July 19, 2017
The Jehovah's
Witnesses expressed its plans to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights
in Strasbourg after the Russian Supreme Court upheld a ruling that banned the
sect and declared it as an "extremist" organization.
"We plan to
appeal this at the European Court of Human Rights as soon as we can. All legal
avenues inside Russia have been exhausted," Yaroslav Sivulskiy, a member
of the European Association of Jehovah's Christian Witnesses, told Reuters.
Sivulskiy said
that the sect strongly disagreed with the court's ruling, but it had no option
but to comply.
The latest court
ruling would allow the Russian government to liquidate the 395
Jehovah's Witnesses congregations and seize the sect's properties.
David Semonian,
a spokesman for the sect, issued a statement saying, "it's very concerning
that despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, powerful elements within
Russia continue to frame our organization as extremist."
READ MORE: http://www.christiantimes.com/article/jehovahs-witnesses-consider-european-court-appeal-after-russian-supreme-court-upholds-ban-on-sect/72529.htm
AndersonsInfo
JoinedPosts by AndersonsInfo
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Christian Times: Jehovah's Witnesses consider European court appeal after Russian Supreme Court upholds ban on sect
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.christiantimes.com/article/jehovahs-witnesses-consider-european-court-appeal-after-russian-supreme-court-upholds-ban-on-sect/72529.htm.
july 19, 2017the jehovah's witnesses expressed its plans to appeal to the european court of human rights in strasbourg after the russian supreme court upheld a ruling that banned the sect and declared it as an "extremist" organization.
"we plan to appeal this at the european court of human rights as soon as we can.
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The Moscow Times: Many Russians Don’t Know the Jehovah’s Witnesses, But They Still Want Them Banned
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://themoscowtimes.com/news/russians-want-jehovas-witnesses-banned-poll-58382.
many russians don’t know the jehovah’s witnesses, but they still want them banned.
july 13, 2017 — 14:00 .
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AndersonsInfo
https://themoscowtimes.com/news/Russians-want-jehovas-witnesses-banned-poll-58382
Many Russians Don’t Know the Jehovah’s Witnesses, But They Still Want Them Banned
July 13, 2017 — 14:00
— Update: 19:49A large majority of Russians support a ban on the Jehovah’s Witnesses, a recent poll shows.
Roughly eighty percent of those questioned by the independent Levada Center pollster said they supported a Justice Ministry ban on the religious group after it was labeled an extremist sect.
Russia’s Supreme Court formally banned the Jehovah's Witnesses in April, forcing 396 registered Jehovah's Witnesses organizations across the country to dissolve.
Only 12 percent of respondents polled by Levada were unsupportive of the ban.
READ MORE: https://themoscowtimes.com/news/Russians-want-jehovas-witnesses-banned-poll-58382
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Article: WBBR-AM: A “Pioneering” Radio Experiment by the Watch Tower - A revealing history of WBBR- Includes the last broadcast - April 1957
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://watchtowerdocuments.org/wbbr-am-a-pioneering-radio-experiment/#more-9319.
wbbr-am: a “pioneering” radio experiment by the watch tower .
introduction to main article.
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AndersonsInfo
http://watchtowerdocuments.org/wbbr-am-a-pioneering-radio-experiment/#more-9319
WBBR-AM: A “Pioneering” Radio Experiment by the Watch Tower
INTRODUCTION TO MAIN ARTICLE
In 1922, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society was one of the first religious organizations to enter the commercial radio broadcasting field – a technology that was still in its infancy. Shortly after going out over the air on the initial broadcast, the Watch Tower’s second president, Joseph F. Rutherford, gave one of the very first long distance radio sermons.
That first broadcast on April 16, 1922 (from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) went out to an estimated 50,000 people listening in several surrounding states.
Rutherford soon realized that the recent invention of long-distance radio transmission could be the very tool that he could use to spread his religious message to a broader audience. He quickly went shopping for property and radio equipment to set up his own radio station. With license in hand and the call letters WBBR-AM assigned to him by the government broadcasting agency, the first broadcast from the “Watchtower” radio station located in Staten Island, New York, was on February 24, 1924.
The “Bible Students” (the name that Rutherford’s followers were known by at that time) believed it “exceedingly interesting to note that the first time the public discourse ‘Millions Now Living Will Never Die’ was delivered from Los Angeles, California, on February 24, 1918. Just six years later to the day (February 24, 1924), the ‘Watchtower’ radio station put on its initial program.” They felt this accomplishment was clearly due to God’s hand being involved in the matter.
However, after only thirty-three (sometimes stormy and often confrontational) years of broadcasting, WBBR was sold to a commercial broadcasting company. The last program by Jehovah’s Witnesses from WBBR aired in April of 1957. The directors of the Watch Tower Corporation gave a number of reasons for getting out of the broadcasting field to Jehovah’s Witnesses – formerly known as the “Bible Students.” Witnesses were told that personal contact made possible by Jehovah's Witnesses making house-to-house calls were far more effective than radio broadcasts to generate converts. Was this also “God’s hand in the matter?” Jehovah’s Witnesses were led to believe that it was – at least at that point in their history.
Now, in the early part of the 21st-century, Watch Tower has returned to the broadcasting industry in a big way – spending millions of dollars to advance their message through a technically different broadcasting medium: streaming video delivered worldwide via the Internet.
What happened to their belief that personal contact was a better avenue to make converts? Is this evidence of God’s hand in the matter to reach millions of people to promote the Witnesses message? To listen to them talk, it is. But a careful look at the historical record of WBBR, and to examine their present claims, is quite a “revelation.”
For those who are Watch Tower history addicts desiring accuracy, click on the following link to go to our WBBR history page for expanded information about the Watch Tower’s past as “pioneers” in broadcast, and multi-media methods to reach their members and generate new converts. There you’ll also find photos, video and audio resources.
http://watchtowerdocuments.org/history-of-wbbr/
JUST ADDED: Full MP3 audio of the VERY LAST BROADCAST of WBBR-AM radio in 1957 under the control of Watch Tower. Be sure to listen to both parts to catch all of that particular flash in Watch Tower history when the now deceased speakers were so sure that God was with them and Armageddon was nigh! Audio is presented uncut and in two parts. For your listening diversion, experience a most unique moment in history.
http://watchtowerdocuments.org/history-of-wbbr/
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Armenia’s Jehovah’s Witnesses: ‘enemies of the state’
by AndersonsInfo intp://oc-media.org/armenias-jehovahs-witnesses-enemies-of-the-state/.
http://oc-media.org/armenias-jehovahs-witnesses-enemies-of-the-state/.
armenia’s jehovah’s witnesses: ‘enemies of the state’.
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AndersonsInfo
http://oc-media.org/armenias-jehovahs-witnesses-enemies-of-the-state/
Armenia’s Jehovah’s Witnesses: ‘enemies of the state’
12 June 2017 by Armine Avetisyan
Armenian identity is so tightly interwoven with religion that it
can often be heard that the only true Armenian is a follower of the Armenian
Church. Contempt, discrimination, and outright hatred towards religious
minorities have led to a worryingly widespread perception of them as outsiders
— a threat to Armenian statehood. Deadly discrimination
Anna (not her real name), 45, comes from Gyumri. She used to work as an Armenian language teacher in a local school, but was forced to leave after the school authorities discovered that she was a Pentecostal Christian.
‘I would never have thought that simply attending meetings of my religious organisation in my free time could be a reason for being fired from work. I was a teacher for ten years and my colleagues described me as a loved and respected professional. One day, I was invited to the principal’s office where he asked me to hand in my notice, because many parents had complained that a “sectarian” was teaching their children’, Anna told OC Media.
Anna recalls that she initially tried to fight for her rights, but eventually got frustrated and left the school voluntarily four years ago.
‘I left voluntarily, hoping I would find another job. The whole year turned out to be full of suffering. All the schools I approached slammed their doors in my face, because I was considered a “heretic”. If not for my brothers and sisters in faith, I would have starved to death’, Anna said.
Despite always being able to count on moral support from her religious community, one day she attempted to end her life, tired of the almost universal scorn.
‘I drank bleach in order to die, but Jesus saved me — thank the Lord. I am grateful to him that I now have my little shop, which makes me feel human again’, Anna said.
Anna is now earning her daily bread with trade, selling fresh produce.
‘I’m happy I’m able to help people in need. Each morning I distribute fresh and healthy produce to people in need. We must all cleanse our souls and share what we have with our neighbours’, Anna said.
Although there are no official statistics to back it up, there is anecdotal evidence that Anna’s suicide attempt because of religious discrimination is far from unique in Armenia.
Religious mosaic
According to official data, there are 66 registered organisations carrying out religious activities in Armenia.
According to the 2011 census, the Armenian Apostolic Church is the biggest religious domination in the country, followed by 93% of its 3 million inhabitants. Other Christian denominations make up 2.1% of the population, including Catholics, Evangelicals, Pentecostals and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The government considers these to be official religious organisations, although there are also several groups that only have the status of NGO, such as the Maharishi Transcendental Meditation Community or the Unification Church. Unregistered communities include Buddhists and the Hare Krishna community.
The Armenian Constitution guarantees freedom of conscience and religious belief to every citizen. In theory, the rights of religious minorities are protected, yet in practice, the picture is rather different.
The US State Department pointed out in their 2015 International Religious Freedom Report that religious minorities in Armenia are often subjected to various forms of abuse — obstacles in obtaining building permits for places of worship, and discrimination in education, the military, law enforcement, and public sector employment.
The report also points out preferential government support for the Armenian Apostolic Church and negative media reports often referring to religious minorities in a derogatory manner as ‘cults’ or even as ‘enemies of the state’. It also pointed to instances of verbal and physical harassment of Jehovah’s Witnesses while proselytising.
A family torn apart by religious intolerance
‘My family happiness lasted for only two years’, Kristine (not her real name), 35, recalls with sadness. She is currently taking care of her 5-year-old son alone.
Kristine comes from the city of Vanadzor, in northern Armenia’s Lori Province. Six years ago she got married and moved with her husband to Yerevan. The first months were happy for the newlyweds, especially when they found out that they were to become parents.
‘When my child fell ill, I suffered a lot. At the hospital I met Jehovah’s Witnesses, who provided me with a lot of moral support. Over time, I began to read their books and I realised that I was living my life incorrectly, and that I needed different religious nourishment’, Kristine told OC Media.
After she decided to join the Jehovah’s Witnesses, her life changed.
READ MORE: http://oc-media.org/armenias-jehovahs-witnesses-enemies-of-the-state/
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The Telegraph: Jehovah's Witness was attacked by husband who feared she was going to cancel Christmas
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/30/jehovahs-witness-attacked-husband-feared-going-cancel-christmas/.
jehovah's witness was attacked by husband who feared she was going to cancel christmas .
telegraph reporters .
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AndersonsInfo
Jehovah's Witness was attacked by husband who feared she was going to cancel Christmas
- Telegraph Reporters
30 May 2017 • 7:06pm
A Jehovah's Witness was attacked by her husband who feared she was going to cancel Christmas, a court has heard.Jason Mortimore struck his wife Rachael in the face three times with a magazine before burning her Bible and other religious documents in a garden incinerator.
Mortimore, 46, admitted racially aggravated assault and criminal damage at Exeter magistrates court yesterday (TUES). He was fined a total of £666 but the court did not impose a restraining order on him.
The court heard that the couple had been married for 12 years and have three children.
In November Mortimore saw that his wife, who "has returned to her faith of Jehovah Witness", had thrown away some Christmas brochures and he assumed she was not going to celebrate the festivities.
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Irish News: Man who almost died after refusing blood transfusion hits out at 'harmful' Jehovah’s Witness teachings
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.independent.ie/irish-news/man-who-almost-died-after-refusing-blood-transfusion-hits-out-at-harmful-jehovahs-witness-teachings-35756799.htm.
news irish newsfriday 26 may 2017. man who almost died after refusing blood transfusion hits out at 'harmful' jehovah’s witness teachings.
rebecca lumley.
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AndersonsInfo
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/man-who-almost-died-after-refusing-blood-transfusion-hits-out-at-harmful-jehovahs-witness-teachings-35756799.htm
Friday 26 May 2017
Man who almost died after refusing blood transfusion hits out at 'harmful' Jehovah’s Witness teachings
Rebecca Lumley
May 25 2017 7:38 PM
A man who almost died after refusing a blood transfusion has hit out at the “harmful” practices in the Jehovah’s Witness religion that prohibited him from doing so.
Phil Dunne was a devoted Jehovah’s Witness five years ago when he was diagnosed with cancer and told he would die if he did not receive a blood transfusion to negate internal bleeding caused by a tumour in his stomach.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are prohibited from receiving blood transfusions “even in matters of life and death” and report a worldwide following of 8.3 million people.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio One’s Liveline, Mr Dunne described how he was willing to die rather than go against his religion’s teachings.
He said: “I had my father in law at the time write out a will for me because I was too weak in bed. I gave him all the instructions on what to do and I pretty much prepared myself to die.”
Mr Dunne, who is originally from Co Wicklow and grew up in the US, was an active member of his religion at the time and had been attending Jehovah’s Witnesses meetings since the age of seven.
He said he spent four days in hospital before doctors could think of an alternate way to treat him that did not involve a transfusion.
He said: “I think they were hoping that I would just break down and take a transfusion eventually.
“They decided to try very intense, targeted radiation to try and shrink the tumour so rapidly that they’d be able to stop the bleeding and then I’d be able to do chemotherapy to actually control the cancer once they’d stabilised me.”
Mr Dunne said doctors regarded this as a “last ditch” solution, but the procedure proved successful and he has been cancer-free since.
The experience led Mr Dunne to re-evaluate his involvement with the religion.
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Canadian Article: Disfellowshipping is Hard to Do (Randy Wall case)
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=0b84577c-6c04-4259-af99-669a0ca6e41a.
disfellowshipping is hard to do .
drache aptowitzer llp .
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AndersonsInfo
http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=0b84577c-6c04-4259-af99-669a0ca6e41a
Disfellowshipping is Hard to Do
prevnextCanada May 23 2017On April 13, 2017 the Supreme Court of Canada granted, to the Judicial Committee of the Highwood Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Highwood Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, leave to appeal the Alberta Court of Appeal’s decision on the availability of judicial review over their disfellowshipping of Mr. Randy Wall.
As assessed by my colleague Adam Aptowitzer in one of our earlier newsletters, the appeal court’s decision is of interest to “other Church and religious organizations that must discipline their members and now must worry that the Courts will reach in and review those decisions.” He stressed the importance that “decisions to discipline members be taken with utmost regard for the traditional concept of procedural fairness and a consultation with a lawyer that can advise them of these issues.”
Let’s revisit the facts. Mr. Wall is a real estate agent whose episodes of drunkenness (including a consequent instance of verbal abuse of his wife)—or rather, his insufficient repentance for these episodes (as deemed by the elders of the Highwood Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses)—brought about his disfellowshipping from the congregation. Disfellowshipping, in this case, involved Mr. Wall not only not being admitted to the congregation’s services, but also being officially shunned by other members. Wall’s shunning further impacted his relations with family members, and also, he alleged, his business prospects.
The Alberta Court of Appeal majority decision ruled that the courts had jurisdiction to review the Congregation’s Appeal Committee’s decision, and that the assessment of any economic loss incurred by Wall due to the disfellowshipping could be made by on the eventual application for judicial review.
The Highwood Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC). On the SCC website, the case summary[1] prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch) points to the issues to be argued:
READ MORE: http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=0b84577c-6c04-4259-af99-669a0ca6e41a
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WA News (Australia): Former WA Jehovah Witness charged with alleged historic child abuse offences
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/former-wa-jehovah-witness-charged-with-alleged-historic-child-abuse-offences-20170512-gw37yd.html.
former wa jehovah witness charged with alleged historic child abuse offences .
brendan foster.
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AndersonsInfo
Former WA Jehovah Witness charged with alleged historic child abuse offences
A former member of the Jehovah Witness congregation will appear in court next week after he was charged with sexually assaulting four boys.
The charges stem from ongoing investigations linked to the Royal Commission into institutional child sexual offences.
Police allege between 1993 to 2013, the 44-year-old man sexually assaulted four boys aged between 14 and 16 at the time of the offences.
The alleged abuse is said to have occurred in Chidlow and Mundaring and during the period in question the man was an active member of the Mundaring Jehovah Witness congregation.
The 44-year-old man has been charged with a string on sexual offences and is due to appear in the Midland Magistrates court on May 23.
If you are or have been a victim of child sexual abuse, or if you have information about someone being abused, please contact police on 131 444.
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Reveal: Australia does what U.S. won't: Investigate Jehovah's Witness cover-up by Trey Bundy
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://www.revealnews.org/blog/australia-does-what-u-s-wont-investigate-jehovahs-witness-cover-up/.
australia does what u.s. won’t: investigate jehovah’s witness cover-up.
by trey bundy / may 18, 2017 .
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AndersonsInfo
https://www.revealnews.org/blog/australia-does-what-u-s-wont-investigate-jehovahs-witness-cover-up/
Australia does what U.S. won’t: Investigate Jehovah’s Witness cover-up
By Trey Bundy / May 18, 2017
Peter McClellan is an Australian judge and head of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Credit: Screenshot / CNN iA former Jehovah’s Witness in Australia is scheduled to appear in court this week to face charges that he sexually abused four teenage boys between 1993 and 2013, according to a news report.
The case is significant because it stems from an ongoing investigation by the Australian Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which found that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not to report child sexual abuse to law enforcement as a matter of policy.
The commission obtained records from the religion’s headquarters in Australia detailing allegations of child abuse going back to 1950. Investigators identified 1,006 alleged abusers, none of whom had been reported to authorities. The commission referred hundreds of those cases to law enforcement and now we’re starting to see criminal charges filed.
“We hope that this arrest is one of many that police make against perpetrators within the JW faith that have got away with their crimes for far too long,” said Lisa Flynn, an attorney who has represented hundreds of victims of child sexual abuse, including former Jehovah’s Witnesses and some who have appeared before the Royal Commission. “It is a very positive step that we are seeing police investigations, and now, subsequent arrests.”
Meanwhile, the U.S., which is home to more than a million Jehovah’s Witnesses and the religion’s global headquarters, appears to be doing nothing.
As part of a three-year investigation into the Jehovah’s Witnesses child sexual abuse policies, Reveal contacted the FBI, attorneys general in New York and California, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office and several members of Congress, and found no indication of a government investigation.
This despite at least 20 child sexual abuse lawsuits pending against the Jehovah’s Witnesses across the country, including some in which the religion’s leaders have violated court orders to turn over a national database containing the names and congregations of child abusers going back decades.
Irwin Zalkin, a San Diego attorney who represents victims of abuse, has gone to court repeatedly to get the Jehovah’s Witnesses to turn over their child abuse database. But so far, the organization has has defied judges’ orders to give up the names of any perpetrators. Zalkin worries that they could still be abusing children.
“It’s a public safety issue,” Zalkin told Reveal last year. “At this point, this needs to be investigated.”
READ MORE: https://www.revealnews.org/blog/australia-does-what-u-s-wont-investigate-jehovahs-witness-cover-up/
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Lawsuit Settlement Amounts
by Richard Oliver ini have a legitimate question and i am not trying to start a fight.
i keep reading that there were 6 child abuse lawsuits that settled for 13 million dollars.
how do people like barbara anderson or jwsurvey or jwfacts come up with this number?
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AndersonsInfo
For new posters, I would like to explain how the figure of $12,500,000 was reached as the payout by the Watchtower to secretly settle 9 lawsuits involving 16 plaintiffs back in the Spring of 2007.
BTW, there weren't 6 lawsuits settled secretly by the Watchtower back in 2007 as RO claimed.
Please read the following excellent article about the settlement: http://watchtowerdocuments.org/new-evidence-in-jehovahs-witness-allegations-msnbc/
I've pasted two paragraphs from the article regarding the amount of one secret settlement with a plaintiff below, although the entire article is worth reading.
Here it is ten-years later and I decided when I saw this thread to share some background information about how the total amount of the settlement was arrived at.
As you will read, the article states that one plaintiff received $781,250. Personally, I knew of that figure before the article came out so out of curiosity, I multiplied the figure by 16 (plaintiffs) and the total was exactly $12,500,000.
And that's how the amount of the total settlement was arrived at. Of course, there is no proof that each plaintiff received the same amount, but why not - all the molestations were equally awful - so why should any one victim be given more than another.
To this day, I believe my guess of the total amount was accurate because the settlement took place just a few months before the jury trials were to start - April 2007 which I had reliable info from within headquarters that Watchtower knew they would lose.
The attorneys, Love and Norris, were desirous of putting Ted Jaracz on the stand. Knowing Jaracz as well as I did, I knew he would never agree to it and would probably settle which he did.
Jaracz was such a nasty, arrogant person, and, in his anger, I felt he told the attorneys to settle and then threw at them the figure to offer to get rid of the cases and bad publicity - $12,500,000, to be split among 16 plaintiffs, hence the settlement amount for each of them - $781,250. That amount is recorded in some court documents which can not legally be released but came to the attention of attorneys at MSNBC.
By the way, 3/4's of a million dollars was not an unusual amount awarded to victims of child abuse over the years. In fact, I had reliable information that it was the average paid out by the Catholic Church to victims of molestation by priests. It is not unreasonable to think that a researcher in the WT's Legal Dept. suggested something like that for each victim.
New Evidence in Jehovah’s Witness Allegations – MSNBC
The Jehovah’s Witnesses have settled nine lawsuits alleging church policies protected men who sexually abused children for many years.
By Lisa Myers and Richard Greenberg
NBC News Investigative Unit
updated 2:43 p.m. PT, Wed., Nov . 21, 2007
Article Source: MSNBCParagraph #5:
The Jehovah’s Witnesses recently agreed to pay to settle that lawsuit and eight other similar cases, without admitting wrongdoing. The cases all involved men the church allegedly knew had sexually abused children. The settlements for those cases are confidential and filed under seal.
Paragraph #6: However, NBC News has obtained a copy of one of the settlements from the McLean lawsuit, and it may offer an indication of the potential magnitude of the payouts. According to the court record, the church agreed to pay $781,250 to the accuser, who claimed McLean abused her from age 3 to age 9. (After legal fees and other costs, the accuser was set to receive approximately $530,000.)
Lawyers for the plaintiffs declined to comment. READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT:
http://watchtowerdocuments.org/new-evidence-in-jehovahs-witness-allegations-msnbc/
Barbara
Peter McClellan is an Australian judge and head of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.