ABibleStudent

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Posts by ABibleStudent

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  15

  Doctrine, Disfellowshipping and the IRS

  by OrphanCrow in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i watched an episode of "lie to me" on netflix that piqued my curiosity.. .

  in the episode truth or consequences, a cult leader is investigated by the irs to determine if his cult has tax exemption or not.. one of the criteria that has to be met in order to be a legitimate 'church' or 'religion' in the eyes of the irs is that the members have to display "genuine belief'.. here is the portion of the script that speaks of this:.

  http://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=lie-to-me&episode=s02e02.

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  ABibleStudent

  Hi OrphanCrow, Very thoughtful and researched comments. Getting a bureaucracy to become proactive takes a lot of effort, unless politicians pass laws to either fund it to be proactive or penalize it for draggin its feet.

  Have you thought about contacting Congressional representatives to promote changing tax laws for non-profit organizations? Have you thought about becoming more politically active, like joining the Linkedin group Advocates for Protecting Children from Maltreatment ( www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=6784497&trk=anet_ug_hm )?

  I feel that Congress should require non-profit organizations to comply with some minimal societal requirements, such as implement effective practices to protect children from abuse and sexual abuse, to promote tolerant and inclusive behavior to members (e.g., not promote ostracising of members to members and not promote avoiding contact with non-members), and not promote nor practise acts of discrimination. It would also be good if non-profits were required to spend at least half their income on charitable activities that equally benefit non-members as well as members, and other measures to audit their finances.

  People can think - organizations can't, so I feel that tax laws can be changed to encourage the WTBTS to change its behavior of using "undue influence" to victimize JWs without violating 1st amendment rights.

  Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

  Robert
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  21

  CANDACE CONTI - What's the current status?

  by EdenOne in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i'm in a little urgency to know this, so please, if you can help:.

  as far as i understand, this is the sequence of events:.

  a) june 14th 2012 - on a trial by jury, cancace conti wins a civil law case involving child sexual abuse.

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  ABibleStudent

  According to the court's scheduling calendar, oral arguments are heard from 2 to 4 times per month. Maybe this is the reason that oral arguments are not scheduled yet. Also, I am sure that the judges (or their clerks) need to do a lot of reading.

  According to the calendar, the next scheduled meeting of Division 3 is Nov. 12 and then Nov. 24, assuming that the disposition doesn't change with the case being assigned to a different division.

  Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

  Robert
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  99

  New development in my life

  by EdenOne in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  no longer a ms ........................... can't give details atm, for it might be a dead-giveaway and it ain't quite over yet.

  but, it really taught me one thing: if you're trying to fade or stay in, trust no one.

  and i mean no one.. eden.

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  ABibleStudent

  Best of wishes EdenOne to you and your wife living Watchtower free for the rest of your lives together! I hope that you will share what worked for you with other JWN members.

  Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

  Robert
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  1

  Message from Spanish researchers seeking subjects for study of NONabusive group involvements

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the following email was sent to me from michael langone, editor-in-chief of the international cultic studies association (icsa), a very reputable organization.

  perhaps some readers would like to participate in this research study which sounds like an excellent and beneficial project.. barbara.

  dear sir or madam,.

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  ABibleStudent

  BTTT

  Thank you Barbara for posting links to this survery. More surveys like this might help convince politicians to revise laws to stop supporting organizations that use "undue influence" to victimize their members.

  I wish that survey needed responses from people who were encouraged to join, but decided not to become indoctrinated and why. I would enjoy completing that survey.

  Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

  Robert
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  55

  Taking on Jehovah's Witnesses fake Child Safeguarding Policy in the UK

  by Watchtower-Free in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  found this on youtube.

  this is louise goode .

  shes also on facebook.

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  ABibleStudent

  Hi AnnOMaly, I don't know enough about U.K. Charity laws to comment on what would motivate the Charity Commission and whether the WTBTS could lose tax breaks or lose government subsidies.

  If U.K. bureaucrats are like American bureaucrats, they are more interested in not causing waves to keep their jobs, and less on proactively enforcing laws. If the U.K. laws were more explicit and left bureaucrats no option but to be proactive, then I would feel more confident that the WTBTS would either have to change or lose its charitable status.

  Also, remember how long the WTBTS was able to avoid complying with Victoria Australia's child protection law and who finally forced the government and the WTBTS to comply.

  Peace be with you, and everyone, who you love,

  Robert
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  21

  CANDACE CONTI - What's the current status?

  by EdenOne in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i'm in a little urgency to know this, so please, if you can help:.

  as far as i understand, this is the sequence of events:.

  a) june 14th 2012 - on a trial by jury, cancace conti wins a civil law case involving child sexual abuse.

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  ABibleStudent

  I would visit http://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/dockets.cfm?dist=1&doc_id=2025979&doc_no=A136641 to learn when the oral arguments are scheduled.

  Now would be the time to start planning to visit the courthouse in California on the day of the oral arguments to support Candace Conti.

  Kathleen Conti, Candace's mother, might have more information. People can connect with Kathleen on Linkedin (www.linkedin.com/pub/kathleen-conti/18/969/2b/). Or, join the Linkedin Group Advocates for Protecting Children from Maltreatment that Barbara Anderson and Kathleen started, so that they can send emails to Kathleen.

  Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

  Robert
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  55

  Taking on Jehovah's Witnesses fake Child Safeguarding Policy in the UK

  by Watchtower-Free in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  found this on youtube.

  this is louise goode .

  shes also on facebook.

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  ABibleStudent

  Hi AnnOMaly, Although the U.K. publications for protecting children that you quoted appear sufficient to a person, who cares about protecting children from sexual abuse, from an enforcement perspective it needs to be strengthened. Laws need to use words like "shall" and "must" and not "will" and "may require" to prevent organizations like the WTBTS from ignoring them. There also must be heavy penalties for not complying with laws both for the law breaker and agencies responsible for enforcement.

  I feel that dangerous cults like the WTBTS will find a way to avoid following child protection laws until laws specifically state that charitiable organizations must not "unduly influence" members by promoting that their members must ostercize each other for any reason. Let people critically think for themselves and decide what is best for them.

  It would be even better if laws required organizations with a history of promoting ostercism to promote to their members to not ostercise other members for as long as and as frequently as they promoted ostercising members. Also, It is more likely that laws would be enforced if politicians required the lead government agency to form a working group of charitable organizations and advocates to assist regulators enforcing laws.

  The WTBTS was able to avoid complying with child protection laws in Victoria, Australia until Steven Unthank, a private citizen, tried to prosecute the WTBTS in court. It was discouraging that the government did not want to enforce laws passed by politicians. It is almost as if politicians must include provisions for providing dedicated funds to enforce child protection laws and/or penalizing government agencies for not enforcing those laws.

  Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

  Robert
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  127

  I'm sitting here listening to a JW try to recruit somebody

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm at starbucks .

  just outside in the courtyard.. i'm trembling.

  my hands are shaking.. wow!.

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  ABibleStudent

  Congratulations Terry. You are truly saving that JW's life from the WTBTS.

  Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

  Robert
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  55

  Taking on Jehovah's Witnesses fake Child Safeguarding Policy in the UK

  by Watchtower-Free in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  found this on youtube.

  this is louise goode .

  shes also on facebook.

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  ABibleStudent

  Phizzy - The investigation referred to above is by the Charities Commission and is very toothless in this particular area in that it can only act on breaches of Charity Law.

  Laws can be changed! A couple of years ago there was a U.K. petition for parliament to revoke the WTBTS charity status. It was too narrow in scope. IMHO it should have required parliament to change the charitable law to promote and protect UK citizen's basic human rights.

  Why can't Brits petition parliament to revise charitable laws to require charitable organizations to promote basic societal requirements like create and implement effective child protection practices, promote critical thinking instead of using "undue influence" to control members, and promote tolerance - not hatred and discrimination? To be an EU member countries promise not to infringe on basic human right that include freedom of thought. Why can't U.K. law require charitable organizations to do the same.

  People can think – organizations can’t! When people act contrary to the law, they are held accountable. If charitable laws are changed and an organization’s practices are contrary to the law, then the organization and its leaders should be held accountable.

  Effective policies to protect children from sexual abuse would include:

  • Background checks of members caring for children and in authority positions supervising activities involving children;
  • Reporting all suspected criminal acts to police ASAP and before reporting them to the organization’s legal department;
  • Requiring parents or at least two non-related and opposite-sex adults supervise an organization’s activities when children are present; and
  • Organizations must not promote ostracizing members to other members for any reason.

  Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

  Robert
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  55

  Taking on Jehovah's Witnesses fake Child Safeguarding Policy in the UK

  by Watchtower-Free in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  found this on youtube.

  this is louise goode .

  shes also on facebook.

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  ABibleStudent

  If you are interested in collaborating with other people on SOL reform and other novel ideas to protect children from sexual abuse, have you checked out Advocates for Protecting Children from Maltreatment group on Linkedin? It is an open group, so any Linkedin member should have no problems reading discussions. If you're not a Linkedin member, you will need to join Linkedin to read any discussions.

  The group was started less than 2 weeks ago and has 52 members. Linkedin members from around the world are encouraged to join, share their ideas, and spread the word to other advocates.

  Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

  Robert