Posts by StarTrekAngel

7

Can We Encourage Governments to Take Action Against Sexual Abusers of Children ?

by smiddy in

how many countries in the world today , are presently , or soon to be , setting up some sort of commission or an inquiry into child sexual abuse by an organization of any sort , religious ,sporting institution cultural .,etc.etc.. australia has , england has , and i believe germany is following suit .. are their anymore ?

that we can add to the list ?.

of course these inquirys take time , years in fact , but that should not deter us from forging ahead with this agenda.. it is the youth of today who get justice and the youth of tomorrow who can be spared this crime .. and the institutions can modify their policies to bring them up into the 21st century to protect their young.. so if the govt.

StarTrekAngel

I believe that along with bringing them to justice and change their policies, there should be some form of restrain in the "Freedom of Religion" excuse. It has become norm to claim freedom of religion at some level of every one of these cases in an effort to obfuscate the truth, deny providing evidence or shield someone from responsibility.

6

Any Kingdom Halls not displaying the JW.ORG sign?

by FatFreek 2005 in

i've only noticed one when we're on hwy 79, north of our camden, ar, usa.

it is the relatively new kh in fordyce, ar, on that main highway.

is this the rule rather than the exception?.

StarTrekAngel

I have not seen one yet. Even some of the smallest KH I've seen in South America have the sign outside. I have been wondering if this fancy of displaying the logo has anything to do with a tax and/or financial requirement, given that now the real state status of the org has probably changed.

4

GB travel preferences

by StarTrekAngel in

i know this questions has been asked many times before.

this seems to answer it.

although some may question the articles credibility.

StarTrekAngel

I know this questions has been asked many times before. This seems to answer it. Although some may question the articles credibility. I do not find it too difficult since one of the elders in my congo used to be sent around as a CO rep and has travel internationally on behalf of the WT and he claims to have done so in first class.

http://jwsurvey.org/cedars-blog/no-expense-spared-governing-body-members-do-fly-business-class

21

What is the real purpose of attending your JC?

by StarTrekAngel in

i was compelled to ask this question because i have seen several of the youtube videos on jcs.

on striking similarity among all these videos is that most of the people bringing the arguments to the elders are pretty much atheists or have turned to another religion altogether.. i can easily see that the common concern in most of the people involved, is their ability to keep in touch with family and friends, which by all means would be my concern as well, when and if i ever end up in one.. however, i can't help but to notice something.

it is difficult enough to think of the day that the wt would accept a loose canon in their ranks, let alone someone who openly claims to no longer believe in god.

StarTrekAngel

I was compelled to ask this question because I have seen several of the youtube videos on JCs. On striking similarity among all these videos is that most of the people bringing the arguments to the elders are pretty much atheists or have turned to another religion altogether.

I can easily see that the common concern in most of the people involved, is their ability to keep in touch with family and friends, which by all means would be my concern as well, when and if I ever end up in one.

However, I can't help but to notice something. It is difficult enough to think of the day that the WT would accept a loose canon in their ranks, let alone someone who openly claims to no longer believe in God. My point is that regardless of the rules the elders are following, a point of contention among your family could be the fact that it is ok if you disagree with the WT but if you no longer believe in God, then for sure we don't want you around.

In other words, would it not be easier to confront the elders saying you still believe in God (even if so pretending) and Jehovah but you are concerned with the direction of the WT? Would you relatives not be more inclined to ignore the shunning rules if you did not speak against Jehovah? At least from my experience, most JWs I know would assure me their loyalty is to God and that if the GB ever commanded something against the word of God, they are not obligated to listen. By all means, I know the idea of the GB ever doing so is far fetched in the minds of JWs. But... would your argument be easier if you took that approach? Would it be easier in your relatives to see you as someone who disagrees with the leadership but strongly (again if so pretending) believes that Jehovah still knows what is best for you and you believe?

I see in many cases people bring up failed predictions, doctrine reversals and the elders always pulled the "we are just imperfect humans" card.

How about this?... how many times did the WT explained why God allows evil by saying that Satan challenged God in front of humanity and therefore God is allowing Satan to rule the world so that humans would know what it is like? How many times have they not said that the example is similar to a student challenging the teacher in front of a class. They question... would it be honest for the teacher to expel the student without allowing the student to prove his point? Or do they not say that the just approach for the teacher would be to allow the student to demonstrate his point so that the teacher would be confirmed correct? If God allows this to happen to the extent that he puts lives at stake in order to do so, who is the GB or the elders to remain unquestioned and unchallenged?

In one of the latest videos I saw, the elders walk around the shunning issue by saying that even if they did not DFd the guy, his family would shun him anyway because the person involved openly admitted he did not believe in God anymore. They guy kept on arguing that his family would shun him because the WT says so. In the minds of most people they are doing God's will, not the WT will. If your real purpose is to maintain association, would you be able to do so by denying God? Would you not be doing the elders job for them by telling your family this? Would you really be earning the rapport with your family as Hassan has suggested?

Any thoughts?

41

Are there any instances of "GOD" order and/or condoning the rape of women in the bible?

by Black Man in

jw
friends

this came up recently with my dyed-in-the-wool jw pioneer mother, who swears up and down that there are no scriptural instances of this happening.

i seem to remember a couple passages, but can't remember where they were..

StarTrekAngel

That is not all cofty... the same paragraph states that she was disposable. If the man was not pleased with her, he could let her go.

39

$40,000.00 USD, and counting.....

by DATA-DOG in

i'm not sure if anyone is keeping track, but as of today, the wtbts has spent $40,000.00 usd to avoid releasing sensitive documents to the superior authorities.

that's $40,000.00 usd of "dedicated funds.

are you a born-in jw?

StarTrekAngel

it is now upwards of $60,000. What would my mother in law think if she had donated her $60,000 home and robbed her children of their inheritance? All to pay this one fine? $60,000 gone in under a second?

25

Beard's Coming to the Borg!

by DwainBowman in

wt sept study edition, page 17, paragraph 17!

.

StarTrekAngel

It it just a game. This "culture" they name does not exist anywhere in the borg;s manifest. Is just another way to make you feel you are in the right place since they are so "tolerant" when in reality you can not verify this claim.

70

Did I open the gate to the realm of demons?

by redpilltwice in

this is what happened.

i had a sore tendon in my wrist.

i could work with it, but nevertheless the pain was there.

StarTrekAngel

Correct me if I am wrong ( I am asking seriously) but I do not, after reading the whole bible, recall a single event of something good ever attributed to daemons or satan. I do remember when the JWs use to actively teach this about other religions, claiming that whatever healing that happened at another church was Satan portraying himself as "angel of light".

Even the Jews tried to pin this to Jesus and he explained how it is impossible to attribute something good to that or who is naturally evil.

13

Is wife beginning to turn around?

by StarTrekAngel in

so some may have read the long and boring post about our last vacation and some of the things that my wife came to tell me during our time away.

i am adding the link here but i can summarize it for time's sake.. https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5768475763015680/vacation-time-reality-closing-up-on-my-wife.

in a nutshell, right before we left, we found out of a jw couple we know well.

StarTrekAngel

So some may have read the long and boring post about our last vacation and some of the things that my wife came to tell me during our time away. I am adding the link here but I can summarize it for time's sake.

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5768475763015680/vacation-time-reality-closing-up-on-my-wife

In a nutshell, right before we left, we found out of a JW couple we know well. He was DFd for fornication. We did not have all the details but once I bumped into him and we started talking. He told me he was DFd and I told him I did not care. He shared some details of the ordeal but we did not have much time. He also told me he had several doubts about the borg. Comes along out trip, having been away from meetings for close to a month, wife told me a few things that made me feel like she finally realized that the real love was at home and not at the KH. That regardless of our difference of views, the religion should not be a dividing factor among us, provided that there is plenty of proof that this org lies and cheats. Although this was just a feeling of mine, she did not say those words exactly.

After returning home, things seemed to quickly start moving back to the normal self. Meetings right away for her. Feelings of disappointment for me. Should have kept my expectations low I thought. However, I decided to give the brother mentioned above a call and ask him how he was doing (since I am the only JW he can speak with). We conversed on the phone for about 2 hours. I was in the car at home when we were getting ready to hang up. My wife got home and saw me there. When I went in she was naturally curious to know what I was doing.

I told her who I was speaking with and the inquiring began. In a nutshell, I told her how this guy, who has been married for 25 years, ended up sleeping with another woman and the reasons he gives for this sin (mostly marital issues but he also admitted to having some differences of belief). Here I begin to notice a change in her, I realized this event was having an effect on her and most likely she was beginning to trace a parallel between their situation and ours.

I had agreed to meet with this brother at his home, so I took a chance on a meeting day (while wife was at the meeting) and we spent about 4 hours talking about his issues. I came to find out a lot of other things about elders in the local hall (more than one congo) and how they were covering for each other. How some elders that were scolded for inappropriate advances to other women were left as elders and were delivering talks at conventions. And that is by far not the worst thing I heard. A lot of what I learned could be verified by other things I've seen myself so I am pretty confident he is telling the truth. This brother also has an "apostate attitude" on him already, although he still believes this is the right place to be, his faith is far from optimal and we both agreed that if anyone ever found out what he thought, he would be DFd again if he wasn't already. I shared some of the most shocking things about TTATT. He was not aware of the child abuse issues and even sort of began to justify their actions as "human errors", until he saw some of the documentation available online.

When I got back home, I referred all of the stories to my wife, she began to cry. She finally broke out and told me that she has been thinking a lot lately about what is happening to this couple and how we could end up the same. The most comforting words from her were when she said that despite our past arguments, it would not be fair for us to let this issue get in between us. Unfair as in the religion wins and we get nothing in return. Unfair as in the GB still gets what it wants while we brake up. There is no love or fairness, as she could verify and that regardless how much she likes some of the normal teachings, to even hold the idea that we'd be better off apart from each other is unthinkable.

This made me feel so much better and renewed the hope that one day this may get fixed for good. At no point did she say she was going to quit attending meetings or anything, but the fact that she realizes that the religion is not worth as much as she used to think, is a step in the right direction.

Later that week we decided to go on a date. This is something we used to do a lot before but started faltering as we started arguing more. The date was going great and was fairly normal. I decided to ask her if she wanted to go for a walk but I had no intentions of talking about anything in particular. As we sat down in a park, she was awfully quiet. I asked her what was wrong and she told me that she can not stop thinking about this couple. The discussion started shifting slowly to us and our religious differences. However, this time things were as peaceful as if we had come to an understanding that this is wrong and we were both in the same page for a while. Once again, we are not talking about quitting but rather the effects that this has in our relationship and our children. All of a sudden she claims to have always agreed with me regarding the wrong about the borg but at the same time can not bare the idea of her family cutting ties with her. I told her I did not want that either but that if at least we had an understanding then we could work out the kinks together without disrupting family ties.

I believe she still has a lot of reconciliation to do with her belief. She is still probably under the impression that regardless of the legal and moral issues facing the borg, that they still have something useful for us. I told her already that despite how much she's heard from me, that we have not even began to review spiritual issues. She still claim some good is there and I agree but I told her that whatever good is there is only meant to support the bad, not to help anyone.

So hopefully this is a turning point that will allow her to see things for what they are thru the eyes of reasoning and not emotional attachment. It really seems to me that the emotional attachment to our family is winning over the attachment to the group.

Wish me luck.

21

I Don't Care If It Is A Cult ???

by thereishope in

shared a bit with my husband the other day about what i'd learned about cults.

how nearly (if not all) every box on the list gets checked for jw.

he got some upset!

StarTrekAngel

Ask to solve the following riddle... This is not going to wake up anyone (did not do it for me) but sure poses a question that can not be answered, which will eventually lead to acknowledging such

Who has the truth?

JW do..

How do we know?

The bible tells us so

Is the bible the truth?

Yes..

How do we know we understand it correctly?

The slave has provided the understanding

How do we know who the slave is?

The bible tells us how to identify him

But I thought we could not understand the bible without the slave, yet the bible is to tell us how to identify the one person or persons whom are supposed to deliver its understanding? I am confused..