Lillian Gobitas Klose, the Jehovah’s Witness who refused in 1935 to salute the American flag in Minersville, Pa. started a trail that ultimately changed American legal history died Aug. 22 at age 90

by Sol Reform 19 Replies latest social current

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  Sol Reform

  Lillian Gobitas Klose, the Jehovah’s Witness who refused in 1935 to salute the American flag in Minersville, Pa. started a trail that ultimately changed American legal history died Aug. 22 at age 90

  Only three years after it had ruled against the Gobitas family, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 to overturn that decision in a case involving a family of Jehovah’s Witnesses from West Virginia.

  Regardless of what one might think of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Lillian Gobitas is an example of a person whose willingness to fight for her beliefs has expanded everyone’s personal freedoms.

  http://republicanherald.com/news/minersville-girl-made-legal-history-1.1744279

  Lillian Gobitas Klose, 90; Test of faith went to U.S. Supreme Court

  Lillian Gobitas Klose Sign the Guest Book

  Atlanta news obituaries

  • Lillian Gobitas Klose, 90; Test of faith went to U.S. Supreme Court

  By Elizabeth Montgomery The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

  In the 1940s, on opposite sides of the globe, two strangers took a stand for their beliefs and suffered vastly different consequences.

  Then they found each other and fell in love. Twelve-year-old Lillian Gobitas refused to salute the American flag at her school in Minersville, Pa.

  On the other side of the Atlantic, Erwin Klose took a stance against the German state.

  http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local-obituaries/lillian-gobitas-klose-90-test-of-faith-went-to-us-/ng9yL/

  Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940) The origins of the flag salute controversy at the heart of the 1940 Supreme Court case Minersville School District v. Gobitis can be traced to Nazi Germany.

  In 1933, on the orders of Adolf Hitler, the Nazi Party banned Jehovah's Witnesses for their refusal to join in raised-palm salutes to Nazi flags in schools and at public events; more than 10,000 Jehovah's Witnesses were eventually removed to concentration camps.

  In 1935, in response to these events, Joseph Rutherford, the American leader of the Jehovah's Witnesses, made a radio address denouncing compulsory flag salute laws in the United States and calling on American Witnesses to refuse to comply with them.

  http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/personality/landmark_minersville.html
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  opusdei1972

  Early christians refused to worship the Emperor as a god. I admire them for that. However, some centuries later, when a group of christians took the lead by converted Emperors, this created the Roman Catholic Church, that burned and killed those who refused to obey it. In the XX century, some Jehovah's Witnesses were tortured and even killed by Hitler, and other dictators like those in Argentina at the end of the 70s. However, although Jehovah's Witnesses have no political power and weapons, they torture and destroy psychologically some of the lives of those who are under their religious power. I do not doubt that if the governing body had political and military power as they expect during the reign of 1000 years, would condemn and kill many of us for not kissing their ass.
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  Paris

  Too bad their sacrifices were for a mutli billion dollar "organization" who changes the rules and allows people to die following a doctirne and then changes it. Deep conviction is most admirable when it actually helps other people or changes some real oppression. This flag salute issue, says more about the American Constitution and the Bill of Rights and the legal system that it does about her blind obedience.

  Maximilian Kolbe (1894- 1941) A Polish Franciscan friar. He was arrested by the Nazi's for sheltering refugees, from the Nazi's. He was executed at Auschwitz concentration camp after volunteering to take the place of a man who feared death.

  Thich Quang Duc, (1897 - 1963) was a Vietnamese Buddhist monk. He burnt himself to death (self-immolation) at an intersection in Saigon on June 11, 1963. He was protesting about the treatment of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government.

  Martin Luther King . A symbol of the fight against racial discrimination. Martin Luther King passionately supported the civil rights movement, despite virulent opposition and discrimination in parts of America.

  Muhammad Ali Refused to fight in Vietnam despite having the threat of public opprobrium and jail.

  Aung San Suu Kyi - Leader of Burmese opposition party. Kept under house arrest for several years. She has always sought to fight for democratic principles in her country Burma.

  Mother Teresa (1910 – 1997) Born in Albania, Mother Teresa left for India with virtually no money and devoted her life to serving the poor of Calcutta – overcoming poverty, disease and criticism. She expanded her mission to support the poor and disadvantaged across the world.

  Nelson Mandela (1918 – 2013) Spent 27 years in jail for his convictions. Worked very hard to train as a lawyer, despite the South African apartheid system making this very difficult for a black man. Against the odds Nelson Mandela was able to practice law, helping many black South Africans to survive in the apartheid system. When Nelson Mandela was sent to jail for his opposition to apartheid in the 1960s, there seemed no end in sight to the all powerful apartheid system of South Africa. But, against the odds, Mandela played a critical role in bringing about the end of apartheid and the first truly democratic elections.

  Mahatma Gandhi ( 1869 – 1948) For his non-violent protests against the British domination of India, Mahatma Gandhi was put into jail several times. Militarily, India could not hope to defeat the British Empire, but through his policy of ahimsa / non-violence he awoke the spirit of fellow Indians and helped to create a climate for Indian Independence which came in 1947.

  Rosa Parks (1913 – 2005) Rosa Parks could have easily been just another statistic in the American system of racial segregation. In the Deep south, black Americans were systematically discriminated against, but on one famous day in 1955, Rosa Parks made a stand and refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. Her brave action sparked a widespread boycott of buses in Montgomery, Alabama.
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  Terry

  From the book by Jehovah's Witness attorney, Victor V. Blackwell (Containing the ruling of the court)

  O'ER THE RAMPARTS THEY WATCHED

  "This suit has been brought to restrain the enforcement against the minor
  defendants of a school regulation requiring a daily salute to the flag. // is
  based upon the ground that the enforcement of this regulation as a condition
  of the exercise of their right to attend public schools, infringed the liberty
  and conscience guaranteed to them by the Fourteenth Amendment, . .
  to the Federal Constitution.
  The facts as I have found them sustain the allegations of the bill. No
  one who heard the testimony of the plaintiffs and observed their demeanor
  upon the witness stand could have failed to be impressed with the earnestness
  and sincerity of their convictions. While the salute to our national flag has
  no religious significance to me and while I find it difficult to understand the
  plaintiff !s point of view, I am nevertheless entirely satisfied that they sincerely
  believe that the act does have a deep religious meaning and is an act
  of worship which they can conscientiously render to God only. Under the
  circumstances it is not for this court to say that since the act has no religious
  significance to us it can have no such significance to them. As we have said
  in our former opinion... under our Constitutional principles, if an individual
  sincerely bases his acts or refusals to act upon religious grounds they must
  be accepted as such and may only be interfered with if necessary to do so
  in connection with the excercise of the police power, that is, if it appears
  that the public safety, health or morals or property or personal rights with
  be prejudiced by them. To permit public officials to determine whether the
  views of individuals sincerely held and their acts sincerely undertaken on
  religious grounds are in fact based on convictions religious in character would
  be to sound the death knell of religious liberty.
  I think it is also clear from the evidence that the refusal of these two
  earnest Christian children to salute the flag cannot even remotely prejudice
  or impair the safety, health, morals, property or personal rights of their
  fellows. While I cannot agree with them I nevertheless cannot but admit
  that they exhibit sincerity of conviction and devotion to principle
  in the face of opposition of apiece with that wich brought our pioneer ancestors
  across the sea to seek liberty of conscience in a new land. Upon such a
  foundation of religious freedom our Commonwealth and Nation were
  built. We need only glance at the current world scene to realize that the
  preservation of individual liberty is more important today than ever it was
  in the past. The safety of our nation depends upon the extent to which we
  foster in each individual citizen that sturdy independence of thought and
  action which is essential in a democracy. The loyalty of our people is to be
  judged not so much by their words as by the part they play in the body
  politic. Our Country's safety surely does not depend upon the totalitarian
  idea of forcing all citizens into one common mold of thinking and acting or
  requiring them to render a lip service of loyalty in a manner which conflicts
  with their sincere religious convictions. Such a doctrine seems to me utterly
  alien to the genius and spirit of our nation and destructive of that personal
  liberty of which our flag itself is the symbol.
  It follows that the regulation in question, however valid and
  reasonable it may be when applied to others, cannot constitutionally be
  applied to the plaintiffs as a condition of the right of Lillian and William to
  attend the public schools and of their father to have them to do so. . .
  (Emphasis added)
  The State argued that the Court did not have the authority or
  jurisdiction to hear and decide the issues of this case. After disposing
  of that argument in a manner favorable to Lillian, the Court
  concluded its freedom-ringing opinion:
  The regulation adopted by the defendants on November 6, 1935, as
  applied to the minor plaintiffs as a condition of their right to attend the
  Minersville Public Schools, deprives the plaintiffs of their liberty without
  due process of law in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution
  of the United States...."
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  sparky1

  "Jackson's decision also vindicated Lillian Gobitas, who never wavered in her faith, even though it had cost her the CLASS PRESIDENCY (capitals mine) and subjected her to ridicule from other students."

  How the HELL could Judge Rutherford ever get his convoluted ideas straight in his head. Those poor members of the Supreme Court!

  Its ok to vote for a 'mock political position' and to hold that position if you are 'voted in' but not ok to salute the flag? Why didn't one of the Justices pick up on this 'double standard'?
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  Band on the Run

  The Sup Ct. decision was narrow. Everyone has long believed that the Ct. will not limit any future cases to the facts of this case. I vowed in high school to do anything to help defend an Amish student who wanted to finish high school. Too late for my mom and uncle.
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  Witness 007

  Sorry to be negative.....Brainwashed by Rutherford into believing saluting the flag or standing during the national anthem was "worship" and not just showing respect. During this "PAGAN PERIOD" Birthdays, tipping your hat to a lady, Mothers and Fathers day were all banned as acts of worship. This lead to many deaths of brothers who didnt know any better. I'm not proud of this.
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  rebel8

  As a side note...

  more than 10,000 Jehovah's Witnesses were eventually removed to concentration camps

  Interesting. The dubs have claimed so many different statistics--once they even said more jws died in concentration camps than Jews. I wonder how many actually did.
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  HowTheBibleWasCreated

  Opes I don't think they were persucuted under Nero. (Tacitus was quoting someone else (whose records we dont have) when he said the followers of Christ were persucuted under Nero)

  As for the case mentioned if the JW didn't do it another religion would have.
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  Apognophos

  Weren't Christians blamed for the great fire that happened during Nero's time? Unless you simply meant that they weren't persecuted by Nero himself.