NotFormer

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Posts by NotFormer

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  24

  Jehovah's Witnesses suing Dutch State for discrimination

  by Tahoe in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  https://nltimes.nl/2023/12/11/jehovahs-witnesses-suing-dutch-state-discrimination .

  the jehovah’s witnesses have sued the dutch state for discrimination, the religious organization informed trouw.

  they consider it discriminatory that the government investigated them, but no other religious organization, for their handling of sexual abuse cases.. utrecht university conducted the investigation involved, following publications in trouw in which sexual abuse victims within the jehovah’s witnesses described what happened to them, and published the results in january 2020. utrecht university concluded that 60 percent of sexual abuse victims were very critical of how the jehovah’s witnesses handled their cases, scoring the handling a 1 out of 10. many victims were traumatized by how things were handled, the researchers said.. sander dekker, then the minster for legal protection, ordered the investigation at parliament’s insistence because the jehovah’s witnesses failed to arrange an investigation themselves, as the catholic church did at the time with the deetman commission.. the jehovah’s witnesses cooperated in the utrecht university investigation but unsuccessfully tried to stop the publication of its results.

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  NotFormer

  "Vidiot, your comments are spot-on, and very astute. I really enjoy your comments"

  I like his face.
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  1

  Diogenes and Jesus

  by NotFormer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the greek philosopher diogenes supposedly wandered around carrying a lit lantern, purportedly looking for an honest man.

  in 1919, the watchtower jesus supposedly wandered around looking for a religion that had "the truth"..

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  NotFormer

  The Greek philosopher Diogenes supposedly wandered around carrying a lit lantern, purportedly looking for an honest man. In 1919, the Watchtower Jesus supposedly wandered around looking for a religion that had "The Truth".
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  51

  “You know how I know that they're finished out there? The carts.”

  by Athanasius in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the watchtower's many legal problems and the jws' use of carts in their preaching work, reminded me of a scene and dialog from the film patton.. in a scene where patton is viewing a battle site the morning after, he says to an aide about the nazis: “you know how i know that they're finished out there?

  in my dreams i saw the carts.

  they kept buzzing around in my head and i couldn't figure out why.

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  NotFormer

  Ding: "They'll stress that Jehovah knows how much or how little you're doing..."

  Which is why it never made sense to me for them to record hours in the first place. If Jehovah is able to keep a detailed record of every human being in order to resurrect them from his memory (my understanding of that particular doctrine), then why can't he keep track of every JWs witnessing activities? And why does the WT feel that Jehovah is so incompetent that he needs their earthly administrative aid?
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  19

  The "Problem" With Zoom

  by XBEHERE in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  here is the org's problem with zoom, attending this way does not fit with their "scriptural definition" of a christian gathering.

  at least not anymore, one thing my pimi wife is fine with is attending on zoom occasionally, even 2-3 times a month or so.. if some of you recall, during covid there were break out rooms setup for people to stay on and associate.

  many would also stay in the main meeting and talk over each other trying to say hello, etc.

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  NotFormer

  I suppose the WT is having a similar problem to that of a lot of corporations. Covid proved that work-from-home was a workable solution and employees began to like the idea. Middle management got scared because their inability to micromanage someone not sitting in an office or cubicle on company premises might expose how unnecessary they really are.

  People who are able to turn off their camera and mute their mic are similarly protected from a level of micromanagement. If someone isn't physically present, the elders can't monitor things like correct mode of dress, the right facial expressions, etc. If the elders can't micromanage, then neither can the COs, nor Bethel itself. The whole control structure upon which the WT is built is being undermined by something as simple as the existence of remote meeting attendance.
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  7

  Some Seasonal Nostalgia

  by NotFormer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  can't find any references, so you'll just have to trust me on this one.

  i remember, probably at least two decades ago, a small news snippet about someone was going around brooklyn heights and setting fire to christmas wreaths on people's doors.

  i've always personally suspected* that it was a bored/semi-insane bethelite.

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  NotFormer

  Here's the thread about how Lady Liberty's Frosty was brutally attacked:

  https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/126755/jws-egged-our-house-yanked-out-our-frosty

  Big Dog, it's one of those things where it's not probable, but just remotely plausible. From what I've read on here about the pressures on Bethelites, the development of some psychosis or some OCD obsession isn't entirely outside the realms of possibility.

  It's stuck with me all these years because I remember distinctly thinking: "Someone in Brooklyn Heights is going around destroying symbols of Christmas ⛄. I wonder if...? 🤔😱"

  peacefulpete, your Dad sounds like he was one of the good guys. 👍
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  8

  Nepotism and Simony

  by NotFormer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i've read on here about connected families within congregations who seem to get all the "privileges".

  how likely is an elder's son, or other relative, to rise within the ranks?.

  i imagine it's harder to do it that way once you start to ascend the ranks.

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  NotFormer

  I've read on here about connected families within congregations who seem to get all the "privileges". How likely is an elder's son, or other relative, to rise within the ranks?

  I imagine it's harder to do it that way once you start to ascend the ranks. After all Bethel is famous for discouraging families and children. Could a GB member's son ever carry on the family business by being promoted to that rank?

  And from nepotism to Simony: Can greasing palms help you go places? At the congregational level? Within the Bethel structure?
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  3

  Those cringey demo’s 🙄

  by MissDaSilva in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just remembering those awful demonstrations that sisters were doing a couple of years ago.

  the setting?

  waiting in the queue at the covid vaccination centre.

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  NotFormer

  I'm surprised no-one weighed in on this. Those things must have been annoying at the best of times. I didn't think they would still be doing those, with the NERFing, dumbing down and the general post Covid environment.

  Why would a JW be doing field service around an allotment, anyway? 🤔🤨 Couldn't they come up with a more productive scenario?
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  21

  Judicial Committees asking Details of Sex acts

  by blondie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i remember knowing that jcs would ask very personal questions about sex activities.

  this article addresses this: https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15074595 .

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  NotFormer

  "I read that one elder, on his way to a JC, would tell his wife to “be ready” when he got home, because he was all charged up after hearing all the dirty details. 🤮"

  I hope that's one of those JW urban legends. 😱🙀 Like the one about the guy on mike duty, who forgets to mute the mike when he goes to the toilet 🚽.
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  30

  FDS 1919 Declaration Date

  by NotFormer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  did rutherford have any "prophetic" justification for 1919 as the date that jesus declared him (ahem, the wt organisation) the fds?

  such as some calculation attached to 1914?

  that in 1919, jesus would come looking for his true organisation?.

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  NotFormer

  Jesus wandering around, looking for the practicioners of the true religion, makes me think of Diogenes. Was da Judge "having a lend"?
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  54

  What If The Tower Fell?

  by Big Dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  what if the truly unthinkable happened and the tower went down?

  perhaps the irs swooped in and claimed fraud and padlocked the headquarters and kingdom hall doors?

  or the gb took the money and ran to a nice non-extradition country to live out their years?

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  NotFormer

  Big Dog, nice original Trek reference 😎

  I personally always think of the Landru episode, when thinking of Trek parallels. The Borg have their relevance, but I always thought Landru's world was the one most like that of the JWs.