Scully

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Posts by Scully

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  41

  Happy 20th Birthday to JWD / JWN

  by Simon in

  1. forum
  2. announcements

  as sgt pepper sang, "it was 20 years ago today" ... that i made my first post on my first forum.. i obviously didn't put too much thought into what it should say although i must have burned 45 posts testing things and was too lazy to reset the counter before going live (?):.

  https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/46/welcome.

  but somehow, it worked and grew and here we all are, 20 years on.

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  Scully

  Congratulations Simon and JWD!

  It’s been a terrific 20 years, I wonder how many JWs became ex-JWs and ex-ex-JWs as a result of all your hard work?

  cheers

  Scully
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  656

  Covid-19 (Coronavirus) - Status Update Thread

  by Simon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this topic is to focus on status updates & advice (no opinion or politics please).. status.

  latest status is that it's serious, probably isn't going to be contained and most large companies are making contingency plans, cancelling large events etc... which i don't think would happen if it was just people being alarmist.

  the incubation period means it may have already spread further and infected many more people than are currently known, so expect jumps in the numbers over the coming days and weeks.. tracking.

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  Scully

  I was at one of the Ottawa Costco's on Monday, and as I brought in the shopping cart one of the employees offered to wipe down the cart handle with a Lysol wipe. I let that happen and then thought to myself, "okay, now where's the Purell so I can sanitize my hands that have just been touching the handle before you wiped it down?" It's these kinds of gaps that give people a false sense of security with the efforts to help, when in fact it seemed to me to be more of a mentality from Costco of "hey, look at us, we're doing something to keep our customers safe, so shop here even more!" They were out of toilet paper the following day.

  I also took an inventory of my supply of N-95 masks, which I use every day in my work. I'm probably okay for a month or so. I also ordered more from my supplier, knowing there is a backorder, hoping that I'll be in the queue when they become available once again, and won't have to reschedule clients due to lack of masks.
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  16

  Hellooooo! 6 years since i posted

  by Aussie Oz in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so... it has been six years since my last post.

  i wonder who still remembers me?

  a lot has changed and then again, a lot has not.... i'm still out of course as are my children who are doing very well.

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  Scully

  Hi AussieOz,

  I pop in now and again too. Good to see you.
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  7

  the martyr syndrome

  by eyeuse2badub in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  what is the gravest sin a jw can commit?

  i’m not even going to consider the so called “unforgiveable sin” since no one knows what it is anyway!

  is it lying, cheating, stealing, pride, envy, being gay?

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  Scully

  Saying that you think their beliefs are bullshit. That's the one that will get you tarred and feathered and tattoo'd with a scarlet A on your head.
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  32

  READ: Watchtower's SCOTUS petition

  by Corney in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  on june 25, 2019 watchtower ny filed petition for a writ of certiorari in the u.s. supreme court.

  the society asks to reconsider a $4 million judgment against it in a california child abuse case.

  docket: https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/19-40.html .

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  Scully

  This issue of a tribunal system to hear grievances within the JWs was the crux of a legal case in Canada years ago. The court decided that due to the tribunal format wherein more than one individual heard the confession of a congregant, the ecclesiastical privilege rules did not apply to the JWs.

  Here is a more recent ruling against Watchtower: https://www.reminger.com/insights-reports-615.html

  McFarland v. West Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Lorain, OH, Inc., 9th Dist. Lorain No. 15CA010740, 2016-Ohio-5462

  "During the course of the litigation, McFarland sought the production of certain documents between the Congregation and the Congregation’s governing bodies regarding McFarland, her allegations of molestation and the alleged abuser. The defendants withheld approximately nineteen documents from their production, claiming that these documents were protected by the clergy-penitent privilege. (Id., ¶ 10.)

  "In examining whether the clergy-penitent privilege applied in this instance to each of the disputed documents, the appellate court began by noting that not every word authored or spoken by a cleric is automatically privileged and there is no protection for communications made for secular purposes – even when those communications were intended to be confidential. Ward, 128 Ohio St. 3d 212, 2010-Ohio-6275, at ¶ 15; Niemann v. Cooley, 93 Ohio App.3d 81, 88-89 (1st Dist.1994). Further limiting the clergy-penitent privilege is the fact that the privilege stems from a penitent’s desire to receive spiritual counsel, not a cleric’s desire to give it. See Trammel v. United States, 445 U.S. 40, 51 (1980).

  "In its examination of each of the nineteen disputed documents, the appellate court only withheld production of those documents where the defendants clearly satisfied their legal burden of demonstrating that the document served a religious counseling purpose rather than a secular one. For example, correspondence between governing elders and various congregations were not deemed confidential because they did not involve an instance of a particular penitent confiding to a cleric. (Id., ¶ 16.) Another letter, in which the author was drawing attention to the Congregation’s handling of a particular matter, was also not privileged because it did not pose any questions to the elders or request advice of a spiritual nature. (Id., ¶ 20.) Further, the court also refused to protect those documents involving persons unrelated to the McFarland dispute, finding no third-party privacy rights applied. (Id., ¶ 53.)

  "Finally, the court rejected defendants’ claim that the production of the disputed documents violated their First Amendment rights by exposing their “internal discipline procedures and beliefs regarding repentance, mercy and redemption to external, secular scrutiny.” (Id., ¶ 56.) The First Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause prohibit states from enacting “laws that have the purpose or effect of advancing or inhibiting religion,” or expressing a preference for any one religious denomination. Varner, 500 F.3d at 495. The Clauses apply to limit the power of courts to hear suits whenever the questions of discipline, or of faith, or ecclesiastical rule, custom, or law have been decided by church judicatories.” Watson v. Jones, 80 U.S. 679, 727, 20 L. Ed. 666 (1871).

  "In rejecting the Congregation’s First Amendment claims in McFarland, the appellate court noted that the First Amendment does not protect religious institutions from disclosing relevant, non-privileged information. Thus, because the documents were not privileged, there was no need for the court to interpret or evaluate the defendants’ religious beliefs or internal governance. In short, because the question of relevance was purely secular and “did not require the court to delve into religious law and policy” there was no merit to the Congregation’s First Amendment claims. (Id., ¶ 59, relying, in part, upon Howard v. Covenant Apostolic Church, Inc., 124 Ohio App.3d 24, 28-29 (1st Dist.1997)).
  
  "In total, the appellate court found that only four of the disputed documents were protected from production by the clergy-penitent privilege. The significance of this holding is that despite the generally-held belief that matters of church governance and policy are protected from production, there are strict limits applied to the clergy-penitent privilege and determining whether the privilege applies requires a careful, case-by-case analysis."
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  26

  Blondie's Comments (July 14 2019) Child Sexual Abuse Congregation Policies

  by blondie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  love justice wickedness ((7-14-2019) may 2019 article comments from blondie.

  (ask yourself if you were able to read this article).

  does wt justice outweigh christian love?

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  Scully

  I had it on good authority that there were over 400 documented (in files at Canadian Bethel™) individuals who were known to be sexual abusers of children. The vast majority were never brought to justice, and were only dealt with at the Congregation™ level. At the time there were approximately 10 major District Conventions™ across the country. This equated to an average of 40 known-to-Congregation-Elders™-only child molesters at EACH Convention™. People wandering around, scoping out unattended or minimally attended children. Maybe volunteering in situations where under-aged potential victims would be volunteering, without parental supervision.

  How any JW could be aware of this possibility and still attend a Convention™ with their children is beyond me. I couldn't do it. In fact, even before I understood the scope of this problem, just knowing about how offenders could be exempt from Judicial Action™ without two eyewitnesses to the abuse to corroborate a report, I would not put my children in harm's way like that. Even if I could have watched them like a hawk, I would not want to support an Organization™ whose need to be beyond Reproach™ in the eyes of The World™ was more important to them than the safety of the precious children in attendance at Meetings™ and Conventions™.

  They make me sick.
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  15

  Obituaries

  by truthlover123 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a letter was read this week from the platform stating that publishers should not scour the obituaries and respond to the websites for condolences messaging.

  apparently, it is not being taken too well by family and friends and the pubs are asked to refrain from sending a message if they are not friends or family of the deceased.. i recall one sister used to visit grave yard sites and if she saw individuals there, went over and "consoled" them by offering the tract on death and your loved ones.

  i cannot even think of how i would have received her, being in my space and thinking she could do that.. apparently they have graduated by reading the obits..

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  Scully

  This has been SOP for decades.

  Even as a kid, I was appalled that some JWs had the audacity to intrude on the grief of others, just for an opportunity to exploit their vulnerable emotions at a very inopportune time for the grief-stricken.
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  40

  The Watchtower Tract Society doesn't print Bibles?

  by Nathan Natas in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  after reading a few comments here, i thought it was time for me to get a copy of "the silver sword" for my own occasional research and occult practices.

  so i thought i would see if jw.org would offer a way that i could purchase a printed copy (not digital) of the new world translation.

  as i browsed, it occurred to me that i might also like to have a copy of the... what was it?

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  Scully

  Nathan,

  Have you checked any 2nd hand book stores in your area? Almost every time I visit one locally, I find some form of WT printed material in the "spirituality" section.
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  29

  Funeral Fashion

  by ThinkerBelle in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have a funeral to attend for a non jw family member and the jdub family member reminded me that i should not wear black.

  for the life of me, i can't recall where this belief came from in jw teachings and i'm born in.

  is there something in print or is that just a personal opinion belief?

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  Scully

  But black is so slimming, especially when paired with black hosiery and underwear!
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  9

  When did jws start viewing the "worldly" as bad associates?

  by nowawake14 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  any of you that had been in the organization for decades are welcome to answer.

  really, who started this craziness?.

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  Scully

  My parents became JWs in the early 70s. It was drilled into me to avoid getting close to Worldly People™, and to only have Friends™ In The Truth™. Because of our lack of JW pedigree (2nd or 3rd generation), we weren't readily accepted by those who were Born In™ or had a decades-long history with the cult. It seemed like we were always inviting people over for dinner or driving people around for Service™ or a to do shit jobs around the KH that nobody else wanted, and it was very rarely reciprocated. It was like we had to go through some kind of probationary period - for how long was anyone's guess.

  It was a very isolating, and it's no wonder I suffered from depression and anxiety from all these emotional rollercoaster rides.