The big question is: where were the loving, compassionate JWs when Lexie was sick and deteriorating, and the husband could have used some help?
NotFormer
JoinedPosts by NotFormer
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22
Former Jehovah's Witness admits: We targeted grief-stricken as 'ripe fruit'
by Londo111 inhttp://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/80708572/former-jehovahs-witness-admits-we-targeted-grief-stricken-as-ripe-fruit.
jehovah's witnesses target grief and see the recently bereaved as "ripe fruit" for conversion, a former elder of the faith says.. vince and michele tylor spoke out after reading the story of wellington woman jean sergent-shadbolt, who received a handwritten letter from a jehovah's witness three months to the day after her step-cousin, friend and flatmate died.. a current senior elder of the faith says it has no policy to target grieving, and those who do so are acting on their own initiative.
however, he concedes such people may feel guided by jehovah's witness literature.. but vince tylor said he knew of members who would trawl though obituaries to find grieving people, or visit cemeteries.. "not only do we see watchtower printed material suggesting and supporting writing letters from obituaries such as what jean received, but we even have reports and articles of encouragement for jws to go to cemeteries to look for people as well.".
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42
New meeting format
by ExBethelitenowPIMA injust watched november broadcast very different order to the leaked agm .
be good if someone did a deep dive on the difference and why the changes?
i didn’t time the items but it should be easy to see if edited?.
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NotFormer
"most Witnesses, including elders and even the one assigned to 'oversee' the arrangement still call it the "school", even though the Org has clearly steered away from that word, probably out of fear of liability"
It always comes down to money or liability, with the WT. They love ordering people about, even unto the death, as in the case of blood transfusions, but they refuse to accept responsibility for those orders, so they lie about it. And then they refer to themselves as "The Truth"! 🙄
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17
Punishment and control: the secret handbook that rules a religion
by Tahoe inthis article is behind a paywall: https://www.smh.com.au/national/punishment-and-control-the-secret-handbook-that-rules-a-religion-20231026-p5ef9z.html.
a herald investigation has uncovered disturbing practices within the jehovah’s witness church, including the systems for discipline, punishment and control in a secret rule book for church “elders”.. australian children in the jehovah’s witnesses religion are being trained to avoid life-saving blood transfusions and parents are being coached to thwart court processes that may prevent their children from dying, internal church documents reveal.. an investigation following an inquest into the death of jehovah’s witness heather winchester, who died in newcastle after refusing a blood transfusion, has uncovered disturbing practices within the australian church, including the systems for discipline, punishment and control contained in the secret rule book for church “elders”.. the church’s blood transfusion ban forces people to choose between risking death by refusing treatment or being “shunned” – cut off from family and friends under the church’s strict rules – according to 16 former and current members of the church interviewed and the testimony of many others.. .
some of them believe it has cost hundreds of lives in australia.. “i think it’s truly dangerous for children, who are not old enough to vote or drive, to be coached about how to convince a judge or doctors about a decision that is potentially life-threatening,” said fleur hawes, 32, a solicitor who escaped the religion and is speaking out for the first time.. in public, the jehovah’s witnesses’ leadership downplays the impacts of its ban on blood transfusions, which are based on interpretations of bible passages that say christians should not eat blood.. .
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NotFormer
DOC: "This is why any (US) medical institution should refuse to hire any JW because it is clear that they have directions from their Religious Leaders to violate their oath of confidentiality and thus violate HIPPA law. Of course, it is the hospital, clinic, or physician's office who will be sued and (along with their insurer) suffer the financial consequences."
The trouble with this is that it flies in the face of religious freedom and also antidiscrimination legislation. You can't, as an employer, ask what religion a person belongs to. You might find sneaky ways to ask that question, if you can find plausible ways to raise them. The trouble is that a JW with finely tuned radar may pick up the discriminatory nature of the questioning. And the questions will come across as awkward. "We are a very social bunch and love to celebrate each others birthdays and holidays at morning tea. Would you see yourself fitting in?" "Are there any special medical considerations we would need to take into account, should you be unconscious and we need to call an ambulance?"
Does anyone here have any better suggestions for those sorts of questions?
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68
Lloyd Evans Patreoff Pool - December 2023
by DerekMoors input in your bets as to where you think lard i mean lloyd evans will land after december's drop in his patrons.
in september he started at 457 patrons, did his whiny begging fest and peaked at 478, but then dropped down to 439 at the beginning of october.
as of this moment (nov. 6), he's at 427 paid members.. so, where do you think he'll be on december 2nd?
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NotFormer
Is there any way he could reform to the the point that people might take him seriously again and be happy to support his anti WT efforts?
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24
BadAss Bethelites, did they really peak in the 1960's?
by was a new boy inin the 70's a bethel elder told me that every morning in the 60's the paint and scaffold crew, (which was located on the 5th floor of building 4) would go up to the roof and walk around the perimeter on top of the ledge, which i doubt was more than 12" wide.
then they'd go render sacred service to jehovah..
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NotFormer
Diogenesister, I agree with you that everything revealed about women at Bethel seems very "fuzzy", like it's a bit of a grey area. When they started allowing married couples into Bethel, I suppose the women had the traditionally "domestic" roles, or "privileges" foisted on them. Single sisters with qualifications must have presented a conundrum. I bet they were watched as by a hawk.
I can't imagine an institution organised along such business-like lines as the WT didn't have detailed operations manuals. It would be interesting to see how those treated women at Bethel. Have any such operations manuals been leaked?
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17
Punishment and control: the secret handbook that rules a religion
by Tahoe inthis article is behind a paywall: https://www.smh.com.au/national/punishment-and-control-the-secret-handbook-that-rules-a-religion-20231026-p5ef9z.html.
a herald investigation has uncovered disturbing practices within the jehovah’s witness church, including the systems for discipline, punishment and control in a secret rule book for church “elders”.. australian children in the jehovah’s witnesses religion are being trained to avoid life-saving blood transfusions and parents are being coached to thwart court processes that may prevent their children from dying, internal church documents reveal.. an investigation following an inquest into the death of jehovah’s witness heather winchester, who died in newcastle after refusing a blood transfusion, has uncovered disturbing practices within the australian church, including the systems for discipline, punishment and control contained in the secret rule book for church “elders”.. the church’s blood transfusion ban forces people to choose between risking death by refusing treatment or being “shunned” – cut off from family and friends under the church’s strict rules – according to 16 former and current members of the church interviewed and the testimony of many others.. .
some of them believe it has cost hundreds of lives in australia.. “i think it’s truly dangerous for children, who are not old enough to vote or drive, to be coached about how to convince a judge or doctors about a decision that is potentially life-threatening,” said fleur hawes, 32, a solicitor who escaped the religion and is speaking out for the first time.. in public, the jehovah’s witnesses’ leadership downplays the impacts of its ban on blood transfusions, which are based on interpretations of bible passages that say christians should not eat blood.. .
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NotFormer
Yes, we have known all that since forever, but the readers of the Sydney Morning Herald haven't. Everytime an article like this is put in front of the unaware public, it arguably helps in the long run. And it is a long run. Even in the best case realistic scenario, the WT will outlive most of us (if not all of us).
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10
Talk Outline needed
by vienne ini need the talk outline connected to the handbill pictured here:.
https://truthhistory.blogspot.com/2023/11/talk-outline.html.
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NotFormer
Ah, so it was another buzzword! 🙄
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24
BadAss Bethelites, did they really peak in the 1960's?
by was a new boy inin the 70's a bethel elder told me that every morning in the 60's the paint and scaffold crew, (which was located on the 5th floor of building 4) would go up to the roof and walk around the perimeter on top of the ledge, which i doubt was more than 12" wide.
then they'd go render sacred service to jehovah..
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NotFormer
Balaam's Ass was the screen name of a particularly belligerent KJV Only Landmark Baptist who made his mark in the early days of the internet. He was forced to tone his polemics down and removed a lot of his combative content. He closed down the Balaam's Ass page, I believe.
He emerged about the time that Gail Riplinger emboldened the KJV Only extremists with her book in the early 90s. I know that this is a site about JWs, but KJV Onlyism is a great study in cultic behaviour.
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24
BadAss Bethelites, did they really peak in the 1960's?
by was a new boy inin the 70's a bethel elder told me that every morning in the 60's the paint and scaffold crew, (which was located on the 5th floor of building 4) would go up to the roof and walk around the perimeter on top of the ledge, which i doubt was more than 12" wide.
then they'd go render sacred service to jehovah..
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NotFormer
Diogenesister, sisters did serve at Bethel. Did those who made it have to have close connections with someone already in the hierarchy? Were you told that you could never aspire to such lofty levels (and pairs of socks) by anyone (in as many words)?
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27
Pornography in the Marriage
by LostintheFog1999 inthe magazine that they are studying in the congregation this month has an article at the back about how pornography in a marriage could damage the relationship.. there's one piece of advice that sounds rather scary, the wt suggests that the couple should "consider asking an elder with whom you are both comfortable to sit in and guide your discussions for a time.".
how many of you would want an elder present in your home while you and your partner discussed your personal sexual cravings and the type of porn videos being watched?.
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NotFormer
The "Disney bought Pornhub" thing was a joke that turned into an urban legend.
I wanted to see The Stud, but only because I mistakenly thought that "Let's All Chant" by The Michael Zager Band was on the soundtrack. It turned out that the movie I was thinking of was "The Eyes Of Laura Mars". Glad I never saw that; I was never into that sort of movie! 😱 I saw The Stud years later on video: crappy movie and no Michael Zager. 🙄 It wasn't until the age of the internet that I finally figured out what went wrong.