is important and provides focus. You have your whole life ahead of you so embrace the opportunity to fulfill your potential. In this instance plan for the worst but hope for the best.

81

Do you believe Jehovah's Witnesses' Governing Body is the "faithful slave"?

by Marvin Shilmer in

this question is known to be posed by jws to other jws as an acid test of loyalty.

i'm not the first to notice what i'm about to point out and comment accordingly, but today i felt compelled to add a short article on my blog highlighting the new language that governing body member geoffrey jackson supplies as a response.

a person who honestly hesitates to respond with a robust "yes!

nugget

If they represent God then what does this tell us God is like. He is out of touch more interested in money than people. He lacks compassion happy to use his followers to progress his personal ambition. He is all about control ensuring that people have no natural affection and put faceless people above family.

This is not the God other people have said Christianity is all about or what I think a God should be. So as a result I cannot believe that the GB could possibly be Gods representative on Earth. They are their own God so I rejected them for the hypocritical, blasphemous, greedy and arrogant men they are.

39

So I was enjoying a business trip in down town Bangkok...............Next thing BANG!!!

by cantleave in

jw
friends

so last night i was having a wonderful meal in a very nice restaurant when we heard what we thought was a loud clap of thunder.................. it was a bomb.

yards from my hotel.

thankfully i made a few decision that meant i wasn't in the wrong place at the wrong time.

nugget

It is sad that the bomber picked a shrine a place where believers and tourists congregate. Some may well have been seeking a religious connection.

Bombings are random meant to kill the maximum number of people religious belief does not protect you in these events. The Bible is correct in this instance when it talks about time and unforeseen circumstances befall us all. Those with a belief may hope that their loved ones have gone to a better place or that the suffering was not in vain.

To berate someone who survived such an event for not thanking god does a believer no credit. These events lead many to question the existence of a benevolent god so it would be more appropriate to express sympathy and humility.

Glad you are safe come home soon.

51

Leaving the org and marriage possibly ending

by atacrossroads in

jw
friends

i was raised a witness, baptized at 16, vacation pioneered, got married, etc.

i was very much your typical witness and believed it was the truth until last summer.

a very close relative of mine left the witnesses.

nugget

Your marriage may or may not be salvageable only you know whether this is the case. It is difficult to be married to someone who still believes when you do not and it may reach a tipping point and you will know what that is. It sounds like you are moving forward and making plans and trying new things all these are positive steps. In most cases we hope for the best and plan for the worst. Give your husband time to mentally adjust to the new circumstance before trying to press him about anything new. The fact that he hasn't thrown you under the bus is a positive sign.

49

GEOFFREY JACKSON THE PERSONABLE FACE OF JW.ORG...BUT IT AIN'T OVER YET BUDDY

by steve2 in

since geoffrey jackson's appearance before the australian royal commission on friday there has for some been an expressed feeling of anticlimax.

it is as though he was given too much latitude to preach, to claim ignorance and to skirt questions.

more to the point, as much as i myself thought i would never have expected to say this, gj actually came across as likeable and - don't throttle me please!

nugget

I think the RC explored how much they could achieve to change the way that child abuse was handled within an organisation such as the witnesses. They established that this commission was noit a form of persecution and Mr Jackson agreed that the organisation was not a victim.

They challenged some key doctrines and principles as they pertain to the way these matter were handled and Mr Jackson kept saying he wanted to make changes but when they actually explored the detail it became clear that some things will not change.

The role of women will remain as it is and the bottom line is the organisation sees no need to include women in anything more than a token way. The two witness rule may be modified especially as the commission has now cited a scriptural principle that could be applied. The organisation remains committed to shunning and there is likely to be no way they will change this voluntarily. They may report child abuse because mandatory reporting is imposed on them. Essentially they lied about areas they feel uncomfortable about such as discipline within the organisation and the way people who leave are treated. They proved that they think freedom of worship only applies to members of their organisation and not to those who chose to leave. It was clear they would only make changes if the commission made it a legal requirement. Apologies and compensation will not be forthcoming.

3

Pauline David - barrister and legal counsel for [BCG] - Australian Child Abuse Royal Commission into Jehovah's Witnesses

by jwleaks in

a rare moment in legal and theocratic history.

pauline david, barrister and legal counsel for [bcg], had the opportunity to question and cross-examine, geoffrey jackson of the governing body of jehovah's witnesses (a.k.a.

"faithful and discreet slave").never before has a woman had the privilege of challenging and questioning a member of the governing body of jehovah's witnesses.

nugget

I missed the significance of thar thank you for pointing it out. Especially after her had done a long bit on how women couldn't be elders because it would be unseemly for them to get excited and challenge and debate with men in the congregation.

28

The Royal Commission and Watchtower - A game changer

by Hidden-Window in

jw
friends

i had finished watching all the videos on the royal commission's investigation of jehovah's witnesses (yes, i know more videos are being released).

i am still processing the information of everything that has emerged.

i do not plan to cover it all here, but i would like to point out that it is patently obvious that some of the wt representatives provided misleading information.

nugget

I think that it is unlikely that women will be involved in the judicial process. Mr Jackson stated that women are already involved in the process although they do not and will not form part of the committee that passes judgement. In Watchtower speak it would indicate that there is no need to change what happens already.

Technically women can be involved in the ~JC process as complainants, victims or witnesses they have no part in the investigative process or the decision making process. Mr Jackson emphasised headship and the importance of women knowing their place anything that may encourage them to step over the lines firmly established by the society will be discouraged. The RC wanted a defined role for women and I cannot see this happening since the suppression of women is firmly entrenched.

190

Geoffrey Jackson - Royal Commission Live Hearing Now!

by LostinJapan in

.

https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/case-study/636f01a5-50db-4b59-a35e-a24ae07fb0ad/case-study-29,-july-2015,-sydney.

nugget

Listened to the whole of Mr Jackson's testimony. Whenever he lied which was more than once he would state that something wasn't his area of expertise.

Apparently JW parents are not told corporal punishment is ok which is news to most of us. You can leave JW religion and not be DF'd or have to DA. They do not police people who are attempting to fade away. All lies.

The RC is very well informed and the questions they asked touched on a number of sensitive areas. Mr Jackson did not do as well as he thought he did. It is worth taking the time to listen to.

12

Separated for over a month...

by cognac in

jw
friends

it hasn't been easy at all... trying to care for two kids- ages 3 & 6, while working fulltime, barely any support from immediate family, my ex has only seen the kids twice for a few hours, ughhhh.... i make way to much money to qualify for any sort of help, ex barely makes anything so that's out.... this is a million times harder than i could have even imagined... but, we are managing somehow; abeit, a little creatively at times.... i had just started thinking to myself, "we can do this!

" then, my house got robbed, about 10k worth of stuff stolen... ughhhh..... this is so depressing....

nugget

So sorry working full time and juggling childcare is a nightmare. Having to deal with insurance and security is also a nightmare as well as an emotional experience. Do not be a martyr to the cause your children have two parents and even if their father has no home of his own it does not prevent him taking them out for the day or a few hours even or taking them to grandparents. It also doesn't prevent him helping out with childcare on occasion. It is important that he doesn't lose touch with his children and become an absent parent unless there are good reasons to keep him distant.

I have been an emergency childcare option for a parent at the local school who worked and if her children were too sick for school I would look after them. I also am the pick up for some children at school and look after them for a few hours until their parents finish work. Networking with other parents can be a godsend if you need one off arrangements in an emergency, formal childcare in these situations can be impossible. I too had no parental support to call on and no witnesses would help so had to work out strategies that worked for me.

64

The poor and deprived life of JW children.

by Esse quam videri in

i find it hard to believe that adults on this forum make such a big deal about not celebrating birthdays, x-mas, easter, halloween, etc, etc, etc.

i grew up as a jw kid and it actually made me feel good, being different from the other kids in school.

we went to meetings.

nugget

I am glad you enjoyed your JW childhood. I tried to ensure that my children also found enjoyment in their JW childhood too. However despite my efforts I was not blind to the damage the faith was doing to them. You enjoyed giving talks and doing magazine routes well it seems that this faith played to your ego and allowed you to be praised within that setting. As a young man you would be nurtured and this religion would help you to feel important and entitled.

You cannot assume that your upbringing reflects that of others or that your experience is more valid than someone elses. This attitude is very much a reflection of the organisations. Others have experiences less happy childhoods and feel that they have missed out. It has been said that no child brought up in a cult or hgh control group has ever had a normal childhood.