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Corney
JoinedPosts by Corney
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Jehovah’s Witnesses Sue Owners of FaithLeaks for Posting 74 Convention Movies
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/jehovahs-witnesses-sue-faithleaks-owners-over-convention-videos .
https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2020/05/01/jehovahs-witnesses-sue-owners-of-faithleaks-for-posting-74-convention-movies/.
the watch tower bible and tract society of pennsylvania, which oversees the jehovah’s witnesses, is suing the truth and transparency foundation and its founders ryan c. mcknight and ethan g. dodge alleging copyright infringement..
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700 million laundered funds by Watchtower to avoid sex lawsuit payment?
by Terry inbased on a daily telegraph article : jehovah's witnesses accused of selling off assets and moving cash to avoid sex abuse compensation
watchtower has 800 charities in australia and australian law says they don't have to report assets below 1 million .
doesn't this imply watchtower can have in excess of 700 million laundered funds?
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30
Australia - Selling Off Assets
by Pants of Righteousness inthis article seems to confirm what we already knew:.
https://thewest.com.au/news/australia/jehovahs-witnesses-accused-of-selling-off-assets-and-moving-cash-to-avoid-sex-abuse-compensation-ng-08ffe6d55e293182580d9e34b4400088?transactionid=72145.
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Corney
Newly Enlightened, have you noticed that AIS's submitted by Watchtower Australia clearly indicate: between 2014 and 2019, it spent A$73.5 million in grants and donations made for use IN Australia, and only A$17.7 million (less than 20%) - in grants and donations made for use OUTSIDE Australia?
StephaneLaliberte, there is no need to speculate. Everyone can read the ECHR judgment and check the facts: the 60% tax was imposed on all donations (sections 12, 14) and the JW organization won that case - the Court unanimously found that there was no proper legal basis for the tax.
Anony Mous, your claim that "the tax was on money that was being off-shored to the US" isn't supported by court decisions I examined. Can you provide any proof?
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Australia - Selling Off Assets
by Pants of Righteousness inthis article seems to confirm what we already knew:.
https://thewest.com.au/news/australia/jehovahs-witnesses-accused-of-selling-off-assets-and-moving-cash-to-avoid-sex-abuse-compensation-ng-08ffe6d55e293182580d9e34b4400088?transactionid=72145.
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Corney
I find this article sensationalist and poorly researched:
1. "since the announcement of the Royal Commission on November 12, 2012 JW has ... Grown from a handful of charities to 836 separate small basic religious charities." This statement is misleading. First, those "new" entities actually existed long before 2012 - as congregations and (legally) as unincorporated assotiations. Secondly, the suggested link between the announcement of the ARC and registration of congregation charities likely doesn't exist. As a reminder, in 2012 Australia adopted the ACNC Act which substantially changed its charity law and, among others, made registration a requirement for income tax exemptions and other benefits.
2. The article hardly shows any "sell-off" in Australia. Two dozens or so Kingdom Halls, out of 455 (the number reported by Watchtower two years ago), sold over nearly a decade - how does it amount to "selling off assets", taking into account that no branch property were reported to be sold of listed for sale, and the org is expanding its branch facilities in Sydney?
3. The worldwide property sales figures are misleading too. The WHQ relocation project was planned as early as 2005, if not earlier, so any attempt to draw a link between the Brooklyn sales (which make up almost 90% of the reported global sales amount) and recent events are based on flawed premises. Also, in the UK Watchtower (namely, WTB and IBSA) has substantially increased its assets, despite the announced inquiries and lawsuits.
4. There is no evidence that child abuse is more prevalent among JWs than in other communities or institutions, as the article suggests. It is incorrect to compare the ARC numbers because in case, of, say, Catholics they refer to abusers in position of trust (like priests, nuns etc.), while in case of Watchtower the Commission included all perpretators who ever were JWs, including lay members, in its statistics.
5. Finally, it's sad the journalists uncritically report speculative and unfounded claims made by people like Steven Unthank - who, for example, was once able to make four false statements in a single paragraph, not to mention other controversies. I'm sorry, but I cannot trust their judgment or expertise.
I would be glad to read an investigative report into the organization's finances, but this article has nothing to do with investigative journalism. It's a kind of don't-check-just-share journalism.
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Sued by inmate, North Carolina concedes Witnesses are distinct faith group, not subset of Protestants
by Corney inlast thursday poyner spruill, a prominent north carolina law firm, announced a victory in a pro bono case involving religious freedom of incarcerated jehovah's witnesses.
the poyner team was appointed by the u.s. district court for the western district of north carolina to represent an inmate challenging the state’s policy governing how and when jehovah’s witnesses can worship in prison.
the state’s policy classified jehovah’s witnesses as a subset of christian protestants and, on that basis, prohibited separate jehovah’s witness meetings—an infringement on religious freedom under the first amendment.
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Corney
"Exercise their faith" is exclusively a WTS/NWT term, eh?
Why? It seems to be widely used and synonymous to "exercise their religion", like in the First Amendment.
I can't help but wonder what else was up here, maybe some Protestant chaplain wanting to "convert" JWs? Or if the "single person" was Brown, maybe the chaplain was trying to convert him? Or maybe just keep visiting JWs out of the prison? Or maybe it was money? It "would be a tremendous burden on Alexander C.I."
He didn't claim that anyone tried to convert him. Maybe prison officials were just afraid that Mormons, Unitarian Universalists, Adventists, Pentecostals and others, lumped together as Protestants in their policy documents, will ask for separate services too?
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Sued by inmate, North Carolina concedes Witnesses are distinct faith group, not subset of Protestants
by Corney inlast thursday poyner spruill, a prominent north carolina law firm, announced a victory in a pro bono case involving religious freedom of incarcerated jehovah's witnesses.
the poyner team was appointed by the u.s. district court for the western district of north carolina to represent an inmate challenging the state’s policy governing how and when jehovah’s witnesses can worship in prison.
the state’s policy classified jehovah’s witnesses as a subset of christian protestants and, on that basis, prohibited separate jehovah’s witness meetings—an infringement on religious freedom under the first amendment.
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Corney
careful,
Yes, the state officials argued that JWs is "a restorationist, chiliastic Christian Protestant religion" "with nontraditional beliefs and practice", and listed the following theological similarities "that place the Jehovah Witness within the context of Christendom":
"1. They both believe in God.
2. They both believe is Jesus Christ.
3. They both believe that all will die and meet in the Judgment.
4. They both believe in the Holy Spirit.
5. They both believe that Jesus came from Heaven and when He died He returned to Heaven.
6. The both believe that Jesus gave His life as a ransom sacrifice and it was through His death and His resurrection that made it possible for those who exercise their faith in Him to gain eternal or everlasting life.
7. They both believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God."
Also, the State noted that "Charles Taze Russell, or Pastor Russell, was an American Christian restorationist minister from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and founder of what is now known as the Bible Student movement (later named Jehovah’s Witnesses) from his experiences as a member of Christian Protestant churches (Presbyterianism and Congregationalism)... The entire Protestant canon of scripture is considered the inspired, correct word of God."
There were also non-theological arguments: "Defendants note that Plaintiff may practice his religion by associating with other Jehovah’s Witness adherents in the general population, corresponding with those of similar belief, and receiving a Pastoral visit once per month. Defendants argue that there is only one Chapel at Alexander C.I. that is used for all faith groups’ services, that Alexander C.I. does not have the time or space to offer a service for every Protestant denomination, and that requiring a separate service for a single person would be a tremendous burden on Alexander C.I." The latter argument doesn't seem very persuasive, taking into account that groups like Asatru, Wicca, House of Yanweh, Assemblies of Yahweh, Messianic Judaism etc. were allowed to hold separate services.
As to his elligibility for parole at age 63, I think this applies to his second sentence (240-293 months); the first 80-year prison term will continue until 2060. He also sues the North Carolina government claiming that "on or about July 16, 2017, he had accumulated enough [good time] credits to fully satisfy his sentence" and that he must be unconditionally released. A district court has already dismissed that suit but it still isn't closed.
Some additional observations:
- Marshall Lee Brown Jr. was the first son of his mother, born when she was 16½ years old;
- in the course of its representation, the litigation team (three attorneys) once attended a weekend JW meeting and discussed it; they also communicated with WT legal department for at least five times. Wasn't it a great witness?
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Sued by inmate, North Carolina concedes Witnesses are distinct faith group, not subset of Protestants
by Corney inlast thursday poyner spruill, a prominent north carolina law firm, announced a victory in a pro bono case involving religious freedom of incarcerated jehovah's witnesses.
the poyner team was appointed by the u.s. district court for the western district of north carolina to represent an inmate challenging the state’s policy governing how and when jehovah’s witnesses can worship in prison.
the state’s policy classified jehovah’s witnesses as a subset of christian protestants and, on that basis, prohibited separate jehovah’s witness meetings—an infringement on religious freedom under the first amendment.
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Corney
Last Thursday Poyner Spruill, a prominent North Carolina law firm, announced a victory in a pro bono case involving religious freedom of incarcerated Jehovah's Witnesses.
The Poyner team was appointed by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina to represent an inmate challenging the State’s policy governing how and when Jehovah’s Witnesses can worship in prison. The State’s policy classified Jehovah’s Witnesses as a subset of Christian Protestants and, on that basis, prohibited separate Jehovah’s Witness meetings—an infringement on religious freedom under the First Amendment. After the Court denied the State’s motion for summary judgment, the State ultimately agreed to a consent decree that required changing its policy to allow for separate meetings for Jehovah’s Witnesses.
“We’re proud to have helped change an unconstitutional policy restricting religious freedom,” said Durnovich, who served as lead counsel on the case. “With this result, our client and Jehovah’s Witness inmates across the state will have the same right to practice their religion as other faith groups already enjoy.”
The consent decree in the case provides permanent injunctive relief requiring the State to recognize the Jehovah’s Witness faith as a distinct faith group, and to allow Jehovah’s Witness inmates the opportunity to schedule religious services like other recognized faith groups.It took some time to find more information about that case, Brown v. Solomon; this order provides a summary of facts and arguments. Filed pro se five years ago, the case was settled this March, and the NC Department of Public Safety agreed "to revise its Religious Practices Manual and related policies and procedures to recognize the Jehovah’s Witness religion as a distinct non-Trinitarian faith group [and] to adopt the following description of the Jehovah’s Witness faith:"
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that God is one person, Jehovah. Jesus was Jehovah’s first creation. Jesus is not God, nor part of the Godhead. He is higher than the angels but inferior to God. Jehovah used Jesus to create the rest of the universe. Before Jesus came to earth, he was known as the Word and the archangel Michael. The Holy Spirit is an impersonal force from Jehovah, but not God.
The plaintiff, Marshall Lee Brown, is relatively well-known, and his story was covered in two TV shows - Unsolved Mysteries and I (Almost) Got Away With It (the plot: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_(Almost)_Got_Away_With_It (season 1, episode 1-9)). In 1977, he, then 19, was sentenced to life imprisonment (effectively 80-year prison term) for a second-degree murder that, according to this article, was a contract killing for $50. He escaped from prison in April 1996, killed Steven Calhoun, a prosecution witness in the 1977 trial, and remained on the run until July 1999, when he was arrested in Washington, DC. In 2002, he was sentenced to a concurrent 20-23 years term. His release is scheduled for 2060.
It is unclear when Marshall Brown became a Witness. His mother (deceased in 2013) and sister (deceased in 2006) were members of the organization, but it’s still difficult to say if he was “raised in the truth.”
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Is it me or is John Cedars channel becoming a self important circle fest
by phoenixrising ini still like the commentary on the jw.org monthly’s, i can skip through some parts.
but it seems like he is pushing too hard to put out videos and the quality is getting very low on the content..
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Corney
According to his attorney, Lloyd Evans is "the only full-time ex-Jehovah's Witness advocate in the world. His day job solely involves keeping abreast of the latest developments within the Jehovah's Witnesses across the board, across the whole spectrum of the religion... [N]obody is spending as much time as he is on analysing what's going on in the Jehovah's Witnesses now and nobody has written and researched it as extensively as he has... [T]here is nobody who is following this organisation, this religious group, as closely as Mr Evans is, so his knowledge and his huge expertise is crucial if this inquiry [the IICSA] is to be a meaningful inquiry."
"Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth."
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Highlights from Watch Tower Britain and IBSA reports
by Corney inhere are some highlights from watch tower britain and ibsa annual reports.
1. no more printing operations in britain.
it’s already has been reported: .
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Corney
The 2019 reports are now available online: WTB, IBSA, KHT. I'm too lazy to analyze them (again), so here are some random observations:
1. The Kingdom Hall Trust officially outlined its plans regarding congregation funds consolidation.
2. Watch Tower Britain received an unprecedented sum of £70.7 million in grants, and sent another unprecedented sum - £44.2 million in cash - to Africa (probably to South Africa). Are they planning something big on that continent?
Also, despite the above-mentioned transfers, WTB and IBSA still had £101 million of cash (at bank and in hand) as of 31 August 2019.
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Rear cover of: “Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Secular World: from the 1870s to the Present”
by Doug Mason in“jehovah’s witnesses and the secular world: from the 1870s to the present” (histories of the sacred and secular), zoe knox.
palgrave macmillan.
isbn 978-1-137-39604-4. .
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Corney
careful,
1. Yes:
"The organisation was slow to adopt digital technology for ministry. Its attitude towards the Internet was initially cautious, with the need for vigilance apparently confirmed by the creation of unofficial sites ‘sponsored by indiscreet brothers’ and of ex-Witness sites, which were ‘vehicles for apostate propaganda’.56 It warned against the temptations of online communities, such as chat rooms: ‘Sadly, some who were once our brothers and sisters have had to be disfellowshipped because of association that started by meeting worldly individuals in chat rooms on the Internet and eventually led to immorality’.57 In 1997, comparatively late, the organisation launched its own web sites (www.watchtower.org and www.jw-media.org), which were promoted in its literature as the only ones Witnesses would need to access. In 2013, these were consolidated into www.jw.org" (p. 121).
2. Apparently yes. She repeatedly cites this article which states, among other things:
"The quite visible Legal Department of previous years is claimed by the Society to have disbanded by 1963 (Yearbook 1964, 85-86),24 which is quite extraordinary, given its earlier prominence. What is certain is that disciplined litigation as a strategy was not vigorously pursued until it became obvious to the leadership that religious regulation was compromised by external factors [in late 1970s] [Note 24: We are not inclined to fully accept such an interpretation. Lawyers were still at work in the Society's branches even if it is the case that "disciplined litigation" as a strategy of the central JW authorities was not practiced]".
"According to internal sources, the Legal Department was formally reopened in December 1981 by Covington's secretary. In 1984, it numbered ten people in all, of which a few were attorneys. In 1999, the Brooklyn office is said to operate with seventy-two persons, including eleven attorneys".