Jehovah's Witnesses lose court battle over disclosing records on 2 ex-members - British Columbia

[Srecko Sostar]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-jehovahs-witness-privacy-battle-1.7079252

The B.C. Supreme Court has ruled against two congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses that tried to argue their religious freedoms were infringed when the information and privacy commissioner ordered them to turn over records containing personal information about two former members.

 

On Monday, Justice Steven Wilson upheld an order requiring the Coldstream and Grand Forks congregations to disclose records concerning the ex-members' breaks with the church to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC).

The Jehovah's Witnesses had argued that the sealed records contain confidential religious discussions between church elders about membership matters, and releasing them would violate their rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

But the judge disagreed, saying that any violation of the congregations' religious freedoms in this case was reasonably justifiable in a free, democratic society.

"While production of the disputed records to the commissioner is not an insubstantial breach of the congregation elders' right to religious freedom under s. 2(a) of the Charter, it nonetheless furthers the interests of society as a whole by ensuring access to their personal information," Wilson wrote.

He pointed out that the order did not require the congregations to release the records to the former members who'd requested them, but only to the OIPC to determine whether they should be released under the Personal Information Protection Act. The law regulates the collection, use and disclosure of personal information by private organizations like churches. 

The judge said the duties to disclose imposed by the law are meant to give British Columbians some measure of control over their personal information.

"The requirement to disclose information is a tool available to individuals to hold organizations accountable for the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information. It also serves as a deterrent to misuse and allows individuals some measure of control over their personal information," Wilson wrote.

The B.C. Humanist Association intervened in the case, and is applauding the outcome.

"An individual's right to privacy is crucial. We're pleased to see the court recognize the importance of upholding that right," the organization's executive director, Ian Bushfield, said in a news release.

The original requests for information came from Gabriel Liberty Wall, who used to belong to the congregation in Grand Forks, and Gregory Lyle Westgarde, who was part of the Coldstream congregation, according to the judgment.

The two men independently asked the congregations for records containing their personal information in 2020, and both were told they could not see documents concerning their disassociation from the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Wall and Westgarde turned to the OIPC, but the congregations told an adjudicator that the record at issue was "a confidential religious summary prepared by a committee of three congregation elders pertaining to spiritual status decisions," the judgment says.

In June 2022, the OIPC adjudicator ordered the congregations to turn over their records for review. They in turn filed a petition for judicial review, alleging that the Personal Information Protection Act is unconstitutional.

The church argued that religion should be included in an exemption to the act that says organizations are not required to disclose someone's personal information to them if it has been collected solely for journalistic, artistic or literary purposes.

The judge described that as a bridge too far.

"Reading in such an exemption would significantly compromise the government's objective in giving individuals the ability to control their personal information," Wilson wrote.

He pointed out that even under the current exemption, the privacy commissioner still has the power to review the requested information to see if it truly was collected only for the purpose of journalism, art or literature.

The Jehovah's Witnesses had also argued that if the documents were disclosed, they might be published more widely "for the purposes of mocking either the petitioners or elders, causing unnecessary embarrassment."

Wilson countered that as long as the documents remain secret, "the concerns are impossible to assess because the record is incomplete."

 

Comment about quote:

The church argued that religion should be included in an exemption to the act that says organizations are not required to disclose someone's personal information to them if it has been collected solely for journalistic, artistic or literary purposes.

WTJWorg and JWs congregations do not engage in "journalism, art and literature". They are run as a religious non-profit organization whose primary mission is "to spread Christianity within the JWs belief system". As part of this and such activities, they are engaged in publishing activities on paper and digitally.

"Confidential writings" regarding the "spiritual events, condition and status" of these members are partly publicly known in situations where these members are publicly reprimanded or excommunicated.
Why do we say that information is partially known? Because they contradict Jesus' instructions in Matthew 18. The congregation was not informed what is the "sin" and why a member was/should be reprimanded or expelled. The "sin of the member" is not publicly known, but the information about it must be given only to the elders who will investigate the matter and, if necessary, form a "Judicial Commission". According to Jesus, the "church/congregation" should participate in this process, and not one, two or three elders.

JWs elders under the auspices of WTJWorg continue to deceive the courts and the public.

 

[BTK59]

Well, Srecko, it seems that there is a certain degree of bias in this specific court. It's quite amusing how both Canada and Australia advocate for utmost privacy. However, when it comes to the Watchtower, they seem to agree and say, "Yes!" Disregard our laws and obey our commands.

As a higher court will certainly hear this argument, the biased post holds no significance.

[Srecko Sostar]

From your comments, one would conclude that ex-Jws members are so powerful that they have no equal. lol

Which is so religiously important and religiously inappropriate, unacceptable in the JWs religion that it is a problem for them to send a few sheets of paper (if there are even that many) about 2 former members?

quote from https://www.bccourts.ca/jdb-txt/sc/24/00/2024BCSC0027.htm:

[1]          This is a judicial review of an order made by British Columbia’s Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (“OIPC” and/or “Commissioner”). Two former members of the Jehovah's Witnesses each sought disclosure from their former congregations of all records that include their personal information. The elders of the congregations refused, arguing that disclosure of confidential religious notes would be contrary to their religious beliefs.

[3]          The petitioners in this case are two elders, John Vabuolas and Paul Sidhu, Grand Forks Congregation of Johavah’s Witnesses, Coldstream Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Canada. Together they argue that they should not be compelled to turn over their records to the adjudicator because PIPA infringes on their religious freedoms which are protected under s. 2(a) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms [Charter]. They argue on this judicial review and constitutional challenge that PIPA is unconstitutional.

[Srecko Sostar]

1. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantee the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society. - https://www.bccourts.ca/jdb-txt/sc/24/00/2024BCSC0027.htm

 

It is amusing to observe WTJWorg doing "global and international educational work" in which it announces the destruction of all forms of government and social systems, including this democratic one in Canada, because as they say, it is under the "rule of Satan".
JWs appeal to all the human rights that come from that same "secular and democratic society". It was the "democratic society" that managed to develop into this kind of libertarian society not thanks to JWs and WTJWorg, but to people with libertarian ideas, who were or were not religious.

So the WTJWorg "theocratic society" is at an "advantage" over any democratic society. Under the rule of WTJWorg there is no free criticism or freedom of thought and religion. Because anyone who opposes the hierarchically established doctrine and dogma of the JWs religious leaders deserves to be excommunicated and rejected from society. In the extreme reaches of JWs theology, all such deserve to die in Armageddon, and also in the New World, according to their preaching.
Today, everyone who is not on the WTJWorg line can thank "Satan and his democratic society" for being alive at all, because according to JWs religious belief they should be "removed" from the Earth.

 

[Srecko Sostar]

10 minutes ago, George88 said:

Here I thought it was God saying that this wicked system would end.

Isn't the WTJWorg "system" also "evil" in some of its elements? 

WTJWorg religious leaders claim that they are imperfect and make mistakes. They admit that among JWs there are those who are not well-intentioned. They confirm this with biblical passages that "prophesy" that there will be "wolves" among themselves and that these "wolves" still exist today and that they will be there until the "end of the world".
So within the WTJWorg system there is a parallel world ruled by "evil".

So how are you different from the rest of the "evil world"? You are actually a greater danger to those naive and innocent who are part of the JWs community, who believe they have found "protection" within the WTJWorg.

 

[Srecko Sostar]

On 3/3/2024 at 2:16 PM, George88 said:

Is there any scripture that states the unrighteous will possess the earth, not including the resurrected? Scripture mentions the meek and those who do God's will, and the unrighteous will be judged. Which bible are you reading?

Are you so sure of yourself (and own reading of the Bible) so you equate "the righteous" with "membership in the JWs religion"?

[Srecko Sostar]

On 3/3/2024 at 3:16 PM, George88 said:

Whose standards and in what context? All systems are imperfect, even during Jesus's time. Are you implying that Jesus was imperfect because he lived in an imperfect world?

You're making claims I didn't make. But if you want, I'll answer the question.

If Jesus felt like Paul, who said that he "was everything to everyone", then Jesus could also identify himself with everyone else in his society.

[Srecko Sostar]

On 3/3/2024 at 4:54 PM, George88 said:

Countries around the world are striving to eliminate the privileged legal status of the clergy.

Considering the victims who have lived through hardships at the hands of the clergy, it is a good move to remove this privilege for such things/reasons.

[Srecko Sostar]

19 minutes ago, George88 said:

So, are you suggesting that it was a mistake for world governments to provide this level of protection according to their own rules and regulations? Remember, it was the governments that implemented those laws.

No, I don't suggesting nothing/anything, i just say how it is good to remove this privilege from clergy.

[Srecko Sostar]

17 minutes ago, George88 said:

I believe that anyone who faithfully follows God's commands can be considered among the meek unless you interpret scripture differently.

Do you have some individuals or a certain group in mind as such who faithfully follow "God's commandments"?

[Srecko Sostar]

14 minutes ago, George88 said:

That was the impression I got from your statement. However, your approach has a flaw: Jesus was perfect, while Paul wasn't. The fact remains, that they both lived in an imperfect world.

I would expect a "perfect" person to understand the people around him better than an "imperfect" person can. Or?

[Srecko Sostar]

On 3/6/2024 at 5:55 PM, George88 said:

Would you happen to know of such, those that deviate from Christ's teaching?

Is there any religion today that is not a deviation?

On 3/6/2024 at 5:55 PM, George88 said:

Did he remove human imperfections during his time on earth?

The people around him didn't even expect that. They were satisfied if he fed them or cured them of their diseases. Or he forgave their sins. Or while they listened to him speak. That made them feel good.

The term "good" in the Bible is synonymous for "perfect". Like God's statement in Genesis; "...and it was good".