If you are one of the many current and former Jehovah’s Witnesses who spent much of last month glued to your screen watching the Australian Royal Commission into child abuse, likely you are still dumbfounded by the testimony of one person in particular: Governing Body member Geoffrey Jackson.
Senior Watchtower officials did their very best to stop Jackson from appearing, dismissing his relevance to the commission and insinuating that he was only involved in “translation.” Their efforts at insulating their leader drew the ire of Senior Council Angus Stewart, who accused Australian branch coordinator Terrence O’Brien of deliberately trying to mislead the commission over Jackson’s role.
Finally the commission saw through the shenanigans and Jackson was faced with an official summons to appear – a summons carrying legal ramifications if he failed to show. In the end, despite being in Australia (to tend to his sick father), Jackson opted to give his appearance by video link – to the disappointment of many who would have like to have seen him appear in person.
Wearing a dark three-piece suit and stripey tie, and seated at a table in what appeared to be an office conference room, Jackson had an air of confidence about him. He addressed the judge and senior council respectfully, but any humility seemed strained – especially in the context of some of the more defiant and pious expressions that were to follow.
Overall, Jackson’s testimony was a masterclass in evading the torrent of difficult questions unleashed upon him. Angus Stewart and Judge McClellan bombarded him with topics as diverse as corporal punishment, the two witness rule, the role of women, and shunning.
Jackson ducked and swerved any difficult, potentially incriminating questions with the finesse of an Aussie-rules footballer, albeit without possessing the corresponding physique. “That’s not my field” became his default retort, and if he didn’t like the question he wasn’t above modifying it in his answer. Even outright lies were deployed by the Governing Body member in his eagerness to get past the full-time whistle unscathed.
It’s difficult to do justice to the full day-long exchange, but I have taken the liberty of compiling a handy list of 12 key pieces of testimony given by Jackson that were either unusual, revealing, or downright misleading.
If you would like to examine Geoffrey Jackson’s testimony for yourself, you can do so in PDF form on this link, or using the video playlist at the foot of this article.
1. Ordinary Jehovah’s Witnesses can now officially acknowledge the problem of child abuse (at least in theory)
As recently as February, Jackson’s co-Governing Body member Stephen Lett dismissed criticism of the organization’s child abuse record as “apostate-driven lies and dishonesties.” The morning worship video in which these comments were made was responded to by yours truly in the following YouTube video (skip to 03:10 to see Lett’s comments)…
As I commented at the time, rather than being “lies and dishonesties” the criticism of Watchtower’s child abuse mishandling was fully warranted, not least by the multi-million dollar judgments in both the Candace Conti and Jose Lopez verdicts of 2012 and 2014 respectively.
Still more recently, another Governing Body member, Tony Morris, indulged in an extraordinary rant on the issue of child abuse in the July 2015 JW Broadcasting episode. Not only did Morris attempt to scapegoat gay people as culpable for child molestation – he also claimed that the organization was proud of its reputation regarding child abuse and were even ahead of the game in that issue compared to the “somewhat naive” secular authorities.
Little over a month later, and under serious questioning by the senior council of a Royal Commission, Morris’ colleague Geoffrey Jackson sang an entirely different tune (bold is mine)…
Stewart: Do you recognise, Mr Jackson ‐ and in asking this question, let me make it clear, I’m not suggesting it is peculiar to the Jehovah’s Witness organisation, there are many, many organisations in this position ‐ but do you accept that the Jehovah’s Witness organisation has a problem with child abuse amongst its members?
Jackson: I accept that child abuse is a problem right throughout the community and it’s something that we’ve had to deal with as well.
Stewart: Do you accept that the manner in which your organisation has dealt with allegations of child sexual abuse has also presented problems?
Jackson: There have been changes in policies over the last 20 or 30 years, where we’ve tried to address some of those problem areas, and by the fact that they have changed the policy would indicate that the original policies weren’t perfect.
Stewart: And you accept, of course, that your organisation, including people in positions of responsibility, like elders, is not immune from the problem of child sexual abuse?
Jackson: That appears to be the case.
So there you have it. Jehovah’s Witnesses can now officially speak openly about their religion having a problem with child sexual abuse because, according to a member of the Governing Body, “that appears to be the case.”
Of course, whether there would be judicial ramifications anyway for speaking openly about child abuse in such an Orwellian organization is another matter entirely. Don’t expect “but Geoffrey Jackson said it’s true” to be a bullet-proof defense if you find yourself bundled into a backroom by the elders for mentioning the child abuse problem in a comment at the kingdom hall.
Stewart then went on to ask Jackson a line of questions that seemed expressly designed to counter the preposterous “apostate-driven lies and dishonesties” claim by Stephen Lett…
Stewart: Do you accept, Mr Jackson, that many of the efforts that are being made by different people and organisations to highlight the issue of child sexual abuse and try and find solutions are genuine efforts to improve the situation?
Jackson: I do accept that, and that’s why I’m happy to testify.
Stewart: And that such efforts are not necessarily an attack on your organisation or its system of beliefs?
Jackson: We understand that, too.
Stewart: You described earlier in your testimony that the work of this Royal Commission is beneficial. Do you accept, then, that the Royal Commission’s efforts are genuine and well‐intentioned?
Jackson: I certainly do. And that’s why we came in to the Royal Commission hoping that collectively something would come forward that would help us as well as everybody else.
Stewart: Would you disagree, then, with anyone who said that the efforts to highlight and deal with child sexual abuse in the Jehovah’s Witness church are engaging in apostate lies?
Jackson: I guess that’s a broad question, because sometimes those who make these accusations make many other accusations as well. But let me assure you, the person making the accusation is not the main thing. The main thing is: is there some basis to the accusation. And if there is some way that we could improve, the Governing Body is always interested in seeing how we can refine our policies. You see, Mr Stewart, could I just emphasise, as a religion, two very strong things we feel. One is, we try to keep a high moral standard. Secondly, there is love among the organisation. So we want to treat victims in a loving way.
That last response from Jackson was a typical example of his evasive tactics whenever an awkward question was put to him. Stewart’s question about apostate lies was direct and relevant, and answerable with a simple “yes” or “no.” But, knowing full well a “yes” OR “no” would be incriminating in different ways, Jackson dismissed the question itself as “broad” and spewed bluster about “many other accusations” leveled by apostates that clearly had nothing to do with the question.
Stewart wasn’t asking for Jackson to comment on his general observations about apostates, he was asking whether he believed scrutiny of child abuse within the organization by itself was tantamount to apostasy. As regards THAT specific question, no real answer was forthcoming. Jackson merely self-congratulated the Governing Body for its eagerness to refine its policies, uphold a “high moral standard,” and “treat victims in a loving way.”
Such fobbing off of an important question with pure bluster may get a politician through an awkward interview with a journalist, but Jackson was giving testimony on behalf of the Governing Body before a Judge at a Royal Commission. His sloppy tap dancing around difficult questions in such a serious forum will not have gone unnoticed, as I will highlight again later.
2. Jehovah’s Witnesses AREN’T allowed to spank their kids
Like many who were raised as Witnesses I was spanked by my parents (using a belt, as I recall), and this spanking was ALWAYS justified on religious grounds using the bible and Watchtower publications.
So you can imagine my astonishment (no doubt shared by many current and former Witnesses) when Jackson repeatedly denied that Witnesses endorse corporal punishment. (Corporal punishment is defined by one dictionary as a “punishment administered by an adult (as a parent or a teacher) to the body of a child ranging in severity from a slap to a spanking.”)
The following are quotes from Watchtower publications that are at least permissive of corporal punishment, if not openly endorsing it (bold is mine)…
“Of course, children are children, and some are prone to be contrary, even wayward. (Genesis 8:21) What can parents do? ‘Foolishness is tied up with the heart of a boy; the rod of discipline is what will remove it far from him,’ says the Bible. (Proverbs 22:15) Some view this as harsh treatment that is out-of-date. Actually, the Bible is against violence and abuse of any sort. The ‘rod,’ though at times literal, represents parental authority that is administered firmly but lovingly and appropriately out of concern for the children’s eternal welfare.—Hebrews 12:7-11.” – w06 4/1 pp. 9-10
“Different children require different kinds of discipline. Some are not ‘corrected by mere words.’ For them, the occasional punishment administered for disobedience may be lifesaving. (Proverbs 17:10; 23:13, 14; 29:19) A child, though, should understand why he is being punished. ‘The rod and reproof are what give wisdom.’ (Proverbs 29:15; Job 6:24) Moreover, punishment has boundaries. ‘I shall have to chastise you to the proper degree,’ said Jehovah to his people. (Jeremiah 46:28b) The Bible in no way endorses angry whippings or severe beatings, which bruise and even injure a child.—Proverbs 16:32.” – “Family Happiness” book (1996), page 60
Certainly it must be acknowledged that some of the sentiments in more recent publications to the effect that “not all children need physical punishment” (w06 11/1 p.5) might be construed as a U-turn from past instructions on the matter, at least in part. A footnote to the 2002 Draw Close to Jehovah book even says: “Similarly, ‘the rod’ of parental authority suggests loving guidance, not harsh or brutal punishment.” (p.101)
But a specific, unequivocal condemnation of corporal punishment as archaic, outdated and abusive by Watchtower has yet to appear in print. A full printed retraction on the matter would be appropriate, especially given past guidance such as the following…
“There are times, of course, when every child needs discipline, even with the literal rod, but this should be done—and not overdone—firmly and in love, without displaying the heat of anger. Children will come to appreciate deserved chastisement, and it will not ‘exasperate’ them. They will appreciate, too, the kindness and loving care that they receive at other times.” – “Good News to Make You Happy” (1976), p166
3. The Governing Body MIGHT not be Jehovah’s only spokespersons
Especially since they declared themselves to be the faithful slave in 2012, the Governing Body CLEARLY believe themselves to be God’s sole spokespersons or “channel,” as stated explicitly in published statements like the following (bold is mine)…
“Even as Bible prophecy pointed forward to the Messiah, it also directs us to the close-knit body of anointed Christian Witnesses that now serve as the faithful and discreet slave. It helps us to understand the Word of God. All who want to understand the Bible should appreciate that the ‘greatly diversified wisdom of God’ can become known only through Jehovah’s channel of communication, the faithful and discreet slave.—John 6:68.” – w94 10/1 p.8
And yet, when confronted with Angus Stewart’s blunt question “Do you see yourselves as Jehovah God’s spokespeople on earth?” the answer that came from Jackson’s lips was astounding.
“That I think would seem to be quite presumptuous to say that we are the only spokesperson that God is using. The scriptures clearly show that someone can act in harmony with God’s spirit in giving comfort and help in the congregations, but if I could just clarify a little, going back to Matthew 24, clearly, Jesus said that in the last days ‐ and Jehovah’s Witnesses believe these are the last days ‐ there would be a slave, a group of persons who would have responsibility to care for the spiritual food. So in
that respect, we view ourselves as trying to fulfill that role.”
Jackson thus answered the question by changing it, and not for the first time during his testimony. The question was NOT “do you think you are the only ones being used by God’s spirit?” The question deliberately highlighted the role of God’s “spokesperson,” or channel of communication. It had nothing to do with, say, an ordinary publisher offering comfort and help in the congregation.
Jackson’s answer was, therefore, another attempt at ducking a question where an honest answer would have made him look foolish and deluded.
4. A ‘worldly’ lawyer can beat a Governing Body member in a scripture duel
One of the most delightful and unexpected exchanges between Angus Stewart and Geoffrey Jackson arose from the former’s attempts to persuade the latter that there IS a scriptural basis for discarding the two witness rule as it relates to child sex abuse. The fascinating conversation is captured in the video below…
Simply put, Stewart correctly argued that child sex abuse amounts to rape, and because according to Deuteronomy 22:23-27 a rape victim who is attacked without witnesses in a field is to STILL see her attacker brought to justice (despite apparently being the only witness to the attack), therefore the same precedent could be applied to child sex abuse.
After considerable bluster about “circumstances,” again apparently aimed at obscuring the question, Jackson conceded that one witness was sufficient for a rapist to be stoned to death.
With predatory precision, Stewart then moved in for the kill.
“Is it not the case that had Jesus been asked about a case of sexual abuse, he may have referred back to this part of Deuteronomy and said that it’s not required to have two witnesses?”
Jackson could only reply: “I certainly would like to ask Jesus that, and I can’t at the moment, I hope to in the future. But that’s a hypothetical question which, if we had an answer, then we could support what you said.”
Subsequent to this exchange, Jackson submitted a written testimony to the commission effectively backtracking on everything he’d conceded on this point. Apparently Jackson no longer wants to ask Jesus about the question in the future, because “new light” has furnished him with the answer in record time.
According to Jackson’s written explanation, the two witness rule overrides the rape provision in Deuteronomy. And in any case, the rapist described would have already had his guilt established without the woman’s testimony. Essentially, Jackson trusts that the rapist would have given a full confession to elders of raping the woman in the field, despite facing the penalty of death by stoning for doing so.
Dubious and desperate reasoning aside, history will show that Angus Stewart gifted a Governing Body member with an opportunity to biblically justify scrapping the shameful two witness rule in relation to child abuse. And instead of seizing this gilt-edged opportunity to protect children, for reasons best known to him, Jackson bent over backwards to reject it.
5. A Governing Body member fails to deny that shunning is cruel
A long and rather arduous exchange ensued from Angus Stewart’s brave attempts to pin Geoffrey Jackson down on the issue of shunning. As I have previously pointed out, you would think if shunning is a divine command from Jehovah himself Watchtower representatives, including Governing Body members, would leap at any chance to declare their glowing pride at the policy. Instead they do their level best to misrepresent it, or deny it altogether.
Jackson pursued just such an approach, this time by again attempting to cloud the issue. Fortunately, Stewart had done his homework on the matter and refused to be sidetracked. “I have chosen my words deliberately, Mr Jackson,” said Stewart with an air of exasperation at one such attempt to switch the subject of the question from disassociated ones to inactive ones.
Finally, after a lengthy exchange involving various hypothetical scenarios, Jackson had given Stewart enough rope to hang him with.
Stewart: Mr Jackson, you have put it that they have a choice to leave or not to leave. For someone who wants to leave, perhaps because they have suffered abuse by someone in the organisation and don’t feel that it has been treated properly or adequately, it’s a very difficult choice, isn’t it, because they must choose ‐‐
Jackson: I agree, yes.
Stewart: And it can be a very cruel choice for them ‐ not so?
Jackson: I agree, it’s a difficult choice.
And so, at the end of a marathon series of questioning, finally an end product of sorts: a Governing Body member failing to deny that the “difficult choice” facing those who wish to leave the organization is a cruel one.
6. Having a Christmas tree won’t necessarily get you disfellowshipped
In the labyrinth of questions aimed at highlighting the shunning policy, Angus Stewart asked Geoffrey Jackson the following…
So, for example, if they [a Jehovah’s Witness] had become inactive or sought to fade without formally disassociating, and the elders came to visit and found them celebrating Christmas or a birthday, they would be found to be in transgression of the rules, would they not?
Jackson’s answer was remarkable…
That is not my understanding. But again, as I said, it is not my field, that goes into policy with regard to those type of things, but from my personal experience, that’s not the case.
Anybody who knows anything about the Witness faith knows that celebrating Christmas or birthdays is expressly prohibited for Witnesses – a “transgression of the rules” as Stewart carefully phrased it. In fact “celebrating false religious holidays” is clearly listed as a form of apostasy in the Shepherd book and deemed judicially actionable by elders.
As with his earlier obfuscation about corporal punishment, Jackson’s ability to contort the truth so readily rather than take pride in teachings and practices that are supposed to be mandated by God will have been a huge wake-up call for any sincere Witnesses who dared to watch.
7. The Governing Body chooses the Governing Body (not Jesus)
Hopefully it is rather obvious that the Governing Body chooses itself, or is self-appointed. But according to Watchtower literature the Governing Body is “not appointed by any man. It is appointed by the same one who appointed the twelve apostles in the first century C.E., namely, Jesus Christ the Head of the true Christian congregation and the Lord and Master of the ‘faithful and discreet slave’ class.” (w71 12/15 p.758)
Interestingly, however, nowhere in his testimony did Geoffrey Jackson even try to claim that Jesus appoints the Governing Body members.
Early on in the questioning, Angus Stewart asked: “And is it the case that the Governing Body then appoints new members of the Governing Body?” This would have been the perfect opportunity for Jackson to give a rambling theological lecture to the effect that Jesus is actually the one who does the appointing.
Instead we got a straightforward: “That is correct.”
Thinking Witnesses would do well to ask themselves: If the Governing Body is self-appointed, how does it differ in any meaningful sense from the leaders of other religions? From where does the Governing Body receive its mandate to lead ‘God’s organization’ if the appointments are openly and unashamedly made by men?
8. The Governing Body are “guardians of doctrine”
Watchtower literature has always taught that the role of the faithful and discreet slave is to provide God’s people with spiritual food “at the proper time.” In 2012 the Governing Body exclusively assumed this responsibility from Matthew 24:45 – verses that many regard as a parable rather than a prophecy.
But repeatedly in his testimony Jackson made a claim that will have sounded strange to the ears of many familiar with Witness teachings, namely that the Governing Body are to be considered the “custodians,” or “guardians,” of doctrine…
- “So the goal of the Governing Body as custodians of our doctrine is to publish literature that helps people in everyday life using what the Bible says.”
- “But the qualifications of a member for the Governing Body ‐ it involves someone who is considered an anointed Witness, who has worked in scriptural, with a scriptural background, either as a missionary or a full‐time servant for many years, and is able to fulfil the role of the Governing Body, which is, may I state, a group, a spiritual group of men who are the guardians of our doctrine, and as guardians of the doctrine, look at things that need to be decided based on our doctrines, which are based on the constitution of the Bible.”
- “What we view ourselves, as fellow workers with our brothers and sisters ‐ we have been given a responsibility to guard or to be guardians of doctrine.”
- “Ultimately, as guardians of our doctrine and beliefs, yes, some central group needs to make that decision, but that doesn’t mean to say that we are just on our own unilaterally making those decisions without research and input from others.”
It is one thing to print spiritual material based on your interpretation of what is written in the bible, but why this sudden fixation with guarding doctrine? If God has passed down his requirements to humanity in clear and unambiguous form, why do these need to be guarded by a group of men? Couldn’t any group of religious leaders assume such a role for themselves? Why this sudden fixation with protecting established doctrine rather than focusing on principles of love, mercy and grace?
Hopefully I am not the only one who found Jackson’s repeated expressions along these lines rather grating and cultish.
9. The Governing Body doesn’t care about the feelings of child abuse victims
Justice McClellan entered the fray on a number of occasions during Jackson’s testimony with the seeming intent of getting Jackson to reason on a human level. A good example of this was during a line of questioning about the feelings of female sex abuse victims who are made to give evidence to a committee comprised solely of men.
“Can you understand how a woman might feel when allegations which she brings forward against a man in the congregation are considered and judged entirely by men?” asked McClellan.
Jackson’s response was astonishing.
“Obviously I’m not a woman, so I wouldn’t like to speak on their behalf, but the two of us, I am sure, could understand from what has been expressed and believe that perhaps there would be a hesitancy there.”
And so Jackson washed his hands of the need to empathize with the feelings of women by virtue of the fact that he is not a woman. Only “perhaps” might women be hesitant to bring sex abuse allegations against a man before an all-male tribunal.
Another clue that Jackson is less than preoccupied with concern for the welfare of sex abuse victims can be found in his ignorance of the earlier testimony of BCG.
When asked by BCG’s lawyer whether he’d read her client’s evidence, Jackson replied: “I haven’t, I’m sorry. The reason I came here [to Australia] was to care for my ailing father, and that has taken a lot of my time. Plus, I wasn’t aware of the fact that I would be called before the Commission.”
At first glance this may sound like a reasonable excuse, but a disparity soon emerges when you consider the multiple occasions on which Jackson referred to the previous testimony of his own Watchtower representatives – something he somehow HAD found the time to brush up on despite caring for his father (bold is mine)…
- “But if I could mention, some of the reports that you have considered are from 25 years ago, and if I understand correctly, from what little I heard of the Commission in the last few days, Mr Spinks very accurately described that there has been more of an awareness of Jehovah’s Witnesses to make sure that any victim who has been a victim of a horrible crime is not required to actually go before three men.”
- “If I understand your question correctly, from what I have heard from Mr Spinks’ testimony, that is not something that we require now.”
- “Thank you for the opportunity to explain this. I think very clearly Mr Toole pointed out that if the Australian Government, in all the States, was to make mandatory reporting, it would make it so much easier for us.”
- “Could I explain, Mr Stewart, that ‐ you see, I think already under testimony some of Jehovah’s Witnesses have explained that the two‐witnesses needed can be, in some cases, the circumstances.”
Therefore, Jackson HAD taken time out to research previous evidence in the commission. He was just very selective about whose evidence he listened to, and seemingly had a preference for brushing up on what Watchtower representatives had to say rather than child abuse victims.
Another telling moment came when BCG’s clearly-exasperated lawyer expressed her dismay at Monica Applewhite’s evidence as paid for by Watchtower, which seems to have been roundly dismissed as one-sided and non-credible by the Commission.
“It is really disheartening for the survivors that evidence from people such as Dr Applewhite, without any reference whatsoever to the victims ‘experience, suggests to them that the reason for engaging experts is… more to do with the reputation of the Jehovah’s Witnesses than any real attempt to get to a deep understanding of their experience.”
In response to what was, again, more of an appeal to his humanity, Jackson replied…
“I certainly hope that is not the case, and that certainly was not the intent of it. So please, be assured that we are interested in the individuals such as the client that you are representing. And may I take this opportunity, I don’t know your client, but please, could you convey an expression of my love and concern and reassure her that obviously she has had an opportunity to speak about how she feels, and hopefully this will help the policies and procedures to improve.”
So, not only had Jackson failed to find time to research the testimony of victims of child abuse within his organization, despite somehow finding time to listen to the testimony of Watchtower representatives Rodney Spinks and Vincent Toole. Jackson had also thrown away an opportunity to show compassion by admitting that the deployment of “expert for hire” Monica Applewhite was in poor taste from the point of view of the victims. And to add insult to injury, he was now issuing instructions to BCG’s lawyer to act as a go-between with her client.
My response, had I been on the receiving end of this request, would have been: “I take instructions from BCG – not you, Mr Jackson. I’m sure if you really care about BCG and her situation, you will find the time and means to convey that message to her yourself in person.”
10. Lots of things are not Geoffrey Jackson’s “field”
As you’ve probably gathered by now, Jackson used every trick in the book during his testimony to dodge or evade questions where an honest answer would land him in hot water.
Here are a few examples of Jackson repeating the line that a certain subject was “not his field,” or trying to buy time before answering a question…
- “I would have to check on that, because personally that’s not my field.”
- “I preface this in the fact that it is not my field that I work with every day…”
- “Seeing it is not my field per se, I couldn’t give an inclusive answer with regard to that…”
- “Sorry, you would need to walk me through that a little further. I’m not quite sure.”
- “I preface this in the fact that it is not my field that I work with every day…”
- “I am not familiar with the statistics or the general practice…”
- “That’s a very large question and I think it’s something that we would need to consider carefully.”
- “That is a possibility, but in all fairness to your question, I think there are circumstances, but I couldn’t make a definitive comment on that.”
- “You know, your Honour, this is not my field.”
- “I can’t say that I would give a comment on that…”
On two occasions in particular, frustration over Jackson’s question-dodging antics spilled over.
The most notable of these instances was the previously-discussed exchange regarding Christmas, in which Jackson insinuated that celebrating Christmas wouldn’t necessarily result in a disfellowshipping.
“But again, as I said, it is not my field,” was his disclaimer.
“Mr Jackson,” said Angus Stewart, his frustration obvious, “you say it’s not your field, but you are a member of the Governing Body which is responsible, as you have said, for the whole field, and you have been a member for 10 years, and all the committees are responsible to and accountable to the Governing Body.”
“That is correct,” said Jackson.
“So it is your field, isn’t it?”
“Only as far as approving the basic scriptural principles. So is there a scriptural principle that you have in mind you want to ask me about, or are you talking about policies and implementation of policies? There is a difference there.”
Then, later on, it was Justice McClellan’s turn to be visibly exasperated at Jackson’s stubborn refusal to answer a straightforward question – this time regarding whether Witness women could be involved in the judiciary process even if not in the sentencing (or punishment)…
Justice McClellan: Could women be involved in the determination of whether or not the allegation is true?
Jackson: Well, your Honour, if I could say, I think they already are involved, in the sense ‐‐
Justice McClellan: Not in the decision, Mr Jackson. Please address my question.
Jackson: Okay. But yes, in ‐ well, please, could I just use an example. If an underage child says that something has happened and then two women are involved with helping that person, surely they have to decide whether or not the facts are true. They then present those to the elders. Otherwise, how would the elders know what the facts are?
Justice McClellan: Mr Jackson, you are not dealing with my question.
Jackson: I am sorry. I apologise humbly, your Honour.
Again, we are not talking about journalists or a random member of the public being overly inquisitive. We are talking about a Judge at a specially-appointed Royal Commission charged with uncovering the serious mishandling of child abuse.
Whatever Jackson may privately think of his performance, it is difficult to imagine him leaving a positive impression before the Commission. Indeed, Justice McClellan seemed to have a slight parting dig at him, saying “You are formally excused from your summons” rather than the usual, “you are excused.”
11. (Don’t laugh!) The Governing Body is good at saying sorry
Yes, apparently the Governing Body are quite accomplished when it comes to apologizing for their mistakes.
When asked by Angus Stewart whether he could foresee the Governing Body ever issuing an apology to survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of elders in the organization, this was Jackson’s response…
“The Governing Body has apologised on other matters, so for me to say ‐ I can’t speak collectively for everybody, but we have apologised on things in the past, in other areas, so it is perceivable.”
If someone could point me in the direction of where these apologies may be found, I would greatly appreciate it. To my knowledge the Governing Body has never apologized once for anything. And in rare instances where it has addressed areas of regret, it has usually found a way of apportioning the blame elsewhere – as was the case with the ‘apology’ for 1975. (w76 7/15 p.441 par.15)
12. Penguins are not found in the middle of Australia
Ok, so the last one is a bit silly, but you must allow me a bit of a chuckle at Jackson’s rather random penguin comment. It seems remiss to exclude it from the list.
Early in the proceedings, when trying to establish the role and influence of the Governing Body, Angus Stewart asked Jackson whether the Governing Body takes responsibility for organizational manuals and guidelines. The odd way Jackson chose to answer the question came as a surprise.
“We do take spiritual responsibility for it, yes. May I just mention, if there is a printing mistake and we say that penguins are found in the middle of Australia, then, yes, it’s true, we take responsibility, but it’s without not within the realms of our expertise. But we would check to see who it was that had given that wrong information.”
Hopefully Jackson and his fellow dear leaders DO possess sufficient knowledge to question a printed claim that penguins live in Australia without having specific expertise in zoology. That said, given Stephen Lett’s recent claims that there is as much evidence for Christ’s kingdom as there is for “gravity, electricity, wind,” perhaps we need to lower our expectations.
And if only the Governing Body DID take prompt action whenever wrong information is printed in the publications! Mind you, they would have their work cut out fact-checking and issuing corrections for nearly 140 years of false predictions, pseudo-science, medical quackery, doctrinal flip-flops, abusive policies, misquotes, draconian rules and spurious interpretations of scripture – a daunting task if ever there was one.
Perhaps encountering a penguin in the Australian outback is more likely.
Further reading…
- Australian Royal Commission hears that 1,006 alleged child sex abusers were covered up by Watchtower
- Elders shamed under questioning by the Royal Commission
- Reflecting on the Australian Royal Commission (Day 3, Part 1)
- Royal Commission’s Angus Stewart accuses Watchtower representative of deliberate deception
- JWsurvey articles on child abuse
Huge thanks go to Vincent Deporter, JWsurvey’s resident artist, for contributing artwork for this article. If you enjoy Vincent’s work, you might be interested in obtaining a copy of “Sacred Cows,” a recent picture book that takes a lighthearted look at religion.
I am in the process of working on video rebuttals to Jackson’s royal commission testimony as a five-part video series. Please subscribe to my YouTube channel for updates when these videos are uploaded.
If you still haven’t watched the footage from the Royal Commission, a playlist of videos is below…
Wow, so much information, but I suspect Jackson thinks he was using “theocratic strategy”. Since I can’t use foul language here, I’ll clean up what I really think. Mr. Jackson is a liar. He claims to be a member of the faithful and discreet slave. Presumably, he was an elder and circuit overseer. To say that disfellowshipping is not his level of expertise is shocking!!! Wow!!! I really hope something happens from this inquiry. Unfortunately, this hasn’t receive the attention it should. This, at least in the U.S.A,, has flown under the radar. It’s very sad because this is HUGE. Good job is analyzing and report, Lloyd.
ha ha ha my mum used to threaten me with stoning when i was a kid because i could not sit still at kh. turns out i had arthritic hips as a child. also was demonised (used to look for demons in my eyes in the mirror)
never found a demon yet .so this abusive cult has much to answer for only two suicide attempts under my belt i might get a t shirt printed but the writing would be too small to read as there is much to say i say bring on the doom of the doom mongers ruthlee
Ruth, I was just reading all of these standard post comments and when I got to yours my heart went from BEATING to BROKEN in 10 seconds. What a powerful example of the immense emotional damage that so often results when innocent victims -especially children- are caught in the snare of a cult.
Not to compete with you at all, but let me mention that, as a child, I was told that we had demons in our house based on some bizarre sights and sounds perceived by my mother a few times. Realistically, these things should have easily been explained away as hallucinations brought on by some intensely stressful domestic circumstances existing at that time. But, rather than guiding her to a reasonable explanation, our frequently-visiting Jehovah’s Witnesses guided mom instead to the conclusion of demonic activity and began to teach her about how important Jehovah’s name is when it comes to scaring demons away. I lived in a small, drafty, creaky old house, and to this day, I can still remember the STARK TERROR I felt as a child for YEARS when I was alone in that house. If I had a dollar for every time I used the name “Jehovah” back then for my personal defense when I was simply walking, for example, to the kitchen, I’d be writing this comment from my mansion. I say that with a little lightness, merely to keep from crying. Decades later, I remember that fear like it was yesterday.
I appreciate your openness about your experiences, Ruth. Please add me to the list of people you consider to be your NEW friends (even if still in probationary status). And put me on the list of people who care about you- with no strings attached.
Ruth, I was just reading all of the standard post comments and when I got to yours my heart went from BEATING to BROKEN in 10 seconds. What a powerful example of the immense emotional damage that so often results when innocent victims -especially children- are caught in the snare of a cult.
Not to compete with you at all, but let me mention that, as a child, I was told that we had demons in our house based on some bizarre sights and sounds perceived by my mother a few times. Realistically, these things should have easily been explained away as hallucinations brought on by some intensely stressful domestic circumstances existing at that time. But, rather than guiding her to a reasonable explanation, our frequently-visiting Jehovah’s Witnesses guided mom instead to the conclusion of demonic activity and began to teach her about how important Jehovah’s name is when it comes to scaring demons away. I lived in a small, drafty, creaky old house, and to this day, I can still remember the STARK TERROR I felt as a child for YEARS when I was alone in that house. If I had a dollar for every time I used the name “Jehovah” back then for my personal defense when I was simply walking, for example, to the kitchen, I’d be writing this comment from my mansion. I say that with a little lightness, merely to keep from crying. Decades later, I remember that fear like it was yesterday.
I appreciate your openness about your experiences, Ruth. Please add me to the list of people you consider to be your NEW friends (even if still in probationary status). And put me on the list of people who care about you- with no strings attached.
dear jb unlike the wierdos i have lived with all my life my love for humanity still holds. one day if lloyd wants my story i will write it you would gasp with disbelief., even my sledgehammer husband cant quite believe what i went through it really would make a horror story, so for me having this site and brave souls like cedars gives me hope. the final chapter i am in now is intense study of the Bible and knowing i must eventually denounce these wicked people .they may call us mentally diseased but do thay ever put us at our ease. i pray for the day that the smashing instrument starts at the house of God no mercy as the cup will be in their hands to drink freely and some of us i hope will see this but if not as i said its on record . trying not to be evangelical but im in Christ now safe and at peace with love unconditionally ruthlee
So sorry for you ruthlee that you had two attempted suicide attempts under your belt. What a worthless piece of junk is the Watchtower. So many lives destroyed and damaged from their brainwashed abuse.
I cant believe what I just read RL….
I used to stand looking in the mirror making faces at myself to see if there was evil behind my eyes because my mother told me I was a rebel and rebels were stoned in Israel…
I also lived in fear of things like Leukaemia… I remember reading the heart-rending story of a very young sister who started having nose bleeds and was diagnosed with Leukaemia… she was so young and her parents refused blood transfusions…and she subsequently died..it was the 60s and you were not made wards of court so easily…I started just then I was about 6 to have a spate of nose bleeds and the fear of dying overtook my life for about a year…even then I feel like there was a little voice in the back of my mind whispering…’are you sure they are telling the truth?’…I look back and realise the cruelty of that upbringing…I made the decision that if ever my children while under my care needed any sort of treatment I would give my permission for it…and that included blood transfusion…and I think thats when my waking up started…when I realised I had a choice…any child brought up by strict witness parents in the 60s and 70s in my mind was abused…they have so much to answer for…mental illness…depression…suicide..the list is never ending.
@Idontknowwhattodo, I can relate to what you said. All the time my kids were growing up, I was terrified that they might get leukemia. When my youngest daughter was in her early twenty’s, she came up with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and almost died from it. She survived that with blood products but as I remember, it was blood fractions but then when she had to have an emergency C-section with twins, her platelets dropped below 50,000 (150,000-400,000 normal) in three hours, there is a very good chance she would have bled to death without blood and so under the most distressing conditions anyone can imagine, she asked me what I would do and I told her that I’d take the platelets. It wasn’t a full transfusion but it wasn’t on the list either. She suffered from a bad conscience for taking the platelets but I didn’t.
A couple days later, I got up early and started typing out all the reasons why I didn’t believe that taking blood was wrong according to the Bible and especially how if you split up the fractions, what is the difference? I finally reasoned on it and since we could take fractions, it simply didn’t make any sense to me that the Society would split hairs as to what was acceptable to God and wasn’t. My husband actually made the comment at that time, that he believed she should have died rather than take the platelets.
I sent that letter to the Society and the elders came and talked to me about it. I wished I had kept that letter because it was the best writing I have ever done. After reading that letter, there is no way that anybody could believe taking blood was wrong according to the Bible. The elders talked to me and nothing happened to me. I think they could see that I was right but I think my husband actually thought that I should have been disfellowshipped for what I told my daughter. I will never regret what I told her and now since she’s woken up from the lies of the Society, she doesn’t suffer from a bad conscience and is glad I was there to help her through it.
We sign those consent forms that the brothers almost force us to sign and have witnesses to it but we were always coerced into doing it. We put our heads under the sand when it comes to those forms, not thinking that it might actually happen to us that we’d be put in the position of taking blood to save our lives and then all of a sudden there it is, facing us in the face, either us personally or one of our children. Nobody should be placed in that position by a religious organization who claims to be speaking for God. The Bible speaks for itself. We don’t need people to interpret it for us. If we are going to die for what the Bible says, we need to be convinced that there even is a God and that the Bible is perfect and “inspired by a perfect God” and I don’t mean by the fact that life forms are complicated either. That doesn’t prove that we were created by a God or that our Bible is inspired of a perfect God.
The Society always wanted us to do it at the book study and I always refused to do it then but took the forms home but I did keep my blood card in my wallet but after I woke up from the lies, I threw it away.
Hi Grace, good to hear from you. Our friend on the forum
Steve stone has presented us with a ready made slogan
for your T Shirts.
How about, “Jacko for Prime Minister, the Master of
Spin, He’ll get you out of any Hole”. You’ll probably
get a few curious people wanting to know more about
such a talented guy. Who Steve says has acquired
Rock Star status, and now has an army of besotted
groupies.
Just an impromptu thought, Best wishes Ted.
Thanks Ted,
I love that “Jacko for Prime Minister”. Ha Ha, that is what their aim is really, to take over the world with their delusional little North Korean like Government.
I like t’shirts that make you stop and think. Clever ones that catch your eye & make a statement not an advertisement. I know when I come across a really good t’shirt slogan it sticks with me & it makes my day that someone has something subtle to say without saying anything verbally.
They really do believe that they are superior to the secular authorities with their own little judicial court systems. Sentencing people to death with their version of justice.
When Jackson said to Angus, “this is what happens when Secular Authorities get involved with Scripture” or something similar to that. Angus should have replied back with; “this is what happens when Religious Nuts get involved with Judicial Systems”.
I just want to correct what I wrote previously about Jackson saying; “this is what happens when Secular Authorities get involved with Scripture”. He really said; “Well,this is one of the difficulties we have when a secular Commission is trying to analyse a religious subject.” Sorry guys for the misquoting & wrong conclusion I made.
NEVER thought my comment in apostate wasteland would even be noticed much less commented on!
u aposties must attend to the needs of the flock much better than i thought !
lol
p.s. an apostie is just a VERY dedicated apostate for definition purposes. worldwide i personally estimate there to be ONLY 50 aposties worldwide and of course u john cedars ARE one of them !
actually ted there is a famous ski place in the states called jackson hole
then again there was also a famous band called the jackson five but thats just a little off the subject isnt it
If Geoffrey Jackson is now a “rock star” at Bethel because of his performance at the ARC then just a suggestion – maybe bethelites need to get out more. Just sayin.
if geoff is a rock star lets throw rocks at him oops silly me diamonds rl
The rock star GB will now end every talk with
“Don’t applaud, brothers, just thow money. Make it rain my dear brothersand sisters make it raaaiiin!!”
What does he mean it’s ‘not his field’. GB member and he doesn’t know the in’s and out’s of everything? BS! I was just a lowly ‘sister’, but I knew what was up. He is a liar, that is why he couldn’t plainly answer the questions.
Anyway, great write up :) Good points, especially with how he “”didn’t”” have time to read up on the victim, but knew all about what the Elders had said.
@PB Reezner. ‘TEENAGE WASTELAND ‘ sounds like the story of Teenage JWs getting Baptised too Early to make a Rational Decision with their lives.!! Geoffrey Jackson Baptised at 11 proves my point!
Thanks For the Dedication on a previous post. My Mother ???BABA O’ RILEY ???had a Really Tough Life being Baptised as a Teenager. Made the wrong decision!! Keep up the Excellent Comments PB!
You’re welcome and thank you! And YOU are “PB”, I am “JB”! Put the mug down. You’ve already had too much, haha..
Good interpretation of Teenage Wasteland. The Who seems to have had MANY songs relevant to our cause.
“Join Together” -for all of US!
“Reign o’er Me” -what the GB expects millions of people to say to THEM.
“Heaven and Hell” -the difference between being OUT of the organization and IN it.
“Who Are You” -what Jesus would’ve said to Judge Rutherford had he actually gotten to Heaven.
“5:15” -clearly refers to Revelation 5:15 -not found in all Bibles- that says NO, I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT “ANOINTED” JW’s, immediately after Re 5:14 that mentions the 24 elders.
“I Can’t Explain” -an honest reaction of JW’s being caught off-guard with a question about the ‘overlapping generations’ nonsense.
And finally, “I Can See For Miles” -the excited outburst of somebody looking into Steve Lett’s EAR.
As a Who fan I have to agree.
@JB Reezner. You are so right PB.. Sorry I meant JB . THAT DAMN MUG is BIG!
All I can say is WOW!! You certainly know your The Who Songs!! You certainly are a WIZARD with Words !! …A Game of PINBALL Anyone!!
Haha, thaaanks PB. I’d take you seriously, but I know you are only “fiddling about”. Ehh, okay, I used that one with great reluctance… I’m sleepy. I’ll wait till morning to regret it.
John Cedars you really are helping a lot of people. This website has many good people with strong back bone. My own personal experience proves how shallow JWs are. In 1988 I was in an abusive marriage. My family had turned their backs on me because I was inactive, I had married out of the truth and I had celebrated Christmas. I ran to my dad for help one day because my husband had punched me in my stomach. I had no money and no place to go so I ran to my dad for help. I was told I couldn’t stay with him and I was sent back to my husband. After I got home my husband took me for a ride in his car. We stopped on a dirt road off of Yosemite Ave near Manteca, Ca. away from homes and buildings. My husband said he wanted to die and he wanted us to die together. He pulled his 45 mm glock gun out of his fanny pack. I talked him out of killing us. I was very, very calm the whole time. He drove us home. He pouted all the way home. He told me to go to bed. Before I went to bed I saw he was drinking a lot of vodka. I saw him take some methadone and clonazepam. He took the phone from the bedroom with him. I felt intimidated. I was scared of him. I remained in bed for several hours. At 3:30 am I got out of bed when I heard him making an unusual loud snoring sound. I called emergency 911. They took him to the hospital. He died three days later when his heart to stop beating. My family contacted me after my husband died because they wanted me to return to the truth. I feel a lot of resentment towards my family and JWs. They don’t help people. They don’t care about people. JWs live in a fake world. They are shallow. They only care about appearances. They don’t think for themselves. I feel JWs are delusional. They turn away from real responsibility, don’t get involved. They don’t really care about anyone or help anybody. They overestimate themselves.
@Catalina, I feel so bad for what you have had to go through. I married in the “truth” to a man who was a third generation Witness and he started punching me with his fist as soon as we got married. There was no way I could tell anybody what he was like because he came from such a “good” family and nobody would have believed me because I didn’t grow up in the “truth”.
Once when I was in my twenty’s, I had a kidney infection and a fever of over 104 degrees and we had no phone and I was so sick that I couldn’t even get out of bed without passing out. My kidneys stopped working and I begged him to take me to the hospital and he refused. He said ‘he” couldn’t afford a hospital bill. I went from Sunday morning until Tuesday afternoon at 5 p.m. when my fever broke and I went to the bathroom for the first time.
I lived through that experience and I had absolutely no one who was a witness to what I went through except for my husband. If I told anybody what happened to me, they wouldn’t believe it because he is such a good liar. When I married this man, my family told me that I couldn’t come back home again so asking them for help was out.
I am still married to this man and if his mouth is moving, he’s probably lying. In this religion, it is impossible to leave a marriage with dignity. Even if a man commits adultery and the woman has grounds for a “scriptural” divorce, most people would wonder what she did to “cause” him to do what he did.
If anybody is coming to this site and are studying with Jehovah’s Witnesses, quit!!! All our experiences that we are telling about are true.
@Catalina and anonymous: I’m so sorry for what you have both been through, and for what you are still going through. One of my dearest friends was a precious (now deceased) sister who was married to a drug-addicted, porn-addicted, sociopathic piece of garbage (who was in “good standing” at the time). When she finally reached her limit, she filed for divorce, and the meetings she had with the elders after that (that she shared with me) revealed such a level of coldness and ineptitude, and such a lack of wisdom and love on the part of the elders, that it simply blew my mind. The proceedings were so slanted in favor of the “brother” (the cause of ALL the problems), I couldn’t believe it. Her father was even an ELDER, yet he still had to do everything in his power to TRY to get his daughter treated fairly. The elders eventually GRUDGINGLY delivered the correct outcome, but the experience left my friend scarred. I remember the thought FINALLY hitting me: I know the elders are imperfect, but why are -not all- but SO MANY of them so inadequate, unwise, illogical, cold, harsh, incompetent, and just plain stupid. Even with imperfection being a factor, shouldn’t there be a vast majority of elders who are loving and wise, or at least honestly trying to be?There were many factors in my eventually leaving the Org, but that realization was certainly one of them.
I wish you both safety, peace and freedom.
but honestly how could the elders help, they clean windows and watch rubbish telly. they camp in the summer together so never see how real people live .never visit other churches to see how its done and never read their Bibles or they would not misquote or beat the little sheep. it is shameful to have put such inadequate men in positions of authority with such lack of education .it would be like me going to the butchers to have a tooth filled and coming out with a foot off because it seemed like a good idea at the time. just a thought arent you so glad mr angus stewart and mr mcclelland were not raised as idiot jws ?fancy that we could have had two window cleaners defend us! wouldnt that be just fine and dandy they would have had minimal education so would have fitted in quite well with our lot . that was an odd tangent anyway im am so thankful to have heard the way they counterargued the nonsense and drivel we have heard for many years to see a marvellous brain in action actually honours God must get back to my window washing and pamphleteering!(last bit apostate lies) ruthlee
I absolutely agree with everything you just said, Ruth. Your butcher analogy was fantastic! I can’t say it enough: Sure, elders are imperfect, but why would the MAJORITY of them have horrible judgment, be cruel (or at least chauvinistic) toward sisters, and so frequently simply have arrogant, stupid points of view on so many things? And as you have just said, the main answer is an utter lack of education- ANY higher education. I’m not even talking about theological education. I just mean take some damn psychology, logic, science and history classes for Pete’s sake. Although the term is mentioned in the Bible, being “unlettered and ordinary” is NOT something to be proud of for someone charged with the care, education and discipline of vulnerable human beings!
And you mentioned going on a tangent, so now it’s my turn! As I watched the ARC videos, a thought that kept running through my mind from time to time was how WONDERFUL it would have been to have had Justice McClelland for a father! Now, realistically, of course I don’t know what his own belief system is, and, if he has kids, I don’t know what their opinion of him is, lol. Either way, I would love to be able to look back on a childhood full of rational thought and an importance placed on education. (I’m not taking a jab at some goofy JW dad of mine, or anything. My piece-of-garbage non-JW father was out of the picture by the time I was 6.) But don’t let me end on that sour note. I’ll say again, having an upbringing full of logic, reason, and being helped to develop a good BS detector, would have been wonderful!
In fact, though I’m in my mid-40’s, what the heck: Justice McClelland, if you need another kid, I’m up for adoption!
I absolutely agree with everything you just said, Ruth. Your butcher analogy was fantastic! I can’t say it enough: Sure, elders are imperfect, but why would the MAJORITY of them have horrible judgment, be cruel (or at least chauvinistic) toward sisters, and so frequently simply have arrogant, stupid points of view on so many things? And as you have just said, the main answer is an utter lack of education- ANY higher education. I’m not even talking about theological education. I just mean take some damn psychology, logic, science and history classes for Pete’s sake. Although the term is mentioned in the Bible, being “unlettered and ordinary” is NOT something to be PROUD OF for someone charged with the care, education and discipline of vulnerable human beings!
And you mentioned going on a tangent, so now it’s my turn! As I watched the ARC videos, a thought that kept running through my mind from time to time was how WONDERFUL it would have been to have had Justice McClelland for a father! Now, realistically, I of course don’t know what his own belief system is, and, if he has kids, I don’t know what their opinion of him is, lol. Either way, I would love to be able to look back on a childhood full of rational thought and an importance placed on education. (I’m not taking a jab at some goofy JW dad of mine, or anything. My piece-of-garbage non-JW father was out of the picture by the time I was 6.) But don’t let me end on that sour note… I’ll say again, having an upbringing full of logic and reason, and being helped to develop a good BS detector, would have been wonderful!
In fact, though I’m in my mid-40’s, what the heck: Justice McClelland, if you need another kid, I’m up for adoption!
It is just amazing some of these dreadful stories. You poor girls. Yes, may God help you somehow in whatever way He can. You have endured so much.
Grace, that slogan could be made snappier, ie, —
“Jacko for prime minister, The master of SPIN
He’ll get you out of the hole your IN.”
Or , “Got himself out of a hole he was in”.etc.
I’m sure you could improve on it if you wished.
Very nicely summarized Cedar. I don’t know how Angus Stewart was able to keep his cool as well as he did. For myself I would have found it difficult not to punch Geoffrey Jackass in the face for all his lying and evading.
Thankfully, his pitiful performance is out there for all to see. And I’m sure it will be GREATLY disturbing to a lot of JWs to view this. Far more than any ‘apostate lies’, the words of one of the GB members could cause far more damage than what they ever dreamed.
well i just made 4 comments and ZERO went through
so i guess the atheist god MUST B blessing ur website as well john cedars
Lloyd, this was an exquisitely written piece. Very much worth the wait. If I were in your presence, I would LITERALLY pat you on the back, hoping all the while that D was watching from behind the bushes, just absolutely fuming over it.
In this, my first direct comment to you, let me also thank you for this site. I have been enjoying it for months, but now, to be able to be a part of this community for my first time on any such site, has made the experience infinitely more personal and important to me. Thank you, thank you, thank youuuuu.
Now, if I’ve sufficiently buttered you up, maybe I can finish this out with something I wrote last night as your fine writing was bringing the experience of watching the Commission videos back to me. Nobody needs to read it. It’s just something I need to say. Please forgive the absurd length of it…
Watching the many hours of Australian Royal Commission videos on YouTube, I almost felt like I was in a dream. I’m not being metaphorical. I’m describing the actual physical sensation of it. Throughout the entire thing, I was teetering on the edge of disbelief. Out of the blue, our little cult had been drawn out of the shadows, but not just by anybody. No, these people were special. This was a commission that demonstrated levels of sharpness and competence that were vastly beyond my own underdeveloped mental skill set, and nearly beyond my imagination.
Whether it was the woefully inept hired-gun consultant, or the little contingent of buffoon elders, or even a dodgy, silver-tongued Governing Body member himself, none of them were any match for this caring organization of people who also happen to spend much of their lives developing the acute ability to see straight through lies, cheap debating tricks and hollow words. Even peering into someone’s true character -whether they like it or not- is all in a day’s work for these earnest professionals.
But the word that keeps coming to my mind when I think about what I saw is ‘hero’. In this case, I’m thinking of a hero as, sure, someone who saves you. But it’s more than that. They save you because, at that moment, you don’t have the power to save yourself. They can do something that you absolutely cannot do. Without action on their part, you will helplessly continue to suffer- or worse.
All throughout the days of the hearing, time after time, some fumbling fool on the stand would try to be evasive, or make some embarrassing attempt at being crafty, but Senior Counsel Angus Stewart would, in his deceptively timid tone, either reel them back to reality, or just go ahead and slice them to pieces. But, even better, when Stewart’s razor sharp rapier wasn’t puncturing quite deep enough into the hearts of these slugs, the Hon Justice Peter McClellan would step in and drop an ever-loving neutron bomb on the head of whichever fool was asking for it, all the while maintaining the same gentle tone you might hear from someone asking you if you’d like a cup of tea.
True, though they were meaningful to us, the world didn’t shake off of its axis during these hearings. The GB almost certainly devoted their next meeting to talking more about how nice it will be when Jehovah vanquishes these enemies of theirs, rather than talking about how to better protect helpless children. There is still a long way to go. But, for awhile, I got to see the cold, arrogant, heartless organization that had exerted so much power over ME and so many others for so long, have power exerted over THEM by a genuinely superior authority, made up of good people, working in behalf of victims, and in a way, working in behalf of ALL OF US. And it was beautiful. And those good people are truly my heroes.
JB Reezner
I really enjoyed your post & wholeheartedly agree with you. Stewart & McClellan were an amazing & professional team & I personally believe that their work isn’t done; especially since Stewart has put so much time & energy into deeply understanding the inner workings of the WT. He has a unique ability to be a catalyst for change, & who knows what will be included in the final report. Hopefully it will receive a great deal of international publicity!
Thank you very much, HomebytheSea. I hope that’s true. I hope enough stories, documentaries and newscasts will begin to flood the airwaves so that Witnesses who see the semi-occasional negative story about the Org as an attack by Satan will no longer be able to use that excuse, and will see that they legitimately have a serious problem!
As I watched the video, I was a bit jealous of Australia for having such a Commission. What a powerful way to address such an extremely serious problem. It seems too much to dream that other countries may follow suit one day in such a powerful, public way. Oh, what the heck, I’ll dream it anyway!
Thanks JB reezner, you put into words what I was thinking at the time too. Yes, I felt I had to pinch myself as the expose went on. I personally felt vindicated and how amazing it really was to see experts unravel all the layers of cruel policies that had affected so many people. It was like Jesus himself was standing in that room. And how typical it was to see all of the fumbling, lying and evasion going on even after swearing on the Bible and before the Superior Authorities. What a botchup! It just reassured me of why I left.
@JB Reezner. As the rest of those here who have commended you on your WELL REASONED POST on the Royal Commission YOU …JB …have shown yourself to be TOO INTELLIGENT to be HOODWINKED by The UTTER RUBBISH of the ‘ ‘NEW LIGHT’ Debacle thrown our way by the 7 CONMEN in BROOKLYN/ Warwick!! Like Most of us here we now are ANGRY,HURT,DEVASTATED that we have been LIED TO By these 7 CHARLATANS who we have Given SO MUCH of our TIME,MONEY & ENERGY!!! WELL Geoffrey,Stephen,Tony,Gerrit,David,Mark& Samuel YOU WILL REAP the WHIRLWIND of the POWER of the INTERNET to EXPOSE YOUR LIES & DECEPTION!!
Thanks, PB!
Brilliant, compassionate, heart-warming, intelligent post, JB. Respect to you, sir in USA, from EE here in UK!
Thank you verrry much, EE! It means so much to me to have this NEW international family, my friend.
“But, even better, when Stewart’s razor sharp rapier wasn’t puncturing quite deep enough into the hearts of these slugs, the Hon Justice Peter McClellan would step in and drop an ever-loving neutron bomb on the head of whichever fool was asking for it, all the while maintaining the same gentle tone you might hear from someone asking you if you’d like a cup of tea.” In fact, the whole of your comment could have been written by me. I actually chuckled out loud at the quoted phrased. I’ve been obsessed with the YouTube videos over the past 2 days and believe I have developed a crush on Angus Stewart. Thanks for the 5am laugh!
anonymous, I understand exactly what you are going through. My family and JW friends were so judgemental I was alone. That’s why I feel they are shallow people. It’s hugs and smiles as long as you don’t say the wrong thing. You are being manipulated. I know how hard it is to get free. You may need to separate from the JW religion at the same time you separate from your husband. You’ll need a job. Try to rent a room. I hope you don’t have young kids. I was frozen, I couldn’t go anywhere. My name wasn’t on our bank accounts. It was a bad experience for me. Good luck. Keep working at getting your freedom. I have a boyfriend now. I doubt I’ll ever get married again. Once you walk away. You’ll never like them again. You’ll be happier.
Catalina, thank you for your encouragement. I am 69 years old and my “children” are all in their 30’s now. Before kids are born is the best time to leave a marriage. Once you have kids, it is so much harder to leave and especially in the JW religion. In other religions, you wouldn’t be judged like ours. But leaving is almost impossible when your husband tells you that if you leave, he will get the kids and that is what he did to me. So I stayed.
He beat me with his fist until my oldest daughter was 5 years old and I am sure it’s because she was old enough to tell the elders as a witness (he was an elder during all this time). Up until then, he always said that nobody would believe me and he was right but she remembers it to this day and she is going to be 38 years old this month.
The Jehovah’s Witness religion is I think one of the worst religions a person could chose to belong to. The people are tricked into it because they think that Witnesses are such “clean” people but once you have been touched by it’s “uncleanness, you don’t have any idea and when you have been victimized by it, it’s too late to leave with dignity.
All I can do now is try and help others who might come to this site and are either studying or on the fence and try and warn them with my personal experiences, like so many others are doing, such as yourself. I was able to help one of my daughters to get out of it, but my son and oldest daughter won’t listen to me. That is the only reason I don’t disassociate myself.
I think the reason why so many Witness children don’t want anything to do with the religion when they grow up, is because they saw the “uncleanness” in their homes when they grew up and they see the hypocrisy and know first hand how it only destroys families and forces them to stay together in loveless marriages.
I really don’t want to be associated with this wicked religion but because of the shunning policy for those who want to disassociate, I am stuck.
@Anonymous& Catalina. My HEART Goes out to you both ! You Have Suffered Greatly. No- one can have but ADMIRATION for your INNER STRENGTH & RESOLVE . You are GREATLY VALUED!!
I agree with Pickled Brain. Anonymous and Catalina, you are doing such good on this website, because-and-despite of such hurt you have experienced. I value your insights, and your inextinguishable belief in hope and evolution of the human individual. Wow.
Anonymous, I understand. With JWs you end up stuck and can’t win. I warn people just like you do.
Thanks to the people on this web site I feel better. Their comments mean a lot and help a lot.
I’m curious, why didn’t you leave despite his threats? I’m in a somewhat similar situation with young children and I am told the mother gets the kids almost 100% of the time, unless there are extenuating circumstances. Don’t want to pry just wondering…
Queen, I was at the point of committing adultery so I could leave and suffer the consequences (that was when I had my kids). I was that low in my life.
You have to have enough support behind you but you have to be able to confide in people who will help you and I had none of that. Believe me, if I had had anybody to talk to who would have known what I was going through, I would have left.
In the JW religion, you are not able to confide in anybody, even your own family and my mother and father told me when I married him that I could not come home again and I tried going to my brother’s house (before I had kids) and he called my husband and my husband came and got me.
It is so much better to get out if you can before you have children and even then, you will suffer the disgust of those in that religion because without any witnesses to the abuse, they will think you left just because you didn’t want to be under “subjection” like what men like that always spread around.
They will not tell anybody that they are abusive narcissists because narcissists are “perfect” and they are really good liars and people would have believed him over me. I am sure there has to be thousands of JW wives who know exactly what I am talking about.
The JW religion makes people proud and it makes them narcissists. Some may be perfectly fine and humble people, but from my experience, I see most are proud and narcissistic. I was too but not anymore. Now I see what I became and I don’t like what I was.
I didn’t commit adultery but at the time, it went through my mind as a solution.
Queen Elsa, It isn’t always easy for a person to leave. In my case things changed. At the beginning of our marriage my husband was nice to me. He changed, He was alcoholic and he was on downers. Methadone was his favorite. He was very controlling. He had our money and credit card in his name. I had no money and no one to go to. My husband became suicidal after our ten year old son had a brain aneurism and died. We went to a doctor who had us attend a self help group called The Compassionate Friends. It’s for parents who have lost their children to death. Most of the deaths of the children were from drowning in swimming pools. I knew my husband was depressed. The night my husband killed himself I was to intimidated to call the police. I didn’t know my husband was going to kill himself. Earlier that day I ran to my dad when things got scary. My dad sent me back to my husband. My dad didn’t believe me. The day my husband died my family showed up at the hospital after I told them they were disconnecting him because he was brain dead. He died. My brother told me he hadn’t been talking to me because I hadn’t been attending meetings. I was inactive and in good standing. I resent all of them. I resent anyone who judges me in a negative way because I’m the only one who knows what I went through. My family did more harm to their religion by acting the way they did. I feel my family and all JWs HAVE narcissistic, vindictive, personality disorder because of the JW religion. I admit I am bitter. I attend meetings so I can have my family in my life. I only visit them every other month. I feel hate. I needed help and no one helped me. It was the worst time of my life.
Good grief Catalina. What a sad situation to go through. You have really been through the ringer. Please accept my heartfelt condolences. The stories coming out of this religion are truly disturbing.
Terrence O’Brien was at our recent Convention (Regional Assembly) and introduced some of the new releases. I searched high and low for him to ask him so very straight lined questions but alas, I was unable to find him :-( Sorry all.
I had such a hard time actually listening to him after hearing his entire testimony at the RC. He even lied during his talk about listening to “lies” and “media reports” about the Witnesses and I just sat there with a blank look of disbelief on my face over some of the things he said. If I had thought about it in advance, or was remotely interested in what he had to say, I would’ve recorded the talk so others could hear it.
Watching the GB lie makes me feel like We
need to get the GB some clown costumes.
Wrapped around your finger The Police.x
Spiritual Eleanor rigbys
Jesus was not available for comment,
JB Reezner what a powerful post, I agree whole heartedly with all you said.
Truly was liberating for many of us, I so hope that the victims got some sort of justice out of this, and to show them that people do care.
JW will make what they want from it, those that can be reached will be, those that don’t want to face the reality about their organization will continue to be slaves to the GB and if they like to live that way that is their choice of course, but for those that are trapped in this cult and suffering hopefully this will have the same positive outcome that you have.
Thanks to Cedars for an excellent commentary, and for all the posters you help more than you may realise.
Anonymous my heart goes out to you, you are a giver and you are always trying to encourage others, one day I believe it will be made right.
For the active JW, if you think the Royal Commission is not real and an attack from Satan – think again.
WT Corp is big on paper trail with directives to the elders, however, they did not have in mind for the public to see them.
If you Google ‘Royal Commission Exhibits for Case Study 29’, You will see first hand the lack of speciality train skill on sensitive humanitarian issues.
Below you will find these tabs on the Royal Commission web page, with tons and tons of PDFs documents from WT Corp.
This should give everyone a different perspective on how you view your elders.
Exhibits for Case Study 29,
July 2015, Sydney Display per page
Exhibit Number – Hearing Day – Tendered By – Witness Names – Date Tendered 29-0001 – Day 147 – Angus Stewart SC – BCB – 27-Jul-15
Statement of [BCB] Document ID: STAT.0603.001.0001_R Document Date: 10-Jul-15
PDF 3.8 MB.
Peace out,
I have a friend who has done a bit of searching through the Corporate Records Office the WT are wealthy alright.
JP Morgan – LIQUID ASSETS MONEY MARKET FUND
https://www.jpmorganfunds.com/cm/Satellite?pagename=jpmfVanityWrapper&UserFriendlyURL=fundoverview&cusip=4812C0324
Watch Tower petty cash reserves,
Net Asset Fund $18,575,509,118.83… that’s 18 billion 575 million US dollars as at 9th September 2015
Now… on this site http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1037897/000119312504198395/ddefm14a.htm
Go to the top of your browser to Edit and click ‘Find’.
In that search box copy and paste LIQUID ASSETS MONEY MARKET FUND
Starting from the top of the page, note entry number 7 of that search term…
With a percentage of shares in that class of 7.34% as at 2005
that makes for a valuation of $1,363,442,369… 1.36 billion dollars (2005) in domestic cash management account
Not bad for a ‘non-stock, not-for-profit organization’
Somehow, I thought of
Luke 21:1-4: As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
The fact that the WTS is worth billions yet donate absolutely NOTHING to any charities or even to their own people speaks volumes about their true character.
I struggle with this realization. The fact that all my life I swore that my volunteer work helped people, but I never helped a soul. I just peddled Watchtowers and Awakes, and shamed those who didn’t believe as I did as being in the “World”.
It’s a hard pill to swallow, kofybean. Reaching the end of your statement, I almost wanted to look back up at the username just to make sure I wasn’t simply reading something that I had written before falling asleep last night. So many of us here are grappling with these nearly identical thoughts. I’m glad we have this forum. I’m glad we all have each other now.
enuffs enuff, the Org is unquestionably worth billions. I’m just not sure your method of calculation is right. My instincts are telling me that the 7.34% refers to the percentage of space that the WTBTS occupied within the “Institutional” CLASS of investors in that particular Money Market Fund, with the fund being made up of many investors of various classes.
But these are the same keen instincts that told me to be a Jehovah’s Witness for 90% of my existence, so believe me, I am COMPLETELY prepared to find out I’m wrong on this.
that is the grand realisation rl
Who is keeping track of the nepotism within the hierarchy? Is anyone following these family trees? How many of their family members are living off the contribution tit, as the seven? Where is the proper documentary on these matters? Can we get more information on the European countryside “bethel” homes used by the hierarchy? We need to dig up these modern Beth Sarim’s. We’ve all seen the luxury watches. Now how do we get a proper audit. Why do all circuit overseers need luxury sedans and not economical and sensible transportation? Who are they buying construction supplies from for all the building happening? Who sells them the paper/ink and how are they related to anyone at WT? Who sets up the purchase or leasing of any equipment? We need to start connecting these dots or at the very least get enough evidence of a cover up in order to request an investigative audit. We already know they’ve started to make illegal aliens( men knowingly breaking the law of the land) as ministerial servants and elders, the great example they set illegally jumping back and forth betweencountries, disregarding laws of nations. We know they are heavily promoting homeschooling for youth through the Internet, because God knows their uneducated parents couldn’t possibly be teaching them anything secular. We know that Spanish speaking congregations in the U.S are now enforcing a no English amongst friends policy, lest an illegal elder not understand what your saying in a private conversation. There is so much work to do, I hope everyone here takes up a bit of the fight. I will be moving back to Texas soon to get married and will continue the liberation movement from there.
@RobertPerez67. VERY VERY IMPRESSED with your ANALYSIS of the Financial Accounting of the GB.what we ALL Want is to KNOW ACCURATELY & IN DETAIL Where do OUR DONATIONS GO !!!!! Most LEGITIMATE CHARITIES DO THIS! IF the Governing Body have nothing to hide , WHAT IS THE PROBLEM???… Ermmmm CHILD ABUSE SETTLEMENTS ??? ….Errr LUXURY LAKESIDE WARWICK BETHEL HQ ??! ..,Ohhhh NEW CIRCUIT OVERSEERS CARS Every 3 YEARS ,ROAD TAX,INSURANCE,PETROL,MAINTENANCE Paid for!!! …. FREE SHOPPING,COOKING,CLEANING,IRONING,DENTISTRY,DOCTORS,OPTICIANS at BETHEL. Governing Body Members pay NO TAXES as they are a REGISTERED CHARITY…HMmmm ???? ANYONE OUT THERE STILL WANTS to DONATE LOADSAAA MONEY to our POOR OLD GB????
@Robert, when it comes to the Governing Body donating money into the contribution boxes, anything they would put into the donation boxes would be money that was given to them in the first place as donations. In order to donate money, you would have to earn it first by a paying job. I can’t imagine the Governing Body or anybody at any Bethel or any of those places putting money into the contribution boxes since they are living off the “tit” of the working brothers and sisters and kids’ allowance money.
RE: Watchtower liquid assets and petty cash reserves:
We are now seeing corporate greed at its worst. Apparently, hijacking Sophia’s ice cream money hasn’t provided enough money to satisfy the Watchtower accountants.
The Watchtower sideshow geeks are now literally begging their cult followers to give money so that they can “show appreciation for all that Jehovah and his Son have done” for them.
This begging has reached a new low now that the Watchtower is specifically targeting bank accounts, stocks and bonds, real estate, wills, donations via electronic bank transfer, debit card, or credit card, cash, jewelry and other valuable personal property.
http://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/w20151115/donations-worldwide-work/
In the illustration, the woman swiping her credit card in the Kingdom Hall lobby is shown wearing a bracelet. Will she soon be asked to put all her jewelry in the collection box?
While we’re all singing “Money it’s a hit, don’t give me that dogoodie good b……t” How appropriate.
ScotWm, “sideshow geeks”, sooo well-put. I am truly repulsed by the thought of so many hapless people continuing to be fleeced by the soulless GB creeps. But more than that… I wan’t MY money BACK! Who do I talk to about a refund? I gave “until it hurts” for YEARS (like so many of us here). Ugg, having helped to fund a cult is a hard thing to think about.
Meredith J… YESSSSS!! Welcome to the JWSurvey concert! You’re coming in strong with that relevant offering from Floyd.
enuffs enuff, the Org is unquestionably worth billions. I’m just not sure your method of calculation is right. My instincts are telling me that the 7.34% refers to the percentage of space that the WTBTS occupied within the “Institutional” CLASS of investors in that particular Money Market Fund, with the fund being made up of many investors of various classes.
But these are the same keen instincts that told me to be a Jehovah’s Witness for 90% of my existence, so believe me, I am COMPLETELY prepared to find out I’m wrong on this.
…aaand I mistakenly replied to MYSELF instead of enuffs enuff. I guess I’ll rectify the problem by making the same mistake again with this comment. Moving on…
@enuffs enuff
I’m not sure if it’s just me or not but I don’t get the same information when I follow those links. I don’t see anything identifying WT corp, especially in the JPMorgan link.
Every congregation, every church has a “personality”. Every congregation I have been in, has it’s own personality. Every church has it’s own personality. If the people don’t like the priest or pastor, they probably go to another church if they can. “Pastor” Russell, it seems had a very winning personality but when Russell died, a new personality took over in the form of Rutherford and a lot of people didn’t like him. Then he died, another personality in the form of Knorr took over and then Fred Franz. The Watchtower took on the role of our “parent” in that it seems as if we need their guidance in everything we do or we will get into trouble with God. The Watchtower has a personality and that personality is reflected in it’s followers from it’s writings that are instilled in the rank and file from the writings that they take to heart and believe in whole heartedly.
There are some excellent youtube videos by smakintosh and one that I thought fit the Watchtower’s personality to a Tee and it is called “Narcissist’s Illegitimate Humanity – The False Parent part 1”.
The Watchtower Society calls itself our “mother” and so it takes the role of being our parent. Two elders told me the reason I wasn’t to look at “apostate” web sites was to protect me, and the Society tells us that because they are like a parent who tells a young child not to run into the street, so it is with this thought in mind that I am going to describe the role of a malignant narcissistic parent, taken from that video. This is only a small part. If you have time, you might want to watch the whole video because it is describing the Watchtower Organization.
The malignant narcissist thinks he or she is smarter than God. The malignant narcissist is an illegitimate, false parent. She has cut herself off from what makes and defines true parenthood by not having a conscience, empathy or compassion.
Rather than accepting the role of being a compassionate parent, the malignant narcissist accepts the role enthusiastically and exploits his role to his or her own advantage.
The malignant narcissist puts on the role of firm loving dad or the front of protective mother. Abuse is turned into discipline. Beatings are turned into corrective measures. Psychological torture is turned into exasperated concern. The depravity, vileness, wickedness, darkness and perversity resident in the heart of the malignant narcissist can be packaged and presented as good parenting with little thought and effort.
“The vast majority of the family will succumb to the deception and the narcissist knows this.
The narcissist stepped into the role of parenthood secretly by the side door. The narcissist was never and will never be considered a genuine, legitimate mother in the eyes of the “truth”. Because there is no “truth” in the wicked woman posing as a parent, those who walk in the “truth” will come to recognize this. Those who prefer to remain in darkness will not.”
Spot on anonymous- As a life long witness I’ve learned that if you can convince someone that you have a message for them , directly from the almighty of the universe himself, there is power in that. No one here can deny that religion equals big influence and big influence equals big business and big business equals big money.
I remember an episode of House MD where this Sherlockian diagnosticion who happens to be irreligious is confronted with a special patient. This patient happened to be a young priest who claimed to be in communication with God himself and had conversations with him. Dr.House immediately starts jotting down these symptoms and one of his fellow doctors tells him that there is nothing wrong with that, the man is just religious. Dr.House with a factual tone lets him know that you speaking to God is religious, but God speaking back means your either dilussional or a scam artist.
Anyone can cast Gods voice as their own, by making the Bible say something that it really doesn’t and claim the “interpretation” is straight from God. Never you mind that it contradicts his “never changing” word. There are two types of religious scam artist, those that know that they are scamming others(the sinister category) and the type who have fooled themselves first. Ill let you be the judge as to which describes the GB best. Anyone of us who is an ardent follower of the Bible, God and his son Jesus can develop a strong desire that requires other people to be in agreement as to our “interpretation” of Gods word. We can easily start to push our view of the world as Gods view of the world and if anyone disagrees with us, we can simply yell out “God spoke to me and he wants us to do that!” When in reality its just us trying to enforce our way.
I’m of a different sort, I hear Gods voice everyday. I hear it on repeat on an old answering machine message called the Bible and although the message isn’t always clear and I get frustrated by this fact, I find I’m always missing him. Perhaps its nostalgia of what life was like when I was still a full part of the Borg collective and living in a dream world. One thing I’m positive of though, is that the tone of love and acceptance has started to ring out louder when not drowned out by the chants of ending the world and hipocratically judging fellow sinners. By stepping away from the head of the congregation I have found Gods unique voice again. I don’t care how many times you read Gods word as a witness, read it again, with a humble agenda free mind, perhaps you’ll be meeting him for the first time.
@Robert, who am I supposed to be meeting, Jesus or Jehovah? For fifty years, I prayed to what I thought was God and I really believed so it is not right of you to imply that I didn’t read the Bible with a humble agenda. I think what you need to do is read the Bible again too but not assume that it is God inspired and maybe you will be meeting the real Jehovah for the first time and you may not like that God as much as you thought you did. What I do now, is read the Bible and really think and meditate on what I am reading and that is why I am not so enthralled by Him anymore.
I’m with you anonymous – I just don’t like ‘god’, I don’t care for ‘him’ one bit. Supposed god of love, and he won’t just fix things, because he has a point to prove? ‘god’ can jog on.
Over the years I have come to the conclusion that the Witnesses always tried to overshadow Jesus somehow. He was always presented as an inferior being to the One True God. Every other religion believes in a Trinity. I was originally brought up a Catholic. We were always taught that Jesus was a human manifestation of God. I don’t understand about these things as I do not trust anything the Watchtower Society told me anymore and that includes the correct name for God. I call Him Father now. I am not sure about anything else.
I never use that name Jehovah anymore as it reminds me too much of the prison my family and I were in for 17 years. Of course what we call God is very personal but somehow we have to realise the importance of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior and His Father, Almighty God and His Holy Spirit. That concept sounds blasphemous to a Witness but to Christians it is not.
I also threw out all my Watchtower literature and I now own a King James Bible. It’s not as helpful as the Watchtower one but at least I know it is pretty trustworthy as it has been in use for hundreds of years and has helped many people. It was also the original version that the Bible Students used. Anyway, each to his own ideas. They are just mine and I would not expect anybody to quote me and I wouldn’t criticise anyone for their beliefs or anything like that. That is just how I get by spiritually.
well meredith that is the conclusion i have come to with a prayerful and sincere intense reading of the Bible i too blaspheme the tower but not the Bible. maybe if what the original church fathers tried to explain is correct then for those who dont want heaven to quote dear ol AC/DC “Hell aint a bad place to be” ha watch this space rl
Thank God ruthlee the Bible won out in our case. It was the only tangible thing that the Watchtower actually had that was fair dinkum.
Did RUTHLEE just quote AC/DC?? I think I might have to go back to believing that these ARE the last days!! A++ to you, RL! :)
@anonymous: YES to that. I think Step 1 should be: Accept that our experience in the Org teaches us that we (like most human beings) are capable of being COMPLETELY duped into plugging into a reality (JW doctrine) that actually has no place in the real world.
Step 2: Drop ALL assumptions. Don’t assume that being in the Org caused us to simply be one little step away from the REAL truth. Go all the way back to square one and restart with zero presumptions. Look at all of the available facts and viewpoints with an open mind. (Even explore viewpoints from people that we had always been taught were haughty, god-rejecting, egomaniacs, like scientists (a belief that is actually untrue to the point of being profoundly ironic). If you end up with a stronger faith and a modified set of less-harmful religious views, fine. But, if you end up with a satisfying, tangible-evidence-based view of life, well that can be good too.
Did I say that delicately enough, folks? Can I stay? No? Okay, I’ll pack my things… I’m taking the dog. I’m leavin’ the the kids.
Of course you can stay jb Reezner. You’re the life of the party.
Thanks, Meredith J. But I’ve already started a new life with the dog. And we’ve both turned to Scientology for all of life’s real answers…
Okay, I’m back. It turns out that I couldn’t AFFORD to be one of those.
Jacko was fortunate, The OZ inquiry was non adversarial,
unlike a criminal trial where straight Yes or No answers are
demanded. Here Jack the Lad was allowed a measure of
wriggle room, of which he took full advantage.
If Angus Stewart had have cross examined Jack Flash in
a criminal court, he would have exposed him. Like a
Streaker at a football game.
Nevertheless, Mr, Stewart despite being constrained by the
protocol of the inquiry, did a great job and caught Jacko
with his trousers down on a number of occasions.
Cedars,
Thanks for this great analyze. One proof these organization is not the one it claims to be and the proof of the poor situation of the organization and it’s leaders.
Gorby
Enuffs Enuff. Can you show the connection between the links and the Watchtower. It may be me but I cant see it.
I can’t see it either. I would love to show this to certain family!
Here’s something for the folks thinking of funny T-shirt designs: http://pixady.com/image/7oy/
Due credit is given for Vincent Deporter’s BRILLIANT artwork, but this design is just for a laugh. To put it on a REAL T-shirt would require his actual permission, of course. :)
Love it! Awesome job! :)
Hey, thanks!
JB,
I love it! That head could have so many of his quotes to it. The only problem is it would make him more famous, laughably famous but still famous.
Thank you, Grace! I know what you mean. But Ooo how nice it would be if ALL the GB members became VERY famous for being heartless, lying, deluded and dangerous cult leaders! Pleeease let that happen in our lifetime.
I also love what you did with the cartoon. Mr. Deporter perfectly captured how crooked Jackson’s face is too. It seems to me that Jackson’s face comes from two men who are related but with one side of his face from one person and the other side from another person.
Thank you very much, anonymous. I am also verrry impressed with Mr. Deporter’s artwork. To me, it seems like he somehow captured Jackson’s smugness, while ALSO capturing his discomfort from the questioning. Genius! I wish I could draw like that. I can barely draw a stick figure, lol.
hi jb yes i did quote AC/DC and if you want blood you got it(conscience) they have kicked us in the teeth too long even a long walk over you. We have been considered as riff raff and if you question any doctrine you will be shot down in flames .So if these dudes carry on as they are i see them on the highway to hell with hells bells ringing in our ears so mate have a drink on me await our landslide (victory) and this girls got rhythm ruth lee
my..mind..is..blown….. RuthLee, you just made my day with that! I humbly surrender from the vicious AC/DC carpet-bombing sortie you just flew over my head, lol. Love it!
Girl you got a whole lotta Rosie and If You want Blood, The Jack will be Shot Down In Flames. You know Money talks and it’s a Long Way to the Top so Let there be Rock! So keep a Stiff Upper Lip and don’t let em Walk all Over You……
ha ha ha ha peace and love tara and jb and all
Un-freaking-believable.
The Christmas/Bday part and the self appointed GB part had my jaw dropping.
I was glued to my tablet, not getting any work done through all of testimony of Jackson, Spinks, Obrien, and Toole.
If they made a trailer for case 29 the JWs, it could have been borrowed from Waynes World “you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll hurl objects and swear words at the TV.”
Did help me excorsize any remaining doubts that they could be God’s Org though.
So thanks ARC,
I couldn’t help noticing Geoffrey Jackson’s denial about being aware of any of these cases which the Royal Commission brought up. He was very aloof in saying that he had only been a member of the GB for 10 years. Surely, he was aware of inherent problems and cruel doctrines. He barely touched on the fact that some changes had been made. The changes were as effective as trying to move a rock with a feather.
Because there are some Witnesses now using this site. I think more than when I first started coming here not all that long ago, and also because I know how to do it. Some are probably aware of these videos but I would like to put links on here that show that Watchtower has been very much aware of this going on for a long long time. So all this innocent blurb he goes on with is just a lie.
Check these out recorded between 2002 and 2003.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m53JU4g7Ia4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDyh2TOeuVY
Meredith,
I watched that story too only a couple of weeks ago. At the time of it airing, I was still totally in & didn’t watch anything like that.
What a great introductory to the ARC that would have been. Almost 10 years on & the story hasn’t changed one bit.
Yes, Grace. Nothing has changed. It will be interesting to see whether anything will actually change. You’ll get your time to have your say soon. I’ll bet when that day comes, you will be so shocked that you actually got to speak about it to people who would take you seriously.
I had seen an article in the local newspaper about one of these courtcases. I got curious and I took this paper to the meeting to show one of the elders. I asked him about it and he said he did not know anything about it. Then a sister I showed it to told me that I should not bring that to the kingdom hall because it’s content was very negative for Jehovah’s Organisation. I innocently and obediently put it away but my curiosity remained as to why nobody knew anything about it. Not that long later this turned up on a current affairs show. And that was the beginning of the end for me. I scoured the internet for information and what I found I could not believe.
I know, I sometimes think that the thought of being able to freely speak about what had happened all those years ago & not bottle it up because it’s ‘negative talk’ just seems so surreal to me. It will be interesting to see what their thoughts on the matter are. Apparently going by the letter, I will get to sit with one of the Commissioners. I actually hope that it will be Commissioner Milroy.
Whoever it may be, I will let you all know how it went. May next year seems like ages away.
Thank you for posting this video, Meredith J. It’s tragic that the Org has been so effective at keeping its members so scared of “outside” sources of information. How many of us would’ve stayed as long as we did if we simply would’ve KNOWN what was really going on in our organization? You have my admiration for rejecting a restrictive mindset and finding a path to freedom.
I also found it interesting that at 6:40 in this 13-year-old video the headline reads, “Pell accused of child sex”, referring to now-Cardinal George Pell, who has ALSO been feeling the heat of our Royal Commission heroes very recently. I am really beginning to love Australia.
Thank you for posting this video, Meredith J. It’s tragic that the Org has been so very effective at keeping its members scared of “outside” sources of information. How many of us would’ve stayed as long as we did if we simply would’ve KNOWN what was really going on in our organization? You have my admiration for rejecting a restrictive mindset and finding a path to freedom.
I also found it interesting that at 6:40 in this 13-year-old video the headline reads, “Pell accused of child sex”, referring to now-Cardinal George Pell, who has ALSO been feeling the heat of our Royal Commission heroes very recently. I am really beginning to love Australia.
Yes, that’s right. Very observant JB Reezner. You know how I ended up finding out more at the time? I just googled the Watchtower and all this stuff came up. It was simple.
I reckon we were one of the only families in Australia who managed to watch it. I could not convince anybody else of what was happening except our daughter and son in law. Our son was getting married at the time but we didn’t end up having that conversation with him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m53JU4g7Ia4
I am curious as to what happened to the elders who gave testimony. Did they go back to the cong. and pick up as normal or have they been reproved, df’d, SHUNNED – even though that doesn’t happen ;) marked or what? Have any in the cong. spoken to the media?
Some have asked where is the the link to the money that WT has in my earlier post. Here is the link to the relevant page. Just below that I have cut and pasted the detail but this post facility does not allow for a full screen format of everything to see. Give that link a try if you are interested. Notice that the data is of 2005- 10 years ago. I haven’t found yet (never enuff time) the current status. Did they lose money in the 2008/9 financial crash for example, my guess if they did it wasn’t serious, they may have substantially increased their cash since then.
One thing I did notice is that all KH’s in OZ applied for Aust Business Numbers (ABN) on the SAME day in 2009. For a while I didn’t understand why they needed an ABN?? Charity status and all that. Then I saw why. It was to claim the GSTax, for all expenditure on each hall. Sounds good, charity, yes, why not? But think about it. The Cong doesn’t own the hall, even though they paid for it, the Cong pays all the maintenance and expenditures… but the GST when recovered doesn’t go back to the Cong it goes to the WTC as the owners and holders of the charity. The Cong pays the tax but the WTC gets it back. Isn’t this another case of religion riding on the back of the wild beast, spoken in Rev 18?
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1037897/000119312504198395/ddefm14a.htm
JPMORGAN LIQUID ASSETS MONEY MARKET FUND INSTITUTIONAL
WATCHTOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA
ATTN TREASURERS OFFICE DOMESTIC CASH MANAGEMENT
25 COLUMBIA HTS
BROOKLYN NY 11201-1300
Just saw this post after replying to the other one – I still can’t see any figures matching with WT :-( Any chance you could post/upload a screenshot somewhere online and then provide us the link to the screenshot?
I just have to test something. If this looks like gibberish text, then disregard it. Sorry to post the same thing again. If there’s an image, then it’s a better method of posting it than what I used earlier. I’m STILL new here, lol. Okay, enjoy (unless nothing is there):
Okay, I have my answer. Nothing is there. Story of my life, haha..
Hi stirring awake, I don’t have the where withal to post a screen shot somewhere. Did the link I sent not work? I may be able to “talk” you through this if you can go to the link.
I see the problem Stir awake, I just looked at the link and the entry for WT is hard to find do this
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1037897/000119312504198395/ddefm14a.htm
Go to the top of your browser to Edit and click ‘Find’.
In that search box copy and paste LIQUID ASSETS MONEY MARKET FUND
Starting from the top of the page, note entry number 7 of that search term…
If you follow this instruction slowly you should find it
A comma every now and then is helpful
I see the problem Stir awake, I just looked at the link and the entry for WT is hard to find, do this
Click on the link
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1037897/000119312504198395/ddefm14a.htm
Then, go to firefox, google whatever
Go to the top of your browser to Edit and click ‘Find’.
In the search box that will appear, copy and paste the words “LIQUID ASSETS MONEY MARKET FUND” from this email if need be
then
Starting from the top of the page, click the arrows, and note entry number 7 of that search term…
If you follow this instruction slowly you should find it
Thank you for posting how to find it. I am in shock and trying to search for more but they seem to have so many entities it seems impossible.
Over the years of studying the Jehovah’s Witnesses, I find the leadership incorporates the following psychological defense mechanisms to distract from their reality: Deflection, Compensation, Sublimation, Repression, and Compartmentalization.
Compensation is used when the Watchtower organization had problems with Child abuse and then creates a web site full of child videos and other children publications. They try
to distract people from the real issues.
Deflection is used when a Governing Body member blames the LGBT community of child abuse in their early 1980’s Awake magazine and in reality it is they themselves that have a bigger problem. Or, when a Governing Body member blames the parents for dropping their college aged children to a university and the local elders do not want to do shepherding calls on college Jehovah’s Witnesses. This mechanism is used over-and-over again with the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Compartmentalization is used when the Governing Body wants to distance themselves from the other sheep and tries to display superior moral standards than the branch office and the elders underneath the branch office.
Repression is when Governing Body member Geoffrey Jackson states that it appears to be the case when asked that the organization is not immune to the problems of child abuse. Almost as if Geoffrey Jackson cannot believe how bad it has really gotten and does not want to come to grips with reality.
Sublimation is when Watchtower does not know where to begin in creating a policy to protect children so they concentrate all their efforts in their construction work that never ends. And they think people will again shift their focus away from bad stuff and only to good stuff.
Watchtower needs a good psychotherapist to work on these items. All these behaviors are learned behaviors from childhood and can be reduced. These types of behaviors cause people to avoid you as not accepting responsibility. The Watchtower needs to learn more productive and responsible behaviors and to stop acting out on the juvenile behaviors.
The GB will never give up their control, that is basically what its about.
What is said to the rank and file by the GB: Be humble, ensure to do your personal study using watchtower publications, do more in the congregation to gain God’s approval, preach more to gain God’s approval, give more money to gain God’s approval, and always wait on Jehovah (when you have doubts or if you see something that is not right).
What the GB probably says behind closed doors – Keep them humble – no college education and they can only read our publications. Keep them distracted by keeping them busy busy busy working for us, and make sure that we get as much money from them as possible. Keep them distracted by talking about ourselves and how wonderful we are and how we are building building building and most importantly don’t let them question anything and make sure that if they do question that they are told to wait on Jehovah and if they don’t comply with this we must expel and shun them.
We must keep control (fist stomps on podium).
Jackson refused to stand by the claim, that’s repeated endlessly
In the WT, and that every JW believes to be true. “That they are
the one and only channel on earth, that God is using”, Jackson
said. “That I think would seem to be quite PRESUMTUOUS.
It’s one thing to make overblown and pretentious claims to those
initiated in the group thinking and rituals, at the KH, But in the
setting of a Royal Commission and in the presence of clear and
analytical minds, such boastful language, would come across as
“Foolish and Deluded”. ( As Lloyd describes ).
Heaven forbid that they should be seen as “Presumptuous”.
I was there all the years preceding 1975, when they were
commending bros, for selling their houses and using the money
to help them pioneer. Then when it ended in bitter disappointment
It was the bros, who were branded as presumptuous, for running
ahead of “God’s Exclusive Channel”. When all the time it was
they who were dictating the pace.
I knew a brother, who during that period, sold his house and
moved into a caravan with his wife and 2 children. Like many
others he ended up with no house and very little money.
tragically he died shortly after 75, he was only in his early 50s.
Whether his death was due to grief or disappointment or the
predicament he was in, I don’t know ! But I do Know for certain.
he was deceived by a presumptuous false prophet. Deut,18:22
ted i must comment my family did this and we ended on a white trash site i cant go into too much detail but my innocence was torn away from me by that decision you can read into that. all for the good of this Organisation. i bear many scars if i get to write my story i will expose all the tragedy of the 1975 fiasco and how it impacted me for the rest of my life ruthlee
@Ted, I was there too. In the 1960’s, here in the United States, you could buy a brand new house for $10,000.00. My husband and I were married in 1967 and even then, you could buy a new house pretty cheap. We rented and he refused to buy a house because he refused to put any money in the bank for a down payment because he wasn’t going to have any money in the bank when “Armageddon” came so he wasted every penny we were ever to save on everything from new cars to new suits for himself. Then when Armageddon didn’t happen in 1975 and people were mad and left, the Society later said that it was all the rank and file’s fault because the rank and file ran ahead and to this day, my husband insists that the Society never even implied that Armageddon was happening in 1975. But I remember counting down the months in the Kingdom Ministry starting in the late 1960’s.
By the late 1970’s when we finally were able to buy a house, a new house was $50,000.00 here. When those people sold their houses in the 1960’s, they sold them for almost nothing in comparison to ten years later. If those people wanted to buy a house like the ones they “gave” away in the 1960’s, they would have had to pay about five times what they sold it for.
I never did have that kind of faith in what the Society said and I thought it was wrong for them to do that because the Bible says that nobody knows the day or hour, not even the son and so even though the thought of it did scare me, I thought it was presumptuous for them to do that. In those days, you were showing a “lack of faith” if you even suggested that Armageddon might not come in 1975.
It goes to show what kind of mental power a cult has over people when they don’t use common sense. The Bible actually has a lot of good advice that way when it says not to put your trust in men.
anonymous that story is typical and it happened to us too. We were living in an area where we were too far away from the nearest kingdom hall. The visiting Circuit Overseer at the time. told the people we were both studying with that we needed to move closer to the hall in order to become baptised Witnesses. We had just built our own house ourselves and my husband had a good job in the local Post Office.
We ended up selling our house and getting nothing for it as it was during a time of economic downturn. We ended up renting for 23 years. My husband quit his job which put us into an inferior position financially as he attempted to do cleaning and working with brothers. What a terrible mistake that was? We ended up losing so much money and getting into debt which we carried for quite a number of years.
The endless conventions didn’t help and all the time we were boxed into a state where any jobs that my husband could get would not be suitable somehow. The Watchtower sent us broke and we were behind the 8ball for many years. I saw so many brothers and sisters getting into debt because they thought Armageddon was coming. And I remember those talks about how stupid brothers were to run ahead of Jehovah’s Organisation in 1975. They were still preaching the same idea just without a date. We were told to live like it was tomorrow. My goodness, how irresponsible.
A couple of years later a different Circuit Overseer announced that people no longer had to move from where we lived but that it was okay if they were able to attend the occasional meeting. My blood boiled. We had lost our house over that ruling which was so flippantly changed. I have to say though during that time, we were always able to put a roof over our heads and there was always enough food on the table to feed us. Jesus Christ was true to his promise of looking after us. He never broke his word.
“To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man’s injustice to woman. If by strength is meant brute strength, then, indeed, is woman less brute than man. If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man’s superior. Has she not greater intuition, is she not more self-sacrificing, has she not greater powers of endurance, has she not greater courage? Without her, man could not be. If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future is with woman. Who can make a more effective appeal to the heart than woman?”
Dedicated to Anonymous, Catalina, Ruthlee, Kat, Grace, queen Elsa,
Meredith j, and to my wife. And all the other wonderful ladies who
encourage us with their comments on this site.
The above quotation was plagiarised by me from Mahatma Gandhi.
But I agree 100% with the sentiments expressed.
GOD bless you Ted you have a voice of wisdom and kindness i like to read your posts blessings ruthlee