Posts by Euphemism

328

Journal of Church and State: WT NO-BLOOD EXPOSE'

by AndersonsInfo in

(baylor university, waco, tx) an essay entitled, "jehovah's witnesses, blood transfusions, and the tort of misrepresentation," found in the autumn issue of baylor universitys prestigious journal of church and state, published december 13, 2005, exposes the vulnerability of jehovahs witnesses religious organization to massive claims for compensation because of the religions misrepresentation of the medical risks of blood transfusions.

this milestone essay critically examines one of the religions main publications for teaching their children and new recruits about their blood beliefs, how can blood save your life?

the peer-reviewed essay details many misrepresentations of medical facts, which the religion partly relies on to support its blood prohibition, thus denying its members from making fully informed medical decisions.

Euphemism

bebu wrote:

Re-read the article Barb posted, and you'll see that such mishandling of facts has been determined to not be related to freedom of religion.

That's correct. However, there are three provisions of the US Constitution that are relevant here, specifically the first three clauses of the First Amendment.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion

This is generally referred to as the Establishment Clause. It is not about individuals' (or groups') right to freedom of religion, but rather a prohibition on the government as a whole from taking certain actions with regards to religion, whether or not anyone's rights are directly violated. For more on "entanglement" under the Establishment Clause, check out http://www.mirrorofjustice.com/mirrorofjustice/2005/06/establishment_c.html

or prohibiting the free exercise thereof

This is the Free Excerise Clause, also known as freedom of religion. This is the one that the article addresses (re compelling interest, burden, etc).

or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press

This is freedom of speech. Speech about beliefs--secular or religious--is protected under this clause.

From what I can tell in the excerpts, the article only addresses one of those three items: freedom of religion. Once I get the full text of the article, I will be able to see if it addresses the other two.

AuldSoul wrote:

The blood policy is not the issue, so there is no entanglement concern. The issue is misrepresentation of secular facts pursuant to that policy.

I understand that. Note that the two issues I singled out--which are among the misrepresentations listed in the article--are not matters of secular fact. I am not saying that the Establishment clause would be an issue for the other four categories of misrepresentation; only for those two.

14

Worksheet for JWs with doubts

by seattleniceguy in

being a witness involves accepting what you might call a "pyramid of belief.

" witness doctrines are based on their interpretation of the bible, which is in turn based on the belief that the bible represents the word of god, which is in turn based on the belief that there is a god that communicates with humans, which is in turn based on the belief that the universe was intentionally constructed by an intelligent being.

the jw belief system is thus the very top block on the pyramid of beliefs.. witnesses are not in the habit of considering their beliefs in this way, so it can be eye-opening to take a look at what you honestly believe at each level of the pyramid.

Euphemism

This is great, great stuff! I remember when I went through a sort of 'crisis of faith' in my mid teens, and I analyzed my beliefs in pretty much that same 'stacked' progression.

At the time, however, I wasn't really aware of all the flaws in the Witnesses' use of the Bible. I felt that I was uncertain about the existence of God, the inspiration of the Bible, etc. but that if all those things were true, then the Witnesses must be the true religion.

Ultimately, I think I just wasn't emotionally ready to face the truth at the time. But this way of dividing up the questions is really helpful in clarifying one's thoughts.

328

Journal of Church and State: WT NO-BLOOD EXPOSE'

by AndersonsInfo in

(baylor university, waco, tx) an essay entitled, "jehovah's witnesses, blood transfusions, and the tort of misrepresentation," found in the autumn issue of baylor universitys prestigious journal of church and state, published december 13, 2005, exposes the vulnerability of jehovahs witnesses religious organization to massive claims for compensation because of the religions misrepresentation of the medical risks of blood transfusions.

this milestone essay critically examines one of the religions main publications for teaching their children and new recruits about their blood beliefs, how can blood save your life?

the peer-reviewed essay details many misrepresentations of medical facts, which the religion partly relies on to support its blood prohibition, thus denying its members from making fully informed medical decisions.

Euphemism

hartstrings wrote:The question arises, Will this entail CRIMINAL proceedings or civil?

The article title refers to "the tort of misrepresentation." A "tort" is civil.

328

Journal of Church and State: WT NO-BLOOD EXPOSE'

by AndersonsInfo in

(baylor university, waco, tx) an essay entitled, "jehovah's witnesses, blood transfusions, and the tort of misrepresentation," found in the autumn issue of baylor universitys prestigious journal of church and state, published december 13, 2005, exposes the vulnerability of jehovahs witnesses religious organization to massive claims for compensation because of the religions misrepresentation of the medical risks of blood transfusions.

this milestone essay critically examines one of the religions main publications for teaching their children and new recruits about their blood beliefs, how can blood save your life?

the peer-reviewed essay details many misrepresentations of medical facts, which the religion partly relies on to support its blood prohibition, thus denying its members from making fully informed medical decisions.

Euphemism

BTW, the URL for the journal is http://www3.baylor.edu/Church_State/jcs_recent_issues.htm (the C in Church is capitalized)

328

Journal of Church and State: WT NO-BLOOD EXPOSE'

by AndersonsInfo in

(baylor university, waco, tx) an essay entitled, "jehovah's witnesses, blood transfusions, and the tort of misrepresentation," found in the autumn issue of baylor universitys prestigious journal of church and state, published december 13, 2005, exposes the vulnerability of jehovahs witnesses religious organization to massive claims for compensation because of the religions misrepresentation of the medical risks of blood transfusions.

this milestone essay critically examines one of the religions main publications for teaching their children and new recruits about their blood beliefs, how can blood save your life?

the peer-reviewed essay details many misrepresentations of medical facts, which the religion partly relies on to support its blood prohibition, thus denying its members from making fully informed medical decisions.

Euphemism

Wow! I'm glad to hear about this; any peer-reviewed literature that helps show the true nature of the Witnesses is a very good thing. I wouldn't get my hopes up about a lawsuit, however.

No doubt this article makes a plausible case. But law reviews are full of plausible arguments on both sides of a question. Getting published in a law review is no guarantee of winning in court.

There are two major legal issues that I don't see addressed in the excerpts:

1. The Establishment Clause. Any inquiry into the rationality or consistency of a religion's beliefs is generally deemed an 'entanglement' with religion, which is not allowed. This would be a serious roadblock to bringing up in court the latter two objections presented:

*The organization’s current blood policy misrepresents the scope of allowed blood products; and

*The organization’s blood policy contains contradictions about autologous blood transfusions.

Note that this is a separate issue from that of free exercise, which the article addresses.

2. Freedom of Speech. Misleading argumentation--especially if it can be argued to be sincerely held--is constitutionally protected. People who believe that HIV doesn't cause AIDS, that the Holocaust didn't really happen, etc. are free to present half-truths, misquotes, and so forth. They're even free to solicit money to spread their misleading beliefs. The tort of misrepresentation requires one to enter a contract based on the misrepresentation. (And no, baptism is not considered a contract.)

I may be more optimistic after reading the article, but for now, you'll have to color me skeptical.

Even if a lawsuit is not a possibility, however, I think the article will still be useful in legal cases involving minors and transfusions, as well as in spreading general knowledge of the Witnesses in the legal community. So it is a very good thing, no doubt about that.

47

The Given Ones, Jehovahs Provision? by Barbara Anderson

by Dogpatch in

the watchtower april 15, 1992, p. 31, par.

1, 5, 6; p. 13, par.

the watchtower april 15, 1992, p. 15, par.

Euphemism

Bebu... I think the missing piece is the vision that most JWs have of Bethel as some sort of spiritual sanctuary... of leaders who care for nothing but Bible truth, and spend their time scrutinizing the scriptures and thinking of nothing else.

The reality is a lot more prosaic. Bethel is filled with a bunch of careerists who compete over a very limited set of promotions.

To a non-Witness, there's nothing shocking there; it's just human nature. But to all the Witnesses who were agog over this new piece of scriptural interpretation (and believe me, they were), it would be very disappointing to realize that their leaders cared more about who got a new job than about the fulfillment of Biblical foreshadowings.

15

Michael Jackson converting to Islam

by JeffT in

jw
friends

maybe they will finally have to disfellowship him.. .

michael jackson going muslim?

roee nahmias .

Euphemism

JeffT wrote:Maybe they will finally have to disfellowship him.

Jackson has been disassociated since the 80's.

47

The Given Ones, Jehovahs Provision? by Barbara Anderson

by Dogpatch in

the watchtower april 15, 1992, p. 31, par.

1, 5, 6; p. 13, par.

the watchtower april 15, 1992, p. 15, par.

Euphemism

Just saw this thread for the first time. Definitely interesting info, but I wanted to clarify one point:

AndersonsInfo wrote:
In time, each man came to believe he was called to become part of the “anointed remnant.” And that calling could make him available to become a member of the Governing Body. Hence, the “Given Ones” arrangement could prove to be a ‘proving ground’ for potential new Governing Body members.

Narkissos wrote:
This too is very interesting (and new to me)... opportunistic "anointment"?

I don't know about the others, but Morris has been partaking for over 20 years.

20

XJW Movement

by IP_SEC in

jw
friends

in the past i've seen comments from witness apologist talking about the exwitness or apostate movement.

people here are quick to come back with "there is no apostate movement.".

my question is, why isnt there?

Euphemism

Question for you... why should there be a single XJW movement?

There's Silent Lambs, AJWRB, BRCI, Quotes, etc... each of which serves a different purpose. I don't see any reason why they should be united.

69

PROGRAMED working out the dark side in art

by seven006 in

jw
friends

i havent posted much lately becausewell just because.

in the past year i have tried .

to start my conversion from commercial art to fine art doing mostly nudes.

Euphemism

For whatever my uneducated opinion is worth, that's great stuff. I looked around your site and also really loved Sports 2 and Wire Woman.