Mattieu

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Posts by Mattieu

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  153

  Oz Govt following UK & French lead on Tax/Charity status

  by Mattieu in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  just another update on 1 australian senators quest to squash the tax free status of scientology/jw's and other cults:.

  http://www.theage.com.au/national/call-for-independent-charities-commission-20100912-1570g.html.

  now the election is over, hopefully wont take too long for legislation to pass.

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  Mattieu

  Hi Debator,

  Firstly thank you for reading my post and making a comment. Great thing about this board is that we can have a view. Though could you please consider your following quote:

  Unless a religion is actually breaking the laws of the land the governments should not be dealing with them

  Now, when any religion, including JW's sign up to receive (and enjoy) a tax free exemption, they agree to abide by the legal requirements and the spirit of those regulations. Now once any religious organisatoin is found to be taking advantages of any loopholes in tax free legislation or abusing the system for a financial gain, they deserve to be investigated. Particuarly when a religion is asked what charitable acts they perform in the local community to deserve this tax status and the reply is "we go door to door teaching the Bible" then they desrev to be looked at.

  And they certainly should not be taxing our beliefs.

  They are not taxing anyones beliefs, just taxing the super profits that these religious corporations, including JW's make.

  Food for thought. Cheers mate, Mattieu
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  153

  Oz Govt following UK & French lead on Tax/Charity status

  by Mattieu in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  just another update on 1 australian senators quest to squash the tax free status of scientology/jw's and other cults:.

  http://www.theage.com.au/national/call-for-independent-charities-commission-20100912-1570g.html.

  now the election is over, hopefully wont take too long for legislation to pass.

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  Mattieu

  Just another update on 1 Australian Senators quest to squash the tax free status of Scientology/JW's and other cults:

  http://www.theage.com.au/national/call-for-independent-charities-commission-20100912-1570g.html

  Now the election is over, hopefully wont take too long for legislation to pass. Interesting that the Oz Government want to use the same French agency that helped overturn the JW's status in France.a

  http://www.miviludes.gouv.fr/

  Hmmm, will they close the local bethel or downsize?? Cheers, Mattieu
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  12

  Service numbers are gone

  by Samuel Thorsen in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just stumbled over the october issue of our kingdom ministry in norwegian.. the service report numbers are no longer printed.

  why not?

  and do they still print the numbers in your language?.

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  Mattieu

  They removed them from the Australian kingdom ministry as well. They just give "Service Highlights" now, like an increase of 10% in East Timor (which means 66 publisers this month, 60 last month....) Cheers, Mattieu
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  19

  A letter to my parents stating I dont believe in the Org anymore.

  by cyberjesus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just sent this letter to my dad 3 days ago.

  i roughly translated it from spanish, so it has many weird sounding sentences but i just wanted to shared it with the board.

  practically i just say good-bye to my family.

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  Mattieu

  Really nice heartfelt letter...
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  8

  Any weird/funny local needs in your congo?

  by XPeterX in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we were told to "be more generous" and that we should stop criticising the elders on how they handle matters.

  (the next week a jw got df'd).

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  Mattieu

  Local needs talk on how to hold a microphone when giving talks/demos at the k/hall or ASSemblies. Most anal brother gave it (later came out he forgot he had the talk so had 5 minutes to "come up with a theme"... Showed up how unorganised the whole body was. He stretched the bloody thing out for 20 minutes....
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  34

  A Newbies Story

  by Lets Think in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  resigned as an elder last week.

  briefly this is my story.

  i was raised as a witness in the 60s and 70s.

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  Mattieu

  Welcome Lets Think, thanks for sharing your story, hope to hear more from you. Cheers, Mattieu
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  13

  New Zealand earthqauke 7.0

  by Mattieu in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  black sheep & karter, hope you guys are ok, looks like it made a mess of christchurch... http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/earthquake-pf-74-magnitude-rocks-christchurch/story-e6frf7l6-1225914075673.

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  Mattieu

  Lol Black Sheep, that is exactly what I think we are going to hear when all the jw experiences with the Christchurch earthquake start coming through! Cheers, Mattieu
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  13

  New Zealand earthqauke 7.0

  by Mattieu in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  black sheep & karter, hope you guys are ok, looks like it made a mess of christchurch... http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/earthquake-pf-74-magnitude-rocks-christchurch/story-e6frf7l6-1225914075673.

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  Mattieu

  Black Sheep & Karter, hope you guys are ok, looks like it made a mess of Christchurch..

  http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/earthquake-pf-74-magnitude-rocks-christchurch/story-e6frf7l6-1225914075673
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  11

  KH school on christmas day & new years day

  by dozy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when i was an elder i used to hate the wts organising km schools on christmas or new years day ( like they are doing again this year) & i know many other elders & ms felt the same.

  it always struck me as a foolish time of year to organise these meetings.

  for many it was the time of the year when they had family staying on holiday.

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  Mattieu

  Hi Dozy, it just shows how out of touch the borg are with rank n file. I used to hate CO's visits over Christmas/New Year. Not canceling ones holiday plans was seen as a bad attitude and evidence that one did not wish to "reach out"... Cheers, Mattieu
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  27

  Hello!

  by factfinder in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm new here, this is my first post.

  have been reading so many comments from you guys over the past few months and now i can finally comment too!.

  it is amazing how long it took me to see that jw's are not god's organization and that their teachings do not really find support in the bible.. now i'm not really sure what i believe.

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  Mattieu

  Hello and a warm welcome fact finder. Cheers, Mattieu