Once again, Watchtower doesn't want to respect our human rights
Canada: Jehovah’s Witnesses challenge constitutionality of B.C. privacy law
by yalbmert99 11 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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menrov
“The big issue is the law itself is unconstitutional because there’s absolutely no exemption for religious practice, for religious ministers, for non-profit religious organizations that are not doing any type of commercial activity.”
Hypocritical.
“Our position is we shouldn’t go there,” said Jayden MacEwan. “This is really the government interfering with religious practice.
Amazing how they (and other religious organizations) believe they are above or outside the law of the country. If the religious practice is breaching local laws, local laws should be leading.
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Fadeaway1962
WT needs to learn that human rights apply both ways , not just when there rights are abused eg Russia .
They will also not like the fact that their disregard for the human rights of their members and ex members are being aired in the public eye.
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Bobcat
MacEwan [the WT lawyer] said it’s the position of the Jehovah’s Witnesses that the documents being sought [i.e. Judicial Committee documents] are the religious minister’s personal information.
“These are the personal notes that have to do with spiritual, pastoral care that they offer congregants. We’re talking about certain types of confidential communications and notes. That’s what we’re dealing with here.”Wow! What a bald faced lie that is.
Ironically, the JC "documents" include any notes the JC confiscated from the accused. And if a particular member of the JC is removed from being an elder, do you think he will still have access to his "personal information" [i.e. the JC notes]?
Also, the accused was right there during the JC meeting. It's not like the law was trying to give the information to uninvolved people.
It's more than a little amazing the lengths the WT will go in their blatant lies.
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dropoffyourkeylee
Is this the case where the lady had been abused as a child and wanted the record expunged? I read something similar to that a while back, but there have been so many.
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truth_b_known
I always thought it was interesting that the Watchtower always sang praises of itself because Jehovah's Witnesses have no clergy and lay classes. That is until there is interaction with the government. Then in low tones you will here it whispered that, for government purposes, elders are the clergy and have clergy privilege under the law.
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Vidiot
The Org has always liked having its cake and eating it, too.
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Jeffro
“These are the personal notes that have to do with spiritual, pastoral care that they offer congregants. We’re talking about certain types of confidential communications and notes. That’s what we’re dealing with here.”
It’s not clear how ‘personal notes’ about people who are not members or no longer members are for the ‘pastoral care of congregants’. The ‘personal communications’ are about the individuals who want access to their information, so we’re not dealing with some noble desire to protect private information from the general public. They shouldn’t keep records of people who don’t want their information retained, and people should have a right to know what is being said about them where it impacts their lives e.g. by shunning or slander. There’s no good reason why religious groups should get any special treatment for keeping personal information, especially when it is a nature for which other organisations would be penalised as discriminatory. (The article refers to information as a result of judicial committees so we’re not just talking about simple details like name and address, though they also have no right to track those details of non members.)
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yalbmert99
Thanks y'all for your comments.
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Phizzy
If memory serves this old man, they tried this excuse about them being the personal records of Elders under U.K Law, it failed, as being in a File that over the years that different Elders could possibly access, these were the Property of the Congregation and just as much came under the right to access that other records would.
I hope the Court in Canada takes a similar view as to the general principle.