Posts by Anders Andersen

10

Latest news from The Netherlands: Jehovah's want to stop publication of critical report on abuse

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

Anders Andersen

Update:

Today during the court session JW requested to have the case tried behind closed doors, without press or public. Otherwise (parts) of the report would become public regardless of the judge's verdict.

The judge agreed, which means that media and others (several victims, activists and exjw had shown up) had to leave the court room.

The case took 5 hours today, but the judge hasn't ruled yet. He will present his verdict tomorrow (Thursday) at 16:00 Dutch time (GMT +1).

So far many mainstream media have reported on the court case. A lot of attention has been generated. Many people assume JW are trying to cover up their flaws and are now curious about the report.

7

Interesting WT Deluge Contradiction I just noticed.

by Jofi_Wofo in

i was reviewing some of the evidence the wt proposes for their claim of the bible's scientific accuracy, when i came across this interesting assertion.. the mountains rise and fall, and today’s mountains were once under the ocean.

(psalm 104:6, 8) in contrast, several myths say that the mountains were created in their current form by the gods.. https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/questions/science-and-the-bible/.

interesting.

Anders Andersen

Another one:

JW: "Evolution is false! Never happened!"

Also JW: "It has been estimated by some that the hundreds of thousands of species of animals today could be reduced to a comparatively few family “kinds”—the horse kind and the cow kind, to mention but two. The breeding boundaries according to “kind” established by Jehovah were not and could not be crossed. With this in mind some investigators have said that, had there been as few as 43 “kinds” of mammals, 74 “kinds” of birds, and 10 “kinds” of reptiles in the ark, they could have produced the variety of species known today. Others have been more liberal in estimating that 72 “kinds” of quadrupeds and less than 200 bird “kinds” were all that were required. That the great variety of animal life known today could have come from inbreeding within so few “kinds” following the Flood is proved by the endless variety of humankind—short, tall, fat, thin, with countless variations in the color of hair, eyes, and skin—all of whom sprang from the one family of Noah."

24

Oh How Far I've Come

by pale.emperor in

so this weekend my girlfriend and i will move into our own place together.

it turns out that “a cord of three strands is stronger” is bullshit and two people in a relationship are perfectly capable of being happy without outside influence.

what a journey i’ve had since leaving 3 and a half years ago!

Anders Andersen

Ow wow, congratulations!

13

Legal fight over door-to-door notes continues: case goes to Strasbourg

by Corney in

on 10 june 2019, the finnish jw organization lodged an application against finland with the european court of human rights.

the case was quickly - by the court's standards - communicated to the finnish government on 10 december 2019. the complaint itself isn't available online but there is a brief summary (see the link above) prepared by the court:.

the application concerns the jehovah’s witnesses’ religious activities in finland and their compatibility with the data protection regulations.

Anders Andersen

Well I views this is high stakes for the org. After all if the dubs can't note anything, how are they going to properly remember where the people with issues and the foreigners live? And if they don't know where those people love, how are they gonna exploit them?

Growth rates in Europe have been 0 to slightly negative for decades, but this would sure make the situation worse for the org.

With current situation JW have nothing to lose and everything to win by fighting the court's decision.

13

Legal fight over door-to-door notes continues: case goes to Strasbourg

by Corney in

on 10 june 2019, the finnish jw organization lodged an application against finland with the european court of human rights.

the case was quickly - by the court's standards - communicated to the finnish government on 10 december 2019. the complaint itself isn't available online but there is a brief summary (see the link above) prepared by the court:.

the application concerns the jehovah’s witnesses’ religious activities in finland and their compatibility with the data protection regulations.

Anders Andersen

It complains under Article 8 of the Convention that one’s name and address were data which was widely available in the public domain. Moreover, the notes made by the members of the community are protected against State interference under their right to privacy.

Yeah right, names and addresses are public domain data? Surely not.

And I hope JW don't try to pretend names and addresses are all they note? They write about people's religious beliefs, health issues, etc. All those fall in the highest class of sensitive data, and data collection may only be done under strict conditions.

Then JW claim people have freely offered the information to the JW publishers when talking to them. As far as I know that doesn't matter under GDPR; these people can't know that information will be stored, shared and used. People did not consent to their data being used in such ways. It would be different if JW publishers asked proper consent for storing and using the data, but I have never met a JW who does.

The most intriguing claim of JW is that their GDPR-violating notes are protected....under GDPR?!!?! So basically they say "the government can't interfere with us violating other people's privacy, because that would violate our privacy"...just wow....

40

Double Standards of the Watchtower

by Vanderhoven7 in

are you aware of any double standards promoted by the organization of jehovah's witnesses?

here a a few i am aware of:.

1. the wts equated joining the ymca with apostasy but felt free to join the un for 10 years (1991-2001).

Anders Andersen

Another one, that stings so badly.

From the ministry school book:

Accuracy of Statement
What do you need to do?
Impart information that is in complete harmony with the facts.
Why is it important?
Accuracy in what you say reflects well on you, the organization with which you are serving, and the God you worship.
[....]
Remember to check that the information is up-to-date. Statistics become obsolete; scientific discoveries are quickly surpassed; and as man grows in understanding of history and ancient languages, conclusions based on previous knowledge need to be revised.
[...]
Make sure that your use of quotations and statistics harmonizes with the context from which they are taken. In an effort to express yourself forcefully, be careful that “some people” does not become “the majority of people,” that “many people” does not become “everyone,” and that “in some cases” does not become “always.” Overstating matters or exaggerating reports involving number, extent, or seriousness raises questions of credibility.
When you are consistently accurate in what you say, you will come to be known as a person who respects truth. This reflects well on Jehovah’s Witnesses as a group. More important, it honors “Jehovah the God of truth.”—Ps. 31:5.
[...]
Do research on your subject.
Check the accuracy of statistics, quotes, and experiences, and use them without exaggerating. Avoid guessing at details that you do not clearly remember.

I don't think I need to explain the hypocrisy in this...

4

Creepy "Caleb & Sofia" Dolls On eBay

by pale.emperor in

so i'm on ebay looking for old jw books and i see this crap.... .

i think some cheap person has taken poundland dolls, put kids clothes on them and have the cheek to flog them for $73.60 (plus shipping).. for one, they look nothing like them.

and two, how creepy are these?!!

Anders Andersen

If they are really called Caleb and Sophia with a reference to JW, I'd send an email to legal dept. at HQ.

It's fun to see JW take down JW, and JW legal dept better spend their time and effort on other JW than on apostates and leakers.

And HQ knows they have to go after them, or next time they charge a next Darkspilver they're gonna be challenged for not really protecting their copyrights.

4

Any stats on retention rates in mixed homes?

by Steel in

i have a wife that i would say is a social witness.

i have never once had a meaningful discussion about the bible or even seen her read the damn thing.

she puts up a pretty facade of being a good witness but isn’t really a religious person.

Anders Andersen

@Steel: why is your child even going to the KH in the first place?

Are you going? Why? Is that the example you want to set for your child?

If you're not going, why is your child?

48

2019 service report is out

by slimboyfat in

the 2019 report is out:.

https://download-a.akamaihd.net/files/media_publication/29/syr19_e.pdf.

the “average publisher” figure for individual countries has made a comeback!

Anders Andersen

Average increase is 1.3%

Given that world population growth was around 1.08% to 1.1% JW are barely keeping up.

With 8M people knocking doors and billions of hours wasted annoying people, they managed to grow a whopping ~1670 publishers more than simple (world wide average) population growth would have given them.

Fastest growing religion my ass. Population growth makes Islam and Catholicism each add more members every year than there are JW...

20

'Jehovah's Witnesses' Label Added to Trolley

by cofty in

yesterday i noticed on four trolleys i passed (and had a long useful conversation at one but more on that later) they had added a label identifying themselves as jehovah's witnesses.

it was just a simple printed piece of white card stuck on next the logo.. is this a new requirement?

was it a directive from hq or i wonder if the local council require it..

Anders Andersen

I don't think it would be a decision of a local body of elders as the trolleys came from various congregations.

Depending on where the carts are, they are either governed by a single congregation, or by the central committee for public witnessing that governs the city centre and touristic hotspots.
The JW that watch the cart in my city come from quite a few congregations, including from out of town. Their efforts, permits, locations, etc. are coordinated by a central command for the whole city.
If central command for the city says 'put this ugly label on your carts' then they will have the ugly label.