Posts by Unstuck

24

Bringing Reproach on Jehovah's Name

by cofty in

all my jw life i was reminded constantly about the importance of not bringing reproach on jehovah's name.

decisions on whether or not to disfellowship an individual often turned, not on the seriousness of the sin, but on whether the incident was public knowledge and had resulted in bad publicity for the congregation.

i recall a middle-aged lady being reported to the elders for shoplifting a sweet worth less than £1- and the elders' insistence that a judicial committee must be formed because the store manager and staff knew that she was a jw (i successfully argued that all she needed was support for her dreadful family life, but that's another story).

Unstuck

Ah but Mr. Finkelstein..... don't forget that there is more at stake than going along with governmental laws and regulations!

By joining the scheme, they would have to admit they have a problem. Not parents - THEM.
By admitting they have a problem, they would have to say SORRY!
By saying sorry, and acknowledging their criminal action in covering up child sexual abuse, they would have to part with MONEY!
And let's not forget, that apart from the National Redress Scheme, they are yet to implement the recommendations from the ARC. What were they I hear you ask???

Get rid of the 2-wtiness rule where it pertains to accusations of child sexual abuse (16.27)
Have women involved in the process to support, if not decision-making, at least support (16.28)
Do not SHUN child sexual abuse survivors who chose to leave WT. Shun everyone else if you must, but not CSA survivors (16.29)

And we all know that there is buckleys of that happening.....

24

Bringing Reproach on Jehovah's Name

by cofty in

all my jw life i was reminded constantly about the importance of not bringing reproach on jehovah's name.

decisions on whether or not to disfellowship an individual often turned, not on the seriousness of the sin, but on whether the incident was public knowledge and had resulted in bad publicity for the congregation.

i recall a middle-aged lady being reported to the elders for shoplifting a sweet worth less than £1- and the elders' insistence that a judicial committee must be formed because the store manager and staff knew that she was a jw (i successfully argued that all she needed was support for her dreadful family life, but that's another story).

Unstuck

I say: Go Anne Ruston!!! The Aussie SA senator who is pushing for those institutions who've not joined the National Redress Scheme to have their charity, tax-exemption status removed. I so hope they (the Aussie govt) have the guts to follow through on that threat.

Take their charity status away!! Although, as I type that, I know full well that that will play into their persecution porn.....

10

Results of the 2018 Global Survey of Jehovah's Witnesses

by Unstuck in

it's long overdue, i know, and i apologise profusely but it's tough working full-time and trying to spend time on all the ex-jw work that i want to do...... that said - here are the 2018 survey results for anyone interested and i am already working on the 2019 results.

also, i'm tweaking the survey for the 2020 release which will be soon..... hugs to all!.

sherrie d'souza (aka unstuck!).

Unstuck

Bahahaha!!!
nowwhat? - right?? You are talking to the holder of the longest Lloyd video ever at 4.5 hours!! Not sure whether to be proud about that or not, but it appears that I always have a lot to say - humble apologies....
fatfreek 2005 - thank you!! I still don't see my self as an activist - just someone with a loud insistent voice that has a opinion. But I'll take "activist", even "great activist" and THANK YOU for it!!
Beth Sarim - not sure about a video for the 2018 survey - but the 2019 survey, with over 7,000 participants! That, I will try to pull off.....

Thank you all - I truly appreciate your support..... hugs to all!!

10

Results of the 2018 Global Survey of Jehovah's Witnesses

by Unstuck in

it's long overdue, i know, and i apologise profusely but it's tough working full-time and trying to spend time on all the ex-jw work that i want to do...... that said - here are the 2018 survey results for anyone interested and i am already working on the 2019 results.

also, i'm tweaking the survey for the 2020 release which will be soon..... hugs to all!.

sherrie d'souza (aka unstuck!).

Unstuck

G'day All!

It's long overdue, I know, and I apologise profusely but it's tough working full-time and trying to spend time on all the ex-JW work that I want to do.....

That said - here are the 2018 survey results for anyone interested and I am already working on the 2019 results. Also, I'm tweaking the survey for the 2020 release which will be soon....

Hugs to all!

Sherrie D'Souza (aka Unstuck!)

https://jwsurvey.org/general-information/results-of-the-2018-global-survey-of-jehovahs-witnesses

32

Melbourne Convention Protest

by jonahstourguide in

hi all.. i didn't want to post this in private because i want all to see what i saw.. the protest at the melbourne convention went superbly in my opinion.

the protesters and their banners were more than eloquent and succinct.

you could feel the emotion they all conveyed.

Unstuck

Hey all - so JW.facts, Paul Grundy, is in Melbourne and went to the convention. He wanted to get a selfie while Splane was on the big screen. Didn’t succeed unfortunately - heavy attendant presence basically prevented it and he ended up walking out of the stadium but he was vastly amused! There are videos up on Facebook showing that.....

10

Our Own Unstuck (stuckinarut2's wife) On The Shunned Podcast

by dubstepped in

--------new episode---------.

episode twenty three - sherrie is shunned by jehovah's witnesses.

today we have a really cool live recording from my living room.

Unstuck

Awww - thanks everyone!!

Love to you lil sis WakeMe!! I didn’t know my words would strike such a chord but I’m so glad they have. That’s truly how I feel.

Cha Ching - I would have loved to meet you but at least we get to hang out here on the forum. And if you ever come to Australia we’d love to meet up! My US trip was so amazing. I got to meet up with ex-JWs in New York, Louisville, Denver and Hawaii. I’ll never forget it. We have a very special bond and community that I consider very precious.

Fast Jehu - thank you for your kind. comments. We know that we are very fortunate to have come through together - it could have been so different. Re: dad. I’ve not heard a word since that day and I don’t expect to. I’m ok about that. I think he is suffering more from this cult-imposed separation than I am.

21

GcMAF - cure or major treatment for autoimmune disease, cancer, autism, etc, and being suppressed or hype?

by Bad_Wolf in

since most people in this group have been taught how to research and fact check with our jw history and getting out, this is a topic that can be constructive to check out.

i stumbled upon this and spent some time researching it, and it's quite interesting.

it's part of your immune system, gcmaf.

Unstuck

Diogenesister - you're not far off the mark! I had a very interesting conversation with one of our professors who feels that melanoma will be treated like an immune disease. There appears to be a link between melanoma and our immune systems, or I should say that how melanoma behaves is similar to other immune diseases. Take for example chickenpox. We have that as children (usually) and our immune systems work out how to suppress the disease but later in life it can return as shingles - our immune suppression no longer works. So this professor theorized that melanoma could in the future be treated the same way, using immunotherapy, suppressing the melanoma disease. It could be argued that that is not a cure as the disease is not eradicated but it then becomes a condition to be treated long-term.

There is of course much more to it - I can only explain in layman terms as I'm not clinically trained (you know, spent my life in a cult and didn't pursue higher education) but I'm gobbling up what information I can now and I'm fascinated to learn what "man" and the "world" are achieving despite the fact that things are supposed to be getting worse......

21

GcMAF - cure or major treatment for autoimmune disease, cancer, autism, etc, and being suppressed or hype?

by Bad_Wolf in

since most people in this group have been taught how to research and fact check with our jw history and getting out, this is a topic that can be constructive to check out.

i stumbled upon this and spent some time researching it, and it's quite interesting.

it's part of your immune system, gcmaf.

Unstuck

I work in a cancer practice (melanoma) and I can speak rather adamantly as to the efforts being made to FIND A CURE! I have seen too many patients die from this horrible disease and I am very happy to say that as far as melanoma is concerned, great advances have been made in treatment. When I first started here in 2003, the prognosis was very bleak for Stage IV disease - you only had a 33% chance of being alive in 12 months. It was grim and horrible.

Now, in 2018, if you have Stage IV disease - you have an 87% chance of being alive in 12 months. In fact, some of our patients who commenced on new therapies (either targeted therapy or immunotherapy) are now completely disease free 4-5 years later! Without more concrete data the word "cure" can't be bandied about and there is much research to be done in the group of patients that don't respond to either targeted therapy or immunotherapy - we don't why they don't respond, yet.

I can't speak for other cancer groups but I defy anyone to tell me that there is no intention to cure melanoma - that's poppycock. (Yes, I'm rather passionate about this topic.)

44

Watchtower refuses to "Say Sorry" to Australian Royal Commission

by Darth FayDehr in

https://youtu.be/qic5cfkjswu.

interview on melbourne (australia) abc radio - regarding watchtower's refusal to "say sorry" (global campaign).

radio host jon faine interviews lara kaputt.

Unstuck

Good point Zeb!

In Aus we have found it necessary to start calling the ARC the CARC (Child Abuse Royal Commission). This is because there is another ARC running right now in Australia but it is directed at financial institutions (Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry).

So to avoid confusion about which ARC we are referring to, we have started referring to the CARC for the Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse to be specific.

44

Watchtower refuses to "Say Sorry" to Australian Royal Commission

by Darth FayDehr in

https://youtu.be/qic5cfkjswu.

interview on melbourne (australia) abc radio - regarding watchtower's refusal to "say sorry" (global campaign).

radio host jon faine interviews lara kaputt.

Unstuck

Hi All,

I was privileged to attend the National Apology yesterday. I was part of a small group of ex-jws attending the event. It was thrilling to be there, to hear the Apology in the Gallery of the House of Representatives but more importantly for the ex-jw community, to hear the Australian Prime Minister speak about the Government's commitment to follow-up on the recommendations from the CARC (Child Abuse Royal Commission to distinguish from the current ARC which is investigating financial institutions) and to hold to account any organisations that do not embrace the recommendations or participate in the redress scheme. The Australian Government will be reviewing yearly the progress of institutions in adopting the recommendations.

After the apology, one of our community, spoke directly to Mr Scott Morrison (our current PM if you don't know until there is another leadership spill!) about the Jehovah's Witnesses failing to say sorry and their non-participation in the redress scheme and the Prime Minister said: "We are aware of that and we will be addressing it".

Unlucky for Watchtower, the CARC is not going to go away. They are going to have to do something or they will be forced to.

Lara was incredible! Her energy in chasing any politician / journalist / mover-or-shaker of any sort was phenomenal and something to observe. She managed, with Steven Unthank, to speak with Mr Bill Shorten (the opposition Leader), Ms Julia Gillard (former PM) and many many others.

We also hounded several reporters and journalists during the course of the afternoon, some were very interested in what we had to tell them about Watchtower. The highlight for me was getting to speak with Justice Peter McClellan who told us that of all the videos from the CARC, the Jehovah's Witnesses had the highest views! I was able to tell him that for so many of us the CARC was the breaking point that helped us leave the religion. He said he was very happy to hear that.

It was an incredible day that I will be processing for some time.