to those who are familiar with the watchtower crime syndicate it comes as no surprise that the borg has bluntly refused to participate in the australian government arrangement for organisations found responsible for the abuse of innocent victims of sexual assault to be compensated for the abuse inflicted as determined by a royal commission.. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-01/government-names-shames-institutions-not-part-of-redress-scheme/12406850.
if you are an active, or in anyway associated with this group of low life pieces of worthless shit, you should be also named and shamed.. cheeses.
now even more a hater of these grubs.
I hope this, along with the Swiss Court's ruling that the anti-cult activist's charges against them were factual under the law, will bring the Borg under even greater scrutiny and into greater disrepute.
I'd love to see them lose all official status, especially their tax advantages and any official recognition.
staring into an empty teacup.
my last memory of her could be carbon dated to 55 years ago.
julie smith and i were jehovah’s witnesses back then.... julie was a startling beauty.
Very moving story, Terry. You're a wonderfully gifted writer, able to put into words what others (like me) find hard to even read, much less express.
That said, I'm so glad you got to catch up with your old friend. I hope that belated connection offers you both some comfort, even if things haven't gone spectacularly well for either of you and there's far too much water under the bridge for things to change course now.
I hope you can bear to stay in touch. I think you'll be glad you did.
Take care, my friend. Looking forward to your next tale.
court confirms: severe criticism of jehovah's witnesses is justified!.
https://docdro.id/axa555i.
petra!.
Excellent! Thank you so much for posting this, Petra!
Forwarding this doc to several friends, relatives, and aquaintances for their consideration. Can't say it's apostate info. It's just a press release commenting on an official Court judgment.
poor watchtower in australia, they made a loss of $1,537,325 in 2019 according to their filings with the government.
they obviously can't participate in the national redress scheme as they don't have the funds.
only problem is that they have sent over $77,000,000 of donations from australian publishers to overseas branches in the past 4 years.
Not only that, but the leaders should be prosecuted and the organization severely penalized for this fraud.
all my jw life i was reminded constantly about the importance of not bringing reproach on jehovah's name.
decisions on whether or not to disfellowship an individual often turned, not on the seriousness of the sin, but on whether the incident was public knowledge and had resulted in bad publicity for the congregation.
i recall a middle-aged lady being reported to the elders for shoplifting a sweet worth less than £1- and the elders' insistence that a judicial committee must be formed because the store manager and staff knew that she was a jw (i successfully argued that all she needed was support for her dreadful family life, but that's another story).
I can just hear their offer of settlement and redress if allowed to handle things individually on their own:
"Sister, it's too bad your parents didn't protect you from that elder and his teenage boys all those years. Tsk, tsk. Well, at least you didn't get pregnant and bring reproach on Jehovah's name. As a full settlement for your years of emotional pain and the psychiatric therapy you required, the Faithful Slave has graciously decided you may be forgiven if you choose to suspend your regular monthly contribution for a month or two. What a loving provision from Jehovah! Would that make things all better?"
Given the quality of the "spiritual food" that bags like this were supposed to contain, I can think of no better use than as an emergency toilet. Might come in handy if you have to bug out on short notice.
so a couple of weeks ago my wife (who is an active jw) got a delivery of apples, oranges, potatoes, carrots and onions.. the story i heard was that the "branch bought a bunch of food that would go to waste and was delivering it".. i am in california and a friend of mine in another cong.
50 or so miles away had the same thing happen.. a few days ago we got another delivery and as a matter of fact my wife was asked if she could "help jehovah with delivering his gifts".
unfortunately she is in poor health and unable to so so.. anyway, the story seems fabricated to me and i am wondering what is really going on.. does anybody have any ideas?
As always, there is a catch. JW families are pressed to accept the boxes even if they don't need them. Then they are told that if they are able to reduce their family's food bill, they should consider contributing that amount to the World Wide Work. Nice, huh? Receive free, give "free," shame recipient for back door payment. Yeah, that sounds about right.
last thursday poyner spruill, a prominent north carolina law firm, announced a victory in a pro bono case involving religious freedom of incarcerated jehovah's witnesses.
the poyner team was appointed by the u.s. district court for the western district of north carolina to represent an inmate challenging the state’s policy governing how and when jehovah’s witnesses can worship in prison.
the state’s policy classified jehovah’s witnesses as a subset of christian protestants and, on that basis, prohibited separate jehovah’s witness meetings—an infringement on religious freedom under the first amendment.
I would say there's at least an even chance this loser filed this claim purely for recreational purposes. The law firm may well wind up being paid big bucks by the state. Convict is amused, law firm makes money, state has to waste mucho bucks dealing with this nonsense. What a shirt-show!
many of us are confused so this hand-dandy chart may assist.. .
Queyzal: It appears you're reading way too much into what I said. Please allow me clarify, point by point.
Food stamps should continue to be available, but only to those who are temporarily in need due to no fault of their own. It should be in the form of EBT cards, coded so they cannot be used to withdraw more than an extremely minimal amount of cash, can be used only to buy actual grocery items and not tobacco or alcohol, can only be used at approved business types and not casinos and such. Anyone selling or trading their EBT card for non-approved items should be banned from further benefits for an extended time.
Money for those who lost jobs due to Covid-19 should only go to those who actually lost income due to the virus. If you didn't have a job to start with, you didn't lose any income.
I agree with no money for big corporations except only what's needed to keep employees on the payroll during the crisis.
I agree there should be some minimum tax from every major company, regardless of their otherwise allowable deductions.
I would agree to let nature take its course in regard to banks, as long as individual depositors and clients are protected.
I think charities should be allowed to continue, as long as at least 90% of their income is used for the purposes in their charter, which would not include salaries and other administrative costs. If any particular charity cannot continue due to this requirement, I'm sure there are others who could pick up the slack. Fraud and waste are a major problem with many so-called charities.
Those truly disabled or needy due to no fault of their own should continue to be helped. But the definition of disability should be tightened up and clearly defined. No more bogus claims due to unprovable "conditions" that are mysteriously convenient and intermittent and impossible to define or treat.
Veterans hurt while on active duty should be cared for as long as necessary by the VA. Disability insurance should be available to all who work. Buy it, you're good. Don't buy it, you're assuming all the risk yourself.
Completely agree that religions should be removed from the "protected species" list. They should be taxed as any other business, except for money directly spent on charitable work, the same as any secular charity.
Deductibility for charitable organizations that meet the new requirements should continue. That would encourage donations, which would reduce the slack the taxpayer must pick up otherwise.
As to your other points:
The welfare system should certainly be overhauled, top to bottom. It should be made extremely hard to abuse, and the penalties for trying to do so should be severe. It should be a short-term safety net, not a choice one can make simply because one does not want to work.
Calling other people derogatory names is impolite and distasteful, but it should not be illegal and certainly should not be a basis for people losing their jobs or positions. Freedom of speech is protected by the Constitution. Calling someone a name is not anywhere near the same as shouting Fire! in a crowded theater. Sheesh, children, get over it! I've been called names many times in my life. If I don't respect the person calling me the name, I really didn't give a crap. I have nothing to prove to anyone else, and neither do you.
many of us are confused so this hand-dandy chart may assist.. .
What a crock! Society owes citizens and legal residents equal opportunity, nothing else. It's high time we abandon the paternalism of viewing certain groups as victims and therefore owed some kind of special support and caretaking. Instead, we should emphasize equal opportunity for all, including enough education to be a fully functioning and employable adult in today's society. After that, individual initiative and responsibility should be stressed and praised. Being on welfare should not be a lifestyle choice one can make simply because one does not want to work.
Western society has become one big kindergarten where everybody whines at the slightest offense, wants to sue if someone calls them a name, and thinks the world owes them a living. And all the other benefits of the modern world, too, even though they haven't worked for them and don't think they should have to.
