Posts by ABibleStudent

21

Watchtower Cult Given $81,000 by City of Salem

by rrb2016 in

can you imagine how much money they must make off of all the assemblies?

i counted at least 211 between this week and end of the year.

if they get paid by each city.... .

ABibleStudent

I do not know whether this is fraud or a violation of the tax codes, but you can ask the IRS by sending a letter to the following address to investigate it:

Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service MC 4910 DAL 1100 Commerce Street Dallas, TX 75242

I have suspected for sometime that the WTBTS holds conventions because they are money making events and not just to keep JWs busy and fed. I wrote my concerns to the Treasury Secretary and wrote about my letter in the thread http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/scandals/225198/1/Will-the-IRS-Investigate-the-Watchtower-Society .

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

34

It's Back! . . . Round 2.

by ABibleStudent in

if you are an american citizen, please visit http://wh.gov/tfk and sign the "protect millions of americans from dangerous orgs: modify usc title 26 501 tax exemption requirements" petition that i created on june 1, 2012 on the white house website.

i assume that only americans can sign this petition, but i do not know.

it takes about 2 minutes to register and sign the petition.

ABibleStudent

How was your day yesterday and today?

Yesterday, I wrote to the following people to support the White House petition http://wh.gov/tFK and to visit the "Protect Americans from Dangerous Orgs" Facebook page http://on.fb.me/wh-petition :

Administrator of www.factnet.org
Mr. Mitch Horowitz, who wrote "When Does a Religion Become a Cult?"
David Christopher Lane who reviewed a book and was posted on Steve Hassan's website www.freedomofmind.com .
Philip G. Zimbardo, Ph.D - Stanford Emeritus Professor, Former president of the American Psychological Association 2002 , and was referenced on Steve Hassan's website.
Dr Phil from the Dr. Phil show, because of an article on Steve Hassan's website

Dear Mr. Mitch Horowitz, Do you believe that a person has basic rights of freedom of religious belief and speech and do you want to help victims of dangerous orgs? If you do, please read the White House petition “Protect Millions of Americans from Dangerous Orgs” at http://wh.gov/tFK by June 30, 2012; if you have a Facebook account; “Like” the White House petition link above and the Facebook link below; email the link to former dangerous cult members and other interested people, who you know; and/or write letters to the President, your U.S. senators, and your U.S. representative. This is my second attempt to promote this petition on the White House website – the first petition expired on May 26, 2012. If 25,000 people (Americans only, probably) sign the petition by June 30, 2012, the White House Staff will review this petition. If more than 150 people sign this petition before June 30, 2012, the petition will be viewable by all White House website visitors and appear on internet search browsers. For more information about this petition, please read information on the Facebook page “Protecting Americans from Dangerous Orgs” using either http://on.fb.me/wh-petition (short url) or http://www.facebook.com/pages/Protecting-Americans-from-Dangerous-Orgs/264002310365016 . Most of my ideas for identifying a dangerous org (e.g., cults), I learned from reading Steve Hassan's book “Combatting Cult Mind Control” and relating it to my personal experiences with Jehovah's Witnesses. I learned of your article " When Does a Religion Become a Cult? " by visiting www.freedomofmind.com . Thank you in advance for reviewing and responding to my email.
Sincerely,
Robert

I plan to send a few more messages tonight.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

81

Help! I'm having serious thoughts about going back

by lola28 in

jw
friends

hello old friends, i've been thinking about going back and need you all to give me your thoughts on it.. the last year has been a horribe one for me, in the span of less than a year the following things have happened to me:.

lost my mom to cancergot hit by a carhad a professional set back that will cost over 600k to resolveended a three and a half year relationshipit just feels like every time i think things are going to get better something else hits me and knocks me down, a small part of me wonders wether i brought all these things on myself because i left the organization (yes i know how silly that sounds) and i have given serious thought about going back.

i need you guys to talk me out of it!.

ABibleStudent

Hi ((((((lola28)))))))), DITTO what other posters have written and especially Found Sheep and elderelite. JWs give ConLove not unconditional love! Before going back to the KH see a therapist, go to an ex-jw meetup group (www.meetup.com), and/or do something fun that you love to do where you can make some new friends.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

68

I wish there were more JW's resisting the extreme elements within the religion

by Hermano in

jw
friends

i wish there were more jw's resisting the extreme elements within the religion.

i beleive there are many who know some of the things they hear and read are whack, but stay because they think it's still the group god has chosen.

but there are ways to voice your opinion without being too vocal or disassociating:.

ABibleStudent

Putting in a report with only 1 hour a month is another great statement. It quantifies the increasing levels of weakness in a congregation.
Sounds like a good idea. If the elders try to hassle you about it you can always let them know you're doing your best. An apathetic Witness is a far greater threat to the regime than a vocal "apostate".
The elders quickly come down on anyone that appears to be a dissenter, marking such a person.
Agreed. The whole idea is passive resistance though. It's dissenting without appearing to dissent. And how can the elders object if three "spiritually weak" brothers get together for dinner?
And yes, not donating is a tremendous way to make a difference and since it's annonymous you can't readily be singled out.
Thanks for you feedback jwfacts.

All the above are great ideas, but how can JWs learn about those ideas without raising their apostate shields? How can JWs be educated in a way that peaks their interest and starts their minds to think?

@ jwfacts, Are you planning to write articles on www.jwfacts.com about ways to passively promote change in the WTBTS? Will you be writing an article about how the WTBTS tries to convince JWs to loan money or donate their estates to the WTBTS on www.jwfacts.com? Will you be writing articles about how the WTBTS mandates KH renovations, KH building, and/or selling KH's and Assembly Halls to raise money for the WTBTS?

Did you read the thread http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/scandals/225837/1/Any-suggestions-on-handling-financial-abuse-of-a-senior-by-the-Watchtower-Bible-and-Tract-Society? The aforementioned article had several ideas about ways that siblings could help protect their senior parents from getting ripped off by the WTBTS.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

28

Do JWs treat women like second-class citizens, like their husbands' property?

by matt2414 in

as an elder, i recall that the husband always had to be present on any judicial committee meeting involving his wife, but that the wife was not to be present on judicial committee meetings involving her husband.

has this changed?

if not, isn't that treating women as lesser persons than their husbands?.

ABibleStudent

The WTBTS cherry-picks scriptures from the Bible to substantiate its leaders point of view. According to the Books of the New Testament, Jesus did not feel that women were inferior to men and Paul many times (but not all the time) praised some women for supporting Christianity or for teaching his spiritual son Timothy.

I sometimes feel that the books of the Bible were written not to offend men about 2000 years ago, and therefore seem to be very demeaning towards women since Industrial society's view of women has evolved. If you want to know how women were treated about 2000 years ago, go to countries that follow Sharia Law or Third World countries.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

68

I wish there were more JW's resisting the extreme elements within the religion

by Hermano in

jw
friends

i wish there were more jw's resisting the extreme elements within the religion.

i beleive there are many who know some of the things they hear and read are whack, but stay because they think it's still the group god has chosen.

but there are ways to voice your opinion without being too vocal or disassociating:.

ABibleStudent

Hermano - ABibleStudent, if I was a doubting JW and I got an email like that I would probably think damn apostates trying to make trouble. I'm not saying the petition itself is a bad idea, just saying that a doubting JW might be the wrong audience. It's one thing to continue speaking to a df'd loved one, it's another thing to sign a petition against the Org. To a doubting JW that has evil apostate written all over it, IMHO.

Hi Hermano, Would you only think damn apostates trying to make trouble? Would any seed of doubt be planted?

Also, could anonymous emails be sent to JWs that might peek their interest and plant seeds of doubts? How about sending them a link to visit www.jwnews.org, www.jwfacts.com, or www.watchtowerdocuements.com? Would JWs be more likely to open emails with addresses similar to an elder's email address? Just wondering how to help more moderate JWs to awaken. I know that the uber JWs would probably delete any emails without reading them.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

68

I wish there were more JW's resisting the extreme elements within the religion

by Hermano in

jw
friends

i wish there were more jw's resisting the extreme elements within the religion.

i beleive there are many who know some of the things they hear and read are whack, but stay because they think it's still the group god has chosen.

but there are ways to voice your opinion without being too vocal or disassociating:.

ABibleStudent

If you know email (or mail) addresses of JWs, who may have doubts, would it help them to send an anonymous message to them about the White House petition to "Protect Million of Americans from Dangerous Orgs" at http://wh.gov/tFK or its Facebook page at http://on.fb.me/wh-petition? I wrote about sending anonymous mails to JWs in the thread http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/211893/1/Youe28099ve-Got-Mail-TM. I also listed forwarding anonymous emails in the thread http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/226465/1/Its-Back-Round-2 as one option to promote the White House petition to JWs by warning them.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert..

34

It's Back! . . . Round 2.

by ABibleStudent in

if you are an american citizen, please visit http://wh.gov/tfk and sign the "protect millions of americans from dangerous orgs: modify usc title 26 501 tax exemption requirements" petition that i created on june 1, 2012 on the white house website.

i assume that only americans can sign this petition, but i do not know.

it takes about 2 minutes to register and sign the petition.

ABibleStudent

Thanks a million to the 4 people, who have signed the White House petition at http://wh.gov/tFK .

I would also like to especially thank signer #3 Steven H of Somerville, MA for signing the petition. I received an email from Steve Hassan stating that he signed the petition and tweeted about it.

Please visit the "Protect Americans from Dangerous Orgs" Facebook page at http://on.fb.me/wh-petition if you would like to learn more reasons why to sign the White House petition and how to remain anonymous if you want by reading the FAQ box that is pinned to the top of the Facebook timeline.

Does anyone have any ideas how to make the White House petition at least as popular as Sparlock on JWN?

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

34

It's Back! . . . Round 2.

by ABibleStudent in

if you are an american citizen, please visit http://wh.gov/tfk and sign the "protect millions of americans from dangerous orgs: modify usc title 26 501 tax exemption requirements" petition that i created on june 1, 2012 on the white house website.

i assume that only americans can sign this petition, but i do not know.

it takes about 2 minutes to register and sign the petition.

ABibleStudent

I just sent the following email and letter to Steve Hassan.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

Letter to Steve Hassan on 06/05/2012 -
Mr. Steve Hassan
c/o Freedom of Mind
P.O. Box 590443
Newton, MA 02459
Phone: 617-396-4638
Dear Mr Steve Hassan:
If you believe that a person has basic rights of freedom of religious belief and speech, please read the White House petition “Protect Millions of Americans from Dangerous Orgs” at http://wh.gov/tFK until%20June%2030 , 2012 and either post a link on www.freedomofmind.com; your twitter account; your Facebook account; “Like” the Facebook link below; and/or email the link to members of dangerous orgs (i.e., cults), former dangerous cult members, and other interested people, who you know. This is my second attempt to promote this petition on the White House website – the first petition expired on May 26, 2012. If 25,000 people (Americans only, probably) sign the petition by June 30, 2012, the White House Staff will review this petition. If more than 150 people sign this petition before June 30, 2012, the petition will be viewable by all White House website visitors and appear on internet search browsers.

For more information about this petition, please read information on the Facebook page “Protecting Americans from Dangerous Orgs” using either http://on.fb.me/wh-petition (short url) or http://www.facebook.com/pages/Protecting-Americans-from-Dangerous-Orgs/264002310365016 . Most of my ideas for identifying a dangerous org, I learned from reading your book “Combatting Cult Mind Control” and relating it to my personal experiences with Jehovah's Witnesses.

Thank you in advance for reviewing and responding to my letter.
Sincerely,
Robert

8

Does anyone know any moonies? Hoping to help one out!

by Diest in

jw
friends

i just found out today that a friend of a friend is a born-in moonie.

i really want to give him combating cult mind control.

i am just curious if it is a bad idea because it was written by a moonie apostate, or if it works well.

ABibleStudent

Hi Diest, Would it help to ask your friend about the following video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oudzjLvNKsk

You could probably ask simple questions about the video that might awaken his mind after viewing this video.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert