As a person who has recently disassociated along with my wife, I can vouch that we were immediately shunned by the organization. One of my friends of more than 35 years immediately blocked me on Whatsapp. I agree with your honour, this is a cruel and captive religion. I want to thank the Australian Royal Commission for doing its best to try to protect children in all circumstances. I am disgusted by the testimony of Mr Spinks and Mr O'Brien, but especially disgusted by the testimony of Mr Jackson, who repeatedly said: "it's not my field ". Well done to Justice Angus Stewart, and to Justice Peter McClellan- you two were my heroes during this. Much respect 🙏🏼 to you both ❤
I have a question, if anybody on the Commission were an apostate would the representative still have to answer to them? 6:47 They want to be their own law.
“We will leave that to the parents of the victim” But they will discourage the parents going to the proper authorities, they will say, we don’t want to bring reproach on Jehovah’s name or the congregation 🙄 Bypass the elders completely and go to the proper authorities in the first place please!
Right on the point, Valerie. Parents who suspect that their children are being sexually abused should report the abuse to the police first. The elders are very poorly equipped to deal with this sort of sin/crime. That pretext of bringing reproach upon Jehovah's name as an excuse for not reporting sexual abuse against children in their congregations is not only false but ridiculous. After all, why would Jesus Christ ever approve of something as abhorrent as sexual abuse against children?
At 5:19 he mentions the person being of age to be baptized. My question? What is the youngest you have known someone to be baptized as a JW? I've heard as young as 9 years old. Some maybe younger. When I was studying, probably even more so today, they were encouraging children to get baptized early. Get "saved" before Armegedon. And of course a child wants approval and their brains are right for memorizing and learning. But really understanding, I think that's the real question. I was 21 when I got baptized, but I still didn't "get" what disfellowshipping/shunning was all about until years later when my older sister was disfellowshipped ( a single mom with a 2 year old son). And now myself (disassociated because my eyes were finally opened enough to say "enough". If only people could see why the JW organization is referred to as a "captive cult" without having to experience it first hand. But thankful members are starting to speak up and tell their stories without fear of the punishment of an angry God/Organization. However you want to look at it 🤔
I was baptized at 11. Biggest mistake I’ve ever made. A young one is incapable of grasping the potential consequences, ramifications, and circumstances they would be put in due to making a commitment like this. It’s immoral. It’s unethical. It’s cruel. So to summarize, when I got baptized I could not legally smoke, drink, drive, consent to engage in sexual activity, vote, go on about 40% of roller coasters, sign any type of contract, take out a loan at the bank, etc.… But somehow I was old enough to make a commitment like this that I would be held to for the rest of my life and stand to lose everyone and everything I ever loved and loved me. And as a bonus, since the organization strongly prohibits further education(especially in the 80s when I grew up) I was nowhere near sufficiently equipped to survive financially, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Jehovah’s Witnesses take pride in the fact that they adhere to true Bible doctrine including not teaching hellfire. They claim a loving God will never be cruel and put someone in that type of a situation where they were tormented and suffering. I contend that the disfellowshipping/shunning arrangement being implemented against a child is infinitely more cruel than hellfire.
I am a slack JW for many years. I kind of roll with it staying in the background never wishing to "reach out" as they say. Ive seen the odd family implode then explode when the hubby wants to "reach out" and the mrs and the kids go bananas. Its funny when jw kids let go, i have seen them often go to the other extreme - becoming punks so to speak. Hypothetically If my kids were also jws and were disfellowshipped, i would NOT be shunning them in any way - unless they were psychopathic criminals then yeah i would.
This is the type of elders there are in Australia ! Sickening. This is what we were putting up with for decades in Australia. This is what they are like. Better to reason with a donkey.
Spinks doesn't understand what's happening here, but Obrien gets it. He looks like he just ate a pile of shit and the court has just slid another full plate of it under his face.
Both parties are not getting the point of the other. Correct:- A child abuse victim is not shunned If a child abuse victim is so affected they can no longer be apart of the organisation it is up to the body of elders to continue to support the victim and have removed those who did not show the love required to heal the abuse incurred. If someone feels so strongly that after being abused they can no longer be a part of the organisation because of the policies that were implemented they should not be shunned but the policy be removed and shunned, because it is obviously wrong in it's working. Correct:- A person can be shunned, If , not an abuse victim but a person who does not believe in the Faith any longer and chooses to leave and lead a completely different life style engaging in questionable activity. That then is their choice and one they understand the implications of.
The bigger issue us when your own parents are shunning you or siblings..you can still love them even more than their stupid brothers and not talk about each others belief. That is healthy relationship not shunning them completely
Rod7139: Spoken like a true zombie follower of the watchtower. Its common knowledge that no JWs are represented in the STEM fields, because these fields require "intelligence" e.g. higher education & critical thinking. But there is good news: according to a recent Pew Research Study, JWs numbers globally are stagnating & are expected to slowly decline over the coming decades. Thank God for that.
What if they leave the cult and live a wholesome christian life? Why is it that JWs think that because you leave,( or even smarter, never join) you will then live a life of unsavoury things and people? Christianity was around thousands of years before JW was invented by an american man. Were all those Christians living sinfull lives because JW wasn't made up yet?
@@valhenry2154 If you can live individually without any fellowship why did Jesus encourage those to join him in union with his father? There would have been no point in this instruction or him even preaching a gospel!
As a person who has recently disassociated along with my wife, I can vouch that we were immediately shunned by the organization. One of my friends of more than 35 years immediately blocked me on Whatsapp.
I agree with your honour, this is a cruel and captive religion. I want to thank the Australian Royal Commission for doing its best to try to protect children in all circumstances. I am disgusted by the testimony of Mr Spinks and Mr O'Brien, but especially disgusted by the testimony of Mr Jackson, who repeatedly said: "it's not my field ". Well done to Justice Angus Stewart, and to Justice Peter McClellan- you two were my heroes during this. Much respect 🙏🏼 to you both ❤
I have a question, if anybody on the Commission were an apostate would the representative still have to answer to them? 6:47 They want to be their own law.
“We will leave that to the parents of the victim”
But they will discourage the parents going to the proper authorities, they will say, we don’t want to bring reproach on Jehovah’s name or the congregation 🙄
Bypass the elders completely and go to the proper authorities in the first place please!
Right on the point, Valerie. Parents who suspect that their children are being sexually abused should report the abuse to the police first. The elders are very poorly equipped to deal with this sort of sin/crime. That pretext of bringing reproach upon Jehovah's name as an excuse for not reporting sexual abuse against children in their congregations is not only false but ridiculous. After all, why would Jesus Christ ever approve of something as abhorrent as sexual abuse against children?
At 5:19 he mentions the person being of age to be baptized. My question? What is the youngest you have known someone to be baptized as a JW? I've heard as young as 9 years old. Some maybe younger. When I was studying, probably even more so today, they were encouraging children to get baptized early. Get "saved" before Armegedon. And of course a child wants approval and their brains are right for memorizing and learning. But really understanding, I think that's the real question.
I was 21 when I got baptized, but I still didn't "get" what disfellowshipping/shunning was all about until years later when my older sister was disfellowshipped ( a single mom with a 2 year old son). And now myself (disassociated because my eyes were finally opened enough to say "enough".
If only people could see why the JW organization is referred to as a "captive cult" without having to experience it first hand.
But thankful members are starting to speak up and tell their stories without fear of the punishment of an angry God/Organization. However you want to look at it 🤔
I was baptized at 11. Biggest mistake I’ve ever made. A young one is incapable of grasping the potential consequences, ramifications, and circumstances they would be put in due to making a commitment like this. It’s immoral. It’s unethical. It’s cruel. So to summarize, when I got baptized I could not legally smoke, drink, drive, consent to engage in sexual activity, vote, go on about 40% of roller coasters, sign any type of contract, take out a loan at the bank, etc.… But somehow I was old enough to make a commitment like this that I would be held to for the rest of my life and stand to lose everyone and everything I ever loved and loved me. And as a bonus, since the organization strongly prohibits further education(especially in the 80s when I grew up) I was nowhere near sufficiently equipped to survive financially, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Jehovah’s Witnesses take pride in the fact that they adhere to true Bible doctrine including not teaching hellfire. They claim a loving God will never be cruel and put someone in that type of a situation where they were tormented and suffering. I contend that the disfellowshipping/shunning arrangement being implemented against a child is infinitely more cruel than hellfire.
Spinks is a liar.
Does anyone know why the VOLUME
has been turned down?
I am a slack JW for many years. I kind of roll with it staying in the background never wishing to "reach out" as they say. Ive seen the odd family implode then explode when the hubby wants to "reach out" and the mrs and the kids go bananas. Its funny when jw kids let go, i have seen them often go to the other extreme - becoming punks so to speak. Hypothetically If my kids were also jws and were disfellowshipped, i would NOT be shunning them in any way - unless they were psychopathic criminals then yeah i would.
This is the type of elders there are in Australia ! Sickening. This is what we were putting up with for decades in Australia. This is what they are like. Better to reason with a donkey.
Spinks doesn't understand what's happening here, but Obrien gets it. He looks like he just ate a pile of shit and the court has just slid another full plate of it under his face.
LOL 😆
Both parties are not getting the point of the other.
Correct:- A child abuse victim is not shunned
If a child abuse victim is so affected they can no longer be apart of the organisation it is up to the body of elders to continue to support the victim and have removed those who did not show the love required to heal the abuse incurred.
If someone feels so strongly that after being abused they can no longer be a part of the organisation because of the policies that were implemented they should not be shunned but the policy be removed and shunned, because it is obviously wrong in it's working.
Correct:- A person can be shunned, If , not an abuse victim but a person who does not believe in the Faith any longer and chooses to leave and lead a completely different life style engaging in questionable activity. That then is their choice and one they understand the implications of.
The bigger issue us when your own parents are shunning you or siblings..you can still love them even more than their stupid brothers and not talk about each others belief. That is healthy relationship not shunning them completely
Rod7139: Spoken like a true zombie follower of the watchtower. Its common knowledge that no JWs are represented in the STEM fields, because these fields require "intelligence" e.g. higher education & critical thinking. But there is good news: according to a recent Pew Research Study, JWs numbers globally are stagnating & are expected to slowly decline over the coming decades. Thank God for that.
What if they leave the cult and live a wholesome christian life? Why is it that JWs think that because you leave,( or even smarter, never join) you will then live a life of unsavoury things and people? Christianity was around thousands of years before JW was invented by an american man. Were all those Christians living sinfull lives because JW wasn't made up yet?
@@valhenry2154 If you can live individually without any fellowship why did Jesus encourage those to join him in union with his father? There would have been no point in this instruction or him even preaching a gospel!
Liers