I wonder - so as not to be seen as discriminating/persecuting JW's - if the Norwegian government will target any other religion for their unpleasant practices, and create new laws to deal with them?
Anthony Morris responds to Norway's denial of financial aid
by RULES & REGULATIONS 43 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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joe134cd
Marked
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DesirousOfChange
Wish there was a handwriting analyst here.
Does this signature say anything to you? It's not just a sloppy writing of the letters. There are no attempts at actually scribing characters. It's just scribble. Is he just too important to actually put his signature to this (and it may not be only this)?
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TonusOH
It might depend on where he is from, in some places it seems as if signatures are more like doodles. Some years ago I had a co-worker from India, and he said that in order to combat fraud, their signatures had to be very messy and complex. I'm not sure how making the signature even harder to understand made it more secure, though.
And I did know one or two co-workers who were European and also had very simple signatures which were mostly just a couple of squiggled lines. Again, how this helps with identification or verification is lost on me, but that's how they did it.
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FedUpJW
Is he just too important to actually put his signature to this . . .?
Although spending most of his adult life as a JW my father also was very high up the ladder of success in an international corporation with over 10,000 active employees and over 5 billion in revenue, third only to the CEO of the company. He said many times that the more important one THOUGHT themselves to be the more illegible their signature would be. I asked him what about the "it makes it easier to combat fraud", etc. statements. His response, "They are lying. They are either just too self-important, or just plain lazy to write legibly." He never had anyone attempt fraud with his very legible signature either in his business life, or personal life.
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StephaneLaliberte
I'm very happy to see this. I think this is the right way to go. Make it clear that the reason this religion is not recognized is due to a specific belief.
The only thing though: when Anthony Morris says: "We have the right to disfellowship", I'm not sure if the rank and files hear:
1) You have the right to "disfellowship" whoever you want from your life.
-- Afterall, people don't need religion to keep toxic people out of their lives. So, nothing really wrong about that.OR
2) Watchtower has the right to order you, under threat, to disfellowship specific individuals as they see fit.
The problem with JWs is that it's not a personal choice. Either you ignore who we tell you to, or you'll suffer the consequence of being expelled from our group, thereby, being ostracised as well. This is a very big threat when you consider that for many people, this is in fact their entire social construct.
I just hope that people inside can make the difference between these two. -
StephaneLaliberte
I wonder - so as not to be seen as discriminating/persecuting JW's - if the Norwegian government will target any other religion for their unpleasant practices, and create new laws to deal with them?
The practice of enforcing shunning among the JWs is beyond "unpleasant". It isn't simply: You should keep away from people who left our group. It's: If you don't follow this practice, you will also suffer shunning as we'll throw you out as well!
Unpleasant would be more like, this person ...
- is the only one in your group who doesn't eat pork
- will not go to war (assuming they are a small minority in your country)
- will never work on sundays
- will not celebrate christmas or halloween on your street
- will preach all the time
- will ask for special time off due to religion
- etc.
Enforcing disfellowshipping goes beyond mild inconvenience by threatening the freedom to choose your beliefs, your religion; the very thing they demand!
How would they react if people, upon hearing that they are JWs, would stop talking to them completely, shun them and not hire them anywhere? They would cry out "Persecution!" from the rooftops. But when THEY do it, it's ok? They're hypocrisy is loathsome.
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FedUpJW
I just hope that people inside can make the difference between these two.
They won't. I already had opportunity to get into a discussion with a rabidly PIMI JW about this. All I got back was, "Where did you get your information? Do you think the governing body is trying to hide one side of the issue? They wouldn't do that. When I read what you are saying in the Watchtower THEN I will believe it!"
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Jeffro
"more than 200 lands"🤦♂️Why do they do this to themselves? 😂 This reminds me of the terribly awkward exchange in the Australian Royal Commission where Spinks(?) is asked to define a 'land'. They are actually recognised in 162 countries (and clearly they are not "recognized as law-abiding citizens" in other countries where their activities are illegal).
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Nathan Natas
In Norway there is an XJW who has a Youtube channel called "Goatlike Personality". I urge everyone to visit his channel and listen to his most recent posts on this very subject. He explains how "Tightpants" Tony Morris is misrepresenting (lying) about this so-called "persecution."
Hurray for Norway! May the rest of Europe follow their fine example!