A reconstruction of what forensic anthropologists think a 1st-century Palestinian Jew like Jesus of Nazareth would have looked like (illustration by BBC Photo Library).
Posts by Tahoe
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10
How did Jesus keep his beard looking so neat?
by Sour Grapes ini have a full beard and with a pair of electric clippers, i can't come close to having my beard looking at good and trim as jesus in the picture.
i wonder how jewish barbers did it or perhaps his beard was more scruffy than is shown.
does jesus even look jewish?
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Watch: Jehovah's Witnesses official says to destroy records because
by Tahoe in'satan's coming after us'.
screenshot from video.
shawn bartlett, the records management overseer for the jehovah’s witnesses, explains the organization’s new record-keeping policies during a 2017 seminar in britain.
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Tahoe
'Satan's coming after us'
Shawn Bartlett, the records management overseer for the Jehovah’s Witnesses, explains the organization’s new record-keeping policies during a 2017 seminar in Britain.by David Gambacorta, Staff Writer @dgambacorta | [email protected]
A Jehovah’s Witnesses official delivered an urgent message to a group of elders at a 2017 seminar in Britain: The time had come to rethink the record-keeping policies of the organization, which has come under fire for its handling of child sex abuse complaints.
Shawn Bartlett, the Witnesses’ record management overseer, explained that handwritten notes and drafts of internal documents needed to be destroyed because of the potential legal harm they posed to the organization, which has 8 million followers worldwide and more than a dozen congregations in the Philadelphia area.
“The question is: Why has this come up?” Bartlett said, according to a video recording of the seminar that was leaked online earlier this year by an anonymous insider.
“Well, we know that the scene of this world is changing, and we know Satan’s coming after us, and he’s going to go for us legally. We can see by the way things are shaping up. So the organization has said, ‘We’ve run into difficulties in the past because of the records we have.'”
A judge in California fined the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, the Witnesses’ corporate nonprofit, more than $2 million last year for refusing to turn over a secretly compiled list of 775 suspected child molesters within the organization.
The Watchtower also has settled multiple lawsuits filed by former members across the country, many of whom claimed that they were sexually abused as children — and that their abusers were protected by elders who enforced the millenarian religion’s rules, like one that requires sexual assault victims to find two eyewitnesses to support their allegations.
Publicly, Watchtower leaders insist that they abhor child abuse, and don’t provide cover for predators. In the video, Bartlett never mentioned the sex abuse lawsuits directly, but he explained the need for elders to be mindful of handwritten records and other files that could prove to be a liability.
At one point during the seminar, Bartlett told the attendees that they should destroy drafts of any documents in their possession. “And the reason is, is because there’s many comments that are sometimes made on drafts,” he said. “Those are the ones that get us in trouble.”
The Witnesses declined to make Bartlett available for an interview, or to discuss his comments from the video.
The footage is no longer available on YouTube. A message on the website notes that the material was removed at the request of the Watchtower.
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Kingdom Hall a total loss after 2nd fire in months
by Tahoe inhttps://q13fox.com/2018/07/03/2nd-fire-this-year-at-olympia-jehovahs-witness-kingdom-hall/.
olympia, wash. -- authorities are investigating the second fire in a matter of months at a jehovah's witness kingdom hall in olympia.. the fire started just after 3:00 a.m. at cain rd se and 22nd se, according to the olympia fire department.
nobody was inside at the time.. roads near the building were shut down as firefighters investigated.
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Tahoe
https://q13fox.com/2018/07/03/2nd-fire-this-year-at-olympia-jehovahs-witness-kingdom-hall/
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Authorities are investigating the second fire in a matter of months at a Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall in Olympia.
The fire started just after 3:00 a.m. at Cain Rd SE and 22nd SE, according to the Olympia Fire Department. Nobody was inside at the time.
Roads near the building were shut down as firefighters investigated. Firefighters said the building was a total loss.
Back in March, the same Kingdom Hall caught fire and investigators believe that was intentionally set.
One person of interest was taken into custody several blocks from the fire.
This morning's fire is still under investigation. The Olympia Fire Department and ATF are also investigating.
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Behind the Scenes of Newsweek's "Bible Thumpers" Cover
by Tahoe inhttp://www.newsweek.com/behind-scenes-newsweeks-international-june-1-cover-art-960456.
pretty neat story..
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"Daddy, is the the scale model of the new UK Bethel?"
by Fay Dehr in.
...are we having financial issues watchtower?.
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Tahoe
Lol exactly!
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"Daddy, is the the scale model of the new UK Bethel?"
by Fay Dehr in.
...are we having financial issues watchtower?.
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Death's in Noah's flood
by Are you serious inhas the wt ever come out with an article that indicates how many people died during the mythical flood?
i searched on their site but couldn't find anything.
any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Jehovah's Angels will protect you out in the ministry. Except from Dogs Pit Bulls
by Not_Culty in2018 dog attack .
https://www.whio.com/news/national/pit-bull-attacks-jehovah-witnesses-front-door-police-say/rlreicdww8bkpzjjepxlhm/.
2013 dog attack .
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Tahoe
This article was underneath the one you posted:
https://www.whio.com/news/crime--law/dog-bites-jehovah-witness/huQOu2A37xysyFkVzfm2tO/
VANDALIA — A Jehovah's Witness was bitten by a dog after knocking on a door to a home with a "Beware of Dog" sign.
The 70-year-old West Milton woman told police she knocked on a door to a home at 12:30 p.m. April 12 in the 700 block of Hunters Chase Drive. The resident opened the entry door and said he wasn't interested. His dog came charging down the hall, forcing the storm door open. The dog, an 8-year-old black Labrador retriever named Ace, got out and bit the woman on the right buttock and thigh area, according to a police report.
The dog's owner was able to show Ace was current on his vaccinations through My Favorite Pet veterinary clinic, according to the report.
The resident's fence in front of the home had a 'Beware of Dog" sign, the report noted.
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Former Jehovah’s Witness jailed for child sex crimes
by Tahoe inhttps://www.perthnow.com.au/news/crime/former-jehovahs-witness-jailed-for-child-sex-crimes-ng-b88859067z.
a former jehovah’s witness who sexually assaulted three young boys says his homosexual inclinations were repressed by his religion and manifested in his crimes.. gavin andrew lamont, 46, was jailed for four years today for assaulting two vulnerable teenagers in the early to mid-90s and another boy about 20 years later.. lamont encouraged the teens to give him massages and suggested he needed help checking for testicular cancer.. district court judge linda petrusa said lamont, who knew he was homosexual from about age 13, had significant cognitive distortions around sex because of his religious beliefs.. .
she said the victims, who were aged between 14 and 16, were vulnerable because of their youth and lack of sophistication.. judge petrusa sentenced lamont to four years behind bars for indecently dealing with a child and four counts of indecent assault.. lamont was kicked out of the mundaring congregation in 1997 after one of his victims complained to other members, but was reinstated after doing counselling with elders.. he was kicked out of the congregation for a second time in 2014 after another victim made a complaint.. lamont’s crimes came to the attention of police last year through the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.. defence lawyer seamus rafferty described the case as complex, saying lamont struggled with his sexuality because his religion told him it was a sin.. he told the court the church was the essence of lamont’s being and said his client tried to repress his sexuality and ended up behaving in “naïve, unsophisticated and pathetic ways”.. lamont’s parents and sister are all living with complicated health issues and rely heavily on his help and care.. mr rafferty asked judge petrusa to give lamont a conditional suspended jail term, saying he was the glue that was holding his family together.. “this is a case for the exercise of mercy, its mercy towards them (his family) and nobody else,” he said.. judge petrusa accepted a prison term would be tough on lamont’s family but said an immediate jail term was the only appropriate punishment.. in a statement to the court, one of the victims said he felt that he was “forever stained” by lamont’s crime.. he said the abuse had made him self-conscious in his dealings with his own child.. lamont will be eligible for parole after spending two years behind bars.. .
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Tahoe
https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/crime/former-jehovahs-witness-jailed-for-child-sex-crimes-ng-b88859067z
A FORMER Jehovah’s Witness who sexually assaulted three young boys says his homosexual inclinations were repressed by his religion and manifested in his crimes.
Gavin Andrew Lamont, 46, was jailed for four years today for assaulting two vulnerable teenagers in the early to mid-90s and another boy about 20 years later.
Lamont encouraged the teens to give him massages and suggested he needed help checking for testicular cancer.
District Court Judge Linda Petrusa said Lamont, who knew he was homosexual from about age 13, had significant cognitive distortions around sex because of his religious beliefs.
She said the victims, who were aged between 14 and 16, were vulnerable because of their youth and lack of sophistication.
Judge Petrusa sentenced Lamont to four years behind bars for indecently dealing with a child and four counts of indecent assault.
Lamont was kicked out of the Mundaring congregation in 1997 after one of his victims complained to other members, but was reinstated after doing counselling with elders.
He was kicked out of the congregation for a second time in 2014 after another victim made a complaint.
Lamont’s crimes came to the attention of police last year through the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Defence lawyer Seamus Rafferty described the case as complex, saying Lamont struggled with his sexuality because his religion told him it was a sin.
He told the court the church was the essence of Lamont’s being and said his client tried to repress his sexuality and ended up behaving in “naïve, unsophisticated and pathetic ways”.
Lamont’s parents and sister are all living with complicated health issues and rely heavily on his help and care.
Mr Rafferty asked Judge Petrusa to give Lamont a conditional suspended jail term, saying he was the glue that was holding his family together.
“This is a case for the exercise of mercy, its mercy towards them (his family) and nobody else,” he said.
Judge Petrusa accepted a prison term would be tough on Lamont’s family but said an immediate jail term was the only appropriate punishment.
In a statement to the court, one of the victims said he felt that he was “forever stained” by Lamont’s crime.
He said the abuse had made him self-conscious in his dealings with his own child.
Lamont will be eligible for parole after spending two years behind bars.
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JW elders told abused girl’s parents not to report sex offender (another one)
by Tahoe inhttps://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/jehovahs-witness-elders-told-abused-1636907.
a bradford man's sex offence against a little girl was kept quiet for 23 years because elders of the jehovah's witnesses church persuaded her parents not to report him, a court was told.. robert lee's crime in the forest of dean was not revealed until the victim had grown up and went to the police, gloucester crown court heard on friday.. .
both the victim's family and lee were jehovah's witnesses at that time, said prosecutor kerry barker.. he told the court that having avoided justice, lee, formerly of coleford, but now of alexandra road, bradford, went on to commit further child sex offences in 2008 and 2016.. lee, who used the surname howarth at that time, admitted indecent assault of the girl in march 1995 in coleford when he was aged just 17.. sentencing lee to two years jail suspended for two years and ordering him to sign the sex offender register for 10 years judge ian lawrie qc said he was 'concerned' at the church's advice to the mother not to report him.. he also placed lee under a 10 year sexual harm prevention order.. “i've raised concerns about how this came to the attention of your church authorities and was not reported.
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Tahoe
A Bradford man's sex offence against a little girl was kept quiet for 23 years because elders of the Jehovah's Witnesses church persuaded her parents not to report him, a court was told.
Robert Lee's crime in the Forest of Dean was not revealed until the victim had grown up and went to the police, Gloucester Crown Court heard on Friday.
Both the victim's family and Lee were Jehovah's Witnesses at that time, said prosecutor Kerry Barker.
He told the court that having avoided justice, Lee, formerly of Coleford, but now of Alexandra Road, Bradford, went on to commit further child sex offences in 2008 and 2016.
Lee, who used the surname Howarth at that time, admitted indecent assault of the girl in March 1995 in Coleford when he was aged just 17.
Sentencing Lee to two years jail suspended for two years and ordering him to sign the sex offender register for 10 years Judge Ian Lawrie QC said he was 'concerned' at the Church's advice to the mother not to report him.
He also placed Lee under a 10 year sexual harm prevention order.
“I've raised concerns about how this came to the attention of your church authorities and was not reported. I hope that has now changed," said Judge Lawrie.
“That meant it did not come to light for some time."
The prosecutor had told the judge: “When the matter was referred to the Elders in 1995, her mother was invited not to report it to the police and she remained silent."
Mr Barker said the girl told her mother about the incident, who spoke with the church elders, and following that conversation decided to do nothing more.
He said the Howarth family left the area but the victim heard in adulthood that they were returning and that 'caused her fear and panic' which led to her reporting his offence to the police.
“She was not to know that in Essex in 2008 he had been cautioned for possessing indecent images, and then in 2016 he was convicted of making and possessing indecent images of children," said Mr Barker.
“It demonstrates a long standing and continued interest in sex with children,” he said.
He read from the victim's statement in which she said she was 'angry with her mother for being a Jehovah's Witness and not reporting it to the police'.
She said: “Twenty years later I am still trying to come to terms with it.
“I often feel dirty and tainted. I was rebellious as a teenager and dropped out of school.
“I feel robbed of my education. I felt I was to blame, and I self harmed to cope.
“I find it hard to trust members of the opposite sex. It has made my relationship with my husband very difficult and my pregnancy was difficult.
“He took my childhood away from me."
Giles Nelson, representing Lee, accepted that his credit for pleading guilty was minimal because he had not admitted his offence until the morning of a scheduled trial.
But he reminded the judge that the starting point in the sentencing guidelines for his offence was two years.
“He's been subject to a community order for some time,” Mr Nelson continued. “There has been a significant amount of progress.
“He has an array of problems,” the barrister said.
The judge interjected: “He's got some rather dark shadows he must deal with.”
Mr Nelson agreed: “He does. He has been alcohol dependent, but is now in work with accommodation.
“An immediate custodial sentence would make the work come to an end.
Judge Lawrie asked Mr Nelson what he knew of the Jehovah's Witnesses intervention in the case.
“What I have read concerns me - that in this day and age, that was the approach. That is a matter for the church. That was the advice given at the time?”
“So, I understand,” the barrister replied.
Judge Lawrie told Lee it was clear from this and subsequent offences that he had 'a fixation or interest in children'.
“There are some very dark shadows in your soul. Looking at your history, I think you pose a risk," said Judge Lawrie.
“I will impose a sexual harm prevention order.
“There must be a balance between punishment, and the prospect of you not committing these sort of offences ever again.
“It is not in the interest of any potential further victims to interrupt the progress you are making on the current order."
Referring to Lee's 'late guilty plea' the judge said to him: “You are a coward. You subjected the victim to the concern she might have to attend court.
“I am taking a slight gamble with you. You have got a lot of work to do. If you fail to comply, I can consider imposing custody.”