Please note. This is an important article because of the implications of the Unthank criminal case against the WT. Read between the lines, please.
Barbara
AndersonsInfo
JoinedPosts by AndersonsInfo
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Sydney Morning Herald: Economic Climate a Breeding Ground for Cults
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.smh.com.au/national/economic-climate-a-breeding-ground-for-cults-20111101-1mu6i.html.
economic climate a breeding ground for cultsleesha mckenny religious affairs .
november 2, 2011 - 12:00am.
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Why on earth would WT use a FEMALE lawyer to defend it in Australia case?
by hamsterbait inhow many of us here find the use of a female to conduct the defence unusual?.
the wt religion is notoriously misogynistic.
anybody with a penis is preferable to do a non menial job.. why the change here?.
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AndersonsInfo
Rebel8, Jolene Chu was a JW when she was working at the NYTimes. I think it was Klein that heard about her and recommended she be invited to Bethel. When I spoke to the NYTimes Religious Editor, I was surprised to learn that Jolene said she was being offered a higher wage at Watch Tower than what she made at the Times. In fact, I told Ms. Goodstein that all the staff in the Editorial (Writing) Dept. were volunteers and did not receive a weekly wage except a small monthly allowance, so I was perplexed by what Chu told Goodstein. Afterwards, I remembered that there were professionals in many departments that were paid to work at Bethel, so if Chu was given a weekly salary, she wasn't alone.
Chu wrote many articles about JWs and the Holocaust that appeared in professional journals, not just one. See http://www.jwhistory.net/english/publications.htm .
WT was completely behind the making of Knocking. Gene Smalley of the Writing Dept. was, to my knowledge, the arranger. The money to make the documentary came from a wealthy Jewish JW family. In fact, I recently saw the names of three young men, who might be sons or grandsons of the contributors, in a list of people who lost money in the Ponzi-like scheme that came to light last year in Spokane, WA, where over 400 people from all over the world lost millions to a JW woman operating an investment scheme out of a type of loan company and most victims were JWs. On the list I also saw the names of a couple at the Patterson complex that lost $14,000 and a couple that we knew at Brooklyn Bethel who were there as local volunteers. They lost, I think, $177,000. Right now that case is still going strong. Recently, I downloaded some court transcripts.
I didn’t mean to highjack this thread but true to the AndersonsInfo name, from time to time, I pass along other information when I’m posting on a specific thread so readers can get an insight into more of the workings of the Watch Tower.
Barbara
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Why on earth would WT use a FEMALE lawyer to defend it in Australia case?
by hamsterbait inhow many of us here find the use of a female to conduct the defence unusual?.
the wt religion is notoriously misogynistic.
anybody with a penis is preferable to do a non menial job.. why the change here?.
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AndersonsInfo
Watch Tower women attorneysCarolyn R. Wah is one of Watch Tower's in-house lawyers and lives at the Patterson, NY JW complex. She specializes in child custody, sexual and domestic abuse cases. She’s also written miscellaneous articles about JWs for professional journals. Lisa Douglas as well as Erna Neufeld were also Watch Tower in-house attorneys as of 2003.
Michelle Dickinson of Ossining, NY, also made a commitment to Watch Tower to provide legal services, as well as Christine Benham of Guilford, Connecticut who was admitted to practice law in the State of New York.
Jolene Chu, writer and authorJolene Chu was brought into the Writing Department after I left. I was told that she replaced me. Chu was a reporter at the New York Times and worked with the NYTimes Religious Editor, Laurie Goodstein. She accepted an invitation to become a staff member at Watch Tower and told Ms. Goodstein that the pay at WT was better than at the NYTimes!
In time, Chu's specialty became the Nazi persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses and she has written considerable material on the subject for the Watch Tower organization that is listed by title at this website: http://www.jwhistory.net/english/publications.htm. Might I suggest that you read the text if it is offered such as:
"God's things and Caesar's: Jehovah's Witnesses and political neutrality. Journal of Genocide Research (2004), 6 (3), September, ppl. 319-42. text [Jolene Chu]"
Chu and James N. Pellechia, a Writing Dept. staff member of many years, teamed up to represent the Watch Tower in Holocaust circles, especially to try to get money for JW Holocaust victims from countries in Europe. I’ve been told that WT kindly asks for some of it as a donation because of doing the paperwork. I also heard of one particular case where a Holocaust victim, a JW elder, received a letter from the WT informing him that his name would be listed as a JW who was in a concentration camp and WT would apply for money in his name. The only problem was that this elder was not a JW when he was in the camp and told the WT so, but they insisted that his name should be listed. He's dead now and I don't have documentation to prove this claim, but the relative who told me the story saw the WT's letter.
Chu played an important part in the “Knocking” Documentary. To see a photo of Jolene Chu working on “Knocking,” scroll down to the fifth and sixth larger photos on the following website.
http://www.knocking.org/Filming_in_Austria_and_Poland.html
Here’s an article about Chu:
“Chu to Speak at Annual Kristallnacht Program
Researcher, archivist and writer Jolene Chu will be the featured speaker at Monroe Community College’s 12th annual Kristallnacht program on Monday, Nov. 10, 2003 at 7 p.m. The event is hosted by members of the Holocaust Genocide Studies Project and will be held in MCC’s new Campus Center, Monroe A/B meeting room, 1000 East Henrietta Road.
Chu’s presentation, entitled “Witnesses of the Holocaust, Witnesses to the Holocaust,” will explore the persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses under the Nazi regime and their unique impact on history. In addition to her role as a member of the Editorial Department of the Watch Tower Society, Chu serves on the board of directors for the Jehovah’s Witness Holocaust-Era Survivor’s Fund, a survivor-assistance organization which coordinates humanitarian and social programs for Jehovah’s Witness survivors of Nazi persecution.
The event is free and open to the public. Parking is available in Lots M/M1. For more information, please call 585.292.3321. Rosanna Condello, Public Affairs, 10/28/2003” -
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Sydney Morning Herald: Economic Climate a Breeding Ground for Cults
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.smh.com.au/national/economic-climate-a-breeding-ground-for-cults-20111101-1mu6i.html.
economic climate a breeding ground for cultsleesha mckenny religious affairs .
november 2, 2011 - 12:00am.
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AndersonsInfo
http://www.smh.com.au/national/economic-climate-a-breeding-ground-for-cults-20111101-1mu6i.html
Economic climate a breeding ground for cults
Leesha McKenny RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS
November 2, 2011 - 12:00AMGlobal fears of economic or environmental upheaval feed the growth of gurus and damaging cults that prey on the weak, a visiting French government expert has warned.
Georges Fenech, president of France's Interministerial Mission for Monitoring and Combating Cultic Deviances, said it was working for greater international co-operation in dealing with sectarian abuses – with one in five French, or 12million people, affected in some way by a cult.
"We're going through an age where there are numerous crisis, whether it's financial, climatic, pandemic, and these create favourable basis where the gurus can work for their own benefit," he said.
The politician and former judge cited one instance where an Australian cult, the Order of St Charbel founded by the now-jailed "Little Pebble" William Kamm on the NSW South Coast, spread to France where members have since been imprisoned.
"So that proves there are no borders for that kind of group and that's why it's so important to have this kind of exchange and common vision between countries," he said.
The French government has a history of taking a strict line on monitoring what it considers negative “cultlike movements”. It has previously released a list of more than 170 groups deemed cults on the basis they met one or more of 10 characteristics.
"Some of these organisations anyway are huge organisations, like the Church of Scientology and Jehovah's Witnesses, and of course these people are here [in Australia] as well."
Mr Fenech said the French branch of the Church of Scientology, which the French government did not call a religion, will return to court this week to appeal its 2009 conviction on charges related to illegal pharmacology and organised fraud.
But Australia was part of the Anglo Saxon world that had a very different approach – more of "a laissez faire attitude of tolerance towards all religion," he said.
"In France we do respect all religions but at the same time we do not tolerate that under the aegis of some kind of church some types of behaviour take place, and we confront these."
Mr Fenech said all religions had the potential to foster cultic deviances. His organisation had examined sub-cults established within the Catholic church.
"We can't leave this problem to private initiative because the problem is too serious and too difficult. It's just too much for associations to deal with it," he said.
Mr Fenech, who said he will address the federal Senate today, was invited to deliver the keynote presentation at a conference entitled "Cults in Australia: Facing the Realities" co-hosted by Liberal senator Sue Boyce and independent senator Nick Xenophon.
Speakers also include 2010 Australian of the Year, Professor Patrick McGorry, and Tom Sackville, president of the European Federation of Centres of Research and Information on Sects or Cults.
Mr Xenophon said it was vital that Australia look at laws similar to those of France that provide protection for victims of mental manipulation.
“Right now some cults and groups here in Australia are getting away with unacceptable conduct and this is partly because our laws have failed to recognise the way people are controlled and coerced," he said.
There were about 3000 cults operating in Australia, Cult Information and Family Support NSW president Ros Hodgins said.
"We are asking that parliamentarians support measures to address the abusive groups we know as cults that have no accountability and cause psychological harm," she said.
"Australia has not yet taken these issues as seriously as other countries, especially Europe."
This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/national/economic-climate-a-breeding-ground-for-cults-20111101-1mu6i.html
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Out Of All JW Beliefs Which Is The Weirdest?
by minimus ini know there's plenty.. one that comes to mind is the blood doctrine.
whole blood is bad, blood fractions may be ok but not all.....wtf?
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AndersonsInfo
I agree with you, james_woods, the presentation was weird. And add to that, your experience with the circuit overseer was weird too. Yikes, what a dummy! Not even he understood what it was all about.
Like most everything else the WT undertakes, it is always done to impress, to prove they have "new light" from God, and they fail miserably because of their ignorance. And that's why any scholarly expertise shown by a JW is ignored because the dummies have the upper hand.
I know because I saw it happen over and over again in the Writing Department like the times that Biblical subjects were masterfully researched and written by JWs and sent in to members of the GB or senior writers from outside of Bethel only to be thrown into the garbage. In fact, I have two contributed manuscripts in my files which I asked for when I saw a staff member throw them away.
But, I was a dummy too because it took me a very long time to figure out that there wasn't any supreme being directing the weird religion of JWs.
Barbara
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Out Of All JW Beliefs Which Is The Weirdest?
by minimus ini know there's plenty.. one that comes to mind is the blood doctrine.
whole blood is bad, blood fractions may be ok but not all.....wtf?
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AndersonsInfo
Good thread Minimus. Not meaning to highjack this interesting and sometime “funny” thread with a long-winded post, but I’m all for fairness so I just have to say that not all religious beliefs of JWs are weird. This is not to throw a blanket on this worthy of note thread that for the most part is right on the money. And please don’t think I’m in any way a critic of this thread because I’m not, but facts are facts. Yet, I respect that “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder” and we all have a right to our opinions.
Inasmuch as I speak as a former JW who loves to do research, I have found that under all the JW dogma weirdness, there are some elements of belief within the Witness religion that are acceptable to reputable religious scholars. And I’ve learned that behind weird or annoying beliefs posters have cited could be an interesting human story (even though I don’t know all the stories) as to how and why the belief came to be introduced into the JW world.
In that I like to share knowledge about interesting subjects, I’d like to comment about what one poster wrote on this thread. This is not a big deal; just, I think, an interesting subject for discussion.
A poster wrote:
Suddenly, one day in the late 1960s, the WTBTS decided that the human heart could think (like a second brain) and it could act as a "bad brain" which would guide a christian into immorality if they did not overcome it with their head brain.
They actually had parts on the district assemblies in about 1970 with heart and brain props to explain this to the enthralled masses.
I remember this like it was yesterday and the concept did seem to be weird, yet exciting because we thought Jehovah's organization gave us a "new truth." But this was not a new idea, just new to JWs. I actually came across detail about the subject the poster brought up when I was part of WT's Writing Department and the information came particularly from one Bible dictionary, but other Bible dictionary’s supported what the WT org. was saying at the district conventions that particular year in the 1960s.
I'm not here to defend JWs weird beliefs mentioned by at least six pages of posts, but in this case, there was a reason for WT's notion that Biblically speaking the heart could think and it is attributed to the language of the Bible.
Remember, old timers, the WTS's push to have all of us purchase The New Bible Dictionary that was published in 1962? We were told at the time that, overall, this dictionary supported JW's beliefs.
If you look up "Mind" in The New Bible Dictionary this is what you’ll find: MIND. See HEART.
Under HEART, it is stated, The Hebrews thought in terms of subjective experience rather than objective, scientific observation, and thereby avoided the modern error of over-departmentalization. It was essentially the whole man, with all his attributes, physical, intellectual, and psychological, of which the Hebrew thought and spoke, and the heart was conceived of as the governing centre for all of these. It is the heart which makes a man, or a beast, what he is and governs all his actions.
Character, personality, will, mind, are modern terms which all reflect something of the meaning of 'heart' in its biblical usage.
The New Testament usage is very similar... 'It (the heart) does not altogether lose its physical reference, for it is made of "flesh," but it is the seat of the will, of the intellect, and of feeling. This means that "heart" comes the nearest of the New Testament terms to mean "person".' There is no suggestion in the Bible that the brain is the centre of consciousness, thought, or will. It is the heart which is so regarded, and, though it is used of emotions also, it is more frequently the lower organs, in so far as they are distinguished, that are connected with the emotions. As a broad general statement, it is true that the Bible places the psychological focus one step lower in the anatomy than most popular modern speech, which uses 'mind' for consciousness, thought, and will, and 'heart' for emotions.
'Mind' is perhaps the closest modern term to the biblical usage of 'heart', and many passages could well be so translated.
In VINE'S COMPLETE Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, the explanation under HEART is similar to the above quoted dictionary. About the OT, VINE'S states, "By an easy transition the word [heart] came to stand for man's entire mental and moral activity, both the rational and the emotional elements.
As to its usage in the NT it denotes (a) the seat of physical life, (b) the seat of moral nature and spiritual life, the seat of grief, desires, affections, the perceptions, the thoughts, the understanding, the reasoning powers, the imagination, conscience, the intentions, purpose, the will, faith...[Scriptures are found after each use which I left out.]
The heart, in its moral significance in the OT, includes the emotions, the reason and the will.
And for what it’s worth, unlike The New Bible Dictionary, VINE'S does have a section discussing MIND and how it's used in scripture. And the cited scriptures didn’t have any connection with "HEART" like the ones quoted in The New Bible Dictionary.
Hopefully, posters are not annoyed with this post of mine. Please view my efforts as they are meant to be, that of passing along a bit of information that might clear up a misconception.
Barbara
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FYI: http://www.KidsVictoria.org website Is all about the Working with Children laws
by AndersonsInfo inthe kidsvictoria.org web site has been set up for the purpose of providing general information only in relation to the working with children laws in the state of victoria, australia.
this is achieved by bringing together, in one place, information found on a variety of official government web sites.
as such, this web site it is not legal advice, nor should it be viewed as replacing legal advice.. the kidsvictoria.org web site is not sponsored or endorsed by the government of victoria nor is it affiliated with the department of justice or the office of the child safety commissioner but is maintained through voluntary support and has been funded by steven unthank.
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AndersonsInfo
The KidsVictoria.org web site has been set up for the purpose of providing general information only in relation to the Working with Children laws in the State of Victoria, Australia. This is achieved by bringing together, in one place, information found on a variety of official government web sites. As such, this web site it is not legal advice, nor should it be viewed as replacing legal advice.
The KidsVictoria.org web site is not sponsored or endorsed by the Government of Victoria nor is it affiliated with the Department of Justice or the Office of the Child Safety Commissioner but is maintained through voluntary support and has been funded by Steven Unthank. www.stevenunthank.com
Update from "downunder":
The working with children laws became compulsory for "religious organisations" on July 1, 2008. That is over three years ago and it was the previous government that refused to take action. That administration was replaced in December 2010. Therefore, for over three years the WTBTS and JWs were non-compliant and only complied after they were criminally charged. That is three years of deliberately breaking the law, knowingly committing criminal offences and being outright lawless. There is still no apology and the elders have been silenced from talking to the rank and file as to the reasons why.
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Watchtower Society Sued For Covering Up For Molestor Derek Packowski
by qua insacramento vicinity (loomis, rocklin, sunset congregations): court documents were just issued charging derek packowski and the watchtower society corporations.
the papers were filed by the legal firm of nolen saul brelsford of sacramento, california.
the child molestor and said corporations headed by the governing body over jehovah?s witnesses, were charged with not reporting to law enforcement and systematically conspiring and suppressing information about sexual molestation committed by packowski when he was in a congregation in des plaines, illinois, also after about 1984 and later in california at the loomis congregation from which formed the rocklin and sunset congregations.
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AndersonsInfo
This case was filed Nov. 21, 2003 against Watch Tower of Pennsylvania, Watchtower of NY, Christian Congregation of JWs, Sunset Cong. of JWs, and Derek Packowski. It was dismissed with prejudice on May 7, 2004 against all Defendants except Derek Packowski.
Dismissed with prejudice means that it was dismissed permanently. (A case dismissed with prejudice is over and done with, once and for all, and can't be brought back to court.) The victims were Tim C., Robert C., Andrew C., and Trevor L.
On Dec. 31, 2003, another case was filed against the same Defendants. The Plaintiff was Mike C. This case was also dismissed with prejudice on May 7, 2004 against all Defendants except Packowski.
On Oct. 19, 2004, there was paper work filed to consolidate the two above cases against Defendant, Derek Packowski. The trial date for the case entitled Mike C. was scheduled to start on Dec. 7, 2004. And the trial date for the case entitled Trevor L., et al., was scheduled to commence on Feb. 23, 2005. On April 1, 2005, this combined case against Derek Packowski was dismissed with prejudice.
The court record in these cases was not available to reveal why the Plaintiffs' attorney agreed to have the entire action of all parties and all causes of action dismissed with prejudice. However, this could mean that there's a sealed court document not available to the public that might give a clue. From my past experience with these lawsuits filed in 2003, around 20 of them, I'm of the opinion that it is not unlikely that Defendants Watch Tower, et al., and later Defendant, Packowski, secretly settled out-of-court with all of the Plaintiffs because that's the way Watch Tower handles these child sexual abuse lawsuits. Go to http://www.watchtowerdocuments.com/docs/jw-secrets.html#free to see the court documents from seven other lawsuits filed in California in 2003 against the major WT Inc. entities that were settled out-of-court with the Plaintiffs in early 2007.
Barbara
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Oct. 22nd Zone Meeting: Here's some facts and figures presented to ticketed-only audiences
by AndersonsInfo inif we weren't invited, this is the "bragging" information we missed last saturday, oct. 22, 2011, at the zone meeting with tie-in from patterson, ny .
59 locations tied-in plus spanish.
anticipating 258,000 attendance from tickets given out.
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AndersonsInfo
If we weren't invited, this is the "bragging" information we missed last Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011, at the Zone Meeting with tie-in from Patterson, NY :
59 locations tied-in plus Spanish.
Anticipating 258,000 attendance from tickets given out
Gary Breaux, head of US Branch that consists of US, Hawaii, AK , Bermuda, Bahamas, Turks Islands, discussed the following:
1, 200,572 publishers with 2,563,518 at Memorial
1,759,864 peak attendance with memorial up 69,370
10,837 baptized in 2010
Many people contacting WT via website
129 RBC built 81 new KHs & did 488 remodels
2 new assembly halls: Aurora CO and Orangeburg, SC
45 assembly halls total now
2 month School for Christian Couples; 1000+ applied
4094 at US Bethel, 563 temporary volunteers
People at Bethel from 86 countries, oldest 99.6 years
75 members @ Bethel 50 years+; longest there 75.6 years
300 Volunteers at Wallkill:
3-story 300 room facility to be completed there by 2014, plus, parking garage and recreational facility.
Patterson expansion 4-5 story building to accommodate 400-500
250 acres in Warrick, NY will be World Headquarters
8 new buildings + auxiliary offices, services building
Lobby will have self-guided tour
4 residence buildings with 500 rooms
24,883,267 books printed
302,000 Bibles printed each month
10 US missionaries: Persian language. Tongon, Navajo, Hmong from SE China
Mong translators based in Sacramento near largest population, Bethel commuters
450 at Canadian Bethel. Branch member, Scheufelt, spoke to tied-in audience.
One and only printing press needed: prints 100 000 magazines per hour
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Victoria, Australia: Report on Oct. 11th hearing involving Steven Unthank
by AndersonsInfo invictoria, australia: report on oct. 11th hearing involving steven unthank.
(this report is from an anonymous xjw who attended the hearing.
i had no plans to turn up to the court hearing as an observer, as in my experience, it can take several hearings and a number of months before any court case gets rolling.
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AndersonsInfo
Victoria, Australia: Report on Oct. 11th hearing involving Steven Unthank
(This report is from an anonymous XJW who attended the hearing.)
I had no plans to turn up to the court hearing as an observer, as in my experience, it can take several hearings and a number of months before any court case gets rolling. This usually involves a transfer to the County Court or the Supreme Court for a trial unless the defendant pleads "guilty."
Everything changed upon learning that the Watchtower Society (WTS) had instructed elders and others in the congregations to comply with the working with children laws and to actually obtain their working with children cards. Getting the WTS to comply with the laws after three years of refusing to comply was quite an achievement for Steven Unthank. With this development who would not want to sit in on the next court hearing and witness the defense tactics the WTS and their legal team launched to get themselves out of the potential crisis they got themselves into.
And launch they did. In a short space of 90 minutes, the WTS completely destroyed the entire fabric and structure of the faith of some 7 million Jehovah's Witnesses for nothing more than self-preservation. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your view, most Jehovah's Witnesses will never find out.
Before compiling this report I took the opportunity to read through Steven Unthank's web site www.jwnews.net for the purpose of clarifying a few case point overviews and I recommend this to others. For anyone interested in court numbers and proof of court hearings, the Daily Court Listings can be found on the Magistrates' Court of Victoria web site for November 8th.
My opinions and observations
The best way to comprehend what is going on, from a courtroom perspective, is that the court hearings at the moment are administrative, which in very simplistic terms means 'the shuffling of paperwork' and 'the jostling for position' along with some short case arguments or presentations to the magistrate.
During the court hearing on October 11 th , the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Office of Public Prosecutions (referred to as the Crown) indicated to the court that they intend to take over all five cases. As to why they have not done so previously is anyone's guess. In my opinion I would not be surprised if all five cases have been sort of co-prosecuted and case managed by the Crown and by Steven Unthank working together in a de facto relationship, with Steven Unthank acting in the capacity as acting prosecutor and the Crown as legal adviser. Such an arrangement would be advantageous to the overall prosecution of the cases for two very specific reasons:-
1. Steven Unthank would not have a working knowledge of the criminal justice system; and
2. the Crown would not have a working knowledge of the WTS's corporate religious system and its relationship to Jehovah's Witnesses and each of the defendants.Many of us, including myself, may have greatly underestimated Steven Unthank's ability or understanding of the court process, the structure of the WTS, its relationship with the Jehovah's Witnesses, and what was needed to launch a criminal prosecution. It has been a long running joke about having the "faithful and discreet slave" charged. But consider this. Everything that happens within the WTS and within the Jehovah's Witnesses is attributed to the entity and class of individuals known within the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses as the "faithful and discreet slave."
According to the Watchtower teachings, the authority of the elder arrangement, their governing body, the branch committees, and also the authority of the lawyers within the congregation and organization, comes from the "faithful and discreet slave." If these elders, governing body members, branch committee members, and lawyers made a mistake over the Working with Children laws then the fault may also lie with the person or legal entity that employs their services, be they corporate services, legal services or religious services. For a criminal trial this has to be explored by the prosecution.
The charging of the "faithful and discreet slave" as a religious body now has the ability to publicly expose the quasi-legal religious relationship they have with the WTS and its legal department. The WTS would no doubt never want this to be publicly exposed and therefore must take action to keep this hidden from scrutiny at all costs. It is irrelevant as to whether any observers believe in the "faithful and discreet slave" or not. It is real to Jehovah's Witnesses and is the entire religious heart of their belief structure.
To understand the court arguments we first need to establish whether the "faithful and discreet slave" exists under Victorian law.
"Who really is the faithful and discreet slave?"
What we do know is that the "faithful and discreet slave" (FDS) have been criminally charged and are being prosecuted as "corporate accused." We also know that there are seven charges on their "Charge-Sheet and Summons (Corporate Accused)" in relation to the Working with Children Act 2005. We do not know what the charges are as these have not yet been read out in court. This will happen in time, but until then it is anyone's guess. In all reality the charge wordings are irrelevant.
Under Victorian law a "corporate accused" can legally be an incorporated entity (a registered company), an association, or an unincorporated body. The FDS is not an incorporated entity (a registered company) and is not an association (no articles of association) so therefore the charge sheet or sheets must list it as an "unincorporated body."
According to the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses, as written in the book "Organized To Do Jehovah's Will" on page 16, the "faithful and discreet slave" are a "body" which Christ uses "to publish information on the fulfillment of Bible prophecies and to give timely direction on the application of Bible principles in daily life." Therefore, the FDS, by their own written admission, are a "body" of individual persons. As they are not incorporated this makes the FDS an unincorporated body similar to the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses.
The Working with Children Act 2005 says that a person includes "an unincorporated body or association and a partnership." Therefore, the phrase "person" can also legally be applied to an unincorporated body. This then makes the "faithful and discreet slave" a legal entity under Victorian law, a "person" who operates as an unincorporated body.
The Working with Children Act says that "If this Act provides that a person, being an unincorporated body or an association or a partnership, is guilty of an offence, that reference to the person must--(a) in the case of an unincorporated body or association--be read as a reference to each member of the committee of management of the body or association who knew of, or knowingly authorized or permitted, the commission of the offence."
To simplify, the Working with Children laws recognize unincorporated bodies as a legal entity by granting them legal status as a "person" under law. This was legislated so that there were no loopholes in the law that allowed or permitted anyone, or any group of people, religious or otherwise, from not complying with the Working with Children laws. In the event that a criminal offence is committed by the unincorporated body then the offence is deemed to have been committed by each member of the committee of management of the body.
This understanding is important in that it shows that the FDS have been granted legal recognition under Victorian law as a body that does indeed exist as a legal entity. Why is this important?
During the court hearing on October 11, legal counsel for the Watchtower Society, Rachel van Witsen, from Vincent Toole Solicitors (the WTS's in-house law firm located inside Bethel, Australia) made a statement on behalf of the Watchtower Society that:-
"The faithful and discreet slave is not a legal entity."
Vincent Toole Solicitors then went on to present arguments that the "faithful and discreet slave" do not exist as a "person" nor do they exist as an "unincorporated body" and nor do they exist as a "body" of Christians.
Literally Vincent Toole Solicitors were arguing that the "faithful and discreet slave" should be struck off the charge list because they simply do not exist. In one broad sweeping statement the Watchtower Society and their in-house legal team completely destroyed the entire fabric and structure of the faith of some 7 million Jehovah's Witnesses. What next happened goes beyond the wildest imaginings that any Jehovah's Witness could ever believe was possible.
Steven Unthank stood up, looked around the courtroom, and then actually defended the "faithful and discreet slave" and the beliefs and doctrinal teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses. No one else came to the defense of the FDS. Steven Unthank, as the current acting prosecutor, was the only person who defended them. Unthank then presented argument that the FDS was real and was that body of Jehovah's Witness Christians that had religious responsibility over the entire Christian congregation.
The Watchtower Society and Vincent Toole Solicitors then presented rebuttal argument that the "faithful and discreet slave" did not exist but were nothing more than a:-
"theological arrangement"
A massive gasp could be heard emanating from the gallery from amongst a group of Jehovah's Witnesses who had attended to watch the hearing. It is worth noting that Jehovah's Witnesses are taught that to deny the "faithful and discreet slave" is to deny the Christ and that those who deny the Christ are the antichrist.
The Watchtower Society and Vincent Toole Solicitors then turned on the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses and denied that they existed or operated within Victoria and Australia. The magistrate did not accept this argument and, after seeking approval from Steven Unthank, adjourned all the court hearings for four weeks.
Simply put, the Watchtower Society and Vincent Toole Solicitors denied the existence of the "faithful and discreet slave" and denied the existence of the Christian congregation arrangement. What is also interesting in the entire court case to date is that it was the Watchtower Society and their in-house lawyers that brought theology and religion into the court room.
It is possible that sometime in the future there could be a very serious courtroom hearing in which the whole existence of the "faithful and discreet slave" is argued but not in the way any Jehovah's Witness could imagine. Unless the WTS backs down, or the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses step in and defend their faith, then we could see Steven Unthank actually defending the existence of the FDS and the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses in open public court while the WTS and their lawyers, with the backing of the Governing Body, deny the existence of the FDS and maybe even the Christian congregation. And if such a courtroom drama ever unfolds, then at any given time Steven Unthank could back down and the FDS become no more than a never existing group of imaginary Christians who are really nothing more than a convenient "theological arrangement" whom Jehovah's Witnesses mistakenly believe exist and are their spiritual leaders who care about them.
The only party not represented was the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses. This is logical from a self-preserving religious point of view, as to defend the charges would be to acknowledge each single charge as being a "valid charge of improper conduct." This would then disqualify each member from being an elder until the case was sorted out.This failure on the part of the Governing Body to appear or to be represented was noticed by the Magistrate who took the unusual step of suggesting and recommending to Steven Unthank that criminal charges be brought against every single member of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses as opposed to the unincorporated body known as the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses. The only thing that may actually prevent this from really happening is that Steven Unthank lacks the financial resources. Good thing the Crown stated in court its intention to take over the prosecution.