by Juan Viejo2 39 Replies latest watchtower scandals
I hate to sound so skeptical, but after watching the videos, it’s hard to believe the Watchtower is this powerful, that the court clerks have such a racket that the court system is too embarrassed at letting it come to light rather than cleaning up the corruption, that the media would not want to expose the corruption.
If the Watchtower is so powerful, how did they lose the Conti case?
Why not take it up with the court? you ask.
because realy, what would there be to gain at this point? Another car crash? a drive by shooting? Why do I want that? It's bad enough that I'm on here talking about the whole mess. I would rather be done with the situation and move on with my life. hopefully the F_____G WT will have bigger fish to fry with all the pedo suits.
The whole story is interesting but very anti-climactic. If I can fill in any details for any one let me know.
D_F
| The whole story is interesting but very anti-climactic. If I can fill in any details for any one let me know. | |
| Devil_Fish |
My question is, what are now possible lega options by the three God-fearing Elders of "The Menlo Park Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, Inc." who were removed by the Watdchtower against their will?
Scott77
In NY, the breakaway parish property was awarded to the diocese or the bishop. I don't recall the exact designation. It seems a bit unfair to me b/c the local parish maintain itself. The members pledge stewardship funds and set up committees to run the church. I was happy with the result b/c the issue involved women's rights to be a priest.
I have not read these cases. Different churches will have different funding histories. I expect that the issue of what happens when a parish decides to break away from the main denomination may have been included in the founding documents.
I don't know of a single case where the transfer of property stopped the action of the parishioners. There is a breakaway church in my local area.
I was shocked by those videos.
Honestly, I don't doubt that the WT would do all of those things to protect itself. They haven't been that way from the beginning. I suspect it's been a gradual descent into corruption.
It's probably a matter of protecting Jehovah's Organization - you'll lay down your life for it, so it's no big deal to do a little surveillance of a "dangerous apostate" for the brothers.
I watched an interesting program about two Scientologists who rose to a high level in that organization but decided to leave. They suffered a lot of similar harassment - obvious tails, for example.
My ex-husband was a Bethelite back in the early-mid 1970s, and I remember him telling me that the place was run more like a corporation than a religious organization. They disregarded scriptural principles left and right, most notably brotherly love. It's easy to see how easily they could get from there to the point they are now.
The Governing Body have fallen out of "the truth."
As far as the WTBTS having power... Their power is over individual members. So one religious zealot, in the right position at the right company, who doesn't mind breaking the law for the Organization could really make someones life a living hell. What if hated you and thought you deserved death as an apostate.. I work for the gas company. You come home and have no heat, no hot water. You make some calls but get the run around for days because a bill never came through, or whatever I make up. That is not the end of the world, but imagine that scenario in the dead of winter.
Even worse, imagine that I am nurse at the hospital...oops!! I accidentally forgot that you were allergic to that medication... Accidents happen all the time. Surely Jehovah would forgive a loyal publisher who made a mistake in the fog of theocratic warfare. Look at the latest WT study. You can murder and be forgiven if you are truly repentant. Who makes that decision? Why the BOE, CO and the DO, and ultimately the GB.
Just to update anyone who cares, I've taken down the aforementioned article at Ex-JW.com.
There were unverified rumors that somehow the Watchtower got to the original poster of the "Legal Advisor" videos and forced that person to remove all of the videos. They are indeed down and the YouTube account appears to be closed.
I'm not sure on what legal basis the Watchtower could have forced those privately filmed videos to be taken down (there are no obvious copyright infringements) unless they threatened a lawsuit for slander, but in any case they have disappeared.
For my own personal reasons I have taken down the complete article about Mr. Steele and the photos connected to him and those videos. I was not threatened or approached in any manner by the Watchtower Society or its agents, but chose to take this action for both my own journalistic integrity and due to a nearly complete lack of cooperation by those directly connected to the case (with one notable exception).
The real tragedy of this story has more to do with its effects on the confused members of both the Menlo Park congregation and those from Redwood City who also lost their Kingdom Hall and now must travel further to attend meetings.
JV - (Editor of Ex-JW.com)
Has this court document been posted elsewhere on JWN? I couldn't find it.
http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/california/candce/3:2012cv01372/254011/94/
It is a 10/26/12 decision in federal court dismissing the claims of the removed Menlo Park elders who are still fighting. It made for a very interesting read. It appears that they filed a separate lawsuit alleging some kind of conspiracy involving the court staff, the police department accepting bribes, and JP Morgan and other financial institutions cooperating with the WT-loyal elders in perpetating financial frauds. I thought I would post it in this thread since it seems to relate to the same events that "John Steele" was claiming before the videos were removed. Although it was dismissed in the linked decision, it seems there may be an appeal with the federal appeals court.
Has anyone had contact with any of the former elders from Menlo Park? I noticed on Google Earth, that the Menlo Park Hall while only a few blocks from Facebook Headquarters, it was simply sold to a Spanish-speaking Evangelical group.
Some of the case files still show on Google https://casetext.com/case/cobb-v-brede-6
I was googling the plaintiffs tonight and came across the reason one of the Elders who were disfellowshipped could no longer be found.
WALTER ARLEN ST. CLAIR, the simple and sincere Elder who dared to question turning over the kingdom hall and congregation funds to Watchtower Corp.(and was disfellowshiped as a result), slipped from a roof while washing skylights at the age of 75, hit a walkway, and died.
"At 4:41 p.m. on November 2, 2020, Employee #1(Arlen) was packing up his gear and getting ready to depart the job site. The employee was an independent contractor hired by the homeowner to clean exterior skylights. The skylights were located on a slightly pitched wood shingle roof that had a height of nine feet from the eaves. The employee was working alone. A neighbor saw the employee lying unconscious on a walkway. The employee was located ten feet from the leading edge of the roof and not near his ladder. The employee was killed by blunt force trauma due to falling from the roof." -OSHA report. :( A sad ending for a sincere follower of Watchtower. No Obit.
