today a large article was published in a dutch newspaper 'dagblad van het noorden'.
it is about frank huiting, the reclaimed voices foundation and the adopted motion in parliament.
the branch office has given a reaction:.
… But we have a handful of incidents and reports of abuse each year. Reclaimed Voices can only arrive with 301 cases if those issues have been taken out of context, through double counting or if other types of issues are counted as abuse …
I would hardly describe 301 cases of child sexual abuse as merely a handful !
Even one case of child sexual abuse is one too many. I hope the Dutch government goes down the same route as the ARC. The WTBTS needs to be held to account.
after i awoken from the cult, i went through the normal process of not knowing who i was and what my tastes where.
looking back this was a wonderful time in my life because i experimented and tried different things and now i like or dislike things because i personally like/dislike them - not because i've been told they're good or bad.. black pudding is an example - it's made of blood and is a popular addition here in britain to fried breakfasts.
i tried it for the first time last year and i can confirm that it is indeed revolting.
My musical tastes have never really altered - I was always into rock music and some heavy metal.
My era for music was from the mid 70's, through the 80's and early 90's.
These are some of the groups I was into;
Thin Lizzy, Dire Straits, Queen, Bad Co, Journey, TOTO, Foreigner, Blue Oyster Cult, Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin, STYX, Def Leppard etc
many years ago, in the congregation i attended at the time, there was a brother who had endured bad health over many years.
as result he underwent a number of operations - a couple being life saving operations.
at one or two circuit assemblies he was interviewed on the platform where he related how he endured ill health.. for me, i felt very uncomfortable listening to his experience and, i actually felt embarrassed for him because i have never been one to speak of any health issues i had, let alone publicise it from the platform.
Thanks for your comments folks - really appreciate it.
@ Steve - no, I have not watched the recent convention videos. The last convention and circuit assemblies I attended was back in 2004 / 2005.
This particular experience took place around the mid 1990's. Back then, in the circuit which our congregation was in, it was rare for these type of interviews to take place at the assemblies.
the fear or threat of being disfellowshipped is what is keeping thousands of jdubs stuck in the borg.
the borg knows that and constantly reminds the witlesses of this loving provision from their desert god.. this forces thousands of people to live miserable lives.
millions of jdubs live for the promised panda and lion petting zoo while pissing away the only life they will ever have.
So true, If they dropped the DFing and shunning they would lose half their people tomorrow.
Yep, could not agree more
i'd like to take this opportunity to warmly welcome our newest jw apologist jtrottigy.
.
he'll likely only be here for a few days like most jw defenders before he runs away when presented with his own doctrine.. so far he's already said some hilarious stuff, like "there's no such thing as nepotism in jehovah's organisation", "confidentiality is paramount to elders" and, my personal favourite "the overlapping generation is so simple to understand".. yh don't think i don't remember you from jwtalk..
What I cannot understand is that for years the WTBTS has been banging on about how close we are to armageddon and the ushering in of a paradise earth and therefore how important the message needs to be preached. Looking at the second photograph, above, of the people manning the carts, there doesn't appear to be any real sense of urgency to preach the message.
hey guys, so now that i’m pretty much atheist and i’m not scared of demons or supernatural things, or bring them into my house by watching movies or reading books about them lol, i defenitly want to watch a few scary movies.
i’ve always loved scary movies, but as witness, you don’t get to watch many since they need to be pg-13 and have no spiritism in it lol.
does anyone have any suggestions?
Sorry that I can't offer any suggestions as I can't watch these kind of films. I find them disturbing and they give me the creeps.
i guess it would depend for me.
some of my family i would take out bill boards pointing to them.
many of the elders it would be he is over there and set off a neon sign.
No … I saw enough snitching within the Org to last a lifetime.
many years ago, in the congregation i attended at the time, there was a brother who had endured bad health over many years.
as result he underwent a number of operations - a couple being life saving operations.
at one or two circuit assemblies he was interviewed on the platform where he related how he endured ill health.. for me, i felt very uncomfortable listening to his experience and, i actually felt embarrassed for him because i have never been one to speak of any health issues i had, let alone publicise it from the platform.
Many years ago, in the congregation I attended at the time, there was a brother who had endured bad health over many years. As result he underwent a number of operations - a couple being life saving operations.
At one or two circuit assemblies he was interviewed on the platform where he related how he endured ill health.
For me, I felt very uncomfortable listening to his experience and, I actually felt embarrassed for him because I have never been one to speak of any health issues I had, let alone publicise it from the platform. Don't get me wrong, I did have a lot of empathy for him because of what he went through.
How did you feel when you listened to experiences which, for some reason or another, made you uncomfortable?
i think my last post i said i went to a new congregation,i'm going to just talk about some of the shit i have seen in my congregation.. there was a kid trying to talk to a adult next to him i think it was his dad,the kid just started taping him because he wanted to tell him something and the dad gets mad then boom the kid gets elbowed.i look around to see if anyone saw him do that to his kid and nope or they didn't want to say anything about it and just like wtf.. in my old congregation,the younger kids would do random stuff in the middle of the meeting to not get board.
when the mom or dad got mad i would see then get dragged to the back of the kingdom hall and hear them start crying.when i was still mentally in i just didnt think about it at all when it would happen but when i woke up im just like thats fucked up..
@ sir82
I'm in my mid 50's and can testify to having experienced corporal punishment, both from my father and teachers at school.
my mother was not the most emotionally stable person.
she was a follower and instilled in me the idea we were better than those worldly people.
its hard to go to school as a child and you can not be friends outside of school, you can not celebrate any holidays, and you are told all these people are going to die.
With the benefit of hindsight and life experience, I, like eyeuse2badub posted, do not blame my parents. They were converts - started studying around 1972.
My parents, as many, many others have been, were duped by the Org's false teachings and promises.
