Posts by Quendi

361

Watchtower found guilty ruled to pay 7 million to 1 victim? wow

by yourmomma in

is this recent?

http://www.silentlambs.org/oaklandlawsuit.htm.

i havent seen anyone post about it, the link has a pdf on it of the court documents, and it looks like the stamp is from 5/12 but its blurry.. .

Quendi

I really appreciated what BlindersOff1 said because it hit home with me. "So many talented, intelligent, caring damaged people. Damaged by a publishing company that morphed into a religion." That is exactly what happened. A small group of people primarily interested in studying the Bible and preparing for a hoped-for return of Jesus Christ in the early twentieth century has become a tyrannical monster that has seen fit to interfere with every aspect of its followers lives, even the most intimate ones. That interference has wrought havoc, pain, despair and even death upon countless victims. I hope these words from Isaiah 28: 14,15, 18,19 apply to them:

"Therefore hear the word of Jehovah, you braggarts, you rulers of this people who are in Jerusalem: Because you have said, 'We have a covenant with Death, and with Sheol we have effected a vision, the overflowing flash flood, in case it should pass through, will not come to us, for we have made a lie our refuge and in falsehood we have concealed ourselves.' Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said, '...And your covenant with Death will certainly be dissolved, and that vision of yours with Sheol will not stand. The overflowing flash flood when it passes through--you must also become for it a trampling place. As often as it passes through, it will take you men away, because morning by morning it will pass through and during the night."

May the right prevail!

Quendi

361

Watchtower found guilty ruled to pay 7 million to 1 victim? wow

by yourmomma in

is this recent?

http://www.silentlambs.org/oaklandlawsuit.htm.

i havent seen anyone post about it, the link has a pdf on it of the court documents, and it looks like the stamp is from 5/12 but its blurry.. .

Quendi

These are early days, I know, but I can't help wondering, my friends, if this news isn't the first flowering of that "Watchtower Spring" we've all been hoping for. Time will tell. What is important to me isn't the monetary awards to the plaintiff, but the overwhelming negative publicity this case will generate against the WTS. If this does indeed sprout, bud, and finally bear fruit then the somnolent rank-and-file may finally Awake! and leave this organization forever!

Quendi

361

Watchtower found guilty ruled to pay 7 million to 1 victim? wow

by yourmomma in

is this recent?

http://www.silentlambs.org/oaklandlawsuit.htm.

i havent seen anyone post about it, the link has a pdf on it of the court documents, and it looks like the stamp is from 5/12 but its blurry.. .

Quendi

I shared the news with a Witness friend of mine living in Colorado and his reaction to it is one I think most of us can agree with:

I eagerly wait for the day that I can blast that catchy tune from the Wizard of Oz...Ding, Dong the Witch is dead

Quendi

361

Watchtower found guilty ruled to pay 7 million to 1 victim? wow

by yourmomma in

is this recent?

http://www.silentlambs.org/oaklandlawsuit.htm.

i havent seen anyone post about it, the link has a pdf on it of the court documents, and it looks like the stamp is from 5/12 but its blurry.. .

Quendi

bookmarked

14

Latest Watchtower lays into the United Nations like nothing ever happened...

by cedars in

for those of us who are familiar with the watch tower society's 9-year affiliation with the united nations as an ngo (non-governmental organization), a portion of the latest "armageddon article" produced in the september 15th 2012 study edition provides some interesting reading.. for those not familiar with the scandal, i can do no better than point you in the direction of the pertinent article over on jwfacts.com, which you can access via the following link:.

http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/united-nations-association.php.

to clarify, here is a letter from the united nations confirming the affiliation:.

Quendi

Fascinating! Thanks once more, cedars, for you vigilance and hard work. I wish there was some way to give this issue wider exposure. It would be wonderful if the BBC or some of the American television networks put this story on the air. It won't happen because too many years have passed since the WTS's withdrawal from the UN. But should this story ever get the circulation it deserves, I think the effect on the WTS would be catastrophic, akin to the bursting of a dam. It might not survive, but even if it did it would only be a shell of its former self.

Maybe, just maybe, with the WTS itself reviving its smear campaign against the UN, this story might get new life. Perhaps somebody would send copies of this publication to the UN's New York headquarters and ask them to respond to this attack. Perhaps the organization would do nothing, but on the other hand the action might provoke a response.

Quendi

28

Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY

by TheTruthBR in

watchtower library online: http://wol.jw.org/.

.

watchtoweronline librarywelcome.this is a research tool for publications in various languages produced by jehovah's witnesses.

Quendi

This is another attempt by the WTS to concede the presence and effect the Internet has but baltar447 is right to be unimpressed. The oldest publications listed go only back to 2000, and I wouldn't be surprised if their texts differ in some respects from the original versions. The WTS did that with its Watchtower Library CD and that gives me reason to believe it will do likewise with this online repository. Thanks, ThetruthBR, for alerting us to this new development.

The WTS wants to erase its past with all the problems its examination would create. At the same time it wants to appear to be progressive technologically speaking as well as seeming to provide research materials for those Witnesses who are still serious about the religion. Maybe more publications will be added and older material will be made available. We'll see, but even if that happens I don't think the Society's motives for creating this "library" are altruistic ones.

Quendi

99

Thought Reform and the Psychology of the 'Safeguard Your Heart!' 2012 Convention

by breakfast of champions in

to make attendance at my second district convention "mentally out" both a little more bearable and meaningful, i decided to take some notes of key points as if i were an outsider studying the thought reform methods of jehovah's witnesses.

at first, i was only going to share these notes with my therapist, but inspired by the "parsing the watchtower double-speak" thread, i figured i would share my amateur analysis with everyone.

here are some of the highlights:.

Quendi

I want to give my thanks to breakfast of champions along with everyone else who has posted on this thread. As 00DAD puts it, the lies and deceptons are easy enough to spot once you know how to look for them. And I had to laugh out loud at truth_b_known's succinct summary of this entire enterprise: "Ignore the Man Behind the Curtain" 2012 District Convention of Jehovah's Witnesses. That is a phrase I have used quite often to describe the deception this cult practices.

The last district convention I attended was in 2005, three months before I was disfellowshipped. It is a torrid June day in Birmingham, Alabama as I write this and the district convention here is scheduled to start tomorrow. I am so grateful that I won't be in attendance again this year, listening to boring talks that don't address real life issues or offer any encouragement to those wanting to walk a spiritual path. At the same time, I marvel at the fact that millions of Witnesses around the world will make time through the end of the year to put themselves through the abuse a large gathering of Jehovah's Witnesses really is. I wish they would wake up and walk out of this despicable cult but I know it will take a catastrophic public scandal to shake sense into them. But while they may still be enslaved, I rejoice again in my freedom as I'm sure the rest of us also do.

Quendi

34

How the Shrinking of the Awake! has Affected Many!

by God_Delusion in

the watchtower society never thinks things through.

the halving of the awake!

magazine has had an adverse affect on many.. http://www.jehovahswitnessblog.com/awake-bloopers/awake-magazine-cut-to-16-pages/.

Quendi

Yes, as steve2 says, there has been a noticeable decline in the writing quality of WTS literature over the decades. I remember attending the book study in 1968 when the Babylon the Great Has Fallen! book was examined. I learned a great deal and the writing was first-rate. Yes, I was only a boy, but I also attended Catholic school at the time and the education I received there was an excellent one. So I knew outstanding writing when I encountered it. Furthermore, in those days there was a conscious effort on the part of the WTS to raise the literacy standards of its readers. Uncommon words and sentence constructions were used to pique interest and stimulate thinking. That is certainly not the case now.

You can see that in comparing the two Theocratic Ministry School guidebooks. The older edition, which was released back in the early 1970s I believe, is far superior to the one in use now. I've known of public school teachers who used the old guidebook as the template for teaching public speaking to their students.

The last WTS publication I can honestly say I enjoyed was Life, How Did It Get Here: by Evolution or by Creation? I know many on this board despised it, but I thought its arguments were very well presented and put forth in a way to engage readers. I am not an evolutionist in the classic sense and still believe that much of what is advanced in that theory is claptrap and nonsense. Scientists are certainly not above embracing myth and fable either as I know from working with them down through the years. But this book had something that is rare for a WTS publication: footnotes and references so that the reader could go back and check. That told me the writer(s) had taken the subject seriously and had made a conscientious effort to present this fascinating and controversial subject authoritatively.

And I agree with steve2 on the use of graphic illustrations in WTS publications. After all, if people can get their entertainment from video games and intense movies, then surely a still picture is nothing to get their pants in a bunch over. But overall I have to say that there has been a nosedive in the quality of WTS publications and I don't see that trend reversing itself anytime soon.

Quendi

41

What do you think is in the mind of the governing body?

by EndofMysteries in

Quendi

They look out of the windows of their ivory (Watch)tower and see themselves encircled by enemies. They look at the barbarians that are taking a battering ram to their gates. They hear the whispers of the serfs and slaves and fear a palace revolt. They hope that they can somehow get out of Brooklyn and retreat to upstate New York far from the madding crowds. I only hope that there will be no escape, that like France's Louix XVI, they will have waited too long to get out.

Quendi

35

Prelude to a disfellowshipping: An open letter.

by rory-ks in

jw
friends

an open letter to the body of elders, .

sudbury (suffolk) congregation of jehovah's witnesses.. .

on wednesday, april 4, 2012, the decision will be carried out to announce to the congregation that, rory sullivan is no longer one of jehovah's witnesses.. .

Quendi

Have there been any further developments in your case, rory-ks, other than the actual judicial action? Writing a letter such as yours is cathartic for the writer and will benefit him if nobodhy else. But I'm sure others have and will take courage from the stand you have taken despite suffering much pain and loss in the process. My only advice is this: move forward and don't look back. This organization, like so many of its kind before it, will eventually be tossed on the ash heap of history. You are free now to live the life you were meant to live, and you have all my respect as well as my best wishes.

Quendi