Vidiot

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Posts by Vidiot

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  34

  Hailstones?

  by NotFormer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when i was interested in things jw two decades or so ago, i never came across these mentions of hailstones.

  it crops up so often now that it's almost a meme!

  when did it become a thing in jw speak, and what does it refer to?.

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  Vidiot

  Ten bucks says that if/when they ever lose their tax-exempt status, they’ll find some New Light or other as a pretext to not bother anymore…

  … because I’ve long suspected that the “life-saving” door-to-door work (and more importantly, the record-keeping aspect of it) was really just to create an Autobahn-sized paper trail of “charitable activity” to qualify for tax-exemption, and if that no longer cuts the mustard, then there’s no point continuing it.

  Why do I think that?

  Because of how readily they were - for all intents and purposes - willing to pull the preaching work to a screeching halt during Covid…

  …their tax-exemption may have been at risk if they hadn’t complied with secular authorities’ directives to instruct their people to stay home.

  Not to mention how willing they were to show their throat “Satan’s world” and sign up for the CSA redress scheme in Australia when their charity status there was approaching the chopping block a few years back.
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  58

  Cult or High Control Group?

  by MillennialDawn in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i see this phrase a lot: "the indication of a cult is what happens when you leave.

  " i'm not sure where that originated, but it is a faulty categorization.

  "cult" is almost always used in a derogatory way.

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  Vidiot

  Beth Sarim - “It just baffles me how the vast rank and file JWs cant realize all of this.”

  The Org has evolved to specifically seek out and/or keep rank-and-filers who are not emotionally resilient enough to realize it.

  Most of us are here because unexpected circumstances essentially forced that realization onto us…

  …and it was either accept it and adapt or have a nervous fucking breakdown.
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  34

  Hailstones?

  by NotFormer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when i was interested in things jw two decades or so ago, i never came across these mentions of hailstones.

  it crops up so often now that it's almost a meme!

  when did it become a thing in jw speak, and what does it refer to?.

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  Vidiot

  Remember, folks, even though they know it’s wrong, they still believe it’s True.

  I’ve long suspected that if the WTS was really backed into a corner and its survival was on the line, they’d try something like this as a Hail Mary to provoke the world into some kind of “endgame attack” (as per Freddy Franz’s old Cold War-centric eschatology) in the hopes that God would bail them out with the Big A…

  …and if it didn’t work… well…

  …authoritarian regimes have always opted to crash-and-burn rather than reform, yield, or concede.

  And honestly, I suspect that (even though they’d never say so out loud) if they can’t be “God’s Exclusive Earthly Organization”, they’d rather be nothing.
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  10

  Whatever happened to JW paedo Michael Porter?

  by LoveUniHateExams in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  i remember reading about this guy in a national newspaper in 2010 after he had had his trial for child sex abuse.

  porter avoided prison, despite being guilty of some acts child abuse.. the local elders defended him and were on his side and didn't df him, from what i remember.

  then after an outcry porter was was df'd, and i think sent to prison.. anyone up-to-date on this?.

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  Vidiot

  Diogenesister - “…Watchtower has only amended it's rules and mandated sex offenders no longer qualify to become elders because of the public's outrage…”

  That happened way back in ‘02 after the Dateline thing…

  …and they quietly reversed it a couple years later.

  I scratched my head over that one; YTF would they want to do that?

  Then I found out that fewer and fewer young guys were willing or able to “reach out” for “privileges”, and realized…

  …what if the problem was so widespread that if they didn’t minimize the severity of the offence, they wouldn’t have enough “qualified brothers” available to keep things running?

  And that prospect was scary AF.
  
  
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  27

  Ernie Fyans, JW elder CSA abuser from "Palmer Leaks" sentenced in Maine today

  by EasyPrompt in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  .

  https://x.com/mark_j_odonnell/status/1704588790730256487?s=20.

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  Vidiot

  Tahoe - “Will damage control come in the form of claiming Religious Persecution by the ‘Satan’s System of Things’? Will they claim these as false allegations created to stumble Jehovah’s true believers in the Last Days?”

  Already has.

  For all the good it’s done.
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  172

  Are You Raising An Introvert?

  by darth frosty in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  its not easy being an introvert in an extrovert worldespecially when youre a kid.

  it is even more difficult if none of the adults in the kids life recognize that the child is an introvert.

  this doesnt happen only when the childs parents are extroverts, but also with introverted parents who have never understood their own introverted nature.. .

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  Vidiot

  https://introvertspring.com/introverts-come-out-shell/
  
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  172

  Are You Raising An Introvert?

  by darth frosty in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  its not easy being an introvert in an extrovert worldespecially when youre a kid.

  it is even more difficult if none of the adults in the kids life recognize that the child is an introvert.

  this doesnt happen only when the childs parents are extroverts, but also with introverted parents who have never understood their own introverted nature.. .

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  Vidiot

  I like this nugget:

  “People always tell introverts to be more talkative and leave their comfort zones, yet no one tells extroverts to shut up and make the zone comfortable.”
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  2

  Open Letter to the New Zealand Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry - Part 1

  by jwleaks in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  an open letter from stakeholders, survivors, and their advocates.

  1 october 2023. to the new zealand abuse in care royal commission of inquiry and the new zealand attorney-general, the honourable david parker:.

  firstly, thank you for the time and effort the royal commission has expended in its impartial investigation and examination into historical abuse and neglect in state care, and in the care of faith-based institutions in new zealand.. secondly, thank you for your understanding, acknowledgement, and your response to the harm abuse and neglect causes to individuals, families, and communities; and your efforts to ensure lessons are learned for the future.. we were disappointed that the jehovah’s witnesses are seeking a judicial review and high court declaration in relation to being the subject of any review by the abuse in care commission of inquiry.

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  Vidiot

  This is significant…

  …the Org is spending time and money trying to get a government-appointed agency to reverse investigative findings made seven years ago.

  When they’d get publicly embarrassed back in the day, their typical MO was to just clam up and wait for it all to blow over and fade into the past.

  Asking “WTF’s changed?” would not be unreasonable.
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  6

  Balancing Values:Truth and or Unity

  by Vanderhoven7 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  here is an apostate elder's honest testimony.. https://youtu.be/epmbbou4nve?si=lzhgmnbyyryurayx.

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  Vidiot

  Pointing out how wrong everybody else is whilst refusing to even acknowledge how wrong you might be (and threatening action if and when anyone else does it) is fundamentally dishonest and under-handed.

  The moment you use unethical methods in your efforts to claim the moral high ground, you forfeit the moral high ground.

  No matter who you are.
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  58

  Cult or High Control Group?

  by MillennialDawn in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i see this phrase a lot: "the indication of a cult is what happens when you leave.

  " i'm not sure where that originated, but it is a faulty categorization.

  "cult" is almost always used in a derogatory way.

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  Vidiot

  Waco, the Hare Krishnas, and Heaven’s Gate have pretty much defined what a “cult” looks like in the public eye. Polite, well-dressed door-knockers get an easy pass.

  Up till now, anyway.

  I prefer the term “authoritarian high-control group”.

  It’s a bit wordy, but IMO, break it down into its component parts and I think even the most die-hard JW loyalist would have trouble refuting the label.

  I could be wrong.