MrMonroe
JoinedTopics Started by MrMonroe
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Vin Toole at work: How much of JWs donations are spent on legal challenges?
by MrMonroe inthis talk of vin toole's involvement in the steven unthank case in victoria reminded me of a legal case back in 1999 that went all the way to the high court of australia.. in february 1998 a 20-year-old sister named sherin qumsieh gave birth in a melbourne hospital.
complications developed, she required an emergency hysterectomy and began suffering severe blood loss.
she had signed a blood card, but the hospital warned her husband, nidal, that there was a high likelihood she'd die if she didn't have a transfusion.
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Interesting development in Victoria: Is this where Govt acts on Working With Children Checks?
by MrMonroe inas has previousy been noted, steven unthank gave a commendable presentation to the victorian government's inquiry into protecting vulnerable children, pointing out that the watch tower society had refused to require jws to apply for working with children checks.. the victorian attorney-general seems to have taken particular notice of this and the attempts by religions -- notably the catholic church and jewish sects (both of which have been accused recently of shielding sex offenders) , but also presumably the jws -- to evade their responsibilities.
here's a story in today's age:.
catholic sex abuse inquiry on holdthe state government has put on hold a public inquiry into sexual abuse by catholic clergy, hoping some key questions can be addressed by another current inquiry into protecting vulnerable children.. state attorney-general robert clark has received at least five different calls in the past two months for an independent inquiry into the church's handling of abuse complaints.. a spokesman said yesterday the government would defer a decision until the report of the protecting victoria's vulnerable children inquiry, due on january 27.. he said the inquiry's chairman, philip cummins, had said that while it was not investigating child sexual abuse within religious bodies in general, it might report on three particular issues:.
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Why a religion academic abandoned a plan for intensive study of JW doctrines
by MrMonroe inmichael gilmour, professor of engish and biblical literature at providence university college, manitoba, proposed a society of biblical literature workshop examining the watchtower society's use of scripture.
he thought they were poorly represented in deep academic analysis, particularly considering they have their own bible and are "persistent" (other people say "relentless") in their proselytizing.. in the end, he decided against it.
much of the reason is the suspicion and contempt held by jws towards "worldly" bible scholars, who, of course, may form different conclusions to those of the governing body.. james a. beverley, in his excellent book, "crtisis of allegiance," made the point that despite their claims to be bible scholars par excellence, the wts's writings or "research" are never (repeat never) cited by any other academics; none are ever persuaded by the claim that only the wts can understand the "deep things of god.".
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JWTalk forum
by MrMonroe ini can't get into that last thread about what's happening on jwtalk.net.
and you obviously need a password to get into their forum.. what's the general tenor of the discussion?.
i'm interested in another thread there as well, in which someone has asked about the reliability of jw articles on wikipedia.
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Australia: Ramifications of government watchdog's ruling on Scientology's use of unpaid laborers
by MrMonroe infair work australia, the government industrial law agency, has ruled that the church of scientology broke australian law by requiring employees to work long hours for as little as $10 a week.
the church's defence was that because it is a religious entity, its workers are not employees, but volunteers.. which all sounds a bit familiar!.
the agency also found that "a significant level of control and direction was applied to workers by more senior church members who hold positions of authority".
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JWs relieved when judges decree their kids must have a blood transfusion
by MrMonroe indanny haszard tweeted the following story from the flordia sun-sentinel: state butts in to give kids a life.
it's a fascinating story that shows the real attitude of many parents of young children who become seriously ill. though ordered by their religion to refuse transfusions and simply accept that their child may die as a result, some parents willingly accept the right of the state to decree that a transfusion must take place if doctors so decide.. no parent wants their child to die, and it would simply tear them apart to know that a reasonably simple and routine medical practice could save their life ... yet they would be shunned by their family and friends if they accepted.
the solution is to hope like hell the state steps in, allowing them to say to their congregation, "well, what can you do?
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Australian campaigner concedes defeat on Working With Children checks
by MrMonroe inhttp://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/door-closes-on-jehovahs-witness-campaign/story-e6frf7jo-1226095887745.
sunday herald sun, melbourne.
jehovah's witness children will continue to doorknock neighbourhoods with adults who have failed to gain police background checks after a bid to stop the practice failed this week.. gippsland carpenter steven unthank, a former member of the religion who says he was abused as a teen by a church elder, was given approval by victoria's chief magistrate to take the unusual step of launching a private prosecution of the religion over its refusal to require ministers to gain police checks, but says he cannot afford the $350 fee for filing the charges.. mr unthank yesterday said he could not pursue the religion on his own.. he said it was a disgrace that neither victoria police nor the justice department would enforce the working with children act, which requires ministers of religion to gain police checks before working unsupervised with minors.. the religion's corporate arm in australia, the watch tower society, says it does not believe its ministers need to obtain background checks to work with children because they do not typically work unsupervised with children.. ``it's an absolute beatup,'' a spokesman said.
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Gay "Knocking" director Joel Engardio writes again on shunning by JW family members
by MrMonroe ina previous thread http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/200592/2/joel-p-engardios-article-on-jws-washington-post has covered an earlier story joel engardio wrote on gays and witnesses.. in the washington post (nov 7, 2010) he writes again of how his jw mother grieved for him "as if i had died" when she learned he was gay.
engardio notes:.
"among jehovah's witnesses there is no easy exit for the adolescent who skillfully parrots theology at age 10 or 12 and decides in his late teens or early twenties that the religion isn't for him.
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Extraordinary events and amazing coincidences: why do JWs always attribute them to God?
by MrMonroe in[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng /> </o:officedocumentsettings> </xml><!
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Worldy opposition is interpreted as confirmation of the truth
by MrMonroe ininteresting comment on the talk page of the wikipedia article on the governing body here:.
one dopey jw (wandering-teacher) who complained that the article was "biased" against the jws was supported in a comment by another assumed jw (galik) who whined that the article was "peppered with quotes from known opposers of jehovah's witnesses in order to use this article as a propaganda vehicle".. wandering-teacher replied: "thanks for the support, galik.
the difficulty of having a neutral point of view in the ... article strengthens my faith that i have made the correct religious choice for me.".