Posts by Anders Andersen

7

Jehovah's Witnesses Getting Roasted In Comedy Shows

by pale.emperor in

a selection of my favorite scenes from comedy shows/movies where they poke fun at jehovah's witnesses.

in the old days whenever they'd mention jws my mum would change channel in outrage.. this one's my favorite!

skip to 1:19 - .

there are two legal offices listed on the jw.org website.. united stateswatchtower bible and tract society of new york, inc.office of the general counsel100 watchtower drivepatterson ny 12563-9204united states+1 [email protected].

world headquartersjehovah’s witnesses, office of the general counsel1 kings drivetuxedo park ny 10987-5500united states+1 [email protected].

to which location does one report child abusers and their enablers?

Anders Andersen

In the USA there's the USA branch, overseeing JW activity in the USA, and there's the world HQ that oversees the world wide activity of JW.

USA elders would normally contact the USA branch, not HQ. Just as German elders would contact German branch, not HQ.

I guess HQ legal dept. is contacted by the legal dept. of the difference branches, and/or (if needed) by international organizations like the UN, OSCE, EU courts, etc.

7

Theramin Trees: Responses to Child Abuse, Jehovah's Witnesses in the dock

by Diogenesister in

theramin trees, psychologist and ex jehovah's witness, has done simply the most carefully constructed, rigorous and utterly damning reveiw of the role of watchtower in case 29 the australian royal commission into institutional responses to instances of child sexual abuse.. although the ex jws community have gone over the carc ad nauseaum, anyone who is familiar with the work of theramin trees or his brother ;qualia soup, will surely be aware that the quality of their work ensures this will likely be the definative video on the subject.. cannot recommend highly enough, people!.

https://youtu.be/tsvjmlg_sam.

Anders Andersen

Instant upvote for pointing to Theramin Trees.

Please be aware though that he is not an exJW. He was raised in a strict religious family but definitely not JW!

3

Need help locating Watchtower Letter

by vienne in

some time ago the wt sent out a letter considering how to respond to academic researchers seeking information.

i thought i had a copy but apparently i do not.

can someone help me locate this, please?.

Anders Andersen

Care to share where? You made curious ;-)

14

How do you determine whether any religion is good or bad since...

by TerryWalstrom in

so, yesterday whilst playing chess i had a discussion ranging widely topically in which my chess opponent asked me, "how do you determine whether any religion is good or bad since there is so much basic disagreement on interpretations of text?

"i replied this way:"does this particular god need to be treated like an adult, or as a spoiled child with a churlish temper?

that's a good place to start.

Anders Andersen

@Terry,

Thanks for sharing you disagreement, A.A.

You're welcome. Those who know me can tell you it's entirely my pleasure to disagree ;-)
Thanks for your kind reply :-D

14

How do you determine whether any religion is good or bad since...

by TerryWalstrom in

so, yesterday whilst playing chess i had a discussion ranging widely topically in which my chess opponent asked me, "how do you determine whether any religion is good or bad since there is so much basic disagreement on interpretations of text?

"i replied this way:"does this particular god need to be treated like an adult, or as a spoiled child with a churlish temper?

that's a good place to start.

Anders Andersen

@Terry,

I must strongly disagree with your last comment! Which is, I think a first in over 3 years of me being here ;-)

On the other hand, learning a routine, sitting quietly while adults talk, studying things together with your family, showing concern for others, discussing ethical behavior...those things modeled inside a family structure are rarely found outside of religion. Formative formatting of a child's conscience is better than none at all.

Children learn to sit and be quiet at school (although I wonder what's so good at being quiet and still instead of exploring and inquiring...)

Religious families in my opinion most often don't discuss ethics and morality. They'll simply inform the children which rules they must obey lest they burn in hell (or something less graphic but unfavorable and lethal all the same).

On the other hand, I have noticed that many atheists (the intelligent ones at least) make a conscious effort to teach their children to develop an actual moral compass based on compassion, basic human rights, etc. without rigidly prescribing where that compass must point.

They try to show their children by example how to do and be good, as they can't fall back to a primitive set of rules that must be obeyed.

Yes, there's enough religious folks that do some of that too.

I'd say your comment is a (perhaps watered down) continuation of the trope 'without God one cannot have morals'.

Having intelligent conversations about ethics and morality is far from the exclusive domain of religious people...

30

It's My Birthday Today

by pale.emperor in

today is my 34th birthday.

or, my 3rd birthday that i've actually acknowledged seeing as i was raised in the cult.. i woke up this morning to my 4yo running into my room and wishing me a "happy birthday daddy!".

i got a card from my ex-jw brother and i bought myself a birthday gift - a new 50mm lens for my nikon camera (photography is a hobby i took up since leaving the cult).. i dont know about you guys, but birthdays is still something i have to make a conscious effort to acknowledge and enjoy.

Anders Andersen

Happy birthday bro!

I celebrated it by voting in the city council elections and listen to my baby girl sing Sinterklaas songs ;-)

34

For those who are athest, or non-christian, how did you come to this decision?

by Tameria2001 in

i'm not asking this question to cause an argument or accuse, but i am honestly just wondering?

for those of you who are now atheist or non-christian, how did you come to this decision?

i hadn't given this much thought until about a year ago.

Anders Andersen

Real simple: I started on a journey to find credible, testable, objective evidence that would support my religious beliefs.

I found none. I was forced to conclude my beliefs were not founded in any evidence. So what good is hanging on to them?

To be sure, I prayed a lot a put a simple test before God, much simpler than some of the tests faithful people mentioned in the Bible are said to have put before God.

God didn't respond in any way or form.

So, no evidence and no response. To me, that's clear enough.

Hadn't I been indoctrinated from birth I would never have come to believe in God based on the (lacking) evidence.

12

Did the WTBTS really print this stuff?

by Giordano in

i am not going to delve into the opinions and information provided by the good folks on this forum on matters of health and science in another post.

instead i want to make clear that the wtbts provided a fountain of information on this subject.

feel free to add any other misinformation you received.

Anders Andersen

To be fair, much of the crazy Golden Age stuff was not written by Watchtower staff, but letters they received.

Of course one can wonder why they would print insane and ridiculous statements that people sent them by letter...

56

Things you will never hear a good Jehovah’s Witness say (to another Jehovah’s Witness)

by hoser in

i’ll start it off.

boy did we get drunk last night.

Anders Andersen

Since the Law of Moses doesn't apply to us I shaved my beard and got a nice tattoo. Wanna see?