NotFormer

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Posts by NotFormer

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  28

  Lawyers release survey on alleged Jehovah's Witness child abuse

  by Tahoe in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  a team of lawyers has released the results of its survey on alleged child abuse by members of the jehovah's witnesses religious group in japan.. the team held a news conference in tokyo on monday.

  it provides legal support to former members of the group as well as to children of its members.. the lawyers conducted the survey, following the publishing of the health and welfare ministry guidelines last year about child abuse related to parents' religious beliefs.

  a total of 560 people responded.. the survey shows 81 percent of the respondents said they had cards indicating they desired to refuse blood transfusions.. the ministry's guidelines state that parents' refusal of medical treatments for children on religious grounds amounts to neglect --- a form of abuse.. the lawyers said investigations are necessary to find how many people died from refusing blood transfusions, and how many of them were children.. the survey also shows 92 percent of the respondents experienced whipping, 96 percent were banned from school activities, and 93 percent were forced to limit their human relations.. the lawyers said many of the children experienced physical and mental abuse, which afterward led to problems such as loneliness, sense of alienation and a lack of self-esteem.

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  NotFormer

  They'd better get some new light fast, on the issues of how to treat CSA cases, blood transfusions and the shunning of children.

  Does anyone remember when the Japan branch was the WT's golden boy, the example held up to the rest of the JW world?
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  3

  Rape you need 2 witnesses and don't call the cops! Crazy!

  by Witness 007 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  are we a cult?

  well the "truth" tells us that a old jewish 2 witness rule means any rape or paedophile is free to rape in our organisation.

  in no circumstances would there be a second witness.

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  NotFormer

  JWs should just call the police. The elders and the organisation have no dog in that fight.
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  4

  The Blood Policy

  by NotFormer in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  a couple of decades ago, any question of the wt dropping or changing the blood policy was met with something along the lines of "they're in too deep, they've killed too many people, the lawsuits would kill them; they can't change it".

  a somewhat warped version of the "sunk costs fallacy".. they're already in very deep with the other rod for their own back, the csa payouts.

  and some small changes have occurred in the way they handle csa cases.

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  NotFormer

  A couple of decades ago, any question of the WT dropping or changing the blood policy was met with something along the lines of "they're in too deep, they've killed too many people, the lawsuits would kill them; they can't change it". A somewhat warped version of the "sunk costs fallacy".

  They're already in very deep with the other rod for their own back, the CSA payouts. And some small changes have occurred in the way they handle CSA cases. While officially, they admit no culpability, they would rather payoff the plaintiffs than fight in court. They don't seem to have the stomach to fight against "the World" the way they once prided themselves on.

  The recent Japanese articles about the legal team's survey about the abuse of children in the organisation refer to the deaths of children who refused blood at the behest of the WT. Is there a chance that interest by yet another government is going to create pressure on them in the area of blood?
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  68

  Governing body

  by moley in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  are the governing body really in charge or are they just a figurehead with the real power being behind the curtain .

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  NotFormer

  "It’s my experience that, yes, it has changed. Elders are quick to seek legal advice from the branch at even a hint that an incident could be ‘trouble’… I believe they will be told to report it anonymously if WT Legal deems it reportable…”

  "Um…

  …that doesn’t sound like a change.

  That sounds like business as usual."

  Indeed! When WT advice becomes: "call the police before you inform the elders," or "don't even involve the elders ", and they completely rescind the two witnesses rule, and admit that involving the police doesn't amount to "taking your brother to court", then, maybe then, we can say that policy has changed.

  If the organisation is still the first port of call (informing the elders or the branch before anyone else) then they have not learned a gosh-darned thing.

  There's still a whole system wide culture built up around this stuff that needs to be dismantled. If there are not two witnesses, a JW can still be disfellowshipped for slander if they try to warn other JWs about predators.

  Tell me what's changed.
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  28

  Lawyers release survey on alleged Jehovah's Witness child abuse

  by Tahoe in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  a team of lawyers has released the results of its survey on alleged child abuse by members of the jehovah's witnesses religious group in japan.. the team held a news conference in tokyo on monday.

  it provides legal support to former members of the group as well as to children of its members.. the lawyers conducted the survey, following the publishing of the health and welfare ministry guidelines last year about child abuse related to parents' religious beliefs.

  a total of 560 people responded.. the survey shows 81 percent of the respondents said they had cards indicating they desired to refuse blood transfusions.. the ministry's guidelines state that parents' refusal of medical treatments for children on religious grounds amounts to neglect --- a form of abuse.. the lawyers said investigations are necessary to find how many people died from refusing blood transfusions, and how many of them were children.. the survey also shows 92 percent of the respondents experienced whipping, 96 percent were banned from school activities, and 93 percent were forced to limit their human relations.. the lawyers said many of the children experienced physical and mental abuse, which afterward led to problems such as loneliness, sense of alienation and a lack of self-esteem.

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  NotFormer

  https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/03/15/national/jehovahs-witnesses-whipping/
  

  Corporal punishment, specifically whipping, has been systemically used by followers of the Jehovah's Witnesses religious group against their children in Japan, a survey showed Tuesday.

  Submitting the results of the survey to the welfare ministry, a group of children of followers asked the ministry to make appropriate responses.

  Takeshi Komatsu, a child of a Jehovah's Witnesses follower, says he was whipped by his mother.

  The survey found that about 30% of such "second-generation followers" had been whipped by their parents with items such as leather belts and electric cords since before they turned three years old and some 75% since before they entered elementary school.

  The most cited reason was "napping or talking during congregations." Others included "answering back to parents" and "playing with a schoolmate."

  Some respondents said they have been suffering depression as a result of whipping.

  In the online survey, conducted in September 2021, 255 former followers and children of followers between the ages of 10 and 69 across Japan gave answers.

  "I still cannot forget the sight of children screaming after they were taken into a large room at a congregation when I was a child," a 44-year-old victim said, stressing that Jehovah's Witnesses should reflect on what followers have done.

  In February, a group of lawyers started supporting those second-generation followers.

  In a statement issued on March 1, the Japanese branch of Jehovah's Witness said it does not accept child abuse.
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  28

  Lawyers release survey on alleged Jehovah's Witness child abuse

  by Tahoe in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  a team of lawyers has released the results of its survey on alleged child abuse by members of the jehovah's witnesses religious group in japan.. the team held a news conference in tokyo on monday.

  it provides legal support to former members of the group as well as to children of its members.. the lawyers conducted the survey, following the publishing of the health and welfare ministry guidelines last year about child abuse related to parents' religious beliefs.

  a total of 560 people responded.. the survey shows 81 percent of the respondents said they had cards indicating they desired to refuse blood transfusions.. the ministry's guidelines state that parents' refusal of medical treatments for children on religious grounds amounts to neglect --- a form of abuse.. the lawyers said investigations are necessary to find how many people died from refusing blood transfusions, and how many of them were children.. the survey also shows 92 percent of the respondents experienced whipping, 96 percent were banned from school activities, and 93 percent were forced to limit their human relations.. the lawyers said many of the children experienced physical and mental abuse, which afterward led to problems such as loneliness, sense of alienation and a lack of self-esteem.

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  NotFormer

  This "team of lawyers", who commissioned them, what are they called? Are they working towards a class action on behalf of victims? Are they working for a government department? The article seems somewhat incomplete.

  Edit: Here is a slightly different article: https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15062839
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  12

  Ken and Barbie

  by peacefulpete in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  forgive the insensitivity of this but does the wt imagine the "resurrected" bodies of the dead will have useless genitalia?

  or will the humans 2.0 have the smooth appearance of a ken doll or the nipple-less breasts of a barbie.

  any breasts at all?

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  NotFormer

  Balaamsass2: "Rutherford wrote some crazy stuff about the resurrected being raised without sex....or possibly as white men in the 30s "Golden Age"

  Peter Ruckman, erstwhile prophet of the KJV Onlyism movement, said that women would be resurrected in Heaven as 33 year old men. Rutherford wasn't the only occupant of Crazy Street.
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  9

  GOVERNING BODY: the role of CONSISTENCY in identifying malpractice and malfeasance

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  consistency plays a crucial role in determining the inherent truthfulness of statements and sources.

  reliability of information: if a source consistently provides accurate information, it builds trust and is considered reliable.

  inconsistent information, on the other hand, can lead to doubts about the source’s credibility.. .

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  NotFormer

  Is the light getting brighter, or are the JWs about to get run over by an oncoming train 🚂?

  The new light 🕯️ keeps blinking on and off 📴
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  52

  Manners and Respectfulness

  by IWant2Know in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i would like to know if there are any ex's or formers who still appreciate good manners and respectfulness?

  but i hope this question isn't offensive to this forum.

  .

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  NotFormer

  "Well, the forum had paused in posting this thread unlike my other threads, therefore, I thought I had said the wrong thing at this forum."

  You can only post two new threads every 24 hours. Trying to do it again will only create another identical thread that will appear when the 24 hour curfew expires.
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  3

  When a Whole Branch Went Bad !!(or was it Good?)

  by singsongboi in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when a whole branch went bad (or was it good)?

  part 1. .

  i guess it's too late to get much of the details of this story (outside of the official versions), but we ought not to lose it altogether.. so i'm committing to print what i know of this story, and hoping that somewhere out there will be someone else that knows more than i do, about one of the more exotic incidents in the history of the wts.

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  NotFormer

  Well, this is a fascinating story. Which is why I brought it BTTT. Some insider information about the history of the Australian branch, as told by exes, of course, could be useful. It must have been reasonably important; Jaracz served there for a while. But the OP's fears that such histories would probably die without being told by those who were around in those days have probably come to fruition. 😔