ivy hill congregation of jehovah's witnesses is currently suing the pa department of human services.
it requests "a declaration that its elders are entitled to" clergy privilege, or, in the alternative,.
to the extent that the clergyman privilege is determined to exclude its elders on the basis that they are "members of [a] religious organization[] in which members other than the leader thereof are deemed clergymen or ministers," the court declare the statute to be unconstitutional.
Does your organisation have a clergyman class?”
Answer ..No.
Correct but JW church ministers are governed by Federal law that proscribes them from disclosing confidential communications under a spiritual setting.
That's because we've always hated the word 'clergy' and 'clergy class' because it elevates the elders to a job type rather tha
simply being spiritual shepherds.
ivy hill congregation of jehovah's witnesses is currently suing the pa department of human services.
it requests "a declaration that its elders are entitled to" clergy privilege, or, in the alternative,.
to the extent that the clergyman privilege is determined to exclude its elders on the basis that they are "members of [a] religious organization[] in which members other than the leader thereof are deemed clergymen or ministers," the court declare the statute to be unconstitutional.
They are privileged just like doctors and lawyers and any other religious clergy type of person.
People just don't like the word 'clergy'. But the act of confessing to the means that they can not reveal it to anyone.
i am wondering if a jw accused to be a murderer (or any other serious crime except csa) in a judicial committee would be reported to the police.. if i sexually abused or molested a child, i would not be reported to the police.. what about if i killed a person: would i be instead?.
it is not a matter of being right or wrong but i am only curious to know if there is at least a sort of coherence regarding the internal policies for serious crimes....
If a person confessed to the elders, that would be privileged, and the elders can't report it.
If a person has evidence that someone else committed a crime, that one might go to the elders in an effort to keep the congregation clean because that person does not trust the outside world.
But the congregation should not be involved in such matters.
i was a twenty y/old when i converted to the jw religion and was a problem drinker and i was a chain smoker .when i was baptized at a circuit assembly a year later , my conversion and change in lifestyle was given as an example of the effectiveness of incidental witnessing to the audience.. so i can point to the 2 positives becoming a jw .. 1.i gave up smoking.
2.i gave up drinking for a while ,but because i still had association with my wife`s and my family who were not jw`s ,i learnt to control my social drinking when i started again.. and i have been a responsible drinker ever since ,even though i left the religion 29 years ago.. the negative points of being a jw in my 32 years of being one ?
are far too great to list here .. love to hear your thoughts..
To know and understand the Bible.
To not be controlled or follower of the world such as politics and holidays.
what do people usually think of when they buy a house?
"i will probably live here for a long time" (you're invested with your time), "i will save money by building equity over time".
(you've invested in yourself financially for the long run) of course, i wouldn't be able to list the numerous reasons why people want to buy a house.
It is a person decision, based on people's resources and family and future plans
original reddit post (removed).
At this point, there are 1919 comments.
do you remember some of the weird and wacky stuff emanating from the watchtower society?
let's make a list from memory that we can use to inject a little humor into our discussions with jehovah's witnesses.
- venus may be an enormous jurassic park.. - germs don't cause disease.. - no beards allowed.
I think it is wacky when they say that if Noah had not obeyed, they could have died, then we wouldn't be alive today.
.....
Ok, but we wouldn't know that so it wouldn't matter to us.
14 jesus provides wise direction in times of crisis.
the benefits of that direction were evident when the covid-19 pandemic broke out.
while many in the world were uncertain about what course to take, jesus made sure that we received clear guidance to keep us safe.
"If they're not inspired how does Jesus communicate with the these guys? As for not being infallible, they tell their followers to obey even if it seems unreasonable."
What does being "inspired" mean?
What does it mean when a movie or TV show is said to be 'inspired by a trust story or real events'?
What does it mean when someone asks 'what inspired that song?'
Inspired mean where the idea came from. Yes the governing body is inspired because their ideas come from the Bible, but the problem is that the Bible is not clear on matters of modern day.
do you remember some of the weird and wacky stuff emanating from the watchtower society?
let's make a list from memory that we can use to inject a little humor into our discussions with jehovah's witnesses.
- venus may be an enormous jurassic park.. - germs don't cause disease.. - no beards allowed.
"The change of thought in 2009 that all unborn babies who died might get a resurrection. My JW sister-in-law , who has had several miscarriages , finds this appealing but when you actually think through the concept and look at the figures , it is a crazy concept."
Yeah, it is a crazy concept. Because to have the unborn resurrected would mean a woman has to be pregnant, but what if the mother is not alive; another woman would have to be pregnant with it. And how would they know which baby it was from multiple miscarriages?
14 jesus provides wise direction in times of crisis.
the benefits of that direction were evident when the covid-19 pandemic broke out.
while many in the world were uncertain about what course to take, jesus made sure that we received clear guidance to keep us safe.
"The elders were reminded to maintain regular contact with all in the congregation and to be aware of their physical and spiritual needs"
I didn't receive any of that contact and they were not interested in my needs.
