Posts by Richard Oliver

49

Sisters as Ministerial Servants?

by Spoletta in

my wife has been trying to convince me that the organization is hinting at the possibility of making some older sisters ministerial servants.

she is awake to a lot of the false doctrines, but is still clinging to the hope that the org may become more progressive in the future.

anyone else pick up on this?

Richard Oliver

Steve:

Please actually read my comments instead of immediately attacking me. I never claimed that the Australian Government would force a religion to do something. Other people have claimed that. Other people have claimed that the ARC has authority other than to investigate and make recommendations. I have research the ARC proceedings and have said it like it would be like a Blue Ribbon Commission in the US but with a little more authority to issue subpoenas and take testimony that is subject to the pains and penalties of perjury. The commission is made up of many commissioners but like in the case of the Watchtower investigation, only one commissioner was assigned to the final report in preparing it. My statement was that people on this thread has said that they are going to make changes because Watchtower knows that Australia is going to force them to ordain women, but if the Australian government was to do that to JWs they would have to do it to all of the religions that do not ordain women or put women in leadership roles.

161

ARC Analysis Summary of Case Files

by Richard Oliver in

i have been doing research on the arc as some people on here have suggested.

i find it interesting on the case file analysis some of the findings.

it looks like queensland and new south wales had the biggest problems with this.

Richard Oliver

And I don't believe that every case of child abuse in JWs is the fault of Watchtower. Yes, there are certain people where if the commit this crime Watchtower should be held liable. But just the the fact that they are in a congregation somewhere, then that means that they are financially liable for someone else's actions. And court after court in the US has said the same thing. You cannot be held liable for the actions of a third party who you have no control over.

161

ARC Analysis Summary of Case Files

by Richard Oliver in

i have been doing research on the arc as some people on here have suggested.

i find it interesting on the case file analysis some of the findings.

it looks like queensland and new south wales had the biggest problems with this.

Richard Oliver

Yes steve. When new information is gathered one's opinion can adjust and change.

49

Sisters as Ministerial Servants?

by Spoletta in

my wife has been trying to convince me that the organization is hinting at the possibility of making some older sisters ministerial servants.

she is awake to a lot of the false doctrines, but is still clinging to the hope that the org may become more progressive in the future.

anyone else pick up on this?

Richard Oliver

I bring up other religions and denominations because there have been comments about how the ARC is going to force Watchtower to appoint women and other activities. You cannot view that in a vacuum. For the Australian government to do that, they would also have to force other religions and denominations to do the same thing. That seems pretty hard to believe that they would do that.

161

ARC Analysis Summary of Case Files

by Richard Oliver in

i have been doing research on the arc as some people on here have suggested.

i find it interesting on the case file analysis some of the findings.

it looks like queensland and new south wales had the biggest problems with this.

Richard Oliver

I have a mix bag of how many of you guys believe. I think that Watchtower policy should change so that as long as elders are not barred from reporting it and it is a crime in that jurisdiction that it should be reported to the police even if they are not mandated to do so. I believe that would help future victims of the same person from being abused. But I don't believe in the way that many people characterize it as a pedophile paradise, where victims are groomed by other witnesses for molestation. Does it happen? of course it happens in the way that a child is molested that if the family wasn't witnesses they wouldn't have been a victim. But like the ARC analysis finds there are cases where it happens in the family, and that victim would be associating with that abuser regardless of their association with a congregation.

20

How can the WTS call themselves Christians when they have no Christian church?

by TTWSYF in

so was jesus a fool or a liar?

he said that his church would last all ages, didn't he?.

math 16:8and i say to thee: that thou art peter; and upon this rock i will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Richard Oliver

I hate to wade into these dogma issues because my opinion on these type of things maybe different from others and I hate to start an argument about scripture. But the same claim can be made for Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists or Baptists among other Christian denominations. The only religion that feels that their authority is derived from Jesus telling Peter that is the Catholics. This is the way that I understand it, that Catholics view the pope as an extension of the authority given to Peter by Jesus. And that Luther and others had a problem with the idea of a Pope who felt that he derived that authority that way. They then created denominations that were separated from the Catholic Church.

If I am wrong please let me know, but that is how I have always understood how Catholics view the Pope.

9

Can someone explain to me how the JW cult still has a 501.3c tax-free "charity" status when they have child abuse scandals & c

by kpop in

jw
friends

i saw this posted on another forum and it raises a very good question.

maybe we can get a go fundme page to pay for the lawyer fees?

get a good shark lawyer on this?

Richard Oliver

Watch the video that I posted. John Oliver researched this greatly. He hired a lawyer to set up his own church and highlighted some strange things that go own that is considered perfectly acceptable by the IRS. He mentioned that in all of 2015 only 3 churches lost their charity status. He even highlights a video that is shown to IRS employees on how to treat religions with extra consideration when it comes to tax-exempt status of religions. In fact the IRS had tried for years to deny Scientology their tax-exempt status but they fought and won their status.

9

Can someone explain to me how the JW cult still has a 501.3c tax-free "charity" status when they have child abuse scandals & c

by kpop in

jw
friends

i saw this posted on another forum and it raises a very good question.

maybe we can get a go fundme page to pay for the lawyer fees?

get a good shark lawyer on this?

Richard Oliver

Also, not all of Watchtower is tax-exempt. There are some facilities that are considered outside business interest and those are taxable and are taxed by their respective governments. I know that when the Patterson Inn still accepted outside guests and did not just house bethelites, the land and building was taxed by Putnam county and I believe the state of New York. I also know that because of New York City housing regulations, that as buildings were bought in Brooklyn and they had renting tenants they could not evict them. The monies received by those tenants were also taxed as well as the portion of the building that unit would take up for property tax. Buildings and land that are tax exempt has to be shown that their use is primarily used by the religion for religious use and is not used for income or even left vacant without the religion using it for some purpose as part of their religious services or in connection with the tenets of the religion.

9

Can someone explain to me how the JW cult still has a 501.3c tax-free "charity" status when they have child abuse scandals & c

by kpop in

jw
friends

i saw this posted on another forum and it raises a very good question.

maybe we can get a go fundme page to pay for the lawyer fees?

get a good shark lawyer on this?

Richard Oliver

John Oliver did an amazing report on this type of thing. It did not talk about Watchtower but how easy it is for churches to get tax exempt status and how hard it is for a church to lose it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y1xJAVZxXg

He even made his own church and received tax exempt status and highlighted what he could say some outrageous things and still not lose the status.

And this video only speaks of tax-exempt status in the US as that is the only country where a 501 (c) (3) applies as that is the only place that US tax law applies.

31

Young People Ask: I’m Attracted to the Same Sex—Does That Mean I’m Gay?

by pale.emperor in

eurgh!

more patronizing and uninformed reasoning from the "experts" at bethel.

this time tackling the sensitive subject of those attracted the the same sex.

Richard Oliver

I know that I am gay, though I may be bi but more gay than straight. I know that my sexual desires do very sometimes. Sometimes I am really attracted to women and sometimes I am really repulsed by women. There are a lot of people who do believe that sexuality can be a fluid situation, if those thoughts are credible that is for everyone to determine for themselves. But I know at times my sexuality is pretty fluid.