Because it the beast, and they didnt want anyone to know they had one leg up on it.
bringing down the bOrg
by tula 30 Replies latest members private
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Seeker4
Websites like this are vital - look what this has done for all of us, and all the new ones that join every week, and the tons that are lurking but not posting.
You also have to realize that JWs are NOT big news. They are a minor and odd religion, most often mentioned in comedy routines. The Witnesses are not viewed seriously by anyone except ex-JWs - so don't expect the press to get all excited because the JWs were a UN NGO. Christ, that is meaningless to anyone outside the Witnesses and I'm totally surprised it got as much press as it did.
We were lucky!
There are lots of good suggestions on this thread - use them. But remember how minor JWs are to most of the universe!
S4 -
mcsemike
I would agree that the UN NGO event meant nothing to most people. The thing that makes ALL my neighbors pay attention is the child abuse scandal and the fact that the pedophiles go door to door. Most non-JW's (and I suspect many JW's too) know that pedophiles are virtually nonreformable. (The statistics I encountered when obtaining my degree in Psych was maybe one in 100,000 might reform permanently after their first, and supposedly last, offense.) Seeing that those odds stink to hell, I used them to tell my entire development why I moved to my "new state" and live with a family member who hates the JW's. Hearing that my daughter had been molested by a known (to the elders and many publishers) pedophile because my wife and I were not warned, they refused to speak with JW's any longer at the door. Many told me they repeated my experience to the JW's who had been bringing literature to them and that they were outraged with the JW's. The dubs tried to deny it but I had warned them they would and how they would try to explain it away. That only proved to the neighborhood even more that the JW's were ALL perverts. Either they were pedophiles, or they sympathized with them. Either way, the JW's were finished for good.
Now the neighbors tell THEIR families and friends. They have emailed relatives in other states. I think that's a good way to spread the word. Again, most people don't care about doctrine too much unless maybe a child dies from not having blood. But the world doesn't care about cross/stake, hell burning or not, etc.
Everyone loves children down here in Florida and they have a very extensive social services network in place. A local teacher got life in prison for one single event of molesting a teenage boy. They don't play around down here with molesters. They publish a free newspaper with pictures, addresses, full names, height, weight, date of birth, place of employment, etc. of all pedophiles. I think if we all concentrate on the abuse issue, the WT will start to be viewed as the sick cult that it is. Those people in Waco started out under the radar but things got ugly when they shot police officers.
I've also had success with emailing columnists who write articles in the local newspaper or else articles that we see on Google or Yahoo mail newsletters. Good luck to everyone in your attempts to expose these perverts.
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tula
You also have to realize that JWs are NOT big news. They are a minor and odd religion, most often mentioned in comedy routines. The Witnesses are not viewed seriously by anyone except ex-JWs - so don't expect the press to get all excited because the JWs were a UN NGO. Christ, that is meaningless to anyone outside the Witnesses and I'm totally surprised it got as much press as it did.
The reason it would be important to me is because if there were more info like this in a daily paper, then the wtbts would not be able to "warn " people against reading the newspaper like they warn against movies and books. It would be "all of a sudden" and "in your face". The R & F would have to see it. Then the WBTS would have a lot of 'esplainin to do. It would be an effective chisel, I think.
When I have told some of my JW friends about it, of course they deny it as propaganda and won't even look at it. And I sent one family member info via internet. And of course, she said "anyone can doctor up documents" and you can put anything on internet...no regulatory force (FDS) to make sure its true.
But in a local newspaper...well, that would have some regulatory force. I think some JW's would really be shaken. Don't you think?
Maybe if there was an expose article in Fri. religion section. Or maybe have UPI pick it up and go national. Do you think this could free a few more of the captives?
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tula
"A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within."
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Dead Man Joaquin
To me, the best way to tear down groupthink is to build up individuals. The organization thrives on fear of censure and low self-esteem which most JWs have, which is why the majority of Witnesses, when experiencing cognitive dissonance when things just don't seem right, will simply write it off as being due to their own weakness and lack of faith. We need to boost the self-esteem of individual JWs by congratulating them on their faith, dilligence, accomplishments, etc. so that when cognitive dissonance continues to occur (and it will more and more for intelligent JWs as time goes on), they will finally start to think, "You know, maybe it ISN'T just me. Maybe there IS something wrong with this picture after all". Nothing is more dangerous to the Watchtower than the power of thought - how many times have we been warned against the Danger of Independent Thinking (nevermind that it was Independent Thinking that got us out of the Satanic Babylon the Great to begin with)? And let's be fair and honest: Writing JWs off as a bunch of "illiterate pedophiles" or some other unfair blanket statement does not help anyone's cause. It gives the ex-JW community a black eye and just reinforces the "The evil apostates want to bring us down because they just plain hate us" dialectic. It gives the WT more ammo. Let's fight fire with fire and love-bomb 'em right back. After all, most Witnesses really ARE good people and are no dumber than any other cross-section of society. My best JW friends are some of the most razor-sharp individuals I've ever met. They are decent people and deserve to be treated decently. We need to think of ourselves as anti-Watchtower precisely because we ARE pro-Witness. The better the public perception of Witnesses, both as individuals and as a group, the worse the leadership will appear as it continues to pull hypocritical crap. And Witnesses, as their self-confidence increases, will catch on to this too. At least that's my theory.
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Nulite
Dead Man Joaquin, you suggest we play nice. Please keep in mind, that your JW friends that are razor sharp and cool can only remain that way as long as they don't view you as an apostate. Read Ray Franz's book. The witnesses while claiming love, love, love are only driven by numbers and a manic schedule. Start missing meetings and stop field service and you'll become some form of pariah. The witness idealogy of repression and anti-education is anti Christian and anti progress. Therefore this nice witness place is no place for an adult let alone a child seeking to make some sense of life and God.
Burn Watchtower one building at a time. (Kingdom Hall included)
N.L.
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AWAKE&WATCHING
mark for later
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bert
They are bringing themselves down as I see it. They seem to concentrate on "kicking the dog when he is already down." Which do you prefer hearing, " You look nice today,I am so glad I got to see you." or "What in the hell have you been doing,you look terrible,cant you clean up a little better before coming out in public?" To me their approach is all wrong. And its costing them new members and losing longtime dedicated people who are just tired of being made to feel worthless reguardless of how hard they try to keep up. I know I am imperfect,I am a sinner,I fail in lots of ways...neither the Watchtower,Catholics,Protestants,Judaism nor Islam can help me by constantly condemning me and throwing my weaknessess in my face. The Watchtower is a pip-sqeek in the world of religions anyway. They rule by fear and guilt. The bible says there is no one between god and man except Jesus. That sums up the Watchtowers importance in my mind.
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saved
Exposing scandals is good. Internet, print, TV is good.
Making noise is good. From small to big using media. That's all good.
Helping JWs on one and one is good.
But all these are NOT enough to bring down the Borg.
My ideas are the following:
1. An organized effort by wealthy individuals to help people (JWs or not) to sue the Watchtower around the world for blood transfusion cases and child abuse. The goal is to bring the Watchtower near bankruptcy. Awake is no longer bi-monthly released. With bankruptcy, the Watchtower will be forced to decrease its publication production, close down many branches, limit Kingdom Hall buildings, decrease conventions and assemblies, and so on. When that happens, they will try to brainwash and scare members to give more money to the Organization. But I don't think that will help for several reasons. JWs who sued would ask A LOT of money. (millions) The Watchtwower would even be forced to SELL some of its properties to afford its legal battles. The lawsuits all over North America and Europe will weaken the faith of many remaining members. And finally, the media will make noise about it adding more doubts to JWs bruised faith.
2. An organized campaign in the US to work with the medical community on fighting the Watchtower's deadly blood policy. If this one alone forced the Watchtower to abandon its policies would be a major blow to them. Many JWs will question the authority of the Watchtower. If not, well atleast this campaign would save thousands of lives - literally.
3. An organized effort to support powerful & influential JWs at the Headquarters (who are sick and tired of the GB) to leave and start two new Reformed Jehovah's Witness religions. This will heavily challenge the validity and authority of the Watchtower. The rich should fund these new sects. The major focus should be on recruiting JWs out of the Watchtower. Make them think that Jehovah is in charge under new Governing Body and is just directing JWs into his fold out of the corruption of the Watchtower. Major beliefs such as the Divine name, non-Trinity, paradise earth, no hellfire will stay but the ridiculous beliefs that the JWs secretly hate in the Watchtower will be abolished. (no blood transfusion, no birthdays, holidays, house to house preaching, disfellowshipping, cultic anti-social isolationist mentality) This plan is not really to create new religions. The ultimate goal is to weaken the Organization by splitting it into three groups. The "us against them" view, the trust in the Governing Body, the idea that this religion is unique will all come to pass. A house divided cannot stand. Hopefully in time, one would flourish into something totally unrecognizable from its original OR that all three would simply shrink down to the size of today's Russellites.
So in summary, I think everything mentioned in this board is good but aren't good enough to "bring down the bOrg". It takes a lot more than that to bring down the Watchtower. You need an organized collaborative effort of many powerful individuals and an access to massive funds. A combination of major lawsuits, educational campaigns, political connections and new attractive JW religious sects to challenge the Watchtower AND provide an alternative to those who will have an exodus out of the bOrg.