Posts by GermanXJW

13

WTS Again in Court in Germany to Be Granted Special Status

by GermanXJW in

jw
friends

in a long legal fight, the wts will be in court in germany on march 25th, 2004 again to get registration as a "public body".

in the last days of the gdr (the communist german democratic republic) jw were registered as an official religious community.

after the reunification they legally moved jw headquarters to berlin and widend their responsibilities to the whole of german.

GermanXJW

Not every church gets church tax in Germany. To get a tax it has to be raised by the church. It is the State who collects the tax for the church and gets a fee for doing this from the church. (This is different to the Italian system where each citizen has to pay a tax and can decide which institution gets it.)

The R&F JW usually bashes those churches raising a church tax.

But I think JW want this status for the other benefits than church tax.

7

I can speak in tongues

by JH in

jw
friends

ok, not exactly speak, but i can write in many languages now.

try this link.

really cool.. http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/

GermanXJW

I think I know what you intended to say. Holy babelfish!

56

More KM convention instruction gems! (KM Feb 04)

by ozziepost in

jw
friends

truthseeker brought news to us of the controlling instructions in the april km .

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/68733/1.ashx.

just two months before (feb04) were instructions on how to make hotel and motel reservations and has these mind-numbing gems: (they're on page 8) .

GermanXJW

Some years ago I chatted with the Secretary of the congregation and he told me that he would get a lower price if he negotiated with the hotels directly. It was not really a bargain to do it via the WTS-list. He then told me that he was convinced that the Society has some gain and somehow supports the travelling of people from Bethel or other higher ranks with this money.

13

WTS Again in Court in Germany to Be Granted Special Status

by GermanXJW in

jw
friends

in a long legal fight, the wts will be in court in germany on march 25th, 2004 again to get registration as a "public body".

in the last days of the gdr (the communist german democratic republic) jw were registered as an official religious community.

after the reunification they legally moved jw headquarters to berlin and widend their responsibilities to the whole of german.

GermanXJW

In a long legal fight, the WTS will be in court in Germany on March 25th, 2004 again to get registration as a "Public Body".

In the last days of the GDR (the communist German Democratic Republic) JW were registered as an official religious community. After the reunification they legally moved JW headquarters to Berlin and widend their responsibilities to the whole of German. Then they claimed that the GDR recognition meant that they were now a public body. This was denied by the Berlin Senate but they went thru the instances. (

The public body status is granted to many religious organisations. Interestingly, back in the 60s they rejected to apply for this status because it was against their beliefs. The main advantages of the status:

tax advantages

advantages in buying real estate

the right to get church taxes collected by the state

public financial support of youth work

right to certificate documents

Chronology

25th October, 1993 Verwaltungsgericht Berlin (Status has to be given, but not because of GDR recognition)

14th December, 1995 Oberverwaltungsgericht Berlin (Status has to be given, but not because of GDR recognition)

26th June, 1997 Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Status denied!)

19th Dezember 2000 Bundesverfassungsgericht (case of Bundesverwaltungsgericht remanded, case has to be reconsidered, court has to check real JW behavior not what is said)

So, now next round on March 25th, 2004. This time the court has to check what the actual JW behavior is.

88

Would You Return To The Organization If You Were Given Total Amnesty?

by minimus in

jw
friends

if you knew that the policy was that there would be no more witchhunts, no more disfellowshippings or shunning of any kind, would you be tempted to go back?

GermanXJW

Amnesty is for you if you have done anything wrong, is it not?

So, I would not care.

13

a smurf question

by galaxy7 in

jw
friends

in some posts i have noticed the mention of smurfs .

was there some publication that i missed from the watchtower that said they were evil??.

i know its a silly question but i never knew it was wrong

GermanXJW

I have never heard one of that strange stories. But when I was a kid I wanted to have a smurf wallpaper and my parents said no because they (the smurfs, not my parents) were small ghosts from the forest and we should not have them.

BTW, Beans, is that a convention badhge on your shirt?

25

In official JW think, is there anyone worse than an apostate?

by True North in

jw
friends

in official jw think, is there anyone worse than an apostate?

jws are supposed to believe that apostates are worse than serial killers, or child molesters, or even hitler, right?

it's been a while for me so i may not remember this exactly right or what i remember may now be "old light" so i'd appreciate it if anyone could provide an update on the latest jw position on this.

GermanXJW

Come on, there must be something worse than me. ;)

22

"He's a Jehovah"

by logansrun in

jw
friends

have you ever thought that "jehovahs witnesses" is a difficult name to pronounce for a religion?

if i had a dollar for every time in my life someone said, "oh, you're a jehovah, aren't you?

i'm a jehovah.

GermanXJW

I always found it strange to go to a "Kingdom Hall". In German that even has four syllables "Koenigreichssaal" which btw is always spelled wrong by a good number of JWs in Germany.

When I was part of the local Public Affairs Team in the congregation I brought that topic up if it would not be better to find another name. I just got the reply that a change like that had to come directly from the Governing Body.

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