Posts by MacHislopp

19

Social Security and Jws

by badboy in

jw
friends

i am a severly disabled adult who receives disability benefits.. i understand sometime ago the watchtower said in one of its magazine(probably watchtower)that a smaller pertentage(sic)of jws claimed the dole in france(this was, i believe during the problems with the french government)as opposed to a higher pertentage(sic)of roman catholic etc etc claiming the dole.. in view of what paul says in one of his letter`he that doesn't work, shall not eat' should jws be claiming the dole if they truly follow the bible.

discuss.. i believe a social security system should provide for the disabled and pensioners.

(i don't think the present uk social security system will survive in its present form with accelerting(sic)costs etc etc)

MacHislopp

Hello Badboy,

sorry to read about your situation.

I'll comment later. Reborn 2002: good comment!

Greetings, J.C.MacHislopp

16

End of Times/Anointed/WTBTS

by MacHislopp in

jw
friends

sometime ago, the wtbts published.

a watchtower study article,that.

pointed to :.

MacHislopp

Hello everyone,

thanks for the comments...quite

interesting. I'll come backon them.

Pureheart: I'll keep you informed on the latest...

viewpoint. Greetings, J.C.MacHislopp

16

End of Times/Anointed/WTBTS

by MacHislopp in

jw
friends

sometime ago, the wtbts published.

a watchtower study article,that.

pointed to :.

MacHislopp

Hello everyone,

Sometime ago, the WTBTS published
a watchtower study article,that
pointed to :

"…six lines of evidence proving that we are living in the last days of this ungodly world"

(w. January 15,2000, pag. 12 §12)

Just a page more and we could find
this question on § 18th:

" Evidently, what will be true of some of the anointed when the great tribulation begins, and how may this be determined?"

Now, in the 18th paragraph we can
read the following :

"Sixth, the number of genuine anointed disciples of Christ is
dwindling, though some will evidently still be on the earth
when the great tribulation begins.
Most of the remnant are quite elderly, and over
The years the number of those who are truly anointed has been getting smaller. Yet, referring to the great tribulation, Jesus stated:" Unless
those days were cut short, no flrsh would be saved;
but on account of the chosen ones those days will
be cut short." '(Matthew 24:21,22) Evidently, then,
some of Christ's " chosen ones" will still be on earth when the great tribulation begins.*
(*) The footnote mentions the parable of the sheep and the goats and the last part reads:

" …This standard for judgment would be meaningless if at the time of judgment, all of Christ's brothers had long since left the earthly scene.-
Matthew 25: 31-46 "(w. January 15,2000 p. 13 §18)

Let's start with the comments:

°Please note the frequent use of the words :
evidence and evidently.
Normally it's use implies that there is
some evidence or some facts;

° Those "six lines of evidence " are …" proving ";

°Notice the number of …." ge n u I n e anointed " and also the
number of those who are …" t r u l y anointed ";
Why the WTBS makes this remark???

But what I do find really very, very interesting is this clear statement
at the beginning of paragraph 18th - in italic the watchtower -

"Sixth, the number of genuine anointed disciples of Christ is
dwindling,…."

Is it really so?? I do mean, taking all the written records, provided for everyone, in the WTBS own pubblications? Let's take the last 50 years.

Number of anointed - in the year 1950 - ………..22,723

Number of anointed -in the year 2001…………. 8,730

So far it looks ..good.

But if we check carefully the given figures, for all the years since
1950 we do have some …surprises!

1) It took 14 years to arrive to almost half of that number

i.e. …..11,292 anointed in the year 1963;

2) Then, strangely 38 years later i.e. the year 2001, we still

have 8,730 anointed which means that after 38 years

we have still 77,31 % of all the anointed ones, that were

living in 1963!

Remember: "… Most of the remnant are quite elderly,…"

and : " …. the number of genuine anointed disciples

of Christ is dwindling.."

Is it me or else….?

3) From 9,727 "anointed remnant "in the year 1979, it took

21 years to see the number diminishing of about 1000

(more precisely 997 ) ….to have 8,730 " anointed remnant",

and all this by the year 2001.

4) Yet, from the year 1989, total of 8,734 " anointed remnant"

we arrive 12 years later, in the year 2001 and ….we have a

total of 8,730 " anointed remnant "!!!

In few words, it took - before - 21 years to " diminuish "

of almost a thousand ….and now in 12 years the number

of " anointed remnant " has decreased of "….4 " ???

Surely something, somehow, somewhere doesn't tick….or

it's me again???

Your comments are welcome,

Greetings, J.C.MacHislopp

1

WTBS and Christian religion

by MacHislopp in

jw
friends

i would like to share with you some thoughts.

-"... organized christian religion ...".

religion in france.".

MacHislopp

Hello everyone,

I would like to share with you some thoughts
About the attitude and the - actions - of the
WTBS in the field of "…organized Christian
religion".

Many of us are well aware of the many
legal procedures that the WTBS has and
still does follows , with the noble goal to
be granted, by various governments, the
legal status of an:

-"… organized Christian religion …"

or even claiming to be (as in France):

- "… we are the third-largest Christian
religion in France."

All these recent legal actions should
not permit our …collective memory to fail
us, and the WTBS written records will
help us to have a better and more complete
view of this matter.
Let's go back to a special year, 1943 …that
Year the WTBS published a well known book:
"Thhe truth shall make you free ".
Now let's see what they wrote about the subject

- organized religion and - Christian religion.

We open pages 314 and 315 of that book and we read:

"Many sincere persons continue under bondage
to "organized religion" because their clergy have
mistaught them to think that "Christendom's "
religion and Christianity are the same thing.
In due time the exposure of this came out.
In 1928 this statement was published and spread
Throughout "Christendom": Satan is the god
of this world, and therefore the nations of the
world can not properly be designated as Christian nations. THERE IS NO SUCH THING
AS A CHRISTIAN RELIGION, BECAUSE TRUE CHRISTIANITY IS NOT A RELIGION." (The book Government, page 139,
§1; published 1928) This truth was made more
prominent from 1936 forward , and the religionist everywhere manifested great indi-
gnationat this exposure and at the public pronouncement that " religion is a snare and a
racket". Both sixteen centuries of history till
now and the present way of religion back up the
foregoing statement as true."

- end of quote -

(Bold as in the original page).

The simple question is : where is
to be found, today , the TRUTH…
that , according to Jesus Christ's
words …shall make you free???

a) Only inside an organized religion?
b) Only inside an organized Christian religion?
c) Only inside Christianity?

d) Only inside Christendom?
e) Only inside any kind of organized religion?
f) Only inside God's Word the Bible?
g) …Nowhere???

Remember that the above statement :

« THERE IS NO SUCH THING
AS A CHRISTIAN RELIGION, BECAUSE TRUE
CHRISTIANITY IS NOT A RELIGION."
(The book Government, page 139,
§1; published 1928) »
comes from an organisation claiming, among other things,
to be the only one approved by God, and
to base all its teachings entirely on the Bible !

It is obvious that the WTBS answer, keeps
changing…according to many factors…not
excluding power, prestige, money etc. etc.

Greetings to you all, J.C.MacHislopp

P.S. I hope Pureheart will read this.

4

Where are the " PRINCES "???

by MacHislopp in

jw
friends

most of you would know the answer,.

i do mean the most recent - answers -.

given to this question, based on texts.

MacHislopp

Hello everyone,

Most of you would know the answer,
I do mean the most recent - answers -
given to this question, based on texts
such as Psalm 45:16 and Isaiah 32:1
and taught in various publications
of the WTBS., the latest printed in the
year 2000.

I'm also sure that some of you are not
aware of an earlier - teaching - on the
same subject which stated :

'Where are those future "princes" now?
Not in any imaginaryplace called limbo,
neither in heaven. They are dead , in Sheol
or hell, the place of unconsciousness and
non-existence in death. Faithful Jacob expected
to go there, and thought that his beloved
son Joseph was there also."

(from the book " The truth shall make
you free" page 356, published in 1943
by the WTBS Inc. , New York).

And also , about the same subject,
on page 358 , of the same book:

" …Now the King has come to the
temple and resurrected the sleeping saints
and gathered his faithful remnant into
the temple condition od unity with him,
there is hope that these faithful men of old
may be resurrected in the near future."

And now this:

"Some Scripture texts and
prophetic dramas suggest that they maybe
raised to life before the battle of Armaghed-
don and may meet the faithful spiritual
remnant and with them see the mighty
battle and the glorious victory of which
They prophesied."

The point is that now :

° the princes are no longer the - faithful
men of old - but today's elders …

° the generation of 1914 - which included
many of the ' faithful remnant 'has
been …eliminated, including the
Creator's promise linked with it.

So in a few years …" The truth that
shall make you free "…is not - the
TRUTH- anymore. In conclusion for
those who have great difficulty in
accepting the simple facts …this
is another clear proof of another
WTBS …deceptive teachings.

Greetings, J.C.MacHislopp

44

PUBLISHERS

by Frenchy in

jw
friends

jehovahs witnesses are under a grand and multi-faceted illusion that has been fabricated and is being maintained by the society.

one such facet of that great illusion is that jws are actually proclaiming gods kingdom and teaching people the truth about god and jesus.

it was only a few years ago (hey, im not the brightest candle on the cake!

MacHislopp

Hello Frenchy,

allow me to congratulate you

for your fine ...shredding of the WTBS actions.

Logical, factual and true presentation of what

really happens. Excellent choice of words!

A post to keep on the files. I'm sure that many

will agree with me. Thanks again.

To Waiting: thanks for your fine comments.

I do appreciate this part:

"The WTBTS tells all new converts (within the first weeks of

studying) that they will be persecuted by their families & friends.

And for the reasons you gave (which I agree with) - usually someone

does talk against the jw's - or those people just don't want to

hear anymore about the jw's.

This is viewed as persecution, the new person pulls

further away from family and friends, and is lonely.

"...you turn to the only source of human companionship now available to you…the brotherhood. "

A really true statement. I do like your comments,

very ,very logical and well written.Thanks.

Greetings, J.C.MacHislopp

62

Is Watchtower Literature inspired?

by YoYoMama in

jw
friends

the question.

is all watchtower articles, books, etc.

inspired by god as the bible was?

MacHislopp

Hello YoYo,

I would like to add something to Alan's

excellent and factual comment:

"...found out a lot about the history of the Society, from their own records, that the Governing Body and other officials decided was too hot for the JW community to handle, so they left it out. A great deal of the information in the book is so watered down that someone who doesn't already know the real story is totally misled. Whoever put the book into final form was thoroughly dishonest."

* the book it is presented in subject and not in a
chronological order. More diificult if not very
very difficult for any JWs, to find out the true
line of thoughts and above all events;

* Try to compare the dates, the facts (not mentioned)
of the " Proclaimers' "book, published in 1993,
with the facts, and events mentioned in the book
" The Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine purpose "
published in 1958! You'll be surprised.

The "Proclaimers' book, is really ...
a re-written history .

Let me know the result of your comparison.

Greetings, J.C.MacHislopp

10

WTBS' letter about TMS on the web

by MacHislopp in

jw
friends

just found this on the web.

http://www.eusty.co.uk/.

:-[letterhead from the legal department at patterson] december 5, 2001 .

MacHislopp

Hello Picosito,

first of all welcome!

Second your comments are right on target!

Round this part of the world we say:

"...spitting on the hand that feeds you...!"

Greetings, J.C.MacHislopp

2

WTBS' SITUATION IN EUROPE

by MacHislopp in

jw
friends

just as requested by isp.

and as a reminderfor others.

i'm posting the full article , mentioned.

MacHislopp

Hello everyone,

Just as requested by ISP
and as a reminderfor others
I'm posting the full article , mentioned
by Kent on the main topic United Nations
on the 27th August 2001 -.

It contains many interestings facts
about the WTBS situation in Europe.
I'm sure that many of the things stated,
presented by Philip Brumley, -General
Counsel for Jehovah's Witnesses - are
unknown to the vast majority of JWs
even in Europe and some of the " words
and « phrases « chosen will surprise many
of you. Here are some ex.

-deny religious status to Jehovah’s Witnesses
(in France);

- refused recognition to Jehovah’s Witnesses as a "public law" corporation(in Germany);

- special religious category called "confessional community."(in Austria);

- "…we are now required to wait an additional 10-year probationary period before we may once again apply for recognition as a religion." (in Austria);

- "…members of religious orders" (in Sweden);

- "…within the context of a monastic arrangement…" (in Sweden);

- "… Instead of recognizing the monastic nature of our office in Sweden,…"(in Sweden).-

For those who whish to search the web,
this is the link:

< http://www.house.gov/international_relations/full/relminor/brumley.htm

which had the following informations.

"
HEARING BY HOUSE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Rayburn House Office Building
June 14, 2000
THE TREATMENT OF RELIGIOUS MINORITIES IN WESTERN EUROPE"

Effect on Institutional Level and Personal Lives

Presented by Philip Brumley
General Counsel for Jehovah’s Witnesses

INTRODUCTION

Fifty-seven years ago on this very day—June 14, the nation’s annual Flag Day—the Supreme Court handed down one of its most historic decisions: West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette. Speaking for the Court, Justice Jackson stated: "If there is any fixed star in our Constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein." This ruling guaranteed religious freedom for Jehovah’s Witnesses in connection with our Bible-based belief that saluting any flag violates God’s demand for exclusive devotion.
Even though most citizens do not agree with our doctrinal stand on this issue, the fact remains that the United States has gone on record that it will defend our right to adhere to this belief. In contrast, many nations of Western Europe are becoming increasingly equivocal about whether they will protect genuine freedom of worship.
When governments determine that religious beliefs do not meet standards of "loyalty" to the State or constitute a breach of public order and withhold religious recognition or registration, where does that lead us? Will governments next dictate what beliefs are acceptable in democratic societies? When governments fail to acknowledge any distinction between commercial enterprises and voluntary, self-sacrificing endeavors to promote humanitarian, religious endeavors, what will happen to the concept of charities? Will volunteerism be taxed out of existence? Can a government legitimately assert that it protects religion freedom when at the same time it uses its taxing power to oppress those who belong to certain religions?
We will provide some details of these trends using France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, and Sweden as examples. The following facts speak for themselves and document the current state of the basic human right of religious self-determination in Western Europe.

DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT IN FRANCE

Records show that Jehovah’s Witnesses have been active in France since 1891. This spring more than 204,000 attended the most sacred celebration of the year for Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Memorial of Christ’s death. Certainly Jehovah’s Witnesses are not a "new" religious movement and can hardly be called a "minority" religion when we are the third-largest Christian religion in France.
The recent attempt of the French government to officially deny religious status to Jehovah’s Witnesses began with an adverse ruling by the Conseil d’Etat in a 1985 inheritance case. (The French will aver that, under the rubric of the "wall of separation of Church and State," the French government grants official recognition to no religion. However, the facts speak otherwise. Recognized religions are extended benefits, such as being able to receive charitable bequests.) The Conseil d’Etat refused to allow one of Jehovah’s Witnesses to leave a portion of her estate to the Association of Jehovah’s Witnesses in France because the court did not agree with our doctrinal rejection of blood transfusions and refusal to participate in military service. The fact that there are 3,000 French doctors who are willing to operate without blood completely eviscerates the first basis for the court’s ruling. The passing of a law on alternative non-military service in France that provides a conscientiously acceptable method for young Jehovah’s Witnesses to render ‘Caesar his due’ does away with the other reason for the Court’s refusal to recognize the legitimacy of the faith of Jehovah’s Witnesses in France.
In spite of these favorable developments, the French Parliamentary Commissions on Sects have made the situation worse by issuing biased reports containing lists of supposedly "dangerous sects" and including Jehovah’s Witnesses among them.
Institutional Consequences:
A direct result of the discriminatory treatment toward Jehovah’s Witnesses in France is a 60-percent tax that has been levied on donations received by the Association of Jehovah’s Witnesses in France. Next week, on June 20, 2000, a hearing is scheduled in Nanterre on this matter. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall wisely observed: "The power to tax involves the power to destroy." Although governments are fully authorized, both Biblically and secularly, to tax their constituents, this particular tax has no other purpose but to make it impossible for Jehovah’s Witnesses in France to financially support the operations of their own faith. That means 60 cents of each dollar contributed to support our annual Bible conventions, operate our Kingdom Halls (houses of worship), and fund national relief measures will go to the French government. Only forty cents on the dollar will be left to use for the charitable reason for which it was given. No religion could financially continue to operate under such a punitive tax.
To our knowledge, no other religion is being taxed 60-percent on personal contributions made in good faith to their church. Instead, other religions enjoy tax exemptions granted by the Conseil d’Etat. Not even most minority religions are taxed—in fact, we are only aware of one other case where personal donations to a religious association have been questioned. The French tax authorities have clearly indicated at the conclusion of their 1996 and 1997 audits that the association that is now being exorbitantly taxed "participates in the maintenance and practice of Jehovah’s Witnesses’ form of worship." Those audits established the not-for-profit nature of the associations used by Jehovah’s Witnesses. Recently, an audit by the international firm of Grant Thornton likewise established the not-for-profit character of all associations used by Jehovah’s Witnesses in France.
Upholding the religious nature of Jehovah’s Witnesses’ associations, there have recently been four favorable Courts of Appeals decisions exempting Kingdom Halls of Jehovah’s Witnesses (houses of worship) from paying land (property) tax. This is part of the process established in France to grant religious recognition. Needless to say, French authorities have appealed all four cases which means that this issue will ultimately be heard by the Conseil d’Etat. Should that court rule in favor of religious freedom as Justice Jackson’s court did in this country in 1943, it will not be necessary for us to pursue this matter to the European Court of Human Rights.
Personal Consequences:
The negative effects on a personal level from the parliamentary mislabeling of Jehovah’s Witnesses as a "dangerous sect" are widespread. Schoolteachers and day care workers who are Jehovah’s Witnesses have been targets of smear campaigns, unwanted job transfers, or have been fired because they were perceived as being a threat to the safety, morals, and education of children under their care only because of belonging to a supposed "sect."
A new aspect of the consequences on a personal level is illustrated in the case of René Schneerberger, a minister of Jehovah’s Witnesses, who has been corresponding regularly with inmates in the French prison system to provide spiritual guidance. Some prisoners, who are not Jehovah’s Witnesses, requested subscriptions from René to The Watchtower and Awake!, the official journals of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In October 1999, the prisoners advised Mr. Schneerberger that they were no longer receiving these religious magazines. The reason given by the director of the Bapaume prison was that the magazines were suspended because of the "sectarian" nature of Jehovah’s Witnesses as "recognized by the parliamentary commissions." The suspension has not been lifted.
DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT IN BELGIUM

Belgium’s roots with Jehovah’s Witnesses also trace back to 1891. At the Memorial celebration of Christ’s death held this spring, there were more than 46,000 in attendance.
Belgium also had its parliamentary commissions and reports on sects in 1997 with ongoing consequences. Although Jehovah’s Witnesses have no "institutional consequences" as a result of being included in the discriminatory list of sects that was published, there are effects on a personal level.
In some schools of the French-speaking community in Belgium, students who are Jehovah’s Witnesses are feeling the effect of being perceived as belonging to a "dangerous sect." For example, a teacher in the Ecole des Pagodes issued a paper for class discussions that said: "In Belgium, there are 189 variable dangerous sects and 37 are hard-core ones, such as—Jehovah’s Witnesses [among others]."
In child custody disputes, some judges have a high regard for Jehovah’s Witnesses and have granted custody to the Witness parents and rejected the allegation of opposing parties who claim that Jehovah’s Witnesses are dangerous. But note what was stated in two cases in the Flemish section of Belgium:
· "It constitutes a grave danger for the children taking into account the influence of the Jehovah-sect" of which the mother seems to be a member.
· "Jehovah’s Witnesses are not to be viewed as a religion but as a movement of fanatics."
DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT IN GERMANY

In 1891, Jehovah’s Witnesses became established in Germany. This year over 276,000 attended the Memorial of Christ’s death—again not a new religion and not an insignificant minority. In the not-too-distant past, Jehovah’s Witnesses survived the Nazi concentration camps and Communist persecution on German soil.

The right of Jehovah’s Witnesses to remain neutral in politics has again become the focus of a legal struggle over our right to have the same legal status that is granted to other recognized religions. The denial of this favored status to Jehovah’s Witnesses is based on our Bible-based and historical stand of not electing individuals to political office. Recall that Jesus told Pilate: "My kingdom is no part of this world." The German State has determined that this is not an acceptable belief in a democratic society. Since freedom of conscience and belief is one of the most basic and universally protected human rights, what should have been a mere logistical formality has transcended into a human rights struggle.

Institutional Consequences:

The Federal Administrative Court made a decision that has far-reaching consequences for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany. They reversed two lower court decisions and refused recognition to Jehovah’s Witnesses as a "public law" corporation. Jehovah’s Witnesses had fulfilled all designated requirements, but the State introduced a new element when considering our application. It was decided that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not have the degree of loyalty required by the German State to extend favorable-status treatment. This decision is based on the fact that historically Jehovah’s Witnesses refrain from participation in political elections or holding political office. Not even the German Constitution requires mandatory participation by all citizens in the electoral process, but evidently the Federal Administrative Court requires this of Jehovah’s Witnesses. We have contested this decision through a complaint to the Constitutional Court.
Due to this federal-level decision, the finance authorities then took the unwarranted step to rescind the permanent nature of tax exemptions granted to associations owning the houses of worship for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany. These authorities, in anticipation of a negative outcome, are poised to declassify Jehovah’s Witnesses’ corporations as not being of "common benefit." If an adverse ruling is handed down, every Kingdom Hall in Germany will be taxed as though what goes on inside is not worship, an assertion so ludicrous that no nation could make it and still maintain that it guarantees religious freedom to those within its borders.
Personal Consequences:
The impact of the trend toward discrimination of members of minority religions is well illustrated by what happened to a family from Bergheim, where both parents are Jehovah’s Witnesses. Over a period of 15 years, the Local Youth Office in Bergheim assigned about 20 foster children to this couple’s care. After the chairwoman of an anti-cult-movement contacted the office, they refused to renew the Witness couple’s permit for a baby girl to remain with them, although the baby had spent half her infant life in their care. This resulted in a two-year court battle, with the court ultimately defending the rights of the Witness parents to retain custody of the foster child and rejecting the youth office’s arguments as completely unfounded. However, after the court case, the Local Youth Office has not assigned any new foster children to the care of this family. Clearly, the courts cannot legislate an end to prejudice.
DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT IN AUSTRIA
Jehovah’s Witnesses began their preaching in Austria in 1891. In April 2000, over 33,000 joined them in their sacred annual Memorial of Christ’s death.
After 20 years of seeking to be classified as a religion in Austria and just when the courts were close to obligating the government to do so, the government passed a new law setting up a special religious category called "confessional community." We are the only religion immediately affected by this law. Under this new law, we are now required to wait an additional 10-year probationary period before we may once again apply for recognition as a religion. As a result, this new law automatically and deliberately extends Jehovah’s Witnesses’ 20-year struggle into a 30-year wait. In the meantime, a new complaint by Jehovah’s Witnesses is pending with the Austrian Constitutional Court concerning the new law that created this multi-tiered religious classification system.
Institutional Consequences:
The classification of "confessional community" does not allow for performance of marriage rites, pastoral visits to hospitals or prisons, recognition of ministers who are free from military and civil service, or tax advantages.
Showing that not all Austrian officials share the same viewpoint, last fall the Austrian Constitutional Court handed down a favorable decision regarding the pastoral care of a prisoner. This decision influenced the Federal Ministry of Justice to make a provision for Jehovah’s Witnesses to visit prisoners who request assistance from us.
Personal Consequences:
To illustrate the impact on people’s daily lives, we offer two examples from Austria. A woman who is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses applied for an apartment in a village. The mayor of that village has a say on such decisions. At a meeting with the mayor, both parties came to an oral agreement. Upon departing the mayor asked in passing: "You do not belong to a sect, do you?" The woman said: "I am one of Jehovah’s Witnesses." The mayor did not say anything, but was visibly shocked. Later the Witness was told that the apartment had to be given to someone else.
At times, when seeking work, a trial period or preliminary tests are required for all applicants. The results of such trial periods have often been very positive for applicants who are Jehovah’s Witnesses. Employers have advised them that they are very pleased with their work. However, when employers learn afterwards that the applicant is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, all interest in hiring them is dropped. Most employers have only expressed their reluctance verbally, but one letter explicitly stated: "We thank you for your application but we are sorry to have to tell you that based on our long experience we do not employ persons belonging to any kind of sect."
DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT IN SWEDEN
The work of Jehovah’s Witnesses began in Sweden in 1886. This year over 36,700 joined together in the annual celebration of the Memorial of Christ’s death.
Sweden just instituted an arrangement for registering religions, thus ending the existence of one official State religion. We are pleased to report that on March 13, 2000, the government registered Jehovah’s Witnesses as a religious community. However, Sweden’s labor and tax laws evidently make no exceptions for members of religious orders or other religious workers. Because of a lack of any acknowledgment of "volunteerism" even based on religious devotion, the Swedish government is in effect dictating how much time and energy one can devote to godly endeavors within the context of a monastic arrangement. In fact, other religions in Sweden no longer have volunteers, but have to rely on an employed staff under central collective agreements with labor unions. For Jehovah’s Witnesses, volunteering our time and energy to promote true worship is the whole-souled sacrifice that we desire to make to God.

Institutional Consequences:
In most nations Jehovah’s Witnesses have a national office that coordinates, under the direction of the Governing Body in New York, the religious activities of adherents in that land. Those serving in these offices belong to a religious order and provide their services free of charge. This inures to the benefit of Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide by keeping the cost of our religious endeavors to a minimum. Instead of recognizing the monastic nature of our office in Sweden, the authorities there are obligating each member of that office to pay a tax on any service he or she receives from others who also serve there. Labors of love, such as cooking, cleaning, or doing the laundry, contribute to a family environment and expedite efforts of others to translate and distribute our religious literature, and organize the worship of Jehovah’s Witnesses throughout Sweden. These helpful endeavors are being assessed at the current "market value," that is, what it would cost to commercially obtain such services. Thus, they have become prohibitively expensive to those benefiting from those services, although no one is being paid. For example, a volunteer member of our religious order in Sweden receives approximately $100 to reimburse him for personal expenses incurred during the month. The tax imposed adds up to $937, almost 10 times the cash income that he receives.
By requiring a tax for volunteer efforts—anything perceived as a personal service—the government has equated the self-sacrificing, religiously-motivated lifestyle of members of the coordinating office of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Sweden with wealthy individuals who pay for such services. As a result of this attempt to secularize the religious activities of what takes place at our office in Sweden, we may have to drastically reduce the number of volunteers who serve there.
Keeping this situation in mind, you may recall a Biblical event involving Jesus and Mary, the sister of Lazarus. Matthew, Mark and John all record the event, which took place not long before Jesus died. The account at Mark 14:3-8 states, in part: "A woman came with an alabaster case of perfumed oil, genuine nard, very expensive. Breaking open the alabaster case she began to pour it upon his head." Many of Jesus’ followers objected to this act of kindness because of the cost of the gift. Jesus reprimanded them saying, "Let her alone. She did a fine deed toward me. She did what she could." The account estimates that Mary’s gift of personal service cost 300 denarii, which was the equivalent of a year’s wages. If Mary had attempted to render such a service today, Sweden would require Jesus to pay a tax of 10 times the value of the gift for Mary’s personal service, i.e., 3,000 denarii in cash. Mary would have been precluded from rendering the service to Jesus and our Lord would have been precluded from accepting it. What Jesus called "a fine deed" would never have taken place. This well illustrates the dilemma facing our religious order in Sweden.
Unhappily, this situation is not limited to Sweden, but is becoming more frequent throughout Western Europe.
Personal Consequences:
A case in point is a graduate of our missionary training school who has been serving voluntarily in Sweden since 1961. She has devoted her life to her religious work. She has acquired decades of experience as a translator of Bible literature. Now she has been forced to reduce the amount of time she formerly devoted to translation to cook her own meals, care for her own laundry, and clean her own room because she cannot afford the prohibitive tax that would be imposed if others were to care for those needs, as is routinely done in other branch offices of Jehovah’s Witnesses throughout the world.
In another case, a skilled worker had to decline participation in a renovation project of a house of worship. He wanted to donate his time, all costs involved with travel, and use of his tools to the project, but decided he could not afford to pay the high daily tax for the simple meals that would be prepared and served for free by members of the congregation.
CONCLUSION
The concept of legally legitimizing religious discrimination is fraught with problems, legally and morally. Yet that is what happens when nations adopt a multi-tiered system of religious recognition. International agreements have attempted to eliminate discrimination due to religious belief, but as we have seen, it still goes on. A new and worrisome trend in Europe is the refusal to recognize the religious nature of activities performed by volunteers. European labor and tax authorities are arbitrarily imposing an "employer/employee" relationship to the religious activities engaged in by those of Jehovah’s Witnesses who are privileged to become members of the Order of Special Full-Time Servants, as our international religious order is known. Interestingly, the Supreme Administrative Court of Brazil ruled that members of our religious order in that land are not subject to taxes imposed on employees since the activities involved were religiously motivated rather than of a pecuniary nature. Are governments, who laud religious freedom and human rights on the one hand, acting consequentially when they limit "religious activities" to what they narrowly and arbitrarily define as "worship"? What is the solution?
Personally, I am eagerly awaiting the fulfillment of the promise contained here in the Bible, in Isaiah 32:16 through 18, which says: "And in the wilderness justice will certainly reside, and in the orchard righteousness itself will dwell. And the work of the [true] righteousness must become peace; and the service of the [true] righteousness, quietness and security to time indefinite. And my people must dwell in a peaceful abiding place and in residences of full confidence and in undisturbed resting-places."
Until that time arrives under God’s Kingdom rule, I appeal to this committee to use its influence to protect and reinforce the universally recognized right of religious freedom in Western Europe."

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I'm sure that most of you will find these informatiuons

quite interesting.

Btw, sometime ago I did relate this info to a friend …he couldn't

believe it, expecially the part about Sweden….impossible he said ..

you're joking!!! Well , Philip Brumley wasn't joking ...or was he ???

Greetrings, J.C;MacHislopp

P.S. Thanks again to Kent.

ISP , I hope you’ll like it.

10

WTBS' letter about TMS on the web

by MacHislopp in

jw
friends

just found this on the web.

http://www.eusty.co.uk/.

:-[letterhead from the legal department at patterson] december 5, 2001 .

MacHislopp

Hello everyone,

Just found this on the web

http://www.eusty.co.uk/

:-[Letterhead from the Legal Department at Patterson] December 5, 2001
Dear Brother *******:
Thank you for removing Watch Tower's copyrighted material from your Web site in response to our letter dated October 19, 2001. We note, however, that you now make this material available to individuals who make requests by electronic mail. Please note the following statement in our previous letter: "Copyright infringement occurs when one copies and distributes (italics added) copyrighted material without the copyright holder's permission." Thus, the sending of this material by electronic means is not permissable. Therefore, we ask that you cease this practice.
Your cooperation in this matter is appreciated. Please accept an expression of our warm Christian love and greetings.

Rather strange attitude, from those who publicly state to " …proclaim God's Word "

I couldn't fail to notice about "…warm Christian love..",

but of course it is o n l y for

those who accept , without discussions or critical

comments, the whole variety of teachings,

doctrines and rules from the WTBS.

Greetings, to you all,

J.C.MacHislopp