Posts by Gentledawn

24

Stalking people

by Esmeralda001 in

have you ever been stalked/spied on by fellow jws?

Gentledawn

The Watchtower, September 1, 1987 pages 12-15:

"One day Mary (who worked as a medical assistant) faced a dilemma. In processing medical records, she came upon information indicating that a patient, a fellow Christian, had submitted to an abortion. Did she have a Scriptural responsibility to expose this information to elders in the congregation, even though it might lead to her losing her job, to her being sued, or to her employer’s having legal problems? Or would Proverbs 11:13 justify keeping the matter concealed? This reads: "The one walking about as a slanderer is uncovering confidential talk, but the one faithful in spirit is covering over a matter."—Compare Proverbs 25:9, 10.
[...]
Mary was somewhat apprehensive about the legal aspects but felt that in this situation Bible principles should carry more weight than the requirement that she protect the privacy of the medical records. Surely the sister would not want to become resentful and try to retaliate by making trouble for her, she reasoned. So when Mary analyzed all the facts available to her, she decided conscientiously that this was a time to "speak," not to "keep quiet."

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/100211/shunned-again-you-wont-guess-where-ever?page=5#1726065

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On the other hand:

Gordon Leighton: Jehovah's Witness whose child abuse was covered up by church elders is jailed

Three years those elders made the court wait for that already given confession (Yes, the molester/rapist was known as such by those men, but he was still held in higher regard than the victims).

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/gordon-leighton-jehovahs-witness-whose-2214200

Clergy-laity protection is what they claim, but tell people on the inside that we're all equal, that there are no class distinctions? My ass.

24

Stalking people

by Esmeralda001 in

have you ever been stalked/spied on by fellow jws?

When I was a study, an elder started coming to where I worked. I thought he was an old customer (I worked in the closed off area in the back, where no customers go). Turns out he had just started coming there recently, after I started studying with a sister in his congregation. It was very creepy, to say the least. Especially when the people at the front desk told me he asked a lot of things about me.

He almost always had a fake, vacant-eyed smile on his face, no matter where he was, which didn't help at all. Unblinking, wide and unnatural, like Hannibal Lecter or something.

When I changed congregations after getting baptized he (congo secretary) didn't transfer my records. I called him up, and he proceeded to chew me out in no uncertain terms. Again, this time around I was baptized and not a potential recruit any more.

The flip of the switch between love and hate was staggering to me. I never really had that same feeling going to meetings after that (and a few other angry people from the former hall chewing me out for stupid stuff, too), even tho the new hall was calm, sedate and very loving of all comers.

The whole turnabout was so jarring, I started missing meetings and didn't go to the memorial the following spring. Why I stuck around with the religion after that is beyond me. It was nothing but drudgery from there on out. There definitely was a bunch of fake love (see "love-bombing") in the initiation process ("bible" study), but the guy couldn't keep up the facade after I got baptized. Funny, he always treated his pre-teen son like crap, no matter who was around. Probably treated him a whole lot worse at home, where he was free to beat him. Hindsight being 20/20.

19

Bollocks...

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

" the opposite of knowledge is love".

the rebel.. i believe a poster named " cofty" once replied to my great thought " the opposite of knowlege is love" with the comment :-.

" bollocks" .

Gentledawn

I have NO idea what you're on about, Slimboyfat.

here's the vid related to my (current) avatar, which has as much to do with anything with what you wrote ("truth isn't truth even in truthiest sense of truth"? IDK).

https://vimeo.com/24191501

19

Bollocks...

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

" the opposite of knowledge is love".

the rebel.. i believe a poster named " cofty" once replied to my great thought " the opposite of knowlege is love" with the comment :-.

" bollocks" .

Gentledawn

I believe a poster named " Cofty" once replied to my great thought " The opposite of knowlege is love" with the comment

Why is this thought of yours "great"?

You're polarizing two things (love vs knowledge) that are not true opposites. That's actually part and parcel of "us vs them", black & white thinking. Fallacious reasoning / logical fallacy.

No hype or malice on my part. Simple observation is all.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone here at JWN!

56

OK friends lets be honest, if a Nuclear Holocaust took place today how many of you would return to the KH?

by James Mixon in

speaking for my self, no way in hell.. this question to see if you really have been deprogramed,.

do you 100% believe it is not the truth.. a fourth of the world hit by a nuclear attack..

Gentledawn

two words for ya: Silkwood Shower

Watchtower teachings are utter bullshit. Taking a regular-type shower with other people scrubbing a person down really hard with steel wool pads & hard bristle brushes or whatever those things were (been a few years since I watched the movie), in order to remove plutonium contamination? Same damned thing as running into the arms of a known cult!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2Ec20v7wX8

Why put yourself through medieval practices that are akin to leeching?

" On November 5, 1974, Silkwood performed a routine self-check and found that her body contained almost 400 times the legal limit for plutonium contamination. She was decontaminated at the plant and sent home with a testing kit to collect urine and feces for further analysis. Although there was plutonium on the inner portions of the gloves which she had been using, the gloves did not have any holes. This suggests the contamination had come not from inside the glovebox, but from some other source."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Silkwood

28

Give us more faith WT

by Formerbrother in

what a picture in this sundays wter.

the go bag is there and they have to turn all the lights out and have their meeting in secret.. .

in our congregation we are really being pushed hard to get your go bags in order for every member of the congregation, with at least 3-5 days food and water.. .

Gentledawn

July 15, 2011 WT ‘’Well, apostates are 'mentally diseased', page 16, paragraph 6

http://download.jw.org/files/media_magazines/51/w_E_20110715.pdf

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Watchtower was a member of the United Nations. They applied in 1991 and were accepted in 1992. they subsequently renewed their membership each year afterwards, for nine (9) years, by signing an agreement form. They printed articles showing the U.N. in a favorable light in November Awake! 1998. When the Guardian newspaper printed a story about the watchtower being blatant liars and hypocrites for being members of an organization that they (WT) likened to the "wild beast" and other off-putting terms, watchtower withdrew membership from the U.N.days later.

"To Whom It May Concern" letter, put out by the United Nations themselves, because they were inundated with requests by concerned public (aka current and former members of the religion, more than likely) for confirmation of watchtower's membership:

http://web.archive.org/web/20060625030756/http://www.un.org/dpi/ngosection/pdfs/watchtower.pdf

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Correspondence between the journalist (watchtower requested some sort of confidentiality or some clap-trap). The journalist was having none of it, because he caught the watchtower lying multiple times in their exchange:

http://www.jwfacts.com/pdf/un-correspondence-bates-gilles.pdf

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And the Ram Cam thing was news to me (I think... lots of info has been bookmarked to read later over the past 3 years). But it didn't take long to confirm what's being said here, just by doing a simple internet search.

We're not a bunch of brainwashed infants. Watchtower (and other high-control groups) would like to make and keep us in a helpless, infantile state. The reality is much harder for watchtower and their brainwashed lackeys to avoid: we have access to a world of information. Information is the equivalent of hitting the light switch on the world of cockroaches: they can scatter and run to hide as best they can, but the real truth is poison to them. And reality is a breath of fresh air to those of us who've been oppressed by their nonsensical contortionist-style thinking, printings and overall bullshit lying.

Yes, lying. They're liars. They'll throw almost anyone under the bus in order to maintain a squeaky-clean image as an organization. But that's all their image is: a mirage. A pipe dream.

(November 22, 1998 Awake had 12 PAGES of articles favorable to the U.N. and its activities. easily missed by some : it was the month my mom died)

75

Australian Royal Commission Findings released

by Mephis in

will just post the general findings by counsel for the commission (angus stewart) - case specific ones are prior to them.

in short, absolutely damning.. not been through every submission myself yet.

available for download here: http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/case-study/636f01a5-50db-4b59-a35e-a24ae07fb0ad/case-study-29,-july-2015,-sydney.aspx.

Gentledawn

Ruby456: omg - this report isn't as damning as I'd thought it would be - it really isn't. Other religions examined are much much worse.

"doctrine of relative filth" - When unethical actions look good when compared with worse behavior by others.

Ruby456: Most of the changes required are related to religion v secularism views of children and women against family orientation

WTF is "family orientation"? Your whole final sentence reads like gibberish, imo. Nice misdirect (fallacious reasoning) in the opening remark, too.

48

Your thoughts on Halloween , yes, no or maybe ?

by Finkelstein in

well its that time again when the ghouls come out to play.

i personally think halloween is a bit irresponsible and inappropriate from a sociological perspective.. there's something about the intent of frightening young impressionable children minds with frightening objests.

and feeding them candy which most likely cause tooth decay and stomachs is irresponsible activity conducted by adults.

Gentledawn

One of my favorite stories and appropriate for Halloween:

H.P Lovecraft - a reading of "The Outsider":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE0sB1VIm3s&feature=email

155

Headline: "Islamic Invasion: Europe now scrambles for guns." How true is this?

by cappytan in

jw
friends

a year to a year and a half ago, i would have taken this article at face value and believed it.. now, i realize this article comes from a dubious source.

world news daily has a die-hard right-wing bias.

so, in an effort to get real information, i'm asking my european exjw's, is this article all true?

Gentledawn

Yup. Just noticed this headline on "Russia Today" (RT):

"Austrians snapping up shotguns as thousands of Mideast refugees enter country"
Published time: 29 Oct, 2015 08:33

Hand guns and rifle sales are spiking in Austria, with some shops reporting they are running out of stocks of shotguns, since no license is needed to buy them.

“Yes, I can confirm, the demand in Austria for weapons is growing. My revenue doubled in September. And in October it has doubled again, and we are still in October,” a gun shop owner told RT.

https://www.rt.com/news/320026-austria-gun-sales-spike/

13

All C. O. D.O Who Became Governing Body Members Hands Are Dirty In Many Child Molestation Cases Cover Up Lawsuits

by Brokeback Watchtower in

what say you and i bet when records get subpoenaed many get grilled in court.

Gentledawn

Ratzinger (aka Pope Benedict) was one of the worst. He was the "buck stops here" person in charge of ALL Catholic church pedo cases prior to "ascending" to pope-hood. All cases.

""His record is terrible. Before he became pope, his predecessor put him in charge of the abuse crisis.

"He has read thousands of pages of reports of the abuse cases from across the world. He knows more about clergy sex crimes and cover-ups than anyone else in the church yet he has done precious little to protect children.""

[...]

Before becoming pope, there were also major scandals in the US and Ireland at a time when Pope John Paul II had put the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in charge of dealing with them.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/feb/11/pope-complicit-child-abuse-say-victims

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The rank and file in any given religion would have to actually matter in order to qualify for concern. JWs are a captive religion. Once inside (baptized), there is no legitimate means of escape. Add to that: mandatory reporting of any so-called wrong doing. And because there is an invisible (to the rank and file) 2 witness rule in place, the victims will almost always be on the losing end of the deal, even before the "confession" is heard from the molestation victim and his/her family. The elders and C.O.s can do f_ck-all (according to their own rules), and will tell the victim to leave it in Jehovah/Santa Claus/Tooth Fairy's hands.

In fact, the rule set is utterly stacked against the victims, even before the molestation/rape happens. And I'd bet the JWleadership are well aware (and smug, too) about this fact.