Posts by bemused

43

The floodgates are about to open in the UK.. Sunday Times article

by defender of truth in

jehovah church faces flood of sex abuse cases.

"a woman who was abused from the age of four by a senior officer of the jehovahs witnesses has lodged a 500,000 claim for compensation in a test case that could open the door to hundreds more suits involving members of the religious organisation in the uk.".

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/crime/article1525363.ece.

bemused

It's quite a big article and prominently displayed - there's no way any JW reading the paper could miss it. This is described as a test case with 'dozens, if not hundreds' of further cases awaiting the outcome. The lawyers in this case alone have six further clients who may go ahead if the WT lose this one.

There are references to the two-witness rule and victims being forced to meet with the perpetrators. The Candace Conti verdict is mentioned (but not the appeal) so any JW reading this article will think the WT have lost £18m of funds already.

Overall, a highly negative article, which may well be picked up by other national newspapers. It will probably need more than a Governing Body denial video to stop disquiet spreading in the ranks.

19

Kissing hanks rear....

by _Morpheus in

i havent seen this posted in a while and i think its really well done, so i share here now:.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdp7pkecjvq.

bemused

Brilliant. Thanks - never seen it before.

26

The Organization is destined to fade away

by suavojr in

jw
friends

the borg might not fall and disappear, but it's sure heading into the oblivion.

they predicted their future in last week's study.. last week during the cong book study they mentioned the following:.

15. to illustrate: a supertanker or a freight train might be awesome in terms of size and power.

bemused

It's hard to see any rapid fall happening. I think the only way this might come about is if a small drop in numbers led to disillusionment, causing a further drop generating more disillusionment and so on in a downward spiral. However I can't really see this, nice though it would be. Occasional mergers of halls will generate interest and the larger congregation an illusory sense of growth.

Having said that, my old Catholic church has about 25% of the regular attendance it had 40 years ago. Mind you, they don't practise shunning.

23

Splane's Anti Catholic Rant

by Listener in

a talk was given by gb member david splane in the february 2015 jw broadcasting video.

he talks about unity and sings the praises of jws.

he points his finger at the catholics and says this about them (39.32)-.

bemused

Rather dodgy territory for Splane to get into I'd have thought. Some modern day Witnesses might wonder why, if the Axis powers were so evil, JWs refused to fight against them.

9

8 million - The Population of Honduras

by bemused in

i sometimes look at the magazines on jw.org to see what the wt are saying now.

the latest watchtower is a good old fire and brimstone, armageddon is coming any moment now issue, but it was a short article in the april 2015 awake that caught my eye.

it features the country of honduras and is quite an informative little read (though failing to mention the very high crime rate in that country).

bemused

I sometimes look at the magazines on jw.org to see what the WT are saying now. The latest Watchtower is a good old fire and brimstone, Armageddon is coming any moment now issue, but it was a short article in the April 2015 Awake that caught my eye. It features the country of Honduras and is quite an informative little read (though failing to mention the very high crime rate in that country). Like me, I imagine most people would struggle to place Honduras accurately on a map, name its capital city or describe its history - it's a poor country with virtually no influence.

I noticed that the population of Honduras is just over 8m, which I believe is around the number of JWs worldwide and it seems to me that the JW religion is about as significant to most people's daily lives as Honduras is. I don't suppose any active Witness reading Awake will draw the same analogy, but it makes me wonder whether Witnesses ever ponder just how small and unimportant their religion is on a world scale, and why that might be.

I was never a Witness, so I can't answer that question. What do you think? Does the small size of the religion, despite massive preaching efforts, ever cause JWs concern? Do Witnesses ever discuss why, if the evidence is so strong and the story so compelling, 999 out of every 1000 people in the world follow another religion, or none?

7

Life On Mars!!!

by apostrate in

i first heard of this a couple of years ago, i think it is nasa that is sending people to mars to begin a colony on the red planet.

they will never be allowed to return to earth.

i just saw on the morning news that they have 100 people narrowed down who have volunteered.

bemused

I think this will be long off, if ever, but it's interesting to speculate.

Would the GB have to clarify doctrine? Would Armageddon affect Mars as well? Would any JWs on Mars be transported back to an earthly paradise post the big A or would there be a separate Martian wonderland? Could you still talk about 'worldly people' or would a new phrase be needed ('planetary people'?).

11

Caleb's Mother Is A Thief!

by Joe Grundy in

the definition of theft under the theft act 1968 is a person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with intention to permanently deprive the other of it.

(england & wales).

i was a cop (mainly a detective) for 30 years and thought of this after mentioning the sparlock video during the jw fs visit today.

bemused

'As a minor, Caleb is unable to own real property in the absence of a legal instrument like a trust or will.'

In which case, Caleb's friend (assuming he is a minor and not an adult 'friend' from the KH) did not own the toy and it still belongs to that child's parents, so Caleb's mother is guilty of destroying someone else's property.

The lawyers would have a field day with these nefarious goings on.

36

How many JWs really believe the end will come "soon"?

by BU2B in

jw
friends

this topic has been on my mind lately.

i have been looking around at jws and wondering how many truly believe the end is as near as they are told.

from my personal experience, i know that my parents fully believe the end is imminent and may come any time now.

bemused

I don't know that many JWs but if you go back a couple of decades then I think they thought the end was just around the corner. Nowadays they talk about plans for many years into the future so I assume they've pretty much given up on Armageddon arriving soon.

14

New french member / new website

by jw-verite in

i've been reading you for several months now and at last i decided to register !

i'm not sure if my post is in the good category so feel free to move it if it is not.... i'm french and i da'd in last november, losing my family by the way... i'm married and my wife is still in but our couple is still strong.. i still believe in the bible and i go from time to time in a baptist church.. i created a french website to expose the watchtower and its false teachings.

there is not a lot of websites like jwfacts in french so i tried to make it !.

bemused

Hi Verite. I hope all goes well with your web-site - it looks good although my French isn't good enough to understand it all. Bonne chance!

25

When did you realize evolution was true?

by Coded Logic in

) which person/source first made you reconsider your position on creationism?.

) how long a period of time did it take to fully convince you?.

) what books and videos did you read and watch?.

bemused

As a never-in I never doubted it, although I have subsequently read a couple of Dawkin's books and watched Potholer54's YouTube videos in order to understand it better. In the UK evolution is not a particularly contentious topic - apart from a couple of minor cults pretty much everyone accepts it as far as I can tell (admittedly in most cases without thinking very much about it).