Posts by FatFreek 2005

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Conventions

by Holden Caufield in

what did you make of the conventions i used to dread them.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6bhlhtbaos.

FatFreek 2005

I'm not quite ready to push daisies yet but there were moments during those 8 miserable days that I would've given anything for some escape.

12

Nearly 500 migrant children taken from parents -- that's nothing compared to JW disfellowshipping

by FatFreek 2005 in

several months ago the news was intense about the hundreds of families broken apart by u.s. immigration.

many children were sometimes separated by their parents, sometimes for weeks at a time.

"still separated: nearly 500 migrant children taken from their parents remain in u.s. custody” aug 31, washington post.

FatFreek 2005

What follows is a complete table of values.

I repeat -- thanks to JWfacts and Paul Grundy's table, "Worldwide Watchtower Statistics", I used his figures from 1962 through 2015. I assumed "Average Publishers" is what WT uses for their 1% estimate of DF people.

For the missing years, 1952 through 1961, and 2016 and 2017, I extrapolated an additional estimate which is colored red.

12

Nearly 500 migrant children taken from parents -- that's nothing compared to JW disfellowshipping

by FatFreek 2005 in

several months ago the news was intense about the hundreds of families broken apart by u.s. immigration.

many children were sometimes separated by their parents, sometimes for weeks at a time.

"still separated: nearly 500 migrant children taken from their parents remain in u.s. custody” aug 31, washington post.

FatFreek 2005

'they combine the worst heresies confronted by the early church with life under a totalitarian Communist regime.'

Profound and astute.

12

Nearly 500 migrant children taken from parents -- that's nothing compared to JW disfellowshipping

by FatFreek 2005 in

several months ago the news was intense about the hundreds of families broken apart by u.s. immigration.

many children were sometimes separated by their parents, sometimes for weeks at a time.

"still separated: nearly 500 migrant children taken from their parents remain in u.s. custody” aug 31, washington post.

FatFreek 2005

So true, Finkelstein. Suicides are too often a forgotten casualty of disfellowshipping, or should I say the punitive consequences of disfellowshipping.

12

Nearly 500 migrant children taken from parents -- that's nothing compared to JW disfellowshipping

by FatFreek 2005 in

several months ago the news was intense about the hundreds of families broken apart by u.s. immigration.

many children were sometimes separated by their parents, sometimes for weeks at a time.

"still separated: nearly 500 migrant children taken from their parents remain in u.s. custody” aug 31, washington post.

FatFreek 2005

You are very fair and kind, Finkelstein. Based on your comment, however, I decided to do a compilation I've been thinking of for a long time. Based on WT numbers, how many have been DFd over the years?

Thanks to JWfacts and Paul Grundy's table, "Worldwide Watchtower Statistics", I used his figures from 1962 through 2015. I assumed "Average Publishers" is what WT uses for their 1% estimate of DF people.

I then built a simple spreadsheet covering 54 years beginning with 1962 and its average publishers of 920,920 through 2015 with its average publishers of 7,987,279.

Using this data, the result we're looking for tallies to more than 2,000,000. Again, that's an estimate based upon 1% of each year's average publishers. Keep in mind that we're ignoring, for lack of data, the years before 1962 beginning with 1952 when Watchtower disfellowshipping actually began. We're also ignoring the years 2016, 2017, and this year, 2018.

While the calculated number is 2,126,017 I feel more comfortable using the "more than 2,000,000 number".

12

Nearly 500 migrant children taken from parents -- that's nothing compared to JW disfellowshipping

by FatFreek 2005 in

several months ago the news was intense about the hundreds of families broken apart by u.s. immigration.

many children were sometimes separated by their parents, sometimes for weeks at a time.

"still separated: nearly 500 migrant children taken from their parents remain in u.s. custody” aug 31, washington post.

FatFreek 2005

There sometimes isn't any way to revoke your membership without risking some tension with family (depending on the local congregation and family concerned).

Disfellowshipping, by current Watchtower rules, involves far more than "some tension". Some tension is a huge understatement.

There may be a few exceptions. But in my case 41 years ago in 1977 when I proudly took my stand, made my exit, my two boys decided to remain with their mother. Not a problem -- then. We continued for a few years to spend precious father/son time together, nothing spiritual, of course. Go to the beach, take certain trips, discuss school problems, etc.

Early 1980s the society changed their rules. Had I known about those new rules, which then prohibited family association, I'd have probably taken a different route to exit when I did in 1977, now known as fading. Four years too late.

The disfellowshipping has never been the problem which, in turn, separates families. It's the punitive measure that goes along with it. The remaining family members are held hostage with the threat of being disfellowshipped themselves -- or keep their forbidden relationships secret, always looking over their shoulders for fear of reprisal.

12

Nearly 500 migrant children taken from parents -- that's nothing compared to JW disfellowshipping

by FatFreek 2005 in

several months ago the news was intense about the hundreds of families broken apart by u.s. immigration.

many children were sometimes separated by their parents, sometimes for weeks at a time.

"still separated: nearly 500 migrant children taken from their parents remain in u.s. custody” aug 31, washington post.

FatFreek 2005

Several months ago the news was intense about the hundreds of families broken apart by U.S. immigration. Many children were sometimes separated by their parents, sometimes for weeks at a time.

"Still separated: Nearly 500 migrant children taken from their parents remain in U.S. custody” Aug 31, Washington Post

While that was all bad, JW disfellowshipping makes those cases pale in comparison. That many JW families are broken up every 2.3 days, each week, of every month, of every year.

Think about it -- when a JW is disfellowshipped he or she is separated from his or her family as well. But depending on how the victim handles this emotional blackmail, that DF person would not be reinstated for many months, perhaps a year. In my case -- 41 years and counting since I refuse to be blackmailed.

According to WT’s own statistics, some one percent of their membership is disfellowshipped annually. And if we believe their membership numbers, that translates into more than 82,000 last year.

Think about it – In one weeks time, nearly 1,600 disfellowshippings happened during 2017 which means that most of those fracturing rituals at the hands of some judicial committee of 3 men resulting in broken families.

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