An entertaining discussion about the carts compared to the perils of olden day field service, the role of the sisters and their legendary cleaning and catering skills, and then Adam gives us a detailed run down of what the Thursday meeting used to be like before the format radically changed into its current iteration.

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Music: 'You're Not Who You Say You Are' by Ancient Modesto, Written by Simon Endeacott, Produced by Ian David c Four Monkeys Records

Books used to research this episode:
The Four Presidents of the Watchtower Society by Edmund Gruss https://www.amazon.co.uk/Presidents-Watch-Society-Jehovahs-Witnesses/dp/1594671311

Webpages used in this episode:
https://loc.getarchive.net/media/the-evening-prayer
https://jwdivorces.bravehost.com/russell.html
https://archive.org/details/1880ZionsWatchTower

To contact us please email: askingforafriendquestions@outlook.com We will respect your anonymity.

Music: 'You're Not Who You Say You Are' by Ancient Modesto, Written by Simon Endeacott, Produced by Ian David c Four Monkeys Records

Links to the articles and emails mentioned in the show are as follows:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/oct/08/religion.world

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/oct/15/religion.unitednations

https://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/united-nations-association.php

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Music: 'You're Not Who You Say You Are' by Ancient Modesto, Written by Simon Endeacott, Produced by Ian David c Four Monkeys Records

Adam looks at why the elders arrangement has been changed recently to allow men as young as 21 to become elders in congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Stephanie discusses why the book study meeting held in peoples home was removed and the team speculate as to the reasons behind the change.
Louise discusses the court case that preceded the literature changing from having a fixed price printed on the covers, to being offered to householders for 'free', albeit it with strong encouragement to make a donation.

Please contact us on askingforafriendquestions@outlook.com We will respect your anonymity.

Music: 'You're Not Who You Say You Are' by Ancient Modesto, Written by Simon Endeacott, Produced by Ian David c Four Monkeys Records

Please contact us on askingforafriendquestions@outlook.com We will respect your anonymity.

Music: 'You're Not Who You Say You Are' by Ancient Modesto, Written by Simon Endeacott, Produced by Ian David c Four Monkeys Records

The Irish Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse 2000: https://childabusecommission.ie/

The Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse 2012: https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/Interview with Governing Body member, Geoffrey Jackson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erWV8YnTFto
Information video about how to make an application for redress for Child Sexual abuse while in the Jehovah's Witnesses in Australia: https://saysorry.org/2024/02/19/jehovahs-witnesses-and-the-australian-national-redress-scheme/

New Zealand Inquiry into Abuse in Care: https://www.abuseincare.org.nz/reports/whanaketia/preliminaries/recommendations

Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry: https://www.childabuseinquiry.scot/

England and Wales Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA): https://www.iicsa.org.uk/
UK Government proposals following IICSA: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/next-steps-to-tackle-child-sexual-exploitation

Irish Scoping Inquiry into Historical Sexual Abuse in Schools run by Religious Orders: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/42b7e-education-scoping-inquiry/#survivor-engagement

Music: 'You're Not Who You Say You Are' by Ancient Modesto, Written by Simon Endeacott, Produced by Ian David c Four Monkeys Records

Please contact us on askingforafriendquestions@outlook.com We will respect your anonymity.

The links Lara referred to in the podcast are as follows:

I was a Jehovah's Witness Forced Child Labourer facebook support group https://www.facebook.com/groups/901752817995187/

The Say Sorry website https://saysorry.org/

The Decult Conference New Zealand https://decult.net/

The film 'Recovering from Religion with Music' by Banana Island Films https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJoOrhh6MSY

UK House of Lords Inquiry into Modern Slavery https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/700/modern-slavery-act-2015-committee/news/203272/uks-response-to-modern-slavery-has-not-kept-up-with-the-advances-of-other-nations/

The Lived Experience Human Trafficking Foundation https://www.humantraffickingfoundation.org/leap

The Survivors Alliance on Modern Slavery https://www.survivoralliance.org/anti-slavery-info

UK Anti Slavery Commissioner https://www.antislaverycommissioner.co.uk/

Australian Anti Slavery Commissioner https://www.antislaverycommissioner.gov.au/contact-us

Australian Anti Slavery Hotline https://antislavery.org.au/free-legal-services/

UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-slavery

Music: 'You're Not Who You Say You Are' by Ancient Modesto, Written by Simon Endeacott, Produced by Ian David c Four Monkeys Records

Adam and Louise discuss the figures in the 2024 Yearbook and what the trends show. There are some very interesting facts about the numbers of kingdom halls reducing, and the numbers pioneers in some countries, and how effective they are.

Adam highlights how much of the worlds population lives in countries where Jehovah's Witnesses are banned and how this counters the narrative that every person will have a chance to convert before Armageddon.

Adam has a little gem of information from the latest letter to congregations, that might have a huge implication for a future discussion around child labour, Child Labour laws and modern slavery as defined by the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

We reference Paul Grundy's website, https://jwfacts.com/ and also https://avoidjw.org/ where you can get past issues of the Yearbook that are no longer available on the official JW website.

To contact us please email: askingforafriendquestions@outlook.com We will respect your anonymity.

Music: 'You're Not Who You Say You Are' by Ancient Modesto, Written by Simon Endeacott, Produced by Ian David c Four Monkeys Records