Piph has a good head on her shoulders. You should listen to her!!!
growedup
P.S. Gotta go get the xmas tree! I'll check back later!
KingDumb Halls Want Court Order To Keep Pedophile Documents Secret!
by Country Girl 67 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse
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SanFranciscoJim
"Jehovah's Witnesses have a constitutional right by and through the First and Fourteenth Amendments, respectively, to be free from a government order compelling the church to disclose its confidential and exclusive religious doctrines, teachings and beliefs," the motion states.
Perhaps this should be looked at from a different angle:
When Judge Rutherford took over the WTBTS, he made it a point to repeatedly declare "Religion is a snare and a racket", in effect making the declaration that Jehovah's Witnesses is not a religion. If memory serves correctly (and one of our resident Watchtower publication historians could probably find the quotation), he also made claim that the JWs were not a religion, but a movement, or some words to that effect.
If these quotations could be taken to court and presented by a competent attorney, then perhaps the WTBTS' standing as a religion could be taken away, thus removing any constitutional protections of known criminal activity within their midst.
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Euphemism
Interesting idea, SFJim. Of course, even under Rutherford, the Society litigated cases under the First Amendment's freedom of religion.
Since the doctrine was changed in the 50's, however, I don't think that any argument based on that would hold up. And besides, legally, the courts are only concerned with whether a group meets the legal definition of a religion, not whether they meet any external definition.
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SanFranciscoJim
And besides, legally, the courts are only concerned with whether a group meets the legal definition of a religion, not whether they meet any external definition.
I wonder how much of this shameful pedophile cover-up our members of Congress are aware of?
Perhaps it's time for them to be contacted, with the possibility of legislating change in the legal definition of religion. Other countries have done it. Why not the U.S.?
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Euphemism
The thing is that in the U.S., freedom of religion is a constitutional, not a statutory issue. That means that it's defined by the courts, not Congress.
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imallgrowedup
Euph & SFJ -
I think looking at it from a different angle, such as the State of Texas has done (see Country Girl's links in this thread) is more viable. The laws there (and in other states with similiar laws) address the issue of Mandatory Reporting, versus the "freedom to practice one's religion."
The passage SFJ says here
"Jehovah's Witnesses have a constitutional right by and through the First and Fourteenth Amendments, respectively, to be free from a government order compelling the church to disclose its confidential and exclusive religious doctrines, teachings and beliefs," the motion states
talks about protecting the confidential and exclusive religous doctrines, teachings, and beliefs. Is pedophilia a JW doctrine? Is it a JW teaching? Is it a JW belief? No! (At least, not officially!) Therefore, reporting pedophilia would in no way hamper one's ability to practice their religion - but the WT would like for everyone to think it would. The truth of the matter is the WT doesn't report pedophilia because they don't want anything to besmirch their name and thereby, cause any of their "volunteer labor force" to leave the "truth." They will use any argument they can think of to confuse the issue - which is what they do with their members every day. It's "business as usual" for the WT - and they don't like that some states are wising up and taking a stand as Texas has done.
What would be really helpful is to compile a list based on Country Girl's post outlining which states have not yet adopted Mandatory Reporting laws, and get letter-writing campaigns going where it is needed most. If all 50 states adopt these regulations, the WT has nowhere to hide (in this country).
BTW - I don't visit silentlambs like I should. Perhaps there is something like this that is already going on there. I'd check right now, but it's time to decorate the tree, and so I gotta go. I'll check back in the morning to see if there are any responses.
growedup
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Gerard
The lawsuit made headlines again in Dumas, TX (Dec/17):
http://www.moorenews.com/MOORENEWS/myarticles.asp?P=573444&S=505&PubID=11355
The Amarillo and Dumas congregations as well as Watchtower New York desire to keep confidential and privileged the materials regarding ecclesiastical affairs from public dissemination,? the motion states.
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Country Girl
Again, all they are trying to do is obfuscate the real issue of protecting child molesters. I am not sure in which court it was said, but one Judge said something to the effect that the State's duty to protect children is supreme over the State's duty to protect the rights of those that may abuse them. I wish I could remember which court case the Judge wrote that in. Grrrr!
They are effectively saying that *their* rights to conceal these relevant documents are above the State's need for them to pursue justice. Doesn't it make you want to strangle em?
CG