Watch Tower Society Facing Criminal Charges and Indictment in Australia (page 6)

Aussie Oz

On another thought...

''Following this time period, you are required by law to pass on a copy of, or make available a copy of, the document

referred to as "The Submission" (i.e. The brief of Evidence) to every bodies corporate and bodies unincorporated

or individuals and "persons" you will be representing or assisting in this matter.

This includes: every single Voting Member of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, Inc.; and

every single member of the "faithful and discreet slave" (class) worldwide; and every single adult baptised member

of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses in the State of Victoria...in a language that they can understand.

Your legal responsibility in this matter may be satisfied by having the document published on the following

websites: ''

www.watchtower.org and www.jw.org

Now wouldn't THAT be something to see!!!

Here's a suggestion . . . why not email the Victoria State Child Safety Commissioner and encourage his interest in the case . . . let him know the world is watching . . . (we are pretty international here)

Think about it . . . If you like the idea, his name again; Bernie Geary mailto:[email protected]

EntirelyPossible

BTW, the "COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT FOR THE RELIGION OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES" appears to be something entirely made up by Steve Unthank to mean "the JW's corporate entities".

This is conceivably the most comically bad attempt at a legal briefing I have ever personally seen (and I have seen quite a few, given my profession). He repeats the statue in several places, for some reason posts 10 pages of the program from the local archdiocese to comply, posts some a letter from an elder, posts 10 pages of a letter from the WTS regarding charity work that isn't germaine to the issue, posts the form for the background check in the document, etc., etc. This guy needs to learn to state "Here is the purpose, here are the references for the purpose, here are the relevant excerpts, here is where they in violation based on the above references and documentation, done." This should have been 15 - 20 pages, not 600.

Not one single person in a position to do something about the problem is going to wade through that document, especially after he opens with "The bible authorizes me to speak on God's behalf".

Aussie Oz

Perhaps he knows he might not have a snowdrops chance in hell of actually 'winning' and getting the WT convicted of 99% of it.

But in the process he still may do more than we think or hoped possible to bring child abuse among JWs to the real public eye.

And that can never be a bad thing.

I don't mind really if he is dead serious or a crazy nut. Whether he thinks he will win or not.

He's got balls of cast iron as far as i am concerned and should be supported.

I hope this becomes a fricken tidal wave and that one day the whole world will know that the JWs are just as bad, no, WORSE, than the Catholic Church for cover ups.

Oz

jwfacts

The Submission is certainly an unusually presented document. However, the underlying principle that the Watchtower should be scrutinised for its unwillingness to hold Assessment Notices needs to be pursued. I agree with Sizemilk that if enough people show an interest it will be interesting to see what eventuates.

It is about time for the media to look more closely at JWs. Over the last couple of years Australian current affairs programs have concentrated quite extensively on Exclusive Brethern and Scientologists, particularly in regards to their shunning policies and I have been wondering how long before the Watchtower gets similar attention. This may well be the topic to bring the Watchtower into the limelight.

EntirelyPossible

Oz, I wish him success as well, but I liken it to having a crazy nutjob advance your cause. If this guy is the one they see, it tinges any other efforts in the eyes of the people that need to be convinced. Basically, even if your goal is preventing child abuse, you probably want to get a different spokesman than Charlie Sheen. You don't want the people you need to hear the message to have to wade through the crazy to get to your message because they won't. You have probably 30 seconds to get their interest to move forward, not 30 hours for them to read that doc that starts out with "wade through my crazy first". Instant dismissal and then association of the crazy with the next person to stand up and present your case, even if the next person is James Earle Jones because they are still thinking of Charlie Sheen.

Having balls of cast iron and being a nut in no way mean he should be supported. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

[Edited to add] Aussie, family-wise, I am in the same boat you are, so I have a ton of sympathy and follow your story closely as I am a few years behind you in terms of what to expect. I agree with your sentiments and wishes, just .....not that this guy should be the champion for the cause. When I want someone to stand up in court to represent me, I don't care if his heart is in the right place, Gary Busey isn't my first choice.

Aussie Oz

I did like seeing Senetor Nick Xenophon give some support. In S.A he has been responsible for getting the spotlight on other so called religions.

oz

I wonder, has this hit media yet at all?

skeeter1

I agree with the constructive critisism given by the above posters. I do think this argument is strong - law exists, applies to JWs, not followed, civil and criminal liability to follow. I think it would be even stronger if it was rewritten to be shorter, more concise, and much less of the "Jehovah & Jesus" stuff. Everything has to be written to be shorter & sweeter. People do not have 30 hours to read this, and, even I, rolled my eyes at the Jesus/Jehober paragraph on the website.

I can imagine a top journalist like Brian Williams learning about this story and going to the website where it is all posted. He's super busy and has to meet deadlines for publishing news stories. There are thousands of news stories each & every day to cover, and he has to be able to quickly come up to speed on the important issues. He wouldn't have much of a clue, or quickly be able to get a handle on what Steve Unthank is after. I really think a journalist would see all the "Jehovah/Jesus/Bible" jibberish and dismiss it as the serious piece it is. This website seems like it's written for the ubber-Jdubber with all the Biblical referances. We build legal arguments with heavy quotes from the law and court cases, not the Bible. This is a legal argument of a crime going on, and not a Watch Tower study article....right? I fear that worldly people are going to roll the eyes and slam the door on Steve. There are two weeks to redo this writing and website. I hope Steve takes the above posters as positive critique. I think they really mean it as positive critisim. Steve knows this the best, as he's obviously been working with this legal area much over the past few years. Steve, if you read this, please seriously consider the above posters. They have some valid points and want you to be a success.

As far as the potential fines, WOW! That could balance Victoria's budget.

Do you guys really think the Watch Tower is poor? Could Victoria fine the JWs and then levy each Kingdom Hall (owned 100%). They can also levy bank accounts, likely both in Victoria, Austrailia and around the world. While I don't know for sure, I would think Austrailia has a "full faith and credit" type of law that allows for extriction of money and people from other countries. What is $70 a year, a new suit or dress for the Memorial? Come on, the JWs can come up with the money! They do to buy magazines, attend conventions, buy dress clothes, and pay for Kingdom Halls!

Skeeter

TotallyADD

Have anyone wonder if all this sell off in Brooklyn is a knee jerk reaction to what is happening in Australia! If there is a grain of truth to this WT is going to lose alot of money. Totally ADD

sizemik

I don't think this guy needs to win his case necessarily . . . in fact the 'eccentric' nature of his approach might attract more attention.

But if he simply draws enough attention, then someone in higher places will feel obliged to investigate . . . I'm picking the Victorian State Child Safety Commissioners Office could be a good place to be encouraged. (if things are not too different over the ditch).

If that happened the fun would really begin

Watch Tower Society Facing Criminal Charges and Indictment in Australia

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