Simon

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Posts by Simon

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  24

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

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  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.

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  Simon

  Everyone has a choice whether to shun someone or not. The WTS only has the power over you that you give it. The WTS can't shun you - how many people have daily dealings with the WTS really? Do you go for coffee with the governing body? Of course not.

  The people who decide to shun you based on what the WTS beliefs are - they are the ones that shun you, and that is their decision. Every decision people make is based on some external influences. You think you can legislate life to that degree?

  There is no "simple" law to just make it illegal. Seriously, try coming up with the law and it'll be easy to demonstrate ways it can be bypassed or misused.
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  12

  It takes a while, but eventually a person finds his way out.

  by pistolpete in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it hard to believe------you don't have the truth.. sometimes, for many----it takes half of your life -- or more---to figure it out.

  it was like swimming upstream with lead boots pulling you back in.

  and the closer you got to the "real" truth----the further away you strayed from your intimate group.

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  Simon

  I have so far raised my daughter in the truth. She is 7 now.

  You owe it to her to spare her the pain the religion can bring for so many.

  The funny thing is, it's only after you leave that you realize that it takes more effort to keep going than to stop going. It sounds so obvious in hindsight, and you wonder what you'll do with all the spare time (but don't worry, it's easily filled with worthwhile pursuits)
  
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  20

  Let’s make it more interesting!

  by Iamallcool in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what kind of games should we play on this discussion board?

  this forum needs to be more interesting.

  any ideas?

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  Simon

  How about a funny video? This cracked me up (there's a whole show if you like it).

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq_wZE93ZAY&t=82s
  
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  34

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

  by Corney in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  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.

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  Simon

  Agreed. I just meant if he wasn't there it immediately rules her testimony as false, no?

  Yes, it's a potentially watertight alibi, but the lack of such an alibi doesn't prove guilt.

  Accusations need evidence.
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  24

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

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  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.

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  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
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  34

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

  by Corney in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  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.

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  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.
  
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  23

  Unfaithful spouse

  by Worstfear in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  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.

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  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.
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  17

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

  by silentbuddha in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  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.

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  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.
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  56

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

  by pistolpete in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  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.

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  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.
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  18

  Six Screens announcing passing of “MINIMUS”

  by RESPECTFUL OBSERVER in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  https://youtu.be/ty_2l8zynvq.

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  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.