Barbara,
You do not know more about Bethel and the mind set than I do. Please,let us face reality. You are a horrible researcher. The Dateline piece could have been handled so m uch b etter by many people on this forum. So you researched for the Writing Department! Well, countless people here did better and more complicated research to get high school and college degrees. You may think you are the last word on sophistication and WT. Let me inform you that you are not. This Barbara Anderson worship is disgusting.. She has done incredible things. Extraordinary things.
Silent Lambs could be much better. I already know many posters here who could do Silent Lambs a million times better. It is not truly awful but it could be so much better with not much effort. No one knows everything. Let me post an article I wrote. It will take time to find an appropriate one b/c I am moving. Your writing is b.s. compared to my writing. Your analysis is clumsy. It is not only me.
I am furious. Everyone here has strengths. We all have weakness. Unique, powerful insights and God help us all flaws. Never follow leaders. Don't worship former JWs because they founded Silent Lambs or made it on Dateline for a few, fleeting moments. The very ones who are so impressed by what no person with power would be impressed with tend to be the very ones who could improve Silent Lambs to make it more effective.
Unlike you, I know the WT backwards and forwards. You may think you know. Do you know how many thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of people, worked at Bethel in more important positions. Get Real. My father was not a clown. Furthermore, the research and writing at the WT is so deplorable I would never reveal that I was remotely near the place. Were you buddies with Hayden Covington? So many others here have closer and more extended experience.
This sums up in a nutshell. People who leave the Witnesses, in general, are so traumatized that they will never trust another person about anything ever again. The person may have been present at unique moments in world history, studied something intensively for decades, be a partner at a large law firm in New York, practice medicine, travel the world doing hard core Biblical scholarship, no, ex-Witnesses of a mediocre background will never enhance their lives by listening and learning. Don't ever tell a JW that they will die if they do X. I am not the only member here who sees this pattern. You know some things well. Well, I personally know more things well.
I could stop the Witnesses far better than you can. You have no idea what I know. Masses of others here can do. I've discussed it with them. You especially with your arrogance, give the WT even more power. Someone mentioned the ACLU. Well, who here knows exactly how to talk to ACLU lawyers and knows what to highlight in precisely the right voice to have them back off defending the Witnesses a bit? Not YOU. NEVER. The reality is that even with my personal friends and acquaintances, the ACLU will always defend the Witnesses. What I could do is soften the ardor a bit. Perhaps a little bit cuold make a big difference. I talk to the New York Times, Barbara. Rather than competing for who is the queen of the playground, why not celebrate our individual strengths and encourage each other.
The power exists now. The problem is that the people who know what to do from life experience, education, and interests cannot stomach this mind set. People with true power realize their limitations. If you are a master of the universe in reality, you cannot always call in favors. When a truly bad experience happens, you call in favors and people drop their pressing matters to help your emergency only b/c you don't abuse your contacts/knowledge ever in real life. For once listen to me, lawyers, doctors, marketing professionals, admitting you were once a Witness will cause people to lost some respect for you. You should see the shocked faces and people fainting. Jesus Christ could make phone calls and with this "I know so little but I know all" attitude, the WT will only grow more powerful.
Fortunately, the converse is true. Any lawyer, marketing expert, investment advisor that is a Jehovah's Witness also has this "I know so little but I know everything for all situations" mentality. This is their weak point. Not only I know but others here know how to bludgeon them b/c of this mentallity.They may think they are so bright. No, no matter your law school grades and whatever crap school would not kick you b/c you are dragging down the education of all other students, they are not bright or talented. This is their vulnerability. Law suits, mass organizations, demonstrations never will.
Read any article or book concerning the 60s. Name any event in the 60s and I was not only there, I helped planned it or my friends planned it. We did millions of people protesting in NY, Boston, and DC. I once took over a college building. We hissed war criminals on their way to class. Please, I know the U.S. Senate and Congress buildings from high school. We held special brainstorming ideas with Nobel Laureates and ACLU super lawyers. It was in deadly earnest. Classmates and profs were arrested and went to jail. Dan Berrigan poured napalm on draft records and went to prison for a long time. We did Nelson Mandela. He was one our lead mentors. I wrote thousands of letters to public officials. The press was on our side. The future leaders of this country despise this country. It was the American Tianmen Square. We were near Civil War. No end to Viet Nam.
Some seminary student came up with the best idea of all. It was called the Viet Nam Moratorium. Despite all the press and history books, the vast majority of students favored the Viet Nam War. I never met one in real life but accurate pollsters did. This relative nobody decided to show how the entire country was fed up. The concept was so simple. On October 15, all Americans, wherever they lived, would just walk out work, school, stop treating patients, stop architectual work, not chase criminals and walk out to the sidewalk or driveway for ten minutes. It was very risky. I was agitated. If no one walked out, the Viet Nam War would continue ever longer than before the protest. As the minute approached, my heart is beating so fast and hard. Well, as the second hand arrived, I was completely shocked. Americans every place from all walks of life had had enough. Millions walked out. Washington, DC realized their re-election was not certain. This worked better than any sit-in, teach=in, prison, etc.
The elite of every country will walk out b/c they have privilege. The East Coast and California do not represent the country. When people in Kansas, Iowa, Georgia walk out, the lesson is taught.
Stop insulting me. Perhaps this will be my last post b/c I am finally telling the truth. Don't follow me. Follow your cores. What does real life experience teach you? What I am saying is in all history books, all poli sci books, anthropolgy books. Read the New York Times or a basic newspaper. The headlines will inform you. Dateline - not so much. Watch Charlie Rose, Meet the Press. This is not advanced anything. Celebrate each other. The recent fiasco with Cedars and Barbara should have taught a powerful lesson that I predicted before it happened. Let me state why I respect Barbara so much, despite Silent Lambs and the posting of every lawsuit without merit, Barbara's gut told her to flee and save her reputation. Her gut is fantastic. Barbara does not know everything Witness. She does not know human nature. Any one here could do research for the Writing Department. You prob. could do it in high school.
The thing to celebrate about Barbara is not her JW experience or her posts that drag down our cause. Barbara has a good gut! She is courageous. If I were in Barbara's shoes, I doubt my gut or judgment would be so good. Barbara is extraordinary. She does not know how to mess with JWs b/c she was in too long. She has no idea how the press or lawyers think. Others here do. Barbara's knowledge on some points is good. Her instincts and devotion should be celebrated more. We need Barbara. If some miracle happened, and this fake master of the universe mentality would stop and some more savvy people did some things, life would not be better. I alone could not make things better. Barbara's integrity would also need to be present.
Believe me, I would rather be admired for my character, devotion, and judgment than a bunch of book knowledge. I care too deeply about stopping the WT to say silent any longer.
