Also if Watchtower rented out the buildings, they would have one of two options. To either hire people to manage the facilities such as renting out units, cleaning and maintaining units, which would be a huge expense. The other option would be that they would have to keep a contingency of volunteers on site, and that would cost having to house, feed and other basic needs that other bethelites receive. If you are renting to commercial clients that are spending big money to rent out a unit, they expect repairs to be done immediately not when an LDC volunteer can make it or if a Bethelite can drop their normal job to get down to Brooklyn from Patterson, Walkhill or Warwick, they would need people in the city ready to repair any issue immediately.
John Davis
JoinedPosts by John Davis
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32
The big mistake of jw.org property management
by Gorbatchov intoday i read some news story's about the property deals of jw.org in brooklyn.
they made good money and good connections.. but i'm sure jw.org made a very, very big mistake in brooklyn.
they did.. they sold and are selling all the property for money.
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32
The big mistake of jw.org property management
by Gorbatchov intoday i read some news story's about the property deals of jw.org in brooklyn.
they made good money and good connections.. but i'm sure jw.org made a very, very big mistake in brooklyn.
they did.. they sold and are selling all the property for money.
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John Davis
Hecce: your right. Tax exempt status is not just based on who owns it but what it is being used for. While Watchtower would let non Bethelites stay in the Patterson in they had to pay real estate taxes on that land. There is even a court case in Pennsylvania because a congregation bought an empty piece of land and the city denied that piece of property tax exempt status because there was no "church" on the land, and the court found that for there to be tax exempt status the land has to be used for the religious services or to advance their mission.
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ARTICLE - Cults and Terrorism: Can We Establish Parallels Between Noxious Belief Systems?
by jwleaks incults and terrorism: can we establish parallels between noxious belief systems?.
july 5, 2017. by sarah mills.
https://conatusnews.com/cults-terrorism-parallels/.
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John Davis
Why are you calling this an academic article? She does not reference any studies or other academic resources other than dictionaries. She did not indicate her academic credentials nor a thesis, nor was it published in a peer-reviewed journal. Her assertions are correct but this is not an academic article it is an opinion piece.
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Australian State of Victoria! New Dept and laws to protect children
by zeb inalexandra james posted: "the state of victoria, in australia, is moving forward with a new law that is meant to protect victims of child sex abuse, including when such incidents happen within a religious setting.
according to the "reportable conduct scheme" that has just been ena" respond to this post by replying above this line.
new post on jwvictims.org .
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John Davis
The Padron appeal is ongoing, but the plantiff failed to file the respondent brief that was due on June 27 and the court filled the notice of failure to file respondent brief yesterday. Unless the case was resolved out of court the appeal will be decided by the court record at the superior court, Watchtower brief and Watchtower oral arguments.
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Dutch conventions organized like circuits
by Gorbatchov inhere in holland jw.org is organizing for the first time the yearly conventions like circuits.
the whole summer the new convention hall is used for small group conventions instead of 10.000 seat external halls.. it keeps the money in the organization.
not renting external buildings.. the 29.000 witnesses here are divided now into 2.000 seat audience.. g..
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John Davis
I only meant to say that it isn't this earth shattering news that this is occurring. It has happened before in major cities. it just doesn't mean anything other than they are having it an assembly hall.
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Dutch conventions organized like circuits
by Gorbatchov inhere in holland jw.org is organizing for the first time the yearly conventions like circuits.
the whole summer the new convention hall is used for small group conventions instead of 10.000 seat external halls.. it keeps the money in the organization.
not renting external buildings.. the 29.000 witnesses here are divided now into 2.000 seat audience.. g..
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John Davis
They have been doing that in the New York City area for 10 years now ever since they lost the Nasaeu Collieseum. it is nothing new.
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29
"Child abuse is abhorrent to us."
by Hecce inbirds of a feather flock together.
australian cardinal george pell: "they are false.
the whole idea of sexual abuse is abhorrent to me.".
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John Davis
Paedophilia is a medical term as defined by the DSM. Child abuse is a legal term as defined by statute.
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To kill or not to kill
by Chook inhow many jws would kill a violent rapist in there home or protect their family with lethal means .
the one thing i love about the usa is the right to defend oneself with lethal force in their own home.
it's not that i want to kill someone but better them dead than my children..
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John Davis
Not all states you can kill or even harm an intruder. There are stand your ground states where you can use lethal force if you feel that you are reasonably threatened or you are defending someone else. Then there are states where you have to attempt to withdraw from the situation if you feel that your life is threatened, there is some murkiness when it comes to within your home but some of the same principles apply. No one wants to take another person's life even if it is legal for them to do so.
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(Not so) Subliminal Shave Your Beard Message
by Funchback ini'm in the middle of dissecting the june 2017 jw broadcasting video.. in the first minute, they summarize a story about a guy who apparently was a one-time bad ass (showed a picture of him with a beard while posing on a chopper).
then, they show him shaving at the exact same moment the narrator is saying how he regained "a clean conscience".. this no-beard obsession by the jws is beyond nuts.. .
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John Davis
I am sure some Witness men would want a beard but I really doubt that most would. Look at most settings just in the normal public, a small percentage of men have beards. I am sure that thing that most Witness men would like is not having to shave for every meeting more would take advantage of that but a full on beard I doubt there would be a large percentage of JW men that would do it.
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Jehovah's Witnesses in Crimea Ordered to Renounce Faith or Fight for Occupying Russian Army
by John Davis ina crimean member of the jehovah’s witnesses has been ordered to prove he has renounced his faith or else take up arms for the occupying russian army.
the move follows russia’s banning of the christian denomination in april and its annexation of the ukrainian territory of crimea in 2014.. one of the central tenets of jehovah’s witnesses’ faith is an opposition to serving in the military.
previously in russia, members have been allowed to undertake alternative civilian service.
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John Davis
A Crimean member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses has been ordered to prove he has renounced his faith or else take up arms for the occupying Russian army. The move follows Russia’s banning of the Christian denomination in April and its annexation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea in 2014.
One of the central tenets of Jehovah’s Witnesses’ faith is an opposition to serving in the military. Previously in Russia, members have been allowed to undertake alternative civilian service. But that has changed since the country’s Supreme Court upheld a ruling from the justice ministry that they violated an anti-extremism law, liquidating all 395 of its local religious chapters and rendering the faith of 175,000 of its members illegal.
There have since been multiple reports of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia being denied alternative civilian service.
But now an even more controversial case has emerged in Crimea. The group’s Russian website has shown paperwork reportedly sent to a Jehovah’s Witness instructing him that he must provide documentation proving that he has either renounced his faith or transferred to another religion.
As well as violating the individual’s religious liberty, the order, according to Ukrainian human rights organization Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, flouts international humanitarian law. A United Nations resolution passed last December recognized Russia as an occupying force in Crimea.
The Geneva Conventions states, “The Occupying Power may not compel protected persons to serve in its armed or auxiliary forces. No pressure or propaganda which aims at securing voluntary enlistment is permitted.”
Despite that, Russia has continued to conscript Crimeans into military service. In April, it announced that its latest spring draft campaign would continue to include people from Crimea and that they would also be sent to perform military service in all parts of the country.
In doing so, Crimean human rights groups claim that Russia is in violation of another Geneva Convention article, which prohibits “individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the occupying power.”
Ukraine’s foreign affairs ministry has similarly demanded that Russia cancels military conscription in Crimea.
The treatment of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia since the Supreme Court decision has already come under the microscope. As well as being denied alternative civilian service, there have been reports of meetings being disrupted by police and, in one instance, a Danish member being arrested. He now faces up to 10 years in prison.
An appeal against the Supreme Court’s decision will be heard on July 17.
http://www.newsweek.com/jehovahs-witnesses-russia-crimea-military-628699