Jack Ryan
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Posts posted by Jack Ryan
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Oh yeah, the LOVE is so evident.
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This is almost certainly because the jw.help logo is a blatant ripoff of the “jw.org” trademark.
I hate to say this, and I'm not a lawyer, but jw.help is gonna lose this one badly and should put up a completely different logo and beg forgiveness immediately. It's pretty clear jw.help is “diluting” jw.org by having an official-looking logo and serving as an alternate source of information about the org.
Hopefully they get to keep the name. That's pretty sweet.
- Arauna, Srecko Sostar and BillyTheKid46
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Watchtower Society attacks jw.help
The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania has blocked our YouTube channel and our Instagram account for alleged trademark infringement. It is to be feared that further Internet appearances will be affected.
We strongly disagree with this alleged trademark infringement. The brand jw.help is protected in Germany. Therefore, we will take legal action to defend jw.help.
On the one hand, we are pleased that our work is even registered as far as the USA, as we mostly turn to a German audience. On the other hand, this approach also shows how Jehovah's Witnesses are trying by all means to eliminate critics and enlighteners.
Please support us in our efforts to continue to educate Jehovah's Witnesses and other sects and to advise and assist their victims. Especially in the current situation, we depend on their donations.
We would like to thank all those who already support us!
http://jw.help/2019/08/29/watchtower-society-attackiert-jw-help/
- Arauna and BillyTheKid46
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I love this. The irony of it is wonderful. Our whole ex-religion is based on, drum roll 🥁🥁🥁
APOSTASY
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1877_Advent_Christian_Times_Barbour_Russell.pdf
They stated that Russell
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was causing divisions in adventists circles
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that he was preaching a different gospel/doctrine to his church at that time
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subversion
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they try to 'belittle' him
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their own boast that they have not succeeded
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do NOT go near them (shunning) or give them any support (countenance)
In essence the words used labels Russell as an 'apostate' to his current church at that time.
BONUS: If you look at the header of the paper the symbol of the Advent Christian Times is suspiciously close to the one Russell "created" for the Bible Students (or not to say the same, but without the laurels at the sides).
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How are you supposed to love your neighbor if they're all diseased agents of satan?
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A Norwegian JW woman, who was sexually abused, was disfellowshipped for fornication. The woman first appealed inside the organization - without success. Feeling injustice, she then decided to sue Jehovah's Witnesses. The court decided last month that the disfellowshipping was against the Norwegian law and must be canceled. The court also ordered the local Jehovah's Witness organization to pay 100 000 NOK to the woman.
Here is the story, in a Norwegian newspaper.
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https://www.vl.no/nyhet/fjern-statsstotten-til-jehovas-vitner-1.1569015
This story is out today!Google translate of today's development:
-Remove the state aid for Jehovah's Witnesses
MDG (Green Party) believes Prime Minister Kjell Ingolf Ropstad has only one choice: -Remove state aid from Jehovah's Witnesses. Ap (Labour Party) thinks he should have taken hold of the religious community a long time ago.
Vårt Land revealed last week that members of Jehovah's Witnesses can be expelled from the faith community if they vote in elections. Kjell Ingolf Ropstad (KrF), who is in charge of the Solberg government's belief and life policy, went out saying that voting rights for Jehovah's Witnesses could be the basis for withdrawing state aid.
At the Storting (parliament), the parties look differently at what reactions the religious community should meet with.
The clearest
MDG says it clear. The party believes the practice revealed must have serious consequences for Jehovah's Witnesses, spokesman Arild Hermstad said.
«Should Ropstad Withdraw State Aid When Religious Communities Urge Members Not to Participate in Democratic Elections?»
-«Yes. It is not acceptable for religious communities to put pressure, ban, or punish those who choose to vote. It is an obvious violation of human rights and a violation of Norwegian law. If they do not change practices, we believe they should not receive state aid,» says Hermstad.
The point of view is far supported by Rødt («Red»). Vice President Silje Kjosbakken says they "are looking into the possibility of depriving Jehovah's Witnesses support":
-«We will not ban religious communities that ask members not to exercise their voting rights, but we see no reason to give them public support either.»
Boundaries
Kari Henriksen in the Labour Party believes that Ropstad as Minister of Religion should have addressed this earlier.
«I'm a little surprised that Ropstad didn't know about the practice of Jehovah's Witnesses. It is known that they will not vote, but perhaps less well known what the consequences it will have for members who choose to vote,» says Henriksen, who is a member of the the cultural and family committee in the parliament.
«Ropstad should be invited to dialogue with Jehovah's Witnesses before threatening to deprive the state aid,» says Henriksen.
She believes that state aid should be an active tool for engaging in dialogue with closed faith communities.
«Today, the state would rather report after the aid has been distributed. Now that this has happened, Ropstad should have invited Jehovah's Witnesses to dialogue, stating clearly where the boundaries of the larger community are going.»
Surprised
SV's Freddy Øvstegård sits on the same committee as Henriksen.
«When I was younger, I knew several Jehovah's Witnesses who were politically interested but had to hide this. Therefore, they were secret members of youth parties. This was talked about in the Christian environment, so I'm quite surprised that the reactions from Ropstad are only coming now,» says Øvstegård.
He believes that Jehovah's Witnesses are not alone in having a problematic religious practice.
-«We have to be consistent in the treatment of human rights violations in several faiths. Norway must become better at cracking down on all forms of social control across religious groups.»
«Do you think it was right for Ropstad to threaten to wothdraw the state aid?»
«Yes, certainly given that they deny their members the right to vote. This is serious, and it is only now that we see this kind of abuse so clearly.»
The Center Party (SP) spokeswoman - and member of the same committee, Åslaug Sem-Jacobsen, says that the party "has noted that the Minister of Religion is now addressing the matter and will discuss it with the concerned county people":
«We hope it does not take too long and will listen to the government's assessments as they come.»
Reactions
The ruling parties are careful to comment on the possibility of state aid cuts for Jehovah's Witnesses. But KrF's parliamentary representative Jorunn Gleditsch Lossius says she "responds":
«If it is true that members of Jehovah's Witnesses can be excluded and excluded if they use the right to vote, I react strongly to this.»
«Should state aid be withdrawn when religious communities urge members not to participate in democratic elections?»
«The prime minister has now asked the individual county council to assess whether there have been violations of democratic rights and principles. And there will always be a delicate balance towards upholding freedom of belief.»
Basic
Kristin Ørmen Johnsen (H), chair of the Storting's Family and Cultural Committee, has one comment:
«It is a fundamental right to be able to vote in elections, and it is unacceptable if someone is prevented from using their right to vote.»
Left-wing faith and life-spokesperson Grunde Almeland says voting "one of the most fundamental rights of Norwegian citizens":
«If authorities threaten individuals using this fundamental right with sanctions, it is, as I feel it, an abuse of power.»
Undermines
The Progressive Party (FrP), as the only government party, is clear that they do not want to distribute state aid to any religious community.
«I think the matter gets extra serious when religion is used as an anti-democratic press», says Frps representative in the Family and Culture Committee, Morten Wold, and add:
«Faith is a private matter. Once we have public support for communities of faith and beliefs, it is absolutely essential that they do not undermine democracy and violate fundamental human rights.»
Picture in article. Photo: Xueqi Pang - the journalist.
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A woman is suing a local congregation ("Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Roy, Utah, an unincorporated association"), individual elders and Watchtower NY after, she claims, a judicial committee forced her to listen an audio recording of her own rape. The trial court summarized the facts as alleged by the plaintiff as follows:
At the time of the judicial committee, Plaintiff was fifteen years old. However, at the time of the conduct which led to the judicial committee, Plaintiff was only fourteen years old. This judicial committee was convened to determine if Plaintiff had engaged in pomea, defined by Jehovah's Witnesses as serious sexual sin. At this committee, Plaintiff was subjected to intense scrutiny and harsh questioning for several [four to five] hours. As part of their interrogation of Plaintiff, the members of the judicial committee played an audio tape which had been given to them by Defendant Williams. This audio tape contained a recording of Defendant Williams allegedly raping Plaintiff. Members of the committee forced Plaintiff to listen to the tape, stopping it at different times and requiring Plaintiff to describe what was happening and repeatedly accusing her of consenting to the conduct.
In 2016, the woman brought suit for negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress (she initially also sued for negligence, negligent supervision and failure to warn but withdrew those claims at the pre-trial stage). The district court dismissed the lawsuit as barred by the Establishment Clause of the 1st Amendment (separation of church and state). The judge described the elders’ alleged conduct as “nothing less than reprehensible” and remarked that "it is... disturbing to this Court that Defendants apparently had no qualms with not only possessing but listening to the contents of an audio recording that included sexual conduct by a fourteen year old girl" and “if this conduct had occurred in a secular setting, the Court would have no hesitation in sending this claim to the jury.” Nonetheless, he concluded:
Plaintiffs claims expressly implicate key religious questions regarding religious rules, standards, and discipline, most prominently how a religion conducts its ecclesiastical disciplinary hearings. While the allegations are certainly disturbing, this Court is unable to disentangle Defendants conduct from the setting and context in which they took place <...> Despite this Court's revulsion at the allegations, it cannot hear this case without excessively entangling itself in religion, and thus declines to do so.
The appellate court unanimously affirmed that ruling. In its view, allowing the suit to proceed would require the district court "to assess religiously prescribed conduct", "the manner in which the Church conducted a religious judicial committee", and therefore "to unconstitutionally inject itself into substantive ecclesiastical matters."
The plaintiff then petitioned to the Supreme Court of Utah. The petition asks the Court to hear the case and decide how the Establishment Clause applies to intentional tort claims - whether the First Amendment "bar all claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress arising out of religiously motivated conduct". In addition to local lawyers, the plaintiff is represented before the Court by The Zalkin Law Firm, P.C. and DC-based Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at the Georgetown University Law Center.
Will the Utah Supreme Court grant the petition and hear the case? The chances are pretty slim - that Court grants only about 1/7 of petitions filed. Moreover, in the first six months of this year it has already granted 16 petitions, whereas in 2011-18 it didn't grant more than 24 petitions a year; in other words, its docket is almost full. Its decision on the petition will become known in the next two months.
Sources:
Petition for a writ of certiorari + lower courts' judgments (added as annexes) [Archived].
Case docket (docket number (search term): 20190422).
Jehovah’s Witness Elders Accused of Playing Rape Recording to Victim, JWsurvey (Oct. 28, 2016) [comments are prety noteworthy].
Utah Jehovah's Witnesses church forced woman to listen to audio of her rape, lawsuit says, The Salt Lake Tribune (Oct. 16, 2016).
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President Trump consoles JW baby afterward:
A hospital official confirms to CNN that this is the baby who was brought back to the hospital to meet with Trump and FLOTUS after the child had been discharged. The two month old’s parents, Jordan and Andre Anchondo died protecting him during the El Paso shooting. pic.twitter.com/J468ygdPnM
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) August 9, 2019 -
The 25 yr old mother who died in the massacre, on 8/3/19, protecting her baby has very devout JW parents and grandparents. Her husband was killed as well. Not sure if she was baptized but it occurred to me that her funeral talk will not be about HER or THEM and what they did. It will probably lean more towards making unbelievers...believers.
They died protecting their baby and really wish that will be their focus. If its not, I hope it will wake up some in the audience.
May they rest in peace ❤ Jordan and Andre Anchondo❤ (And all victims of that horrible day😔)
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Photo was taken at 11 am 1 hr before lunch break
So much love going around. You can tell from how close together they sit.
Ironic isn’t it . The the theme is “love never fails”
2,450, Where are they?
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It is heartbreaking to hear the woman who expects her family to reject her for speaking out. She is very brave.
One thing, the video mentions a bill in the US Senate that would require clergy of all faiths to report child abuse. It appears that that bill is on hold due to lack of support. I am very disappointed that our country is choosing to protect institutions and abusers over children. https://sd13.senate.ca.gov/news/2019-07-09-senator-hill-places-senate-bill-360-hold
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KOCO is one of four major local news station broadcasting in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (Not so fun fact: Oklahoma is part of what the US calls "Tornado Alley") and surrounding areas. The OKC metro area has a population of 1,396,445. I couldn't find how many people tune in to KOCO. I do know their Facebook page has a following of 448,000.
To download this 23mb vid https://mega.nz/#!R7g2CaJI!W5Mn-5u2klbKVSyX012W4WAYY7rGGCtmAIKhZz_6Rt4
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Need I post anything else?
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I do not think a quicker reimbursement is the motive for this blatant lie. It is to avoid liability. Over and over, it has been stressed that our ministry is a “personal expression of our faith.”
We are not allowed to use the congregation’s name on applications for public witnessing, or as the entity to get insurance, etc. Again, they don’t want the congregation to be held liable if something goes wrong.
To have a police report show that the cart is property of the congregation would make the final connection they are working so hard to avoid.
The Lost Founder and First President of the Jehovah Witnesses: William Henry Conley
in Topics
Posted
William Henry Conley. Co-owner of the Riter Conley company that provided steel and manufactured goods during the second industrial revolution. The first president of “Zions Watchtower” which would later be replaced with Charles Taze Russell. Conley eventually didn’t want to be associated with Russell, he didn’t agree with his pyramid theories and thought his 1874 prediction of Armageddon was ludicrous. So he disassociated himself to care for his wife whom he felt was more important than Russell’s cult following at the time. Russell went on to use Conley's $11 million today equivalent to fund his exhibition, and then Conley went on to believe the organization only wanted him for his money which he went to his grave believing. Upon his death, all trace of his existence and founding of Zions Watchtower was erased. An announcement was not made in Zions Watchtower, Russell did refer to him as “an original Allegheny bible student” though. Russell once believed Conley to be anointed, but do to “succumbing to worldliness and falling out, may be given another chance to awake with the great crowd on an earthly resurrection as a man who was hardworking and loyal.” THAT'S all Russell had to say about the president, the first president and founding member. This information wasn’t found out until 45 years later.
Even the @The Librarian mentioned him in his articles such as this one: