JeffT

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Posts by JeffT

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  118

  Christian Pastors ORDERED to Marry Gays or Face JAIL TIME & FINES $$$

  by oneyeopen in

  1. social
  2. current

  o.k just worked out how to start a new post/thread, just came across this and wanted to share with anyone that may be interested.. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/oct/20/idaho-citys-ordinance-tells-pastors-to-marry-gays-/.

  coeur dalene, idaho, city officials have laid down the law to christian pastors within their community, telling them bluntly via an ordinance that if they refuse to marry homosexuals, they will face jail time and fines.. read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/oct/20/idaho-citys-ordinance-tells-pastors-to-marry-gays-/#ixzz3ibe4kyvq follow us: @washtimes on twitter.

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  JeffT

  I've been to at least two weddings at The Hitching Post. I have in-laws in Coeur d'Alene and I'm very familiar with the place.

  The Hitching Post is a for profit business. The only things you need to get married there are a valid marriage license and the fee. They do not ask any questions about your religious beliefs. You do not have to be a member of any church. There is no membership at The Hitching Post, any more than you have to a member of something to get married by an Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas. I believe they claim to have married 35,000 couples there. I had no idea the owners of the place had any religious affliation until this story broke. If they want to be pastors, they should start a church. If they want to act as officers of the state by signing marriage licenses (a legal document) they have to follow the law.
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  15

  How many lawsuits can the WTBTS absorb?

  by Coded Logic in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it seems like the society has been desperately seeking ways to cut costs and boost reviniew (jw.org, kingdom hall programs, etc) over the past four or five years.

  is this because donations are actually down?

  or have they been preparing themselves for these lawsuits?

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  JeffT

  Band, your legal opinion is wanted here. I keep saying that I don't think they can hide assets by buying property, or investing in mutual funds or whatever. As long as the WTBS controls the asset, somebody could potentially get it, even in a bankruptcy. Am I correct? They might hide it for awhile, but if there's enough money at stake, spending some on forensic accountants to find it becomes profitable.

  Obviously, they could put it in offshore accounts, but too much of that will mean they can't operated here any more.
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  51

  Science is right in its details, but wrong in its direction

  by exWTslave in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  science observes, studies and analyses the basic nature of all the components constituting the part of any experiment, follows the principle of cause and effect, and come out with equipments that would contribute to our comfort and save us lots of time and energyall of which are ultimately aimed at making life on this earth happier, longer and healthier, thus making this world a better place to live.. yet man day-by-day becomes more and more unhappy and discontented, and world is becoming bitter and bitter!

  it means: though science is right in its details, it has gone wrong in its direction.

  it failed to rightly judge and assess the true nature of its prime object (man) for whom it works.

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  JeffT

  Science sees man as purely material

  Nonsense. Science doesn't see anything in any particular way. Science is a method of discovery by which we learn more about the world around us.
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  11

  Christmas lights

  by Gorbatchov in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this night i installed christmas lights in the trees in the front garden of our house.. we all like it, the children like it, so this is the first year we have this lightning.

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  hope the elders will like it too ;-).

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  JeffT

  The first year we celebrated Christmas (1988) I put up a few lights. We only made the decision to celebrate about a week after Thanksgiving, so we didn't have a lot of prep time. The second year I had something like 2500 lights on the house.
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  8

  2008 Watchtower Income Tax Return

  by objectivetruth in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i found this, and did not see it posted previously.. thought i'd post it, in case it's of use to anyone.. http://irs990.charityblossom.org/990t/200908/111753577.pdf.

  according to this all assets in 2008 were valued at $400,000,000.

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  JeffT

  This isn't an income tax form. Well it is, but it is not THE income tax form. This is the IRS description of this form:

  "Because tax-exempt organizations generally operate for charitable or other beneficial purposes, most income that they receive is exempt from tax under the Internal Revenue Code. Tax-exempt organizations are permitted to engage in income-producing activities that are considered to be unrelated to their exempt purposes. However, income from these activities may be taxable. This study measures income, deductions, and tax imposed on tax-exempt corporate and trust entities' unrelated business income. Data are compiled from Form 990-T, Exempt Organization Business Income Tax Return."

  In this case its for some kind of Limited Partnership of which the WTBS has an interest. I can't find out much about "Provictor Property Fund" I think it is probably a Real Estate Investment Trust. The 400 million dollars is probably the total value of the trust, of which the WTBS owns some percentage. I suspect that there are lots of these forms floating around somewhere. The Watchtower is smart enough to be doing something with its money.
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  26

  how long before an overworked wt lawyer says SCREW THIS!!!

  by nowwhat? in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

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  JeffT

  How would you know what lawyers are trained to look for?

  Probably watching TV lawyers. I gave up watching "How to Get Away with Murder" because I could not suspend enough disbelief long enough to get through an episode. Apparently the writers have never heard of discovery, and the ethical violations would get everybody involved disbarred.

  Band, I agree with your prescription for the WTBS. If the instructions to the elders were "if you hear about abuse, turn it over to the police immediately," and they did background checks on anybody that was going to be around some one else's kids, their legal problems would largely or entirely go away.
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  4

  With the WT open door policy, is it possible to protect itself against predators.

  by Quarterback in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i would love to see an organization free of exposure of sexual predators.

  the globe is full of them.

  some states feature alerts on the map to inform families how close a predator lives to them.

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  JeffT

  The state of Washington requires that volunteers at school agree to a background check. It would not be at all out of line for the congregations to run background checks on everybody going in field service, working around the Hall etc. It wouldn't catch everybody, but at least they'd know who had a rap sheet. The last church I attended also ran background checks on volunteers.
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  20

  Honduras bus crash leaves 14 dead and 55 injured - JW

  by TheTruthBR in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  honduras bus crash leaves 14 dead and 55 injuredbus veered off road and crashed into ravine.

  by ruth doherty, nov 1, 2014. updated: november 1, 2014 8:10 am.

  afp/getty images.

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  JeffT

  Sad news - no one deserves to die in such circumstances whether their bus is on the way to an assembly or a soccer match, what difference does it make why they were on the bus?

  Simon, on one level you are right, it doesn't make any difference. And when the WTBS starts printing stories about how a bunch of faithful Witnesses made it to a soccer match safely, it won't.

  It is a tragedy. It would be interesting to know how qualified the bus driver was.
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  7

  I'm doing NaNoWriMo again this year.

  by JeffT in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  unlike most nano's i'm going to try to finish a novel instead of starting it, but the basic goal - writing 50,000 words in 30 days - remains the same.

  i have about half of a science fiction/military action novel i've been fooling around with for about a year.

  i'm going to finish the thing and try hard to get something published.

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  JeffT

  @ Hey There

  Buddy me if you want. Jeff Thomas, the title of the book is "With Our Backs to the Wall." I'm going to put an introduction in the sci fi section some time today.
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  7

  I'm doing NaNoWriMo again this year.

  by JeffT in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  unlike most nano's i'm going to try to finish a novel instead of starting it, but the basic goal - writing 50,000 words in 30 days - remains the same.

  i have about half of a science fiction/military action novel i've been fooling around with for about a year.

  i'm going to finish the thing and try hard to get something published.

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  JeffT

  Unlike most Nano's I'm going to try to finish a novel instead of starting it, but the basic goal - writing 50,000 words in 30 days - remains the same. I have about half of a science fiction/military action novel I've been fooling around with for about a year. I'm going to finish the thing and try hard to get something published.