Anyone from New Hampshire? Do JWs object to the license plate??

by Chaserious 10 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Chaserious

  I happened to come across this case today: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wooley_v._Maynard

  " George Maynard and his wife, followers of the Jehovah's Witnesses faith, viewed the motto as repugnant to their moral, religious, and political beliefs, and for this reason they covered up the motto [Live Free or Die] on the license plates of their jointly owned family automobiles."

  It appears this guy kept getting fined by the local cops for covering up the license plate motto! I'm not from anywhere near NH, and also this happened back in the 1970's, but I never heard of anything like this. Was this an official witness rule? Or was this guy just one of those whack-a-doodles that every congregation has a couple of who make up their own rules that are even more restrictive than the WTS rules, and say it's because they are witnesses? Seems pretty bizarre. Are there other state mottos that are "worldly"? Turns out the Supreme Court said he could cover it up if he wanted without getting fined
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  NeonMadman

  I remember hearing about the case back in the 1970s. I was living in Massachusetts at the time and had quite a few friends from New Hampshire. No, this wasn't official WT policy. In fact, the way I heard it was that the guy was disfellowshipped. Basically, the story as it came to me was that he was an off-the-wall nutjob who did things like this, took stuff to extremes. I knew plenty of JWs from New Hampshire, and none of them covered their license plates. Whack-a-doodle indeed.
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  Ding

  I remember reading about this court case at the time.

  I thought it was ironic that New Hampshire tried to force people to display the slogan, "Live Free or Die."

  Seems kind of contradictory, doesn't it?

  I also thought it was ironic that the JW who brought the lawsuit was announcing that he really didn't want to "live free" given that Galatians 5:1 says, "For such freedom Christ set us free. Therefore stand fast, and do not let yourselves be confined again in a joke of slavery." (NWT)
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  jgnat

  This went all the way to the Supreme Court? All of this over a license plate? In that case, I hope Candace Conti's case goes all the way to the Supreme Court and the decision will be that religious organizations have a fudiciary duty towards their congregation members.
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  Chaserious

  Thanks Neon, interesting to hear. I suspected it wasn't an official rule. As if they need all JWs covering up part of their license plates in case they didn't look like enough of a cult already.

  Ding: I am guessing that his objection was that the motto implies that rather than give up your liberty, we are willing to fight in the military and die for our freedom, which he wouldn't be willing to do (ironic, since that freedom gave him the right to act like a weirdo and get the Supreme Court to approve it). Although I did a search on him after I posted and found a follow up story on the plaintiff by some newspaper, and when he moved to Connecticut, he also covered up the part that says "The Constitution State." So maybe he was just a nut.
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  LongHairGal

  Chaserious:

  I spent a summer and winter in NH when I was in grade school. I love it and the other New England states. Their license plate just fits right in with a mentality of proud people who saw much the Revolutionary War!

  Most JWs are simply stupid ingrates who are dumber than a box of rocks and bite the hand that feeds them. They do not appreciate that the freedoms they enjoy are because other people fought for them. Damn fools.
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  Chaserious

  Jgnat: I just hope Candace Conti's verdict is upheld! I don't think it could go to the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue because fiduciary duty is a state law doctrine, and the U.S. Supreme Court can only review issues involving the U.S. Constitution or federal law. For some cases, the state supreme court is the highest it can go. There is one constitutional issue in the case, which is the WTS's claim that punitive damages as applied here are unconstitutional, but it's really just an issue of whether the law was applied correctly here, not a novel issue that SCOTUS would want. There is also some WTS allegation about free exercise, which is a constitutional issue, but I think it's pretty baseless and just an add-on to see if it sticks.
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  problemaddict

  Live free or die, but you can't have the freedom to cover those words.

  Hilarious.
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  QueenWitch

  What happened to Caesar's things to Caesar? BTW I think the motto has Libertarian roots. I couldn't care less about what my license plate said. Well actually I do. I have vanity tags :)
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  moshe

  In America, freedom is an illusion.