Anders Andersen

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Posts by Anders Andersen

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  19

  Are people free to leaving the Witnesses, and shunning.

  by ThomasCovenant in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  is it true, as bro jackson testified to the australian royal commission, that people can leave the religion freely?.

  in my own case, yes.

  i just stopped going and was never announced as ''no longer one of jw's''.

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  Anders Andersen

  Is it true, as Bro Jackson testified to the Australian Royal Commission, that people can leave the religion freely?

  No, absolutely not!

  Jackson led his audience to believe that JW members are 'free to leave', but what he actually said was 'you're free to become inactive, and you'll still have to obey our rules for some years or we'll take away your friends and family.

  
  

  'Free to leave' includes:

  • Free from fear of repercussions
  • Free to officialy resign from the religion without punishment
  • Free to do as you will after leaving, without having someone tell your family they can't have any contact with you.

  With fading, none of these conditions are met.

  Are you really free to leave if you can't openly celebrate you birthday or Christmas a year after leaving?

  Of course it depends; someone who has no JW family and friends anyway after leaving is more likely to be left alone. But those who maintain a close relationship with their JW family or friends after leaving will be held to JW rules.

  
  

  JW is like Hotel California...you can check out any time you want, but you can never leave (unharmed).

  
  

  
  
  
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  205

  Mathematically Measuring Evolution.

  by towerwatchman in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  mathematically measuring evolution.. when judging relationships in terms of morphological characteristics we will always be bound by the subjective.

  morphologically one cannot exactly measure the distance between two organisms strictly in mathematical terms.

  using the standard method of taxonomy we cannot quantify the difference between a horse and a mouse, or know which is closer mouse to cat, or mouse to fish.

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  Anders Andersen

  Following the evidence, this disproves common ancestry

  I'm sure you can point us to at least one peer-reviewed article, written by an expert in a relevant field, and published in a reputable scientific journal, that supports this claim?

  
  

  Or is it just wishful thinking by people who don't really know what they're talking about?

  
  

  
  
  
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  22

  Those married to "still in" JWs

  by NikL in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  kind of got into it with my jw wife last night for the first time in a long time.. i try to not engage in conversations about doctrinal matters unless she asks me which she did.. anyway, i wont go into details but of course i am "not going to change her mind" and "why is it that you can't see when very smart people can?

  " yada yada yada.

  you probably can imagine.. it makes me so depressed.

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  Anders Andersen

  A male UBM needs to understand his wife's need for emotional security. That means 15 - 20 hours a week of quality time together. (Depending upon what you read)

  One of the most odious thing about the JW faith (IMHO) is that it sabotages marriages by robbing couples of that time. It's like withholding water from a plant.

  A JW woman's desire to have her husband with her at the meetings is far more about watering the plant than it is about religion.

  I heartily agree that couples need to spend quality time together. The spouses do need the reassurance that us 'leaving Jehovah' doesn't mean we're going to leave them too (this seems especially true when it's the man finding TTATT).

  But sitting next to your wife, grinding your teeth, watching her being fed lies by a cult isn't quality time in my book.

  An alternative to dragging yourself to meetings is making yourself very available outside meeting times. Plan the things you do alone at meeting times, do things together at the other evenings.

  My wife and I do a language course together, we dance together, and on Saturdays we go for longs walks. When she is at a meeting, I go for a run, watch a TV series she doesn't like, or do computer stuff. This way our quality time together is maximized and I don't have to sit through cult meetings.

  And even with all that there's always the wedge between us that Watchtower crafted artfully...
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  22

  Those married to "still in" JWs

  by NikL in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  kind of got into it with my jw wife last night for the first time in a long time.. i try to not engage in conversations about doctrinal matters unless she asks me which she did.. anyway, i wont go into details but of course i am "not going to change her mind" and "why is it that you can't see when very smart people can?

  " yada yada yada.

  you probably can imagine.. it makes me so depressed.

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  Anders Andersen

  Another one here....wife still in and we're in a sort of a truce too...we don't ever talk religion, but soon we'll have to discuss how to raise our child when issues like birthdays etc. come up.

  Anyway right after I dropped my TTATT bomb (yes, I blurted it out all at once) I haven't been to a single meeting. I envisioned going with my wife for a couple of weeks just to get her used to the idea of me not being a JW anymore. But she insisted I didn't come, as she thinks that would be hypocritical.

  I went for years not going to meetings but she had a nervous breakdown a few years ago and basically begged me to go with her.

  The KH: the happiest place on earth with the best people in the world around her, and the most powerful force in the universe to support her.....and she can't go alone???

  Maybe it's time for her to follow her religion by herself? Or would she come with you to an apostate meet up to support you?

  I'm not saying people shouldn't support their spouse, but this is something she could do alone (or quit). There no need to enable people to continue self destructive behavior like being addicted to alcohol, drugs, or being in a cult.

  A disadvantage is that you also have no idea how the local dubs are trying to influence her if you're not around.
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  19

  Should Blood Transfusions be forced?

  by Fisherman in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  1.there are times when a doctor decides that the only life saving medical treatment -short of a miracle- is a blood transfusion.

  in such a case, what should be done when a person refuses treatment on religious grounds and why?.

  2. should a person be allowed to "mutilate" his body and why?.

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  Anders Andersen

  People should be allowed to make their own informed decisions.

  Unfortunately some people (JW) have been force fed with misinformation.

  JW also seem to (be coached to) decide long before any medical professional has properly informed them on the specifics of their situation.

  
  

  
  

  
  
  
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  315

  Atheism = self defeating.

  by towerwatchman in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  atheism = self defeating.

  first may we define our terms.

  the word atheism comes literally from the greek, alpha the negative and theos [for god], therefore “negative god” or there is no god.

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  Anders Andersen

  So much words and I still don't believe in any gods.

  
  

  • You got your definition of atheism wrong and are thus creating a straw man argument. Only by coming up with your own (false) definition of atheism, you can make your argument. However, almost all of the people who call themselves atheist do not claim to know there are no gods, they simply do not believe in any gods. Your argument applies to almost nobody. Redefining the label I apply to myself doesn't suddenly change my (lack of) beliefs into a claim of knowledge.
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  • There is no such thing as a-NewYork-ism or a-moon-ism. Why not? Because there is a lot of evidence to suggest New York and the moon actually exist. If there were evidence for any god's existence, you wouldn't be here making empty arguments.
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  Some interesting reading for you: https://www.quora.com/topic/Atheism

  If you would browse the topic, you'll notice your argument has been proposed and refuted many times. But that's okay, yours is a rookie mistake (I hope....)

  Nice try.... ;-)
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  17

  Emotionally very ill but can't face consequences of leaving

  by Isambard Crater in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm a new member so wanted to say 'hi'.

  i live in the u.k, was born in, fell away as an unbaptised publisher, got baptised in my 30s for reasons i'm retrospectively unsure of, and lost my faith about five years ago around the time of the original a.r.c.

  now, being unable to leave is making me physically, emotionally and mentally ill.. i'm not strong enough to da and live with the family consequences, and despite having several good friends outside the faith, none of them could support me in an active way as such.

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  Anders Andersen

  Wtf I didn't even do 2 hours a week when I was an exemplary and 'active' brother.
  Granted, I didn't make MS because of low hours....but for goodness sake!

  Simply stop going out in FS and hand over a 4 hours faked time slip every month?
  Try to take charge of your own life little by little?

  Hang in there!
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  52

  Australian Congregations announce Child Safeguarding Policy is available upon request

  by wifibandit in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  this week all congregations in australia have been instructed to make the following announcement:.

  if a member of the congregation would like a copy of the child safeguarding policy of jehovah’s witnesses in australia, please see the coordinator of the body of elders or the secretary.. .

  childsafeguardingpolicy-eau.pdf.

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  Anders Andersen

  Stuckinarut,

  Great plan!
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  52

  Australian Congregations announce Child Safeguarding Policy is available upon request

  by wifibandit in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  this week all congregations in australia have been instructed to make the following announcement:.

  if a member of the congregation would like a copy of the child safeguarding policy of jehovah’s witnesses in australia, please see the coordinator of the body of elders or the secretary.. .

  childsafeguardingpolicy-eau.pdf.

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  Anders Andersen

  This would be funny if it weren't so sad.

  JW pride themselves in having a website in 20 gazillion languages.

  The JW library is available to all and contains all (recent) literature.

  Their ridiculous songbook is updated every 5 seconds.

  Their FAQ lists all kinds of questions so people can easily find (misleading) information to questions the JW deem important.

  But somehow all that infrastructure and their capabilities are completely unused when distributing information about how to keep children safe.

  Every sports club, every youth organization, every decent church and their mother has a child protection policy published on their website.

  But not Watchtower. Two reasons: they're not decent, and they refuse to really acknowledge they are just like any other club or church, with the same problems. Publishing a child protection policy for all to see would mean acknowledging the human - not divine - nature of their cult.

  A one-off announcement and a hidden policy. Way to go. Boo Watchtower.
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  10

  What Irony! Another Hall Closure!

  by freddo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  note these excerpts from awake!

  articles: (bold italics mine).

  *** g93 9/8 pp.

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  Anders Andersen

  There were a few groups interested in it. We had favour with the Jehovah's Witnesses. They wanted to give it to a faith-based organisation.

  WTF?!?!?! Either the buyer is making stuff up, or Watchtower again spinned their story...