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boyle

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  1. Sad
    boyle reacted to John 12.24to28 in EXJWs Are Going to the U.S. Capitol   
    My affection for you is not dependent on whether or not you return that affection at present, my brother, just as an affectionate expecting mother loves the child in her womb before that child has breathed its first breath. Your lack of love for me does not change my love and concern for you.💖
     
    My expressions are neither angry nor misguided. I am devoted to Jehovah and I will continue to devote myself to ministering to all those He is calling to be His children, yourself included...
     
    "And the spirit and the bride keep on saying, “Come!” and let anyone hearing say, “Come!” and let anyone thirsting come; let anyone who wishes take life’s water free."
     
     
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    boyle reacted to John 12.24to28 in EXJWs Are Going to the U.S. Capitol   
    (Just another note in passing...Wiccans like to honor the dead on Samhain. Why would the organizer mention that it's Russell's birthday? Will some of the participants show up in animal skin costumes and go mumming, have a bonfire after? The day the so-called veil is "thinnest"... I don't really know but it seems to me the veil is thin over the organizer's spiritual preferences. Not that it matters - again, when it is Jehovah's time to remove false worship from His Name People, He can use whoever He wants to precipitate it. He's allowed pagans to have such a part for that purpose before. For those people who believe in rebirth and regeneration, they should know that with Jehovah it is still possible for the heart to be Reborn into True Faith and Holiness - Jehovah has not shut the door of life, and He does not limit strong access to His spirit to only one day or season. For humans on earth today, there is no heart in darkness too dark for the Light of Jehovah's Love to reach, if that person chooses to embrace Jehovah again. May such ones repent and come out of the grave to bask in the light of His Love every day and forever...)
     
    "...if I were to make my bed in the Grave, look! you would be there.  
    If I would fly away with the wings of the dawn 
    To reside by the most remote sea, 
    Even there your hand would lead me 
    And your right hand would take hold of me.  
    If I say: “Surely darkness will conceal me!” 
    Then the night around me would become light. 
    Even the darkness would not be too dark for you, 
    But night would be as bright as the day; 
    Darkness is the same as light to you."
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    boyle reacted to John 12.24to28 in EXJWs Are Going to the U.S. Capitol   
    My face? You mean why does it look tan? 
     
    It's certainly not from the bright light and wisdom shining from @boyle...he's full of...well, I won't say what he's full of, but...
     
    My face definitely won't "shine" after talking to him!
     
    If my face looks "tan" to you, it's because I'm embarrassed for @boyle - (he forgot what love is and it's so embarrassing because he's spiritually just as "naked" as the men in the organization he's so mad at and he doesn't even know it!)
     
    "Look! I am coming as a thief. Happy is the one who stays awake and keeps his outer garments, so that he may not walk naked and people look upon his shamefulness.”
     
    "Clothe yourselves with love."
     
    Hopefully the whole lot of them repent - the ones in and the ones out. There's still time for that even after the tower falls. Jehovah is the one who will make it fall, but it is imperative that right-hearted ones not join in the destructive melee of the nations that follows. Vengeance belongs to Jehovah, not to men. The nations are just the rod for Jehovah's anger, but they will try to go too far and that's when Jehovah will have to take vengeance on them too. Certainly @boyle will need to be shown mercy on the day of Jehovah's judgment. Hopefully @boyle will restrain himself and show mercy so he can receive mercy.
     
    "Happy are the merciful, since they will be shown mercy."
     
    (I'm done playing on this thread - perhaps I'll catch up with you later!😁)


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    boyle reacted to John 12.24to28 in Regarding Friendship   
    Jehovah designed us to have friendships with everybody. It's only because of the present fallout from the rebellion in Eden that friendship has been marred. However, the difficulties we face give an opportunity to build even stronger friendships, if we want to seize the opportunity to be a friend when it comes.🌷
     
     




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    boyle reacted to John 12.24to28 in “Yahweh” or “Jehovah”?   
    There are many options for building a chicken run. I used metal posts on mine, but here is a picture of different kinds of posts that someone else used on their chicken run.
     

     
    I can't say which posts are better.
     
     
    "You must stick to Jehovah your God."
     
    I do the best I can.
     
    (Joshua 23:8)
     
     
    I can't write a symposium right now, I'm kinda tired, maybe later.
     
     
    Oh, but it has everything to do with it, my dear. Some people on the thread seemed to be concerned that Jehovah won't hear somebody's prayer if they pronounce Jehovah's name the "wrong" way. This verse shows that it doesn't matter, as long as you are approaching Jehovah through Jesus with the right heart, Jehovah will hear you. That deaf man never heard "the so-called correct pronunciation of God's name" prior to being healed because that man was deaf. And yet he must have prayed many many times to be healed, and Jehovah heard and answered that prayer, even before the man heard out loud how Jesus uttered God's name in Hebrew or Greek or any other language.
     
     
    What would you like me to start a thread about?
     
     
    I know Jehovah as Jehovah, so that's what I call Him. He has answered my prayers when I call on Him by name. Before I knew Jehovah, I was an atheist. At one point I went through a particularly difficult trial, and I called on the names of many different gods that I had heard about or studied about - and not one of them did a thing. When I prayed to Jehovah through Jesus' name, Jehovah answered that prayer. I know Jehovah is the true God, and I know He answers prayers when I use His Name.
     
    My point was that if someone deaf who never heard God's Name out loud can pray to the true God and have that prayer answered, then surely if someone calls Him Yahweh or Jehovah or YHWH or JH and they mean the God of the Bible who Created All Things, then that person can be confident that Jehovah's not going to be mad at them or call them an apostate because they mispronounced it according to some scholars.
     
    Jehovah is nice. He's not mean, and He's definitely not a Pharisee. Or a scribe. He's a Dad. (Praise Jehovah!😄)
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    boyle reacted to John 12.24to28 in Mythbusters: The Flood of Noah's Day vs. "The Holy Hand Grenade" and other sci-fi stories 😁   
    ...Just goes to show you can't trust a computer to tell the truth...
     
    Here is a poem by Eduard Einstein:
     
    "Forebodings, how I’m dying lonely
    Silently disappear
    And in no bark
    My existence is notched.
    What I’ve sown
    The winds have blown away.
    What I’ve contained
    Has already disappeared
    The stem has washed away.
    Forebodings, how I’m dying lonely
    And how the shame,
    My grip on myself,
    Took everything from me."
     
    (from website https://oddfeed.net/eduard-einstein/)
     
    Modern technology and medical science failed him. Having Albert Einstein as a father didn't fix his problems. Jehovah will bring poor Eduard back and then he can write poetry without living under affliction. It sounds like the words of the psalmist would have resounded with him...
     
    "O Jehovah, the God of my salvation, 
    By day I cry out, 
    And by night I come before you.  
    Let my prayer come to you, 
    Incline your ear to my cry for help.  
    For my soul has been filled with calamity, 
    And my life is on the brink of the Grave.  
    I am already counted among those going down to the pit; 
    I have become a helpless man, 
    Left among the dead 
    Like the slain lying in a grave, 
    Whom you remember no longer 
    And who have been separated from your care.  
    You have put me in the lowest pit, 
    In dark places, in a large abyss.  
    Your rage weighs heavily on me, 
    And you overwhelm me with your crashing waves. (Selah)  
    You have driven my acquaintances far away from me; 
    You have made me something detestable to them.  
    I am trapped and cannot escape. 
    My eye is worn out because of my affliction. 
    I call on you, O Jehovah, all day long; 
    To you I spread out my hands.  
    Will you perform wonders for the dead? 
    Can those powerless in death rise up to praise you? (Selah) 
    Will your loyal love be declared in the grave, 
    Your faithfulness in the place of destruction?  
    Will your wonders be known in the darkness 
    Or your righteousness in the land of oblivion?  
    But I still cry to you for help, O Jehovah, 
    Each morning my prayer comes before you.  
    Why, O Jehovah, do you reject me? 
    Why do you hide your face from me? 
    From my youth on, I have been afflicted and ready to perish; 
    I am numb from the terrible things you allow me to suffer.  
    Your burning anger overwhelms me; 
    Your terrors destroy me.  
    They surround me like waters all day long; 
    They close in on me from all sides.  
    You have driven my friends and companions far away from me; 
    Darkness has become my companion."
     
    The psalmist didn't know that Jehovah hadn't left him. Obviously Jehovah heard the words of the psalmist and had them recorded in the Bible for our benefit. Jehovah was with the psalmist that whole time he was in the dark. When we are in the dark, we don't understand why things are happening. Things are dark sometimes, even for an extended time. Eventually the light comes. It always comes. It will come for Eduard when he wakes up, and then it will be only light forever. It will come for all of those in the dark who yearn for the light. It will be worth the wait. 
     
    "...go ahead of Jehovah to prepare his ways,  to give knowledge of salvation to his people by forgiveness of their sins,  because of the tender compassion of our God. With this compassion a daybreak will visit us from on high,  to give light to those sitting in darkness and death’s shadow and to guide our feet in the way of peace.”
     
    (Psalm 88:1-18; Luke 1:76-79)




  7. Downvote
    boyle reacted to John 12.24to28 in Mythbusters: The Flood of Noah's Day vs. "The Holy Hand Grenade" and other sci-fi stories 😁   
    What's the difference between a hypocritical jw and a hypocritical ex-jw?
  8. Downvote
    boyle reacted to John 12.24to28 in Mythbusters: The Flood of Noah's Day vs. "The Holy Hand Grenade" and other sci-fi stories 😁   
    "The heart knows its own bitterness, 
    And no outsider can share in its joy."
     
    (Proverbs 14:10)
     
    "The foundations of the city wall were adorned with every sort of precious stone: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chal·ceʹdo·ny, the fourth emerald,  the fifth sar·donʹyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysʹo·lite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysʹo·prase, the eleventh hyacinth, the twelfth amethyst."
     
    (Revelation 21:19,20)
     
    Jehovah has a way of making what some people consider "trash" into something beautiful.💖 We're all made of dust anyway...but with Jehovah's light even the lowliest piece of dust can sparkle...
     
    "There is One who does not show partiality to princes
    And who does not favor the rich over the poor,
    For they are all the work of his hands."
     
    (Job 34:19)





  9. Downvote
    boyle reacted to John 12.24to28 in Mythbusters: The Flood of Noah's Day vs. "The Holy Hand Grenade" and other sci-fi stories 😁   
    Sweet @boyle, I hope you have a good rest of your afternoon! I am going to enjoy the sunshine for awhile.
     
    "Light is sweet, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun.  For if a man should live many years, let him enjoy them all."
     
    I hope you can enjoy your day too, my brother🥰
     
    (Ecclesiastes 11:8,9)
  10. Downvote
    boyle reacted to John 12.24to28 in Mythbusters: The Flood of Noah's Day vs. "The Holy Hand Grenade" and other sci-fi stories 😁   
    "There is an appointed time for everything..."
     
    I have not been shy about my affection for you as for my brothers. Brotherly affection, however, is not always mutual. I cannot read hearts, only comments.
     
    I think it's time for me to go for now.🙂
     
    (Talk to you later, Jehovah willing...)💖
     
     
     
  11. Downvote
    boyle reacted to John 12.24to28 in Mythbusters: The Flood of Noah's Day vs. "The Holy Hand Grenade" and other sci-fi stories 😁   
    Jehovah cares even for those who have sown nothing. His mercy and undeserved kindness are higher than what we can imagine. Praise Jehovah.🙂
     
    "Observe intently the birds of heaven; they do not sow seed or reap or gather into storehouses, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than they are?"
     
    (Matthew 6:26)
     
     
    "I say to you: Continue to love your enemies and to pray for those who persecute you,  so that you may prove yourselves sons of your Father who is in the heavens, since he makes his sun rise on both the wicked and the good and makes it rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous."
     
    (Matthew 5:44,45)
     
    (I liked the little animal video! The doggy was funny☺️)
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    boyle reacted to John 12.24to28 in Mythbusters: The Flood of Noah's Day vs. "The Holy Hand Grenade" and other sci-fi stories 😁   
    I know I haven't been on this forum very long, but after looking at some of the older threads, I figured out, @boyle, that you are the "Resident Allen". 🙂
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    boyle reacted to John 12.24to28 in Mythbusters: The Flood of Noah's Day vs. "The Holy Hand Grenade" and other sci-fi stories 😁   
    Speaking of doggy in the window...
     
     
    A few dog jokes...
     
    Q: What did the dog say when he sat on sandpaper?
    A: Ruff! 
     
    Q: Why did the poor dog chase his own tail?
    A: He was trying to make both ends meet! 
     
    Q: What dog keeps the best time? 
    A: A watch dog! 
     
    Q: Why don't dogs make good dancers?
    A: Because they have two left feet! 
     
    Q: What happens when it rains cats and dogs?
    A: You can step in a poodle! 
     
    Q: Why are dogs like phones?
    A: Because they have collar IDs. 
     
    Q: What dog loves to take bubble baths?
    A: A shampoodle! 
     
    Q: What do you call a dog that is left handed?
    A: A south paw! 
     
    Q: What did one flea say to the other?
    A: Should we walk or take a dog? 
     
    Q: What type of markets do dogs avoid?
    A: Flea markets! 
     
    Q: What did the cowboy say when his dog ran away?
    A: Well, doggone! 
     
    (from ducksters.com)
     
    "Run away!!!" 😆
     

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    boyle reacted to Pudgy in Mythbusters: The Flood of Noah's Day vs. "The Holy Hand Grenade" and other sci-fi stories 😁   
    It’ simple math!
    1.2.3.4.
    1.) if Eduardo = Edward, then
    2.) Albert = Alfred, and 
    3.) Edward = Alfred, and therefore
    4.) Alfred Einstein was the Batman’s Butler!
    Seeee ?
    … it’s all about relativity!
    ( …. and reducto ad absurdism, for those in Rio Linda …)
     

     
    … so you can see that Eduardo is not the same thing as Edward, nicht wahr?
  18. Downvote
    boyle reacted to Pudgy in Mythbusters: The Flood of Noah's Day vs. "The Holy Hand Grenade" and other sci-fi stories 😁   
    Oh, by the way … boyle says I insulted his family.
    Another paranoid lie from someone who deliberately misunderstands most things.
    I challenge you to prove or disprove  that lie by quoting what I actually said. 
     
  19. Downvote
    boyle reacted to John 12.24to28 in Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania   
    Some links to financial information regarding the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, as well financial info on some other Watch Tower agencies such as Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Canada, found on this website... (some of the links are broken but some still work)
    https://www.watchtowerlies.com/the_watchtower_revenue.html
     






  20. Downvote
    boyle reacted to John 12.24to28 in Pennsylvania Opens Grand Jury Criminal Investigation Into Jehovah’s Witnesses; JW Survey Editor Subpoenaed   
    (I didn't say a word - didn't have to.) 🙂
     
    Jehovah is the Source of Light. He is shining a spotlight on their actions. Praise Jehovah.💖
  21. Downvote
    boyle reacted to Witness in Pennsylvania Opens Grand Jury Criminal Investigation Into Jehovah’s Witnesses; JW Survey Editor Subpoenaed   
    I hope every JW here reads this article.  Please!
    https://jwsurvey.org/news/pennsylvania-opens-grand-jury-criminal-investigation-into-jehovahs-witnesses-jw-survey-editor-subpoenaed
    Pennsylvania Opens Grand Jury Criminal Investigation Into Jehovah’s Witnesses; JW Survey Editor Subpoenaed
    In 1884, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society was incorporated in the Court of Common Pleas in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The movement of Charles Taze Russell became an established religious business, a tax-exempt corporation that would go on to control the lives of more than 8 million devoted followers,
    One hundred years later and four hours southeast of Allegheny, I was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in a tiled, heated baptismal pool in Crownsville Maryland. I was 16.
    Thirty-five years after that, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania served me with a subpoena to testify in a Grand Jury investigation into alleged criminal activity by the very same religious organization to which I devoted the formative and working years of my life. Let me explain why this happened.
    I grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, the only child of devoted Jehovah’s Witness parents who had embraced the religion following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the escalation of the Vietnam war. Jehovah’s Witnesses pounded the pavements of Baltimore, preaching the imminence of Armageddon.
    Watchtower vice-president and oracle Frederick W. Franz famously came to Baltimore in 1966, delivering multiple conventions speeches, including the epic book-release of Life Everlasting in Freedom of the Sons of God. This 400+ page publication unveiled a shocking timetable of world events, including the revelation that 1975 would mark the most significant modern date in history.
    From that moment forward, everything changed. Urgency over the date 1975 drove Witnesses into a subtle frenzy, with Organization overseers using these new revelations as spiritual cattle prods, driving many to sell their homes and preach the news of the end of the world.
    When I was 8 years old, 1975 came and went, but new predictions emerged, and the old ones were revised. As a child, I could not accept that I was being lied to, so I trusted Jehovah’s Witnesses and their appointed elders.
    Among the most trusted elders was a man named Charles Brineshults. Charlie, as he was known, was a long-time appointed elder, a widower, and held the distinction of being one of the elite few remaining “anointed” Jehovah’s Witnesses on Earth. He was also a serial pedophile, but I didn’t know that.
    Charles “Charlie” Brineshults Even as a child my instincts told me something was not right. Brineshults shuffled from family to family, latching on to the generosity of anyone who would take him in. Of course, the homes he selected and the families he embraced all had children. Vulnerable children.
    It was not until about 10 years ago during a group vacation that a close friend and longstanding elder heard the name Brineshults in conversation, and he piped in “Oh yeah, he diddled kids, you didn’t know?”

    “What?” I exclaimed as I shot a piercing gaze across the South Carolina beach resort, expecting to hear this was some kind of joke. But it wasn’t. As it turns out, it was an open secret among dozens of families and nearly all of the elders in the congregation circuits I grew up in.
    I was horrified. At that moment I could instantly recall sitting in the rear of a Kingdom Hall after a meeting, watching Charlie approach me with my father nearby. “Mark is so polite when he answers the phone, I am very impressed He speaks to clearly and with such maturity.”
    I was barely 10 years old. Like so many others, I was unaware I was being groomed, and were it not for the screen of my extra-protective mother, I would most certainly have been one of his many victims.
    And then there was Ongsingco.
    Louis Ongsingco was a charismatic Watchtower-appointed pioneer minister and self-declared pied piper of the local Jehovah’s Witness children. He was engaging, well-traveled, and he liked girls. Young girls.
    Louis Ongsingco Louis was a jet-setting flight attendant who frequently returned from Paris or London with expensive chocolates and other gifts for the kids he liked the most. He was also a massage therapist.
    He had a smooth-talking way of conversing with teen girls, advancing his hands further and further from their shoulders to their backs, then finally blurring the lines between friendly conduct and full-on sexual assault. I saw this myself.
    I was barely a teenager when I approached local elder Robert “Bob” Manke about Ongsingco’s behavior with girls. Where else would I go? My parents couldn’t control Louis, and I didn’t know that this was a matter for the police. How could I? So I trusted that Manke and the other elders would handle the situation.
    They didn’t. Instead, they told Ongsingco that I had outed him, which led to severe chastisement from Louis himself. It was frightening. Meanwhile, Louis kept up his behavior, and decades passed. After leaving the Witness religion in 2013, I wanted to see what happened to this man.
    After a brief investigation, I discovered that Louis Ongsingco went on to sexually assault multiple women, both Jehovah’s Witnesses, and non-Witnesses. By 2001 at least seven different women filed two lawsuits against Ongsingco.
    These lawsuits are independent of additional allegations against Ongsingco, including those of two women who claim that Ongsingco placed his hands down the front of their shirts when they were teenagers.
    One of those women came forward to the Atlantic in 2019 and was interviewed by journalist Doug Quenqua, who investigated Jehovah’s Witnesses in his article The Secret Database of Child abuse.
    The Atlantic Article
    In 2018 I was introduced to journalist Douglas Quenqua, a respected writer whose work has appeared in the New York Times, CNBC, Buzzfeed, and other periodicals. Doug had learned that I had received hundreds of pages of child abuse case documents from several Jehovah’s Witness congregations, and he wanted to learn more.
    Over the course of 2018, we spent a number of days discussing these documents, and why Jehovah’s Witnesses had not reported these cases to the police. The incidents were horrifying, and worse yet, they revealed that most of the perpetrators were still at large, and were in contact with children.
    On March 22nd, 2019, the Atlantic released Doug’s article. 24 Hours later, two elders rang our doorbell before 10 AM. We did not answer. When we checked our security camera later, it was apparent who these men were. They were church elders from the Perry Hall Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Maryland.
    One of the two elders is the father of a woman who was sexually assaulted by not one, but two Jehovah’s Witness men. The men were Brineshults and Ongsingco.
     
    Two Church Elders at my door, seeking to disfellowship I remember thinking how pathetic it was to be chased down by the very men who have been covering up child abuse for years, and whose children were among the victims.
    On April 14th, 2019, Watchtower representative and local church elder Joel Raniolo mailed two certified letters to my home, demanding that we attend a judicial hearing at the Perry Hall church. When reached, Raniolo refused to divulge why he had sent the letters, and how he had obtained our personal information.
    On May 14th, 2019, another Church elder announced to the Perry Hall congregation that Mark and Kimberly O’Donnell are no longer Jehovah’s Witnesses. It had been 35 years since my indoctrination and baptism back in February 1984.
    The Pennsylvania Grand Jury
    In the weeks following the release of the Atlantic article, national and global attention became focused on the Jehovah’s Witness religion. In particular, the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General took notice of the allegations of corruption within the Witness Organization.
    The State of Pennsylvania is no stranger to the cover-up of abuse within religious organizations. In 2018, the Attorney General’s office released the results of a two-year investigation into the Catholic church, following multiple substantiated reports of child sexual abuse and corresponding cover-ups.
    On July 2nd, 2019 I was interviewed in my home by the Deputy Assistant Attorney General of Pennsylvania, along with a Special Investigator for the State. For more than three hours I provided documentation and details concerning the policies and practices of Jehovah’s Witnesses, especially in connection with child abuse.
    On July 29th a Special Investigator arrived at my Baltimore home and served a subpoena for me to appear before the 45th Investigative Grand Jury of the State of Pennsylvania.
    Finally, on August 22nd, 2019, I arrived at the State Capitol before 7.30 AM and was sworn in by Judge J. Wesley Oler in his chambers. Moments later I entered the large Grand Jury room, where 23 grand jurors and approximately 12-15 alternates were stationed at their desks, positioned to take notes and record their questions on paper.
    A Grand Jury is a special tool used by state and federal governments to investigate criminal allegations against persons or institutions. The powers of grand juries are wide-ranging and potent. They include the ability to subpoena and compel witnesses to testify, and those witnesses are encouraged to speak freely and without fear of reprisal.
    Any form of retaliation is taken seriously by the office of the Attorney General and the presiding judge. Of course, Jehovah’s Witnesses had already executed retaliation on my wife and me in response to our efforts to shed light on the epidemic child abuse problem within the religion.
    My testimony lasted more than two straight hours as I sat facing the Grand Jury and the Deputy Attorney General, together with several State Attorneys and Special Investigators.

    Grand Juries can be cathartic experiences for cooperative witnesses who testify on the side of civil justice. That was my experience.
    For the first half of my initial testimony, I recounted my personal history within the Jehovah’s Witness religion, beginning with my religiously isolated childhood. It was an opportunity to share my experiences with a large group of citizens who will ultimately make important decisions when they vote on the choices presented to them.
    There were moments of levity amidst the proceedings, including a curious exchange in which I discussed the history of the Witnesses’ custom Bible, the New World Translation. I explained how the translation was largely the brainchild of Frederick W. Franz, whose linguistic education was limited to a maximum of two years study of Greek, and no training in Hebrew.
    The irony of this information was not lost upon the investigating members of the Grand Jury.
    The Grand Jury and the JW Organization
    As the morning progressed, my testimony turned North to the driving force behind the reason these people were assembled in this room- to comprehend whether the religious hierarchy which drives this religion is responsible for the failure to report the crime of child abuse.
    A large whiteboard was placed to my left, facing the grand jurors. At the very top, the letters “GB” were written in large letters, then circled. It was clear that the Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania understood that the decisions and power of this religion lay at the top of a complicated network of corporations, congregations, Circuit Overseers, and churchgoers.
    I spent some time attempting to explain the spider web of mechanisms used by Jehovah’s Witnesses, describing the difference between their view of the spiritual and the legal.
    Branch Committees, Corporations, Circuit Overseers, Congregations, Elders, Ministerial Servants, Pioneers, Publishers- all of these found their way to the diagram of the Witness organization. Lines were drawn connecting all of the organizational machinery which comprises the Jehovah’s Witness religion. In the end, all roads terminated at the Governing Body.
    After testifying for more than two hours, I was excused and held in a waiting area while the Grand Jurors scribbled their questions on paper and handed them to the Deputy Assistant Attorney General, after which I was brought back into the room, and given the opportunity to respond to the questions.
    The process was dignified, thorough, but clearly an incremental process. Four months later, I found myself escorted once again into the halls of Pennsylvania justice, this time in a brand new government complex even more secure than the prior Strawberry Square location.
    Grand juries are most often 18 months in length, with citizen jurors obliged to comply with the civic duty once per month for several days at a stretch. In some cases, grand juries are extended another 6 months. So it was no surprise that I returned 4 months after my initial testimony, this time to discuss documents.
    Documents
    The smoking gun of certain crimes lies in the creation of a paper trail of evidence that substantiates repetitive negligent or criminal behavior. If there’s one thing the Jehovah’s Witnesses are not lacking, it’s documents.
    From the inception of Watch Tower Pennsylvania in 1884, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been in the document business. As the religion branched from printing Bibles and books to buying and selling real estate, the global corporations expanded, and so did the need to maintain centralized control over a growing member base.
    By the 1970s, the Witnesses had tightened controls over congregation elders, formed Governing Body Committees, and published letters to all Elders on various corporation letterheads. They even began publishing a secret elder’s manual with strict instructions that it be concealed from anyone not an elder.
    The expansion of congregation elder bodies meant that members trusted local elders to handle certain matters which would otherwise be best handled by law enforcement. Elder bodies became the police department for Jehovah’s Witnesses.
    As the organization became further centralized, policy letters became the norm. While many documents dealt with routine activities for the church, other letters started to emerge which seemed to border on matters best left for law enforcement.
    On July 1st, 1989, Watchtower New York issued a now-famous six-page letter to all congregation elders, labeled “confidential.” This letter warned elders not to divulge confidential information to “unauthorized” persons, including the police.
    It was clear that the rising number of child abuse cases in the Organization needed to be addressed, but Watchtower insisted that their New York Legal department act as first point of contact for any elders who learn of abuse.
    This letter served as the opening salvo in a policy of obstruction of justice for victims of child abuse and the law enforcement agents who could have helped them.
    On December 18th, 2019, I sat before the Pennsylvania Grand Jury, listening to the reading of the entire six-page letter from 1989.
    It began to hit me how serious these letters were, and how vital they are to the investigation into Jehovah’s Witnesses. Every line, every paragraph was dissected and scrutinized. And then more letters were introduced.
    On March 14, 1997, Watchtower released yet another directive to elders, and this time they asked for documentation of known child abusers serving in any congregation. It was, in effect, an official announcement of a secret database of child abusers.
    On Page two, the letter stated:
    This single sentence has formed the basis for a series of civil lawsuits in California in which attorney Irwin Zalkin and his team have worked many years to expose, knowing that Watchtower is harboring the names of thousands of child abusers in its database. Many of the abusers are still at large and serving in positions of authority among Jehovah’s Witnesses.
    These were just a few of the many letters I reviewed and certified as authentic for the Pennsylvania Grand Jury.
    What Effect Will the Grand Jury Have?
    I cannot speculate on the full nature of this investigation, as these proceedings are sealed off from the public and the press. The Office of the Attorney General cannot confirm or deny that there is an investigation. They cannot confirm or deny that they will seek to investigate and subpoena specific individuals, such as victims, attorneys, experts, active elders, or members of the organization who serve at the highest level.
    Subpoena for the 45th Investigative Grand Jury Only those who testify, and who have not been placed under a gag order from the presiding judge may discuss their testimony, if they choose to do so. Otherwise, until their investigation is complete, they will not comment.
    There are a number of possible consequences of this Grand Jury investigation, and it may take some time before we see the results. One outcome is a presentment- a recommendation that charges be filed against a person or organization. Another outcome is a formal report, like the Catholic Church report released in 2018.

    Whatever the case, the Office of the Attorney General has the power to issue search warrants and subpoenas, to compel testimony, and may even cross state lines to accomplish their work.
    After a lifetime in the Jehovah’s Witness organization, having seen the damaging effects of child abuse and the cover-up of these crimes, I am thankful that the Government of Pennsylvania has finally turned its attention to the organization which silenced the voices of survivors and those who champion their rights.
     
  22. Downvote
    boyle reacted to Isabella in Pennsylvania Opens Grand Jury Criminal Investigation Into Jehovah’s Witnesses; JW Survey Editor Subpoenaed   
    https://www.inquirer.com/news/pennsylvania-grand-jury-investigating-jehovah-witnesses-sex-abuse-cover-up-20200209.html
    https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2020/02/08/jehovahs-witnesses-under-investigation-pennsylvania-attorney-generals-office/2425260001/
  23. Downvote
    boyle reacted to Patiently waiting for Truth in Pennsylvania Opens Grand Jury Criminal Investigation Into Jehovah’s Witnesses; JW Survey Editor Subpoenaed   
    Thank you @Witness  That was a lot of reading but well worth it. 
    I'm sorry if I seem insulting toward Americans but there was such a big difference between calmly reading all that, or, listening to voices on video. Unfortunately the people  on video look as if they are cheering a ball game not reporting on something serious. 
    But keep it up Witness, the more information available the better. Thank you again.
     
  24. Downvote
    boyle reacted to John 12.24to28 in Pennsylvania Opens Grand Jury Criminal Investigation Into Jehovah’s Witnesses; JW Survey Editor Subpoenaed   
    https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/pa-grand-jury-investigation-systemic-cover-up-child-sex-abuse-jehovahs-witnesses/521-3ebc3df5-6044-4982-ac96-fc473c8a865f#longform_chapter_1

  25. Downvote
    boyle reacted to Pudgy in Mythbusters: The Flood of Noah's Day vs. "The Holy Hand Grenade" and other sci-fi stories 😁   
    yeah … I remember Eddie.
    Always pretending he was not Eddie Haskell, from “Leave it to Beaver”.  When he grew up he became. LAPD cop, so he could still bully people around.
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