Posts by okage

24

Governing Body Member Gets Cream Pie Smushed On Face While Giving Talk At Convention About The Need To Always Respect The Governing Body To Keep Jehovah Happy, Video

by frankiespeakin in

if you do, or decide to do it please take a video and post it on utube.

call it 'sparlock's revenge'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxfupd89wxs.

Whatever Happened to Gonzalo Campos?

by okage in

i haven't seen anything newer than the original july 2013 articles about him.

any word on him?.

for those who don't know/remember, he was the san diego jehovah's witness who molested numerous children in the 90's.

okage

I haven't seen anything newer than the original July 2013 articles about him. Any word on him?

For those who don't know/remember, he was the San Diego Jehovah's Witness who molested numerous children in the 90's. He recorded a video deposition admitting he was a pedophile and also acknowledged that his congregation knew what he was and still allowed him to go on service and hold home bible studies with young people, and made note that they covered for him.

After his deposition, he fled to Mexico to avoid legal prosecution. It was said in the initial article that there were hefty settlements made to the families of his victims to keep them quiet.

But I haven't heard anything since. Is he still in Mexico? Are people still seeking charges? Is he still active in the Jehovah's Witnesses? Is his congregation in San Deigo being investigated? These are the kind of questions I don't have the answers to.

Anyone have better information about this than I?

4

Guns and Martial Arts

by okage in

my wife's jw sister bought a gun after someone broke into her house and apparently no one in her circles has an issue with it.

her only friends are jw's and she's posted about buying the gun and target practice a few times on facebook.. i remember reading in a '98 wt that witnesses do not buy guns, but i've read on here both that they are allowed to and that they're banned.. i also remember in the elder manual "pay attention to yourself and all the flock" that learning martial arts was frowned upon and disqualified jws from priveleges.

my wife's olderst brother, also a jw has been actively learning martial arts since my wife was born without any sanctions or punishment.. could somebody fill me in on where the watchtower stands today on these positions?.

okage

My wife's JW sister bought a gun after someone broke into her house and apparently no one in her circles has an issue with it. Her only friends are JW's and she's posted about buying the gun and target practice a few times on Facebook.

I remember reading in a '98 WT that Witnesses do not buy guns, but I've read on here both that they are allowed to and that they're banned.

I also remember in the elder manual "Pay Attention to Yourself and All the Flock" that learning martial arts was frowned upon and disqualified JWs from priveleges. My wife's olderst brother, also a JW has been actively learning martial arts since my wife was born without any sanctions or punishment.

Could somebody fill me in on where the Watchtower stands today on these positions?

It's hard to ask alot of Witnesses because they like to talk out of both sides of their mouths: It's bad when they're being watched, but perfectly fine when no one's looking. You know?

97

Did Jesus really exist?

by slimboyfat in

i had been wondering over the past few years whether there really was a historical jesus at all, until a few months ago when i read bart ehrman's latest book "did jesus exist?

" initially i was persuaded by his argument that the nt contains multiple sources that testify to jesus' existence.

but more recently i have been reading the christ myth position of richard carrier and his responses to ehrman.

okage

43alley on Youtube has a great break down of this question by exploring the legend of Jesus.

http://youtu.be/XKAHoYCWXF8

1

Okage Takes Issue With: The Dumbest Thing a JW Ever Said To Him

by okage in

schnare posted a thread called "demonic: what's the stupidest thing you've ever heard a jw say?

" so i give my credit for inspiration to that thread found here:.

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/experiences/261046/1/its-demonic-whats-the-stupidest-thing-youve-ever-heard-a-jw-say.

okage

Schnare posted a thread called "Demonic: What's the stupidest thing you've ever heard a JW say?" So I give my credit for inspiration to that thread found here:

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/experiences/261046/1/Its-Demonic-Whats-the-stupidest-thing-youve-ever-heard-a-JW-say

I wanted to post the dumbest thing I ever heard there but it really is it's own discussion, I feel.

The dumbest thing a Jehovah's Witness ever said to me was, and I quote, "it's impossible for a Jehovah's Witness to molest a Jehovah's Witness child. There are so many safeguards it just can't happen."

Mind you, this was before Candace Conti's legal victory and all I knew as far as JW child abuse came from Silent Lambs. I didn't have the Elder's manuals or the legal precedents. This man looked me in the eye and told me child molestation just doesn't happen within Jehovah's Witnesses.

So my question, have you ever experienced anyone with that view? Traditionally, the JW path is to point fingers at everyone but the Governing Body and to victimize the victim further, but this was the first and only time in my experience that someone ever went so far as to deny its possibility or existence among the rank and file.

23

Okage Takes Issue with: November 1st 2013 Watchtower Magazine

by okage in

just a few issues i had from looking at this potential new york-printed toilet paper:.

pg 4: the lie that made god nameless.

this sub-article talks about how god's name is jehovah and quotes isaiah 42:8 "i am jehovah.

okage

@AndDon'tCallMeShirley: It's disturbing that they would acknowledge that the true name would be lost forever when they also make the claim that the name "Jehovah" used to be in the original manuscripts and accuse clergymen of the 3rd century Catholic Church of intentionally destroying those manuscripts.

If there is no record of these men destroying manuscripts with the name Jehovah in them, how can they make the accusation? If Jehovah isn't God's name, how could there be manuscripts with the name in them? If the name is lost forever, why pick a name?

Would a God who was willing to supposedly flood the world be more understanding if you started calling him other names or if you just admitted you forgot his name and asked for it again. You're right that it is the God's responsibility to restore his name. If he was really with the Watchtower Society, he would have told them his name so they wouldn't go around spreading false information about who he is.

You can't have a relationship with God if you call him Carl.

23

Okage Takes Issue with: November 1st 2013 Watchtower Magazine

by okage in

just a few issues i had from looking at this potential new york-printed toilet paper:.

pg 4: the lie that made god nameless.

this sub-article talks about how god's name is jehovah and quotes isaiah 42:8 "i am jehovah.

okage

Just a few issues I had from looking at this potential New York-printed toilet paper:

pg 4: The Lie That Made God Nameless
This sub-article talks about how God's name is Jehovah and quotes Isaiah 42:8 "I am Jehovah. That is my name." I take issue with this because they later go on to say that you cannot know God as a person or love God if you don't know his name. But what about calling God by the wrong name? I imagine a jealous, vengeful deity would harbor ill feelings with being called somebody else's name. If I called my wife by some other woman's name, she would certainly have a problem with it. And it can try to be argued that Jehovah is a latinized form of Yahweh, but if I called my brother Matthew "Mateo," he wouldn't like it. In fact, he used to get pretty pissed when I would call him Mateo.
Wouldn't a deity who is infinitely powerful and wrathful become angered with a century of Bible Students calling him the wrong name? Or even be upset when they formed a group refering to him with the wrong name? And if not, why would it matter if we use his name at all?

pg 12,13,14: She was declared "righteous by her works."
For a group that claims to value truth, I take issue with their repeated efforts to whitewash characters from the Bible. Numerous images of Jesus as a white man, numerous depictions of God and the angels as white men, and in this Watchtower, Rahab is portrayed as a white, fair-skinned ginger. I don't recall scripture describing her as such but I don't recall many middle-eastern gingers.

pg 16: Who will go to heaven and why?
Why don't they say in the public edition what they so freely print in the study edition? If they proudly believe only 144,000 will be going to heaven, why not state it to the public? Why not state that those "rulers" they are writing about only consist of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses? Or that of the 144,000 rulers, only the GB will rule among them?

1

Small town community torn apart by sex scandal.

by Bonnie_Clyde in

jw
friends

this doesn't have anything to do with the witnesses.

but it's hard to believe these teachers would support a pedophile even if he was a "nice guy.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130803/metro06/308020127/.

okage

Not all that hard. Police would support pedophiles and murderers among their ranks. Firefighters support everything but arsonists. Not all of them are like that, but when there is camaraderie in a profession, you form familial ties with those you work with.

Interesting note about the picture in the article: all white, blonde women.

23

Long serving pioneer no longer has hours quota to stay on the list...

by NVR2L8 in

jw
friends

a family member visited us this past weekend and said that my 80 years old mother was recently told she no longer has to meet the annual hour quota to remain on the pioneer list.

"what a loving provision from the brothers" were my sister's exact words.

"mom was so stressed out with having to get her hours in every month" are you freaking kidding me?

okage

In reference to @Blondie's post:

I feel that church publications should have to print their sources in association with their writings. You can argue "religious beliefs" all you want, but if you're just printing lies for personal gains, it's propaganda. If your faith relies on propaganda, you aren't a religion, you're a political faction like communism or libertarianism. No amount of truth needs lies to further itself and that bs about a 106 year old woman being seemingly more successful and efficient than most other Witnesses is propaganda on its face.

16

Question regarding parental obligation to report to authorities

by gbrn in

i am relatively new to the forum, and not quite as familiar with all of the ins and outs of jw culture as many of you are, so i apologize if this is an ignorant question.

it is quite apparent the wt has handled child abuse allegations in a horrible way, viewing it as sin as opposed to a crime.

after an allegation is reported to the elders, and they are not required by law to report to the authorities, why don't parents simply go to the authorities themselves and report the crime.

okage

I could be incorrect and I invite people to correct me, but I believe @Blondie's comment was only in reference to the subject matter, not your overall knowledge. I could be wrong and she could in fact be speaking of your overall knowledge of Jehovah's Witnesses.

To me, in your limited posting history (been a member longer than me), you seem like someone who is young, maybe with limited resources, who wants to be open about these sorts of things. Because Simon removed the post count, I'm not entirely sure, but I believe you have fewer than a half dozen posts here in a year and a half. I wrote a post a few days ago about lurkers (I'm not such a fan of the indirect connotations of that word) that I hold true to.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/experiences/258891/1/For-the-Lurkers-You-are-not-alone
You should give it a read if you haven't yet. I didn't expect anyone to post on it because the subject matter was directed at people who aren't public yet, but it's got almost 800 views so far.

This is a great place to let your eagle fly, but most of us understand that there is a time and place for when someone is ready for that to happen. One day, you will be comfortable sharing your story and you will be welcomed with open arms and complete understanding by many. Some will give stoic grunts while others will be silent but peacefully recognizing that someone took the big first step.

We don't "love bomb" here on JWN because we respect anyone's right to choose their comfort zone for whatever reason they have. We know you've got your reasons. You've got your story to tell. And you will find no other place on the internet that knows and understands where you're coming from better than JWN.

We look forward to hearing from you when you're ready. gbrn.