Has any GB member ever applied for USA citizenship?

by maryacclaim 9 Replies latest jw friends

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  maryacclaim

  This subject may have already been hashed out on here in the past so let me know if so.

  I was just curious though, because it would be an excellent point when discussing Malawai and such.

  Here's the oath of Citizenship:

  I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.

  Just wondering.
• 

  FatFreek 2005

  Yes -- how about Nathan H. Knorr, previous president of the Society. Okay, so it wasn't citizenship, it was a passport -- and the year was 1950s I believe. There is a thread here some 2 years ago. Shows Knorr's passport application, photo and all. I recall the verbiage as similar to what you've pasted above.

  Google can't seem to access that old thread but here's an excellent one by a Marvin Shilmer from another site.

  This, of course, was prior to the Malawi fiasco and he was still president at the time. Those Malawi victims should be somehow memorialized at the doorsteps of the Watchtower headquarter's building.

  Len Miller
• 

  JWoods

  Didn't Ted Jaracks come from Australia? I thought just about all the others were born Americans, but have not kept up since about 1980.

  One other thought - that line in the above about "performing non-combatant service for the U.S. military" would certainly have broken WTS code back in the Viet Nam draft days...but it got changed long after the draft was gone.

  Could this statement have been part of the reason to change that conscientous objecter status rule?
• 

  sir82

  Hundreds of JWs become naturalized US citizens every year.

  You can request to have the oath modified for religious reasons. They'll interview you to make sure it's legit, and request a letter from your congregation verifying that you really are a JW, but in 99.999% of the cases, they'll allow it.

  Every JW I know who has become a naturalized citizen (I know quite a few) did it that way. So I imagine a GB member would do likewise.
• 

  observador

  There are several aspects to becoming an American citizen that makes it objetionable to a JW. Not only the text you provided above, but the cerimony itself where you place your right hand over the heart and you pledge allegiance to all those things in the text.

  Would the modified oath be so heavily modified to remove references to "bear arms", the "flag", "work of national importance", the word "God", etc. ? I doubt it.

  It would be interesting to see such a modified version of it.

  Here's my take: probably, as a way to rationalize the situation and make the JW feel good, the JW makes a request and accept whatever modification was made, very much like I heard once a JW photographer describe that he never pays any fee to a Church that charges a fee to photograph a wedding (he discounts the fee from the work and request the bride/groom to pay the fee). This way he feels good and continues to perform his profession, while his elders have an easy way out if anyone ever questions it.

  Could this be the case here? I don't know... Remember, this is a religion where APPEARANCES is very very important...

  Observador.
• 

  sir82

  Would the modified oath be so heavily modified to remove references to "bear arms", the "flag", "work of national importance", the word "God", etc. ?

  Yes.

  the cerimony itself where you place your right hand over the heart and you pledge allegiance to all those things in the text.

  I've seen one such ceremony. There's a group of 80 or 100 or even more new citizens. It's quite easy to blend in, within the middle of the group, and not say anything or place your hand over your heart. There are no "policemen" there to verify that every person actually does it.
• 

  blondie

  Oath of Allegiance

  To become a citizen, one must take the oath of allegiance. By doing so, an applicant swears to:

  • support the Constitution and obey the laws of the U.S.;

  • renounce any foreign allegiance and/or foreign title; and

  • bear arms for the Armed Forces of the U.S. or perform services for the government of the U.S. when required.

  In certain instances, where the applicant establishes that he or she is opposed to any type of service in armed forces based on religious teaching or belief, USCIS will permit these applicants to take a modified oath.

  http://law.justia.com/us/cfr/title08/8-1.0.1.3.85.0.1.1.html

  see 337.1 (b)
• 

  truman

  My JW child's JW spouse, who was born a citizen of an Eastern bloc nation, recently became a U.S. citizen.
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  asilentone

  What about Gerrit Losch, do you think he is a citizen here.
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  blondie

  He doesn't have to be..............there are laws allowing people from other countries to be here and still retain their own citizenship