Posts by defender of truth

21

Watchtower lack of empathy for victim children stunned Royal Commission

by Esse quam videri in

the comments and facial expressions of judge peter mcclellan, the chair of the royal commission and angus stewart, though subdued, clearly showed their disbelief and disgust at the lack of compassion and empathy by the org and the elders and gb jackson when questioned.. this link, is a sobering look at the emotions people should feel at the abuse of their children.

.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g7vpdfqs0q.

defender of truth

@Smiddy

The OP is suggesting (i think) that the example of a father beating up a guy who was molesting his son, shows how strongly we should hate child abuse.

He was understandably driven by anger. The GB and the elders were, it is being suggested, not displaying feelings for the victims in Australia.

Geoffrey Jackson sure as hell didn't show genuine feelings for the victims. He just wanted to use the opportunity to preach, he didn't even take the time to read BCG's statement.. saying that he cared about her and yet he would 'look forward to hearing a summary later'. He certainly took the time to prepare his speeches..

Anyway, my post was just an attempt to offer a balancing kind of viewpoint, on a general level.

We need to be moved by these things, but I don't want to condone unnecessary violence against offenders either.

556

The Watchtower are Right About Blood...

by cofty in

... but, they fail to take note of one important detail.. i believe that if we are going to have any chance of reasoning with a jw about blood, this is the place we need to begin.. don't try to convince them that it was only a dietary law.

it wasn't, and they will never go along with it.. don't tell them that saving a life is more important than obeying a law, even a seemingly trivial one.

they take pride in obedience.

defender of truth

BTTT. Great thread.

7

Old brainwashing/blood

by rebel8 in

jw
friends

as you probably know, this is me and you can imagine that the old brainwashing sucks for me sometimes.

i don't believe anything wts says about medical care, i don't agree, and i have seen the proof they are wrong.

i've been out for a long time.

defender of truth

I understand, rebel8. That is why I hate high control groups so strongly..

For anybody reading this who has difficulty letting go of this deeply ingrained doctrine..

Or if you want to consider a different perspective that may help you, take a look at this thread.>>

Please read the OP first:

www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/204070001/watchtower-right-about-blood?size=10&page=1

Then (because someone called pressman wasted a lot of space going off-topic), I'd recommend reading from page 7 onwards..

www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/204070001/watchtower-right-about-blood?size=10&page=7

21

Watchtower lack of empathy for victim children stunned Royal Commission

by Esse quam videri in

the comments and facial expressions of judge peter mcclellan, the chair of the royal commission and angus stewart, though subdued, clearly showed their disbelief and disgust at the lack of compassion and empathy by the org and the elders and gb jackson when questioned.. this link, is a sobering look at the emotions people should feel at the abuse of their children.

.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g7vpdfqs0q.

defender of truth

Empathy for the suffering of a victim, does not have to lead to violence towards the offender. Even though that is very often how we feel at the time. (Believe me, I understand..)

Violence does not heal anyone's emotional wounds.

It does not benefit us, and does not help the victim to heal.

Undoubtedly, cases of child abuse should move any normal person to take action.

* Action to support and protect the survivors of abuse

* Action to move towards a situation where it will not happen again.

I agree that anger is one part of a normal and empathetic response.

But we do not need to attack people to express our anger, or outrage.

Modern society provides more healthy and constructive outlets for our anger.

41

Did Geoffrey Jackson Commit Perjury, or Just "Spiritual Warfare"?

by The Searcher in

mr. jackson was pressured by angus stewart to answer if the org condoned corporal punishment, to which he openly stated that the org does not condone corporal punishment for j.w.

children.

this "fact" has never been revealed in the org's literature, in fact, this article which was published under geoffrey jackson's supervision, by definition demonstrates the org's approval of corporal punishment for j.w.

defender of truth

Attempting to mislead a Royal Commission is a criminal offense. If charged and convicted.. could face a fine of up to $20,000 and up to five years in prison.

www.jwsurvey.org/child-abuse-2/royal-commissions-angus-stewart-accuses-watchtower-representative-of-deliberate-deception

Can anyone confirm that the above quote is true?

(Article is talking about O'Brien, but still interesting, on the subject of perjury..)

69

Could the Independent Inquiry in England and Wales expose jw.org's child abuse failures? And how can we help?

by defender of truth in

with all the talk about the org's policies and failures regarding child sexual abuse being publically exposed in australia, i thought that it may be a good time to highlight this... i apologise if this has already been discussed, but on the 9th of july the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse in england and wales was opened.

here is some information regarding it's aims.. "about the inquiry.

the inquiry offers an unprecedented opportunity to examine the extent to which institutions and organisations in england and wales have taken seriously their responsibility to protect children.. the inquiry will investigate a wide range of institutions including:.

defender of truth

BTTT

27

Nice Old Dears Tried to "Witness" to me Today

by cofty in

an older man and wife - ray and mary - got chatting to me today.

they were tourists admiring local wildlife.

i gave them a few tips on where to go to see some interesting things and it wasn't long before they were telling me about how awful the world is "nowadays" and paradise yadda yadda.

defender of truth

Well done Cofty.

The ARC gives us all something factual, indisputable and clearly non-apostate to refer JW's to.

I love this line of questioning..

I told them about the official figure of 1006 cases of child abuse that were on file at the branch office and asked ...
"How many of these do you think were reported to the police?"
Ray - " I don't know the answer to that"
Me - "Fair enough, how many do you hope were reported to the authorities?"
Ray and Mary - "All of them we would hope".
Me - "According to the Australian branch office the actual number of the 1006 child abuse cases that were reported to the authorities was ... (pause) .... ZERO!"

7

The Manipulation of Information - Watchtower article on the dangers of propaganda

by defender of truth in

hatred is a strong emotion exploited by propagandists.

loaded language is particularly effective in triggering it.

there seems to be a nearly endless supply of nasty words that promote and exploit hatred toward particular racial, ethnic, or religious groups.. so the sly art of propaganda can paralyze thought, prevent clear thinking and discernment, and condition individuals to act en masse.

defender of truth

Hatred is a strong emotion exploited by propagandists. Loaded language is particularly effective in triggering it. There seems to be a nearly endless supply of nasty words that promote and exploit hatred toward particular racial, ethnic, or religious groups.

So the sly art of propaganda can paralyze thought, prevent clear thinking and discernment, and condition individuals to act en masse

Playing on the Emotions
Even though feelings might be irrelevant when it comes to factual claims or the logic of an argument, they play a crucial role in persuasion. Emotional appeals are fabricated by practiced publicists, who play on feelings as skillfully as a virtuoso plays the piano.
For example, fear is an emotion that can becloud judgment.

Propaganda encourages this by agitating the emotions, by exploiting insecurities, by capitalizing on the ambiguity of language, and by bending rules of logic. As history bears out, such tactics can prove all too effective.

Some people insult those who disagree with them by questioning character or motives instead of focusing on the facts. Name-calling slaps a negative, easy-to-remember label onto a person, a group, or an idea.
The name-caller hopes that the label will stick. If people reject the person or the idea on the basis of the negative label instead of weighing the evidence for themselves, the name-caller’s strategy has worked.

IS THE WORK OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES PROPAGANDISTIC...

http://m.wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102000442?q=lies&p=par

21

Geoffrey Jackson on "corporal punishment"

by opusdei1972 in

here is another jackson's misleading answer, from the transcript of august 14 :.

25 q. do you accept corporal punishment?

29 a. not not personally, no, and not as an organisation 30 we don't encourage it.

defender of truth

Especially this:

While malicious lying is definitely condemned in the Bible, this does not mean that a person is under obligation to divulge truthful information to people who are not entitled to it.
Jesus Christ counseled: “Do not give what is holy to dogs, neither throw your pearls before swine, that they may never trample them under their feet and turn around and rip you open.” (Mt 7:6)
That is why Jesus on certain occasions refrained from giving full information or direct answers to certain questions when doing so could have brought unnecessary harm. (Mt 15:1-6; 21:23-27; Joh 7:3-10)
Evidently the course of Abraham, Isaac, Rahab, and Elisha in misdirecting or in withholding full facts from nonworshipers of Jehovah must be viewed in the same light.—Ge 12:10-19; chap 20; 26:1-10; Jos 2:1-6; Jas 2:25; 2Ki 6:11-23
http://m.wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102000087?q=lies&p=par

21

Geoffrey Jackson on "corporal punishment"

by opusdei1972 in

here is another jackson's misleading answer, from the transcript of august 14 :.

25 q. do you accept corporal punishment?

29 a. not not personally, no, and not as an organisation 30 we don't encourage it.

defender of truth

Hi Mary j blige.

These may be of interest:

http://m.wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102000087?q=lies&p=par

http://m.wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200002738?q=lies&p=par