betterdaze

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Posts by betterdaze

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  74

  Greetings....

  by Girlie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just wanted to say hello to all here.

  i really don't have much of a story to tell about myself.

  just find myself at a crossroads of sorts and wondering if i should stay or move on, although the greater part is telling me to move on.. long story short, i have been a baptised jw for 14 years.

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  betterdaze

  Welcome, Girlie!

  ~Sue
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  52

  MY B-I-L IS IN THE HOSPITAL

  by Mary in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  here's another update on my brother in law:.

  my sister and b-i-l went to the cancer center in toronto earlier this week to see about getting the stemcell transplant for his disease.

  it was actually an encouraging visit as the oncologist there said that they did not feel his condition had progressed into the acute myloid leukemia yet and that he had longer---up to 2 years---than what his local oncologist had said.

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  betterdaze

  I understand in a way that I wish I didn't, (((Mary))).
  
  Strength and a peaceful spirit to you all.
  
  ~Sue
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  54

  Apostate Artwork

  by sacolton in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for use on any jw discussion/website .... .

  .

  (insert your captions here).

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  betterdaze
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  5

  Law shields religious charities from scrutiny

  by betterdaze in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  just posting for future reference.... law shields religious charities from scrutinysunday, july 26, 2009. by harvy lipman.

  the record.

  staff writer.

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  betterdaze

  Just posting for future reference...

  Law shields religious charities from scrutiny

  Sunday, July 26, 2009
  BY HARVY LIPMAN
  The Record
  STAFF WRITER
  
  One of the key elements of the money-laundering case brought Thursday against several leaders of the Syrian Jewish communities in Brooklyn and Deal was the use of charities linked to religious groups as conduits.
  
  According to the federal complaints, checks made out to the charities were sent to Israel, where the funds were run through other entities and returned to money-laundering clients for a fee.
  
  This is not the first time federal authorities have uncovered a scam utilizing religious charities to launder money. In fact, less than two weeks ago, Naftali Tzi Weisz, the grand rabbi of a Brooklyn-based Hasidic sect, agreed to plead guilty to one charge in a case involving charities connected to his group. That scheme involved steering donations to the charities, which would transfer the money through various Israeli banks and organizations and return 80 percent to 95 percent of the funds to the donors.
  
  Thus, a donor who gave $100,000 would get a tax deduction for the full amount, even though only $5,000 to $20,000 of the money went to charity.
  
  Several experts in non-profit law said that federal tax law significantly hampers regulators’ ability to ferret out abuse by charities linked to religious groups. Under the Internal Revenue Code, such organizations are not required to file tax returns as most non-profits are. Of the half-dozen charities named in Thursday’s federal complaints, only one has filed federal tax returns.
  
  “There’s no regular flow of information the way there is with every other form of taxpayer, whether an individual or a tax-exempt entity,” said Marc Owens, a Washington lawyer and former head of the Exempt Organizations Division of the Internal Revenue Service.
  
  “Because of that lack of information, the IRS has a difficult time determining if something irregular is going on. There are no documents to look at.”
  
  Oversight ‘difficult’
  
  Daniel Kurtz, a Manhattan lawyer and former director of the New York Attorney General’s Charities Bureau, said religious groups’ exemption from filing tax returns also hamstrings state regulatory agencies, which rely on the information in the returns.
  “Obviously, it makes it tremendously difficult to exercise any level of oversight,” Kurtz said.
  
  He noted that some restraints on government review of religious groups’ activities are warranted under the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious freedom.
  
  “There may be some things that would look unusual at another organization, like spending a lot of money for vestments to clothe a priest, that are none of the state’s business,” Kurtz said. “But the total lack of oversight is troubling.”
  
  Owens said Congress has recently added a section — restricting audits — to the tax code, even further limiting oversight of religious groups.
  
  “There’s a requirement that a high official of the IRS determine that there is a reasonable probability an audit will find information that endangers the church’s tax-exempt status before an audit can be conducted,” he said.
  
  That’s quite different from other non-profits, which can be audited if an IRS examiner sees any reason to suspect a problem.
  
  “You can’t start an audit of a church because an agent drove by a church and saw something suspicious, like a big car parked in the driveway,” Owens said.
  
  Complicating matters, the tax code doesn’t define what constitutes a church.
  
  “There are no regulations, but the issue has been addressed by a series of court decisions over the years,” Owens said. The IRS has developed a set of 14 criteria to decide whether an organization constitutes a religious group that have been endorsed to varying degrees in subsequent court rulings.
  
  Chief among them are whether the organization has a congregation, holds regular services, ordains ministers based on a set of prescribed studies and has its own place or places of worship.
  
  “An organization does not need to meet all of them, but it needs to meet a goodly number,” Owens said.
  
  E-mail: [email protected]
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  62

  My SIL might be 'fishin'....?

  by AK - Jeff in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  my wife 'faded' during the same time i da'd myself.

  we are absolutely both on the same page.. it is interesting [and on another level disturbing] that 'status' plays so heavily in the minds of jw's and their relationships.

  as many others have related, my wife sometimes is engaged in conversations with jw's she meets in public, while all those same jw's will totally 'shun' me - sometimes in the same moment.

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  betterdaze

  LOL at sacolton with the nasty Nellie Olsen pic — I just wanna’ slap that sneer off her face! No doubt about it, AK-Jeff's SIL makes her look like a saint.

  ~Sue
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  62

  My SIL might be 'fishin'....?

  by AK - Jeff in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  my wife 'faded' during the same time i da'd myself.

  we are absolutely both on the same page.. it is interesting [and on another level disturbing] that 'status' plays so heavily in the minds of jw's and their relationships.

  as many others have related, my wife sometimes is engaged in conversations with jw's she meets in public, while all those same jw's will totally 'shun' me - sometimes in the same moment.

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  betterdaze

  To the well-known celebutante ex-Jw from Indiana:

  BetterDaze -

  
  
  

  You are very kind aren't you?

  Yes, I am kind. Very.
  
  I would never jeopardize anyone’s fade.
  
  Ever.
  
  Especially not to nurse my own personal grievences.
  
  That is simply how our characters differ.
  
  
  

  THIS IS A DISCUSSION FORUM FOR GOD"S SAKE!

  Correct, Elder RighteousMuch. This IS a discussion forum.
  
  Not the Watchtower study you read the paragraph and all our answers must be regurgitated in perfect agreement.
  
  This is not the Kingdom Hall, I am not some spiritually weak sister, you’ll get no obedient zombie head-nodding from me.
  
  I call it as I see it. You are welcome to disagree.
  
  
  

  How bout this> You mind yours and I will mind mine.

  Some words to the wise:
  
  “If you don't want it seen, or discussed, just leave it at home?”
  
  ~Former unknown ex-Jw from NJ

  What happens in Faderville, stays in Faderville.
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  65

  How about a new happy thread...the best thing that happened to you this month!

  by restrangled in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the best thing for me..... my son stopped over and he realized he needs to buy a home....so we quickly did a run on the internet in our neighborhood and he found a jewel.. whether he gets it or not....it was fun for both my husband and myself to go see, help him ask questions and give him the ok.. it's probably just a dream, but reminded us of our younger days.. how was your day?

  something happy please!!!!

  we have enough horrible negatives going on right now..

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  betterdaze

  Started a belly dancing class one month ago and it has fixed my lower back pain!
  
  Three years of agony. I could barely move and the weight started piling on. I'm having a blast and losing inches.
  
  ~Sue
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  62

  My SIL might be 'fishin'....?

  by AK - Jeff in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  my wife 'faded' during the same time i da'd myself.

  we are absolutely both on the same page.. it is interesting [and on another level disturbing] that 'status' plays so heavily in the minds of jw's and their relationships.

  as many others have related, my wife sometimes is engaged in conversations with jw's she meets in public, while all those same jw's will totally 'shun' me - sometimes in the same moment.

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  betterdaze

  Spike Tassel nailed it.

  Of course the local JWs know what you believe, you have over 9,000 posts logged, quite a few of which share personal identifiers.
  
  Whenever you have a JW interaction, you write about it and use people's real names just to rile them up at your old Kingdom Hall.
  
  And you know very well you've been identified here before — it is so dishonest to pretend otherwise!
  
  
  It is your indiscretion on a public discussion board that may lead to your wife's disfellowshipping. You are the one handing the elders the bait for the hook. Yes, you.
  
  
  If your wife has "elected to lay low," why publicly betray her confidence by posting about this incident? How can she possibly "lay low" and keep the peace with her family after your disloyal tattling?
  
  Now, I want to believe you love your wife, but if you wish to harm her (and her mother and your marriage as well) this is really the way to go about it.
  
  
  It appears you are allowing your personal resentment for SIL and other JWs to cloud your judgement. Please consider how your words here affect your wife and her mother in the real world.
  
  ~Sue
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  443

  Can we blame our ancestors for our own shortcomings?

  by undercover in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in a recent thread about an nfl player being allowed to return to play after being convicted and serving time for a felony, it was suggested that maybe his ancestory played a part in his attitudes and actions.. those of you were playing along at home know the deal.... is it fair to lay blame on one's ancestors in how one acts in today's society?.

  i think not.... my ancestor's came here from scotland, when their lands were taken from them back home.

  they came here with nothing and had to start over in a land with next to nothing, eeking out an existance in the mountains of tn and nc, always struggling.

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  betterdaze

  I'd like to take the opportunity to share that it was a black gentleman who knocked on our door and offered my mother a Free Home Bible Study. She purchased a certain blue book from him.
  
  As she tells it: "Well, I was raised Irish Catholic and I'll die Irish Catholic, but Vatican II says we can read the Bible now, and I've always wanted to know what the priests were keeping from us...
  
  ... But please, send someone else, you're not safe in this [predominantly white] neighborhood, and my husband wouldn't approve of you [any man] coming around while he's gone at work."
  
  So the Kingdom Hall sent a Puerto Rican sister who "passed" for Italian, LOL!
  
  
  Can I blame black men and Latinas for my Jehovah's Witness upbringing?
  
  ~Sue
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  66

  A T T E N T I O N PLEASE

  by purplesofa in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i wanted to draw attention as to how a new poster worded the opening to their thread.. .

  with renia now gone i feel more confident to tell my story without being belittled.. .

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/179341/1/my-story-my-sins-and-their-consequences.

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  betterdaze

  Have any of you considered that maybe HE is a watchtower hire?

  Don't you think WT would like to see this board in division and chaos?

  Have you never heard of a "plant"?

  Cameo, the same thoughts have occurred to me.

  Imagine if we each had a nickel for every time he/she/it deliberately derailed a topic into oblivion?

  ~Sue