Robert,
Great thread on the petition.
I think anything we can do to help point out the damaging affects of the WTBTS is great.
BTW, you have a PM.
00DAD
URGENT: Please Sign White House Petition to "Protect Americans from Dangerous Cults: Modify USC Title 26 § 501 Tax Exemption Requirements"
by ABibleStudent 130 Replies latest members politics
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00DAD
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ABibleStudent
Finkelstein - Your not taking in consideration of the fact that there many religious organizations operating in the US that have shunning policies structured
within themselves. The Mormons, Amish, Mennonites, Scientologists the list goes on and on.
Would the US government try and take away all of the religious tax privileges of those religious organizations ?
Hi Finkelstein, please do not assume anything about what I think or how I feel. It would be much better to ask me questions about the petition instead of making declarative statements. Have you read Steve Hassan's book "Combatting Cult Mind Control"? Have you visited Steve Hassan's website at www.freedomofmind.com ? If you did, I believe that Steve Hassan would consider Mormons, Amish, Mennonites, Scientologiest, Moonies (Unification Church), and many more sects use some degree of behavioral, information, thought, and emotional (BITE) control techniques and thus could be considered dangerous cults.
When I wrote this petition, I chose what I considered was the most harmful BITE control technique to eliminate, would be supported by the U.S. Constitution, and would help cult members to become aware that their leaders were victimizing them. Although the Supreme Court probably would not hold that Congress inadvertantly infringed on individuals' rights of freedom of religion and speech when Congress passed laws creating USC Title 26 § 501, I believe that James Madison, who wrote the Constitution and the 1st proposals to amend the Constitution, would be upset. Of course that is my opinion and would only be shared with a minority of Supreme Court Justices.
I carefully crafted this petition so that any resulting law would not trample on individuals' right of freedom of religious belief and speech, but would prevent organizations from trampling on individuals' rights of freedom of religious belief and speech. Please remember that this is only a petition and is not a bill (nor a law) and petitions could only contain 800 characters, so I did not write too many details about what I felt should be in a bill. The IRS would not take away an organization's tax exempt status unless that organization continued to coerce its members and/or employees and did not promote freedom of religion and speech. An organization's members and/or employees would notify the IRS that they felt they were being coerced and the IRS would start an investigation to determine if an organization was violating IRS regulations.
Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,
Robert
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ABibleStudent
Hi OODAD, Thanks for your encouraging words. I replied to your message.
Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,
Robert
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Finkelstein
ABS , lets make it clear, I'm not being mentally controlled by a religious cult, I've been an steadfast atheist for over 30 years.
I like what your doing but I question the validity of the petition as its been presented.
Your absolutely right that certain religious cult do deceivingly coerce people into the cult itself and they are being victimized
and exploited by theses cults. ie ... JWS
And it is crying shame that certain cults will shun people who want to eventually leave their religion or as in the JWS
anyone wanting to leave and join another religion.
What may have been a better tactic or hit these cults dead center in the balls figuratively speaking, is when they incite prejudice and hatred
upon individuals, ( strict shunning policies) upon those members of their religion who would like to move on, for whatever reason or they want to leave
to perhaps to go to another religion. There have been many families broken apart because these certain religious cults do have strict shunning policies
constructed within themselves and are enforced by the body of its members. This is where they break the law in my opinion.
There is something to an individual's personal freedom of religion, free from prejudice and hatred to be acknowledged.
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ABibleStudent
Finkelstein - What may have been a better tactic or hit these cults dead center in the balls figuratively speaking, is when they incite prejudice and hatred upon individuals, ( strict shunning policies) upon those members of their religion who would like to move on, for whatever reason or they want to leave
Hi Finkelstein, I'm a little confused by your last post. How would modifying USC Title 26 § 501 to require "organizations and their leaders shall not incite prejudice and hatred upon individuals (strict shunning policies) upon those members of their religion, who would like to move on, for whatever reason or they want to leave" be better than "organizations and their leaders shall promote freedom of religion and speech to their members and employees"?
If I was a GB member, I would just order elders to disfellowship all JWs, who wanted to disassociate, before they could disassociate so that the organization could continue to shun disfellowshipped JWs. I feel that uber JWs would love a good witch-hunt. I believe that the Bulgarian government tried to prevent the WTBTS from disfellowshipping JWs, who accepted whole blood transfusions or reluctantly completed their Bulgarian military requirements in the 1990's. Please read http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/bulgaria-blood-transfusions.php to learn more about how the WTBTS manipulated the Bulgarian government.
Since the WTBTS (and other dangerous cults) quickly adapt and are deceptive and manipulative, it is very difficult for governments to pass laws that remain enforceable and/or relevant for more than a couple of years. I believe that requiring organizations to promote freedom of religion and speech to their members and employees and requiring the IRS to promulgate regulations, investigate complaints submitted by Americans, and judge an organizations latest tactics has a better chance of remaining relevant for a longer time.
Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,
Robert
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Finkelstein
We're pretty much on the same page ABS, its just that we are saying it differently.
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ABibleStudent
Finkelstein - We're pretty much on the same page ABS, its just that we are saying it differently.
Hi Finkelstein, so does that mean that you signed the petition (if you are an American) or will be signing it? Also, are you willing to ask your family and friends to read the petition, and sign it if they agree with it?
BTW 36 people have signed this petition. I would love to hear about more ideas to promote this petition. I think that I will be writing to the National Organization of Women. Hopefuly, NOW's members will sign this petition after they learn about Selma and Steve and what the WTBTS promotes to JWs.
Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,
Robert
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dreamgolfer
is this a joke or prank???
Timothy "Franz" Geithner?
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ABibleStudent
dreamgolfer - is this a joke or prank???
Timothy "Franz" Geithner?
Hi dreamgolfer, Is your post a joke?
Example of a joke:
I have better things to do than read or write threads on JWN, such as read a technical manual, get a colonoscopy, get a biopsy of my prostrate, . . .
Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,
Robert
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ABibleStudent
The following is no joke! I just submitted the following electronic email to NOW at www.now.org.
Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,
Robert
Dear NOW Representative,
If you feel that tax exempt, non-profit organizations should not promote that women be subservient to men or rationalize spousal abuse, please read the February 2012 Watchtower (study edition), “Happiness is Possible in a Divided Household” on page 29, paragraph 12. NOW members could protest against the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society and feed the persecution complex of Jehovah’s Witnesses, or try something different that might help victims of thought control.
The Watchtower in my opinion is a “dangerous cult” according to the writings of Steve Hassan (www.freedomofmind.com). The Watchtower organization has used thought reform techniques (i.e., mind control) on over 600,000 American women (60% of Jehovah’s Witnesses) and 400,000 American men.
Please read a White House petition that I wrote using either of the following links: www.whitehouse.gov/petitions/!/petition/protect-americans-dangerous-cults-modify-usc-title-26-§-501-tax-exemptions-requirements/ZHpbvHfx , wh.gov/Er4 , or www.bit.ly/whitehouse-petition that is intended to stop financially supporting dangerous cults. If you agree with the petition please post it on your website at www.now.org and/or email it to your members for the next 26 days. If 25,000 people (Americans only, probably) sign this petition by May 26, 2012, the White House Staff will review this petition.
The February 2012 Watchtower magazine can be downloaded at www.jw.org/index.html?option=QrYQCsVrGZNT by clicking on the digital publications – magazines link, selecting February 2012 in the drop-down menu, and then selecting the PDF link for the “Watchtower (Study) — February 15, 2012”. For more information about the White House Petition, please write me.
Sincerely,
Robert