Adventist lawyers bully small Jewish sect over name

by kurtbethel 10 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  kurtbethel

  It looks like Watchtower lawyers are not alone in protecting their business interests even if it means bullying someone's religious faith.

  http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/12/21/news/sandiego/z5f313b68926a1807882575210081e64b.txt

  Jewish group sued over 'Adventist' name

  VALLEY CENTER ---- What's the first thing that pops to mind upon hearing the word "Adventist"?
  
  The Seventh-day Adventist Church, probably.
  
  Leaders of the international Christian church with 15 million followers have a trademark on the word in the United States.
  
  They say no one else can use it, not even a small Jewish society in North County.
  
  The church filed a lawsuit Nov. 24 against The Federation of Jewish Adventist Society to force the Valley Center group to stop using the word in its name.
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  Mrs. Fiorini

  Amazing. If I trademark the word "Christian" can I prevent all other churches from using it in their names?
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  LouBelle

  oh it's disgusting. anything for money.
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  poppers

  Yeah, amazingly disgusting.
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  recovering

  interesting especially in view of the fact that witnesses are in fact an offshoot of 2nd day adventists
• 

  snowbird

  Where is the spirit of Christlike love and acceptance?

  They would do well to heed the Master's admonition here from The Message Bible:

  Mark 9: 38 John spoke up, "Teacher, we saw a man using your name to expel demons and we stopped him because he wasn't in our group."

  39-41 Jesus wasn't pleased. "Don't stop him. No one can use my name to do something good and powerful, and in the next breath cut me down. If he's not an enemy, he's an ally. Why, anyone by just giving you a cup of water in my name is on our side. Count on it that God will notice.

  42 "On the other hand, if you give one of these simple, childlike believers a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you'll soon wish you hadn't. You'd be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck.

  Sylvia
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  WTWizard

  Hey, if ClearChannel can buy out the copyrights to your favorite songs and then sit on them, just so you cannot ever listen to them again, then I see no reason why you couldn't trademark the name Christian and sit on that so no religions could ever use that name again. Especially, if you have a business and one of the founders happens to be named Chris.
• 

  Earnest

  This really sounds like something out of Monty Python :

  At his rural North County home on Wednesday, Yellen said that the Hebrew meaning of the word "Adventist" is central to his group's spiritual beliefs. Yellen and his wife, Heidi, said that the word, when spoken with a different pronunciation, "AD-vent-ist," is an old Hebrew term referring to an earthen pot. The Christian group's name is often pronounced "ad-VENT-ist." And they believe that a specific vessel with Moses' signature on it is tied to the second coming of the Old Testament prophet Elijah and to the scriptural writings of Moses. The couple said they teach that Elijah will be a direct descendant of King David, a biblical figure, and will carry the stone pot with him as proof of his identity. "No matter what happens, our religious identity is with the word 'Adventist' ---- and we cannot just give it away," said Yellen, adding that he is a direct descendant of King David.

  I doubt that such a lawsuit could succeed. As David Steinberg, lecturer on law and religion says :

  It will be up to the Seventh-day church to prove trademark infringement, said David Steinberg, who teaches a course on law and religion at Thomas Jefferson School of Law. "The general bias is in favor of free speech and free use of terms of language," Steinberg said after reading the complaint. "And if someone is going to take the word 'Adventist' out of circulation, they really need to have a good reason, and they have to prove that people are being misled or confused by the use of the word. "Would someone who read the name 'The Federation of Jewish Adventist Society' be confused and think this was a part of the Seventh-day Adventist Church? That is what the court will have to figure out."

  On the other hand, a group as small as The Federation of Jewish Adventist Society can probably not afford the costs to defend the action unless they get the support of some 'rights' organization. The only reason I can think the action is being taken is that the SDA do have Saturday as their sabbath and follow some of the Jewish dietary laws so may genuinely worry that the two groups will be confused.
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  steve2

  Some interesting background information:

  The word "adventist" was initially a pejorative term (during the 1830s and 1840s?) used by others to describe a loose collection of people who believed the advent of Christ's physical return was imminent. Only over time was it embraced by these people themselves. Later, it became part of the official designation of the organized group known as Seventh-Day Adventists. As with most things human, the tendency to be precious about "ownership" of names is easily evoked - especially when people are "serious" about the truth of their teachings. Yes, it definitely parallels the Watchtower's readiness to "protect" its various names in the law courts.
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  kurtbethel

  On the other hand, a group as small as The Federation of Jewish Adventist Society can probably not afford the costs to defend the action unless they get the support of some 'rights' organization. The only reason I can think the action is being taken is that the SDA do have Saturday as their sabbath and follow some of the Jewish dietary laws so may genuinely worry that the two groups will be confused.

  So it is really about market share. The SDA is worried that they will lose revenue and market share to the Jewish group. Very businesslike of them.