Posts by wasasister

45

Edward N. Davis (Elder) Sentenced for Sexual Abuse

by Gerard in

http://www.kxly.com/common/getstory.asp?id=31876

former church leader sentenced for sexual abuse

a former spokane valley church elder has been sentenced to 90 days in jail for sexually molesting a girl in his congregation over eight years.

wasasister

I know this person. He grew up in my former congregation and I knew his entire family.

Ed was supposed to be "the good one" in a big family where most of his siblings went bad. His oldest sister got pregnant out of wedlock and although she was not disfellowshipped, she was shunned and snubbed by everyone.

Ed's father was an elder for many years and was able to protect his brothers from facing the music when they got in the unsual "boys will be boys" type of trouble. Most if not all of the family is out of the "Truth" now, as far as I know.

The Spokane Valley congregations are dominated by a few highly influential and power-hungry Alpha Elders. If you are from that area, you know of whom I write. It does not surprise me that Ed was let back in after only 6 months. There is a history of covering up such crimes and a very back-woods attitude towards women.

Divide the amount of jail time this deviant will serve by the number of years stolen from this child. Somehow, the numbers just don't match.

Wasa

7

Lost in Translation

by Funchback in

did anyone else see this movie?

i thought it was hilarious!

bill murray is a funny guy.

wasasister

I saw it tonight. He said something about "don't cry" but other than that I could not hear it. Perhaps we were not meant to. I loved every second of it. A great film, IMHO. So glad they avoided the usual Hollywood predictable plot turns.

Wasa

24

You Live in California when...

by AlanF in

you live in california when.... 1. you make over $250,000 and you still can't afford to buy a house.. 2. the high school quarterback calls a time-out to answer his cell phone.. 3. the fastest part of your commute is going down your driveway.. 4. you know how to eat an artichoke.. 5. you drive your rented mercedes to your neighborhood block party.. 6. when someone asks you how far something is, you tell them how long it will .

take to get there rather than how many miles away it is.. .

you live in new york city when.... 1. you say "the city" and expect everyone to know you mean manhattan.. 2. you have never been to the statue of liberty or the empire state building.

wasasister

You live in Seattle when:

You pay $6 for a cup of coffee and complain because your dot-com went bankrupt.

You buy a $20,000 SUV to drive your kids to soccer practice, two blocks from home.

You find hacky-sack to be superior to sex.

You write in ?Bill Gates? instead of any candidate for any election.

You allow your local government to build a multi-million dollar stadium where people come to trample your sports team into expensive artificial turf.

You pick up a newspaper after a terrible plane crash and the headline reads: ?Thankfully, it was an Airbus.?

Although you are a successful stockbroker, you find new and inventive ways to use hemp.

You go to Costco at lunch time just to eat free samples.

You spend hundreds of dollars on expensive sunglasses every year, because after 300 days of not using them, you can't remember where you left them.

82

Fables, Farces and Facts

by Farkel in

no, this piece is not about alliteration.

for true believers?

the subject matter is quite serious, and may just possibly affect the quality of the rest of you lives; it may also affect your eternal fate, if there is such a thing.

wasasister

Ros concludes:

Jmo

I like your "o", as it makes more sense than any other explanation put forth by other Bible-believers. What you wrote is very similar to what my Rabbi friend said to me about the Hebrew Scriptures, ie: even the people who read them first did not take them literally. We really do need to put things in the context of the times to understand them.

Now, what can we do to clone you so that your ilk can rise up and run the fundy's into the Red Sea?

Wasa

29

Overt Use Of Certain Words.

by Englishman in

jw
friends

do you get hung up on certain words, so that you tend to use them more than other's do?.

my latest word hang up (other than overt) is rumbustious.

it has such a nice raspberry sound to it and almost describes itself by it's very sound.

wasasister

"turgid", as in:

Brother Ciruit Overseer, I certainly enjoyed your very turgid presentation of that material.

(Most of them seemed very flattered when I said this..)

82

Fables, Farces and Facts

by Farkel in

no, this piece is not about alliteration.

for true believers?

the subject matter is quite serious, and may just possibly affect the quality of the rest of you lives; it may also affect your eternal fate, if there is such a thing.

wasasister

Ros:

How reasonable and how closely your thoughts fit in with my own world-view. And...how sad that your beliefs are not held by many fundementalist Christians.

For example, my boss is now reading "A Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren. I agreed to read the book because it "changed his life" (I'm always put-off by people whose lives can be changed by the reading of one book, but I digress). The author, a Southern Baptist minister, postulates two things in the very first chapter:

1. God determines where, when, and to whom you are born. He has pre-determined your life and your purpose.

2. There is no real purpose to life unless you accept Christ. No salvation, no true happiness, no reason to go on living.

As I slammed the book shut (for the first time), I wondered: 'Well, if God had decided I was to be born a girl baby in Afghanistan in 1972, I'm pretty much screwed and God is a sick bastard.'

I like your flavor of Christianity a whole lot better.

As a Christian, Ros, are you offended - as I was - when someone who identifies him/herself with your beliefs using Christianity to spew forth narrow-minded, elitist propaganda? I know when I was a Witness, I really hated it when a fellow Witness was being an obvious prick and offending people.

Again, you have my respect and admiration for the tolerant approach you take to these discussions.

Wasa

82

Fables, Farces and Facts

by Farkel in

no, this piece is not about alliteration.

for true believers?

the subject matter is quite serious, and may just possibly affect the quality of the rest of you lives; it may also affect your eternal fate, if there is such a thing.

wasasister

So to answer Wasasister's question from my perspective, the legitimacy of Jesus Christ does not rely on the veracity of a whole, entire, flawless, scribe-Catholic-compiled biblical record. Not imo. If we refused to believe anything that is even occasionally in error (e.g., newspapers, magaines, history books, science books, evolution books, the bible, etc. etc.) then we would be without anything to believe except our own personal observation of nature? Quite limited

First of all, Ros, thank you for your typical, reasoned response. May I further inquire: If the record of Jesus Christ does not depend on what is written in Bible Cannon, upon what does it rely? What, if any, extra-Biblical documentation exists to coorborate the life, quotations, and teachings of Jesus Ben-Joseph?

I do not demand flawless accuracy of the Bible for belief in the Divine nature of Christ....But in order to put faith in Jesus as the Son of God, I must at least believe the Bible to be a fairly accurate record of events.

My question about Mary's faith pertains to a scripture I cannot locate at present, but remember vividly from studying the Greatest Man book: somewhere in Mark, an incident is recounted wherein Jesus' mother and siblings gather outside a house in which he is teaching. They beseach the crowds to deliver their brother/son to them so they can take him home. The implication is that the is mentally imapaired.

Ros: yes, I acknowledge that mothers often underestimate their children. However, few of us have ever had conversations with angels regarding our pregnancies, nor have any of us experienced Divinely Instigated Virgin Births. I don't know about you, but if I had become pregnant without intercourse, I would not quickly forget the event, nor would I tend to dismiss the fruit of my womb. I also would have informed my other children of Big Brother's special nature.

Wasa

55

Vicki Boer and Donations

by hillary_step in

jw
friends

if any of you wish to kindly make donations to vicki boer, we are formulating a vehicle to attend to this as we speak.. we have been in touch with vicki, who is understandably deeply distressed at the turn of events that have forced her to relive much of the trauma which she hoped that this court case would put to rest, and are wresting a plan which would allow her to receive personal donations aimed at her well-being rather than enriching either the wts or her advisers.. an address will be forthcoming shortly, together with a paypal email address which will allow you to send your donations or well-wishes to vicki, scott and the girls.

it will not be a canadian address or bank account.

there are a number of important points that any donators would need to assess before donating any cash:.

wasasister

Thank you for that information, Hillary. Helpful as always.

I agree with you about the message the WTS is hoping to send to those who might have followed in Vicky's footsteps: "Beware of messing with us!" When I was able to swallow my rage at what I read the other day, that not-so-subtle threat lingered.

The next thought that came to me was the message it sends to loyal members - a point I would have rejoiced in not so very long ago: "See, Jehovah was on our side! We were victorious against the 'woman enemy' in the courts due to Jehovah's blessing."

This is a very powerful sentiment to faithful Witnesses. I once viewed the historical court battles won by "our side" as proof positive that Jehovah was, indeed, on our side.

When I think of how most JW's will respond to this news, I am chilled to my core.

I'll await your further instructions on the donations. I'm glad this is being handled responsibly....it's a very emotive situation and calls for a calm response.

Wasa

118

VICKI BOER CAMPAIGN FUND

by Dansk in

jw
friends

if you'd be interested in donating $us10.00 or anything at all to a campaign fund for vicki please say so here.

this will help determine how strongly we can offer vicki support.. i'll start it off.

i'm willing to donate $us10.00 to the fund.. thanks.. dansk

wasasister

Yes, under the conditions others have specified.

133

HARSH FINAL COURT DECISION IN VICKI BOER V. WATCHTOWER TRIAL

by hawkaw in

jw
friends

i have some unique and troubling news.

i just got off the telephone with scott boer, vicki boer's husband and before that vicki.

her honour, justice anne molloy, has just ruled on the legal cost issue in the boer case.

wasasister

I'm seriously sick to my stomach.

Not that long ago, as a faithful Dub, I would have thought: "see what happens when you mess with Jehovah's Organization?'

That, my friends, is what this ruling will reinforce to the millions of rank-and-file JW's who will learn of it.

Vindication. That's what they are thinking.

I need to go hurl.