Palaces of worship

[Zzyzx]

.
In many cities and towns the most ornate and ostentatious buildings are churches / cathedrals / mosques / temples / or other places of worship.

Such buildings are intended to impress and/or send a message. Impress whom? Message whom? What message?

[Tcg]

One doesnt have to know every member of an organisation to trust is not corrupt anymore than one has to interrogate every man to trust your wife is not an adultress. No organisation can ensure corrupt individuals cannot assocites with it but an organisation become corrupt when it it teaches, tolerates and encourages corruption which I am confident my religion does not do.

Your confidence would undoubtedly change with a bit more research:

• Groundbreaking Lawsuits Claim Jehovah's Witnesses Covered Up Years of Child Sexual Abuse
  
  Over the past two decades there have been dozens of cases alleging the church hid or mismanaged allegations of child sexual abuse. In September 2018, a Montana woman who claimed her elders were ordered not to report her abuse won a $35 million suit. The Watchtower is currently petitioning the Supreme Court to review another case in California, claiming a database it maintains of alleged molesters is protected by clergy-penitent confessional privilege.
  
  https://www.newsweek.com/jehovahs-witne ... it-1454001

Hiding reports of child sexual abuse is indeed corruption.


Tcg

[Clownboat]

One doesnt have to know every member of an organisation to trust is not corrupt anymore than one has to interrogate every man to trust your wife is not an adultress. No organisation can ensure corrupt individuals cannot assocites with it but an organisation become corrupt when it it teaches, tolerates and encourages corruption which I am confident my religion does not do.

Your confidence would undoubtedly change with a bit more research:

• Groundbreaking Lawsuits Claim Jehovah's Witnesses Covered Up Years of Child Sexual Abuse
  
  Over the past two decades there have been dozens of cases alleging the church hid or mismanaged allegations of child sexual abuse. In September 2018, a Montana woman who claimed her elders were ordered not to report her abuse won a $35 million suit. The Watchtower is currently petitioning the Supreme Court to review another case in California, claiming a database it maintains of alleged molesters is protected by clergy-penitent confessional privilege.
  
  https://www.newsweek.com/jehovahs-witne ... it-1454001

Hiding reports of child sexual abuse is indeed corruption.


Tcg

Why Power Corrupts
New research digs deeper into the social science behind why power brings out the best in some people and the worst in others
image: https://thumbs-prod.si-cdn.com/3AEvAoTk ... er-631.jpg

Power illustration
(Illustration by Chris Rubino)
By Christopher Shea
SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE | SUBSCRIBE
OCTOBER 2012
235220208.6K
“Power tends to corrupt,� said Lord Acton, the 19th-century British historian. “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.� His maxim has been vividly illustrated in psychological studies, notably the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment, which was halted when one group of students arbitrarily assigned to serve as “prison guards� over another group began to abuse their wards.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science- ... -37165345/

We can't be surprised IMO...

The power that the JW religion has over its members is rivaled by no other group that I can think off (though there are likely extreme examples not coming to mind).

The power to control who you are allowed to associate with, what traditions you are allowed to celebrate and what you are allowed to do with your free time all at the cost of being disfellowshipped if you slip up is a fairly unrivaled power IMO.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/w5/9-things-you- ... -1.3839669
- They are one of Canada's wealthiest and least transparent charities. Charity Intelligence, an agency that monitors charities for Canadian donors, gives the group a D-grade because they do not provide details on how donations are spent.
- They shun those who go astray. Those who leave the religion or are kicked out are subjected to an extreme form of shunning. Parents, siblings, friends are instructed to cut all ties.
- They limit contact with non-Jehovah's Witnesses. JWs are advised not to join groups or teams outside the faith and are also discouraged from higher education.
- The Two Witness Rule is the Jehovah Witnesses’ interpretation of scripture that, in the absence of a confession, there must be two material witnesses to a sin for them to be acted upon.
Critics say the policy protects accused pedophiles, because there are rarely witnesses to sexual abuse.

[Zzyzx]

.

Hiding reports of child sexual abuse is indeed corruption.

Your confidence would undoubtedly change with a bit more research

Let's not count on research, information or facts making any difference to people who are emotionally 'all-in' to believing their preconceived notions.

Religion makes an ideal cover for pedophiles, as JW and RCC (and others) famously demonstrate -- and members spring to defense of their organization, claiming 'only a few misguided individuals' rather than acknowledging a pervasive pattern of corruption.

[JehovahsWitness]

.

I think the primary intent is to provide a place where the faithful can gather to worship God.

What is the purpose of gathering together to 'worship God'? Why 'gather' rather than worshiping solo? Does God hear better if prayers are collective rather than individual?

If there was reason to 'gather together', that could just as well in a warehouse building with folding chairs -- and the funds required to build and maintain a palace could be devoted to some worthy cause.

Gathering is a biblical command and bible believing Christians view it as part of our worship. We meet together to show love to each other, to encourage each other and to worship in obedience to the command to do so.

[Tcg]

We meet together to show love to each other, to encourage each other and to worship in obedience to the command to do so.

The problem of course is the type of "love" shown:

• Secret Documents Reveal Sex Abuse Scandal in Jehovah's Witnesses Church
  
  Thirty-three letters and internal documents, leaked Tuesday by the transparency organization FaithLeaks, expose a series of sexual abuse accusations against a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses church and the efforts the church made to cover up the scandal and keep it from the "worldly court of law."
  
  https://www.newsweek.com/secret-documen ... aks-776796

Tcg

[Nanon]

My house for me is the best place of wotship.