Quotes update: Free to publicly comment on the action (page 5)

willyloman

Is this the internet equivalent of leaving my body impaled on a pike by the city gates?

Dude, they'd stone you if they could.

Thanks for taking one for the team. You rock!

phoibos_2

Hi,

here are some links to Q-mirrors if needed:

Q-mirrors of truth

greetings

P

AuldSoul

alt

I want to thank you Quotes, for your courage and bravery.

I want to thank the Watchtower Society for their idiocy. Now they have many to deal with. Will they learn the lesson of the Internet?

Respectfully,
AuldSoul

As Almost Atheist (and possibly others) said, it was like smashing a blob of mercury for the WTS to go after you, Quotes. I have utmost respect for the law firm that handled this for you, reducing the fees like that. It is encouraging to know there are principled people out there in the big bad world.

AuldSoul

Mr. Kim

Good job quotes! Thank you for all of your hard and honest work. I guess the WTB&TS really can't stand the "truth" thrown back into their face, can they?

Soledad

Quotes if I never expressed it before I would like to tell you now:

Sincere thanks for all your hard work and for fighting the good fight!

bikerchic

Thanks ~Q!

Neo

Thank you so much for your hard work, Quotes!

For those who still haven't seen it, the following is an article on The Guardian site about Quotes' case, published Monday January 16th. It didn't get the publicity it deserved.

Witnesses protection programme

Stephen Bates reports on the religious leaders who objected to a website that spread their church's teachings

Stephen Bates, religious affairs correspondent
Monday January 16, 2006

Most Christian organisations are only too pleased to spread the Good Word, but the Jehovah's Witnesses have taken an altogether different approach by forcing a Canadian member to close down a website highlighting their beliefs.

This may have something to do with the weirdness of some of the church's views, such as the belief that vaccinations are a cruel hoax by Satan, that organ transplants are the equivalent of cannibalism, that blood transfusions are unbiblical, that God himself edits its magazine, that the Great Pyramid of Giza was "an outline of the plan of God" and that the world would end in 1914. And 1915. And 1918. And 1920. And 1925. And 1940. And 1975. Having learned its lesson, it now believes officially that the end is merely imminent.

The offending website, quotes.watchtower.ca, was launched by a Toronto mechanical engineer, Peter Mosier, a long-standing, though now somewhat disillusioned, member of the 13.8 million-strong worldwide faith, which has 130,000 followers in Britain. The site consisted entirely of lengthy quotations from official Witnesses publications pointing out some of the church's anomalies and quiet changes of position over the last 130 years, many of which have never been formally communicated to members of the church in good standing.

Presumably tongue-in-cheek, the site quotes instructions issued to followers in the Watchtower, the church's magazine, in 1942 that Jehovah has entrusted followers "with the privilege and obligation of telling His message".

The magazine added: "Those who believe that God uses the Watchtower as a means of communicating to His people should truly study [it] with thankfulness of heart and ... give neither honour nor credit to any man."

The website adds solemnly: "If you are looking for criticism, critique or editorial commentary, you have come to the wrong place."

Ironically, for a group best-known to the outside world for its members' enthusiastic attempts at doorstep proselytisation, the Witnesses' elders suffered a massive sense of humour failure when confronted with the site. They threatened to sue Mr Mosier for 100,000 Canadian dollars unless he closed his website down, with punitive damages for his impertinence in spreading their views where they might be seen by non-believers.

The Witnesses were also sore that Mr Mosier had successfully annexed a domain name that they had not already claimed for themselves, based on the title of their magazine and the name of the office block in Brooklyn, New York where they have their worldwide headquarters.

They claimed Mr Mosier had unlawfully misappropriated and disclosed confidential information and damaged their copyright. They stated: "The defendant's main purpose is not fair use but rather to try to embarrass the plaintiffs by quoting selectively from some of the religious works in a manner that misleads internet users as to the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses in Canada ... [and is] likely to cause confusion."

Members of the church keep themselves separate from the world, do not vote or take part in civic life and have traditionally been strictly controlled by their elders. Those who break their code of conduct - such as by accepting a blood transfusion to save their life or that of a child in their family - may find themselves ostracised from their relatives and communities.

A recent legal opinion in the US alleges that the Watchtower has wilfully misled followers over the reality of blood transfusions, which could lay it open to massive claims for damages from members who believe their relatives have died in vain because they thought they were following the word of God in rejecting transfusions.

Members of the public answering the door to witnesses might be surprised to learn the confidential information that non-believers are regarded as doomed to Old Testament punishment on the Last Day, their eyes plucked out and their bones ground to dust.

In the past the Watchtower has told local elders that a member accused of child abuse should only be reported to the police in the unlikely event of there being two independent witnesses to the abuse, otherwise the victim can be instructed to "wait on Jehovah" to sort things out.

In an attempt to keep control of members' thoughts and prevent them falling into sin through happening on pornographic sites, the Watchtower leaders have instructed that, if members view the internet, they should only look at authorised Witnesses websites - hence the consternation that they might accidentally stumble on Mr Mosier's effort.

Mr Mosier, 37, who was brought up as a Witness, baptised into the faith at 17 and was a member in good standing for 10 years after that, said: "I decided to set up the website after learning things that I had never heard before. There were things that, had I known them when I was baptised, I would not have joined. The Watchtower calls itself God's Channel but it has a way of changing its mind and not telling anyone that things have changed."

"My website has clear quotes that enable people to study their religion and learn more about it, but the Watchtower wants people to learn about it only on their own terms. My site has been getting 10,000 visitors a month, so you could say I have been more successful in informing people about Jehovah's Witnesses than I ever was when I went round knocking on people's doors."

(http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1687735,00.html)

IronClaw

I know it has been said before, but here it goes again. I cant thank you enough for all the work you did. It was sites like yours and Randy's that make a difference. I could have never researched that much material in the small amount of free time that I have. The bible says that we all have certain gifts. I think you used yours to the fullest. I also think we haven't heard the last of you Q. I look forward to hearing more on the situation. Take care. YOU are the MAN. Sincerely, The Claw.

Quotes

I just wanted to say thanks for all the Thanks! I can't tell you how good it makes me feel to hear that my site helped many of you to learn "the truth about Da Troof"!

The site started mostly as a convenient notebook for my personal use. Then it grew to the point where I said to myself, "Self, if this helps even one person, you've hit your target."

Looks like I hit my target many, many times.

I guess WTS never expected any Scatologists to collect and study their crappy dung piles they have been spewing for the past century. They want the public to deal with WTS scat piles one at a time, as delivered from the "Mother". :)

~Q

Quotes update: Free to publicly comment on the action

Share this