I could care less if there are still cults existing in the future...
...as long as the WTS isn’t one of them.
people know of many cult leaders’ and their charismatic personalities, with their fringe beliefs and lust for power and how they have inspired hundreds to follow their unconventional philosophies — with often-tragic results.
charles manson, david koresh, jim jones, bhagwan shree rajneesh and others have gained international notoriety for exposing the dark side of humanity.. however what about the cults that went main stream.
i guess we could throw in jesus and even adolf hitler.
I could care less if there are still cults existing in the future...
...as long as the WTS isn’t one of them.
spotted this article this morning.
i will try to post a link.. jtg.. australia.. institutions refusing to join the national redress scheme are "doubling down" on the crime of child sexual abuse, prime minister scott morrison says.. mr morrison and social services minister anne ruston have warned institutions they may lose funding and tax concessions if they fail to sign up by tuesday's deadline and will be named and shamed.. "all institutions are doing in not joining is doubling down on the crime and doubling down on the hurt," they said in a letter to 25 institutions.. "we consider it to be reprehensible that you have failed to sign up to the scheme.".
the jehovah's witnesses is among the organisations that has refused to sign up, arguing it does not have the institutional settings of other faith-based institutions that the redress scheme is designed to cover.. senator ruston is set to name the non-participating institutions on wednesday, when she will announce what action the federal government will take against them.. "we urge you to join the scheme not because of concerns about being identified, but because it is the right thing to do," the minister and mr morrison said.. "it is the right thing to do by survivors and their families and it is what every, decent, honest, australian demands.".
On a related note, I actually hope the Aussie government doesn't seize any WT property to compensate the victims (in effect, "forcing" the WTS to join the redress scheme).
Yes, it would accomplish something in the short-term, but the Org would be too easily able to appear as martyrs to the rank-and-file.
Better to compensate the victims from federal funds in this particular instance... it would make the government (correctly) appear more ethical and empathetic...
...and then, after countless rebuffed requests for the Org to voluntarily repay the shortfall (because, let's be honest, they won't) revoke their "charity" status as a punitive measure... way harder to spin "paying back Caesar's things to Caesar" as "persecution", after all....
...and since the WTS has already moved the bulk of their funds out of the country (in order to spuriously claim that they can't afford it), raise public taxes just a teeny bit to - ostensibly - make up said shortfall, and let everybody know why.
Public opinion of the Org would be at an all-time low...
...embarrassment and disillusionment on the part of the R&F would be at an all-time high.
spotted this article this morning.
i will try to post a link.. jtg.. australia.. institutions refusing to join the national redress scheme are "doubling down" on the crime of child sexual abuse, prime minister scott morrison says.. mr morrison and social services minister anne ruston have warned institutions they may lose funding and tax concessions if they fail to sign up by tuesday's deadline and will be named and shamed.. "all institutions are doing in not joining is doubling down on the crime and doubling down on the hurt," they said in a letter to 25 institutions.. "we consider it to be reprehensible that you have failed to sign up to the scheme.".
the jehovah's witnesses is among the organisations that has refused to sign up, arguing it does not have the institutional settings of other faith-based institutions that the redress scheme is designed to cover.. senator ruston is set to name the non-participating institutions on wednesday, when she will announce what action the federal government will take against them.. "we urge you to join the scheme not because of concerns about being identified, but because it is the right thing to do," the minister and mr morrison said.. "it is the right thing to do by survivors and their families and it is what every, decent, honest, australian demands.".
joey dojo - "JWs are the only organised religion that have failed to join. They have less than 10 claimants that have registered interest in redress, according to the media, so why hold out? It seems like really bad press for all the wrong reasons."
From the Org's perspective, they simply can't.
Pride is definitely a factor, but more importantly, to willingly join the redress scheme would be - in effect - publicly admitting the problem existed in the first place, that it was indeed their fault it got so bad, and that their so-called "Biblical" methods of dealing with it internally were fundamentally flawed.
All of which too deeply undermine the internal claim that they are "God's Exclusive Earthly Organization"... a dogma which absolutely must be reinforced and maintained at all costs, because...
a) ...without it, there's virtually no incentive for the average rank-and-filer to even be a JW at this point, and technically, the Org is still arguably dependent on the membership's financial support, and...
b) ...being "God's Exclusive Earthly Organization" has become the WTS's whole raison d'etre... if they're not actually what they claim, then by their own internal 100-years-strong rhetoric and standards, they are by definition a "false religion", and therefore have no legitimacy, authority, or right to even exist.
The first loss might be survivable.
The second, though?
naughty, naughty little children - going to beaches on a sunny day.. "health secretary matt hancock has "made clear we do have the powers to go back in and act"".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53190209.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr5apyxku-u.
matt - "i will say politely: you are in thrall to the ministry of truth. your life, which has included at least aspects of basic freedom up to the rollout of this covid hoax, is changing. your indoctrination appears to be nearly complete, and as a 'snitch', you only need to report to the thought police. that will help take care of the few discontents who cling (against the best interests of all!) to their right to live their lives. 1984 becomes a living, breathing entity because you are persuaded it is for your benefit. welcome to 1984, agenda 21, agenda 2030, and beyond. the united nations loves you and will take care of you."
Fuck, yeah!
Sign me up for the Thought Police!
i find it ironic that jw.org publishes an article about homosexuality on the day i received july 2020 issue if the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints magazine "ensign" which also has an article on same-sex attraction.
.
regardless, the lds article comes across as more caring than the jw article although in the end members in good standing cannot act upon their same-sex attraction in either religion..
steve2 - "...It is a message about homosexuals to JWs..."
Let's be honest...
...has anything the WT put out ever really been for anyone but JWs?
steve2 - "...it's as if they cannot bring themselves to talk to the very people whose lifestyles they condemn..."
Yup, just like they don't really have the balls to condemn militant Islam.
many of us have watched the gb #4 update.
most of us jumped for joy when they basically said that there will be no meeting in person for a long time to come.. one aspect we overlooked was how hard they hit home the "love of neighbor".
how this "love" is what makes a true christian and as a result our love for our neighbors will motivate us to stay at home.. well now they released a letter that is instructing all kh's to view this video during their local needs part.
Also, just last night I was joking with my wife about how some of the old-school loyalists probably don’t know what to do with themselves during the shutdown, whilst a lot more are actually enjoying the break.😀
many of us have watched the gb #4 update.
most of us jumped for joy when they basically said that there will be no meeting in person for a long time to come.. one aspect we overlooked was how hard they hit home the "love of neighbor".
how this "love" is what makes a true christian and as a result our love for our neighbors will motivate us to stay at home.. well now they released a letter that is instructing all kh's to view this video during their local needs part.
Yup, COVID-19 sure has made the e-church transition way easier.
i missed this when it first came out.
.
it's so sad to realize that i was part of the behaviour shown by the witnesses in the video.. this is my neck of the woods, and i recognize some of the yellow vested attendants that control the situation.i used to play football with the big french brother named guy.. if only they could see.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukiqqgfngxk.
Something I’d like to add to my previous post...
...it occurred to me that in the case of lower-ranking members of the heirarchy, there would definitely be a reluctance to report alleged abuse because any subsequent secular investigation might uncover more...
...prompting very uncomfortable suspicions that they wouldn’t want to face.
hi fellow apostates, here is a link about the redress scheme from the arc into child abuse and jws refusal to participate.
enjoy; https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jul/01/six-groups-fail-to-join-australias-national-child-abuse-redress-scheme.
Half banana - "It makes me wonder whether the GB's digging their heels in attitude will be death of them?"
Looking back over the years at all the slowly and steadily escalating rhetoric and propaganda, the steadfast refusal to acknowledge anything that suggests they might be wrong, and the annoying refusal of the world around them to not fall into apocalyptic chaos...
...I think that that there would always have been a point where the Org would stop budging and defy the larger world, no matter the outcome. If it didn't happen organically, it would have been by design.
They'd proceed from the assumption (or rather, desperate hope) that at that point, God would step in and save them, thus vindicating them all along...
...and if not, I suspect that deep down, they'd rather crash-and-burn than submit, just like every other dead authoritarian regime in history.
We just might be seeing it now.
all my jw life i was reminded constantly about the importance of not bringing reproach on jehovah's name.
decisions on whether or not to disfellowship an individual often turned, not on the seriousness of the sin, but on whether the incident was public knowledge and had resulted in bad publicity for the congregation.
i recall a middle-aged lady being reported to the elders for shoplifting a sweet worth less than £1- and the elders' insistence that a judicial committee must be formed because the store manager and staff knew that she was a jw (i successfully argued that all she needed was support for her dreadful family life, but that's another story).
They're at the point where they don't give a rat's ass about bad PR.
It's not about protecting the Organization's reputation, and hasn't been for a long time, now.
It's about maintaining and reinforcing the fiction of "God's Earthly Organization"...
...because without it, the WTS is nothing.