http://www.watchtower-victims.org/.
pretty simple for the time being but no doubt it will change and develop over time.. i will do a banner ad to link to it and would encourage anyone who can publicise it to do so.
feel free to copy the banner when it is posted on here.
The width of the table containing the site text is exceedingly large. The website designer should consider letting it resize to a percentage of the width of the screen instead of forcing it to a defined pixel width.
My 2 cents. Other than that I am excited about the prospects of this class-action lawsuit proceeding.
Obie
hi undf'd or anyone with a copy of the 9-15-02 wt: i saw undf's comments in another thread (about non-dubs attending book studies), and undf'd mentioned:.
the watchtower society hates the noble beroeans (from acts 17:10-12), so much in fact, that in their september 15th 2002 watchtower, they changed "be like the beroeans" into meaning "do not be like the beroeans"!
... acts 17:11: now these were more noble than those in thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.. .
Absolutely, someone please post a scan of this ASAP. If they pulled a reversal on this text it would be really damning and good to use on thinking JWs.
Obie
you have always been one of my favorite loyal JWs. good luck
obie
this may have been posted b/4, but you are all forgiving, right?.
while we were studying, we were told there was not a collection plate passed around, just a contribution box.
as the years went by it seemed like every other thur.
pennies
for a very long time, i have held off on making my departure from the jw's official (though, i am as far removed from them as i can be) because of my mother.
i did not want her to feel she must shun me when there would be no one to replace my presence in her life.
this was for practical reasons as well as well as emotional.
I had been peacefully drifting away from the organization for two years when the local elders started trying to contact me. One of them finally got me on the phone. After trying in vain to find out how he got my phone number, I told him in no uncertain terms to NEVER TRY TO CONTACT ME OR MY FAMILY AGAIN or I would bring legal action on them for harrassment.
I never heard from them again. I agree with the guys. Don't play their game. Make your own rules.
Obie
this press release was sent to all the major atlanta news agencies earlier this week.
if anyone from the atlanta area would like to join me for the press conference please just show up or email me for directions.
obie.
This Press Release was sent to all the major Atlanta news agencies earlier this week. If anyone from the Atlanta area would like to join me for the press conference please just show up or email me for directions.
Thanks,
Obie
PRESS RELEASE
September 3, 2002
Press Conference Will Announce First Ever March for Jehovahs Witness Child Rape Victims
Support Group Seeks Investigation of Church Hierarchy
WHAT:
A local press conference announcing the Silentlambs protest march in Brooklyn, NY scheduled for late September. The marchers will be united by a common theme: they will all have experienced or been eye-witnesses of the machinations of the secretive Governing Body running the cult, which has allowed Watchtower policy to physically harm and emotionally ruin children. Kentucky-based Silentlambs, Inc. is a national non-profit organization formed to support victims of child abuse in the Jehovahs Witnesses religion.
WHEN:
Thursday, September 5, 10:30 a.m.
WHERE:
Buckhead Congregation Kingdom Hall of Jehovahs Witnesses
258 W Wieuca Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30342
(Near intersection of Roswell and Wieuca Roads.)
Local press conferences will be held at the same time at Kingdom Halls in over a dozen major cities around the United States.
DETAILS:
The Watchtower has established a child abuse policy that has consistently hurt abuse survivors and protected child molesters. A public statement will be made that the Jehovahs Witnesses leadership (Governing Body) must stop hurting children immediately. Silentlambs is formerly requesting the church to establish a tribunal to prosecute the governing body for their crimes against children.
GENERAL INFO:
ATLANTA CONTACT:
Obie Fernandez
404-XXX-XXXX
each successor to the watchtower estate from rutherford onward has virtually reformed the organization.. rutherford was an attorney for the society and court judge.
like modern-day reformers he didn't like the direction the watchtower was going, and staged a corporate takeover.
chaos reigned at bethel when the brothers split into two religions.
Billions of dollars per year in revenues is wild speculation and, in my opinion, ridiculous. But other than that, good post!
came across this link today which i believe is interesting as exjws.
(italics mine)
http://www.tuppenceworth.ie/politics/situation.html
Talking to myself here, but anyway I thought of a situationist experience I had while running witnesses.net (circa 98). I was already waaaaayyyyy inactive, only occasionally showing up at Sunday meetings, just to keep up appearances. My brother-in-law Tony, the nominal JW party freak that he is, wanted to throw a "massive". A dance party with invitees from the whole tri-state-area (NY/NJ/CT) and even further. He was supported by a group of his JW friends with extensive social connections.
The Party
I've told this story before, but today I'm framing it in what I believe to be situationist point-of-view. The biggest massive we've ever heard of at the time is possibly 200 or 300, perhaps a popular wedding reception. The Society STRONGLY discourages large parties and uses anecdotal evidence to suggest they get out of control. We knew of some formal JW dances going on in Maryland at the time but those were only drawing 150-200. My goal was to triple that headcount in a club atmosphere. Knowing that many, many JW teens and twentysomethings would love to go to a dance club, but would never dare, I conspired with Tony and crew to give them a taste of what it is like. You know, big space, loud music, and lots of fun. I didn't realize the ideology at the time, but basically I was following a situationist belief. Give those JW youth a taste of a club, and they would be forever changed. They might even decide to go out and have some fun for themselves, or at least perpetuate that culture within JWs.
The party ended up being fairly underground. Promotion was word-of-mouth, because the society had just come out with guidelines against using flyers to advertise JW parties. (We had intended to use flyers heavily, even at the DC. Decided against it due to probable backlash.) It was held in the gym of a local school (in Hackensack, NJ). I rented a full sound system and light show. (15,000 watts power; it was really loud) We counted approximately 600 people in attendance from over a dozen eastern US states. Supervising the event, one elder, who left halfway through the night. He didn't want to be the only one responsible! Bros were walking into the venue with their mouths wide open. They were in disbelief that we had actually pulled this off. They couldn't believe that the rumors were true. They couldn't believe that we had not gotten shot down by the local elders. Everyone had a great time, and the only problem we had was the noise levels disturbing the neighbors whenever someone would open the outside doors. No immoral conduct, no fights, not too much drama. The party went on until midnight and then disbanded. Total cost to me, about 200USD. Total cost of party, perhaps 800USD. Expenses were rent, liability insurance, PA rental, snacks and soda. NOTE: The only alcohol in the venue was BYOB by certain more daring of the guests.
Guests walked away with a different concept of what IS and IS NOT possible within the JW world. You just have to put your mind to it. CHANGE takes work. Somedays I think it would be fun to still be a part of the JW community, if only to pull stunts like this off on a regular basis.
My friends in NJ tell me that this party is still to this day discussed by the youth in the area.
Obie
came across this link today which i believe is interesting as exjws.
(italics mine)
http://www.tuppenceworth.ie/politics/situation.html
Came across this link today which I believe is interesting as exJWs. (Italics mine)
http://www.tuppenceworth.ie/Politics/situation.html
Excerpt...
Like an historical time-bomb, it seems that Situationist ideas can go off at any time, right under our noses, and without us really knowing it. The beauty of Situationism, its advocates held, was that it was only saying out loud what every modern human being already feels. "Our ideas are in everybody's minds", they said. Then as now, they had a least half a point, or maybe more than that.
As a philosophy, it's fairly simple. By creating new situations, you confront people with unusual surroundings, which provoke them to think in new ways. This in turn shows them how constrained their thinking has been until now. Once they've tasted that freedom even briefly they'll never be able to go back to ordinary life. They will demand more from life, and a revolution will be inevitable. It's an idea that has had the occasional practical success. When Britain's miners went on strike in the 80's, their wives set up support groups. This was the first time most of them had ever been politically active, and it was often a liberating experience. Where years of feminism had failed, an unusual situation, the strike, had shown them their strength and offered them roles other than wife and mother. Many of them remain involved in unions and left-wing politics to this day.
I'm curious if any of you have heard of this ideology and your thoughts on how to apply to our JW friends.
Obie
ok...i havn't been able to catch up on my payments on my insurance..so most likely it's expired...but i recieved a speeding ticket...and i'm screwed!
...does anyone know what would happen if i didn't have insurance for my car?
..is it going to get towed?
While I was flying down the road yesterday (only 10 mph over the speed limit) I noticed a cop with a radar gun sitting on top of a bridge. The cop pulled me over, walked up to the car and asked me, "What's the hurry?"
I replied, "I'm late for work."
"Oh yeah," said the cop, "what do you do?"
I responded, "I'm a rectal stretcher."
The cop said "What's a rectal stretcher do?"
I said, "Well, I work until I can slowly stretch it until it's about 6 foot wide."
The cop asked me, "What the hell do you do with a 6 foot asshole?"
I simply replied, "You give him a radar gun and park him on top of a bridge..."
The ticket - - $ 95.00
The look on his face - - PRICELESS
