I tend to look at it in terms of "if we can accomplish this much with minimal effort, what might we achieve if we REALLY try?!"
Good point, Cedars.
"Mentally diseased" article to be published in The Independent tomorrow
by cedars 311 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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Anony Mous
It's in Dutch. I auto-translated it with some minor corrections.
Jehovah's witnesses: Renegades are mentally sick
Jehova's testify in song during a service in the French Villepin. © afpRemain from the neigborhood of renegades. They are mentally sick, warns the illustrated magazine of the Jehovah's Witnesses in a recent edition.
"Renegades uses 'falsified words' or incorrect arguments to let their ideas seem true", proclaims the Wachttoren in its edition of last July. "Remain therefore from their neighborhood, just like when a doctor says avoid contact with someone who has a contagious, deadly sickness. Renegades are mentally sick and try contaminate others with their incorrect teachings."
Threatened
According to leavers of the church in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands many organizations of Jehovah's prohibit association with renegades. Trouw got into possession a copy of the illustrated magazine meant for its private circle.
In the Netherlands according to their own counts Christian Congregation of Jehovah's witnesses have 30 thousand members. Association with outsiders is taboo, unless it concerns preaching to the door.
Illegal
The British police force examines at present if the judgements in the illustrated magazine are illegal. Ex-members consider also a complaint at the British Commission for charities.
According to a British spokesman of the church renegades are free in their choice. "We recognise their right to departure", he told in the daily The Independent. The British police force examines if the judgements in the illustrated magazine are illegal.
Ice
The Dutch expenditure finds oneself legally possible on ice. The booklet is translated from English and printed in Germany. As a result, the product is a German product legally seen.
Lawyer Gerard Spong lets know that the denomination is possibly illegal to German law. "That case law judges sometimes more strictly than Dutch. Germans have more experience with the painful impact of execrating minorities."
Second Member of Parliament Ronald van Raak (SP) insisted recently at minister Opstelten (justice) on a study into sects. "Sometimes religious behaviour is threatening rather than illegal. In such cases a reporting point is possibly significant. Perhaps we can establish a research or offer to ex-Jehova's a listening ear." -
Mickey mouse
THE official magazine of the Jehovah's Witnesses - the church best known for its doorknocking to gain recruits - has described those who quit the religion as "mentally diseased".
A members-only version of the Watchtower magazine, which states official church doctrine, describes defectors from the religion as apostates and likens them to someone infected with a "contagious, deadly disease ... who seeks to infect others".
The magazine instructs Jehovah's Witnesses to avoid greeting or speaking to anyone who has left the religion so they cannot be "deceived" by them.
It also tells them they should never watch a TV show or visit websites that highlight "fabricated" criticism of the religion and reinforces a directive that parents should shun children who are expelled from or quit the religion.
The religion's tactic of "disfellowshipping" and shunning those who quit the religion or dispute official church teachings will come under scrutiny at a national conference in Canberra next month that aims to alert lawmakers to the need for tougher laws to protect vulnerable people from controlling religions.
John McAlpin, a spokesman for the Cult Information and Family Support group, said high-control religions commonly used the threat of being banished and shunned by family and friends to maintain a grip on members and silence criticism.
"Cults recruit people who think this is the next big thing in their life, but the mind control they employ is insidious," he said.
"Once they're in, people are not allowed to think for themselves and they lose control of their lives.
"They're convinced that they will be the only ones who will survive the destruction of the world, that theirs is the one true religion and are threatened that if they leave the cult they will lose their family."
The seminar will be co-hosted by independent Senator Nick Xenophon, who has raised concerns in Parliament about Scientology and the Exclusive Brethren in the past.
Figures from Jehovah's Witnesses show that they have 65,000 active door-to-door preachers in Australia and that more than 1200 were baptised as members last year.
A major sociological study of the religion by English researcher Andrew Holden found that devotees were urged to limit their contact with the outside world and typically ended up with a social circle consisting only of other Jehovah's Witnesses.
This, the study found, added to their trauma if they wished to leave.
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wannabefree
Nice :)
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cedars
As I mentioned on another thread.... it will be fascinating to see if anything comes from the conference that they have planned.
I'm wondering whether it might be worthwhile if our Aussie friends try writing to Senator Nick Xenophon (that's an awesome name by the way, straight out of DC comics) in advance of the conference? He already appears to be on the case with the Scientologists - maybe we can raise his awareness of the impact of shunning on the JW community?
Here's the man himself:
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NewChapter
ogod ogod ogod. I'm getting ready to share this article with a JW. I'm actually shaking. I've never done this before.
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NewChapter
Well that went nowhere. She went silent and then disappeared. ah well.
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cedars
Seriously, will any Oz citizens be writing to the Senator? If anybody needs help writing an email/letter, please PM me and I will help you put something together. This is an important opportunity. I would write to him myself, but I think an email/letter from an actual Australian citizen might just carry a bit more weight!!
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nugget
Never mind you tried she may even get curious once her fear calms down.
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slimboyfat
cedars you are like totally awesome dude!