Very interesting X-JW. Read the Wikapedia story on him. His campaign page is here http://www.engardio.com/About_Me.html
He could prove to be an important alley for many Ex-JWs and an excellent example of someone who "got busy living" after his exit.
the director of the famous pbs film "knocking", is the gay son of a jw.
he is currently running for supervisor in san francisco.
good read from 2010 washington post ;.
Very interesting X-JW. Read the Wikapedia story on him. His campaign page is here http://www.engardio.com/About_Me.html
He could prove to be an important alley for many Ex-JWs and an excellent example of someone who "got busy living" after his exit.
the director of the famous pbs film "knocking", is the gay son of a jw.
he is currently running for supervisor in san francisco.
good read from 2010 washington post ;.
The Director of the Famous PBS Film "Knocking", is the gay son of a JW. He is currently running for Supervisor in San Francisco. Good read from 2010 Washington Post ;
"
By Joel P. Engardio
The news of gay teen suicides this fall made me think of my college friend Jeff. When I heard he was depressed and struggling with being gay, I wanted to say it gets better. But I didn't know if it would. I was also gay and too afraid to tell him. Nothing I saw in 1992 gave me any hope. There was no "Glee," no "Ellen" on TV to counter the politicians and religious leaders who demonized me in prime time. Even the Brady Bunch dad had died of AIDS.
We both liked playing tennis, so that's what we did instead of talking about our pain. Then one night Jeff jumped off a parking garage. He was 19.
Gay kids are made to feel worthless from a variety of sources: religion, the culture, bullies at school. I don't know which of these Jeff internalized. For me, it was religious-based shame.
My mom is one of Jehovah's Witnesses and when I told her I was gay, she mourned as if I had died. Not being able to see her son in God's Kingdom was a devastating thought. Many religions share the same belief about homosexuality: a human imperfection that is sinful to act on. I remember at age four or five hearing a Bible scripture about "men who lie with men." I knew the elder was describing what I would be when I grew up. By the tone of his voice, I knew it was something very bad.
It isn't easy growing up gay in any religion that deems gays unworthy, but how can we make gay kids feel better about themselves when they hear anti-gay religious speech that is protected by the First Amendment? Restricting speech isn't the answer because banning the phrase "gay is sin" only makes it easier to ban "gay is OK." The solution is more speech telling gay kids they are good and beautiful people, to counter the negative messages they hear in church, school and in the media.
I recently made a video for the "It Gets Better" campaign, which asks gay adults living open and happy lives to tell gay kids to hang in there. I thought about how this kind of speech would have been impossible when gays were criminalized and shamed into silence. I also thought about how my mom's religion was once denied the ability to speak freely. But in fighting for their own right to live and worship as they choose, Jehovah's Witnesses won 50 U.S. Supreme Court cases that expanded individual liberties for all Americans. The irony only starts there.
When a federal judge ruled this summer that a ban on gay marriage in California was unconstitutional, his key legal precedent was a Jehovah's Witness case from 1943 that said the fundamental rights of a group - no matter how unpopular or marginalized -- can't be taken away by majority vote. A coalition of religions had supported the gay marriage ban, but Jehovah's Witnesses remained politically neutral. They demonstrated the Bill of Rights at its best: exercising religious freedom without the need to legislate beliefs that force everyone to live their way. Yet the irony ends here.
The fact that Jehovah's Witnesses don't block gay couples outside their religion from getting married is little consolation for a gay kid who is told he is a product of Adam's sin to his core. It is especially tough when the religion shuns.
A religion that says gays must remain single and celibate will have a hard time recruiting gay members. But what happens when the religion has gay kids? Among Jehovah's Witnesses there is no easy exit for the adolescent who skillfully parrots theology at age 10 or 12 and decides in his late teens or early twenties that the religion isn't for him. Anyone who officially joins through baptism is subject to shunning if they don't follow the agreed upon rules.
I was never baptized and it saved my relationship with my mom. Gay kids who got baptized before they could come to terms with their sexuality are not so fortunate. In the most extreme cases, parents cut all contact with their shunned adult children.
Freedom in America is complex: gays seek equality from a Constitution that gives religions the right to say gays are sinners. That's why the "It Gets Better" campaign is so important. It provides the hope a gay kid needs when he is being raised in an anti-gay religion. No kid should be so overwhelmed with who he is expected to be that killing himself is the only way to deal with who he is.
I wonder if parents with religious objections to homosexuality have fully considered the consequences of insisting their gay child follow a faith that works for them but not their child. Can the religious parents who lost a gay child to suicide or shunning ever find peace with the outcome? Or would they rather have a relationship with their child, alive, separate from their religion? I think that's why my mom cried so much when I told her I was gay. I know she won't come to my wedding if I'm ever allowed to get married, but I also know she is glad I'm still around.
Joel Engardio is a 2011 MPA candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. His essays have appeared in USA Today, Washington Post.com and on NPR. Engardio directed KNOCKING, an award-winning PBS documentary on Jehovah's Witnesses.
all animals, but especially pets.. do they have rather low opinions of animals, veiwing them more as objects to be used and treated however one wishes- after all, god gave them to us for our pleasure, or as "jehovah's creatures" which must be cared for and loved?.
i've seen both veiws, some more extreme than others.. i do think there's a tendency to treat animals less as living creatures that should be respected, and more as unfeeling things.. .
i get a lot of phony *"don't you just love jehovah's beautiful creation?
Most dubs I know love pets. (probably because the pets are the ONLY source of unconditional love in their life). They are MUCH happier to see you than any JWs at the hall.
Pre-mid sixties many of the old timers from Judge Rutherford's time spoke poorly of pet owners. "Unclean animals, distractions, people made GODs of their pets" etc. They seemed mean and odd to me as a kid.
curious, with almost 25,000 members here.
network of j.w.
does anyone have any up to date info on the status of the volunteer "spies"?.
Digging around on this subject on google. Did find a couple of LinkedIn profiles for the Individuals mentioned. "Security expert" was job title. More info on website "Christianwitnessesof jehovah". Can anyone verify this info is on filed court docs?
"To this end they have enlisted the help of several parties from within the confines of the religious organization to assist them in a systematic form of harassment, all designed to prevent their exposure. The Defendants have utilized people with specific skills such as Mr. Bruce R.......h, who is an ex-police officer and now a security specialist who, it is believed has been employed in an effort to use illegal means to surreptitiously monitor phone calls in hopes of gaining information as to the possible direction the Plaintiff's are heading with regard to legal matters. Certain personal cell phones of the Plaintiff's as well as other parties closely associated with the Plaintiff's appear as if they (Page 33) been monitored by parties outside.
One particular cell phone used by J.....n C..b was inspected by a cell phone specialist, named Milano at Cell Phone Repair, located at 859 W. El Camino Real, Mountain View, CA 94040 where it was determined that the phone in question had been set up to allow a remote party to be able to intercept calls and monitor them. Milano the cell phone technician who worked on the cell phone in question has had nearly ten years of experience with various makes and models of phones and this party has agreed to testify about the state of the phone and the potential ramifications of what he discovered while working on J.....n C....b's cell phone. The technician's expert testimony can easily show intent and how far the Defendants, acting in consort with various confederates, are willing to go in an effort to try to conceal the true nature of this situation, not to mention clearly defining Wire Fraud issues"
humm
curious, with almost 25,000 members here.
network of j.w.
does anyone have any up to date info on the status of the volunteer "spies"?.
Interesting posts by John Steele, from his Ex-JW.net regarding the Menlo Park, Ca Kingdom Hall Fiasco:
"What the Watchtower was trying to keep from being made public is that they have created this vast network for information. Wherever they have Jehovah’s Witnesses working, they use them as contacts for information. For example: say they want to know what movies you watch on Netflix. No problem! They have Witnesses who work there. Someone gets a phone call and is told to monitor the rental account of “sister so-and-so” and they begin to watch your activities online. Say they want to know who you’re talking to on the phone. No problem! They contact “brother so-and-so” who works for the phone company and they tell him to get your records. They can find out where you are at any given time cause they can use the GPS function of your cell phone and are able to keep track of you – and yes, they can also read your text messages.
We had planned to ask Bruce R......h about that on the stand, as he was scheduled to testify. Mr. R........h is a surveillance expert and knows all the ways to spy on someone, or eavesdrop on their phone calls – because he had been doing it to us. They have Witnesses that work at Yahoo, Hotmail, and Google and they can read your emails any time they want. It’s sick when you think about it. Yeah, it sounds very “Orwellian” – but it’s all true."
hummm
the first question is:.
i ask you would paul even think of doing such as thing as the wt has done here?????
i asked them not to keep double-talking me but to just come out and say what the charges are.
i didn't see her, but just ron did.
she said hello and asked if we were all ok. just ron said we were all great and that seemed to really blow her mind.
they just can't wrap their heads around the idea that we could flee the borg and be happy, healthy, and not miserable..
per site rules no complete names here please.
i read of one on the anonymous page dump.
and also on the menlo park links (very disturbing wiretapping charge)i know of at least one more, i was told he had a connection with mighty distributing.
Per site rules no complete names here please. I read of one on the Anonymous page dump. And also on the Menlo Park links (very disturbing wiretapping charge)I know of at least one more, I was told he had a connection with Mighty distributing. Any more? Please send me a private message for my research project.
Not interested in Security guards, just ex-cops, ex-FBI, ex-military, D.A.s, - ELDERS doing pro-bono WTBTS work on the side.
No attachments please.
THANKS !!!!!
is this the perfect time to tell family that are still in that you are so upset/devastated/embarassed over the candace conti revelations and trial and what happened to her as a 9 year old witness that you need to step away from field service and the meetings and do a lot of private praying.
you've been stumbled badly and don't know what to think at this time.
Ditto Solomon:"Btw, if there were a child molester case being dealt with, elders should consider that one of the other elders MAY become an informant for the State, in order to do a bit of house-cleaning. Shame if elders meetings had to start with elders strip-searching each other, to look for wires/bugs/spy cams, etc."
WTBTS should keep in mind some Elders already have "under the carpet" case files in safe keeping and are contacting victims to encourage lawsuits and prosecution.
Any Elder with half a brain should buy a tiny -thin $60 + voice activated LONG PLAY digital recorder and keep it in their briefcase and RECORD the other Elders refusing to cooperate with the police for his personal protection. Also RECORD ALL conversations with Watchtower Legal. WATCHTOWER LEGAL WILL THROW Elders under the bus.
they are pdf, searchable and downloadable.. http://www.watchtowerdocuments.com/cases/zalkin.html.
http://www.watchtowerdocuments.com/cases/conti.html.
barbara and joe.
Thanks!