Posts by Voyager

no longer can they hide things such as their hypocritical un involvement, policy changes on voting because they lost a law suit in france or trying to keep their image clean by keeping pedophile issues hidden in local kingdom hall closets.

the above quote was made by seven006 in a well written thread (http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/78991/1.ashx).

can anyone inlightten me as to when the policy on voting occured, what the change was, and did it reach beyond the borders of france.

Voyager

Hi Blues:

I think your right, because the information (you) posted is more (recent) than the information the I posted. And also, in 1999 the Watchtower was still listed with the United Nations, so they had to bend over backwards to put on a show.

Good job Blues!

3

Decade after Murders, are we Safer---(Freeman article)!

by Voyager in

jw
friends

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-al_5freemanfeb27,0,7705711.story?coll=all-sunday-hed .

decade after murders, are we safer?.

Voyager

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-al_5freemanfeb27,0,7705711.story?coll=all-sunday-hed

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Decade after murders, are we safer?
Freeman slayings shocked region. Now, officials try to act early on problem behavior.

By Romy Varghese
Of The Morning Call

She wanted her 18-year-old nephew to stop hanging out with her teenage sons and leave her house. It was late. Her sons and nephew had other ideas. Her sons were tired of her rules.

On Feb. 26, 1995, Brenda Freeman headed to the lower floor of her split-level Salisbury Township home to talk to her sons for the last time.

The next day, her sister-in-law found her on the floor in her nightdress, her body stabbed repeatedly. Brenda's husband, Dennis Freeman, was bludgeoned in his bed, his head crushed with an aluminum baseball bat. Their youngest son, 11-year-old Erik, was killed in his bed as well, his blue and white pajamas bloodied from a beating with a 3-foot pickax handle.

Ten years ago this week, the brutal crime shocked the Lehigh Valley, especially considering the defendants: the Freemans' teenage sons, 17-year-old Bryan and 16-year-old David, and the couple's nephew, Nelson Birdwell III.

The odd behavior of the neo-Nazi-tattooed Freeman brothers, one of whom handed in a high school test that was scribbled with racist remarks, may have sounded alarms earlier had it occurred in today's post-Columbine and post-9/11 world. It's uncertain if resources now would have prevented the savage murders, but procedures such as diversity training and awareness of issues from gang violence to drug abuse work to head off threats to safety. And school officials appear to take no chances when it comes to acts that are potentially threatening.

''Times have changed,'' said Jennifer McCoy, an Allentown School District teacher who attended Salisbury High School with the Freeman brothers. ''You can't go by the same rules you did 10 years ago.''

The Freeman brothers, in prison for life without parole, never explained their motivations to officials. They've denied killing their younger brother. Birdwell, also serving life without parole, denies participating in the murders.

Recent written requests for interviews with the Freeman brothers have gone unanswered.

''There are crimes that are unfathomable,'' said Lehigh County Judge Robert L. Steinberg, who was the county's district attorney at the time.

The Freeman brothers had a history of getting in trouble. But Brenda and Dennis Freeman were decent, normal people, according to Steinberg and others involved in the case. There were no accounts of abuse in the family, nor did any allegations against the parents, who were Jehovah's Witnesses, surface after the murders.

''The worst thing you can say is that they were strict,'' Steinberg said.

Berserker

The Freemans' two oldest sons, Bryan and David, chafed under their rules. They resented their parents' attempts to control them.

Bryan Freeman was hospitalized twice for mental illness. His brother David received treatment for substance abuse and had been in several juvenile facilities.

In the few years before the murders, the brothers started getting deeper in neo-Nazi beliefs, although they were not known to belong to any organized skinhead group.
They began sporting skinhead haircuts and wearing military garb. According to Salisbury police at the time, the brothers' disruption in the house prompted officers to go to their home five times in the two years before the murders.

The situation apparently escalated in the weeks preceding the murders. The brothers arrived in school with neo-Nazi tattoos on the tops of their foreheads. Bryan's tattoo read ''Berserker'' and David's read ''Sieg Heil.'' Bryan already had a swastika tattoed on the side of his neck. Their cousin Birdwell, a frequent companion, also had a ''Berserker'' tattoo.

Police said the Freeman brothers threatened to kill their parents. Alarmed, Brenda Freeman contacted the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and Barry Morrison, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League in Philadelphia. Morrison talked to her at length and gave her local referrals for help, such as Al Molinatti, then the Allentown Police Department's community relations officer.

Molinatti said Freeman was concerned that no matter what she and her husband did, they had no control over the boys. He gave her some information on skinheads, gave her avenues for counseling and advised her to talk to the boys' guidance counselor.

School officials were working on an intervention, according to Michael Adams, program director for ALERT Partnership, which is affiliated with Lehigh Valley Hospital's Department of Community Health and Health Studies. He had spoken to Brenda Freeman too, and to her sons, in this effort.

''Sadly, I don't know if there is much we could have done differently,'' said Adams, adding he doubted the brothers could have been treated at that point.

Brutal murders

On the night of the murders, the Freeman brothers and Birdwell had gone to the movies and returned to the Freeman home at 1635 Ehrets Lane.

Brenda Freeman repeatedly told Birdwell to leave and told her sons to go to bed. The last time she went down the stairs, her oldest son, Bryan, grabbed her, stuffed a pair of shorts in her mouth and stabbed her with a knife.
David Freeman and Birdwell went upstairs to Dennis Freeman's bedroom. With an aluminum bat, David smashed in his father's face. Birdwell was convicted of participating in that death. Birdwell then went into Erik's room and struck him repeatedly with a pickax handle, Steinberg said. Birdwell was acquitted in that murder.

After the murders, the three fled to Michigan, where they were apprehended three days later.

The Freeman sons pleaded guilty to killing their parents and are serving life sentences in state prisons, Bryan Freeman in Albion, Erie County, and David in Mahanoy City, Schuylkill County. Prison officials declined to release any details of their imprisonment.

Birdwell is serving a life sentence at the state prison in Greene County after a jury conviction, which he is asking a state Supreme Court judge to throw out. If the court declines to hear the case, or hears it and denies the request, he will have to turn to federal courts for relief.

Birdwell's defense was that he was simply at the scene of the murders and fled with his cousins out of fear.

A Green County prison official said Birdwell has completed his general equivalency diploma and has no incidents of misconduct on his record.

Focus on hate crimes

Although the Freeman brothers confessed to killing their parents, there was little sense of closure at the time. The savagery of the crime horrified the Lehigh Valley, as did the shocking news that another Valley teenager killed his parents within days of the Freeman murders. That teen,Jeffrey Howorth, was a seemingly normal 17-year-old with loving parents. But on March 2, 1995, he shot his father George five times in the kitchen and his mother Susan nine times in the dining room of their Lower Macungie Township home.

Jeffrey Howorth was found not guilty by reason of insanity and has been at Norristown State Hospital since October 1995.

''There was a lot of concern about what was happening in the community,'' Steinberg said.

The Freeman case sparked much discussion about skinheads. Workshops on how to deal with hate groups were held in the community, Adams and Molinatti said.

A group of professionals from various backgrounds formed The Hate Crimes Consortium and organized a national conference in Philadelphia in 1998, called Youth and Hate Crimes: Prevention and Intervention Strategies.

It was a ''very complicated undertaking,'' said Barry Morrison, who added that he wasn't completely satisfied with the outcome of the conference.

The problem is, Morrison said, that there is no one group or treatment option that specifically targets youths in the white supremacy movement.

Concern over skinhead activity has receded as ''we've moved onto other trends,'' Adams said.

More awareness, resources

Still, 10 years after the Freeman murders, there is more awareness of problems such as gang activity, said Adams and Molinatti. Before, they said, Allentown officials declined to publicly acknowledge the existence of gangs. Now, police throughout the area talk openly and share information on gangs, Adams said.

Programs promoting diversity and awareness are institutionalized now at schools, Adams said.

Thanks to the Internet, there are more resources for parents, Molinatti said. Knowing more about what the child is involved in, ''You might have a better conversation on what is really transpiring,'' he said.

For instance, you would be better informed to question your child if he said he hates Jews, Molinatti said.

Although Morrison is dismissive of the idea that resources to deal with young, violent skinheads have improved greatly in the past 10 years, he uses facets of the Freeman case to educate others. At events, he talks about a test one of the Freeman brothers turned in at high school. Instead of answering the questions, the teenager wrote anti-Semitic and anti-African-American statements, drew pictures of male and female genitalia, and said he was willing to die for the neo-Nazi cause.

The test was returned to the boy, Morrison said, marked for grammar and with a ''mild comment'' from the teacher, saying that he should rethink some of his ideas.

Such a test would be likely to spark a different reaction today.

On April 20, 1999, two high school seniors at Columbine High School, armed with guns, knives and bombs, walked through the school, killing 12 students and one teacher before killing themselves. And the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America killed almost 3,000 people.

''All schools have changed in the past 10 years,'' said Al Fields, superintendent of the Salisbury Township School District.

The state made money available after the Columbine attack for schools to improve safety, Fields said.

That and homeland security concerns prompt schools to take things more seriously, he said.

New attitudes

Fields was the Salisbury Middle School principal in 1995 and couldn't recall if the school district made any specific changes in procedures after the Freeman murders, other than beefing up security when the brothers were fugitives.

Asked to describe officials' response now if a student showed up at school with neo-Nazi tattoos, as the Freeman brothers had done, Fields said there would be some sort of action depending on the situation and in consideration of constitutional freedoms. And if a student turned in a test on which racist remarks were scribbled, Fields said he would hope that the teacher wouldn't simply return the exam to the student without taking other action.

Jennifer McCoy, who was a student at Salisbury High School with the Freemans and recalled them as quiet kids who kept to themselves, said the murders and Columbine have given her lessons she can apply as a teacher.

''It helps me to keep an eye out on the quiet ones,'' she said. And if she gets back a test such as Freeman's, she would follow her training and turn it immediately over to the guidance counselors. It's better to have the student annoyed at you rather than miss a potential problem, she said.

It's this kind of attitude that many schools have these days. An incident in Oley High School in Berks County earlier this month was the latest situation in which some people wondered if schools were taking security concerns too far. Matthew W. Pattison, an 18-year-old National Merit Scholar finalist, put on a gorilla mask and sheepskin shawl and climbed onto his school's roof as a prank. His actions galvanized dozens of police officers, FBI agents, helicopters and bomb-sniffing dogs. Facing reckless endangerment and other charges, Pattison spent a night in jail under $300,000 bail but was released after it was lowered to $50,000.

''Our reaction now is to overreact, maybe,'' Molinatti said, referring to the Oley incident.

''A lot of red flags''

Still, a forensic psychologist who evaluated David Freeman in August 1995 said that even in the pre-Columbine and 9/11 world, the Freeman murders could have been prevented with early intervention.

''In David's case, there were a lot of red flags,'' said Harry Krop, a Gainesville, Fla., psychologist asked by Steinberg, the district attorney at the time, to determine David Freeman's mental state and ability to be rehabilitated.

David had been maladjusted for a long time, Krop said. He started drinking when he was 6 or 7, stealing beer from the refrigerator apparently without his parents catching on until he was 13 or 14. He started smoking cigarettes at age 10, marijuana a year later. He also abused prescription drugs. He committed vandalism and stole to buy drugs or just for the fun of it, Krop said.

David resented his parents' deferring to the Bible when he talked to them. He began getting in trouble at school. One 10-day suspension he incurred in eighth grade was for threatening to kill a coach after a game. He was also asked to write an apology to the coach.

It appeared that the consequences of his actions, such as suspensions, didn't correct his behavior, Krop said, and he became more overtly troubled. He collected news clippings about people killing their parents.

Krop was barred from asking David about his older brother Bryan, whom authorities believed to be the dominant figure of the three.

Krop was quick to say he doesn't fault anyone for what happened to the Freemans. But he noted there was little, if any, communication between the sons and parents, nor any coordination among the teachers, parents and sons.

''Never feel like you're intruding,'' is the lesson for parents, Krop said. ''It's better to intrude and be involved, even if you get chastised by the kid that you're invading his privacy.''

'Cold blooded' killers

But Krop, like Steinberg, had noted that cases of children of killing their parents are more unusual when there are no allegations of abuse.

''It's really scary how a kid that age could have been such a cold-blooded killer of his family,'' Krop said.

Cpl. Joseph Vazquez, the state police investigator, said that when he saw Bryan Freeman, the teen was reminiscent of serial killer Charles Manson, by the way he looked through a person.

''I've never seen another 18-year-old who has that affect,'' Vazquez said.

Hate was why they killed, Steinberg said.

It's an unsatisfying answer, and even he, on a personal level, can't fully grasp the crime.

Often, ''individuals have less understanding of what they did,'' Steinberg said. They might not understand why, either.

12

Can anyone provide information about the voting change

by Triple A in

no longer can they hide things such as their hypocritical un involvement, policy changes on voting because they lost a law suit in france or trying to keep their image clean by keeping pedophile issues hidden in local kingdom hall closets.

the above quote was made by seven006 in a well written thread (http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/78991/1.ashx).

can anyone inlightten me as to when the policy on voting occured, what the change was, and did it reach beyond the borders of france.

Voyager

Watchtower/1999/November/1st/page-28/

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Questions

From Readers

How

do Jehovah?s Witnesses view voting?

There are clear principles set out in the Bible that enable servants of God to take a proper view of this matter. However, there appears to be no principle against the practice of voting itself. For example, there is no reason why a board of directors should not take a vote in order to arrive at decisions affecting their corporation. Congregations of Jehovah?s Witnesses often make decisions about meeting times and the use of congregation funds by voting with a show of hands.

What, though, of voting in political elections? Of course, in some democratic lands, as many as 50 percent of the population do not turn out to vote on election day. As for Jehovah?s Witnesses, they do not interfere with the right of others to vote; neither do they in any way campaign against political elections. They respect and cooperate with the authorities who are duly elected in such elections. (Romans 13:1-7) As to whether they will personally vote for someone running in an election, each one of Jehovah?s Witnesses makes a decision based on his Bible-trained conscience and an understanding of his responsibility to God and to the State. (Matthew 22:21; 1 Peter 3:16) In making this personal decision, the Witnesses consider a number of factors.

First, Jesus Christ said of his followers: "They are no part of the world, just as I am no part of the world." (John 17:14) Jehovah?s Witnesses take this principle seriously. Being "no part of the world," they are neutral in the political affairs of the world.?John 18:36.

Second, the apostle Paul referred to himself as an "ambassador" representing Christ to the people of his day. (Ephesians 6:20; 2 Corinthians 5:20) Jehovah?s Witnesses believe that Christ Jesus is now the enthroned King of God?s heavenly Kingdom, and they, like ambassadors, must announce this to the nations. (Matthew 24:14; Revelation 11:15) Ambassadors are expected to be neutral and not to interfere in the internal affairs of the countries to which they are sent. As representatives of God?s heavenly Kingdom, Jehovah?s Witnesses feel a similar obligation not to interfere in the politics of the countries where they reside.

A third factor to consider is that those who have a part in voting a person into office may become responsible for what he does. (Compare 1 Timothy 5:22, The New English Bible.) Christians have to consider carefully whether they want to shoulder that responsibility.

Fourth, Jehovah?s Witnesses greatly value their Christian unity. (Colossians 3:14) When religions get involved in politics, the result is often division among their members. In imitation of Jesus Christ, Jehovah?s Witnesses avoid becoming involved in politics and thus maintain their Christian unity.?Matthew 12:25; John 6:15; 18:36, 37.

Fifth and finally, their keeping out of politics gives Jehovah?s Witnesses freeness of speech to approach people of all political persuasions with the important message of the Kingdom.?Hebrews 10:35.

In view of the Scriptural principles outlined above, in many lands Jehovah?s Witnesses make a personal decision not to vote in political elections, and their freedom to make that decision is supported by the law of the land. What, though, if the law requires citizens to vote? In such a case, each Witness is responsible to make a conscientious, Bible-based decision about how to handle the situation. If someone decides to go to the polling booth, that is his decision. What he does in the polling booth is between him and his Creator.

The November 15, 1950, issue of The Watchtower, on pages 445 and 446, said: "Where Caesar makes it compulsory for citizens to vote . . . [Witnesses] can go to the polls and enter the voting booths. It is here that they are called upon to mark the ballot or write in what they stand for. The voters do what they will with their ballots. So here in the presence of God is where his witnesses must act in harmony with his commandments and in accordance with their faith. It is not our responsibility to instruct them what to do with the ballot."

What if a Christian woman?s unbelieving husband insists that she present herself to vote? Well, she is subject to her husband, just as Christians are subject to the superior authorities. (Ephesians 5:22; 1 Peter 2:13-17) If she obeys her husband and goes to the polling booth, that is her personal decision. No one should criticize her.?Compare Romans 14:4.

What of a country where voting is not mandated by law but feelings run high against those who do not go to the voting booth?perhaps they are exposed to physical danger? Or what if individuals, while not legally obliged to vote, are severely penalized in some way if they do not go to the polling booth? In these and similar situations, a Christian has to make his own decision. "Each one will carry his own load."?Galatians 6:5.

There may be people who are stumbled when they observe that during an election in their country, some Witnesses of Jehovah go to the polling booth and others do not. They may say, ?Jehovah?s Witnesses are not consistent.? People should recognize, though, that in matters of individual conscience such as this, each Christian has to make his own decision before Jehovah God.?Romans 14:12.

Whatever personal decisions Jehovah?s Witnesses make in the face of different situations, they take care to preserve their Christian neutrality and freeness of speech. In all things, they rely on Jehovah God to strengthen them, give them wisdom, and help them avoid compromising their faith in any way. Thus they show confidence in the words of the psalmist: "You are my crag and my stronghold; and for the sake of your name you will lead me and conduct me."?Psalm 31:3.

5

One of The 144,000 Claims to Be Of The Devil!

by Voyager in

jw
friends

credit goes to debbie on (wto)!

http://xtramsn.co.nz/news/0,,11964-4152066,00.html .

Voyager

Credit goes to Debbie on (WTO)!

http://xtramsn.co.nz/news/0,,11964-4152066,00.html

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Witness: Dixon Said He Was The Devil

View larger image TVNZ

28/02/2005 NewstalkZB One of the women allegedly slashed by Antonie Dixon says he often claimed he was the devil.

Simonne Butler has been giving evidence at the High Court in Auckland, where Dixon is facing charges including murder and attempted murder.

Ms Butler has told the court she began dating Dixon in 1997. She says he was often erratic, unbalanced and believed he was being followed.

Simonne Butler says he claimed to be the devil, the devil's son and one of the chosen 144,000 under Jehovah's Witness beliefs.
Dixon's ex-girlfriend Simonne Butler says he told her his god had spoken and she had to be sacrificed, before he allegedly attacked her with a sword.

Simonne Butler says he yelled and screamed at her and claimed she was sleeping with the police force. She says Dixon would not respond when she tried to reason with him as he was completely irrational. Ms Butler says she continually asked him why.

Dixon is alleged to have slashed Ms Butler and her friend Renee Gunbie with a samurai sword at Pipiroa in January 2003.

Dixon kept his head below the dock throughout Simonne Butler's evidence.

2

Men Killed by Passing Car on I-70 Weren't Arguing Widow Says!

by Voyager in

jw
friends

http://www.kmov.com/topstories/stories/022705ccjrkmovthompsons.ee06fdb0.html .

********************************************************************************************************print it | discuss it | e-mail it to a friend.

Voyager

http://www.kmov.com/topstories/stories/022705ccjrkmovthompsons.ee06fdb0.html

******************************************************************************************************** Print it | Discuss it | E-mail it to a friend

Men killed by passing car on I-70 weren't arguing, widow says

07:29 PM CST on Sunday, February 27, 2005

By Ellen Chang, News 4

The widow of the Ferguson man killed in a car crash on Interstate 70 Friday said her husband and the man who hit their car were not arguing at the time of his death.

Darcy Thompson and Martin Alejandro were killed by a passing car after their cars had collided, but Joice Thompson said her husband had come back to their car to check on her when the accident occurred.

The Thompsons were headed to work in Wentzville in their minivan when they were rear-ended by a Mazda, Joice Thompson said. The two vehicles hit the guardrail after colliding.

Joice Thompson described the exchange between her husband and Alejandro as aggressive, but not a fight.

"They were not arguing. They were just talking," she said. "My husband would not have argued. We're Jehovah's Witnesses."

The Thompsons were married for six years. Between them, the Thompsons had six children and one grandchild. They were both employed by R.K. Stratman.

10

Mary Kay's Cosmetics---Watchtower!

by Voyager in

jw
friends

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/chronicle/1612655/detail.html .

home | chronicleemail this story print this story.

Voyager

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/chronicle/1612655/detail.html

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HOME | Chronicle alt Email This Story Print This Story

Wednesday, Aug. 21: Persuasion

The offer you can't refuse. The chance of a lifetime. The deal of the century. Every day, the people with something to sell are thinking of new lures to get us to buy. Tonight, Chronicle uncovers some of their secrets.

We'll meet the super salesmen who gave us the immortal phrase, "But wait, there's more," and sold millions of Ginsu knives along the way.

Mary Kay's Stephanie Kinnit explains how "warm chattering" can sell cosmetics in Downtown Crossing. We'll go door to door with a Jehovah's Witness minister and meet one of Boston's premier public relations professionals, the legendary Peggy Rose.

Show Information

Stephanie Kinnitt
Mary Kay Cosmetics products
781-283-8448

Dale Carnegie Courses
781-894-2700 x226

Jehovah's Witness headquarters
alt www.watchtower.org
718-560-5000

Petra Fashions (lingerie)
978-777-5853
alt www.petrafashions.com

Primedia (infomercial production and distribution)
Warwick, RI
401-826-3600

Herbie Goodman Auto
242 Western Ave., Allston
617-254-1300

Peggy Rose (public relations)
Raskey-Baerlin Agency
617-443-9933