Lee Marsh

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Posts by Lee Marsh

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  8

  Revealed: ‘Hidden epidemic’ of abusive cults in UK, with 2,000 groups operating freely

  by Lee Marsh in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  revealed: ‘hidden epidemic’ of abusive cults in uk, with 2,000 groups operating freely.

  thousands have suffered sexual abuse, isolation from friends and family and modern slavery at the hands of uk cults.

  independent.

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  Lee Marsh

  I suspect the editors and legal dept. nixed saying who the groups were
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  16

  Was you or your family ever a local needs talk subject?

  by Foolednomore in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  our family was always a topic on a local needs talk.

  but it was funny when the brothers needed money they would come with their hands out.

  this is when we lived in the states.

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  Lee Marsh

  My mother’s body was very good. And she loved cleavage and dresses that showed legs.
  

  
  Pics?

  ------

  Think Marilyn Monroe
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  8

  Revealed: ‘Hidden epidemic’ of abusive cults in UK, with 2,000 groups operating freely

  by Lee Marsh in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  revealed: ‘hidden epidemic’ of abusive cults in uk, with 2,000 groups operating freely.

  thousands have suffered sexual abuse, isolation from friends and family and modern slavery at the hands of uk cults.

  independent.

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  Lee Marsh

  Revealed: ‘Hidden epidemic’ of abusive cults in UK, with 2,000 groups operating freely

  Thousands have suffered sexual abuse, isolation from friends and family and modern slavery at the hands of UK cults

  INDEPENDENT

  Holly Bancroft

  Monday 18 July 2022

  Thousands of British adults and children are being deceived into joining UK cult groups, new research has found, with experts calling the phenomenon a “hidden epidemic” that the government has failed to address.

  An estimated 2,000 cult groups are operating across the country, but ministers have not acted to stop them because of fears that they cannot legally distinguish between religion and semi-criminal cults, a charity leader said.

  A survey of 105 victims of 36 different cult groups, produced by the charity The Family Survival Trust (FST), has found that thousands of people have suffered sexual abuse, isolation from friends and family, financial exploitation and modern slavery at the hands of UK cults.

  Seventeen per cent of respondents to the survey reported having been raped in the group they were part of and 37 per cent experienced other undesired sexual contact.

  Some 62 per cent of people polled said they worked long hours for the cult for little or no payment, while 47 per cent said that their groups violated employment laws.

  Of the 105 people surveyed by the FST, half were born or raised in high-control groups, while the remainder were recruited as adults.

  The 36 cult groups ranged from those based on religion and politics, to those pertaining to wellness and personal growth. The majority of respondents, 91 per cent, said they were part of religious or spiritual groups, with 14 per cent part of personal growth groups and 11 per cent part of political groups.

  Membership of the cults ranged from three people to large groups of international members totalling millions.

  The survey suggested that different cults took advantage of their victims in different ways, but a common theme was isolation from the members’ loved ones.

  Of the 99 people who responded to the question about isolation, 56 per cent said they had been isolated from their parents, 68 per cent from other family members and 71 per cent from their friends.

  Out of 94 respondents, 55 per cent said that they had to justify the time not spent on the group to their leaders. Thirty-five per cent said they were expected to submit time sheets.

  One person said: “We were told that all time not spent on cult activity was us ‘stealing’ time from the cause and that we would be punished for it.”

  Another said: “We had to report how many hours we’d been preaching. I was a full-time pioneer, so had to report 100 hours a month minimum preaching; 1,200 hours a year with no allowance for holidays.”

  The majority of respondents said their cult leaders controlled what they could look at and what they could wear.

  “We were not allowed to use the internet for anything apart from our jobs, with the exception of viewing their own website and online videos,” one respondent said.

  Sexual abuse was also commonly reported among ex-members. Of 71 respondents, 21 per cent said they had had sexual contact with their group leaders.

  One victim claimed: “When I told them I had been raped, my family kicked me out and cut off all contact.”

  Another said: “The leader had many relationships with women in the group. He said it was our duty to please him. He made us do sexual acts that I didn’t consent to because I couldn’t say no.”

  Sixty-six per cent said that they had experienced group-directed celibacy.

  More than half of 86 respondents said they had witnessed the physical punishment of children within their group, with 31 per cent experiencing assault or violence within the group.

  Nine per cent of 91 people surveyed said they had witnessed human trafficking.

  Responding to the report, former MP and chair of the FST Tom Sackville said: “From the moment I became aware of the activities of cults I realised that government, led by officials in the Home Office, had been briefing ministers that this was not a problem and there was anyway nothing that could be done to help victims.

  “This was based on the spurious notion that it was not possible to distinguish in law a religion from a semi-criminal cult. Moreover, coercive control is now very adequately described as a crime in recent legislation, but limited to when it occurs in the context of domestic abuse.”

  Dr Alexandra Stein, a trustee of the FST, said: “There is a hidden epidemic of cultic abuse in the UK. The trust’s research highlights merely the tip of the iceberg of this abuse, thanks to the bravery of survivors willing and able to speak up.”

  A spokesperson for the Home Office said: “Coercive control is an abhorrent crime, so to support the criminal justice system in making arrests and pursuing convictions we have consulted on the guidance that will be published later this year when the extended offence comes into force.

  “We are committed to ensuring all vulnerable people receive the support they need, including those abused in cults, and will keep all legislation under review.”

  https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-cult-groups-sexual-abuse-b2121100.html
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  16

  Was you or your family ever a local needs talk subject?

  by Foolednomore in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  our family was always a topic on a local needs talk.

  but it was funny when the brothers needed money they would come with their hands out.

  this is when we lived in the states.

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  Lee Marsh

  My mother’s body was very good. And she loved cleavage and dresses that showed legs. She would tame it down for a while but get back to her way of dressing before too long.
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  16

  Was you or your family ever a local needs talk subject?

  by Foolednomore in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  our family was always a topic on a local needs talk.

  but it was funny when the brothers needed money they would come with their hands out.

  this is when we lived in the states.

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  Lee Marsh

  ALL THE TIME. 2 uncles DFed (1 of them more than once), mother for how immodestly she dressed, 2 brothers always in trouble with kids at school; fighting and the police at our door, oddly they never took the book study out of our place, me DFed, mother reproved, underage drinking at our wedding, most likely my sister's behavior too, .... the list goes on and on and on.
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  6

  "New Boy Life and Death at the World Headquarters of the Jehovah's Witnesses'

  by new boy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my book was removed from kindle on amazon books for over a year.

  i wondered who had the power to do that?

  anyway it is back up after paying thousands of dollars in extra fees.

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  Lee Marsh

  "Who had the power..."

  The Watchtower Society!
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  30

  Is burying someone on a golf course tacky?

  by GabeAthouse in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  trump's first wife and mother of his children died recently.

  they had her buried on his golf course.

  do you think this is tacky or a savvy business move since it'll now get them some tax breaks as a cemetery?.

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  Lee Marsh

  oh very tacky.
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  33

  TV and the Media

  by punkofnice in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i look at tv and the media as all fiction.. i wonder if the media is now just a tool to cauterise the brain and zombify us?

  i'm sure the uk's bbc does.

  it seems to be a tool to brainwash people to buy into latest agenda or trend that must be followed.....or you're an outcast like a disfellowshipped one.

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  Lee Marsh

  I have been interviewed many times for the media - print- TV and radio. TV was straight-forward and no room for editing since they were live.

  Print is different. You get interviewed. The reporter goes away and writes the story. The editor edits it and when approved it gets printed.

  Almost every time there were errors. But they were small errors; a year, an age, minor details about what happened. But they were always minor errors that did absolutely nothing to change the story and what really happened. I wasn't thrilled with the errors but it really was too late to change them and in the end if something happened in 1965 or 1966 it really didn't change WHAT happened.

  Maybe I was lucky. Maybe Canadian journalists strive to follow the Code of Ethics more than they do elsewhere.

  punkofnice mentioned police corruption. I had a talk with a police officer yesterday on a matter I am dealing with. He admitted that there are "some" bad police officers. But for the most part they try to do their jobs the best they can in spite of the bad press they get.

  Over the years I have had many opportunities to talk to the police. They have always been kind, helpful and offered both emotional support as well as dealt with the problem. I have never met a bad cop, okay once On Montreal when 1 cop wanted to give me a ticket for riding my wheelchair on the correct side of the road. He insisted I was on the wrong side and refused to check the Code.

  But I have had close experiences with the police since I was a child, a young child victim and they have always been kind and respectful. Granted I am a white female and mostly been the victim or reporting crimes committed by others. I probably won't meet one of the bad ones. And if I had I might be a lot more jaded.

  But the truth is that every single profession has bad apples. People who get into it for the wrong reasons. Or get burnt out and don't get help so they become jaded and act out.

  I don't think we support them enough or pay them enough for what they do for us.

  Meanwhile we pay athletes and actors exorbitant amounts of money to entertain us.

  Just where are our priorities?

  I think working together would be more beneficial than working against one another regardless of the profession.
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  33

  TV and the Media

  by punkofnice in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i look at tv and the media as all fiction.. i wonder if the media is now just a tool to cauterise the brain and zombify us?

  i'm sure the uk's bbc does.

  it seems to be a tool to brainwash people to buy into latest agenda or trend that must be followed.....or you're an outcast like a disfellowshipped one.

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  Lee Marsh

  Journalists, regardless of the medium, do have to follow a code of ethics. Every country has one and for the most part they have few difference? Canada https://caj.ca/ethics-guidelines

  The role of journalism is to answer certain questions: Who?, What?, Where?, When?, Why? and How?

  We all know that several people can watch the same thing and remember something different. That is why journalists take notes, record and video-record the events they are reporting on. They are looking for the honest answers to those questions.

  But sometimes a problem arises when the editor decides what goes on the air or get printed and what doesn't. He or she most likely wasn't there when the event happened. He has to rely on what he reads or what he is told. And he has to worry about what sells and what might get them sued.

  So stories do change.

  And sometimes a person's personal perspective or that of the higher-ups gets too involved with what gets published. That is biased. That is not ethical.

  The simple solution is to get your news from an ethical outlet. They aren't perfect. But many reporters do try to get the story right or risk losing their job and reputations.
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  41

  Do you think the brothers who wrote watchtower articles are living in real world?

  by Longlivetherenegades in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  do you think the brothers who wrote watchtower articles are living in real world?........

  david splane........ powerful by faith convention 2021 video.

  please i got an excerpt of this from another video but the response by david splane is not included.

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  Lee Marsh

  On https://www.theworldnewsmedia.org/topic/51649-does-the-governing-body-live-on-campus-or-off-campus/page/3/ JW Insider says:

  I traveled with only one member of the Governing Body during the time that I was handling work assignments for him. It was only two times, and both times to Europe, so it isn't a lot of experience from which to extrapolate what other members of the Governing Body were doing. The longest trip was about 6 weeks, in 1978, during which time we visited about 12 countries, stopping at the branch offices in 10 of them and attending the "International Assembly" in the other two. After London, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Nice/Cannes, we split up after the assembly in Rome (in the wake of a Pope's recent death) and the GB member went to Germany, Denmark, and Sweden while I worked for a week in the branch office in Athens, and then caught up again in Hamburg after one-day stops in Bern, Innsbruck, and Wiesbaden. Then back to London, full circle.

  He was traveling on WTS funds that covered flights and basic hotels for both himself and his wife. His travel and accommodations were subsidized by regular gifts he had received from speaking assignments, and these were considered personal gifts which he was able to keep for himself. He did not schedule any public talks on this one particular trip since we were traveling during the summer assembly season. During another trip, I saw first-hand that such talks could result in a lot of 'green handshakes' and even an official branch-approved collection of contributions set up just for his travel and accommodations. The Branch did not assume that a GB member wanted to stay in one of the rooms in the branch office, or at a brother's home, and a couple of the smaller branches had no extra guest room anyway. This particular GB member sometimes stayed in fully gifted resort hotel accommodations instead of the branch, but it was also a chance for his wife to take a breather -- a real vacation. I don't mean to sound sexist, but my guess is that wives probably insisted on a change of pace, away from regular branch routines. I stayed in branches or homes of local witness families, while he stayed almost exclusively in nice hotels and 'resort-style hotels.' I took the train and even slept on the train a couple times (and on a ferry from Brindisi, Italy to Corfu, Greece), while he flew most places. I think that only his NYC-to-London flight was first class, -- while my flight was something called 'Freddy Laker' to London for $99, a stand-by arrangement where I had to camp out at the airport the night before.

  (So, although we would meet up at the Branch offices, it was not really the same as traveling with the GB, on that trip, at least. Of course, I am grateful that I got nearly 6 weeks "vacation" in Europe, which would have been impossible without the request of a GB member. I had only earned between 2 to 3 weeks on my own. But even here, there are "stickler" rules at Bethel, that required me to work at the branch in Athens to earn an extra week or so. Or perhaps it got me out of his hair during a time when this GB member was exploring a 'judicial case' centered mostly in Sweden.)

  I know that some of the unmarried members of the GB often stayed at the branch offices. This included Fred Franz himself, who had no problem staying in whatever extra room was available, or a local brother's home. This was apparently also true of at least half of the nearly 17-member GB at that time. Flying first class and staying at first class accommodations on WTS funds was only approved for business travel for factory representatives like Larson (non-GB), Wheelock, (non-GB), Henschel, etc., as had previously been done for Knorr, Suiter, etc.

  After Russel and Rutherford, life at the Bethel Home itself was only incrementally more comfortable for members of the GB, and it was apparently based on the same 'seniority' arrangement all Bethelites utilized to obtain their choice of rooms (based on years of full-time service). Of course, even though I had the same size corner room in the Towers Hotel, their extra funds allowed them to make it look like luxury for only two persons, relative to my room being shared among four of us. However, visiting and touring at Patterson, I didn't see inside any rooms, but noticed that all rooms seemed to be pretty much the same size.

  Just based on experience, I don't believe GB members are given special accommodations that are that much different than any other Bethelite.