translated with google translate:.
the trial went before oslo district court in january, and now the district court has concluded that the state is acquitted.
jehovah's witnesses are also ordered to pay court costs of just over nok 1.1 million.. https://www-vg-no.translate.goog/nyheter/innenriks/i/2bljxg/staten-frikjennes-etter-aa-ha-blitt-saksoekt-av-jehovas-vitner-melder-dagen?_x_tr_sl=ka&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp.
The underlying importance of this ruling is that the shunning policy is a human rights violation and therefore any religion that practices shunning cannot in all fairness be eligible for government funding as a "religion".
Groups or businesses or religions do not have basic human rights. HUMANS do.
i've seen people say something along the lines that the authorities would like to/have been trying to subpoena (members of) the gb (in csa cases).
my question is: why don't they?
if the gb are issuing orders to cover up evidence in csa cases, and otherwise interfere in justice being served in those cases, then they are accessories before (and after) the fact, and theoretically can be arrested and charged as such.
One of the big, I mean really big problems that everyone seems to be missing is that this privileged communication between an elder (clergy) and a penitent (sinner) is that is is between the clergy and the person who did something wrong.
I have never read anywhere that it includes a child asking for help because they were abused. The child has not sinned although he or she may be told they have. The child did not commit a crime although he or she may be blamed.
The child is begging for help.
On that basis alone the whole issue of privilege should evaporate. But it doesn't. The WTS does not want it to disappear. They want the courts to believe that ALL communication between a congregation member and a leader of the congregation should be privileged.
The WTS has JWs so tied up in fear of the outside authorities that they don't ask the elders to call the police or help them do it or be with them when they do it. Instead elders decide to start and finish their own "investigation". By then the child is often returned to the situation they are trying to get help for. Or they are forced to confront their abuser. Any evidence disappears. Stories get changed. The child is more fearful of the abusers, the elders AND the authorities that nothing gets done. BTW, it is extremely likely in these cases that the child will recant, because they think no one believes them, they will be blamed, and things will be worse than they were before. The child has no way of knowing that the police and social workers really can make a difference for the benefit of the child.
As more countries around the world condemn the WTS policies, the more pressure the WTS will be to change things in the US. Pressure not from JWs but from outsiders who become more aware of the problem.
i've seen people say something along the lines that the authorities would like to/have been trying to subpoena (members of) the gb (in csa cases).
my question is: why don't they?
if the gb are issuing orders to cover up evidence in csa cases, and otherwise interfere in justice being served in those cases, then they are accessories before (and after) the fact, and theoretically can be arrested and charged as such.
In the US the Constitution includes the Freedom Of Religion. This makes it very hard for the law to intervene in these cases. The religion claims they follow the Bible and therefore the law can’t interfere. The wants to protect children and the religion says they do.
setting precedent in law takes a lot of time and money. And a lot of pressure especially when you are rubbing noses with the constitution
i used to be here a lot.
every single day almost.
and then i wasn't.. well let's start with a before.
A message to Simon
i am so glad you have kept this board alive. The history in here is so much easier to find than on the social media sites like Facebook and others.
As exes we need the research material that helps free us. Sites like this make doing the research much easier for people. Our history cannot and should never disappear.
Thank you for keeping it alive.
i used to be here a lot.
every single day almost.
and then i wasn't.. well let's start with a before.
I have been out since 1985. Plenty of time and therapy to be able to work a lot of things out.
Have you been out a long time? Recently out? What has helped you the most?
i used to be here a lot.
every single day almost.
and then i wasn't.. well let's start with a before.
Yes Listener I was. Moderator for many years.
i used to be here a lot.
every single day almost.
and then i wasn't.. well let's start with a before.
Ozziepost my condolences to you. Glad you are still here.
i used to be here a lot.
every single day almost.
and then i wasn't.. well let's start with a before.
I remember all of you. Nice to see you all. What have you been doing or what has been happening in your lives?
i used to be here a lot.
every single day almost.
and then i wasn't.. well let's start with a before.
I used to be here a lot. Every single day almost. And then I wasn't.
Well let's start with a before.
After I left the JWs I went to college and then university. In both I studied counseling so that when I graduated I could help other survivors of childhood sexual abuse. This was a dream that I had as a child and it continued until I connected to the JWs where I was told that it would be a waste of time because we would not need counselors in the "new system". Everyone would be perfect. (yeah right. Still waiting for that one - well not really) So I gave up my dream, got baptized, married had kids, had a breakdown, got divorced and DFed and finally went back to school to do what I wanted.
I counseled sexual abuse survivors, both men and women, exclusively for 13 years in Montreal.
Then the internet happened!!!
I started a support group for survivors on the old "Sympatico" website and got to know a few people around the world, started searching for exJW websites and found JWD!!! and posted here as "Lady Lee".
Moved to Winnipeg , got married and started to work with the homeless many of whom had been abused as children. I switched jobs to work with abused women many of whom were sexually abused as children.
And then I got sick. I had to quit working. Did a lot more work in here whenever I could. Made friends. Made enemies. Kept my sanity somehow. Did a couple of interesting projects like the cookbooks compiled from recipes by many of the posters here. All proceeds went to pay for this website. And I put together the "Best of Series". Hope some people still find that useful.
And then I was offered a chance to help on a new project that had a rather rocky start but has matured over the years. AAWA. Yes it still exists. I am the president of this not-for-profit company. We have some new projects we are working on and act as an umbrella organization for businesses or organizations that need a little help.
I also started a small coaching service for people who have left any kind of cult .Stronger After provides 5 free coaching sessions that can help people coming out of cults What an eye-opener that has been. JWs are not as unique as they think they are. All cults do the same things to their members. Stronger After helps people identify their needs so that when they do find a therapist they know what to ask for. It gives them some tools and a language to help them move forward.
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Covid took a bite out of the world. While I didn't get covid I did catch the other big C - Cancer. So during the covid epidemic I battled cancer - 3 times. Colon (surgery and chemo) then metastasized to right upper lung (surgery no chemo because of my sever reaction) and then the lower left lung (radiation but no chemo). Cancer free now!!!
During my self imposed isolation I helped a friend with a civil legal case and studied civil law and helped him win what some lawyers thought was an unwinnable case. Now I have civil law running around in my head. Never wanted to be a lawyer but was actually given the title of Legal Agent by the judge in the case so that I could do what my friend needed done legally, like submitting papers to the court and speaking in court for him. Still don't want to be a lawyer though.
As a JW I had 2 children. They are long grown and one has children so I am a grandmother. And her oldest has 2 children and another on the way so soon (July) I will have 3 great-grandchildren. My mother is still alive so we have 5 generations of women alive right now. My mother has Alzheimer's and the last time I did talk to her she didn't know who I was. She thought I had died. She is 89 yrs. old. We have very sporadic contact.
Now I am doing tax papers (just mine) No desire to be an accountant either.
I have a love/hate relationship with tiny homes. They are adorable but dang there is no room for anything. No place to do anything. I would never survive in one. I have developed a green thumb since the cancer. I am growing some of the strangest plants that I never knew existed. Air plants! Who knew? And something called a zigzag plant. I have a large garden every summer. Normally I kill all plants but now, since cancer, I feel like the plant rescuer.
I have been a lot busier than I thought it seems. And oddly thinking about going back to school. Still willing to help others who need it.
And I am back here. it has changed a lot. Not as fast a board as it used to be but that is a good thing. Many new faces and and many old ones (older ones).
Some days I want to hang it all up and really retire. But then I wonder what I would do. So here I am.
Thank you Simon for keeping this alive.
i watched a video once of men being trained ...it was a study.
they had the men doing the most rediculous things-can't remember quite what now.
so between that video, the letter to elders to keep their mouths shut about the koolaid, and to go along with the csa protocol, and what i will call insurance fraud by the jw, and who knows what other things the men in positions in the org go along with-these things prompt the question.
Sorry that happened to you but good for your mother.
One of the issues regarding why people don't want to believe... well a few actually
