Posts by Tahoe

22

Upset and Concerned!

by The Bethelite in

jw
friends

i'm very worried.

i just took out two slices of dave's killer bread out of the bag this morning, to make some toast.

i bought the bread almost 2 weeks ago.

Tahoe

I love Dave’s! If you have not tried it yet, I highly recommend it!

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Jehovah's Witnesses Caught Showing Illegal Kids' Movies in Sweden

by Tahoe in

jw
friends

https://sputniknews.com/europe/201907251076353864-jehovahs-witnesses-caught-showing-illegal-kids-movies-in-sweden/ .

banned in several countries, the jehovah's witnesses admittedly run a multi-million dollar film industry with the purpose of specifically reaching out to children.. .

despite being convicted in a district court for showing films that have not been approved by the swedish state media council, the jehovah's witnesses have continued their screenings at summer rallies.

Tahoe

https://sputniknews.com/europe/201907251076353864-jehovahs-witnesses-caught-showing-illegal-kids-movies-in-sweden/

Banned in several countries, the Jehovah's Witnesses admittedly run a multi-million dollar film industry with the purpose of specifically reaching out to children.

Despite being convicted in a district court for showing films that have not been approved by the Swedish State Media Council, the Jehovah's Witnesses have continued their screenings at summer rallies. Several new police reports have been filed, Swedish national broadcaster SVT reported.

Screenings are a big part of the Jehovah's Witnesses' sermons and are often seen as a tool of indoctrination by the organisation's opponents.

“There is a very clear message in the films: you must not become like the evil ones, because they will be destroyed during the day of judgment. To hear that your classmates from school will die, because Jehovah will kill them, it does pretty much to a child, I think”, Sarah, a former witness, who left the organisation as a young teenager, told SVT. By her own admission, she is struggling to keep the witnesses' children protected.

One of the films features a mother admonishing her daughter, after the latter relates her school teacher's thoughts on family issues. “Everyone thinks differently about what is right and wrong. But the most important thing is what Jehovah thinks. He wants us to be his friends and live in paradise forever, but we must follow his rules to get there”, the mother says.

According to SVT, the Jehovah's Witnesses run a multi-million dollar film industry specifically aimed at children. The organisation's Swedish website alone features at least 365 films.

In April, a community leader was convicted by a district court for showing films that had not been reviewed by the State Media Council at a children's fair. The verdict was later appealed by the Jehovah's Witnesses, referring, among other things, to religious freedom and freedom of expression. The congregation continues showing the films in question at their meetings while awaiting a decision by the Court of Appeal.

Dag-Erik Kristoffersen, Jehovah's Witnesses press officer in Scandinavia has stressed that the organisation even “went beyond what is required” by having obtained a publication certificate from the Authority for Press, Radio and Television.

According to Nils Funcke, freedom of speech expert, the organisation interpreted the law incorrectly, since a review of the Media Council is obligatory for material aimed at children and to be shown in public.

Jehovah's Witnesses is a restorationist apocalyptic non-trinitarian offshoot from mainstream Christianity with headquarters in Warwick, New York. They believe that the destruction of the present world system at Armageddon is imminent, and that the establishment of God's kingdom over the Earth is the only solution for all problems faced by humanity. They are best known for their door-to-door preaching, distribution of literature and films, as well as refusing military service and blood transfusions. According to Peter Åkerbäck, a doctor of history of religion at Stockholm Univerisity, the organisation has several “sect-like” traits, such as the desire to exclude themselves from society.

The Swedish branch of Jehovah's Witnesses, active since 1909, is estimated at over 20,000. In total, the organisation has an estimated 8 million followers worldwide.

Its religious activities are banned in several countries, including Russia, China, and Vietnam.

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What Do You Think Would Make A Witness Decide It Was Now Time To Leave The “Truth”?

by minimus in

jw
friends

is there anything that will make that loyal witness ever see the light??

you know, that well respected elder, pioneer, or witness who has been in the “truth “ for decades..

Tahoe

If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn’t value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic? -Sam Harris

28

Jesus in a Super Hero Cape

by iloowy.goowy in

have you see the latest fashion for jesus in the wt?.

he's sporting a cape, just like superman!maybe caleb can get a t-shirt with a j logo instead of an s.. .

Tahoe

Where is Samuel Herd?

22

I'd like to find a single female bible lover to read the Bible with me.

by littleyohane in

jw
friends

but i believe in jehovah god, and i read the bible every day.. i believe the bible is god's word.

and i pray to god every day.. it's somewhat off topic.

but i'd like to find a friend who loves the bible and want to read and find the truth of the bible together with me.. i live in japan and i am a japanese.

Tahoe

25

This site needs a little more humor in it

by HiddenPimo in

.

Tahoe

25

This site needs a little more humor in it

by HiddenPimo in

.

Tahoe

5

Jehovah's Witnesses appeal $30 million jury awarded damages in sex abuse case

by Tahoe in

the jehovah's witnesses church has appealed the $30 million punitive damages award handed down by a jury to a thompson falls woman who claimed church officials covered up prior abuses by a congregation member who molested her for years.. .

the thompson falls congregation of jehovah's witnesses, along with the church's highest offices — called the watchtower bible and tract society of new york and the christian congregation of jehovah's witnesses — filed its appeal brief last week with the state supreme court, noting the punitive damages award was one of the largest by a montana jury in the state's history.

the church asks the high court to overturn sanders county district judge james manley's pretrial ruling that the church was negligent went it failed to report earlier abuses by maximo reyes against a girl in the congregation.

Tahoe

The Jehovah's Witnesses church has appealed the $30 million punitive damages award handed down by a jury to a Thompson Falls woman who claimed church officials covered up prior abuses by a congregation member who molested her for years.

The Thompson Falls congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, along with the church's highest offices — called the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York and the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses — filed its appeal brief last week with the state Supreme Court, noting the punitive damages award was one of the largest by a Montana jury in the state's history.

The church asks the high court to overturn Sanders County District Judge James Manley's pretrial ruling that the church was negligent went it failed to report earlier abuses by Maximo Reyes against a girl in the congregation. Elders in Thompson Falls did "disfellowship" Reyes from the congregation but reinstated him about a year later, in June 2005.

After his return, Alexis Nunez, then an 8-year-old girl, would later tell elders Reyes sexually assaulted her on a near-weekly basis for the next two years.

The Missoulian typically does not name victims of sexual assault. Nunez, however, agreed to allow the Missoulian to use her name.

The Jehovah's Witnesses are also appealing Manley's ruling that Montana's statutory cap on punitive damages — which sets limits at $10 million or 3% of a defendant's net worth, whichever is less — is unconstitutional. The cap was set in place by the state Legislature, but Manley's ruling isn't the first to reject that maximum set by lawmakers. The argument has not yet been heard in the state Supreme Court, and could become the centerpiece of this case.

Attorneys for the church argue that eliminating that maximum violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the right to due process. Some states, including Washington, don't even allow punitive damages. In this case, Nunez was awarded $4 million in compensatory damages, then another $31 million in punitive damages. Attorneys for the church in their appeal called the punitive damage amount "staggering," "excessive," "shocking" and "unlawful."

Cynthia Ford, law professor who teaches a remedies class at the University of Montana's Alexander Blewett III School of Law, said punitive damages can make an example out of bad actors and wealthy institutions.

"Punitive damages are not very often awarded so it's a really high standard to even get them," Ford said. The idea is basically "to prevent them from doing the same thing again and to serve as a lesson to other similarly situated defendants. It's sending a warning."

The argument against the cap, she said, is that it would violate the Sixth Amendment rights of the plaintiff. When a jury hashes out what damages the defendant owes the plaintiffs, they are not told or instructed to keep it under that cap; they're not even told about it. So if a jury awards an amount higher than that cap, but the statute reduces the amount, that can be argued as a violation of a person's right to a jury trial.

Tort reforms to limit or eliminate such punitive damages, Ford said, have been propelled largely by insurance companies for the last 30 or 40 years.

Montana lawmakers, Ford said, came up with a compromise. After setting the cap, the statute allows punitive damages "for the purpose of punishing a defendant," but only in certain cases, and not in cases of breach of contract, for example. As to where to draw the line on punitive damages, in light of dueling constitutional rights — "That's the issue the Montana Supreme Court is going to look at," Ford said.

In the other part of the appeal, attorneys for the Jehovah's Witnesses say they should not have been found negligent, because they they could not have violated Montana's mandatory reporter statute because church elders are not mandatory reporters when such information is offered in confession.

When church elders first learned of Reyes' abuses in 2004, Reyes was confronted by the elders and subsequently disfellowshipped after admitting to the abuses. He was reinstated a year later, and in 2012 elders learned Nunez had been abused for years.

Attorneys for Nunez argued last year that the confessional exception to the mandatory reporter law shouldn't apply here, because Reyes was not in confession when he admitted to the abuses.

But the church argues in its appeal that its legal department at Watchtower, the church's headquarters in New York, had looked into state law and determined that Montana's mandatory reporting law didn't apply to this case because they only learned of Reyes' abuses years after he had committed them. At the time, no one was in immediate danger, so Watchtower attorneys told the elders in Thompson Falls to deal with the matter internally.

Critics of the church's policy said the Thompson Falls ruling was another example in the Jehovah's Witnesses' worldwide reckoning in covering up sexual abuse within its keep. By the church's own policy, reports of abuse are to be forwarded to the legal department in the church's highest office, which in turn directs congregation elders to conduct proceedings internally and not report these crimes to authorities.

The second part of policy criticized by authorities, attorneys in this case and former church members is the "two-witness rule," which requires an allegation of abuse to be bolstered by two witnesses before leadership takes any action.

This rule is taken from scripture.

"Christ Jesus establishes that there has to be two witnesses," senior church official Gary Breaux said in a morning worship video posted online. "We will never change our scriptural position on that subject."

Nunez's attorneys have 60 days to file their response brief with the state Supreme Court.

https://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/crime-and-courts/jehovah-s-witnesses-appeal-million-jury-awarded-damages-in-sex/article_11ffe8be-f67b-548c-b515-5016f81c4908.html

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