Hi all!
I've been following every post on every board I could find on this "New Light".......haven't done much else the past few days, LOL!
This is SO BIG!!!
I see that a few on here have had problems getting links to come up accurately (for lack of a better term) and I'm not sure if I'm EVER doing things right when posting on different boards :)It will take me time to get it right here, TOO, I'm SURE....so please be patient with me <grin>
I did a search (hah! "A" search......been here for HOURS, LOL!) and found a few things, too. I'll do my best to get'em on here!
This has been one of the best threads I've seen anywhere, my thanks goes out to you all for the many contributions (donations? <giggle>) that I've been avidly devouring for days....
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Mr. VEIJALAINEN, Director-General at the Ministry of the Interior, said there was a parliamentary exemption for Jehovah's Witnesses from military and civil service. The background to the exemption was that the Jehovah's Witnesses were the only group in Finland which did not support military service. Thus, while the situation was in conflict with formal equality in relation to other religious groups, there were important reasons to support that exemption.
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VLADISLAV ERMAKOV (Russian Federation) said Abdelfattah Amor, Special Rapporteur on religious intolerance, had said there must be a struggle against fundamentalist religious fanaticism. Efforts should be made to strengthen existing protections against fundamentalist violence. A federal law had been adopted in Russia supporting religious tolerance which had won approval from numerous religious organizations. There had been rapid growth of religious groups and of religious organizations in the Russian Federation; among other things, this was proof of a high level of religious tolerance. A local trial involving Jehovah's Witnesses had revealed that certain local standards were not in conformity with national norms for religious tolerance and steps had been taken to rectify the situation. Issues related to sects should be studied by the Special Rapporteur's study, as there was a concern about them among the major religious denominations.
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The Committee asked for more information concerning the law enabling trial in absentia under certain conditions and a continuing legal provision for preventive detention. The Committee suggested that Finland remove reservations to the Covenant, and that it address Committee concerns regarding protection of Swedish speaking people's rights, the rights of asylum seekers and aliens, and the preferential treatment given to Jehovah's Witnesses. Overall, the Committee recommended that Finland continue its laudable efforts to promote greater awareness of the Covenant.
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Human Rights Committee - 5 - Press Release HR/CT/462 1489th Meeting (PM) 27 March 1996
Mr. KASANDA (Zambia) said the case under discussion was not a question of harassing the journalists, but of asking them to substantiate the stories which they published in their newspaper. They had taken the President and his family as the first target of their articles, and they were very well financed. For instance, when the President was on official travel, they questioned why he took his personal assistant instead of his wife. "The President is just as human as any other person. So why not ask them to substantiate what they say?"
He said the new Public Order Act required that the police be given two weeks notice of a planned meeting. The police had no discretion as to whether or not to allow such a meeting. There were now some 30 political parties in Zambia and some regulatory process was needed in order to avoid confusion. The Act was not intended to prevent the work of a political party, but was purely regulatory.
He said freedom of expression was only limited in instances regarding: defence; public order, morality and health; or protecting the rights of other persons. In the case regarding the singing of the national anthem, a "Watchtower" follower instructed his children not to sing the anthem as their religion permitted no allegiance to earthly institutions. However, at the same time, they accepted the privileges received from the Government.
One could not have one's cake and eat it too, he said. There were cases in which religion impeded the development, health and education of children, who were prevented by their parents from attending school. "They may have a right not to sing the national anthem, but it does not look very very nice.... This is not how we live in society. Society is reciprocity."
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I think that about sums THAT up pretty well....having their cake and eating it too....."accept the priveleges" but don't reciprocate in kind.....suck what they can from the system, but scream how evil it is, and how it will be "destroyed" as they gloat over the events that sadly enough have touched the hearts of us all..........
I went to the UN website, and entered "Watchtower" and "Jehovah's Witnesses"in their search, and came up with lots of very interesting things.
Hoping that this post gets through, I want to say a very special HI to Farkel, who I haven't been able to track down for SUCH a long time!
I have such a soft spot for him and "stuff" he so kindly did for me when I needed a friend. I was SO tickled to see his name recently come up on here, like finding a comfy pair of slippers in the attic, that you thought were thrown out and gone forever. (BOY he's gonna HATE that analogy:)
I've had some extremely crappy developments (ALL WBTS related) to deal with, and the pain increases all the time. I seem to have the dubious distinction of STILL being under their control, even though I D/Aed myself in Oct 99......they still dictate who I can and can't visit (family) and have caused so MANY repercussions that it sounds like a Soap Opera in the making. It would sound "made up" if I were to put it all down on paper.......
Well...here I am....my first post (blush) I hope I haven't overstepped too much by being off topic.......like Minnie Pearl used to say, "I'm just so PROUD to BE here!"
Shredded families and ruined lives;
The WBTS has MUCH to answer for......
Hugs,
Sunspot
