hello all, i finally got around to posting my letter to my judicial committee meeting requests.
sorry its kind of long, it came to 4 pages because of the special meeting requests.
tuesday january 28, 2014.
Eden One -
Your quick mind and good research has saved me a great deal of work! I was wading through the EU human rights handbook and bogged down before i reached the very sussinct point on page 33.
I agree with your reasoning that the encouragement for others to discriminate is illegal.
so i chose to attend the memorial last night.
it was a hall i don't usually go to but chose to go there because i felt like it would be the closest.
mind you i am not a jw and was never raised a jw and don't have any family who are jw.
why didn't jesus ever write anything?
why are there no letters to jesus?
no painting of jesus from that time?
James Mixon -
yes, the christian perspective article I read postulated that the Roman rulers were corrupt (surprise), and the Jewish religious leaders were corrupt (surprise).
In Judea the greatest single source of wealth was the temple. Virtually the entire economy of a theocracy swirled around worship at the temple and vast sums of money information and power were centred there to be exploited by whomever had connections.
Jesus threatened this golden goose and paid the price exacted by the Jews and carried out by the Romans
why didn't jesus ever write anything?
why are there no letters to jesus?
no painting of jesus from that time?
Funny thing -
just last night I was reading some articles on the historicity of Jesus (and learned a cool new word for authenticity)
Seems there are three widelyrespected references to the man.
His baptism by John seems indisputable as is his death during the time of Pontius Pilate.
None of the other details are deemed as indisputable, and many are regarded as fabrication or legend - the stuff any cult is likely to make up in liew of evidence..whether in the 2nd century or the 21st.
Read a really great christian essay on the political reasons why John the baptist posed a threat to the Romans in Judea and was subsequently offed by the Romans, and how Jesus stepped in the same kaka a few years later with the same result.
i've been seeing a brilliant psychologist.
he has been pivotal in drawing the parallels between my jw upbringing - specifically the hypocrisy i saw as a child - and the reason i've tolerated lies and inconsistencies in my most significant adult relationship.. i've seen one other psychologist in the past.
she didn't get the issues surrounding the religion whatsoever, didn't regard that aspect of my backstory as relevant, and was of little help to me.. has anyone else seen a psychologist - whether for help with coping in the aftermath of leaving the religion, or for seemingly unrelated issues that actually turned out to be related?
www.journeyfree.org Resources for recovery from harmful religion
This American psychologist - Dr. Marlene Winell, has a very informative website indicating how widespread the problems of fundamentalist teachings are... a good resource for anyone wondering why their minds, lives and families are such a mess.
She coined the phrase Religious Trauma Syndrome and knows first hand how and from where the traumas of abusive religion arise. Jws and Mormons are not alone in the crazy compound.
I am impressed by her depth and breadth of research and her knowledgable approache to help people escape.
the penalty of this charge??
yes, disfellowshipping.. bad association?
excessive time at work?
Sparrow and Stuck -
You've nailed it - Defiance. My non JW mom and dad occassionally used the term in the 60s to identify our teenaged, rebellious disrespect for proper authority - parents, community, school, church, .laws of the land. They had both fought in the war, and held a well defined respect for the value of service and sacrifice and authority.
Democratic legal structure is the most respected and powerful authority most of us know, and rightly so as it is a result of our own participation in formation of laws. Thing is, it is not brazen to challenge laws or try to have them changed or even abandoned. Challenges are welcomed, and if found to have support and merit, changes ensue. Theocratic, dictatorial and outdated laws are replaced by those giving more respect autonomy and freedom to individuals.
Exactly what chafes theocratic despots and mini tyrant elders.
it seems that select videos on jw.org now offer a comment section for any registered user, (previously, logins were only used by elders, servants and those who wanted to donate by credit card).
however, your login info now has to contain your real full name and be approved by your congregations service committee..
NBD-
Last year I had JWs called on me with the tract directing people to their new BS.org website.
I pointed out that the website isn't interactive -she said ''It isn't?? I didn't know that.'' she was surprised.
It felt good to point out a cult-like flaw in their new golden calf.
this site has gone through many metamorphosis over the years.
i believe it is a kinder, less edgy place tan it was a few years ago.
i wonder how many people were helped versus turned off by this place.
I came here about 2 years ago. I walked away from JWs cold turkey 20 years ago, and all went well till a couple years ago. found this site while looking for information.
I had no idea the magnitude of the harms the org. has caused to so many many good people and that our completely f'dup family is just a single whisp of smoke in the holocaust of hate and abuse that swirls around fundamentalism.
This site was the first time I was exposed to rational, intelligent people with the freedom to express opinions and foment discussion of religion, free from censure . Many were, and are, and are going to continue coming here angry.. and with good reason considering what religion has taken from them and the abuse it inflicts upon them.
Also appreciated by many here are the compassionate and kind words of people who actually do care about those skinned and fleeced by Watchtower. Their unique understanding and encouragement really do heal and give cause to face the next day feeling supported and worthy by other sentient mortal creatures.
i just wanted to add another piece to the puzzle that is the exile from the organization.
a little background about myself first.
i was not born into the religion, technically.
Bradford -
Hearty congratulations on being decisive and just leaving a dishonest cult ...'' ...dismiss that which insults your soul.'' as Walt Whitman wrote.
You have done it correctly and they are already now in no legal position to interfere with your freewill exercise of your freedom of religion. With just a pen and a piece of paper you have preempted their DF DA bullshit machine.
You must never meet with them in any form of hearings or committee from this point onward.
The most recent Elders Manual 2010 warns '' Is the person willing to meet with a committee thus acknowledging the congregations authority?''
You are now free by your own hand from the day you wrote that letter - don't screw it up by ever acknowledging again the elders former ecclesial authority. A second letter warning them that any announcements respecting your name will be grounds for legal action ( violation of your right to religious freedom) Lawyers have a uniquely compelling way of phrasing these matters on letterhead.
Oh, and feel free to attend public meetings if you wish, you are now a part of the community at large. Say hello to old friends and chat - it will really piss them off!
Well done young man -you have my admiration !
i have a serious problem that i cannot solve on my own.
i was born-in but am only in by a thread at this point.
i quit the tms a few weeks ago and wrote a post on it.
MNIONC -
You ARE going to be shunned. The bullies don't like you because faders make them look ridiculous, and looking powerful and important is everything to cultists. So your future is already determined.
If you finalize your fade by actually Leaving the cult with a properly threatening preemptive letter - then you can't be legally disfellowshipped or disassacociated by them - your letter has already renounced their ecclesial authority upon you.
You are now able as a free person of the general community at large to approach the congregation with your concerns and demands regarding their interference in your private, personal family issues.
For the first time in your life, you can answer every stupid, loaded, leading, insinuating, incriminating question with complete honesty - because they are now powerless to affect your life.
Every fader needs to prepare for the moment when it becomes necessary to jump off the fence and land on the side of the legal freedoms you seek - otherwise they just calmly draw a bead and shoot you off with the DF/DA shun-gun - because you willfully hung around as a cultist under their ecclesial authority too long.
The personal dynamics of being thrown out in disgrace and proudly walking out in disgust are astounding -a point lost on all the helpless minions among us who think ' you get shunned either way so it doesn't matter' .
Courage begets courage, and admiration, and inspiration. Human rights are won by courageous individuals who took a personal stand or supported those who acted against slavery, segregation, discrimination and coercion throughout free society - we can be free from cult coercion, the laws are already in place, we need only have the courage to exercise our own free will and LEAVE, ABANDON, REPUDIATE, RECLAIM the freedom we were born with.I believe this is the essence of the term '' grow a pair '' so often bandied about here. So far I haven't heard a single episode of someone actuallyhaving the convictions and courage to do it.
