TONIGHT on February 16th: PBS Newshour to air Trey Bundy’s Jehovah Witness child sex abuse investigation

It’s true; PBS Newshour will be talking about Jehovah’s Witnesses and child sex abuse allegations this very evening. The title was taken from a link to this article, which is rather lengthy but goes into detail about the legal issues the Watchtower Society has been having with increasing numbers of pedophile cases. Go to the PBS News Hour website and register your local PBS station to get it streamed to your computer.

On a related note, another article, titled Jehovah’s Witnesses use 1st Amendment to hide child sex abuse claims, talks about some of the Society’s more recent legal maneuvering. It also mentions the show.

News and Links for Ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses: Apostasy

Apostasy

This one sounds interesting. From the film makers:

Our feature film Apostasy needs your help. We are in a tight competition with eight talented teams to win the funding we need to make this film. To succeed, we need to prove that this story MUST be told – that we have an audience who not only wants to see it, but believes it must be seen by others.

This film deals with the pain that is caused by Jehovah’s Witnesses who shun loved ones – simply because they dare to live their lives differently. Our director, Dan, was raised as a JW until he left at 21. From his personal experience, from the stories you’ve shared, and from the media coverage about this ‘religion’, we are surprised that there is not a single English speaking film in history which deals with this subject. Why?

So… all we ask is that you like our page **not just this post, but our official Apostasy page www.facebook.com/apostasyfilm**
Thank you and very happy holidays to those who choose to celebrate it.

Their Facebook page is here. Please like it!

The World Is Not Falling Apart Never mind the headlines. We’ve never lived in such peaceful times.

Yes, contrary to the claims of many doomsday cults, the world is getting better, not worse. This seems kind of obvious to me, but this link gives you some real facts. Another one that lists 26 charts and maps can be found here.

WATCH: 10 Body Parts You No Longer Need

Because Intelligent Design doesn’t make a lot of sense if you take the time to really understand actual science. This one could easily go under my atheist links, but it just so happens that the AWAKE! for this month talks about abiogenesis/evolution (they lump them together, so I might as well do the same). It is … pretty bad. If you read it, make sure to take note of the quotes and the lack of citations. In other words, business as usual.

JWPODCAST.ORG

A new podcast about Jehovah’s Witnesses, run by former Jehovah’s Witnesses. They seem to have a full cast of ex-Witness celebrities you might enjoy. You can also follow them on YouTube.

Jehovah’s Witness Publication Urges Faithful to Treat Disfellowshipped Loved Ones as if God Killed Them

In case you need another reminder that Jehovah’s Witnesses can be heartless, just look at the latest issue of The Watchtower:

This one comes from the Patheos website and was written by the Friendly Atheist. Note that he’s been posting a fair amount of Witness related material over the past year or so. Some may want to keep tabs on his blog.

Reshaping History – How the Watchtower controls their image by editing their own past

This one appears at Cedar’s website, but was written by a guest author.

When Watchtower’s new ‘history’ book was released this summer it was said to have been released because their old one had too many pages. “God’s Kingdom Rules!” was presented as a slimmer, and therefore more translatable, volume than its predecessor.

I’ve recently had a chance to go through it, and I firmly believe its purpose is much more complex than we have been led to believe.

Merry Christmas 2014

Merry Christmas to all my fellow geeks and heathens. As a (sort of) gift, I am providing links to some of my YouTube playlists for you to ignore or enjoy. Note that I would like to edit the start and end times for some of these, but it seems that YouTube (aka Google) has decided to take this feature away. For some reason.

I maintain all these playlists to varying degrees.

Entertainment

Canada’s Worst Driver is probably my favorite reality TV show. And most episodes are available on YouTube! The last 6 seasons are at least. I maintain this playlist because my wife and I like to go back and watch it from time to time. As more episodes become available, I will add them.

Canada’s Worst Handyman is another good reality TV show from Canada. It’s also very Wintery, so it feels like Christmas. 🙂

Here is a playlist featuring movies, TV shows and other videos for geeks. Many of these are anime. Note that some of these get deleted from time to time and I have no control over that.

This is a playlist of standup comedy in no particular order.

Secularism, Atheism, and Skepticism

Conspiracy Roadtrip is a BBC show that takes true believers in various conspiracy theories, including the idea that evolution is a scientific conspiracy, on a bus throughout the United States to show them the evidence that their belief is wrong and to see if they can change anyone’s mind. Note that the host of the show is a nonbelieving comedian, but he seems to treat the people pretty respectfully.

This is a collection of secular and atheist videos I’ve found across YouTube in no particular order.

Below are two playlists of my favorite Atheist Experience episodes and clips.

List 1:

List 2:

Here is a small list of ex-Jehovah’s Witness videos. Note that it includes the one about Kissing Hank’s Ass. 🙂

News And Links For Ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses: Jehovah’s Trumpet And More!

Shunning Makes Us Joyful

This one is from Jehovah’s Trumpet, a site that spoofs the Watchtower. Jehovah’s Trumpet is to the Watchtower magazine what The Colbert Report is to Bill O’Reilly’s The Factor. The best part is the comments. Note that lots of people didn’t get the joke. If you were one of them, now you know! Bear in mind that this is the same website that features stories like Conjoined Twin Shuns Brother and Family Repudiates Thursdays.

Note to fellow skeptics and atheists: Remember to use critical thinking skills where applicable!

Evolution: A Satanic Theory

Also from Jehovah’s Trumpet. Same deal as above – lots of people didn’t get the joke. But this article was retweeted by Richard Dawkins and Penn Jillette. 🙂

Dawkins isn't even an XJW and he gets it!

 





Seth Andrews: The Ultimate Question

The link above will take you to the whole talk, which belongs as much under the heading of atheism as ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses. The video below takes you to a point in the talk where Seth (from The Thinking Atheist) talks about what it’s like to deal with family and others who look down on you for not believing what they believe. Ex-believers of all stripes should get why that appears here and not just in the atheist news section.

The thing is that many atheists and ex-Witnesses – even ex-Witnesses who still have faith in a deity or religion – have plenty in common. Exxers who bash atheists often miss the commonalities.

Note: If it won’t play in the little box below, or you want it bigger, just click on the button that says “YouTube” at the bottom of the box. 🙂

Chilliwack family blames RCMP for failing to return their daughter

Jeff Wier and Candis McCarville-Wier are the legal guardians for Cassidy McCarville; Candis is also her biological mother. The teen became a Jehovah’s Witness two years ago but her parents are not followers, and that has been a point of strife between Cassidy and her parents.

Candis says her daughter has taken the religion too far — preaching door to door instead of doing her school work. When she tried to ground Cassidy on Tuesday night, preventing her from going to a Jehovah’s Witness meeting, the teen ran away from home.

Candis McCarville-Wier says she just wants her 15-year-old daughter, who ran away from home after a dispute over being a Jehovah’s Witness, to come home and get counselling. (CBC)

Grammar Nazis take note: the article above is from Canada, so some words may look incorrect to you. No words were actually harmed in writing the article, however.

Blood Transfusions – What are the risks?

The typical Jehovah’s Witness believes that blood transfusions are bad medicine and the equivalent of playing Russian Roulette. They have been so thoroughly indoctrinated about the risks by the Watchtower Society that the mere thought is totally abhorrent to many of them. Oddly enough, it is not unusual to see these irrational fears persist even in former Jehovah’s Witnesses for many years after they leave the Watchtower Society.

AAWA Announces “Watchtower Victims Memorial Day”