Posts by Anders Andersen

34

Impact of GDPR on WT HQ and EU branches?

by respectful_observer in

curious if any of our eu-based members (especially those still in) have heard anything from official wt channels on how the organisation plans to be in compliance with gdpr ("general data protection regulations") by may 2018?

it's my understanding that religious organisations must comply, and that religious data is treated a "protected" and therefore subject to some enhance requirements.. specifically, how will they comply with the following requirements:.

you must disclose to the individual: what data you collect on them, why, and what you do with the data (including what other parties receive the data and what they do with it).

Anders Andersen

@corney,

Thanks, that must have been a lot of work!

Do German religions really have the power to create a 'religious law' that adds to or even substitutes secular law as your translation of 'Gesetz' with 'law' implies? Or is this just a 'policy'?

43

My Personal Atheist Manifesto?

by dubstepped in

so, i have a guy that is emailing me after listening to my podcast series "this jw life" about my life story before, during, and after being a jw.

this guy happens to be an elder and pioneer serving where the need is greater.

i love this guy.

Anders Andersen

Didn't read all of this but this guy is basically a 'catholic' jw in that he claims to believe (but not based on reason and logic), but does as he pleases anyway.

I've noticed this disconnect between believing in JW and obeying watchtower is quite common in Brazil/South America

10

HOURGLASS!--What Do We Know About It?

by Atlantis in

your assistance and opinions will be very much appreciated.

a friend sent me the information listed below wanting to bring some attention to the website hourglass.. i myself know very little about the site other than the information i received today.

perhaps there are others here that could shed some light.. is this a dangerous site?

Anders Andersen

Atlantis,

Afaik there's nothing wrong here from the legal point of view.

Under GDPR, hourglass is responsible for keeping the data stored with them safe without sharing it with other parties, but it's the congregations that collect the data and have it stored at their behalf. So the congregations are responsible for maintaining, deleting, etc.

As long as the congregations properly inform their victims where their data is stored, how, and why, gdpr is followed.

Compare this with web server providers: the providers are responsible for keeping any data stored with them safe, but they are not expected (or even allowed) to honor data removal requests for any of the websites their customers are running on their servers.

Or email: you can't ask microsoft to remove any data from my email box that I may have collected on you. You have to ask me.

From a JW POV this site is highly questionable of course.

63

Did You Care About The Royal Wedding?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i don’t get it.

who really cares?

in the usa, it’s such a huge newsworthy event.

Anders Andersen

I watched it. Not because I care but because I enjoy the shared vibe of happiness and excitement. Also eye candy :-D

Bonus points for having my pimi wife watch the whole 'false religious' service which she seemed to enjoy...

46

Paranormal stuff: is it a cultural thing? Rant ahead

by Whynot in

paranormal stuff is common where my family is from it's almost expected.

native american background, my great grandmother was a witch doctor a damn good one too, my non witness relatives dabble in it.

so i have seen stuff and experienced stuff.

Anders Andersen

It always strikes me as particularly odd that the behavior, visualisation and person of ghosts and demons seems to be region-bound, as is the frequency of their appearance.

In some regions everyone has encountered them, in other regions almost nobody encountered them.

Could it be that perceiving them is heavily influenced by the culture of those who perceive them (or not)?

11

Pew Research:"88% of JWs read scripture outside of religious services at least once a week" ...Highest of all religions

by Wild_Thing in

jw
friends

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/05/07/blacks-more-likely-than-others-in-u-s-to-read-the-bible-regularly-see-it-as-gods-word/.

graph in article:.

i doubt this statistic.

Anders Andersen

The beauty of Pew's research is that they make their methods known too.

The wording of the question used was: Please tell me, how often do you read scripture outside of religious services?

I think that to many a JW this would include the daily text, any scripture the regurgitate in FS, any scripture they read while preparing for the meetings. Don't forget JW are expected to do all of that....and 12% apparently doesn't even get that far.

Also keep in mind that JW are made to feel more compulsion and guilt when it comes to religious behavior. It's one thing to privately not read the Bible every week despite the GB saying you must.....but actually admitting that to yourself by saying it out loud, and giving a bad witness to this worldly surveyor... that's even harder....

33

New brochure about donations.

by Ray Frankz in

in this midweek meeting the local needs was a booooring speech about the new brochure on donations.

the wt must think the jws are dying to know how to give their money.. well, it's not new this is disgusting but this time, after i ve been slightly hinting people here and there for a year about the 'abnormal request of money' and remind them that 'the faithful slave wasn't like that until some time ago', this time i saw their faces.

they did get bothered with that talk.

Anders Andersen

Would any one please advise how to deal with this. (How to make my wife stop or lessen the money she gives to WT)

Tell her not to give your money to Watchtower, or reduce her money.

Put your foot down. In JW land the husband is the head of the household, and whatever he decides is law.

You can simply say that you don't want your hard earned money to go to a religion you don't like. If she wants to give them money she can go out and earn her own money.

33

New brochure about donations.

by Ray Frankz in

in this midweek meeting the local needs was a booooring speech about the new brochure on donations.

the wt must think the jws are dying to know how to give their money.. well, it's not new this is disgusting but this time, after i ve been slightly hinting people here and there for a year about the 'abnormal request of money' and remind them that 'the faithful slave wasn't like that until some time ago', this time i saw their faces.

they did get bothered with that talk.

Anders Andersen

Lol, the first link nonjwspouse posted....

It's about charity, Chinese speaking JW helping out a Chinese man who had troubles crossing a border. She used 20usd to help the guy pay a fine...but that wasn't a gift, but a loan.

The man went out of his way to repay his debt.

That's the best example of JW charity? Someone to stingy too give 20 dollars to a person in need?

28

advice please/data protection

by Phoebe in

jw
friends

i have just received an email from an elder's wife regarding the new data protection laws.

between the lines it sounds like she has been asked to contact me.. she says they 'don't want to leave me out' so they want me to fill out the form as 'i'm still part of the congregation'.

also, my blood card needs updating, apparently.. the elder in charge will be in contact.. obviously, i'm not doing either, but what do i do?

Anders Andersen

The face that an unauthorized elderette knows you haven't filled out these forms and that your dpa is overdue shows how much JW cares about your personal data.

They will share it with everyone and anyone whenever they want.

31

Atheists - How Did You Become An Atheist After Waking Up?

by pale.emperor in

i consider myself an atheist.

and right now i'm reading a lot on atheism in general (books written to answer creationists).. i'd be interested in knowing how you became an atheist after leaving the jws and how long did it take?

was it instant or did your belief in a deity gradually decline?.

Anders Andersen

I started to research all available evidence that could support my jw beliefs, starting with evidence for God's existence, for example by looking at evidence for creation.

None found.

Then off to find evidence that shows the Bible must be a divine book.

None found, quite the opposite. So I put God to the test in many prayers, not unlike some tests described in the Bible, but without forcing God to pull a miracle. Either God failed the test, or I did.

By then I lost my belief in God and the Bible, but for good measure I started to research evidence that JW are Gods people.

Well...that turned out to be eye opening....

The whole process took 6 weeks. Well maybe I have been an atheist JW my whole life without realizing it, who knows?

Right now I'm reading C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity to get a nonJW perspective on the whole idea. I find myself quite allergic to religious 'reasoning' where broad stroke assumptions and non-sequitur seem to be king.