Posts by ABibleStudent

381

Were you or someone you know sexually molested by a Jehovah's Witness ?

by flipper in

due to the fact there are about 27,000 members of this religion that are known pedophiles, and the information about it is kept in a secret database file, i wonder how many lurking jw's as well as others are aware of the severity of this problem?

remember, it's 27,000 pedophiles that they know about.

what about the thousands that don't get caught?

ABibleStudent

Simon -

The ones on the list are only the ones who have been caught and prosecuted.

How many have been covered up or dismissed by the elders because of their rediculous 2-witness rule interpretation?

This may be why the WTBTS was in comtempt of court in California. Attorney Zalkin may have stumbled on to something when he asked the WTBTS for documents or testimony from GB members. In the past Zalkin was willing to settle with the WTBTS. Now he may have a silver bullet!

I wonder how many times the WTBTS would be willing to pay $13.5 million to avoid releasing its files to the courts, instead of working with survivors to heal and to effectively protect children from sexual abuse. At some point it will be more cost effective to protect children than "harbor and protect criminals" (i.e., pedophiles).

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

20

Help

by Horseygirl12 in

jw
friends

im so frustrated i could kill myself right now!!

im 15 and a couple weeks ago i confessed to my parents that i didn't want to be a jehovahs witness anymore and also that i was bisexual.

i had just gotten back from an eating disorder clinic and my parents decided to put me back in school (i was homeschooling before).

ABibleStudent

Welcome Horseygirl12 and ((HUGS)), You have a lot of issues to resolve: thinking about suicide, dependent on your parents for support, being a teenager, not wanting to be a JW, etc. Suicide is irreversible, so talk to a professional counselor as soon as possible. Search the internet now for crisis phone numbers that you can call now for help before you are too depressed. Everything else is reversible and you can change your life after your parents no longer support you.

Start making plans now how to become more self-sufficient from your parents. Go to a local school and ask to talk with a guidance counselor. If the guidance counselor doubts your story, ask him to visit Steven Hassan's website www.freeedomofmind.com. There is lots of good information on Steven Hassan's website that should help the counselor to better undertand your situation.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

10

Even if the WTS wins its appeals, it loses

by sir82 in

jw
friends

the thought occurs to me that even if the wts wins its appeals, it loses.. suppose that conti, lopez, the other 8 cases tied to campos, and even dozens more cases to come are overturned on appeal.. (1) the wts will have built a reputation of secrecy & mishandling.

a lone crackpot or 2 might file a case against a big corporation in hopes of getting something out of a settlement, but if there are dozens & dozens of litigants, most of whom prefer to go to court to air the "dirty laundry" instead of seeking a settlement, what does that say?.

(2) it's not exactly an appealing message for the wts to say "ha ha!

ABibleStudent

I doubt the WTBTS's appeals will be successful. Appeal judges take comtempt of court very seriously and will probably adversely bias their perception of the Watchtower's appeals. The $13.5 million judgement could not have come at a better time to support Candace's lawsuit.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

105

Consider the "outcome" when elders apply the two-witness "rule"

by AndersonsInfo in

jehovahs witnesses two-witness rule is applied by elders when a witness member accuses another member of a sin, even if that sin is a criminal act.

if there arent two witnesses to the accusation, it goes nowhere, including not being reported to the authorities.

and in the case of an allegation of child abuse, the accused is free to molest again.. watchtower attorney, jim mccabe, recently stated this about jehovahs witnesses two-witness rule which he described as a bible-based belief :.

ABibleStudent

Thanks Barbara!

The two-witness rule is a good example that the WTBTS is a dangerous cult. Why would any non-government organization benefit from being investigator, prosecutor, jury, and judge? The WTBTS doesn't have a budget to do a better investigation than local law enforcment. There would be far less liability for the WTBTS to just tell JWs to file reports with local law enforcment.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

40

Jehovah's Witnesses are the only people who don't practice war and who preach worldwide!

by EndofMysteries in

this is what somebody has been telling me, trying to convince me aside from anything one can say or cause reason for doubt, as the evidence that they are the true religion and true people of god.

they are convinced because while 'all other' christian and other religions support war, troops, etc, jw's don't and they are the only one's who carry god's name and preach.

nothing else matters.

ABibleStudent

Hi EndofMysteries, "Jehovah's Witnesses are the only people who don't practice war and who preach worldwide!" is the most difficult thought-stopping platitude to overcome because a JW's cult persona believes that nothing else is relevant. Trying to disprove that thought-stopping platitude to a JW in cult mode is a fruitless endeavor. You need to ask JWs simple questions to hopefully empower their authentic persona to overcome their cult persona.

If a JW is trying to convince you that the Watchtower has the "Truth", by telling you that phrase, then ask, "What if I value critically thinking for myself more than preaching worldwide that the Watchtower has the "Truth"? What if I believe that the Watchtower is only a printing, distribution, and real estate holding corporation? Are you willing to confront your fears that I'm right by independently researching the Watchtower as much as you would research which new car to buy?"

If a JW is afraid of being labeled as an apostate, then the preceeding questions can be rephrased to appear like you are asking for help from another JW to provide an answer to a prospective "bible student" (recruit).

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

15

Doctrine, Disfellowshipping and the IRS

by OrphanCrow in

i watched an episode of "lie to me" on netflix that piqued my curiosity.. .

in the episode truth or consequences, a cult leader is investigated by the irs to determine if his cult has tax exemption or not.. one of the criteria that has to be met in order to be a legitimate 'church' or 'religion' in the eyes of the irs is that the members have to display "genuine belief'.. here is the portion of the script that speaks of this:.

http://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=lie-to-me&episode=s02e02.

ABibleStudent

Hi OrphanCrow, Very thoughtful and researched comments. Getting a bureaucracy to become proactive takes a lot of effort, unless politicians pass laws to either fund it to be proactive or penalize it for draggin its feet.

Have you thought about contacting Congressional representatives to promote changing tax laws for non-profit organizations? Have you thought about becoming more politically active, like joining the Linkedin group Advocates for Protecting Children from Maltreatment ( www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=6784497&trk=anet_ug_hm )?

I feel that Congress should require non-profit organizations to comply with some minimal societal requirements, such as implement effective practices to protect children from abuse and sexual abuse, to promote tolerant and inclusive behavior to members (e.g., not promote ostracising of members to members and not promote avoiding contact with non-members), and not promote nor practise acts of discrimination. It would also be good if non-profits were required to spend at least half their income on charitable activities that equally benefit non-members as well as members, and other measures to audit their finances.

People can think - organizations can't, so I feel that tax laws can be changed to encourage the WTBTS to change its behavior of using "undue influence" to victimize JWs without violating 1st amendment rights.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

21

CANDACE CONTI - What's the current status?

by EdenOne in

i'm in a little urgency to know this, so please, if you can help:.

as far as i understand, this is the sequence of events:.

a) june 14th 2012 - on a trial by jury, cancace conti wins a civil law case involving child sexual abuse.

ABibleStudent

According to the court's scheduling calendar, oral arguments are heard from 2 to 4 times per month. Maybe this is the reason that oral arguments are not scheduled yet. Also, I am sure that the judges (or their clerks) need to do a lot of reading.

According to the calendar, the next scheduled meeting of Division 3 is Nov. 12 and then Nov. 24, assuming that the disposition doesn't change with the case being assigned to a different division.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

99

New development in my life

by EdenOne in

jw
friends

no longer a ms ........................... can't give details atm, for it might be a dead-giveaway and it ain't quite over yet.

but, it really taught me one thing: if you're trying to fade or stay in, trust no one.

and i mean no one.. eden.

ABibleStudent

Best of wishes EdenOne to you and your wife living Watchtower free for the rest of your lives together! I hope that you will share what worked for you with other JWN members.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

1

Message from Spanish researchers seeking subjects for study of NONabusive group involvements

by AndersonsInfo in

jw
friends

the following email was sent to me from michael langone, editor-in-chief of the international cultic studies association (icsa), a very reputable organization.

perhaps some readers would like to participate in this research study which sounds like an excellent and beneficial project.. barbara.

dear sir or madam,.

ABibleStudent

BTTT

Thank you Barbara for posting links to this survery. More surveys like this might help convince politicians to revise laws to stop supporting organizations that use "undue influence" to victimize their members.

I wish that survey needed responses from people who were encouraged to join, but decided not to become indoctrinated and why. I would enjoy completing that survey.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

55

Taking on Jehovah's Witnesses fake Child Safeguarding Policy in the UK

by Watchtower-Free in

found this on youtube.

this is louise goode .

shes also on facebook.

ABibleStudent

Hi AnnOMaly, I don't know enough about U.K. Charity laws to comment on what would motivate the Charity Commission and whether the WTBTS could lose tax breaks or lose government subsidies.

If U.K. bureaucrats are like American bureaucrats, they are more interested in not causing waves to keep their jobs, and less on proactively enforcing laws. If the U.K. laws were more explicit and left bureaucrats no option but to be proactive, then I would feel more confident that the WTBTS would either have to change or lose its charitable status.

Also, remember how long the WTBTS was able to avoid complying with Victoria Australia's child protection law and who finally forced the government and the WTBTS to comply.

Peace be with you, and everyone, who you love,

Robert