Page 6 Our emotions...could begin to govern our thinking.

This is why their broadcasting is their new powerful tool. Not one monthly broadcast passes by without tears shown and emotion used to manipulate.

As for getting the facts, it's almost impossible to get all the facts from this organization when they choose to hide so much.

Do You Have the Facts?

Page 3 - AS TRUE Christians, we need to develop the ability to evaluate information and reach accurate conclusions.

Page 4 - It is especially important to avoid (view) websites promoted by apostates. (awakened JW's) Their whole purpose is to tear down (inform) God’s people and to distort (reveal) the truth. 

Page 5 - Do not be naive, or gullible. Be sure you have the facts.

Page 6 - Yes, leaning too heavily on our own understanding (instead of the org's) can become a snare. Our emotions and personal ideas could begin to govern our thinking. (heaven forbid!!) We may begin to feel that we can look at a situation and understand it even though we do not have all the facts. (the org's version!)

Generous Givers Are Happy People

Page 22 - Of course, selfless giving, kindness, and generosity can be shown in many ways and in many areas of your Christian life and ministry, with rewarding results. The following article will explore some of these ways and areas.

The statistics he used in that talk were used in a 1988 awake where they quoted from a 1988 New York Times article.

Awake: https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/101988372

Every person that has heard Losch spout his "statistics" needs to understand where and when these statistics were compiled. The survey he quotes is from 30 years ago. The same survey also showed that there was also a rise in freshmen who supported laws against homosexuality (53%), and a decline of support for legalization of marijuana ... clearly showing what different time period it is from. Link: https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/14/us/to-freshmen-a-big-goal-is-wealth.html

Besides the fact that there is absolutely nothing wrong with hoping to make more money after graduating college, these statistics are grossly out of date. The survey was directed by Dr. Alexander W. Astin for the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles.

The key word here is "annual". They conduct the exact same survey every year. It would be very easy for them to use more current data. The funny thing is that the question about money being a motivating factor is up to 72.6%, but it is not the most motivating factor. Here is the most current freshman survey for anyone interested. It is from 2016: https://www.heri.ucla.edu/monographs/TheAmericanFreshman2016.pdf

I haven't found the table for the 1988 data, but here is the table from 2016, so you can see how the question was asked and results tabulated. The first screen shot is of the actual question that is asked of freshmen. The second screenshot is of the results for 2016.

He reiterated this again just today!

Gerrit Lösch gives a special talk the Norval Assembly Hall in Georgetown Canada

There were 2 sisters who got up and had a dramatization about a sister not wanting to go to College. I will paraphrase as best as I can.

High School Counselor: ''Have a seat Karen and I will show you all the College applications I have for you.''

Sister: ''Thank you for all the work you have done.''

Counselor: '' I have an application from Harvard,one from Michigan University,and a couple from the East Coast.''

Sister: '' I have done alot of thinking and decided not to go to any College."

Counselor: ''Karen,you have a 4.0 grade average and scored very high on the A.C.T. and you would have no problem getting into any of these schools."

Sister: '' As you know,I'm a Jehovah's Witness and we believe that we are near the ''end times.'' I decided that I will go into the preaching work part time and maybe go to a 2 year school."

Counselor: ''You will probably get into these schools at almost no cost because of your 4.0 average and high A.C.T. scores and have a good career the rest of your life.These are great schools and will prepare you to land a good job.''

Sister: ''This world is passing by and may not be here any longer. I decided to enter the ministry work and Jehovah God will provide for me in the future."

 

He brought up the fact that "70% of freshman go to post-secondary for MORE MONEY" - of course this is what ppl focus on when going to post-secondary. Does he seriously expect people to make over $20/hour without a post-secondary education, with the exception of trades? (I know you can get a good salary without post-secondary but this is increasingly hard to do in the 2010s) I guess we all should be making minimum wage for the rest of our lives and focus on pioneering!

Including the musical interlude, Watchtower summary, Canada stats, and Losch's talk, the program was 2h 40m..

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President Attends Tax Reform Talk in Cleveland President Trump took part in a roundtable discussion in Cleveland with Ohio residents, Labor Secretary Alaex Acosta and Rep. Jim Renacci to discuss the tax reform legislation passed in December.

https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2018/05/05/promised-temple-is-coming-visiting-apostle-dieter-uchtdorf-tells-russias-mormons-but-the-process-will-be-slow/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5692667/Mormon-support-gay-marriage-gradually-grows.html

'Heavenly Father loves us for who we are': Mormon support for gay marriage is growing as survey finds nearly half in America agree with the union

• A survey found that 40 per cent of Mormons in the United States supported gay marriage in 2017, up from 27 per cent in 2014
• Among Mormons between the ages of 18-29, the acceptance is 52 per cent, up from 43 per cent in 2014 
• The religion's support still lags well behind national approval and those of Catholics, Muslims and Jews, according to the survey released this week
• Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who are 65 and older have the lowest rate of support at 32 per cent

http://kutv.com/news/local/mormon-support-for-gay-marriage-gradually-grows

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Mormon Alex Landers supports the legalization of gay marriage despite her religion's opposition for a simple reason: She has LGBTQ friends who she loves and respects, including her best friend who is a bisexual man.

"I can't look at him and his boyfriend and tell them that they can't be happy and they can't love each other," said Landers, 20, of Draper, Utah. "Heavenly Father loves us for who we are. He wants us to be happy, as long as we're treating people well and we're being who we truly are and we're not hurting anyone."

She is among a growing number of young Mormons driving the faith's gradual acceptance of same-sex marriages, even though the religion's support still lags well behind national approval and those of Catholics, Muslims and Jews, according to the survey released this week by the Public Religion Research Institute.

The survey found that 40 percent of Mormons in the United States supported gay marriage in 2017, up from 27 percent in 2014.

Among Mormons between the ages of 18-29, the acceptance is 52 percent. That's up from 43 percent in 2014.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who are 65 and older have the lowest rate of support at 32 percent, according a survey based on about 40,000 phone interviews done last year. That's up from 18 percent in 2014.

Nationally, 61 percent of Americans support gay marriage, up from 52 percent in 2013.

The Utah-based religion of 16 million worldwide members has held firm to its opposition of gay marriage and homosexual activity while trying to foster an empathetic stance toward LGBTQ people.

Last year, church leaders updated a website to advise that attraction to people of the same sex is not a sin or a measure of their faithfulness and may never go away. But the church reminded members that being in an intimate same-sex relationship is a sin.

Among religious groups included in the survey, only white evangelical Protestants and Jehovah's Witnesses had lower levels of support for gay marriage. Support was higher among Catholics (about 65 percent), Muslims (51 percent) and Jews (77 percent).

The survey found that Mormons had the largest gap between support for gay marriage and support for anti-discrimination laws to protect LGBT people. While only 40 percent of Mormons favor gay marriage, 69 percent support anti-discrimination laws.

Luis Miranda, a 30-year-old heterosexual Mormon, said he wasn't surprised by the survey results because he senses a shifting tone among other young Mormons in the singles congregation he attends.

He said he grew up as a Catholic in Guatemala believing that traditional marriage between a man and a woman was sacred and important. He continued to hold that belief after he moved to Utah as a teenager and converted to Mormonism.

But as he grew older, he realized he needed to meet and spend more time with gays and lesbians. "I realized they were just as beautiful and loving with each other, and as pure as anyone else," said Miranda, of Salt Lake City.

Miranda said he sometimes struggles to reconcile his opinion with what church leaders are teaching. He believes Mormon leaders have good intentions. He is committed to remain in the religion to be a voice of support for gay marriage.

He finds hope in the fact that the religion believes church doctrine can be altered through revelations from God. That's how the church explained why it lifted the ban on blacks in the religion's lay priesthood in 1978.

"If it's happened before, it could happen again," Miranda said.

The Flemish Parliament has opened an inquiry into the child abuse policies and cover ups of Jehovah's Witnesses. The investigation is collecting complaints, not to make their stories public but to start an official investigation into the child abuse policies of Jehovah's Witness groups.

http://www.flanderstoday.eu/politics/parliament-apologises-victims-childhood-sexual-abuse

The rest of the magisterium must be in a state of panic! What, declare there is no fiery hell? Good grief! Removing the fear of everlasting hell will take away our very best tool for obedience to the Church.

I sure hope my immortal salivation isn't just a theory.

I read somewhere that it is not very healthy for us.....

and guess what the response was minutes later?.....

Moscow to expel at least 60 U.S. diplomats in response to #Washington's decision to expel Russian diplomats and close #Seattle consulate

The US says it is expelling 60 out of 100 Russian diplomats it says are spies now

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/26/mps-demand-action-over-jehovahs-witness-abuse-allegations

MPs are demanding government action after more than 100 people contacted the Guardian with allegations of child sexual abuse and other mistreatment in Jehovah’s Witness communities in the UK.

“I am extremely concerned, but not surprised, by the allegations of child abuse within the Jehovah’s Witness movement. Whenever there is a closed society with an inherent power imbalance, the potential for abuse is there,” said the Labour MP Sarah Champion.

She said she would be raising the issue in parliament and demanding that the government take action to make sure all children were safe.

Alex Chalk, the Conservative MP for Cheltenham, said he planned to raise the issue in parliament, saying it was not just a historical issue but an ongoing child safety concern.

“My instinctive thoughts are that the sheer numbers and seriousness of the allegations coming forward is concerning ... If even half the allegations coming to light are true then it’s clear that an entrenched culture of cover-up and flawed in-house investigations continues to this day,” Chalk said.

A Guardian investigation heard from 41 people who claimed they were victims of child sexual abuse and alleged a culture of cover-ups and lies, with senior members of the organisation, known as elders, discouraging victims from talking to the police.

A further 48 people said they experienced other forms of abuse, including physical violence when they were children, and 35 claimed they witnessed or heard about others who were victims of child grooming and abuse.

The Guardian was told that members of the community were taught to avoid interaction with outside authorities. It was also claimed that, according to rules set by the group, for child sexual abuse to be taken seriously there must be at least two witnesses to it. If that happened or a perpetrator admitted abuse, a judicial committee would be called and the case investigated.

A solicitor representing some of the alleged victims said she believed there were thousands of complainants in the UK and that the people who had contacted the Guardian were “just the tip of the iceberg”.

Kathleen Hallisey, a senior solicitor in the abuse team at Bolt Burdon Kemp, acting on behalf of 15 alleged victims, said: “Given the number of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the UK, and what we know about the pervasiveness of abuse in the organisation, there are likely to be hundreds and probably thousands more victims. This is truly just the tip of the iceberg.”

Champion said she was concerned that victims had to report their abuse to elders, without independent scrutiny.

She also expressed concern that abuse claims could only be taken before a committee for investigation if there were two witnesses to it. “Abuse happens in the shadows, so to ask for a second witness is ludicrous and effectively prevents reporting,” Champion said.

Several more alleged victims came forward after the initial claims were published. One woman, speaking anonymously, said: “I’m a former Jehovah’s Witness and know personally of two girls who were abused and silenced within their congregations.”

Another woman, also speaking under the condition of anonymity, said she tried to kill herself when she was 14 after being abused by her father. “I found an old article in the Awake magazine on abuse in the congregation library and left it open for the elder. I had left the same article for my father at one stage hoping he would read it and stop. When it was found out, I too was subjected to being told not to say anything and a cover-up. In my case the evidence was also destroyed by the elders,” she said.

She said she was told never to speak to anyone about what happened and was not given any counselling. “I asked the elders privately if I could go live with a friend’s family ... and they said I had to ask my father as he was the head of the household.”

Operation Hydrant, a British police investigation into allegations of non-recent child sexual abuse, has dealt with 45 potential victims of child abuse within a JehovahÂ’s Witness setting. It said allegations could be made by a third party which either identifies or does not identify a potential victim.

When informed of the GuardianÂ’s findings, the Charity Commission said its inquiry into the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Britain, JehovahÂ’s WitnessesÂ’ governing body in the UK, was continuing. It said anyone affected by safeguarding concerns should come forward.

In a statement, the Jehovah’s Witnesses said child safeguarding was of the utmost importance. They said that a victim and their family had the right to report allegations of child abuse to the police, and that the principle of sufficient evidence was a scriptural rule not related to reporting an allegation of crime to the authorities. 

In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international suicide helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.

The Title of this post alone is wacky.

Good news > Suffering > and then add God as the source.

Wrap your head around that.

But God is Love!!

Sounds almost sado-masochistic.... or like the Dom in a Sub relationship. LOL

Are Jehovah's Witness men waking up to the power of women?

Although one could say that the title and assertion are themselves "sexist" ....

Oh how the times have changed.

I remember when sisters would never have the hope of being a bethelite... and the slow gradual integration of sisters into the bethel homes.....  to articles like the one above.

In 20 years I might read an article about how we men might be surprised to see how an anointed woman can serve on the Governing Body just as well as a man....

More than 100 people have contacted the Guardian with allegations of child sexual abuse and other mistreatment in Jehovah’s Witness communities across the UK.

Former and current members, including 41 alleged victims of child sexual abuse, described a culture of cover-ups and lies, with senior members of the organisation, known as elders, discouraging victims from coming forward for fear of bringing “reproach on Jehovah” and being exiled from the congregation and their families.

A Guardian investigation also heard from 48 people who experienced other forms of abuse, including physical violence when they were children, and 35 who witnessed or heard about others who were victims of child grooming and abuse.

The stories told to the Guardian ranged from events decades ago to more recent, and many of those who came forward have now contacted the police.

They told the Guardian about:

An organisation that polices itself and teaches members to avoid interaction with outside authorities.

A rule set by the main governing body of the religion that means for child sexual abuse to be taken seriously there must be two witnesses to it.

Alleged child sex abuse victims claiming they were forced to recount allegations in front of their abuser.

Young girls who engage in sexual activity before marriage being forced to describe it in detail in front of male elders.

A solicitor representing some of the alleged victims said she believed there were thousands of complainants in the UK and that the people who have contacted the Guardian were “just the tip of the iceberg”.

One alleged victim, Rachel Evans, who has waived her right to anonymity, claimed there was a paedophile ring active in the 1970s, although details of the case cannot be divulged due to a current investigation.

“Within the Jehovah’s Witnesses there is an actual silencing and also a network where if someone went to the elders and said ‘there is a problem with this’ and they believe you, the whole thing will be dealt with in-house. But often these people are not dealt with, they are either moved to another congregation or told to keep their head down for a few years,” she said.

Another victim, who did not want to be named, said she was abused by a ministerial servant (someone with congregational responsibilities) in the organisation in the 1970s.

“I was sexually abused many times a week from the age of three until I was 12. Congregation elders knew that when I told them, at 12, what had been happening. No steps were taken to tell the police. I had to tell three male senior figures what had happened. Imagine that? A young girl telling a bunch of men what this man did to me. I wasn’t even allowed to have my mother there with me.”

After she went to the police about what had happened, the person who abused her pleaded guilty and was eventually convicted. “The Jehovah’s Witnesses should lose their charity status as they are not protecting children,” she added. She said she had mental health issues as a result of what happened and how it was dealt with.

Jason Munro says he was abused for 10 years. Photograph: Murdo Macleod for the Guardian

Jason Munro, another alleged victim of sexual abuse who waived his right to anonymity, could not give details of his case due to a current investigation but said: “I am completely horrified by the Jehovah’s Witnesses ... I didn’t get support and I experienced 10 years of abuse. Elders knew in my teens about the abuse but it was never a case of ‘let’s get this person the professional help he needs’.”

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When a JehovahÂ’s Witness experiences sexual abuse they are supposed to report it to elders, who are always men, who will take further action if there is a second witness to the offence. The perpetrator will then be called before a judicial committee if they admit abuse or if there is a second witness.

“This causes further trauma to the victim and coupled with the two-witness rule, is undoubtedly the reason that so many victims have never reported it,” said Kathleen Hallisey, senior solicitor in the abuse team at Bolt Burdon Kemp, who is currently acting on behalf of 15 alleged victims.

She also noted that the problem with the two-witness rule in the context of sexual abuse was that there were rarely witnesses to it, “meaning that [these] reports ... are usually dismissed”.

It has been reported that the headquarters of the JehovahÂ’s Witnesses in the UK, the Watch Tower, holds a database of abuse allegations made within the organisation but has yet to hand it over to authorities.

The Charity Commission launched an investigation in 2013 looking into the Manchester New Moston congregation of JehovahÂ’s Witnesses, concluding that it did not deal adequately with allegations of child abuse made against one of the trustees.

The commission is still running an inquiry into the main government body of the group, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Britain. This is examining the child safeguarding policy and procedures further.

Following the investigation into the Manchester New Moston congregation last year, the Watch Tower changed its policy so that victims are no longer required to confront their abuser face to face.

A former elder, who was asked to investigate a child abuse case in 2007, claimed he was urged not to contact the police, although it was decided that the perpetrator should not be assigned to work with children.

However, the then elder – who left in 2012 over how the case was handled – said that this rule was not followed by everyone and when he raised this as a concern he was told to back off.

“I hugely regret the fact that I wasn’t able to do anything at the time and I didn’t have the strength. And that lives with me,” he said.

Other former JehovahÂ’s Witnesses told how they were forced to share personal sexual experiences at a young age, after breaking rules set by the religion.

One woman, who wished to be anonymous, was called to a meeting with elders after she had sex at 15, which goes against the rule of no sex before marriage. “This meeting was three older men and me, a scared 15-year-old, who had just had sex for the first time. They had to know all the details before they chose my punishment,” she said.

“I had to answer questions like, did it hurt? Where were you? Did you enjoy it? I don’t think any child that age should ever be in that situation.”

A former elder described how a congregation responded when a 13-year-old girl had sex. A judicial committee was called, and she was disfellowshipped and eventually asked to leave her parentsÂ’ house.

The Guardian also heard from those who described strict upbringings and a culture of hierarchy which meant physical and other psychological abuse were rife and often ignored.

Stephanie, a former JehovahÂ’s Witness, said that when she reported her own experience of domestic violence she was told by elders to do nothing.

The accused “remained in the congregation with privileges and authority. Later, when I came out to the congregation elders as gay, they sent two men to my house ... and asked me in detail about sex and masturbation,” she alleged.

Operation Hydrant, a British police investigation into allegations of non-recent child sexual abuse, said that it was dealing with 45 potential victims of child abuse within a Jehovah’s Witness setting. It said allegations could be made by a third party which either identifies – or does not identify – a potential victim.

Based on the GuardianÂ’s findings, the commission said its inquiry into the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Britain, the JehovahÂ’s WitnessesÂ’ governing body in the UK, was continuing and it encouraged anyone affected by safeguarding in congregations of JehovahÂ’s Witnesses in England and Wales to come forward.

Hallisey said: “Given the number of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the UK, and what we know about the pervasiveness of abuse in the organisation, there are likely to be hundreds and probably thousands more victims. This is truly just the tip of the iceberg.”

She said the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse should investigate. “It is absolutely critical that IICSA investigates the Jehovah’s Witnesses ... This is actually a public safety issue. The person knocking on your door or handing you literature in the street could be an accused or even admitted paedophile,” she said.

An IICSA spokesperson said that while it was currently delivering its existing programme, the panel would “consider calls for a Jehovah’s Witnesses-specific investigation carefully” as work progressed.

In a statement, the Jehovah’s Witnesses said that safeguarding children was of the utmost importance. They said that a victim and their family had the right to report allegations of child abuse to the police, and that the principle of sufficient evidence was a scriptural rule not related to reporting an allegation of crime to the authorities. “Elders treat victims of child abuse with compassion, understanding, and kindness. Elders will conduct a scriptural investigation of every allegation of child sexual abuse,” they said.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/25/jehovahs-witnesses-accused-of-silencing-victims-of-child-abuse-uk

A Las Vegas man was arrested last week after authorities accused him of raping a teenage member of his church, police and court records show.

Carlos Alfonso Perez, 55, was charged in January with three counts of sexual assault with a minor under 14 and two counts of sexual assault with a minor under 16, records show. He was arrested March 13 at his northeast Las Vegas home.

Perez is accused of assaulting a teenage girl multiple times between July 2012 and July 2014. He denied any wrongdoing in a December interview with police, according to records, but declined to take a polygraph examination.

The girl was 13 at the time the abuse began, according to a police report. She and Perez attended the same kingdom hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses for more than 10 years, according to the report, and the girl saw him multiple times a week at church functions.

She eventually reported the abuse to church officials, who had her confront Perez face to face, according to the police report.

“The church members decided that there was nothing they could do, since the stories were different,” the report states.

The document makes no mention of church officials attempting to contact police. A spokesman for JehovahÂ’s Witnesses in New York did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday and Friday.

According to the document, the girl reported Perez to police in August.

https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/sex-crimes/las-vegas-man-charged-with-raping-teen-member-of-his-church/

A man has built an incredible upside down truck that looks like a flipped-over vehicle. Rick Sullivan spent six months and $6,000 building the topsy-turvy truck from the parts of two separate vehicles. The road-legal car is created from a 1991 Ford Ranger pickup truck with a 1995 F-150 pickup truck body placed over the top - upside down.