Hello Craig,
The Simpson case is a good example of the difference In Criminal court and Civil court. He was found innocent of homicide which we have laws against, but found guilty of robbing the surviving family of the companionship of their daughter by the civil court.
US judges perceive the Constitutional separation of church-and-state almost as if to even touch the issue will infect them with an incurable disease...I doubt, for example, that the practice of DFing, per se, would ever be adjudicated.
Well, some have 'touched' that subject already. Remember the Native American use of Peyote for religious purposes? Or the use of real eagle feathers (at the time an endangered species) in religious headdresses? Or the Snake Handlers in the south east? These have all been in the past addressed by the court and if I remember right it was NOT Civil court.
I think you are right about the "DFing" policy. But through a few tough lawsuits perhaps they would start requiring baptismal candidates to sign a WRITTEN CONTRACT with the Watchtower Corporation agreeing in advance to the extreme consequences of THINKING FOR ONESELF.
After the Jimmy Swaggart trial, it took the WTS less than a month to get "new light" and switch to the "voluntary donation" basis. .....God doesn't talk to those jerks...money does.
I love that one. I do not remember anyone before Hillarystep adamantly pointing to that reality. When money speaks, the Watchtower listens. Especially when the money is saying GOOD BYE.
Steve