Posts by konceptual99

i see the watchtower are getting extremely desperate now.http://jwtalk.net/forums/topic/25503-injustice-abounds-for-our-dear-russian-brothers/check out the professionally edited video, using professional equipment!

konceptual99

grrrrrrr - duplicates thanks to this processing issue....

34

Watchtower go full on propaganda!

by David Graham in

i see the watchtower are getting extremely desperate now.http://jwtalk.net/forums/topic/25503-injustice-abounds-for-our-dear-russian-brothers/check out the professionally edited video, using professional equipment!

konceptual99

In my personal opinion, whatever individual feelings about the nature of JW teachings and the danger posed about them, this type of activity by the authorities should be robustly condemned.

Fundamentally Jehovah's Witnesses do have the freedom to do what they do under Russian law yet the authorities insist on twisting the legal system and resorting to underhand tactics to try and put them in the same box as all the other undesirables identified by the corrupt leadership.

Bear in mind that the same methods are being used against homosexuals, transgender people, political dissidents, similar religions and other minorities to suppress free speech and free will.

The fact that this type of behaviour is sanctioned from the top down should be ringing alarm bells about how far Russia really has come in terms of embracing an open society.

Pushing these people underground has never stopped them. Years of persecution under the communist regime did nothing to prevent the spread of the creed. What is more, JWs love a good persecution story. It simply reinforces their faith. There is plenty of content in the literature that has been openly exposed to allow people to see what is really in there. In fact, if the Russian authorities would be far better helping translate some of the best sites (e.g. jwfacts) into Russian and tweaking their firewalls to point requests to jw.org to Russia language content that exposes the teachings for the bunch of junk they really are.

46

Queued for Processing ....

by cofty in

if a new topic hangs for ages with spinning icon at "queued for processing " should you give up and post a new copy of the thread or will the eventually result in two threads?.

if it has cleared the first tick "uploading post" can you safely click away from the page?.

servers seem a bit slow recently?.

konceptual99

It's happening every time for me...

34

Watchtower go full on propaganda!

by David Graham in

i see the watchtower are getting extremely desperate now.http://jwtalk.net/forums/topic/25503-injustice-abounds-for-our-dear-russian-brothers/check out the professionally edited video, using professional equipment!

konceptual99

In my personal opinion, whatever individual feelings about the nature of JW teachings and the danger posed about them, this type of activity by the authorities should be robustly condemned.

Fundamentally Jehovah's Witnesses do have the freedom to do what they do under Russian law yet the authorities insist on twisting the legal system and resorting to underhand tactics to try and put them in the same box as all the other undesirables identified by the corrupt leadership.

Bear in mind that the same methods are being used against homosexuals, transgender people, political dissidents, similar religions and other minorities to suppress free speech and free will.

The fact that this type of behaviour is sanctioned from the top down should be ringing alarm bells about how far Russia really has come in terms of embracing an open society.

Pushing these people underground has never stopped them. Years of persecution under the communist regime did nothing to prevent the spread of the creed. What is more, JWs love a good persecution story. It simply reinforces their faith. There is plenty of content in the literature that has been openly exposed to allow people to see what is really in there. In fact, if the Russian authorities would be far better helping translate some of the best sites (e.g. jwfacts) into Russian and tweaking their firewalls to point requests to jw.org to Russia language content that exposes the teachings for the bunch of junk they really are.

34

Watchtower go full on propaganda!

by David Graham in

i see the watchtower are getting extremely desperate now.http://jwtalk.net/forums/topic/25503-injustice-abounds-for-our-dear-russian-brothers/check out the professionally edited video, using professional equipment!

konceptual99

In my personal opinion, whatever individual feelings about the nature of JW teachings and the danger posed about them, this type of activity by the authorities should be robustly condemned.

Fundamentally Jehovah's Witnesses do have the freedom to do what they do under Russian law yet the authorities insist on twisting the legal system and resorting to underhand tactics to try and put them in the same box as all the other undesirables identified by the corrupt leadership.

Bear in mind that the same methods are being used against homosexuals, transgender people, political dissidents, similar religions and other minorities to suppress free speech and free will.

The fact that this type of behaviour is sanctioned from the top down should be ringing alarm bells about how far Russia really has come in terms of embracing an open society.

Pushing these people underground has never stopped them. Years of persecution under the communist regime did nothing to prevent the spread of the creed. What is more, JWs love a good persecution story. It simply reinforces their faith. There is plenty of content in the literature that has been openly exposed to allow people to see what is really in there. In fact, if the Russian authorities would be far better helping translate some of the best sites (e.g. jwfacts) into Russian and tweaking their firewalls to point requests to jw.org to Russia language content that exposes the teachings for the bunch of junk they really are.

21

2016-2-9-BOE--Screens for Video Playback!

by Atlantis in

2016-2-9-boe..re: supply of screens for video playback at kingdom halls.http://postimg.org/image/ibc7p49ov/..wtunderground!

konceptual99

If the cost is "less than 1,700 pounds" for this equipment, what is the quality going to be like? Usually, when you cheap out, stuff will crap out just when you need it most. Items costing "significantly more" often last significantly longer or produce significantly better reception (or both).

It depends. They have probably done a deal via a brother with connections. One of the biggest independent online AV retailers in the UK is owned by Witnesses for example. The main thing that monitors are designed to do at extra cost is work 24/7. Halls don't need this so you can get a decent screen from a decent manufacturer, bearing in mind there are only a handful of factories producing all the screens in the world anyway.

As for UHD, I can't see anything in the letter about that. Regardless, the videos will almost certainly be produced in 1080p, probably 4K given the hardware to do this is not that expensive now and it's one area where the borg never skimp. Many congregations download the material to avoid streaming issues so they can download at 1080p HD at their leisure.

One thing I do agree with is the hypocrisy of yet again influencing congregations to dip their hands in their pockets when they would criticise an individual for doing so AND after having nicked all the cash anyway.

76

BBC Radio 4. 14th February 2016. ''Sunday'' program with article on Witnesses and child abuse.

by ThomasCovenant in

the sunday programme investigates allegations that the jehovah's witness ordered the destruction of documents that could be used during the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.

was this in contravention of section 21 of the inquiries act 2005 which is punishable by imprisonment?.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0709v34.

konceptual99

There is no one in this world more desirous of seeing WT's accountability in this child abuse mess come to light through the courts and media than me as I do have a dog in this fight! But I've learned a long time ago that before I rush to judgment, I need all the facts, otherwise my credibility is at stake. The following is some of what I wrote on my website about this accusation that WT ordered elders in the UK to destroy evidence:

While the BBC’s report is correct that all Kingdom Halls were given direction about the destruction of certain internal documents, there is some debate and many unanswered questions as to whether this was a “change of policy” specifically intended by the Watchtower Society to prevent the Commission’s access. Watchtower branch officers in the UK claim that this was not the case – and there is some evidence to support their claim. On the other hand, the Watchtower’s critics claim that the instructions regarding document destruction were specifically designed to complicate and frustrate the Commission’s investigation.

I for one really appreciate your considered and journalistic approach to this Barbara. I am very glad to see someone with your track record and credibility highlighting the issues without drama, supposition and biased spin.

As I suspect you probably know the general instruction to audit personal notes and the congregation files is a yearly instruction. Any member here who as served as an elder should be able to verify this. What I don't know is if the most recent letter was different in tone or nature of it's instructions. Perhaps there are copies of previous years' communications which could be compared?

I am sure the WTS is sure in their mind the instructions do not contravene the Inquiry's letter. They will feel that notes written by elders during JCs are simply jottings and not valuable or relevant. They will conclude that the official record kept is sufficient. The instructions for matters related to child abuse are separate and they would claim this clearly shows there is no intent to deliberately rid the files of relevant information.

This is exactly the tack they followed with the ARC. Whilst their legalistic and semantic "theocratic warfare" might be at least arguable in a legal context, what they keep missing is that this approach does not show any willingness to cooperate, any desire to admit failings and move forward. It's not just the law that the WTS needs to work with, it's the spirit of the law and their lack of progression with this is what is constantly coming back to bite their credibility firmly on the backside.