The main problem for Trump right now are the tax returns refunds, as people see the difference in their returns they are not happy at all; very few will consider the fact that they are paying an smaller portion as taxes during the last year.
Posts by Hecce
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97Removing Mr. Trump from office.....
by mikeflood informer fbi deputy director mccabe confirms: there were discussions within the department of justice about invoking 25 th amendment to remove trump from office.... .
i mean the us democracy isn't a third world country, a least the people involved should be reprimanded, they acted like trying a coup d'etat..
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Fidel Castro and the WT
by Hecce ini am going to engage on a trip to the past and share with you some of the matters that marked the beginning of the jws persecution in cuba.
you will be surprised that the pattern that was followed is very similar to what happened in other dictatorial countries.. in the cuban case, i am going to surprise you and tell you that like what happened with hitler; the wt was partially responsible for their clash and confrontation with the cuban government.
during the early 60s the revolution was fighting for survival and they were willing and ready to demolish any perceived enemy to their cause.. a prime example was their war against the catholic church that was the most influential religious entity in the country; it took the supreme leader only a few public discourses to send the vast majority of clergy packing and back to their country, in this case spain.. the jehovah’s witnesses were an insignificant minority but they over estimated their importance and displayed a belligerent attitude, it was known that this was a us based religion and an easy target to connect them with the cia.
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Hecce
This information from an outside source, covers some of the comments made about the concentration camps in Ciba:
Delaware review of Latin American Studies
Issues
Vol. 14 No. 2 December 31, 2013
Demystifying las UMAP: The Politics of Sugar, Gender, and Religion in 1960s CubaJoseph Tahbaz
'15 History major
Dartmouth College
[email protected]Testigos de Jehová
Those interned on grounds of their religious activity probably made up the largest proportion of UMAP internees, and of them, Jehovah’s Witnesses were the most severely abused.21 Young, active Catholics were frequently sent to the UMAP camps and their experiences are very well represented in the body of published testimony. However, Catholics comprised just a small fraction of UMAP internees. One Catholic former internee estimated that just 2,000 Catholics were interned out of a total of 35,000 internees – just over 5 percent (Cardenal 293). Protestant religions and sects such as Jehovah’s Witnesses22 were viewed as especially counter-revolutionary because of their historical and allegedly treasonous connections with the norteamericanos (North Americans, esp. from the United States). On March 13, 1963, in front of the University of Havana, Fidel Castro gave a speech where he condemned the “pseudo-religiosos” whom he called batiblancos: “there are three principal sects, which are instruments of today’s imperialism, they are: Jehovah’s Witnesses, Gideons International, and Pentecostals.”23Later in the speech, he claimed that “these sects … are directly headed by the United States … and they are used as agents of the CIA, State Department, and Yankee policy” (Castro 1963). Since many Protestant religions in Cuba originated from the United States and many still had ties with the US, these sects were perceived as un-Cuban and potentially contrarrevolucionario (Rosado 88, 93, 95, 134–35, 145). In addition, the resolutely apolitical stance of Jehovah’s Witnesses, which motivates their resistance to practices ranging from saluting the flag to fulfilling draft requirements, rendered them the pariah of the boisterously patriotic and authoritarian Cuban Revolution (Yero 24). When resistance met resistance at the camps, some of the very worst abuses unfolded.
In 1938, there were only about one hundred Jehovah’s Witnesses in Cuba. By 1947, that number had grown to 4,000 and by 1965 there were nearly 20,000 – making them one of the largest organized religions on the island (Aguirre and Alston 171; Rosado 194). In 1962, the Ministry of Communication banned the import of Jehovah’s Witness religious literature and prohibited Jehovah’s Witnesses from using mail for distributing religious materials (Aguirre and Alston 190). In 1963, foreign Jehovah’s Witnesses were expelled from Cuba, just one year after over one hundred Catholic priests had been banished from the island (Aguirre and Alston 190; Treto 45). That same year, hundreds of Jehovah’s Witnesses were arrested for assembling without having obtained a permit from their CDR and hundreds more on account of their proselytizing activities (Calzon 14; Aguirre and Alston 191). In Pinar del Río, nearly every Kingdom Hall was shut down and its property confiscated (Aguirre and Alston 191). In the late 1960s, when there were incidents of Kingdom Halls and other meeting places being attacked by mobs with stone, brick, and iron, the government refused to prosecute the perpetrators (Calzon 14). Numerous propaganda pieces produced by Granma (Cuba’s state newspaper) and Verde Olivo between 1965 and 1968 stressed the presence of Jehovah’s Witnesses at the UMAP camps, complete with photos and personal interviews.24 Conversely, of the 11 Verde Olivo and Granma articles which reference the UMAP camps, not a single one mentions homosexuals. Since the purpose of the propaganda was to combat the camps’ poor reputation, representations of gays had to be excluded.
There does not exist any testimony from testigos in the UMAP camps; all information about their experiences comes from the eyewitness testimony of other internees. This is not because these former testigo internees are unknown or have all passed away. Rather, testigos de Jehová have been extremely hesitant to share their experiences with those who will publish their testimony. The reasons for this are threefold. Firstly, upon religious principles Jehovah’s Witnesses tend to shy away from anything that even remotely relates to government or politics. Secondly, because conditions for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Cuba have begun to improve over the past two decades, testigos in the Cuban-exile community do not wish to publicize any criticisms of the Cuban government which may put these meager religious liberties at risk.25 Finally, the highly traumatic experiences of many testigos make it emotionally challenging for these former internees to open up to outsiders. Jehovah’s Witnesses were by far the most abused at the camps (Viera). As former internee Héctor Santiago, who was sent to camps for gay men, emphasized:With us, they were terrible, but let me tell you the truth, they treat you like a lady compared to the testigos de Jehová. Oh my god, they really, really were terrible with them, terrible. The things that they did to them … horrible, horrible.
Former internee René Cabrera, who was interned for his Catholic activities, corroborated in his memoir, “The Jehovah’s Witnesses, as always, were the principal victims of the government’s intention of those crimes” (97).
Testigos de Jehová were not permitted to receive family visits, were not granted passes to leave the camps, and did not receive packages or letters (Cabrera 88, 113; Muñoz). In one instance, a camp guard did not allow a testigo to see his mother who had come to visit him because he refused to put on the verde olivo pants which had to be worn for family visits (Muñoz). When first transferred to the camps, many Jehovah’s Witnesses refused to participate in any camp activities and many refused to even wear the camp uniform (Former; Cabrera 59; Muñoz; Blanco 86). Testigos faced severe punishments for their non-participation, such as beatings, being buried in the ground up to their necks, or being forced to stand outside for hours until fainting (Blanco 86; Ros 101, 112, 194; Cabrera 59–60). However, most Jehovah’s Witnesses began to participate in camp activities and work after the great deal of coercion they faced (Cabrera 74). Less strict guards did not force testigos to wear the UMAP uniform (Former).
Jehovah’s Witnesses experienced a variety of tortures in the UMAP camps. In addition to the practices explained earlier, at some camps a guard would take individual Jehovah’s Witnesses who refused to wear the UMAP uniform out into the fields and fire a pistol, pretending to shoot them while the others were still in earshot. After faking this execution, the guard would return to the camp and select another Jehovah’s Witness who refused to put on the uniform. Former internee José Blanco wrote in his memoir that he did not see even one testigo concede to wear the uniform in the face of these simulated executions (87). Another common punishment was forcing testigos to stand in latrines filled with excrement up to the waist or chest (Blanco 86; Former). At some camps, guards forced Jehovah’s Witnesses to scoop the sewage from camp ditches with their bare hands (Blanco 86).
The Cuban government justifies its persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses by claiming that the sect was part of a scheme orchestrated by the CIA. For example, in January 1963, the Cuban government released a statement announcing that it had sabotaged a CIA spy network based in Oriente province, where they claimed to have found “a large quantity of buried weapons … 36,000 Cuban pesos and some Jehovah’s Witnesses’ prayer books” (“Broke CIA Spy Ring,” 1963). In a 1985 interview, Fidel Castro remarked that “Jehovah’s Witnesses cause problems everywhere … we were highly sensitive. Threatened by the United States, we needed to apply a strong defense policy – and we found ourselves faced with a doctrine that opposed conscription. We didn’t have any trouble over beliefs; rather, all our problems were over ideas – and you don’t know whether they’re religious or political” (Borge 186–87).http://www1.udel.edu/LAS/Vol14-2Tahbaz.html
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143
Fidel Castro and the WT
by Hecce ini am going to engage on a trip to the past and share with you some of the matters that marked the beginning of the jws persecution in cuba.
you will be surprised that the pattern that was followed is very similar to what happened in other dictatorial countries.. in the cuban case, i am going to surprise you and tell you that like what happened with hitler; the wt was partially responsible for their clash and confrontation with the cuban government.
during the early 60s the revolution was fighting for survival and they were willing and ready to demolish any perceived enemy to their cause.. a prime example was their war against the catholic church that was the most influential religious entity in the country; it took the supreme leader only a few public discourses to send the vast majority of clergy packing and back to their country, in this case spain.. the jehovah’s witnesses were an insignificant minority but they over estimated their importance and displayed a belligerent attitude, it was known that this was a us based religion and an easy target to connect them with the cia.
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Hecce
Cuba opens its first new church since the revolution 60 years ago (Catholic)
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/27/world/cuba-church-first/index.html
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Infiltrated Elders?
by john.prestor inso i'm watching john cedars commentary on the annual meeting from this last october, and at one point he shows a clip of garrett loesch talking about the struggles jehovah's witnesses faced decades before in the soviet union.
he claimed that police officers, maybe the kgb, infiltrated congregations which met in secret by studying with jehovah's witnesses, getting baptized, and then working their way up to becoming elders.
ceders jokes that this shows what kind of role holy spirit actually plays within body of elders, but another interpretation came to my mind just now.
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Hecce
This is up to our days a common occurrence in Cuba, people as high as CO and members of the Bethel family have eventually come out as spies; there is not much that the congregations can do to avoided.
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Does any other denomination change Doctrines as often as JW's?
by TerryWalstrom inwould i err in stating most religions and denominations have set doctrines?and yet, the watchtower's version/rendition of christianity is riven with contradictions which stem from changing predictions, policies, doctrines, and interpretations seemingly adrift from foundation or principle.wouldn't you think the constant upheaval, sifting, churn, and reorganization bespeaks whim, mood, uncertainty, and wilful speculation more than divine guidance?there's something endemically jittery and insecure about this religion which i would opine has more than a little to do with unstable mental affect than mere whimsy.what's your take on this?.
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Hecce
The core doctrines of the WT like the trinity, hell, soul immortality and a few others were adopted from other denominations and over the years they have suffered little or no change.
Everything else, created by WT by WT thinkers, like 1914, 1975, Superior Authorities and more are based on quick sand and subject to adjustments at any time by whoever is in charge.
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Did anyone put off having children because of wt bs?
by I Faded Twice injust curious if anyone put off having kids because the end was so close.
or because of you're "ministry" or lack of suitable mates..
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Hecce
For people in special service, likes COs and Special Pioneers a pregnancy was a curse; in the majority of the cases it was not welcomed. In many instances once that the child was born that sentiment will be passed on to the baby and a lot of those children were raised like they were a major inconvenience.
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Convention Dramas Let us read the reviews
by RULES & REGULATIONS inthe summer 2006 convention drama reviews .
*spot on with the acting and costumes.
jehovah looks in our hearts regardless of the color of our skin.
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Hecce
I don't know about the current instructions for the dramas, in the past they were explicit about using worn out fabrics for the costumes. I have never seen this followed even in today's theatrical super productions.
All of the participants have attires that seem out of a major department store and not of people in the conditions that they are supposed to represent.
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143
Fidel Castro and the WT
by Hecce ini am going to engage on a trip to the past and share with you some of the matters that marked the beginning of the jws persecution in cuba.
you will be surprised that the pattern that was followed is very similar to what happened in other dictatorial countries.. in the cuban case, i am going to surprise you and tell you that like what happened with hitler; the wt was partially responsible for their clash and confrontation with the cuban government.
during the early 60s the revolution was fighting for survival and they were willing and ready to demolish any perceived enemy to their cause.. a prime example was their war against the catholic church that was the most influential religious entity in the country; it took the supreme leader only a few public discourses to send the vast majority of clergy packing and back to their country, in this case spain.. the jehovah’s witnesses were an insignificant minority but they over estimated their importance and displayed a belligerent attitude, it was known that this was a us based religion and an easy target to connect them with the cia.
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Hecce
Something that might be related to the current slow growthblis the arrival of the internet, it has been gaining access little by little:
Cuba to roll out mobile internet for the first time - CNBC.com
Dec 5, 2018 - Cuba has announced that 3G internet access for cell phone users across the country will become available from Thursday. The Caribbean island nation, which exists under communist rule, opened state-run internet cafes in 2013 and citizens have only had access to home internet and public Wi-Fi hotspots since 2017. -
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Discontinue unproductive bible study - jw broadcasting
by Gorbatchov inhttps://tv.jw.org/#en/mediaitems/latestvideos/pub-ism_2_video.
interesting video explaining how to end a bible study.. watch the kind of uber behaviour of the witnesses: make a choice or we leave.... so hard, so not christian.
no love for the person.. g..
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Hecce
A mayor contradiction, on the one hand publishers are encouraged to discontinue non productive studies and on the other hand they are promoting 5 minutes considerations at the door.
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Convention Dramas Let us read the reviews
by RULES & REGULATIONS inthe summer 2006 convention drama reviews .
*spot on with the acting and costumes.
jehovah looks in our hearts regardless of the color of our skin.
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Hecce
On the positive side, the modern dramas are very well made and there is no question that a lot of time and effort is saved this way.
Still the preparation of the old dramas was a lot of fun.