Posts by Lee Elder

30

Document Blood Transfusion Deaths - please help

by Lee Elder in

the vast majority of deaths from the blood policy are undocumented because they are simply not newsworthy.

if you know of a death or serious injury/disability related to the blood policy, please help us document it.

send as many details as you can recall.

Lee Elder

The vast majority of deaths from the blood policy are undocumented because they are simply not newsworthy. If you know of a death or serious injury/disability related to the blood policy, please help us document it. Send as many details as you can recall. We will post the story on our website at AJWRB via the "Blood map".

If possible include, names, dates, cause of death, disease/injury, age, city/state/country, congregation, photos and any other relevant information you have. Help us show the real cost of this policy and force the WTS hand to get rid of it. There is a contact page at the bottom of the map.

Watchtower Blood Map

183

JWs have more good points than bad

by lsw1961 in

1) many who were on the destructive path have been transformed by their teachings (this includes me who was once vicious, and presumptuous and atheistic).

2) equal monthly pay to all members of the bethel community regardless of whether they are bc members or sweepers.

this is something that still remains as an unattainable dream for the world.

Lee Elder

I don't have time to read all of this. I would simply say that if Jehovah's Witnesses did not have some good things going for them, they wouldn't be around. I had some very good JW friends when I was still active. I knew a lot of very good people who were JW, and they have some very good teachings.

There are, however, two sides to every coin. If we are being honest, we have to acknowledge that the religion has some very problematic policies in place that have caused great harm to both individuals and families. If you could put an end to Watchtower abuses, they would be a reasonably good fundamentalist Christian community. Until that happens, however, they are are not a safe place to have your family. There are much, much better places to be imo.

69

Did you know anyone who commited suicide in the org?

by JH in

jw
friends

back in 1991, a young brother maybe 18 years old living next to my place committed suicide.

his father expected him to be very zealous just like he was, but the son never wanted to be like that.

he was always controlled by his father.

Lee Elder

One young brother I grew up with drove up to the mountains and shot himself in the head.

Another sister I pioneered with in my teens, stopped her subscription to the WT/G, fashioned a hose to her exhaust pipe and gassed herself.

A young woman stopped her car on the side of the interstate and stepped out in front of a semi-truck.

Another drank himself to death.

There are others.

3

Rita Swan of Child Inc....

by Lee Elder in

...wrote a piece on the work of ajwrb and what had been accomplished, as well as how it was done.

i had not read this before this evening when i came across it in their newsletter archives.

its interesting to see the perspective of someone who works as a child advocate and non-jw.

Lee Elder

@Diogenesister - the purification notion has long made sense to me. If you look at the writings on vaccination it was clearly viewed as a "contamination". Little wonder that the view evolved into a ban on blood which was the source of the dreaded "puss" used for vaccines.

@Marvin Shilmer - they have certainly established a pattern of indifference when it comes to the lives of individuals who are impacted by these policies. The concern is always for the "organization". We've seen this all the way back to the clotting factors in the 70's. One of these days, the right attorney is going to hammer them on this - assuming there is any money left from all of the child abuse litigation, settlements and judgments.

3

Rita Swan of Child Inc....

by Lee Elder in

...wrote a piece on the work of ajwrb and what had been accomplished, as well as how it was done.

i had not read this before this evening when i came across it in their newsletter archives.

its interesting to see the perspective of someone who works as a child advocate and non-jw.

Lee Elder

...wrote a piece on the work of AJWRB and what had been accomplished, as well as how it was done. I had not read this before this evening when I came across it in their newsletter archives. Its interesting to see the perspective of someone who works as a child advocate and non-JW. Here is the link:
Childrens Healthcare is a Legal Duty

24

URGENT: NEED HELP FOR A FRIEND FIGHTING HIS JW WIFE FOR CUSTODY

by Mary in

i just got a call from a friend of mine who is going to court on friday to fight to see his children because his jw ex-wife doesn't want him to have access to them anymore.

in a nutshell this is his situation: met her about 12 years ago after she had left the borg and they got married and had a couple of kids.

she decided that she didn't want her children murdered by jehovah at armageddon so after being gone for 7 years, she went back and went back with a vengence.

Lee Elder

These should be helpful:

http://kuow.org/post/when-14-year-old-chooses-die-because-religion-can-anyone-stop-him

Why are these kids dead?

22

Does it ever just hit you...It all may be a dream

by LevelThePlayingField in

that the paradise may or may not be real?

that the things you have been taught for many years from the jehovah's witnesses may not really be as they say?

has it really ever really hit you with that "pow" of reality ever?

Lee Elder

Process this. Some scientists are now saying that everything we experience in this life may only be a computer simulation.

Are You Living In a Computer Simulation?

49

Dissenters in Watchtower History: Differing Departures

by slimboyfat in

i'm reading an excellent book about defectors from the mormon church called differing visions: dissenters in mormon history.

through a collection of essays from many academic authors it looks at the life stories of dissenters and reasons for departure, as well as analysing the impact of their dissent on the church itself.

fascinating stuff and makes me wish there was a similar volume looking at the key dissenters from jws/watchtower and the impact they had.

Lee Elder

Ros or Rosalie passed away a couple of years ago. She was the editor of "In Search of Christian Freedom" and also served as an editor for AJWRB for many years. Though not a Jehovah's Witness, I rather doubt many have had as much influence as Dr. Osamu (Sam) Muramoto, M.D. who was the medical director of AJWRB for many years. His articles in the Journal of Medical Ethics, the Western Journal of Medicine, the British Medical Journal (too mention a few) served to educate the medical community regarding the blood policy and had a very big impact. Marvin Shilmer and Concerned Elder are two others that have made enormous contributions.

22

Watchtower Policy Claims Another Teenager

by Lee Elder in

a tragic story of how the watchtower unduly influenced or brain washed a 14 year old jehovah's witness into martyrdom.

the real irony here is the synthetic blood that failed was a hemoglobin solution, and red blood cells are nothing but tiny doughnut shaped bags of hemoglobin.

any thinking person will conclude that if red cells are blood, then so is hemoglobin.

Lee Elder

We are trying to address the issue of cognitive development in minors to counter the "mature minor" argument the WT has successfully used in these kinds of cases.

22

Watchtower Policy Claims Another Teenager

by Lee Elder in

a tragic story of how the watchtower unduly influenced or brain washed a 14 year old jehovah's witness into martyrdom.

the real irony here is the synthetic blood that failed was a hemoglobin solution, and red blood cells are nothing but tiny doughnut shaped bags of hemoglobin.

any thinking person will conclude that if red cells are blood, then so is hemoglobin.

Lee Elder

We know what needs to be done. It takes time and resources and we have very limited amounts of both.