The Librarian
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The emphatic diaglott: containing the original Greek text of what is commonly styled the New Testament (according to the recension of J.J. Griesbach) with an interlineary word for word English translation; a new emphatic version, based on the interlineary translation, on the renderings of eminent critics, and on the various readings of the Vatican manuscript no. 1209 in the Vatican Library; together with illustrative and explanatory foot notes, and a copious selection of references; to the whole of which is added a valuable alphabetical appendix : Wilson, Benjamin, b. 1817,
It's an a 1902 Diaglott bible that's from both the IBSA & WBTS. It's talks about in the first few pages before going into the Greek & English languages about the New World Translation (yes back in 1902)!!
G R.
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?Caro cliente
A OPERADORA CELESTIAL informa:
✅ Evite que sua intimidade com Jeová Deus seja bloqueada.
✅ Faça já uma recarga de orações e ganhe Bônus de:
Sabedoria, Paz , Alegria , Fé, Esperança, Perseverança e Contentamento!?
E mais:
✅ Fale com Jeová de graça por tempo ilimitado todos os dias! ?
?Discando Salmo 27:10; 46:1.
E em Caso de aflição:
?O Salmo 55:22 e Provérbios 3:5, 6.
O resultado❓
Filipenses 4:6, 7.
✅ Todas as ligações devem ser feita em nome de ?Jesus Cristo!
✅ As Ligações são válidas... -
I didn't know her as a mother but only as a friend.
She was a very sweet and loving sister who was always smiling and fun.
Life threw her a few hard knocks along the way I hear.
I like to remember her pioneering with all of us and enjoying her days in good health.
A big hug to her mother Mary.
Agape!
The Librarian
Please help her family via her gofundme page
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coming soon....
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Actually, we want the opposite. A letter was sent out to the BOE's almost two months ago. The elders were instructed to contact all Da's Df'ed and Faders to invite them to Memorial and also leave with them a copy of Return to Jehovah.
Try to let love motivate your actions .
As for their unrepentance, let Jesus be the final Judge.
Our current JW.org policy says we should continue to not acknowledge their presence once they do show up. I can see where that might confuse you. However it is good for them to not forget the love from which they have been banned.
oh... and not ALL worldly people are fornicators and idolaters. just sayin'
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These guys are so great. They do printing of Public Witnessing signs for local congregations and also Special Metropolitan program. All of them are pioneers and SPs. They do a great job, it’s super easy to order and delivery is fast. What a wonderful provision!
Here’s this month’s sign:
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Yesterday our congregation had an "elders and ministerial servants only" party, which really meant they, their wives and their children. I am in a congregation with over 50 brothers who fit this description. I am really disturbed about the trend I am seeing to hold these exclusive parties, especially in view of Jesus' clear direction at Luke 14. I would like to know the opinion of the brothers and sisters in this forum. Does this disturb you? Why or why not, with a scriptural basis.
- Sent in via jw-archive.org
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See here for my comments on this: http://www.jw-archive.org/post/130454441558/watchtower-and-the-united-nations-back-in-2004-and
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Grace Greene, age 100, of Staunton, Virginia, formerly of Newfane, New York, entered into rest on Tuesday, March 1, 2016 at Shenandoah House in Fishersville, Virginia. Born September 4, 1915 in Rushford, New York, Grace was the daughter of the late Benjamin Eli Lindsley and Maggie (Snyder) Lindsley.
A strong woman who endured many hardships warned us she would live to be 100. She will be loved and missed by all. Grace enjoyed studying the Bible and was a dedicated baptized Witness of Jehovah for 56 years, knocking at the doors of others with her school class ring. Grace was often seen in the garden or doing yard work. She was known for her love of family and starting traditions with her grandchildren and great grandchildren.
She was the beloved wife of the late Lawrence Greene; predeceased by a son, Darrell Royce; survived by her daughter, Sharon Greene Hallifax (Norman); her grandchildren, Kelli Pines (Sam), Jody Conrad (Jeff), Randy Hallifax, and Robin Boos; seven great grandchildren and two great great grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 5, 2016 at 2:00 p.m., Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, 6452 Charlotteville Road, Newfane, New York.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Shenandoah House, 111 North Campus Lane, Fishersville, Virginia 22939 or the World Wide Work of Jehovah’s Witnesses, 6452 Charlotteville Road, Newfane, New York, 14108.
http://www.eastniagarapost.com/2016/03/grace-greene-sep-4-1915-mar-1-2016.html
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By Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 News Service
On 15 February Kyrgyzstan's Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Jehovah's Witnesses against refusal to register communities in Osh, Naryn, Jalal-Abad, and Batken, Forum 18 News Service has learned. And on 24 February the Supreme Court sent two Jehovah's Witnesses, Nadezhda Sergienko and Oksana Koriakina, for a new trial "in total disregard of the overwhelming and unchallenged evidence of my clients' innocence", their lawyer Shane Brady told Forum 18. Elsewhere, a court rejected an appeal by the registered Elchilik Zhiyini Church against Kemin Kenesh's halting of their activity despite a decision by the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court. "Our decision must be followed", Akylbek Akhmatov of the Constitutional Chamber told Forum 18. He added that "the lawyers of the Kemin Church should refer to our decision in court". The Church has not been able to meet since August 2015 and was threatened with violence at a Kenesh (council) meeting. Police have refused to take action against people they witnessed threatening violence. In another case, the authorities have refused to bring officials who tortured Jehovah's Witnesses in Osh to justice.
On 15 February Kyrgyzstan's Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Jehovah's Witnesses against the State Commission for Religious Affairs' (SCRA) refusal to register four religious communities, Forum 18 News Service has learned.
In September 2014, a Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court decision removed two major obstacles to the registration of religious or belief communities: a restriction that a religious organisation is limited to carrying out its activity only in the place where it has its legal address; and a requirement that local keneshes (councils) must approve a list of 200 founding members of a religious organisation before it can apply for legal status. Yet officials have refused to follow this decision, and the SCRA is preparing a draft Religion Law ignoring it (see F18News 29 May 2015 http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2067).
Under international human rights law (which Kyrgyzstan's Religion Law contradicts) state registration cannot be a precondition for exercising freedom of religion or belief, as is outlined in the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)/Venice Commission Guidelines on the Legal Personality of Religious or Belief Communities (see http://www.osce.org/odihr/139046). Kyrgyzstan is an OSCE participating State.
"We asked the Supreme Court to cancel trial and appeal court decisions and to order the SCRA to approve our applications for the registration of four religious organizations in Osh, Naryn, Jalal-Abad, and Batken districts", Jehovah's Witness lawyer Shane Brady told Forum 18 on 24 February. The authorities have persistently obstructed many religious or belief communities in gaining registration (see Forum 18's Kyrgyzstan religious freedom survey http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2013).
The authorities have also arrested and detained for 31 months on false charges two women, Nadezhda Sergienko and Oksana Koriakina, in reprisal for a registration application. On 24 February the Supreme Court sent the women for a fresh trial, despite many violations of due process and strong evidence of their innocence – including a judge describing it as a "a fabricated case" (see below).
Brady explained that "the SCRA refused our application, arguing that although Article 10(2) of the Religion Law had been declared unconstitutional by the 4 September 2014 decision of the Constitutional Chamber, Parliament had not yet amended the Law". Judge Mukambet Kasymaliyev, Chair of the Constitutional Chamber, told Forum 18: "Everyone must abide by the Court's decisions as they become part of the law immediately after they are passed". Asked what he thinks of local officials and the SCRA ignoring this, Judge Kasymaliyev replied that "I cannot evaluate the actions of those officials. But it seems to me that they do not know Kyrgyzstan's laws and must study them."
"According to the SCRA", Brady said, "the unconstitutional provision still remained in force." Lower courts agreed with the SCRA and the Supreme Court has not yet made its reasoning public. "We are waiting to see what exactly arguments the Supreme Court will give in its written decision."
Supreme Court officials who would not give their names and Press-Secretary Aynura Toktosheva refused to discuss the cases with Forum 18 on 3 March, or put Forum 18 through to any officials who would discuss the cases.
Will the law be followed by officials?
Asked why the SCRA and Kemin Kenesh (see below) do not follow the Constitutional Chamber decision, SCRA Deputy Director Zakir Chotayev told Forum 18 on 3 March that "it is an arguable issue and it has been contested in many court cases". He then refused to discuss the issue more with Forum 18 and referred it to SCRA lawyer Zhanibek Botoyev.
Botoyev also claimed that "the issue has been contested in Courts". Asked what exact court cases he meant, and whether he respects the Constitutional Chamber decision, he replied "I will not discuss these issues with you" and declined to talk more to Forum 18.
No freedom of religion or belief even with registration
Even if a religious community has state registration, this does not mean that it can exercise freedom of religion or belief. In the northern Chuy Region, the Inter-District Economic Court on 14 December 2015 rejected an appeal by the registered Elchilik Zhiyini (Embassy) Protestant Church against a decision by Kemin Kenesh that the Church's activity should be stopped. The Church argued that the Kenesh had no such power, but the Court argued in a decision that Forum 18 has seen that under Article 269 of the Civil Procedure Code that it had such a power. Article 269 describes the competence of a court to uphold or reject administrative decisions by the authorities.
The Church has not been able to meet for worship since August 2015 and was threatened with mob violence at the Kenesh meeting which halted its activity. Church lawyer Toktorbek Ahsirkul uuly told Forum 18 on 24 February that "we are challenging the unlawful decisions in the Regional Appeal Court. Church members are not gathering for worship officially, because they are afraid of more severe punishments by the authorities."(see below).
Ahsirkul uuly told Forum 18 that the Court gave "no reasonable arguments" for its decision. Judge Kurmanov of the Economic Court refused to answer when asked why the Court decided that a Kenesh could stop a religious or belief community exercising freedom of religion or belief. "They have appealed against our decision in the Regional Court, let us wait and see what it will decide," he told Forum 18 on 24 February.
Judge Jeksenaly Kurmanbayev, one of the Judges of the panel hearing the Church's new appeal in Chuy Regional Court on 24 February told Forum 18 that the initial hearing was postponed. This was because "a representative of the SCRA also needs to participate in the hearing". He did not say why this was and stated that "we are investigating whether or not the Kenesh can suspend the activity of the Church". He would not say how long the investigation will go on and commented that "attracting young people to the Church was brought up."
Warning, threats of violence
In late July 2015 Kemin Kenesh summoned Elchilik Zhiyini Church to a meeting at which it was told, Church lawyer Ahsirkul uuly told Forum 18, "that it must stop its activity since there are complaints and threats against the Church from local Muslims and that their legal documents are not in order."
Kenesh Vice-Speaker Bakhtiyar Kurmanaliyev confirmed this, and added that there were threats of violence made against the Church at the meeting and that the National Security Committee (NSC) secret police was present. "We received not only complaints but also threats that if the Church continued its activity, it could lead to bloodshed", he told Forum 18 on 24 February. "The Muslim group at the Kenesh meeting expressed threats to us once again. That's we decided it would be better to stop the Church at least temporarily to calm down the local people."
Asked how it is possible that a group of individuals can threaten others in the presence of the authorities and NSC secret police, Kurmanaliyev said "that's the reason we invited the law-enforcement agencies". Asked if the authorities had taken action against those who threatened the Church, Kurmanaliyev claimed that "it is none of my business but it is up to NSC and police. We cannot interfere in their work, and you need to ask them."
"Our colleagues were in that Kenesh meeting since it is our duty to calm down possible conflicts between groups of local citizens", Chuy Regional Police Police Press-Secretary told Forum 18 on 26 February after consulting police chief Kapar Batyrkanov. "But the police are not investigating any threats as Church members did not file a complaint". Asked why the police did not take action against threats of violence they themsleves witnessed, Toktosunov claimed without giving any details that "the case was referred to court, and we cannot make any further comments".
The authorities in Kyrgyzstan have a long history of complicity with violence and failure to protect people. Many in Kyrgyzstan think this was a contributory factor in the December 2015 murder of an Ahmadi Muslim (see eg. F18News 18 February 2016 http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2150). The state has also repeatedly failed for many years to stop violence and coercion to change beliefs against people who want to peacefully bury their dead, with the religious ceremonies and in the cemeteries they would wish (see eg. F18News 6 June 2014 http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=1966).
Ban
On 5 August Kemin Kenesh made a decision (which Forum 18 has seen), signed by Kenesh Vice-Speaker Kurmanaliyev, to stop the activity of the Church. It stated that the NSC secret police on 9 July and the SCRA on 29 July both claimed that the Church violated the Religion Law as it is officially registered at one address but holding meetings at a different address. These claims directly contradict the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court's September 2014 decision that this is legal (see above).
Asked whether the Kenesh was aware of the Constitutional Chamber decision and why the Kemin authorities did not follow it, Kurmanalieyev replied that "I am not answering for the whole of Kyrgyzstan".
The Kemesh decision also says that a group of local Muslims complained to the Kenesh on 15 July that the Church is: "adding young Kyrgyz people to its ranks by misleading them". Asked why the Church members cannot share their faith with others and children, and whether there is freedom of religion or belief in Kyrgyzstan, Vice-Speaker Kurmanaliyev replied: "Kyrgyzstan respects religious freedoms but at the meeting the Church did not provide us with documents proving they can do religious activity". Asked why the Kenesh thinks it is their duty to interfere in the activity of the Church, he replied that "there could have been a scandal, we were concerned".
Asked why the Kenesh made a decision to stop the Church, which has official registration, Vice-Speaker Kurmanaliev claimed that "we asked the Church to show us their founding documents and they did not do so". He then claimed that "in that meeting they did not want to show us their documents but did so some time later. We had made our decision by that time".
Church lawyer Ashirbek uuly told Forum 18 that "the Church did not provide documents as the Kenesh has no rights to stop its activity. Nowhere in the law are they given such a competence".
Asked by what authority Kemin Kenesh halted the Church's activity, Kurmanaliyev claimed that "I am busy. If you came to our office I could show you our competences from the official documents".
"Our decision must be followed in the whole territory of Kyrgyzstan"
"Our decision must be followed in the whole territory of Kyrgyzstan", Akylbek Akhmatov, Advisor to the Chair of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court, told Forum 18 on 2 March. He added that "those who do not follow it must be held responsible".
Whilst Akhamatov did not wish to directly comment on the actions of Kemin Kenesh, he added that "the lawyers of the Kemin Church should refer to our decision in court".
Supreme Court sends freed women in "fabricated case" for another trial
In October 2015 a Jehovah's Witness mother and daughter, Nadezhda Sergienko and Oksana Koriakina, were freed from house arrest, having been held since March 2013, in what a judge described as "a fabricated case". NSC secret police and ordinary police 10th Department officers repeatedly illegally tried to stop the two women's lawyers participating in the appeal hearing, and then invaded the judges' deliberation room when they realised that the women might be set free. Under international law some of the police should not have been at liberty, as they were involved in torturing other Jehovah's Witnesses. The two women's defence lawyers have publicly called for the ordinary police and NSC secret police officers who openly attacked lawyers' and judges' independence to be investigated on criminal charges, and if guilty punished according to the law. Officials have refused to tell Forum 18 if these and other official attempts to obstruct the rule of law will be subject to investigation and criminal charges (see F18News 3 November 2015 http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2116).
Yet the Supreme Court on 24 February 2016 granted an appeal by Nazar Kenzheyev and D. Kachybekov of Osh City Prosecutor's Office against the decision to acquit and free Sergienko and Koriakina. The Supreme Court also sent the two women for a new trial in Osh City Court "in total disregard of the overwhelming and unchallenged evidence of my clients' innocence", their lawyer Brady told Forum 18.
"Both the trial and appeal courts, in detailed written reasons dated 7 October 2014 and 25 October 2015, agreed that Ms. Koriakina and Ms. Sergienko were innocent of the criminal charges. The trial court had concluded that both women had in fact been wrongly targeted based on religious prejudice by investigators from the Osh Department of Internal Affairs and the Osh City Prosecutor's office", Brady explained.
Brady noted that Osh City Prosecutor's office "raised the identical arguments they raised at trial and on appeal", but despite this they were represented in the Supreme Court by a prosecutor from the Prosecutor General's Office. "We are very concerned about the prospects of this case now returning to Osh City Court", Brady stated. He anticipated that it may take a month for the case to be sent back to Osh.
The Judges of the Supreme Court who heard the case were Kanatbek Turganbekov, Busurmankul Baktygulov and Kanibek Bokoyev. Judges Turganbekov and Baktygulov did not answer their phones on 3 March. Judge Bokoyev refused to discuss the case with Forum 18, claiming that "I cannot make comments over the phone".
Supreme Court does partial justice in one case
However, on 2 March the Supreme Court did reject Osh Prosecutor's appeal against the acquittal of Jehovah's Witness Nurlan Usupbayev, a Jehovah's Witness leader who was tortured along with fellow believers by Osh Police. They were arrested and charged after a 9 August raid on them as they were meeting for worship. During the raid the Jehovah's Witnesses were tortured (see F18News 19 August 2015 http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2091).
The Supreme Court rejected Osh Prosecutors' appeal because they had missed the limitation period to file the appeal, Brady told Forum 18. "So, the appeal court decision and trial court decision which held Mr. Usupbayev was innocent of the charges are in force, and the Prosecutors will now have no further ability of to appeal it."
International obligations
The United Nations (UN) Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which Kyrgyzstan acceded to on 5 September 1997, defines torture as: "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity".
Under Article 6 of the Convention Kyrgyzstan is obliged to arrest any person suspected on good grounds of having committed torture. Under Article 4 Kyrgyzstan is obliged to try them under criminal law which makes "these offences punishable by appropriate penalties which take into account their grave nature".
On 29 December 2008 Kyrgyzstan acceded to the Optional Protocol to the Convention, whose purpose is to "establish a system of regular visits undertaken by independent international and national bodies". The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) carried out its first regular visit to Kyrgyzstan from 19 to 28 September 2012. Its report found that "torture and ill-treatment is prevalent in the country", caused by among other factors "the impunity and general lack of accountability of officials"
Torturers free and unpunished
Osh City Prosecutor's Office refused – despite their clear obligations in international law - to open a criminal case against named officers of Osh City Police over their torture of seven members of a Jehovah's Witness community during a 9 August raid on a meeting for worship. The authorities also refused to follow their international obligations by arresting the police The victims led by Usupbayev challenged this refusal to the General Prosecutor's Office
"Although we have video and audio recordings proving the police beat the persons gathered for the religious service, Osh Prosecutor's Office refuses to file criminal charges and the Prosecutor General's office has to date refused to intervene and order that the police be criminally charged", Brady told Forum 18. "We appealed to the Prosecutor General's office three times demanding that the police be criminally charged; the last appeal was simply referred back to the Osh City Prosecutor, who refused to start a criminal case."
Almaz Subandykov of the Chancellery and other officials (who would not give their names) from the Prosecutor General's Office in the capital Bishkek on 1 March refused to tell Forum 18 what they are doing to bring the torturers to justice.
Prosecutor on duty Marat Busurmankulov of Osh Prosecutor's Office refused on 1 March to state why they refuse to bring the torturers to justice. "We cannot give you such information over the phone", he claimed. He then refused to talk further. (END) -
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A Louisiana judge has struck down part of a mandatory reporting law that requires priests to report suspected child abuse.
Because religious freedom, that’s why.
A Louisiana judge has struck down a state requirement that clergy members report suspected child abuse even if they learn about it during a private confessional.
State District Judge Mike Caldwell ruled Friday that the requirement — a Louisiana Children’s Code provision — violates the constitutionally protected religious freedom rights of a Roman Catholic priest accused of neglecting his duty to report a teenager’s abuse allegations to authorities.
The victim, Rebecca Mayeaux, had confided to Jeff Bayhi during confession that she was being molested by a sixty-four-year-old parishioner. Not only did Bayhi notreport the abuse, but, according to Mayeaux, he offered appalling advice as well:
In court, Judge Caldwell ruled Bayhi’s religious freedom rights would be violated if he was forced to talk about the alleged confession.
Two years ago, Mayeux told us she went to Father Bayhi seeking advice when she was 14, because she trusted him more than her parents. Court records show when Mayeux went to Bayhi, Rebecca says he told her, “This is your problem, sweep it under the floor and get rid of it.”
But, on the stand today, Father Bayhi told a Judge he can’t even confirm whether someone even came to confession. That’s just how sacred it is. He added no one would trust priests if confessions were public.
Father Paul Counce is a canon lawyer for the Diocese of Baton Rouge. Counce testified this morning that priests can be excommunicated if they break the seal of confession.
In a move that hardly inspires the trust Bayhi claims to be so keen to protect, not only did Bayhi refuse to discuss what happened, but the church tried to prevent Rebeccafrom discussing their conversation on the stand:
Earlier in the day, the Diocese tried to prohibit Mayeux from testifying about what she told Father Bayhi during that alleged confession. A judge ruled she could testify about what she told him, but her attorney can’t argue that Bayhi was mandated to report that.
After the ruling, Bayhi declared the win a victory for religious liberty.
“We’re just always happy when the court upholds religious liberties,” Bayhi said as he left the courthouse.
…
Bishop Robert Muench, of Baton Rouge diocese, praised the ruling in a statement Friday.
“The court’s decision to uphold the First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion is essential and we appreciate the ruling,” he said.
How’s that for logic? The state upheld the right of the religious to ignore abuse if they learned of it in confessional. Because shouldn’t the Church’s “religious liberty” trump the rights of kids not to be raped? That’s practically Church doctrine at this point, isn’t it? And, anyway, people may lose faith in an organization like the Catholic Church if it started protecting children…
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Cardinal George Pell has wrapped up his third day of giving evidence in Rome, as survivors say they are “fed up” with him and want to meet with the Pope.
Abuse survivors from Ballarat were to meet with the Cardinal during their time in Rome, but pulled out today when conditions of the meeting were revealed.
Survivors weren’t allowed any family members, media representatives or legal representatives, and conversations were to be “private in nature’.
The group of survivors took this to indicate a gag order, although this has not been confirmed by the church.
Sex abuse survivors in Rome during the hearing. Photo: AAP
“The fact that we can’t have support staff reflects his total misunderstanding of post-traumatic stress disorder,” one Ballarat survivor said after the hearing.
“He’s still protecting the current model of the church … Pope Francis please help us.”
Another survivor told reporters: “We wanna be heard and we want someone to show they care about us.”
For the third day in a row, Cardinal Pell gave evidence at the Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, denying that the Church’s current structures needed to change in light of the revelations.
At the beginning of the hearing, Cardinal Pell said he was told of “general” accusations relating to Brother Edward Nolan, but did not know of specifics.
The Cardinal said he wasn’t concerned that Brother Nolan was being moved around from parish to parish.
Anthony Foster, whose two daughters were abused by paedophile priests arrives to hear Cardinal Pell. Photo: Getty
“Forty years ago, I didn’t think that was unusual or inappropriate,” Cardinal Pell told the commission.
He was then asked: “Do you mean it wasn’t inappropriate to move them around to a new place where they may reoffend against different children?”
In which Cardinal Pell replied: “No, my whole assumption … was that the brothers would be dealing adequately with the matter”.
As the hearing continued, Senior Counsel Gail Furness pushed the Cardinal as he maintained he did not know about any of the paedophile priests mentioned.
“So we now have the CEO deceiving you and the Archbishop deceiving you and concealing information from you as well as Bishop Mulkearns and one or more of the consultors in the Ballarat Diocese?” Ms Furness probed.
“That is correct,” replied the Cardinal.
Ms Furness continued to suggest the Cardinal’s evidence was “implausible” and that he was deflecting blame from himself onto others, but the Cardinal continued to maintain ignorance.
Yet, earlier in the hearing Cardinal Pell did admit he should have attempted to know more about why priests such as Brother Nolan were being moved.
“I should have consulted and made sure the matter was properly treated,” he said.
During the hearing, a number of cases were raised in which priests were announced to have retired due to “ill health”, rather than because they were paedophiles.
“We dealt with this problem … 20 years ago,” the Cardinal of Melbourne Response, an organisation Pell was involved in setting up, said.
Thursday’s hearing will begin at 7am (AEDT), after the Cardinal agreed to an extra hour of evidence.
According to the ABC, the commission will next call on Ronald Mulkearns, the then bishop when Cardinal Pell was working in Ballarat in the 1970s and ’80s.
Cardinal Pell spent much of the first day of evidence laying blame on Mr Mulkearns, who he said was aware of paedophile priests and shifted them from parish to parish without reporting them to the police.
http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2016/03/02/pell-arrives-third-day-royal-commission/
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From September to December 2015 inclusive at least 35 individuals and three religious organisations exercising freedom of religion or belief were prosecuted in Russia under Administrative Code Article 20.29 ("Production or mass distribution of extremist materials"), Forum 18 News Service notes. Courts imposed fines in 34 of these cases, and one Jehovah's Witness was sentenced to a 10 day jail term later reduced to six days. Two individuals and one Jehovah's Witness community were acquitted. This is an increase on the September to December 2014 figure of 18 such prosecutions. Of the 38 September to December 2015 prosecutions, 19 involved Islamic texts or videos, 17 Jehovah's Witness texts, and two items produced by the Chinese spiritual movement Falun Gong. Court verdicts indicate that prosecutions of Jehovah's Witnesses under Article 20.29 increased in the last part of 2015. Their communities in Stariy Oskol and Belgorod city were liquidated in February 2016, and an appeal challenging the liquidation of the Tyumen community is due in Russia's Supreme Court on 24 March.
From the beginning of September to the end of December 2015 at least 35 individuals and three religious organisations exercising their freedom of religion or belief were prosecuted in Russia under Article 20.29 ("Production or mass distribution of extremist materials") of the Code of Administrative Offences, Forum 18 News Service notes. Courts imposed fines in 34 of these cases, and one Jehovah's Witness was sentenced to a 10 day jail term which was later reduced to six days. Two individuals and one Jehovah's Witness community were acquitted.
In comparison to these 38 prosecutions, there were from the beginning of September 2014 until the end of December of that year 18 such prosecutions
Of the 38 September to December 2015 prosecutions, 19 involved Islamic texts or videos, 17 Jehovah's Witness texts, and two items produced by the Chinese spiritual movement Falun Gong. Falun Gong material is banned as "extremist" in Russia
There was one prosecution each in Bryansk, Omsk, Perm, Samara, Stavropol, and Sverdlovsk regions, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, and the Republics of Bashkortostan, Kalmykiya, Khakasiya, Mari-El, Udmurtiya, and Yakutiya. Arkhangelsk, Khabarovsk, Kirov, Primorye, Smolensk, and Ulyanovsk regions and the Republic of Kabardino-Balkariya each saw two prosecutions. There were three court cases in Voronezh Region and five in Krasnodar Region.
Available court verdicts indicate that prosecutions of Jehovah's Witnesses under Article 20.29 increased in the last part of 2015. Following such "extremism" convictions there have been more liquidations and attempted liquidations of Jehovah's Witness communities (see below).
More than 10 million Jehovah's Witness books and brochures - including 4,000 Bibles in Russian and Ossetian – remain impounded by customs at the Finnish border, as they may or may not contain "extremist" content. None of the impounded literature has been declared "extremist" in Russia
Federal List
Many religious works placed on the Justice Ministry's Federal List of Extremist Materials do not appear to contain calls for human rights to be violated. Confiscations of "extremist" religious texts from both Muslims and Jehovah's Witnesses, mostly during raids or detentions, frequently result in prosecutions under Article 20.29
As well as these Muslims and Jehovah's Witnesses, other people are also prosecuted for disseminating texts, songs, slogans, or videos (both non-religious and religious) which do appear to call for human rights to be violated. Forum 18 found that there were from September to December a total of 288 prosecutions under Article 20.29 ("Production or mass distribution of extremist materials") for all types of material.
If an item is on the Federal List, possession of it carries the risk of a fine or imprisonment for up to 15 days, and confiscation of the banned literature. The Federal List now runs to over 3,000 items, often does not include full bibliographical details, and is irregularly updated. Checking whether a particular item is on the List can be very difficult or even impossible (see Forum 18's Russia "extremism" religious freedom survey http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=1724) Removals of an item from the Federal List are rare and can be short lived (see F18News 27 July 2015 http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2084 and below). And in recent years, new texts have been added at an increasing rate
Prosecutions can legally only be brought relating to "extremist" texts if they are the exact edition of the work specified on the Federal List. But this has not stopped prosecutions being brought and heard in court relating to editions that are not on the Federal List . Such cases are inconsistently interpreted by judges, with some imposing fines and others following the law by finding that possession of a single copy is not evidence of "mass distribution".
Forum 18 wrote to the Justice Ministry on 9 October 2015, asking whether it is right that people should be prosecuted for distribution of texts which do not advocate violence, hatred, or the violation of human rights in other ways, whether such prosecutions are a sensible use of police and prosecutors' time, and why cases are initiated when only one copy of an item has been found. No reply has yet been received.
Currently, any court, including those at the district and municipal level, may rule that a text, slogan, song, or website is "extremist" and should be placed on the Federal List. From 23 November 2015 an amendment to the Extremism Law stops some but not all sacred texts - "the Bible, the Koran, the Tanakh and the Kanjur, their contents, and quotations from them" - from being ruled "extremist" and placed on the Federal List . Another amendment, introduced by a group of Duma deputies on 30 September 2015, would stop lower courts making "extremism" rulings, restricting this power to regional and republic-level courts . But it has made no progress through the Duma so far.
On 26 February, Forum 18 wrote to the Human Rights Ombudsperson's Office in Moscow, asking why: possession of a single copy is considered sufficient grounds for prosecution; and whether the Ombudsperson considers it difficult for people to keep up with the lengthy, ever-growing, and often inconsistent Federal List. Forum 18 had received no reply by the end of the Moscow working day on 2 March.
Rise in Article 20.29 cases against Jehovah's Witnesses
Between September and December 2015, 17 of the 38 total prosecutions against individuals and organisations exercising freedom of religion or belief involved Jehovah's Witness texts. This is a noticeable increase over the six Jehovah's Witness cases out of 23 from May to August 2015, and five out of 19 between January and April 2015
Aleksandr Verkhovsky of the SOVA Center for Information and Analysis thought that the Jehovah's Witnesses might be being increasingly targeted as "maybe the FSB feels uncomfortable if religious extremists are Muslims only". He also attributed this to "general anti-Westernism and anti-Americanism", noting to Forum 18 on 2 March that Jehovah's Witnesses may be seen as "American agents". "To have a headquarters near Brooklyn Bridge is enough for many".
Of the 17 prosecutions of Jehovah's Witnesses found by Forum 18 between September and December 2015, seven were based on the distribution of books and brochures from information stands in the street. This is a common practice of Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide as they seek to share their faith. Jehovah's Witnesses are also often subject to prosecution under Administrative Code Article 20.2 ("Violation of established procedure for organising or holding meetings, rallies, demonstrations, marches and pickets") for offering literature in public spaces
Forum 18 found one case between September and December 2015 in which the two defendants were convicted under both Article 20.29 ("Production or mass distribution of extremist materials") and Article 20.2. Prokhladnyy District Court in Kabardino-Balkariya found Lyudmila Ponomarenko and N.V. Mironenko guilty of distributing the banned texts "What do you need to know about God and his purpose?", "How can we develop close relations wth God?", and "The secret of family happiness" at a village bus stop. Judge Andrei Blikanov imposed fines of 1,500 Roubles (then about 210 Norwegian Kroner, 22 Euros or 24 US Dollars) each under Article 20.29 on 6 November, followed by further fines of an unknown amount under Article 20.2 on 26 November.
In four cases, law enforcement agents allegedly found prohibited literature while searching believers' homes, and in a further two, while conducting inspections of Jehovah's Witnesses' places of worship to check "compliance with anti-extremism legislation", according to written verdicts seen by Forum 18.
Banning religious communities
Convictions of individuals under Article 20.29 ("Production or mass distribution of extremist materials") have as noted above led to liquidation or the threat of liquidation of the religious communities to which they belong. The Jehovah's Witness congregations of Taganrog, Samara, and Abinsk, as well as the Muslim community of Borovsky village in Tyumen Region, have all been dissolved on these grounds . All now appear on the Justice Ministry's list of banned "extremist" organisations.
Three more Jehovah's Witness communities banned, another under threat
Three more Jehovah's Witness communities have been dissolved in recent months on charges of "extremist activity", also based on earlier convictions under Article 20.29. In Belgorod Region, the congregations of both Stariy Oskol village and Belgorod city itself were liquidated by order of Belgorod Regional Court on 10 and 11 February 2016 respectively.
In June 2015 Jehovah's Witnesses failed in Belgorod Regional Court to overturn a March 2015 ban on two of their publications as allegedly "extremist"
The Jehovah's Witnesses of the city of Tyumen in Siberia are challenging their dissolution at Russia's Supreme Court, but must now wait until 24 March after their first hearing was postponed on 26 February. Tyumen Regional Court issued the original liquidation order on 16 October 2015.
A seventh Jehovah's Witness community, in Cherkessk, is also under threat of dissolution as noted above. This attempted liquidation is based on the conviction in March 2015 of both the community and two of its members, Dmitry Metelin and Andrei Volovikov, under Article 20.29 and the failure so far of subsequent appeals. The local authority also wants to confiscate the community's property for redevelopment as a shopping centre and the case was suspended for the first time in May 2015. Judge Yury Kotsubin of Cherkessk City Court transferred the case to the Supreme Court of Karachay-Cherkessiya on 22 January 2016, but no date has yet been set for its resumption.
If members of liquidated communities continue to meet to exercise the right to freedom of religion or belief they may face criminal charges. This happened to 16 Taganrog Jehovah's Witnesses convicted on 30 November 2015 of "continuing the activities of a banned extremist organisation".
New fines
From May 2015, conviction under Article 20.29 ("Production or mass distribution of extremist materials") there is now a fine of 100,000 to 1 million Roubles for "juridical persons", i.e. religious organisations, media outlets, or commercial concerns. An individual may be fined 1,000 to 3,000 Roubles, or be jailed for up to 15 days. An official may be fined 2,000 to 5,000 Roubles. Court decisions usually order "extremist" materials to be confiscated and often destroyed.
New fines imposed on two organisations
Between September and December 2015, Forum 18 found three organisations charged under the new regulations, two of which were convicted and fined. These were the Nur Muslim community of Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the Far East, and the Jehovah's Witness community in Elista in Kalmykiya. A third community, the Jehovah's Witnesses of Kotlas in Arkhangelsk Region, was acquitted. The prosecution appealed unsuccessfully against this acquittal.
Law enforcement inspections of the Nur Mosque in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in summer 2015 allegedly discovered, on an open shelf, a single copy of 19th century writer Ibn Hisham's "The Life of the Prophet Muhammad". This was banned by Lenin District Court in Orenburg along with more than 65 other Islamic texts in a 20 minute hearing on 21 March 2012 .
The inspection also allegedly found a single copy of Abdurrahman Raafat al-Bashi's "Pictures from the Life of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah", banned by Gorodishche District Court, Penza Region, 21 February 2008. "They went into the prayer room and found some banned books", community founding member Bakhtiyar Yarmanov, told local news website vostokmedia.com on 31 August 2015. "But a lot of believers come into the mosque – we cannot control who brings in what literature. These books did not belong to the imam or to the community".
The Nur community was fined 100,000 Roubles, and local Imam Magomedrasul Gimbatov was fined 2,000 Roubles at Central District Court on 2 September. Judge Nadezhda Tatun also ordered that the two "extremist" books be destroyed.
The community reacted to the charges with "shock and perplexity", chair Abdulkasim Abdulloyev commented to Muslim news website islamnews.ru on 17 September. He explained that he had no idea how the books came to be in the mosque, and that staff "regularly monitor the Federal List of Extremist Materials".
After Mufti Zyaki Aizatullin of a Mosque in Saransk was fined 5,000 Roubles for possession of one copy of Turkish theologian Said Nursi's "Guidebook for Women", found during an inspection by a District Prosecutor who did not produce a search warrant as the law requires, mosque staff thought the book was planted. The Mufti stated that the first time he had seen it was during the inspection, but an appeal against the fine was rejected in March 2014
When the Nur community appealed at Khabarovsk Regional Court on 22 October, Judge Larisa Dmukh ordered "The Life of the Prophet Muhammad" to be removed from the original ruling and destruction order, as it had already been deleted from the Federal List of Extremist Materials at the time of the alleged offence (see below). But she upheld the rest of the lower court verdict.
Both the Nur community and Imam Gimbatov (who is not officially employed by the mosque, but is an occasional preacher) submitted supervisory appeals to Khabarovsk Regional Court on 22 January 2016. No hearing dates have yet been set.
Telephones at Komsomolsk-on-Amur City Prosecutor's Office went unanswered whenever Forum 18 called on 1 and 2 March. Forum 18 sent a request for information by email early on 2 March, asking why the mosque had been searched and why the texts in question were considered dangerous. No reply has been received by the end of the working day in the Far East.
A police inspection of Jehovah's Witness premises in Elista found two packages in vegetation outside the building of two packages containing brochures banned by Rostov City Court in September 2009. Police officers claimed in court that a member of the congregation had thrown the packages out of the building during the search. Judge Natalya Tsykalova issued a fine of at least 100,000 Roubles (then about (12,500 Norwegian Kroner, 1,350 Euros or 1,470 US Dollars) at Elista City Court on 11 September.
The community argued in their appeal to the Supreme Court of Kalmykiya that the material had been planted by unknown persons, but Judge Vladimir Litovkin upheld the conviction on 9 November. On 15 February 2016, Jehovah's Witnesses stated on their main international website jw.org that law enforcement agencies in Russia "have increasingly resorted to fabricating evidence to justify charges of extremism against Jehovah's Witnesses".
Similar charges of fabricated evidence were made by Jehovah's Witnesses in relation to the Article 20.29 case preceding the threatened liquidation of their Cherkessk community in the North Caucasus Republic of Karachay-Cherkessiya.
The website jw.org is banned as "extremist" in Russia
Telephones at the Elista City Prosecutor's Office went unanswered when Forum 18 called on 2 March 2016 to ask why the Jehovah's Witnesses' premises had been searched.
Convictions challenged
Fourteen convictions have so far been challenged in higher courts. None has been overturned, but five have been sent for re-examination with trial dates not yet being set.
A Jehovah's Witness sentenced to 10 days' detention after law enforcement agents found a large quantity of banned books and brochures in his garage had his sentence reduced on appeal. According to the written verdict from Komintern District Court in Voronezh, Judge Yevgeny Lukin decided to jail rather than fine A.E. Bokov on 4 December 2015 because he was unemployed and had no source of income. At Voronezh Regional Court on 9 December, Judge Ruslan Meremyanin ruled that Bokov should be released after six days as this was his first offence. Bokov's conviction, however, remains in force.
Police and FSB internet monitoring leads to prosecutions
The vast majority of all cases brought under Article 20.29 now involve posting and sharing material online, usually on the popular Russian social network VKontakte, but also on internet forums and dedicated file-sharing sites . Most prosecutions of religious believers and communities, however, are still based on the alleged distribution of texts in hard copy.
Out of 288 prosecutions between September and December 2015, 248 were based on regular internet monitoring carried out by the FSB security service or "Anti-extremism" Police, Forum 18 notes. Such cases can involve audio and video content, text files, or links to websites containing banned items.
Seven of the 38 freedom of religion or belief related prosecutions found by Forum 18 involved online content. In two of these, defendants were fined for sharing electronic versions of texts originally banned in hard copy. In the other five, for posting on their social-network profile pages the video "The Wonders of the Koran", which was banned by Nefteyugansk City Court in Tyumen Region on 7 April 2011. (In March 2015 Yevgeny Menshenin was sentnced to five days' imprisonment for posting this video on his profile page on VKontakte )
Still charged for texts taken off Federal List
Three of the prosecutions found by Forum 18 were for Islamic texts deleted from the Federal List in July 2015 after appeal lawyers gained a removal order from a court in Orenburg
In the two Nur community in Komsomolsk-on-Amur cases an Orenburg item was removed from the ruling on appeal. Further appeals in these cases are still outstanding (see above).
But in the third case the defendant's conviction stands, despite the fact that the material she allegedly distributed no longer appears on the Federal List. On 2 October, R.M. Kuchukova was fined 1,000 Roubles at Kuibyshev District Court in Omsk for uploading the text of "Gardens of the Righteous" onto her VKontakte profile page. Neither the local FSB security service, which found the text while "monitoring the Omsk segment of the internet", nor Judge Galina Parkhomenko, acknowledged that the case should not legally have been initiated.
Forum 18 called Judge Parkhomenko's office on 2 March to ask why Kuchukova had been fined for material no longer considered "extremist", but a spokesperson refused to give out any information by telephone. Forum 18 put the same question to the court by email, but has received no reply by the end of the Omsk working day of 2 March.
The 50 items removed from the Federal List had been ruled "extremist" in a single 20-minute hearing at Lenin District Court in Orenburg in March 2012. A further 18 texts, banned at the same time, remain on the List. Of the 50 items which have been reprieved, 11 still appear on the List in different editions, outlawed under "extremism" rulings by courts in different parts of Russia.
As noted above, individuals must undertake the difficult to impossible task of checking the edition of a book on the Federal List to avoid prosecution under Article 20.29. But even if editions are not on the Federal List those who possess them have still been prosecuted and tried in court . (END) -
Mrs. Jean L. Bligen departed this earthly life on Sunday, February 28, 2016. She was born in Harlem, N.Y., on February 8, 1940, to the late David C. and Annie (Hamlett) Shelton. She graduated from Charles Evans Hughes High School in 1956.
Jean was united in marriage in New York City to the late Benjamin Bligen on January 11, 1958. From this union, four sons and two daughters were born. The family moved to Long Island, N.Y., where Mrs. Bligen worked for the Pilgrim State Hospital for more than 28 years.
Jean believed and put her faith in Jehovah. She made her public dedication to Jehovah in 1996. Sister Bligen was loved and she loved her congregation. She attended the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses Lower Richland Congregation for more than 20 years.
In addition to her parents and husband, Jean was preceded in death by a son, Keith Bligen; nephew, Khalid Pasha; as well as two sisters, Bessie and Alice; and two brothers, David and Clarence.
Those left to cherish her memory are her children, Benjamin M. Bligen (Monica), Robert D. Bligen, Kevin J. Bligen (Cheron), Michelle C. Bligen-Cox (Charles) and Beverly A. Bligen-Smith (Kevin); one loving sister, Linda Hyacinth; 12 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren; two nephews, Saladine Pasha (Gerry) and John M. Hyacinth; two nieces, Aminah Myrick (Kenneth) and Amandah Pasha; as well as a host of nieces and nephews she loved deeply.
A memorial service will be held at 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 5, at Thompson Funeral Home at Greenlawn Memorial Park, 845 Leesburg Road, Columbia, SC 29209.
To share online condolences with the family, click here.
To view the full list of ColaDaily obituaries, click here.
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For the third time, Kyrgyzstan’s Prosecutor General has directed the Osh City Prosecutor’s Office to consider opening a criminal investigation against ten police officers. The police illegally raided a religious meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses in August 2015 and severely beat several in attendance. Despite clear evidence of police misconduct, the Osh City Prosecutor’s Office has refused to open a criminal investigation.
Illegal Raid and Heavy-Handed Police Action
On Sunday morning, August 9, 2015, ten officers from Department 10 *of the Osh police raided a religious meeting at a rented café where over 40 people had gathered for a peaceful religious service. One of the police officers shouted at Nurlan Usupbaev, who was conducting the meeting, to stop the religious service immediately because it was “illegal.” The police repeatedly threatened to shoot everyone in attendance. When one attendee, Tynchtyk Olzhobayev, attempted to video record the heavy-handed actions of the police, they took him into a separate room and viciously beat him.
The officers took ten of the Witness men to the police station. There the police brutally beat six of them and strangled three, including Mr. Usupbaev. The men were released that day, and those with severe injuries went to the hospital to be examined.
Two days later, on August 11, police officers Kozhobek Kozubayev and Nurbek Sherikbayev—the same officers who had directed the raid and the beatings—arrested Mr. Usupbaev on the charge of engaging in illegal religious activity. His hearing was set for August 20 and 21 before the Osh City Court.
Courts Uphold Witnesses’ Right to Worship
During the hearing, the representative for Department 10 argued that the August 9 religious meeting was illegal because Jehovah’s Witnesses do not have local registration in Osh. The prosecution also alleged that the presence of children at the meeting with their Witness parents violated Kyrgyzstan’s religion law, which prohibits recruiting children into religious organizations.
On August 21, the presiding judge of the Osh City Court found Mr. Usupbaev innocent of illegal religious activity. The court concluded that the administrative case against him should be dismissed because there was no evidence that he engaged in illegal religious activity or that he “recruited” children.
The Osh City Prosecutor filed an appeal with the Osh Regional Court, objecting to Mr. Usupbaev’s acquittal. The regional court dismissed the prosecutor’s appeal and upheld the trial court’s decision to acquit Mr. Usupbaev. The regional court reiterated that Jehovah’s Witnesses are a religious organization that is duly registered in Kyrgyzstan. The court further observed that the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court had already declared unconstitutional the portion of Kyrgyzstan law requiring local religious registration. * However, the prosecutor has now appealed to the Supreme Court, and the Court will hear the case on March 2, 2016.
Local Prosecutor Ordered to Investigate Police
While his case was in progress, Mr. Usupbaev along with the others who had been viciously beaten in the August 9 raid filed a complaint with the Osh City Prosecutor’s Office. They asked that criminal charges be lodged against the ten police officers involved in the beatings. This began a series of filings and appeals. Three times the Osh City Prosecutor refused to initiate a case, and each time the victims appealed to the Prosecutor General. Twice the Prosecutor General reversed the decision of the Osh City Prosecutor and directed him to reconsider the case. However, after receiving the victims’ third appeal, rather than consider the appeal himself, the Prosecutor General referred it back to the Osh City Prosecutor for a decision. This latest directive from the Prosecutor General, dated January 21, 2016, leaves in question whether the victims will ever receive justice.
Jehovah’s Witnesses in Kyrgyzstan are grateful for national registration and for these recent court rulings in Osh. They appreciate that fair-minded judges courageously pave the way for religious freedom by applying the rule of law and upholding the government’s stated commitment to freedom of worship and belief. However, they are very concerned that State officials have not acted decisively to bring the police who engaged in this brutal attack to justice. Jehovah’s Witnesses plead with the Prosecutor General’s office to take clear and decisive action and prosecute those who perpetrated this violent act.
https://www.jw.org/en/news/legal/by-region/kyrgyzstan/osh-police-brutality/
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Mike Jalal and Natali Sa’ad are members of the small Christian community of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Palestinian Territory. Though legally married, they are unable to obtain a marriage certificate. Only recently and with difficulty did they succeed in obtaining a birth certificate for their young son, Andrae. The Sa’ads are not alone. Other Witness couples face the same problem. Because the Witnesses are members of a religion that is not legally recognized in the Palestinian Territory, authorities deny them their basic personal status rights.
Lack of Legal Recognition Affects Personal Rights
The Sa’ads were married in Israel by a minister of Jehovah’s Witnesses. However, the Ministry of Interior in the Palestinian Territory has refused to record the marriage because Jehovah’s Witnesses are not a legally recognized religion there. Since officials do not acknowledge the marriage and thus considered any children resulting from the union to be illegitimate, the Ministry of Interior had refused to register them. The Sa’ads and other Witness parents persistently tried to correct this injustice.
Birth Certificate Issue Resolved
In 2014, the Ministry of Interior responded to petitions to register the children. The Sa’ads are relieved that Andrae (born January 30, 2012) has finally obtained a legal identity. The parents of Maya Jasmin, Laura, and Cristian, all pictured above, are grateful, too, that the Ministry of Interior has issued birth certificates for their children, identifying them as “Christian.”
The children now hold proper identification papers and enjoy the same rights as other citizens. Their parents can travel with them across borders without difficulty and can enroll them in school.
Other Personal Status Rights Unresolved
Despite that positive development, authorities continue to deny marriage certificates to the Sa’ads and seven other married Witness couples. As a result, they endure societal discrimination from those who wrongly view them as single persons living together in an immoral relationship.
Because of the government’s lack of recognition, spouses must file income taxes separately and maintain separate bank accounts. In a medical emergency, one spouse is not recognized as having the right to choose medical treatment for the other. If one spouse dies, the mate and children cannot inherit the assets of the deceased. Families cannot bury their dead loved ones in harmony with their Christian beliefs. They must bury them in an Islamic cemetery in an area set aside for non-Muslims.
Efforts Toward Legal Recognition
Jehovah’s Witnesses submitted an application for legal recognition to the authorities in the Palestinian Territory in September 2010. After a delay of more than two years with no response, the Witnesses filed a petition with the High Court in Ramallah, requesting legal recognition. The court rejected the petition in October 2013 on technical grounds.
Since that time, the Witnesses have taken further legal steps and have met with officials to resolve the issue. However, lack of follow-through on the part of government officials has impeded any forward progress.
Philip Brumley, general counsel for Jehovah’s Witnesses, stated: “The Witnesses have been present in Ramallah and in the area for almost 100 years. They are grateful that the authorities allow them the freedom to worship in peace. However, the religious discrimination that prevents legal recognition of Jehovah’s Witnesses should not preclude their basic human rights.”
Jehovah’s Witnesses acknowledge that Palestinian authorities have taken a positive step toward improving personal status rights by issuing birth certificates. The married couples who currently lack marriage certificates are optimistic that the authorities will resolve the remaining personal status issues and ultimately recognize their religion.
https://www.jw.org/en/news/legal/by-region/palestinian-territory/personal-rights-jehovahs-witnesses/
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The reference is to celebrating the birth of one's baby boy or girl. Nothing can stop a man from celebrating that. He is not celebrating the day only the fact that it happened.
Birthdays are a remembrance of that day. Not a solemn remembrance but a celebratory one.
That is my best guess at trying to answer your question. Maybe someone else will chime in with something more concrete.
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See also: United Kingdom Branch Office article in wiki.jw-archive.org with lots of stuff that has not been moved over to this forum yet.
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A Concordance to the Greek Testament - 1897
in Topics
Posted
1897 - Greek Concordance.pdf