Very interesting and couldn’t agree more about an inevitable difficulty for a JW to debate philosophically and without closing off his or her mind. Some of the best conversations I’ve ever had ended without agreement. However, the questions posed me challenged many of my convictions or perceptions and sometimes even persuaded me after weeks or months of thought. I’d hope that ex-JWs, no matter their level of extremism or tempered approach, could see that shutting people out just because they disagree is childish and, more disturbingly, an inherited tactic from WT. I do see a much warmer and tolerant attitude amongst younger ex-Dubs I’ve met. With no disrespect to those that blazed trails before us, I’ve had several conversations with peers who feel it’s time for a changing of the apostate guard. In any case, I second your motion. Long live apostate disunity! ☺️
thebrokenkite
JoinedPosts by thebrokenkite
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9
The Elephant in the room: ExJw disunity
by Diogenesister infantastic new video by the lovely susan gaskin and friend andrea discusses the huge variety of exjw opinions and why our supposed disunity is in reality our strength.
the witnesses will claim we cannot agree and there are nothing but fights and a lack of harmony within our community whereas they are the most unified religion who believe the same things where ever you go.
however andrea points out that this is just an illusion, there is no unity amoung jws.
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178
Charging $150 To Tell Your Stories
by Bangalore inhttps://www.indiegogo.com/projects/how-to-escape-from-jehovah-s-witnesses-religion#/.
for $150: collaboration with the backer so that their story of successfully escaping an abusive belief system (300 words max) features along with others in the final pages of how to escape from jehovah's witnesses.
the text will be written by the author but will include a minimum of one quote worded by the backer.
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thebrokenkite
@Diogenesister Thank you for that info and for providing objective insight on both sides. It fills in a few gaps. I was so surprised and disappointed to learn of this in-fighting, even more so when I became the target of the aggressive apostate vitriol. It’s an incredible testament to WT’s effective propaganda and mind control that even former members who now speak loudly against their captors use the very same methods used on them inside the org. I guess some leave the cult, but the cult never leaves them.
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Charging $150 To Tell Your Stories
by Bangalore inhttps://www.indiegogo.com/projects/how-to-escape-from-jehovah-s-witnesses-religion#/.
for $150: collaboration with the backer so that their story of successfully escaping an abusive belief system (300 words max) features along with others in the final pages of how to escape from jehovah's witnesses.
the text will be written by the author but will include a minimum of one quote worded by the backer.
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thebrokenkite
@Simon Good points, especially regarding the peculiar choice of words. His evasiveness is also particularly odd. However, having dealt with some aggressive ex-JWs for my very mild criticisms of their protest, I understand why he may not wish to engage them if they are the ones questioning him.
Also, while no one here may be overtly accusing him of pedophilia, I don’t think we can pretend this cybersex issue is independent of the former. If anything, it’s quite clearly being hinted at as corroboration.
The reason why I question the motivation behind the pushing of these rumors is because I’ve never encountered any evidence for them. The source has never come forward and made his, her, or their case. Personally derisive and unrelated comments are always attached to these accusations of him, which makes them lose credibility in my eyes. They are in no way factually presented and have an obvious bias.
These rumors also seem to be most prominently featured by his YouTube competitors and their followers in the know, who I believe have more in common with Cedars than they think, theism and evangelism aside. They’re too often in it for themselves, but do help different audiences along the way.
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178
Charging $150 To Tell Your Stories
by Bangalore inhttps://www.indiegogo.com/projects/how-to-escape-from-jehovah-s-witnesses-religion#/.
for $150: collaboration with the backer so that their story of successfully escaping an abusive belief system (300 words max) features along with others in the final pages of how to escape from jehovah's witnesses.
the text will be written by the author but will include a minimum of one quote worded by the backer.
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thebrokenkite
Does the book hint at how old Lloyd may have been when this happened? Obviously, he was old enough to marry.
Cedars seemed to be the only non-crazy ex-JW on YouTube when I was first exploring my doubts after being df’ed and his content was very helpful. However, I knew nothing of the man and only chanced upon the animosity between the more aggressive advocates and Cedars’ clan after my summary of the Warwick protest, for which I’m still being hilariously harassed. Anyway, I’ve heard it said by many that this accusation was born in the anti-Cedars camp, which I do not consider credible, as they’ve even accused me of calling the police on them in Warwick even though they had already accused an ex-Russelite. They callously employed the same WT tactics formerly used against them against me, a newbie ex-JW who, objectively (as in I knew nothing of any of the YouTube stars to even recognize them or have a previous opinion), disagreed with them. However, after learning of these rumors and realizing he can be a polarizing figure (I’ve already got that covered for myself), I’ve been weary of being included in the Cedars camp simply because I believe in rational, organized and gentler advocacy, now that my interview is online and I intend to share content of my own. I’ve also found Cedars’ actions, through a search here of previous threads, distasteful or worse at times but child sex abuse is too heavy an accusation to just toss around because Cedars gets more views, makes money, AND disagrees with you. Can anyone who has no dog in this fight provide more information as to the truth of these accusations and their source? Should I start a separate thread for that? Sorry for all the run-on sentences. I have an affinity for commas. 🤓
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Some more Nicholas King pics
by neat blue dog intoday we get to see nick hanging with his fellow watchtower movie star and chorus member,.
hitting the dance floor,.
taking a swig,.
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thebrokenkite
I was in the Italian circuit with Nick. I remember being treated with indifference by he and his posse when I introduced myself, but that could’ve been for a number of reasons. It’s common knowledge in the circuit that Nick has a singing career, but it always puzzled me that it didn’t seem to bother anyone. Maybe he is considered immune to “worldly” enticements or he is just that valuable to the Borg, but nonetheless the Italian congregation enjoys a privileged position here in NYC. “Imitate their Faith”, for example, used mostly models from the Italian field. Anyway, he struck me as being very comfortable in the limelight and is one of of the “darlings” of the Italian field, essentially having the GB’s blessing to pursue his music career.
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Let J.W.'s keep their "two-witnesses" rule..................
by The Fall Guy in................for all their sinners - but make it mandatory that all j.w.
alleged criminals are promptly reported to the relevant authorities.
problem solved.
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thebrokenkite
Agreed. Focusing on the two-rules allows the suits to make this a doctrinal issue and avoid the true problem. If anything insisting on them changing the rule can be spun as a form of religious persecution and quickly turn into “The governments are turning on us due to pressure from Christendom blah blah blah” and reivigorate the R&F. Keep your damn rules, Watchtower. But report all allegations to the aurthorities. As an aside, if they had any sense, they’d also be able to see the authorities’ findings could provide a second witness.
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Warwick Protest 11-5-2017 - Who's all going?
by Acluetofindtheuser inhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64xhcoowr6y.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhuvmvbjk-q.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bejhmfrzl0.
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thebrokenkite
Bethel keeps orange folders in every lobby with a list of IRSA (Individuals Requiring Special Attention) and BOLO (Be On the Look Out). It is the job of those working at the desk to familiarize themselves with its contents so that any individuals listed therein could be identified before they entered the building or so they could be contained if already inside. We were directed to obtain whatever footage we could of new persons like these and would happily do so in exchange for brownie points with oversight. Since “security” is usually made up of new zealot arrivals in their teens and early 20s, it was easy for us to feel like heroes for Jehovah even if there was just a water leak. Though I feel very little was accomplished by the protest (WT always takes measures like these whenever ANY apostates/crazies are in the area and the advance notice gave them time to prepare, this wasn’t a special arrangement, as much as the protesters will disagree), at least they’ve got their names and faces written in the Book of IRSA/BOLO.
P.S. I’m in the silver car driving away at the beginning of the video. Should’ve stayed, could’ve made it into the list, too. 😂
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Youtube video
by Phoebe innot sure if this has been mentioned before so admin feel free to take this down, but i just watched this interview.
i always love exjwfith's interviews but this one particularly grabbed me.
pedro (broken kite) not sure if you are on here but wow, what a story you had to tell.
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thebrokenkite
Thanks for the mention, Phoebe. I couldn’t have imagined how incredibly healing it would be to share my story, or the overwhelmingly positive responses I would’ve received. Some folks who remembered me as their tour guide at the MET Museum even reached out to remark that they were already PIMO while on tour.
Cliff (Fifth) is a very valuable addition to the counter-Watchtower movement. I came away fully convinced his sole purpose in creating such powerful content is to help others, and not pursue any personal agenda. He’s also meticulously strategized his approach so as not to scare off JWs. I really admire him and have drawn lots of inspiration for the content I hope to produce very soon (hopefully next week, after my honeymoon). His type of advocacy is extremely effective and we could sure use more rational voices like his.
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Inside the JW HQ Warwick, NY
by baldeagle inhere is a short 2-minute video from fox 5 news reviewing the new jw hq in warwick, ny.. the first thing the jw spokesperson says is, “our primary purpose is not to convert, but to give people an opportunity to see what the bible has to say.”.
next the reporter says, “the new world headquarters, which opened last year, is home to about 800 jehovah's witnesses.”.
it seems to me that 800 is an extremely low number since the glory days in brooklyn.
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thebrokenkite
Trying to figure out why the Iliana in the article chose to highlight the fact that she can go shopping on the weekend if she likes. Seems like a sad attempt to bring an air of normalcy to the cult HQ.
On the other hand, it should be noted that the capacity for around 1,000 staff members was known at Bethel almost since the Warwick project was announced. Later, it was announced that HQ departments would be split between Wallkill and Warwick, so the number of HQ members is actually higher. Excuse my weakness for technicality. :)
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List of Branch Offices and Country Offices of Jehovah's Witnesses
by cedars ini'm trying to put together a comprehensive master list of watch tower society branch offices that corresponds roughly with the figure published in the worldwide report.. i feel it would be useful to monitor the number and location of existing branch offices, because i believe the distribution of branch offices worldwide is a good indicator of the society's financial wellbeing.
we now seem to be entering a period of branch office closures, with last year seeing an unprecendented 16% reduction in branch office numbers over the year before.
it will be interesting to see how things develop moving forward, but i'm hoping that by keeping a list of the offices we will be better placed to keep track of the "retreat" if branch office numbers continue to dwindle.. here we go.... .
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thebrokenkite
The Italy branch’s status may be revisited, though, as it has been over and over during the last few years. A failed attempt to sell the facilities in the outskirts of Rome and relocate to Imola saw the Italian branch falling under the oversight of the branch in Selters, which also now does their printing. Basically, they’re no longer autonomous (besides the GB, obviously), do not produce any literature, and must look to Germany for decision-making approval. I think this is also due to ongoing struggles for the branch to meet the GB’s standards, leading to the temporary, and later permanent relocation of US and Canadian Branch Committee members to sort out WT business in the boot. Pat LaFranca, for example, spent a year there despite his very poor Italian.