Posts by bemused

27

Australia Evidence List is public and contains Elders Book

by Skidmarks in

there is so much information on the website of the hearing.

you can find the full transcripts of each day there as pdf.. but also the evidence list is very interresting.

it contains many confidential letters from congregations but also from the hq to branch offices.. the full list can be seen here: http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/exhibits/636f01a5-50db-4b59-a35e-a24ae07fb0ad/case-study-29,-july-2015,-sydney.

bemused

As a never-in, I think the opening submission contains a great summary of the religion - I'm going to keep it for reference.

43

Extrapolation of the Australia child abuse numbers

by sir82 in

(let me know if anyone thinks my assumptions are way out of line, or if i've forgotten anything).

basic facts:.

the australian royal commission has 1000+ documented cases of child abuse over 65 years.

bemused

The opening submission to the Royal Commission says that there are 817 congregations in Australia.

It's hard to say how many of the alleged abusers will still be active - less than half? If we guess 400 then there would then be one alleged abuser per two Australian congregations. How many unknown abusers there are is anyone's guess.

39

JW Reaction to Royal Commission Reports

by maksutov in

has anybody confronted any jws with the royal commission reports on the news yet?

i showed my 8-year old daughter a newspaper headline about it, and when she told my jw wife that the jws in australia were in trouble for not reporting over 1,000 child abusers to police, her response was "oh, really?

well, i don't know what the rules are over there.

bemused

It's on the BBC web-site. I imagine UK newspapers will pick up on the story too.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-33673240

6

Children and University

by disillusioned 2 in

just wanted to share some good news.

my daughter has just got her first job as a school teacher, she starts in september.

another daughter will be starting university in september, and one of my sons also.

bemused

That's great news. Best wishes to them and let's hope that their ex-peers in the Kingdom Hall will have pause for thought if they hear of these successes.

10

How long will it take?

by John Aquila in

at some point in the future, it has to finally dawn on people that something is seriously flawed about the idea of jesus coming in the clouds to save everyone who believes- and kill everyone who doesnt..

will people still believe in jesus in another 1000 years?

will people still be saying in the year 5015;.

bemused

In the UK, regular churchgoers account for about 12% of the population. Some of the other 88% may tick 'Church of England' on the census form out of habit but I think it's reasonable to conclude that a significant majority of the population of the UK doesn't believe that Jesus was the son of God.

As for "Jesus coming in the clouds to save everyone who believes- and kill everyone who doesn’t", I would say less than 1% believes that - this isn't a doctrine that the Catholics or the Church of England actively preaches.

I'm hearing people talk very negatively about religion as a result of the rise of Islamic State. It's not just Islam that is coming in for criticism but all religions with their received wisdom and absolute certainties. People seem generally far more sceptical and prepared to challenge these days and while no doubt there will be some believers for many, many years yet, at least in the UK I would expect Christians to become an ever smaller group.

JWs may not suffer as badly because of their shunning policy holding people in. Even then, it's one thing subscribing to a particular religion when most other people are religious, but quite another when almost everyone else is secular - the feeling of otherness must grow for the still-in Witnesses.

37

W 15 july - members of others religions not destroyed???

by paradisebeauty in

please tell me what do you understand from this quote that is taken from w july 2015, the article your deliverance is close paragraph 5.. i understand that not all members of other religions will be destroyed at armageddon.

i talked to a jw.

he says he understands differently: they will not be destroyed when the babylon the great will be destroyed but they will be destroyed in armageddon.

bemused

Any hope for atheists?

24

Org is going to appeal!

by The Searcher in

the english woman who has been awarded 275,000 compensation for being abused by the ministerial servant paedophile, will now have to wait while the org fights to keep hold of its precious money, by appealing the court's decision.. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33201010.

bemused

I guess an appeal was inevitable. If they think they have a decent chance of winning then it's a no-brainer and, even if their chances are slim, they have to try to stop the flood gates from opening.

I so hope they will lose and get stung for another massive legal costs bill. A key problem that I see for the WT is that they hold up the office of ministerial servant as one to be aspired to and so by implication that the holders of the office are trustworthy christians. In fact, didn't one of the GB (Tony Morris?) recently say that women should not consider marrying someone who was not a ministerial servant? If the organization has concerns about an MS but say nothing, it's very hard to see how they are not at fault.

11

Unconvincing Evidence in September Watchtower

by bemused in

i was looking at the september 2015 issue of the watchtower, which, unlike the simplified and study editions, appears to be aimed at non-jws.

a couple of articles caught my eye that quote biblical sources which are somewhat less than convincing to a non-believer.. firstly 'what do jehovah's witnesses believe?

' says that the core belief is that 'all scripture is inspired of god and beneficial'.

bemused

I was looking at the September 2015 issue of the Watchtower, which, unlike the simplified and study editions, appears to be aimed at non-JWs. A couple of articles caught my eye that quote biblical sources which are somewhat less than convincing to a non-believer.

Firstly 'What do Jehovah's Witnesses Believe?' says that the core belief is that 'all scripture is inspired of God and beneficial'. Leaving aside questions such as just how beneficial the advice on the appropriate severity with which to beat your slaves is, I noticed that they make it clear that this is a direct quote from the bible (Timothy). So, hang on, - JW's believe the bible is divinely inspired because the bible says it is divinely inspired? I think their obsession with biblical quotes has caught out the WT here.

The second article is entitled 'Bible Questions Answered' and deals with biblical prophecies. Essentially it is saying that because some biblical prophecies have been fulfilled then we can be confident that the remaining prophecies (Armageddon etc) will also come about. OK - so what evidence do they put forward to support their claim that prophecies have been fulfilled? Well, they use Luke where it says:

"However, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by encamped armies, then know that the desolating of her has drawn near. 21 Then let those in Ju·de′a begin fleeing to the mountains, let those in the midst of her leave, and let those in the countryside not enter into her, 22 because these are days for meting out justice in order that all the things written may be fulfilled."

In other words, if you see a city besieged by bloodthirsty armies don't go there. And the WT goes on to argue that because those early Christians weren't daft enough to ignore this sound advice and so survived by heading for the hills we can therefore be sure that all prophecies in the bible will come true so get yourself down to a Kingdom Hall pronto.

If that's the best they can come up with it's no surprise that there is little growth in developed countries outside of births. I just wonder if the people writing this stuff ever have moments of doubt when trying to put an argument together.

30

Re: Music at Theocratic Events

by pixel in

this is a crappy letter from the watchtower.

i'm only posting it to show how micro-managers these fools are.

and at the end, they say: "we should avoid making specific rules about somewhat technical matters".

bemused

I love that they found biblical references to back up instructions on the right level to play music at.

Presumably a lot of effort went into producing this letter and no doubt there will then have been review committees and the like. It's not wonder they are having cash flow problems if they are wasting time and resources on such issues.

60

Being shunned only increases my certainty that the WBT$ is a cult

by punkofnice in

well, i don't wanna rant too much but sometimes things cut you don't they.. a family member had a get together for the family, jw and non jw and of course i wasn't invited being da'd.. i understand why they couldn't invite me but it just made me think.

in normal society this wouldn't happen.

i'd have been there.. the shunning is so unnatural and damaging.

bemused

Sorry to hear that Punk.

You say that the party was also for non-JW relatives. Do they know that you were deliberately excluded? If not, you might want to point that out to them. I'm a never-in and I would think twice about attending the party if someone was excluded just for no longer believing in a religious doctrine.