digderidoo

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Posts by digderidoo

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  82

  VOTE TO REVOKE UK CHARITY STATUS OF JW CHARITIES! URGENT!

  by Blablaman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  not long left... closes 20/02/2013 @ 08:01am.

  vote now!.

  http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29949 .

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  digderidoo

  My words don't need summarising at all and putting into your words, then telling me that's my opinion.

  The fact that the public benefit under the Charity Act 2006 is no longer in existence is not my opinion, that Jehovahs Witnesses do not have charitable status isn't my opinion and the public benefit requirement is qualified by 'advancement of religion' is neither my opinion. They can all be checked out as legal fact.

  As for the church of Scientology ... it cannot be argued they advance religion as under UK law they are not a religion. So why do you say that it can?

  The Charity Commission in 1999 decided on two points of attempt that the Church of Scientology cannot have charitable status.

  1) The fact that they do not advance religion as they are not classified as one. In the Court of Appeal in 1970 (R v Registrar General ex part Segerdal), Scientology was classified as a philosophy of existence and not a religion.

  2) They failed under the 'public benefit' requirement of advancing moral or spiritual welfare or improvement of the community.

  Had they had established one of these points they would be on the Charity Register. Whilst the petitions argument is that under point 2) they should be deleted, under point 1) the WTBTS would stay on in advancing religion ... as Jehovahs Witnesses are a religion ... which is my point.

  If you disagree Jehovah's Witnesses are a religion then that should be your line of attack to the Charities Commission, not a petition that would get thrown out of any Parliamentary debate in the first instance, for the very reason that it is flawed.
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  82

  VOTE TO REVOKE UK CHARITY STATUS OF JW CHARITIES! URGENT!

  by Blablaman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  not long left... closes 20/02/2013 @ 08:01am.

  vote now!.

  http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29949 .

  1. 
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  digderidoo

  Cedars ... I actually have more than a passing interest in Trusts Law of which Charitable Trusts are part. There is one thing stopping me from posting my own petition as it would have to be worded something along the lines of ...

  "We hereby petition for the charitable status of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society to be revoked. We believe the work of the Society does not serve the purpose of 'the advancement of religion' (of course we all know it does) under the Charities Act 2011."

  As the WTBTS of Britain does advance religion (according to the law) starting my own petition would be futile and a waste of everyones time.

  So yes let's all follow Phizzy's advice and vote for ...

  "We hereby petition the charitable status of Jehovahs Witnesses (even though it doesn't have one). We believe the work of Jehovahs Witnesses does not serve the public benefit (even though advancing a religion does according to legislation), and is entirely self serving. We also ask the Charity Commission should take greater care in ensuring that all charitable organisations serve in the public benefit, according to the Charities Act 2006 (even though the Charities Act 2006 no longer applies to the public benefit criteria)."

  If you're going to propose this sort of motion to Parliament at least get the facts correct.
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  64

  I am currently reading " The GOD delusion" by Richard Dawkins and would appreciate comments from those who have read it,pro &con.

  by smiddy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i`m only halfway through chapter 4 and enjoying what i have read so far .so why am i asking for peoples comments now ?

  the reason i have is this : i wish i had done something like this when i first was approached by the witnesses ,i beleive i would have been more informed to make some enlightened decisisions that would eventually shape my future .. whereas not doing so i spent the next 33 years a slave of the watchtower , and not just me but my wife and children , not that i`m suggesting i would be a slave of richard dawkins , but i can weigh up the pros and cons as i progress through his book ,then hopefully i can draw the right conclusions , if their are any.. smiddy.

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  digderidoo

  I have it and been reading it from time to time for the last couple of years, but not read all the way through.

  In my opinion he is very condescending, uses the ad hominem attack quite a lot and doesn't do the atheist argument any favours. He does have some valid points but his approach is far from an objective one. I will continue to read it at some point, but for me it's not a page turner.
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  82

  VOTE TO REVOKE UK CHARITY STATUS OF JW CHARITIES! URGENT!

  by Blablaman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  not long left... closes 20/02/2013 @ 08:01am.

  vote now!.

  http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29949 .

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  2. 
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  digderidoo

  The £2.50 is not a mistake, taking into account your gross earning would be £12.50. Therefore £2.50 (tax already paid) represents 20% and £10 (net) represents 80%.

  I have had a further look into this and s3(1)(c) Charities Act 2011 defines a charitable purpose as 'the advancement of religion'. Therefore the 'public benefit' requirement can be avoided if a charity advances religion, again rendering this petition obselete.
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  82

  VOTE TO REVOKE UK CHARITY STATUS OF JW CHARITIES! URGENT!

  by Blablaman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  not long left... closes 20/02/2013 @ 08:01am.

  vote now!.

  http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29949 .

  1. 
  2. 
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  digderidoo

  My apologies, I thought it was your petition.

  I agree that they act as a single body, but in approaching Parliament on this issue it has to be approached in a legal way, whereas in my opinion for reasons stated, this petition would get thrown out without any Parliamentary debate as it isn't worded correctly.
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  82

  VOTE TO REVOKE UK CHARITY STATUS OF JW CHARITIES! URGENT!

  by Blablaman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  not long left... closes 20/02/2013 @ 08:01am.

  vote now!.

  http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29949 .

  1. 
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  digderidoo

  Further the 'public benefit' reqiuirement is given a very wide definition. Though a charity may act in a negative way as is being argued here, in my view, this in itself would not be enough to negate the 'public benefit' positives that they state they provide.

  Even if you didn't agree with the Charity Commissions decision a judicial review would be unlikely, as judicial reviews can only be argued on whether the Commission acted inside or outside of the law. In this case Parliament gives the Charity Commission decision to adjudicate, that in itself is inside the law as per the Charities Act 2011.

  As for examing the process of the decision itself, so long as it was made inside the law, the Court in a judicial review would stay out of the actual decision making process, unless the decision itself was totally unreasonable under the rules of 'Wednesbury unreasonableness'.
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  82

  VOTE TO REVOKE UK CHARITY STATUS OF JW CHARITIES! URGENT!

  by Blablaman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  not long left... closes 20/02/2013 @ 08:01am.

  vote now!.

  http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29949 .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
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  digderidoo

  Blablaman ...

  As you make clear 1400 or so congregations have charitable status and so does the Watchtower Society of Britain. If you're asking via your petition question to have all of these to be removed from the Charities register that isn't made clear on your petition question. If on the other hand you're asking to have the Watchtower Society of Britain removed, again that isn't made clear on your petition question.

  Parliament in debating this issue, should it receive 100,000 signatures needs to know to whom the question is refering ... all of the 1400 congregations or the Watchtower Society of Britain? As the religion of Jehovahs Witnesses is not a charitable institution in its own regard. As stated in the Watchtower Society of Britains objectives, their aim is to further the Jehovahs Witnesses who are a Christian religion.

  Sifting through the legal jargon and putting into laymans terms ... the Jehovahs Witness religion (to which your petition question refers) is not a charity but a religion, whereas the 1400 congregations and Watchtower Society of Britain are charities on the register (to which your petition question does not refer). Hence Parliament cannot revoke the charitable status of the Jehovahs Witnesses, as they have never had one in the first place.
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  82

  VOTE TO REVOKE UK CHARITY STATUS OF JW CHARITIES! URGENT!

  by Blablaman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  not long left... closes 20/02/2013 @ 08:01am.

  vote now!.

  http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29949 .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
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  digderidoo

  Is this what you're looking for?

  www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Accounts/Ends61/0001077961_AC_20100831_E_C.PDF
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  82

  VOTE TO REVOKE UK CHARITY STATUS OF JW CHARITIES! URGENT!

  by Blablaman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  not long left... closes 20/02/2013 @ 08:01am.

  vote now!.

  http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29949 .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  digderidoo

  Further, who exactly do you want charity status revoking?

  The fact of the matter is 'Jehovahs Witnesses' do not have charitable status as per the petition question. I'm assuming you're refering to the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Britain, who according to the Charity Commission, its aims and objectives are to advance the Jehovahs Witness religion. They print, publish and organise the religion itself, so it would be difficult to prove the public benefit (or lack of) argument, due to the fact that they can distance themselves.

  Further, every single congregation in the UK is a separate charity registered in the Charity Commissions register. So when refering to the term Jehovahs Witnesses to have their charitable status removed, you have to make clear who exactly you're talking about with this petition question.

  The whole petition question is flawed, from the wrong legislation applied, to the wrong wording of who you want removing, as 'Jehovahs Witnesses' do not have charitable status in the UK. It would be thrown out in a Parliamentary debate on this basis alone, before any real discussion took place.
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  82

  VOTE TO REVOKE UK CHARITY STATUS OF JW CHARITIES! URGENT!

  by Blablaman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  not long left... closes 20/02/2013 @ 08:01am.

  vote now!.

  http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29949 .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  digderidoo

  The public benefit requirement under the Charities Act 2006 has been amended by the Charities Act 2011 and came into force in March 2012.

  Though it covers same requirement ground your petition question is flawed.

  Should this reach 100,000 signatures it would be thrown out in the first instance as the 2006 Act doesn't apply. Even though it would be clear a mistake has been made and the wrong legislation refered to in the petition question, Parliament like any other legislature processes on correct wording for questions like these and wouldn't make the necessary changes themselves to the wording of the petition question to take into account the mistake of wrong legislation being used.

  Further, I would have thought an appeal to the Charities Commission under s46, Charities Act 2011 would be more applicable, as under s15(1) Parliament has given the Charity Comission the power to decide who qualifies under the 'public benefit' function. Therefore even a successful petition question using the correct Act of 2011 would mean that Parliament on debating the issue would delegate the repsonsibility to the Charities Commission as they already have done.

  Just my two pennys worth.