Posts by Simon

24

“The Right to Shun: Ghent’s Misguided Jehovah’s Witness Decision“ Matthew P. Cavedon

by AndersonsInfo in

https://canopyforum.org/2021/04/19/the-right-to-shun-ghents-misguided-jehovahs-witness-decision/.

in march, the criminal court of ghent, belgium fined the congregation of jehovah’s witnesses (jw) for “inciting discrimination and hatred or violence against former members.” the case centered on the jw practice of “disfellowshipping.” while the court’s sensitivity to the individual impact of shunning is laudable, its decision regrettably assaults the freedoms of religion and association.. first, some background on jw beliefs and disfellowshipping.

jw was founded in the united states over a century ago and is headquartered in new york state.

Simon

Everyone has the right to shun whoever they want. This is a fundamental freedom and it would be impossible and unwanted to have the government try to change that.

Think it through, how would it work? How could it be misused?

Be careful what you wish for - one day you find yourself unable to refuse a visit from your JW relatives because hey, YOU can't shun THEM.

Previous writings on this issue:

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/505320005/right-shun-wrong

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5544787176325120/doing-right-thing-making-choice-shunning

34

Lawsuit: I said GB member Barr that my Bethelite stepfather abused me; he did nothing

by Corney in

here's an excerpt from the recent lawsuit deborah hines v. watchtower bible and tract society of new york et al (paragraphs 158-180), one of 29 known cases brought against the org pursuant to the ny child victims act.

what should be kept in mind is that gerrit lösch apparently worked in europe (the austrian branch and eastern europe) at the time when the abuse was allegedly reported to him (not a gb member then).. plaintiff was raised a member of the jehovah’s witnesses.

she primarily attended meetings at various congregations in arizona.

Simon

Some of this sounds far fetched, like really badly-written fiction.

I can't imagine anyone saying they'll "get the entire governing body involved", or then saying they should think of themselves as "privileged". c'mon, that's just nuts.

I get the impression some people believe it's true possibly because they want it to be true.

The mistake being made is imagining that someone being in the US or not verifies the claim. It doesn't. If they were not in the US then it would discredit them but their being there doesn't prove anything beyond the fact that they were there.

23

Unfaithful spouse

by Worstfear in

my wife and i have been together for 12 years.

married for 6. she was born into the truth, i studied for 2 years before we got married.

we would attend meetings on a weekly basis, go to conventions, and memorial every year.

Simon

What a bitch.

Sounds like she actually is afraid of you contacting the elders which is why she tried to scare you off doing so ... which is exactly why you should. It's not harassment, its rules of the religion she signed up to.

Defend your assets. Check the business dealings you had with this guy to see if they were conspiring to divert funds.

17

Letter from Mother: "...go right ahead on death's road and take your kids with you."

by silentbuddha in

so my jw father is sick.

my mother uses the opportunity to try and preach to my 16 year old daughter.

i simply told my mother to: "please refrain from trying to lure *my daughter* in with jehovah's witness questioning.

Simon

This is why, when people call for government to enforce association after they are disfellowshipped or disassociate, they miss a vital point: it would work both ways.

Sometimes you want to protect your children from the dangerous influence of nutty believers, to spare them the pain of the WTS experience and to stop it being passed on to their kids.

I think some people know, but they take the easy option rather than confronting it - effectively passing on the hard choice to be made to their children and grand-children.

56

If God exists, what would be a good reason why he never communicates or helps his creation by intervention?

by pistolpete in

you have probably heard all kinds of excuses why god doesn’t communicates with his creation or why he doesn’t intervene.. some examples.. no one can see god because he is a spirit.. but we can hear god---yet he chooses not to talk to humanity.. god only communicates with certain people.

moses, samuel, abraham, etc.

but there are many people today who also claim that god spoke to them yet we ignore them but believe god spoke to people who lived thousands of years ago and we can’t really verify if that was so.

Simon

Just because people have experience that they ascribe as being "religious" doesn't mean it's god communicating with them.

It seems to me that the people who seek and contrive to have these experiences have them, and people who don't, don't.

It's a one-sided interpretation of "evidence" which is entirely in someone's head.

I think the reality is that people have emotional experiences (and they can be manufactured) but just because some interpret those through a religious lens doesn't make for any compelling evidence that there is proof of god.

Why doesn't god convince a sceptic for once? Why does he only manifest himself to "true believers"? The clue is in the "believers" part.

18

Six Screens announcing passing of “MINIMUS”

by RESPECTFUL OBSERVER in

jw
friends

https://youtu.be/ty_2l8zynvq.

Simon

Yeah, I think the focus should be on Minimus and his family right now.

Nice to hear he's going to give a dedicated segment about him.

18

Six Screens announcing passing of “MINIMUS”

by RESPECTFUL OBSERVER in

jw
friends

https://youtu.be/ty_2l8zynvq.

Simon

Six Screen? Sensationalizing? Surely not? LOL

Shirley sounds like a nut, and admits to being a repeat troll? Yeah, I'll delete your ass anytime I find you, ya dumb-ass. Sounds like you're still obsessed with me and my site Shirley. Living rent-free in your head :)

If you break the posting rules, you get the boot. I don't care how long you have posted. The rules apply to all.

But what an utterly classless cow to take an opportunity of someone's death to try to score points because you're bitter because you couldn't follow some simple rules.

19

Does christianity induce insanity?

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

this is happening in western australian indigenous communities .... quote: "some american-based preachers are distributing emails and videos warning that covid-19 vaccines are evil and the work of satan, and the notion has infected some christian communities in the west australian outback.. veteran aboriginal health worker kathy watson said people spreading false information about the covid-19 vaccination and its links to the devil were "mad".".

see more at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-06/anti-vacc-church-speaks-out-against-misinformation/100430208.

Simon

I think religion is a lighting rod for nuts.

9

The Impact of Less "Appointed Men" & This Site Thank You

by JWTom in

with the passing minimus, we all may think about what this site has meant to us personally.

i lurked here for quite a few years before becoming active as a poster....still i consider what i have done to be very slight compared with others.

may minimus rest in peace and a big thank you to all that have helped me here over the years.. a new member that is a pimo elder (reservations) posted here about how he could wake people up while remaining a pimo elder.

Simon

I agree. If you don't want to be part of it anymore, leave. Immediately.

It has a far bigger impact ultimately than trying to stay IMO. Ultimately, you could have 99% of people not believing and going through the motions which would effectively be keeping the other 1% trapped.

Just walk out and don't go back. Taking part in it is helping to perpetuate the system and keep it running, however much you may intend to try to stop it, you're still part of it.

99

onacruise - Craig Mills 1952-2011

by Lady Lee in

jw
friends

i was given the link to a bit of information regarding on old poster/moderator of this forum.

i was not sure of the validity of the information so have been trying to find out if it is true.. earlier today craig's estranged wife, kate, (bikerchic) confirmed that craig died at his home on aug 10, 2011.. i am sure that many people here remember craig's time here and how he went out of his way to offer support to posters, even calling them, to give whatever help he could as they adjusted to their post-jw lives.. i know many people here will grieve his loss.. --------------.

ps i tried posting this earlier but the computer i was working with would not allow the posts.

Simon

Oops, thought that was just a duplicate post so I deleted it.