Posts by dungbeetle

I se OldHippie was nice enough to say he distanced himself from chronology, does he distance himself from any of this? especially being a former elder? Or does he fel there are biblical basis for things like this....

1) The treatment of women

. They are not even allowed to do a Bible READING, or read for the bookstudy, or run microphones or run the soundsystem. In today's world this is atrocious, and what is even more atrocious is the exposure of a girl from the day she is born to the day she is a mature minor to the day she is an adult of this behavior; she is unempowered from the moment she is first carried in her blanket into a kingdom hall. In addition, this blatant and flagrant treatment of women will not attract healthy, well-adjusted women with good self-esteem and a healthy degree of self worth into this religion. This "I don't deserve any better than this" attitude becomes multigenerational, with a lot of help from the fathers and husbands who don't see anything wrong with it either.

2) Rape resistance. scream, don't scream, in 1998 it is 'scream' and has been for the most part since 1965, if not before. This invasion into the lives of sexual assault survivors is nothing less than atrocious.

3) Blood/adults. This invasion into the doctor-patient relationship is atrocious. In at least one country it is illegal. The applied expulsion/shunning is not even defensible by Watchtower itself; eating PORK was a death sentence in ancient Israel. Calling all 'ELDER PORK POLICE!!!'

4) Blood/children. A choice between shunning/expulsion and a life saving blood transfusion therapy is no choice at all for a child and in a growing number of countries in the world it is illegal.

5) oral/anal sex. This intrusion into the intimate life of a married couple is inexcusable. This policy is still in effect, although it may well be a don't ask/don't tell threshold RIGHT NOW. In addition to the other factors, this rule especially hurts women because many women both past and present, use this type of sexual activity to control the size of their family while still maintaing marital intimacy, and it is private and low-cost.

6) African-Americans. Oh yes, in the rank and file this segment of the population fares very well. But as you go further up the JW heirarchal ladder (not so visible to the public) you will see the white skins more and more prevalent until you reach the Governing Body itself. One African-American member in 120+ years. As for African-American women and children, see numbers 1-5 above.

7) Theocratic Warfare Strategy. It's okay to lie sometimes, or obfuscate, or whatever word one wants to use. This will cost Watchtower BIG BIG time; it is an atrocious policy that should be done away with. A lie is a lie. A half-lie is still a lie.

8) Deceptive Recruiting Tactics. Another policy that will cost Watchtower BIG BIG BIG. In a worst case, one can study in Japan for six months, maybe longer, and not even know you are studying to be a Witness. On this side of the ocean, one can actually become a Jehovah's Witness and not be aware of the rape resistance, oral/anal sex, extreme shunning, and the UN/wild beast issues untill it is TOO LATE.

9) Rapists at People's Doors. Speaks for itself. Asinine on its face. Totally without redeeming social qualities. Did I say it spoke for itself? Well, I just couldn't resist.

10) Child baptism/shunning/expulsion. Becoming a legal matter in some countries, and definitely becoming one here. Is abusive at best and at worst can result in premature death of gifted young people, who had their whole lives ahead of them. To those of you, gone now, whose voices we can't hear right now, YOU WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN.

11) Reporting of intra-organizational sexual offenders. A supposed change finally, to a policy in effect since 1967 and illegal in most states and the Federal Government since I believe 1965.

Is that enough to get started with? This is not just about changing policy. This is also about getting justice for the survivors, recognition for those whose lives this religion has cost, and closure for everyone.

Oh and by the way, ((((((((((((( OldHippie )))))))))))))

41

News from Calgary

by larc in

jw
friends

the trial to decide whether the father can continue to allow his ill jw daughter to have blood transfusions is in progress.

four people are testifying in the father's defense.

jim penton, sam muramoto, chris christonson, and greg stafford.

dungbeetle

SHUNNED FATHER NEEDS HELP

Mar 26, 2002 18:31

I received this request for help via email ... I'm sure many will be aware of the recent events in Calgary that have been discussed on the forum:

It is important that interested persons receive my P.O. Box number and how they can send donations if they wish to help out in paying my huge legal bills. Even words of encouragement would be much appreciated.

Mail can be sent to:

SHUNNED FATHER
P.O. Box 20161
Calgary Place R.P.O.
Calgary, Alberta T2P 4J2

Donations can be sent to a trust fund set up by fellow employees to
help pay my legal expenses. Cheques can be made payable to:

Alberta Treasury Branch
Account number 07109 219 1182412 01

His name is Lawrence Hughes and I can't remember his email.

Lawrence Hughes is an intervenor in this case and he is supporting Child Welfare's case that the daughter is not old enough to make her own decisions and that the Province (like State) must decide on the girl's treatment. B.H. is the daughter who is arguing that she is an adult and not a minor and she wants to make her own decisions - such as not receiving a life saving blood transfusion. Of course in the background, telling the young girl and her mother and other sister what to say and paying for her legal fees is the Watchtower (or as I would like to call them the ________).

Below my name is the update from the Supreme Court of Canada as to what has gone on in the case. You can access this yourself by going to this url - http://209.47.227.134/scripts/hsrun.hse/haht51/SCC_CASE/SCC_CASE.htx;start=HS_scc_case?lang=0 and typing in the case number "29174". Then in the next window click on the underlined case number that shows up (29174)

Sadly the Watchtower has started another custody trial against the Alberta Children Services with Lawrence's daughter. This is trial number 2 and will start on June 17, 2002. According to Lawrence, the Director and Lawyer of Children Services do not want to spend money on this second case. Why? Well according to Lawrence, they are involved in another separate lawsuit that the WTS has launched against them over another little baby receiving a blood transfusion. It has scared the Director of Children Services to the point that the Alberta Children Services is only calling 1 Witness in Trial 2 involving Lawrence's daughter.

Just as sadly, Lawrence had gathered a lot of evidence he wanted called by the Children Services but they refuse to help.

Further (can it get any sadder?) Lawrence has paid his lawyer, Mr. Robert Calvert $8,000 of his $80,000 dollar bill. Mr. Calvert REFUSES to do any more work for Lawrence until he get paid!!!!! So Lawrence is going to be on his own without legal representation - a dangerous thing to have when we're talking the life of his daughter is in the balance

...Mr. Robert Calvert, Lawrence's lawyer, a piece of your mind - please Email him at [email protected] . While you are at it, why not contact the Alberta's Children Services lawyer, Beverly Bauer, doing the second trial at 403-297-3360 and ask why the hell her Director and her are only calling one witness in a case that risks a young girl's life!!!!

I have a call into Carol Harington at the Canadian Press over this as well.

29

New BOE letters every day!

by Kent in

jw
friends

from today there will be a new boe letter posted every day on the watchtower observer.. on http://kent.steinhaug.com/boe these letters will be downloadable as pdf documents, and every day i'm at home a new letter will be posted.

i will keep on doing this for more than a year, so keep yourself updated.. .

kent

dungbeetle

We bicker and quarrel among ourselves becasue that is what intelligent people do when they are not totally braindead and brainwashed.

((((( KrazyKent)))) ((((Simon)))) and everybody else:

We take a licking and keep on ticking.

41

News from Calgary

by larc in

jw
friends

the trial to decide whether the father can continue to allow his ill jw daughter to have blood transfusions is in progress.

four people are testifying in the father's defense.

jim penton, sam muramoto, chris christonson, and greg stafford.

dungbeetle

If this is who I think it is, I met him in Ritzville. Still on my tabletop are copies of some of his work, I am still looking at them from time to time in my quiet moments.

If this is he, he is very well spoken, can tend to dominate a conversation, needs to be right a lot, and REALLY knows his Bible. I remember well the discussion of the 'back-room secret trial' of Jesus and just how much that resembles the 3-man JC's of today.

Something else he talked about: about how the men who did the 'judging among yourselves' in the first century doesn't come close to the men who do the 'judging' among us today. They had 'gifts in men'; prophecy, tongues, and other gifts. Today these individuals have nothing like that, who are they to judge. It was a very moving portrayal and a good look back into a distant past, where events two-thousand years ago are still unfolding today.

Ahh Ritzville..the trial that changed my life...

Chris, wherever you are, be warm and well-fed my darling. I hope your car is running okay.

41

News from Calgary

by larc in

jw
friends

the trial to decide whether the father can continue to allow his ill jw daughter to have blood transfusions is in progress.

four people are testifying in the father's defense.

jim penton, sam muramoto, chris christonson, and greg stafford.

dungbeetle

JIM PENTON was born in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan just north of eastern Montana in April 1932. His great grandfather, Henry Penton, had become a Bible Student in association with the Watch Tower Society some time about 1900. Through Henry Penton, Jim's grandmother, Margaret Thomas Penton, and his parents, Levis and Ida Penton, became Bible Student-Jehovah's Witnesses.

In both the First and Second World Wars the Pentons experienced police raids on their homes as, during the First, Watch Tower literature was banned in Canada and, during the Second, Jehovah's Witnesses were completely outlawed. Although never disciplined directly over the flag salute issue, Jim indicates that he suffered the severe disapproval from one of his teachers over it.

For reasons of health Jim moved to Tucson, Arizona in 1948, finished high school there, and in 1951 married Marilyn Kling, a young Jehovah's Witness pioneer woman from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, whose great grandparents had been associated with Charles T. Russell as early as the 1880s. Rather than pioneering as a Witness evangelist, Jim decided to go on to university since health prohibited him from doing hard manual labor. He and Marilyn also wanted a family. Interestingly, Jim's family supported his decision to attend university despite the fact that many Witnesses and the Watch Tower Society looked askance at higher education

Jim graduated from the University of Arizona with a B.A. in 1956, and started graduate studies at the State University of lowa immediately thereafter. In 1958 he obtained a Master of Arts degree in history and in 1965 he received his Ph.D., also in history.

In 1959 Jim and family moved to Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, where Jim taught briefly at the Universidad de Puerto Rico. In 1960 he began teaching at Northern Michigan University at Marquette, where he and his family lived for three years. In the summer of 1963 Jim returned to lowa to complete his doctoral dissertation, and in 1964 he took a position at the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater. He determined to return to Canada, however, as the Pentons' sons were growing up, and Jim didn't want them to face being drafted or going to prison as conscientious objectors during the Vietnamese War. Thus, in 1965, Jim took a position at the University of Calgary in Alberta, and two years later at the University of Lethbridge, also in Alberta, where he taught until 1990. He is now a professor emeritus at the U of L. He is also a past president of the Canadian Society of Church History.

Over the years Jim and Marilyn remained loyal Jehovah's Witnesses, and Jim held practically every Witness congregational position then in existence - plus that of circuit news servant - at one time or another. After returning from a sabbatical leave in Spain in 1973, Jim was recommended to become a Witness elder. Then, in 1975 he published the book Jehovah's Witnesses in Canada which told the story of the Witnesses' fight for civil liberties under Canadian law. Thereafter he was active on a local hospital committee which dealt with blood transfusion cases, and in the mid 1970s began to symbolize his heavenly hope by partaking of the "Lord's Evening Meal" or communion, much to the shock of his wife and family.

Both Jim and Marilyn were becoming increasingly unhappy with the leadership of Jehovah's Witnesses during the late 1970s, however. Neither believed the Watch Tower Society's assertion that the present world would probably end in 1975, and both were taken aback by the fact that for years the Society refused to admit any fault in the matter. Both also became distressed over the Watch Tower's methods of cajoling ordinary Witnesses into going preaching from door to door, the Society's lack of love and concern for ordinary persons, and the mistreatment of their older son, David, for attending university. Thus, after a trip to the Watch Tower's Brooklyn, New York, Bethel headquarters in the summer of 1979, Jim decided to write a letter of protest to the Society concerning a number of issues. As a result, an attempt was made to remove him as an elder through the collection of solicited letters against him. Eventually this resulted in Jim's disfellowshipment and a major schism in southern Alberta. Over eighty persons, including fifteen members of the both Jim and Marilyn's families, left Lethbridge Witness congregations. In addition, news of this revolt against Watch Tower oppression was publicized throughout Canada and abroad. The story of what happened has been told in James Beverley's book Crisis of Allegiance. Unfortunately, the trauma connected with the Pentons' break with Jehovah's Witnesses had a serious impact on Jim's health. Shortly- thereafter he suffered two heart attacks and was forced to undergo a bowel resection, all as the result - in part at least - of extreme stress. Eventually Jim was forced to take early retirement from teaching in 1990.

Since leaving Jehovah's Witnesses, Jim has been active in Christian ministries. He has also edited two journals and written five articles on Jehovah's Witnesses for encyclopedias (including the Canadian Encyclopedia and the Americana), and the book Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses, which has received wide recognition throughout the English-speaking world and beyond. His publisher, the University of Toronto Press, is at present producing the second edition of Apocalypse Delayed.

Jim and Marilyn have three children - David, John, and Anne - and seven grandchildren. Until the fall of 1998, they lived in Lethbridge and then moved to Mexico where they built a new home in a community predominantly populated from Canada and the U.S. as well as other countries.

Dr. Osamu Muromoto: (cannot find a bio for him)

Muramoto, Osamu (1998a) Medical ethics in the treatment of Jehovahs Witnesses. Archives of Internal Medicine 158(10):1155-1156.

Muramoto, Osamu (1998b) Letter: Jehovahs Witnesses and blood transfusions. The Lancet 352:824
Muramoto, Osamu (1998c)Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovahs Witnesses: part 1. Should bioethical deliberation consider dissidents views? Journal of Medical Ethics 24:223-230.
Muramoto, Osamu (1998d) Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovahs Witnesses: part 2. A novel approach based on rational non-interventional paternalism. Journal of Medical Ethics 24:295-301.
Muramoto, Osamu (1999) Recent developments in medical care of Jehovahs Witnesses
Western Journal of Medicine 170:297-301
Muramoto, Osamu (2000) Medical Confidentiality and the protection of Jehovahs Witness autonomous refusal of blood Journal of Medical Ethics 26:381-386
Muramoto, Osamu (2001) Bioethical aspects of the recent changes in the policy of refusal of blood by Jehovahs Witnesses British Medical Journal 322:37-39
I draw a complete blank on Chris Christonson, sorry.
Oh HAWKAW!!!!

4

Information Required Urgently - Law Matters

by invisible in

jw
friends

as a point of interest, i would be most interested to acquire the names of the attorney's representing the state for the prosecution vs the watchtower, as per the rulings in the supreme court in times gone by.. if any of you would be so kind as to forward this at the earliest opportunity, it would be very much appreciated on my/our behalf.. please either post or send the information to these two addresses, stating plainly in the subject title the content within:.

[email protected].

thankyou.. mark price

dungbeetle

http://usgovinfo.about.com/blctcontact.htm

The Supreme Court is located across from the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

The Justices do not have e-mail addresses, but you can write to them at:

Justice (or Chief Justice) (Justice's Full Name)
Supreme Court of the United States
One First Street N.E.
Washington, DC 20543

General questions should be addressed to:

Public Information Officer
Supreme Court of the United States
Washington, DC 20543
http://usgovinfo.about.com/blctjustices.htm
William Rehnquist
Chief Justice
John Paul Stevens
Sandra Day O'Connor
Antonin Scalia
Anthony Kennedy
David Souter
Clarence Thomas
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Stephen Breyer
supremem court webpage:
http://usgovinfo.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.supremecourtus.gov/
And here, for the city of Stratton:
http://cantorlaw.lawoffice.com/home.htm
9930 Johnnycake Ridge Road
Concord, Ohio 44060
Telephone: (440) 354-7749
Facsimile: (440) 354-7392
E-mail: [email protected]
Bar Admissions:
Ohio, 1973
U.S. District Court Northern District of Ohio, 1976
U.S. District Court Southern District of Ohio, 1976
Education:
Case Western Reserve University Law School, Cleveland, OH
Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA, 1968
B.S.
Birth Information:
1946