Posts by ABibleStudent

7

Interview Needed- Anyone willing to help?

by madeleine in

my name is madeleine.

i am working on an assignment for my religion class, in which i am to interview a jehovah's witness.

i have written up some questions already, so all i would need you to do is to answer them.

ABibleStudent

Welcome madeleine to JWN. I hope that you mention in your paper that the WTBTS is more a publishing and distribution corporation that uses thought reform techniques to enslave JWs to distribute its literature. You might want to read Steve Hassan's books (i.e., "Combatting Cult Mind Control" and "Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves") or visit his website at www.freedomofmind.com to help differentiate between a religious organization and an dangerous cult masquerading as a religion. You might get an A+ from your teacher by including a paragraph about how to differentiate between a religioun and a dangerous cult.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

33

"Freeing" those "trapped" in the Organization.

by curiouscynic in

i have family members who are still jws, many of you do as well.

assuming your folks are similar to mine, they are, for the most part, rational.

they are jws because they believe and they have a tremendous amount of scriptural knowledge, albeit of wts origins and with the expected bias.. if i chose to demonstrate, to my father particularly, the inconsistencies in wts ideology... he might just decide to leave.

ABibleStudent

curiouscynic - Interesting point, Black Sheep. I've just never really thought of them [converts, recruitees] as victims before. It seems to me, fairly obvious what you're getting yourself into. But I've seen many say that's not how it was for them, so...

Hi curiouscynic, Have you ever wondered why the WTBTS doesn't tell JWs to proclaim to potential converts that we refuse blood transfusions, we don't celebrate birthdays and holidays, we don't believe that "Worldly" people deserve to know the truth (i.e., theocratic warfare strategy), women must be submissive to their husbands, women cannot give presentations from the podium, JWs must blindly follow whatever the GB and elders say, we will shun are children and friends when commanded to, etc? I know from personal experience that either an elder lied to me about shunning family members or was was not aware of WTBTS practices as described in the July 15, 2011 Watchtower Study Edition. Also, why does the WTBTS need to have more than one edition of the Watchtower?

FYI converts and recruitees are not the only victums. R&F JWs are also victums of the WTBTS.

curiouscynic - Do you attempt to "free" your loved ones from the destructive WTS cult by any means necessary? Or is it appropriate to acknowledge that they have the right to make their OWN decision [mind control notwithstanding]?

The short answer is "No, you can only plant seeds of doubt." I would never use kidnapping nor lying to awaken a JW. I would also never stop trying to think of new ways to awaken them. I would send JWs anonymous emails like I wrote about in http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/211893/1/Youe28099ve-Got-Mail-TM. I might mail them Raymond Franz's books (i.e., "Crisis of Conscience") anonymously. I would send them emails/cards with plenty of pictures of you having fun with your family. I would read Steve Hassan's books to help me communicate with them more effectively. I would ask them simple questions like what I and others wrote about in http://www.jwsupportforum.com/index.php?topic=13168.msg208281;topicseen#new.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

13

Are there any 'cult busters' in Australia? Any who specialize in teenagers?

by Aussie Oz in

jw
friends

sorry about the dud post...i hate it when i hit the wrong key!.

are there any dedicated assistors to teenage jws that are trying or wanting to leave?.

any councelors/ professionals that are easy to find?.

ABibleStudent

Hi Aussie Oz. Did you google "Australian Cult Therapist"? I did and found 5,440,000 links including http://www.cultcounselling.org/. I hope that this helps.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

41

Victoria, Australia: Brief Update - Steven Unthank is still Acting Prosecutor, etc.

by AndersonsInfo in

court hearing results for december 6, 2011:.

steven unthank is still the acting prosecutor (and that's why he could not comment on the case on the"dialogue" program), and all 5 cases are still before the courts.

the crown informed the court that the office of public prosecutions are "acting as a facilitator at the moment"; and that the police investigation is "quite well progressed"; and that the police are awaiting response from the department of justice.. .

ABibleStudent

Hi Barbara, thanks for the update.

What has happened with the GB or their representative(s) attending the hearings? I know that it would be difficult to locate a FDS, but everyone knows who the GB are. So why, doesn't the GB just let the Australian branch lawyer represent them? Is the GB trying to locate a criminal defense barrister to defend them instead of a civil barrister?

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

20

Victoria, Australia: If you want information about Steven Unthank's December 6th court hearing...

by AndersonsInfo in

please call richard rawe's "dialogue" program (a special conference call program), monday, december 5th at 8 p.m. est in the us, or 7 p.m. cst, etc.. the phone number is 712-432-8710, pin #9925. .

richard told me that if steven unthank is no longer prosecutor, being that the "crown" took over the filed criminal cases against five watch tower entities, he, steven, might be on the phone discussing the latest hearing and the indictments.

if steven does not call in, someone else will report on what took place in court which in australia will be on tuesday, dec. 6th.. hopefully, this special conference program will take place without any snafu.. barbara.

ABibleStudent

Hi koolaid-man. Why did you post this sort of unrelated ad on this thread? I applaud your desire and determination to expose the WTBTS. Your style on the other hand may not be winning you any supporters.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

16

the cult is slowly taking my family apart

by Evidently Apostate in

its been 3 years since i made my decision to fade and i am starting to think our marriage might not survive.

my wife is under pressure from her parents to push away from me.

the anniversay card they gave her(not me) was nothing more than jw propaganda, parts were actually highlighted.

ABibleStudent

Hi Evidently Apostate. Everyone has given you great advice. Have you tried telling your wife how much you love her, then asking your wife how important her marriage vows are to her, and then asking her to go to therapy with you to make your marriage even stronger? Even if your wife does not want to go to therapy, you should go so that you and the therapist can develop a plan to include your wife. I don't know if this will help but according to the PEW report (http://religions.pewforum.org/pdf/table-status-by-tradition.pdf), JW marriages are more likely to end in divorce than Catholic, Jewish, and Hindu marriages.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

20

Victoria, Australia: If you want information about Steven Unthank's December 6th court hearing...

by AndersonsInfo in

please call richard rawe's "dialogue" program (a special conference call program), monday, december 5th at 8 p.m. est in the us, or 7 p.m. cst, etc.. the phone number is 712-432-8710, pin #9925. .

richard told me that if steven unthank is no longer prosecutor, being that the "crown" took over the filed criminal cases against five watch tower entities, he, steven, might be on the phone discussing the latest hearing and the indictments.

if steven does not call in, someone else will report on what took place in court which in australia will be on tuesday, dec. 6th.. hopefully, this special conference program will take place without any snafu.. barbara.

ABibleStudent

Thanks Barbara for keeping everyone informed!!

If the Crown takes over the 5 cases, I hope that they keep Steven Unthank as a subject matter expert to help them to understand what tricks that the WTBTS may employ.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

9

Steven Unthank's case is back in court December 6th

by Mickey mouse in

jw
friends

http://www.jwnews.net/.

will anyone be there next tuesday?.

ABibleStudent

Did any Aussie write to the Office of Public Prosecutions, Victoria? I know that I never got a reply to my email to the Office of Public Prosecutions nor to my letters to the Editors of several Aussie newspapers.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

17

Is being a JW that serious?

by Skratch in

jw
friends

before i decided to post my thread i went through this most of this site and tried to see everyone elses experiences and childhoods, unlike some ppl i never told my friends i was a jw because i just knew that would make me uncool to everyone and i wasnt brainwashed like the rest of the jw's i saw and really followed there life by the jw principles.

its sad how some parents have there kids so brainwashed by this stuff its so pathetic i feel sad for some of them, they probably have no friends in school.

growing up in a jw household i always thought alot of there rules are intense and dont allow humans to have any fun i mean come on i can't play pokemon?

ABibleStudent

Welcome Skratch to JWN and I hope that you post often to help you understand your feelings and thoughts. Most JWs are good, spiritual people, who want to worship Our Father in Heaven by following the teachings of Jesus Christ, but then get waylaid by the WTBTS indoctrination and rules just like the Pharisees did to the Jews 2000 years ago. The WTBTS is not a religion. It is a cult which uses thought reform to enslave JWs to serve the WTBTS leadership. In my experience, many Worldly people are just as kind, honest, loving, and spiritual as JWs, if not more so than JWs.

I hope that you will strive for a great education, live life to its fullest, and share your life with friends and family, who show each other unconditional love, instead of Con-Love.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

17

Has domestic abuse against JW women relented over the last 10 years? Discuss.

by cedars in

soft+gentle, who i'm sure we are all very fond of, has been expressing some strong opinions on my thread below:.

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/218861/1/uk-charity-refuge-gives-response-to-wt-article-on-domestic-abuse.

as soft+gentle's opinions seem to be undermining the seriousness of domestic abuse, i thought the best thing would be to give soft+gentle the opportunity to defend his or her opinions on his or her very own thread.

ABibleStudent

Here is what soft+gentle said:
I agree that witnesses privilige the sanctity of marriage over life and that the society is misogynistic and naive in how they apply their principles. But from what I have seen most of the truly horrorifying cases of domestic abuse are not recent - by recent I mean in the last 10 years. It seems to me that nowadays couples do call the police and separation is encouraged. Within the congregation both parties are given help and strong counsel where needed. Once the police are involved and if there are children, social services also get involved. I'm really glad about the outside help victims and their children are given.

@ soft+gentle - How will seperation allow JWs to heal from domestic abuse and move on with their lives? Seperated JWs are not allowed to have plutonic close friendships between different sex JWs, date, or marry, if they meet someone they love and returns their love. All seperated JWs can do is go to meetings, go on FS, be treated as second class citizens (especially if you are an attractive woman), work, eat, sleep, and be constantly afraid of doing something that the elders/hounders will not like.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert