With the exception of a few impassioned posters, things seem to have died down on the twitter front in terms of LE discussion. Maybe he’s just blocked everyone and they’re all getting on with their lives.
A slow fade into obscurity ensues
davesalad
JoinedPosts by davesalad
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11530
It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars
by Newly Enlightened inoriginal reddit post (removed).
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11530
It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars
by Newly Enlightened inoriginal reddit post (removed).
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davesalad
I think our difficulty in comprehending his apparent self absorption speaks volumes of the level of dysfunction he operates at. It’s so far removed from the balanced psyche that it nearly seems unbelievable.
He preceded his ‘confession’ with self-victimisation, implying justification for his actions. There’s evidence of avoidance of accountability there. And the fact he felt the need to tell someone, I speculate, could be evidence of vestigial principles of absolution from being in the cult. A poorly judged and inappropriate avenue to do so was chosen by him.
To me it seems he’s still very much in the grip of the emotional and psychological control of the cult and his ‘activism’ is his attempt to prove to himself that he’s not. Maybe I’m speculating too deeply here, I don’t know.
Either way, the dude needs lots and lots of therapy
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11530
It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars
by Newly Enlightened inoriginal reddit post (removed).
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davesalad
There’s a lot to unpack in his behaviours and it’s always risky to play armchair psychologist, as we can’t truly understand someone outside of a clinical setting without clinical knowledge, but there’s plenty of insight to be obtained from putting together the publicly known facts and seeing potential patterns in these. Correct me if I’m wrong in any aspects of this timeline
He may well have intended a trip to Thailand to be a mental health break, only he would know, but the context reveals inferences to his potential motivators (though even he may not know his true motivators, which is a reasonable assumption based off his apparent lack of self awareness). The trip was planned after an unsuccessful attempt to negotiate an open marriage, an experience he described as a head fuck. These discussions bring up fears and insecurities in a relationship that require delicate concern and sensitivities towards your partner. His response to not receiving the desired outcome was to distance himself from his wife geographically, an action which induces relationship insecurity further and is contended to be a form of emotional abuse and control.
For years prior to this he had been engaging the service of sex workers, which would lead one to believe that he would willingly engage in this behaviour again - pattern of behaviour. The natural presumption here is that during his Thailand trip he engaged in this behaviour again. Whether he did or didn’t, no one can know for sure. His stated conscious intention of the trip could be true, but the true motivators may have been obscured to himself. Or he may have been in denial to himself. Or he may be an outright liar. Any of these could be true.
Whats my point? He shows an immense lack of self awareness and lack of awareness about the impact his actions can have on others - including his wife - and a lack of social awareness that is needed to manage the conjunction between image and expectations whilst being a public advocate. People throw the Narcissist word around a lot because he displays these traits, but I suspect there’s a large degree of Machiavellianism going on inside that head, both combining to create the toxic mix of behaviours we see. I see a damaged man in deep conflict with himself, unable to see the harm it creates and unwilling to rectify the cause.
As for our judgement calls on his behaviour from the outside, I reckon they’re well justified. Even without knowing the full truth, there’s enough evidence to form an opinion.
Just my two cents
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11530
It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars
by Newly Enlightened inoriginal reddit post (removed).
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davesalad
I believe that criticism was sent to him privately via email, and he chose to announce it publicly for… reasons?
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11530
It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars
by Newly Enlightened inoriginal reddit post (removed).
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davesalad
Tempted to send $1.00 and a note to fuck off in the description, wouldn’t that be fun?
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11530
It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars
by Newly Enlightened inoriginal reddit post (removed).
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davesalad
The general consensus is that the threats are spineless and no one is giving in, and rightfully so. The saga continues
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11530
It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars
by Newly Enlightened inoriginal reddit post (removed).
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davesalad
“Good luck suing the entire internet”
lol
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11530
It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars
by Newly Enlightened inoriginal reddit post (removed).
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davesalad
The greatest good to come of this would perhaps be Steven Hassan and Leah Remini distancing themselves from this individual, if they felt so inclined. Wishful thinking, maybe.
You are correct though Simon, it would be healthiest to move on with our lives. After only a few days delving into this matter I find myself personally consumed and reminded of the reasons I distanced myself from the cult in the first place. To forever dwell in JW/ExJw matters is only perpetuating the harm to us as individuals that we have suffered for too long already. I’ve enjoyed the discussion regardless, thanks all. I do hope that justice is served, however.
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11530
It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars
by Newly Enlightened inoriginal reddit post (removed).
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davesalad
I’m curious, has there been any backlash or commentary from any MSM or other productions in which LE was a guest or contributor?
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11530
It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars
by Newly Enlightened inoriginal reddit post (removed).
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davesalad
New to this forum, to be honest I stumbled across it when I started searching for reasons that LE had taken a break from his videos, but I’m glad I found my way here.
I emailed him a couple of years ago to discuss the possibility of having his voice in a documentary that I was planning on filming regarding JWs and their damaging social impact, he was less than kind or forthcoming with support at the time.
After reading through all 83 pages of discussion here I’m wondering how we stop this malignant blight from maintaining its presence as one of the forerunning personalities that represents the ex-JW community, because surely he does not speak for us all. In the spirit of not casting the first stone let me tell you I have been less than kind or perfect in many instances since I left the cult, for a long time I lost my way and had zero bearings morally. I am not one to speak for many, I do not think I qualify as such but I still hold concern for anything which may prove the WTS true in their negative appraisal of apostates, and it would seem that LE is proving their point and the ramifications for individuals potentially still gripped by the cult are large.
Is there a possibility for an organised campaign of truthful negative feedback on any and all LE media that is produced? Is there some way we can enact on this current situation to do the greater good and shut down this person who might cause more harm than good? I apologise if this is naive of me, but I am interested in your feedback as you’ve obviously all been dealing with this person for a lot longer than I.
In full disclosure, I have seen enough LE videos to know that although they provide important information and insight into the practices of the WTS, they are also presented with a level of vitriol and sarcasm that I think would be psychologically detrimental to anyone truly looking for an informed viewpoint on the subject, and as such I have not watched any of his media for a long time now.