Posts by Sassenach

I just wanted to add my comments here. The magazines and the talks I have heard acknowledge that women are subservient to men. That the man is the head of the woman and she must be in submission to him. I read one article that said even if a woman is more intelligent than her husband, she must respect him as the head and humbly remain submissive. The jw women I know acknowledge that woman are subservient, but say "but we are happy". They don't pretend that woman are given equal treatment, but excuse it by using scripture to support it.

I heard an experience one time at a convention. A daughter spoke of her abusive father who was in opposition to the "truth". The elders encouraged her mother to remain with him and be submissive. The touching end of the story was that after all those years of abuse, the family was rewadred when the father became a witness. Now if that isn't a recommendation to accept abuse, then I don't know what is.

Sass

114

I cryed today...

by silentlambs in

i recieved this note from a young person i know personally.

it brought tears to my eyes for someone so young to see things so clearly.

why can't six million others see this simple reality and the need for change?.

Sassenach

Hello Wayne,

Thanks for your response. This is from your original post:

And, in all likelihood, if a local accusation of an incidence is "covered up"
within the congregation there was not enough evidence to support the plaintiff. When a
criminal accusation cannot be substantiated by the elders of a congregation the plaintiff
is indeed encouraged not to spread their accusations among the flock. This protects all
of the flock from alienating the one who was not proven to be guilty of scriptural
wrongdoing. However, if the individual plaintiff is convinced that they have a criminal
complaint then they are NOT discouraged from going to the authorities and filing criminal
charges.

To me, it sounded as though you, without any first hand knowledge of the situations, knew exactly what took place and how and why things were handled the way they were. That to me is not balance. That is having a predetermined view and a refusal to actually listen to the particulars of the given situation.

In the accounts that I have read, the individuals were encouraged to remain silent. You maintain that they are not discouraged from going to the authorities--basically calling them liars and dismissing their complaints. "This is the way it is done, end of story". That's not balance.

Thanks again for your reply and I admire you for sticking with the thread and replying to all involved-even though I don't believe you have enough information to make the statement above. I do wonder how much experience you have had with judicial matters--not the receiving end, but from the perspective that Silentlambs has had.

114

I cryed today...

by silentlambs in

i recieved this note from a young person i know personally.

it brought tears to my eyes for someone so young to see things so clearly.

why can't six million others see this simple reality and the need for change?.

Sassenach

Such a welcome. Bring it on so I can cherish the vat [I mean vast]amout of lard, [I mean
love] that I have stumbled into.

I'm not surprised at the welcome you received. You basically brushed away actual cases of child molestation as irrelevent because JWs have a lower incidence than the general population (according to you).

If there were cases of child molestation that were handled improperly by the society's elders, then the society needs to account for that. The incidence does not matter.

BTW, I am also a psychology major (developmental and abnormal psych). I do not believe that you know the incidence of child molestation in the JW society. Even if you had a figure, it would be meaningless, because Silentlambs is also speaking of cases that were not reported. How in the world did you get a statistic from unreported cases of child molestation?

If elders are required to call the head office (or whatever you call the top guys) to ask for advice, then it follows that the head office knows that their elders are dealing with cases of child molestation. It also follows that the society is responsible for ensuring that their elders are equipped to handle such cases.

BTW, welcome to the board

25

1975 - After 26 years isn't it time to move on?

by digderidoo in

jw
friends

i'm relatively new on this site...but one subject i've noticed that seems to create alot of interest is that of 1975.. our family became witnesses it 1983 so i wasn't around at the time.

forgive me if i do not understand why many were so angry with the wts at the time.. i understand the point that the society blamed individual witnesses and didn't take any responsibility themselves.

i can see how witnesses got angry over that.. but, what i do not understand is why many still research into what the society said, or didn't say, or insinuated.

Sassenach

Hi Didg,

Any jehovah's witness that I have asked about the date, denies it. They told me that it was no big deal, no one taught or thought that armageddon was going to happen that year. They said that all the society ever said was that Adam would be 6,000 years old. It's interesting for me to see the research and to witness the group amnesia in action. These people claim that they were around during that time, yet never even noticed anything extraordinary going on. Either they are lying to me, or they have deluded themselves. When you're researching a religion, that sort of thing is significant.

I think it also serves as a valuable lesson-don't put too much trust in these guys. They mislead people and then act as though it was the follower's fault for trusting their lead. How can anyone take them seriously? I hear talks and read articles about listeningt o the ones "taking the lead", that they were put in place by holy spirit. Hopefully people that know the facts of 1975 will think twice before believing that.

32

What would you have done without the WT?

by expatbrit in

jw
friends

imagine that you had never heard of the watchtower.

imagine that your life and that of your families had never been influenced by wt teachings.. i know for a fact that the wt's philosophy on further education contributed to my not achieving what i should have at school.

this is not to shirk the responsibility for my grades; ultimately they were my responsibility.

Sassenach

Xandit, I disagree.

I think a lot of people here have carried on with their lives and are very successful.
I also believe that if the internet did not exist, most of these people would not bother
discussing the religion to the extent that they do so here. This medium allows for those with similar
experiences to gather.

I wonder about your 3% figure. Where did you get that? does that include internet discussions
or does it involve active "opposers" such as the type you would see handing out tracts at an
assembly? How old is that figure?

And, I'm not a guy

41

THE TEST WAS POSITIVE

by LDH in

jw
friends

i am preggers.. just left the doctor's office and my hubby's office.

i dropped the little plastic thing-a-ma-jig off, and he said, "what's this?

are you pregnant?!?!?!?".

Sassenach

This is terrific news, Lisa!

Best wishes

sass

32

What would you have done without the WT?

by expatbrit in

jw
friends

imagine that you had never heard of the watchtower.

imagine that your life and that of your families had never been influenced by wt teachings.. i know for a fact that the wt's philosophy on further education contributed to my not achieving what i should have at school.

this is not to shirk the responsibility for my grades; ultimately they were my responsibility.

Sassenach

He's definitely not my second coming but he's right. Just because you can't face the
truth doesn't mean it isn't the truth. The organization has got its hooks buried in you so deeply that
you'll never let go. Unlike the 97% that leave and never look back.

What a statement to make! Xandit, I've been reading your stuff since December. You openly
criticize the religion you belong to and you have given a weak explanation for why you remain
involved in this organization. You made it clear that you do your own thing and pay little
attention to the recommendations of those in authority.

You maintain a superior attitude over those that have left but stay involved by discussing this religion.
yet you openly criticize the religion and act superior to those that have put trust in it and listened to those
in authority.

For some reason they have a strong hold on you--their hooks must be in pretty deep.

Sass

22

Reams and Reams of Information

by Prisca in

jw
friends

this post is primarily for those folk on this board, who post copious quantities of jw info on this board.. .

i can understand your wanting to help present jws and those looking for info on the organisation, but this is not the place for posting reams and reams of info.

most of us here know already this stuff.

Sassenach

Thank you prisca! I agree completely. I was attracted to this place because people with differing viewpoints were capable of discussing them without getting hostile. It's been pretty nasty as of late.

21

HOW IT OFTEN HAPPENS PT. 3

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

from the sexual abuse guest log:.

http://www.exjws.net/sexabuse/abuseguestlog.htm.

date: .

Sassenach

Waiting

I suppose you condescendingly dismiss the girl who actually posted this story in the
first place for speaking up? The pages of responses on Randy's site - they should not be
there? Too "in-your-face" regarding "unpleasantness?"

The post was from an ABUSE GUESTLOG. Obviously anyone setting it up or reading it is interested in sharing experiences.