Posts by Lee Marsh

13

Did The Australian Royal Commission Actually Achieve Anything?

by NotFormer in

i've been going through past threads on here during the period i was not very interested in what was going on in jw world.

the australian royal commission era caused a great deal of excitement and inspired some hope, but did any good come of it?.

the 2 witness rule in child sexual assault cases still exists, and elders still don't call the police and try to handle things in house.

Lee Marsh

ARC was not a legal/Criminal investigation. They had no power to arrest or charge onayone or any corporation.

The website says:

On 12 November 2012 the then Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that she would recommend to the Governor-General that a Royal Commission be appointed to inquire into institutional responses to child abuse.

https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/final-report

The Commission was an inquiry; a study. It studied the problem and made recommendations. Period.

What it accomplished was to show just how big the problem was in Australia and that there was a need for changes. They could only recommend changes; not enforce them.

What it also accomplished was the awakening of many JWs as they followed the case and watched and/or read the transcripts.

The fact that they got a GB member on the stand and JWs who watched or read saw him lie was huge. Yes he could claim "theocratic war strategy" and that the court was further down the food chain from Jehovah but some people saw through the lies to the real truth. In that sense it was a real win for many people.

And it has become a building block for other lawyers to watch as they actually to charge JWs and the org for not reporting child abuse where they are legally required to do so.

And it highlighted that they will put the org before the needs and rights of the children they are supposed to be caring for.

27

I wonder whatever became of the JW 'don't masturbate' guy?

by SydBarrett in

jw
friends

this guy: how embarrassing.it's also sad that when it was being filmed, no one thought to tell him "you don't have to over do it..they'll get the point.."now he lives forever in internet infamy.

.

Lee Marsh

As an interpreter in the congregation I would spell those words and never sign them. I would have died of shame at being so graphic with my own children watching.

167

Anthony Morris the III has been FOUND

by Terry in

jw
friends

note: photos can be found on the blue envelope channelhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nakezkhqbmtony and susan morris are living in lumberton, north carolina.

a real estate document on the robeson county website is filed:.

the religious order of jehovah's witnesses has provided a "life estate" for them.they can live in this townhouse until they are deceased or choose to move away and in either case the ownership becomes entirely the property of jehovah's witnesses.

Lee Marsh

The very last thing the WTS wants is for Tony to write a tell-all book to support himself in his final years.

Maybe they are capable of learning from their mistakes. Franz taught them a lot it seems.

A solid NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT was probably part of the deal.

39

Only baptised JWs will make it?

by ExBethelitenowPIMA in

i think it was a john cedars video or someone else’s where the point was brought up that only baptised jws will be saved?

then one talk about kids of baptised jws hope they will make it but even them don’t know.

most jws probably think that some good people who are not baptised may make it through, but this is not official teaching?.

Lee Marsh

I distinctly remember hearing and reading that being baptized was no guarantee of getting through. We were told that even if we were doing everything to the best of our ability, J could read our heart and mind and decide we were not good enough.

Now, I suspect that by saying that they could pressure people to monitor their thoughts and behaviors to align them with WT/JW teachings. Work harder. Do more. Pay attention to what you do and think both in public and in private. It might also have been a chain around the necks of some who were leading double lives.

Instilling fear is a great motivator, sadly often to those who are already do their best and still think it isn't good enough. For those who were sitting on the fence, I doubt they were "encouraged" to do more.

36

Treatment of Those Trying For Reinstatement

by Vanderhoven7 in

what happens when a jehovah’s witness who has been disfellowshipped returns to attending the meetings again?.

mark jones writes:.

if it's the same congregation that they previously attended then, yes, the congregation will remember who they are and so continue to treat them as dead or invisible.. one of the identifying marks a cult is that it uses shame and humiliation to control members, to keep them from leaving and manipulating those who escaped into coming back.. a disfellowshipped person is never allowed to quietly leave with dignity.

Lee Marsh

OMG incog. Fricking unbelievable. But I do believe it.

Fooled - when you are the victim of abuse, you can't see it for what it is. You think you can fix it, stop, it or that it is your fault. Women, in particular are programmed to be submissive so they stay. Also the wedding vows of "til death do us part" are too often taken quite literally. And if you were baptized and supposedly made a vow to God then you submit to what you believe are His rules

36

Treatment of Those Trying For Reinstatement

by Vanderhoven7 in

what happens when a jehovah’s witness who has been disfellowshipped returns to attending the meetings again?.

mark jones writes:.

if it's the same congregation that they previously attended then, yes, the congregation will remember who they are and so continue to treat them as dead or invisible.. one of the identifying marks a cult is that it uses shame and humiliation to control members, to keep them from leaving and manipulating those who escaped into coming back.. a disfellowshipped person is never allowed to quietly leave with dignity.

Lee Marsh

Lee, he was teaching you to be hUmBlE. Asshat

Like I was humble for 15 years of abuse

Definitely had enough and it cured me for good from ever wanting to go back

36

Treatment of Those Trying For Reinstatement

by Vanderhoven7 in

what happens when a jehovah’s witness who has been disfellowshipped returns to attending the meetings again?.

mark jones writes:.

if it's the same congregation that they previously attended then, yes, the congregation will remember who they are and so continue to treat them as dead or invisible.. one of the identifying marks a cult is that it uses shame and humiliation to control members, to keep them from leaving and manipulating those who escaped into coming back.. a disfellowshipped person is never allowed to quietly leave with dignity.

Lee Marsh

DFed in 1985. Considered going back around 1990. So I met with one of the elders on my committee.

He said I had to attend all meetings and meet certain standards.

OK

So I went to the next Sunday meeting. The elder saw me. Knew I was there and he was conducting the Watchtower study. so....

He excused the person who was supposed to read and asked me ex to do it. My ex did not know I was there although I am not sure I believe that. his new wife sat there and glared at me constantly.

So I grit my teeth and put up with it - some kind of test.

Then the elder who knew of the abuse my ex subjected me to, knew because my ex told him everything, this elder who I considered a father figure, asked my ex to say the prayer.

Done. I am out of here.

He didn't want me back. The last thing he wanted was for me to be reinstated and start talking about the abuse my ex- who was an elder, had inflicted on me and our 2 children.

They protect their own. To hell with women and children.

No wonder both his sons left the Witnesses as soon as they were grown!

168

Moral responsibility.

by nicolaou in

no subtlety here, it's going to be obvious where i'm going with this.

please consider the following scenario.. you're seated on a railway platform bench waiting for your train.

a high speed intercity is about to hurtle through without stopping when you see a small child running to the platforms edge!

Lee Marsh

Iriddle80.

I am glad you found some inner peace. I have traced the abuse in my family at least 4 generations. But it stopped with me. I wasn't perfect by any means. I had to learn from my parent' mistakes and do something different. But I often had no idea what "different' was. But my daughter has taken the next step and improved on what I did. Hopefully her daughter will do even better.

Your sister was a child and some leniency is expected. BUT she is an adult now and like you, nee4ds to accept some responsibility for the pain she caused. But whether she ever does that or not, YOU get to move forward.

168

Moral responsibility.

by nicolaou in

no subtlety here, it's going to be obvious where i'm going with this.

please consider the following scenario.. you're seated on a railway platform bench waiting for your train.

a high speed intercity is about to hurtle through without stopping when you see a small child running to the platforms edge!

Lee Marsh

Nicolaou I am Lady Lee. My story is here many many times over.

Beaten almost daily, attempted and finally raped over 4 years, sodomized at least once if not more, as a child under the age of 12. Deserted by my mother who knew what he was doing and just left me to him.

When I finally did go back to her I was dragged to JW meetings, beaten at home, and where my stepfather and 3 uncles took turns with me. My mother went to the elders and was told to send me away. She made private foster care arrangements and told them I was a sex maniac and watch me constantly with the woman's husband and any other man of boy. I was 13! So I lived under what amounted to house arrest for the next 3 years.

At 16 I went back to my mother where I was beaten frequently. Within a year was baptized and another year she forced me to marry a man I didn't like and barely knew. Certainly, never went on a date with him until after our "engagement" (with chaperone). She was in a hurry. I wanted to wait a year. Time from the "engagement to wedding was 5 weeks.

After 15 years of marriage to him I was suicidal from his constant emotional and spiritual abuse. But I didn't want to be dead and "arranged" the end of the marriage by getting disfellowshipped.

Did I pray? All the time.

Did it help? Not one bit.

So constant abuse for 35 years. A lot of praying. All I felt was alone to deal with it all. Abandoned by family and a God who never heard my prayers. Those scriptures posted earlier had absolutely nothing to do with my life. They were nothing but a lie.

I thought often about dying. From about the age of 8 to 35. I came very very close to actually trying. But I am still here. And no, I don't believe God, any god had anything to do with me still being here.

168

Moral responsibility.

by nicolaou in

no subtlety here, it's going to be obvious where i'm going with this.

please consider the following scenario.. you're seated on a railway platform bench waiting for your train.

a high speed intercity is about to hurtle through without stopping when you see a small child running to the platforms edge!

Lee Marsh

Hosea 6:1-3
Come, let us return to the Lord;
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
3 Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;
his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains that water the earth.”

Doesn't do a thing for me.