Posts by Amelia Ashton

39

This Is It?

by Nevuela in

i can't say much out of fear of getting caught, but i overheard a jw i know on the phone with a friend talking about "how close we are to the end.

" yeah, yeah, i know.

we've been on the brink of armageddon for well over a century, but what struck me about this particular instance was what she said next.

Amelia Ashton

"So, I googled "has Matthew 24:14 been fulfilled" and it led me to a thread on this board."

I wonder how often JWN threads come up when Watchtower researches type in a subject matter they have been instructed to write about?

25

Abuse Survivor's $4M Judgment Against Jehovah's Witness Umbrella Organization Upheld by Court 12/10/18

by Not_Culty in

https://www.law.com/newyorklawjournal/2018/12/10/court-upholds-abuse-survivors-4m-judgement-against-jehovahs-witness-umbrella-organization-389-52222/?slreturn=20181111101406.

“On July 15, 2006, [J.W.] and three other girls were invited to a slumber party at [Simental’s] home. [Simental] had a daughter near the age of [J.W.] and the other invited girls. [¶] During that afternoon, [Simental] joined the girls in a pool in the backyard. While in the pool, [Simental] sexually molested [J.W.] and another girl (Doe 1) in separate incidents. Doe 1’s sister, Doe 2, had previously been molested on two occasions by [Simental].” Doe 1 and Doe 2 told their mother about Simental molesting them. The mother contacted an elder of the congregation, and a judicial committee was convened. Simental admitted he molested Doe 2 on two occasions, and that he molested Doe 1 twice on July 15. The judicial committee reproved Simental. The principal of Doe 1 and Doe 2’s school was notified of the abuse, and s/he reported it to law enforcement. Approximately two months after July 15, J.W.’s parents received a telephone call from the Murrieta Police Department asking if Simental sexually abused J.W. J.W.’s father (Father) spoke to the elders of the Mountain View congregation who advised Father that J.W. did not have to speak with the police. J.W. and her family began attending a different congregation—the French Valley Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Unbeknownst to J.W. and her family, Simental also moved to the French Valley congregation. Approximately one year after July 2006, J.W. informed her parents of the extent of Simental’s sexual touching. J.W.’s parents spoke to the police and then to the elders of the French Valley congregation.

The elders came to J.W.’s home and “interrogated JW, who was approximately ten years of age, about the abuse in explicit detail. JW, and her parents, were very upset by the explicit nature of the questions asked, and the depth to which the Elders probed for information.” Father told the elders that he was thinking of requesting a restraining order against Simental. The elders told Father that he did not need to speak to the police, “and that to do so would bring reproach on the congregation.” In two criminal cases, Simental was found guilty of molesting Doe 1, Doe 2, and J.W.2 J.W.’s first cause of action was for negligence. J.W. asserted Watchtower had a duty to protect J.W., who was entrusted to Watchtower’s care by J.W.’s parents. J.W. asserted Watchtower had a duty to control Simental and prevent him from sexually molesting children. J.W. alleged that Watchtower was “aware, prior to the sexual abuse of [J.W.] herein, of [Simental’s] dangerous and exploitive propensities. [Watchtower was] also aware that [it] had the ability to place restrictions on [Simental’s] access to children, service and preaching activities, give warnings to the congregation, and otherwise control Simental’s conduct.”

Watchtower's defense is that the slumber party was not a watchtower sponsored event and I stopped reading after that.

39

This Is It?

by Nevuela in

i can't say much out of fear of getting caught, but i overheard a jw i know on the phone with a friend talking about "how close we are to the end.

" yeah, yeah, i know.

we've been on the brink of armageddon for well over a century, but what struck me about this particular instance was what she said next.

Amelia Ashton

I have started to view the Watchtower's vision of paradise not just delusionary but not a place I want to be.

I love the internet. I love my phone. I love my coffee maker. I love watching almost any film I want on demand. I am sure my taste in music would be banned and I know living in a peaceful world and in good health would be marvellous but not at the expense of no more trains, planes and cars (unless we all get the gift of wings, that would be cool) but I am more content and appreciative of my life now than I ever was as a JW. Have I just become selfish in my old age?

42

Hello Everyone, Another JW Has Left!

by SuperGirl in

just want to introduce myself and let you know that this site is working and is a big help to lots of jws with doubts.

i've been lurking for about a year, the first couple of times i was frightened and literally shaking visiting an apostate site but it's the only place i can come to for sanity.

the religion has become a nut house.

Amelia Ashton

Welcome

I remember coming here and being terrified of apostates but they had the information I was looking for. Meeting one through an exjw site who lived locally was one of the scariest things I'd ever done but I knew I had to find out for myself if others felt like me.

Crisis of Conscience by Ray Franz eliminated any last shreds of doubt, fear and guilt I had so definitely read it if you get a chance. Another book that really helped my recovery was Captive of a Concept by Don Cameron which debunked 1914 but I hear that date doesn't carry the significance it once did. Quelle surprise! The internet they originally condemned but then embraced must surely be waking up far more than it is recruiting.

Glad you found us and hopefully many more will follow you.

Amelia

8

Conformity

by barry in

jw
friends

https://youtu.be/rkens1c7fsg many sda church members unions and conferences are having issues with their general conference which has set up five compliance committees to regulate church entities.

some of the areas the general conference are concerned about are the ordination of women and the general wants to stop more women from being ordained also their are issues with church doctrine homosexuality.

this video is in response to a fight back by a large majority of members 40% wanted womens ordination.

Amelia Ashton

Stuff like this:

For another 16 years the policy remained in effect, until the May 1, 1996 Watchtower abruptly decreed that acceptance of alternative service was now a matter of conscience. During those 16 years, thousands of Witnesses, mainly young men, spent time in prison for refusing to accept assignments to perform various forms of community service as an alternative to military service. As late as 1988, a report by Amnesty International stated that in France, “More than 500 conscientious objectors to military service, the vast majority of them Jehovah’s Witnesses, were imprisoned during the year.” For the same year, in Italy, “Approximately 1,000 conscientious objectors, mostly Jehovah’s Witnesses, were reported to be imprisoned in 10 military prisons for refusing to perform military service or the alternative civilian service.”15 That is just a partial picture. If that one Governing Body member had not changed his vote in 1978, virtually none of these men would have gone to prison—for the branch office committees’ reports give clear evidence that it was not the personal, individual consciences of these young men that produced the imprisonment. It was the compulsion to adhere to an organizationally imposed policy. The policy change is unquestionably welcome. Nonetheless, the fact that it took some 50 years for the organization’s to finally remove itself from this area of personal conscience surely has significance. One cannot but think of all the thousands of years collectively lost during half a century by Witness men as to their freedom to associate with family and friends, or to contribute to their own economy and the economy of those related to them, or pursue other worthwhile activities in ways not possible within prison walls. It represents an incredible waste of valuable years for the simple reason that it was unnecessary, being the result of an unscriptural position, imposed by organizational authority.

8

Conformity

by barry in

jw
friends

https://youtu.be/rkens1c7fsg many sda church members unions and conferences are having issues with their general conference which has set up five compliance committees to regulate church entities.

some of the areas the general conference are concerned about are the ordination of women and the general wants to stop more women from being ordained also their are issues with church doctrine homosexuality.

this video is in response to a fight back by a large majority of members 40% wanted womens ordination.

Amelia Ashton

The majority vote for passing "new truths" was a completely eye opening revelation to me when I read Ray Franz's book.

37

My sister passed away this evening

by smiddy3 in

it was only about two months ago she was diagnosed with lung cancer and she was a non smoker .. she was never a jw and she never held it against me that i was for 33 years.. we had a good relationship even though we lived in different states about 2000 miles apart,.. tears are rolling down my cheeks as i type this .

r.i.p.

sylvia .

Amelia Ashton

So sorry for your loss. Hugs

Amelia xxx

12

No longer gods channel of communication?

by Crazyguy in

smurf girl, i believe is her youtube name, an exjw with a youtube channel.

she claims that if you go all over the jw.borg website you will no longer be able to find any mention of the organization or the fds being gods channel of communication.

so what’s your thoughts on why the change?

Amelia Ashton

It was on their own jworg yesterday.

12

No longer gods channel of communication?

by Crazyguy in

smurf girl, i believe is her youtube name, an exjw with a youtube channel.

she claims that if you go all over the jw.borg website you will no longer be able to find any mention of the organization or the fds being gods channel of communication.

so what’s your thoughts on why the change?

Amelia Ashton

A quick Google sent me to a 1994 Watchtower on their website. Here is a screen shot where it states the FDS is Jehovah's channel of communication

8

The Cosmos an orderly created universe by a God ? or is it a chaotic universe without order or arrangement by any God ?

by smiddy3 in

or is the universe just following the natural laws of physics etc,etc.. i remember when i was "in" talks and books by the society highlighted the order of the universe went like clockwork ,sun ,moon and stars all in their relative positions and not one out of their place .. however the advancement in science of the universe / astronomy shows a much more different picture that demonstrates a more chaotic realism of what actually goes on out their in this vast universe .. black holes , which can merge together , galaxies colliding and merging together , large meteors ,some of which have crashed here on earth ,supernovas ,stars being born and stars in their death throes .. just some of the things off the top of my head ,apparently their are many more.. i look forward to comments and some good book to read on the subject..

Amelia Ashton

The craters on the moon are surely evidence of chaos not order in our universe.

Are meteorites hitting earth part of God's plan or did Eve put the entire universe out of kilter when she munched on that "forbidden fruit"?