The system in the UK would mean that only Companies House (ie the government) would know who has requested something. It's asking for a pdf file to be sent to an e-mail address in return for an online payment - should they go that route.
Mephis
JoinedPosts by Mephis
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15
The UK WTS companies' accounts documents for 2015 are currently available to download and here's information plus links
by AndersonsInfo inthe uk wts companies' documents for 2015 are currently free to download from the uk government's companies house website.
the person who sent me this information said that it appears they are testing a new form of the website, so access to documents may in the future revert to a pay per file system.
therefore, he advises getting copies of documents as soon as possible, as he doesn’t know when the testing phase will finish.
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15
The UK WTS companies' accounts documents for 2015 are currently available to download and here's information plus links
by AndersonsInfo inthe uk wts companies' documents for 2015 are currently free to download from the uk government's companies house website.
the person who sent me this information said that it appears they are testing a new form of the website, so access to documents may in the future revert to a pay per file system.
therefore, he advises getting copies of documents as soon as possible, as he doesn’t know when the testing phase will finish.
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Mephis
It would typically be under exceptional items, but their own costs will be fairly minimal for litigation (Bethel QC and legal team) so the recent British court cases, where costs and/or restitution to others were involved, won't appear in accounts which only cover until August 2015.
I enjoyed the fiction that their inhouse legal staff told them to fight the Charity Commission's inquiry. Tails don't wag dogs.
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I heard that Watchtower get Government funding
by Mozzie inbeing a recognized religion here in australia i heard they get government funding.....if this is true, i don;t see why as they seem to do okay funding themselves .
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Mephis
There are also tax exemptions and rebates, which is a form of government subsidy for religions dating back to the assumption that religions do something of benefit for the societies they operate within. You'd have to check the specifics in Australia for those, but in the UK even something as simple as property taxes not needing to be paid every year will save them a lot of money.
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Another Egyptian relic discovered at Hazor, northern Israel
by fulltimestudent init doesn't look significant, but it is - the jerusalem post reports:.
the finding – coupled with a sphinx fragment of the egyptian king mycerinus (who ruled egypt in the 25th century bce), discovered at the site by the research team three years ago – are the only monumental egyptian statues found so far in second millennium contexts in the entire levant.the discovery of these two statues in the same building currently being excavated by the research team indicates the special importance of the building, which was likely the administrative palace of the ruler of the city, as well as that of the entire city of hazor.shlomit bechar, a doctoral student at the institute of archaeology, who has been excavating at hazor for a decade, is the dig’s co-director, and oversees the main excavation area.during the course of nearly 30 years of excavations, fragments of 18 different egyptian statues – both royal and private – dedicated to egyptian kings and officials, including two sphinxes, were discovered at hazor.“most of these statues were found in layers dated to the late bronze age (15th-13th centuries bce), corresponding to the new kingdom in egypt,” said ben-tor.“this is the largest number of egyptian statues found so far in any site in the land of israel, although there is no indication that hazor was one of the egyptian strongholds in southern canaan, nor of the presence of an egyptian official at hazor during the late bronze age.”ben-tor added that most egyptian statues found at hazor date to egypt’s “middle kingdom” (19th-18th centuries bce), a time when hazor did not yet exist.“it thus seems that the statues were sent by an egyptian king in the ‘new kingdom’ as official gifts to the king of hazor, or as dedications to a local temple, regardless of their already being ‘antiques,’” he said.“this is not surprising, considering the special status of the king of hazor, who was the most important king in southern canaan at the time.
the extraordinary importance of hazor in the 15th-13th centuries bce is indicated also by the biblical reference to hazor as ‘the head of all those kingdoms’ (joshua 11:10).”all the statues at the site were found broken into pieces and scattered over a large area, he noted.“clear signs of mutilation indicate that most of them were deliberately and violently smashed, most probably in the course of the city’s final conquest and destruction sometime in the 13th century b.c.e,” said ben-tor.“the deliberate mutilation of statues of kings and dignitaries accompanying the conquest of towns is a well-known practice in ancient times (i samuel 5:1-4; isaiah 11:9), as well as in our time.”the hazor excavations, which began in the mid-1950s under the direction of the late professor yigael yadin, are carried out on behalf of hu.
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Mephis
But is it really a 'way-out idea?
Not in the slightest. I think the first step is to treat the OId Testament on its own merits, as a product of writers writing within a particular culture which has been influenced by other cultures. The influence of Egypt upon Canaan and then later the Israelites could well account for the Exodus story. Less a literal history and more a mythologised origin from within the Egyptian hegemony over Canaanite city states. The Amorites as the Hyksos works so far as one starts from the point that the Israelites are a much, much later development from peoples already resident in Canaan. (I think that's Finkelstein's position still?)
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Volunteer workers pushed to renounce to their social rights
by sp74bb insurprisingly in spain, a large quantity of bethel volunteers (nice to words to say workers) have received their letter telling they are not anymore required.
in this country, government obliged bethel to give social rights such as basic social security (doctors, etc..) to the volunteers as they understand that it is a business relationship.. all of them have been pushed to sign a letter stating they renounce to their work and then go outside bethel with not a single right (unemployment, etc...).
it is really unfortunately but silly from bethel office to arrange it this way.
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Mephis
That's really sad that they've all felt obliged to just suck up whatever the GB told them. Not surprising, but very sad all the same.
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Another Egyptian relic discovered at Hazor, northern Israel
by fulltimestudent init doesn't look significant, but it is - the jerusalem post reports:.
the finding – coupled with a sphinx fragment of the egyptian king mycerinus (who ruled egypt in the 25th century bce), discovered at the site by the research team three years ago – are the only monumental egyptian statues found so far in second millennium contexts in the entire levant.the discovery of these two statues in the same building currently being excavated by the research team indicates the special importance of the building, which was likely the administrative palace of the ruler of the city, as well as that of the entire city of hazor.shlomit bechar, a doctoral student at the institute of archaeology, who has been excavating at hazor for a decade, is the dig’s co-director, and oversees the main excavation area.during the course of nearly 30 years of excavations, fragments of 18 different egyptian statues – both royal and private – dedicated to egyptian kings and officials, including two sphinxes, were discovered at hazor.“most of these statues were found in layers dated to the late bronze age (15th-13th centuries bce), corresponding to the new kingdom in egypt,” said ben-tor.“this is the largest number of egyptian statues found so far in any site in the land of israel, although there is no indication that hazor was one of the egyptian strongholds in southern canaan, nor of the presence of an egyptian official at hazor during the late bronze age.”ben-tor added that most egyptian statues found at hazor date to egypt’s “middle kingdom” (19th-18th centuries bce), a time when hazor did not yet exist.“it thus seems that the statues were sent by an egyptian king in the ‘new kingdom’ as official gifts to the king of hazor, or as dedications to a local temple, regardless of their already being ‘antiques,’” he said.“this is not surprising, considering the special status of the king of hazor, who was the most important king in southern canaan at the time.
the extraordinary importance of hazor in the 15th-13th centuries bce is indicated also by the biblical reference to hazor as ‘the head of all those kingdoms’ (joshua 11:10).”all the statues at the site were found broken into pieces and scattered over a large area, he noted.“clear signs of mutilation indicate that most of them were deliberately and violently smashed, most probably in the course of the city’s final conquest and destruction sometime in the 13th century b.c.e,” said ben-tor.“the deliberate mutilation of statues of kings and dignitaries accompanying the conquest of towns is a well-known practice in ancient times (i samuel 5:1-4; isaiah 11:9), as well as in our time.”the hazor excavations, which began in the mid-1950s under the direction of the late professor yigael yadin, are carried out on behalf of hu.
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Mephis
Hazor is interesting. The best dating evidence for its final destruction they've found so far, so far as I know, are the remains of an Egyptian table for offerings found beneath the burned destruction layer. The fragments are dated to around 1240 BC (third decade of Rameses II or a bit later) which would mean a final destruction of the city sometime after that. Hazor's often used as the few pieces of evidence which could support a historical conquest of Canaan by the Israelites, but the chronology seems decades out at best.
To continue the Egyptian influence theme, the Song of Solomon and Proverbs are both considered by modern scholarship to have very strong links to Egyptian literature genres. 'Solomon' as the wisest king of Israel, but doling out Egyptian advice is a fun thought to play with.
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charities commission in the UK
by zeb ini am writing to ask for your help in progressing our inquiries into the watch tower bible and tract society of britain.
as you may already know, our work is divided into two parts.
one is an inquiry into the charity’s policy and practices on safeguarding children and adults who are vulnerable.
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Mephis
That they're formally looking at domestic abuse and shunning is huge.
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Latest UPDATE UK Charity Commission investigation
by Watchtower-Free ingood afternoon,.
i am writing to give you a quick update about our ongoing statutory inquiries into safeguarding and charities linked to jehovah’s witnesses.. as you may know, one of our inquiries is into watch tower bible and tract society of britain.
we opened this inquiry in 2014. watch tower then initiated what turned out to be protracted litigation against us.
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Mephis
Signing up to the European Convention on Human Rights is not linked to EU membership. So Britain would have to leave the convention too, which is also very possible.
European law doesn't defend them here really, it's just an extra court they can appeal to and delay things a bit more.
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Latest UPDATE UK Charity Commission investigation
by Watchtower-Free ingood afternoon,.
i am writing to give you a quick update about our ongoing statutory inquiries into safeguarding and charities linked to jehovah’s witnesses.. as you may know, one of our inquiries is into watch tower bible and tract society of britain.
we opened this inquiry in 2014. watch tower then initiated what turned out to be protracted litigation against us.
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Mephis
The WBTS' fundamental objection is that the Charity Commission wants to change how they do their internal policies, which they say interferes with their religious rights under Articles 9 and 11 of the European Convention of Human Rights. So expect them to push things to the European court now, if they can get its attention.
Happily, Article 9 clearly sets out the limitations on religious freedoms too - and I think the right of children not to be abused because of Brooklyn's willfully negligent safeguarding policies will be too strong a case for them to argue against. Section 2 of Article 9 clearly places the Charity Commission's actions within the law, as the British legal system has agreed.
Losing charitable status is a long way away. Could happen, but the WBTS will have to really, really try to force it to happen. There's a whole lot of other sanctions which the Charity Commission will look to first. One of the funniest is that they can, if they choose, put their own trustees in charge of a charity and have them write an adequate child safeguarding policy to send out to congregations under the Bethel corporate heading. Oh the great tribulation... we're being persecuted... they've made us have a policy which helps protect children and vulnerable adults from abusers...
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2014 master thesis about JWs LOYALITY
by fastJehu ininteresting (internet) finding ... after all the bunker videos on the 2016 rc.. this master thesis tries to comprehend the concept of loyalty within the jehovah’s witnesses movement.
what does ‘loyalty’ mean to jehovah’s witnesses?
https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/32029/loyal%20to%20jehovah's%20good%20news%20-%20susanne%20kuipers.pdf.
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Mephis
Quickly skimmed. Written by a non-believing but sympathetic wife of a JW. She views them as kind and caring and loving people. The problems she has of seeing the kind, caring and loving individuals and not being able to split them from their obnoxious belief systems is evident all the way through.
She's very mistaken if she thinks valid criticism of Penton is that he looks to pre-2000 publications for information, or that he just hates JWs so his work is tainted on that basis. She also somehow tries to excuse the totalitarian methods of the WBTS because God's a totalitarian authority. Say wut? Oh and disfellowshipping isn't that common because there's about 40,000 a year across 80,000 congregations and besides it's a tiny proportion of the 15m members (!!). So not really something to worry about then.
Thanks for the link. Will read in greater detail when I have more time. There seems some fair points made in the aspects of where JW loyalty to things come from, even if she is unable to fit it within the framework of 'why good people do really terrible things for a religion'.