Posts by Heaven

49

GEOFFREY JACKSON THE PERSONABLE FACE OF JW.ORG...BUT IT AIN'T OVER YET BUDDY

by steve2 in

since geoffrey jackson's appearance before the australian royal commission on friday there has for some been an expressed feeling of anticlimax.

it is as though he was given too much latitude to preach, to claim ignorance and to skirt questions.

more to the point, as much as i myself thought i would never have expected to say this, gj actually came across as likeable and - don't throttle me please!

Heaven

Billy said: And now we have the people behind the interpretation of the compiled book of Jewish stories that has an agenda. And their primary agenda is that the womenfolk shouldn't be jumping up and arguing with the men. Instead, women should be in the kitchen quietly making sandwiches for the menfolk.

Billy, you always make my day!

You are spot on.

And meanwhile, in the 21st century, these interpreters seem oblivious to the many men who can cook just as well or better than many women. Some even make a profession out of it called Chef. ;0)

What is it about certain people that feel the need to control and tell others what to do?

Patriarchy is oppressive and abusive and used to control women and children. Always has been, always will be. It's expiry date was up a long time ago.

Back in the Early Christian era there were many sects and they all had their own flavour of 'scripture'. Constantine and his band of merry men attempted to bring some consistency to all this. While we now have this 66 book 'Bible' (it used to be 73 ... I think the Catholics may still have a 73 book Bible), it's still based on Patriarchy, elevating men above women and children and using fear and guilt to control. There are some good aspects in the Bible, but really, if you pulled those out, you'd have a pamphlet or brochure.

There is more knowledge in our present day books than contained in the entire Bible.

28

The sheer lunacy of Jackson's view regarding mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse.

by DATA-DOG in

lunacy?

insanity?

without a doubt.

Heaven

Hoser, I had the same impression. Jackson reminds me of several people I've had to deal with throughout my life. When asked a simple 'Yes or No' type question, they ramble on and on about crap that has nothing to do with my question.

I have to constantly reply, "Ok. But you still haven't answered my question."

Sometimes I have to tell them "A simple yes or no will suffice."

It can be exhausting.

The facial expressions of both Angus Stewart and Peter McClellan (and others) throughout these proceedings have been interesting. They have a cool and calm exterior and conduct themselves very professionally, but I suspect inside they're disgusted and very likely angry. A couple of times McClellan seemed to start to get impatient with these JWs.

49

GEOFFREY JACKSON THE PERSONABLE FACE OF JW.ORG...BUT IT AIN'T OVER YET BUDDY

by steve2 in

since geoffrey jackson's appearance before the australian royal commission on friday there has for some been an expressed feeling of anticlimax.

it is as though he was given too much latitude to preach, to claim ignorance and to skirt questions.

more to the point, as much as i myself thought i would never have expected to say this, gj actually came across as likeable and - don't throttle me please!

Heaven

Vidiot said: I'd argue that the Bible itself has an agenda, but whatever.

I agree somewhat but would state it slightly differently. I believe the Bible was compiled to suit the Christian agenda. The Bible itself is just a book of stories. It was the people behind the compilation that had the agenda.

16

Contradicting Governing Body Members

by Illuminated in

so we've heard from three different governing body members this year regarding child sexual abuse.. the latest one on the rc admitted there's a sexual abuse problem within the cult, yet lett and morris swept the dirt under the carpet stating they have a great reputation as far as sex abuse is concerned, and pointed their fingers at "apostate lies".

.

i'm left totally confused at the contradiction of this "organization"..

Heaven

Only when backed into a corner will the leaders of the Borganization possibly admit to maybe having a slight responsibility. They are Teflon Men, they are psychopaths. They want it to be someone else's responsibility to clean up a mess. Their role is one of a higher calling - that of spiritual protection.

Seriously. They are f'ed up.

They want nothing to do with the dirty work of actually helping someone who has been damaged or abused or in trouble. Their answer is always completely useless.... Pray More + Wait on Jehovah and some shit scripture that is intended to shut someone up.

My Dad's CO told him back in 2010... "The young ones are leaving in droves."

Gee, I wonder why

28

The sheer lunacy of Jackson's view regarding mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse.

by DATA-DOG in

lunacy?

insanity?

without a doubt.

Heaven

DD, I had the exact same thoughts.

Jackson claims that JWs hold themselves to a high moral standard and have love amongst themselves... and yet, require the secular authorities to 'help the JWs make it easier to report child abuse by making the reporting of it mandatory'.

The logic that follows from this is ... that Botchtower's and JWs' reliance on the Bible is grossly inadequate when dealing with issues of abuse.

Maybe laws need to be enacted to make the Bible illegal.

5

To the Royal Commission: A JW's thank you note... from Mexico!

by avaddohn94 in

jw
friends

note: i sent this e-mail to their contact mail address and now, i wish to make it public for it truly expresses my current thoughts!.

a jw's thank you note... from mexico!.

first of all, let me tell you i am still one of jehovah's witnesses.

Heaven

avaddohn94, what an excellent letter. Your English is spot on as well. If all of us are basically saying the same thing, and someone like Geoffrey Jackson keeps saying "I am not aware of that" it makes it look like Jackson has either been completely isolated from his entire organization's membership or he's a liar.

I also emailed Mr. Stewart on Tue Aug 4, 2015. Here is what I said:

Dear Mr. Stewart,

Thank you so very much for all you, Hon Justice Peter McClellan, and the rest of the Royal Commission team are doing in the investigation of institutional responses to child sexual abuse within the Jehovah's Witnesses. I am very impressed with your professional manner and depth of knowledge of this organization. Remaining composed during this is an amazing task you all manage to accomplish very well. This must be very difficult, if not exhausting.

I was raised in this religion but chose not to join for a number of reasons, misogyny being one of them. It has been a tough road where my Witness family are concerned.

I once started to document the known child abusers within this religion reported online from various news sources and after page one I had to stop as I was becoming physically ill.

Most Witnesses are unaware of the magnitude of the issue of child abuse as it is kept secret from them. They are not warned that there are abusers amongst them and are encouraged not to listen to outside sources of information including the news media. When they do hear of it, they believe these sources are telling lies or that the cases are very few. Preventing the "dragging of Jehovah's name through the mud" is really more important to this group than actually protecting people.

My Father once told me that children in Africa born with HIV must be pre-destined to be sinners in Jehovah's eyes after I challenged his idea that Jehovah is loving but then allows a child in utero to contract HIV. My parents also accused me of provoking a man at work who was harassing me. They felt I must have done something for this man to be behaving this way. I assured them I had not.

I have always hoped that the laws of various countries would change to remove the harmful, damaging, and destructive aspects of fundamentalist type religions and groups. There is more than child abuse going on within many of these, the Witnesses included.

I wish you and the RC much success in bringing about positive change. When a group is based on outdated principles such as Patriarchy, various abuses seem to abound. If laws are not enacted, though, as a result of these investigations, The Watchtower will not adopt any changes. Their authority is their interpretation of the Bible unless there is a law which prohibits them from using the Bible literally. They will view this investigation as persecution by Satan.

Regards,

31

New video "Jehovah Has Done So Much for Me"

by NoIdeaWhatToBelieve in

hey all,.

have you seen the new video on http://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/activities/living-bible-principles/adult-survivor-child-abuse-video/ ?.

isn't this too much of a coincidence?

Heaven

Should this be sent to the ARC? Or does anyone know if they have it already? I haven't watched it and doubt I will... I am not able to stomach much of their crap.

49

GEOFFREY JACKSON THE PERSONABLE FACE OF JW.ORG...BUT IT AIN'T OVER YET BUDDY

by steve2 in

since geoffrey jackson's appearance before the australian royal commission on friday there has for some been an expressed feeling of anticlimax.

it is as though he was given too much latitude to preach, to claim ignorance and to skirt questions.

more to the point, as much as i myself thought i would never have expected to say this, gj actually came across as likeable and - don't throttle me please!

Heaven

I think to the average person outside of the JW world, Jackson appears as you say, steve2. He certainly didn't bumble around as much as the elders. It was apparent though that he did not give direct answers to some of the questions asked of him. The Royal Commission knows this.

But knowing what goes on within the religion, knowing that these GB 'fellow workers' autograph Bibles and are definitely elevated above the role of 'fellow worker' says Jackson attempted to downplay the GB's importance to the public and Royal Commission when in fact, they are and have stated they are, God's Sole Channel of Communication. This is not a mere 'fellow worker' type role. Jackson is a liar. And the Royal Commission knows this.

GJ attempted to display a humble and Biblically knowledgable appearance, but was not convincing to me. He could not give any scripture that stated only men should be Judges for example. This is a to-do for the Watchtower to get back to the Royal Commission on. I do not think he/they will be able to do it. There IS a scripture that clearly states women can be judges in, what d'ya know, Judges 4:4-5 where Deborah sat in judgment in Israel.

As I have felt all along, their use of the Bible and their interpretation is where they falter, as do all religions because they have an agenda which is also flawed. He kept saying that taking scripture out of context is where secular people have issues. So who says the Watchtower is taking scripture in the correct context? And what if scripture is flawed/incorrect/inaccurate/contradictory/illegal? What if there is no scripture for an issue they are facing? How can one determine what to take literally versus allegorically versus false? Believing that all scripture is inspired and from God is a foundational flaw. But I bet Jackson has never conducted a comparison of the 4 Gospels. I wonder if he read Bart Ehrman's book "Misquoting Jesus" what his reaction would be (I can pretty well guess).

GJ also stated they do not go beyond what is written. This is also a lie. Some, if not all, of their key doctrines do this. No where in the Bible does it state that you cannot celebrate birthdays, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, etc. No where in the Bible does it state handing out Awake! and Watchtower magazines is the definition of 'works'. No where is the term 'Governing Body' used. Hell/Hades is definitely Biblical and they have chosen to not believe in it.

One thing that Jackson did make clear. It will make things a whole lot easier for them if reporting of child abuse is made mandatory. This is what needs to happen for all the human rights violations this group is committing, not just child abuse.

42

GeeJay at the RC: highlights, paraphrases and translations.

by sparrowdown in

q: is there anyone that has the permanent role of coordinator or chairman?.

geejay: no, we rotate yearly...... (translaton) we are all sparticus.. geejay: we are a faith driven org, we are not a group of lawyers, being overly concerned with legal matters..... fave quotes .

on establishing headship principle 1cor 14: 33-35, 1 cor 11:3. geejay:...... that's talking about women not excitedly jumping up arguing with others..... geejay: ......our literature has said it, and we agree!.

Heaven

I counted at least 3 times Jackson emphatically stated NO WOMEN AS ELDERS (just in part 1).

9

What does it mean to be inactive??

by DATA-DOG in

well, i sat through day 1 or the "imitate jesus" convention.

they released the new brochure for inactive ones.

while no tomo-esque rants took place, it seems that the official policy is that "inactivity" merits the death sentence.

Heaven

If you handed that brochure to my Dad he wouldn't know what to do with it.