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The decisions to deny Jehovah’s Witnesses state funding and registration are invalid. Vedtak om nekte Jehovas vitner statstilskudd og registrering er ugyldige Decision declaring invalid the denial of state subsidies and registration for Jehovah’s Witnesses Supreme Court judgment, 29 April 2026, HR‑2026‑1009‑A (Case no. 25‑089326SIV‑HRET), civil case, appeal from Borgarting Court of Appeal. The case concerns the validity of five administrative decisions denying state subsidies and one decision deregistering Jehovah’s Witnesses as a religious community, as well as the refusal to grant new registration. The State argued that the community’s practice of social shunning violates children’s rights and members’ right to freely withdraw, cf. the Religious Communities Act §6 and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) Article 9. The Supreme Court reviewed the organization and teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses, including the practice of disfellowshipping and social shunning, and the legal framework under the Religious Communities Act and freedom of religion under the ECHR. The Court emphasized that the threshold for denying subsidies and registration is high, and that §6 must be interpreted in light of religious autonomy under ECHR Articles 9 and 11. Children’s rights The Court unanimously found that the State had not provided sufficient evidence that Jehovah’s Witnesses subject minors to psychological violence or negative social control of such severity that children’s legally protected rights are violated. It emphasized internal guidelines for handling minors, that family bonds are not broken, and that there was no documented actual extent of disfellowshipping of children. Right to free withdrawal The Court assessed whether social shunning of former members violates the right to free withdrawal. The Court found that Jehovah’s Witnesses meet the requirement of free and unconditional withdrawal under §2 of the Act. A majority of three judges held that the practice does not constitute undue pressure in violation of ECHR Article 9. They emphasized that the practice is rooted in doctrine, known to members upon joining, and does not involve direct pressure, coercion, or threats. Gjeldende side The practice does not apply to family members in the same household, and family bonds are not broken for relatives outside the household. The majority concluded that the conditions for denying subsidies and registration were not met. Dissent Two judges dissented regarding whether the practice exerts undue pressure on members wishing to leave. They emphasized potential loss of contact with family members, especially minors, and that the practice is a rule‑based sanction intended to be a felt consequence. Gjeldende side The minority therefore believed the conditions for denying subsidies and registration were met. They also found that the refusal to register constituted an interference with religious freedom under ECHR Article 9(1), but that the interference was justified. Gjeldende side Clarification The judgment clarifies the threshold for denying subsidies and registration of religious communities, and how the rules must be assessed in light of religious freedom under the ECHR.

My wife and I mostly stopped eating out and limit grocery stores. We cook everything at home from scratch now. Making even tomato paste and tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes. I mill our flour from when berries. We also no longer shop at stores. Mostly farmers markets, PickFresh app and suppliers in bulk. We are both now off all meds with better blood results and seasons of sickness are mostly gone. We take herbs and teas if we get sniffles. I’ve lost faith in the medical industry. Only see functional or integrative doctors now. It’s sad.

Beautiful video about our hope https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/LatestVideos/pub-jwbvod26_11_VIDEO

Jehovah wins again

Just found out that 2 Apostles will be attending our Convention this year.

When I saw the title of this thread I thought it was about Michael and Rev 12:7.

I think your desire to help is a good one. That is exactly the kind of concern Jehovah wants us to have for one another. “Let us work what is good toward all, but especially toward those related to us in the faith.” — Galatians 6:10 But good motives still need caution. If we only know someone online, even on a forum like this, we may not really know their full situation. We may not know if the need is genuine, whether others are already helping, or whether their local elders are aware of the need. That does not mean we ignore suffering. It means we try to help wisely. If we personally know someone and can clearly see the need, that is different. But knowing someone only online is not a safe basis for sending money. So yes, the desire to help is right. We just want our compassion to be guided by wisdom.

Announcement LEGAL VICTORY | Jehovah’s Witnesses Win Landmark Supreme Court Case in Norway On April 30, 2026, the Supreme Court of Norway ruled that the government violated the religious freedom of Jehovah’s Witnesses when it deregistered our national legal entity in December 2022. Furthermore, the Court ruled that the government’s subsequent denial of State grants to Jehovah’s Witnesses was illegal. This positive decision resulted from the Court thoroughly reviewing our Bible-based beliefs and practices and determining that they are fully in harmony with Norwegian and international law. This ruling is final and cannot be appealed. As a united worldwide brotherhood, we rejoice at the Supreme Court’s decision and give all thanks to Jehovah.—Psalm 79:13.

Yaaaay!!! Thank you Jehovah🤗

I have an unwanted vision of you sat in the bathroom eating chocolate … 😂

I really would like to stop watching bad news. In my city, some can still afford to eat out even though its expensive. Life goes on. But Im afraid on our health care system, its too bad. Im protecting my health at all cost.

Yet still we might see food shortages here and there around the world, but the main world society will still be living normal for as the scripture says they will be.."eating and drinking, men marrying and women being given in marriage...when the great tribulation arrives. From what i see from that scripture I don't think the world in general will be collapsing when the Gt arrives at least not in every country. Matt 24:38.

Some members think they would impress others by asking AI to generate comments from the Spiritual Gems or for every paragraph of the Watchtower. They posts those listings, which usually a re several-pages-long. But actually they impress nobody because it's clear those are AI-generated. Nobody reads them. I don't care what a computer has to say about a Bible verse. It's much better to comment a point or two and do it in your own words after you meditated on it. Using AI to translate your posts is a different, legitimate use.

I watched this many times.. i cant get enough of it.

Well, dear friends, during the dark days to come, keep your hope strong. Keep your courage alive. Do not lose sight of the reality of the beautiful promises that are ahead of you. And just as you are seeing unmistakable fulfillment of Jehovah’s promises right now, you will see unmistakable fulfillment of Jehovah’s promises for the future. And think about the joy that you will have when all creation in heaven and on earth are finally united in pure worship and when that river is a torrent. Yes, you can be certain it will be more wonderful than you could ever have imagined! source: https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/LatestVideos/pub-jwbvod26_11_VIDEO

My wife ask if she could have a little peace ane quiet while she cooked dinner. So I took the batteries out of the smoke alarm and that's how it all started!

If you end up sending someone money, I recommend trying to keep it in private DMs so it doesn't encourage others to join the community and scam people.

I actually saw the movie yesterday and throughly enjoyed it. We grew up listening to Michael and the Jackson 5. We also listened to the Osmond's! I saw nothing wrong in watching the movie and I try to be very unbiased with entertainers and what they do in their leisure time, listening to Michael was no different than me listening to Elton John, and he’s openly gay, or Johnny Cash who’s songs centered around drinking, cheating and adultery.

We have been instructed not to send money or supplies on an individual basis. the recommendation was to send the contribution to the World Wide Work through JW.ORG and allow the organization to direct the funds to the appropriate spot. Obviously, if you have a relative that you wish to give a gift to, that is up to you. But to donate a sum of money to a troubled area is not advised. *** mwb23 March p. 3 How to Help After a Disaster *** "The brothers appointed by the branch can determine how much money and how many volunteers will be needed in the relief effort. They can also get acquainted with the local officials, who can often help us to expedite our relief efforts. So individuals should not take the initiative to collect funds, send relief supplies, or travel to the affected area unless they are asked to do so."

I found the issue, so I didn’t need to contact support after all, but I’m happy to share the cause in case others run into the same problem. Under Duties the first box was empty. I do not know why, this happened after all these updates. So i choosed all meetings and now it works. It must be a bug because now when i picked the all meetings option there is not way of choosing blank again. There is only All meetings, midweek and weekend as option... But now we know...

I don't think this would impact your current problems. You should be able to make everything run. Did you install the latest build: #1447 and the latest NWP version: 4.0.4? Here are some solutions from the website: 2026/04/25: If publishers have any problems, please ensure they update NWP app to 4.0.4 or greater. 2026/04/24: NWS Mobile 8.1 BETA will be available in a few days. Please do not use NWS Mobile BETA until that time. 2026/04/23: As explained in the Release Notes of NWS Desktop 8.1, brothers must Send App Data after updating. This ensures all data is encrypted with the new security. If a brother failed to do this, data may be missing from NWP app. To fix: Update NWS Desktop to the latest Minor Version Click App > Refresh All App Data > Send App Data you may see the following errors: PROBLEM: Person names show as "Unknown". SOLUTION: Change one person's Display Name, change it back, Send App Data. PROBLEM: Public Speakers or Congregations show as "Unknown". SOLUTION: Click Circuits, Congregations and Speakers > change the name of one Congregation and one Public Speaker (who is giving an upcoming talk) > click Send App Data PROBLEM: Territories are not showing for Field Service Groups. SOLUTION: Refresh the Field Service Groups. Change the name of one group, change it back, click Send App Data. All other missing data simply Refresh the Data (e.g. make a small change, change it back, then Send App Data). How to Fix Data Problems or Restore lost Data Data is duplicated or having problems Note: You must have Edit User Access for the data type you are trying to fix. Click Congregation > Data Maintenance Click Detect Data Problems Click Remove Problem Data I hope some of the above helps.

Jehovahs Witnesses won victory over the government in the Norwegian Supreme Court.

Thursday, April 30 Jehovah . . . forgives your sin. You will not die.—2 Sam. 12:13. What do we know about Jehovah’s mercy? How has he demonstrated that he “does not desire anyone to be destroyed”? (2 Pet. 3:9) Consider his mercy toward some who committed serious sins. King David got involved in a series of gross sins, including adultery and murder. Yet, David repented, so Jehovah mercifully forgave him. (2 Sam. 12:1-12) King Manasseh was profoundly wicked for much of his life. Even in that extreme case, however, Jehovah responded favorably to that man’s repentance and found a basis for extending mercy and forgiveness. (2 Chron. 33:9-16) These examples remind us that Jehovah shows mercy whenever he sees that there is a basis for doing so. He will resurrect such individuals because they realized that they had committed terrible sins and they repented. w24.05 4 ¶12

Eating all that chocolate makes him go to the bathroom... It's a vicious cycle

I watched it twice. Awesome video

I don’t care about the biscuits and flour, but may God be with you especially when the rats try to get your choco powder. KILL THEM ALL!!!

Just for Richard

Wednesday, April 29 Thinking ability will keep watch over you, and discernment will safeguard you.—Prov. 2:11. Every day we need to make decisions. Some are relatively easy to make, such as what to have for breakfast or when to go to bed. Other matters are more difficult to decide. They may affect our health, our happiness, our loved ones, or our worship. We want our decisions to benefit us and our family. Above all, we hope that our decisions will please Jehovah. (Rom. 12:1, 2) An important step toward making a good decision is to get the facts. Why is this important? Imagine that a patient consults a doctor regarding a serious medical problem. Would the doctor make a decision about a course of treatment without first examining the patient or asking him questions? Certainly not. You too will make better decisions if you first consider the facts that have a bearing on the situation at hand. w25.01 14 ¶1-3

Jesus Will End War https://www.jw.org/en/library/series/more-topics/jesus-will-end-war/

Tuesday, April 28 Now that we have moved beyond the primary doctrine about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying a foundation again.—Heb. 6:1. Jehovah does not expect us to grow to maturity on our own. Those who serve as shepherds and teachers in the Christian congregation are prepared to help us in becoming “full-grown” in a spiritual sense, “attaining the measure of stature that belongs to the fullness of the Christ.” (Eph. 4:11-13) Jehovah also provides his holy spirit to help us have “the mind of Christ.” (1 Cor. 2:14-16) Further, God inspired the writing of the four Gospels to show us how Jesus thought, spoke, and acted during his earthly ministry. By imitating Jesus’ way of thinking and acting, you can reach your goal of Christian maturity. But in order to advance to maturity, we must also move “beyond the primary doctrine about the Christ,” that is, basic Christian teachings. w24.04 4-5 ¶11-12

I don't know if he worked with his mother in the ministry. But, his brother-in-law, Nate Brown, was an elder in my congregation in the early '80's. Nate did get Michael out in service. There's a story that a young woman wearing a Michael Jackson tee-shirt answered the door but wasn't interested ! Nate (Nathaniel) was married to the first-born daughter, Rebbie (Ree-Bee) and they were pioneers in Tennessee. He supported his family as a driving instructor. When Michael's career caught fire, they came back to So. California. I remember one Circuit Assembly that Michael attended at the Woodland Hills Assembly Hall (20600 Ventura Blvd.) He was easy to see in the red shirt !

Director has cut the scenes from the final version where Michael was going out preaching with mom Katherine

This is a very useful feature of NWP and I really don't want to see it go away.

All new members have their comments moderated.We won’t change that.We do have moderators around the world and we do try to approve posts as quickly as humanly possible. New members are moderated, long time regular posters are not.Unfortunately when someone is in a panic and comes here for software support, usually it is a new member, it will take awhile for their comments to be approved. We only get paid in new system dollars redeemable on the other side..😇so don’t bust our chops. Our mission is basically for theocratic discussion. Not software support for any theocratic program.We have enough issues keeping this site up and running. We do have discussion areas that deal with software from various providers and the members usually can assist in whatever way possible. Just be kind and respectful even if your paid or unpaid software is not meeting your standards. Check to see if your software has their own contact system to handle problems.

Satan and The Angel Gabriel were at the one I went to last year.

News: https://bitterwinter.org/jehovahs-witnesses-un-human-rights-committee-issues-landmark-ruling-against-russia/

Great! Do you have a link for an article or press release?

James, thank you for sharing your experience. We feel your pain as many of us have faced similar issues. But you understand that there isn't anything we can do about it other than listening, right? It would be a good idea to send those screenshots and explanations to the developers so that they can fix whatever is not working well.

You live in the United States. Life here is different than other countries. Some locations outside the United States are suffering worse as a result of the conflict with Iran. People who live in lands that are struggling more than other locations are receiving direction relevant to their situation. I find it beneficial to check where someone is from when they make a comment of concern or talk about living conditions that I'm not experiencing.

I keep thinking about this. How dark? For how long? On the upside ~ The dark days may wake people up. We should see an increase of Bible studies and meeting attendance. I still think the GT will begin while Trump is president. 2 years 5 months remain.

I apologize if this post seems to leak through my frustration but the migration and updates of the NWS and NWP app seems to be not as smooth and error free as I have hoped for. First of, our admins followed the instructions for updating to the "T". We experienced no problems and all those that would send data to the NWP App are on the latest versions 8.1 #1450. However my concern is the data in the NWS as we use this extensively for analyzing the congregation's ministry as well as the publishers in the FSGs. Many of us invested a lot of time in populating the NWS with congregation specific data only to see some of it being wiped out by updates or whatever other gremlins there are in the bowels of the code plus tech challenged publishers. The territory data as available in previous versions is no longer the same and some of it has disappeared and now has lost its value in working the territories efficiently as you can see from the screenshots. 1. The publisher's name who worked the address is gone. This is important as now there is no way to check if the DNC or No Soliciting entries were correct and no way to help publishers with the status who worked addresses. This is a territory I am working with the latest NWP app version. 2. There is no consistency of date entry as only the most recent worked addresses show a date entry when previously that was not the case. This is very important as we like to work our territories midweek and weekends. See possible explanation for this at the end of my comments. 3. Yesterday I clicked the territory completed button on the NWP app of a publisher. There are dual entries in the NWS that are clearly in error. 4. In the past the territory servant would know when a territory was completed but now I can't find where to get that data without scrolling through territories and searching for dates. This is very important to us as we take a completed territory and export all NHs, No Trespassing, No Soliciting and Vacant addresses and give it to the telephone and letter writing groups. The only explanation that I have for not listing the publisher's name who made the status changes that he is sill on the NWP app version 3.9.7. The status changes I made were always with the latest NWP app and also don't show the name. Since directing publishers that are out in the ministry is sometimes like herding cats, I am sure some did not have the latest version. Now how to create an error message for that situation I am not quite sure. It is apparent that the Devs are spending exorbitant amount of time in maintaining a congregational tool that has risen to the status of being a necessity for congregation administration. As such, it is now a vital tool in fulfilling our commission and that is a heavy responsibility for the Devs. Taking that into consideration, I would rather see a maintaining of its data integrity then moving to faster execution or developing nice to have features. /OFF Soapbox

I have been playing with the NWS Custom Schedules and I noticed something interesting. When I am scheduled to do something on the same day as a meeting, the person icon will show up next to the meeting date on the Schedules page. I don't have any duties, assignments or group assignments for the next MWM but the person icon is there to show that I have a duty on the Custom Schedule that day.

A sister in my group went to see a very close friend at the hospital, before the final moment. She was told "Thank you for teaching me the Truth, let's meet again". Very emotional... and beautiful !

“Stronger Than You Think” Have you ever thought about how much a human can endure? There are moments in life that push us to our limits. Moments when we think: I can’t do this anymore. And yet… there is a moving example that shows something different. A mother gives birth to a child. She goes through pain that is hard to describe. And still, she endures. Why? Because love is stronger than pain. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13:7: “It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” This love… gives strength to keep going. Imagine a fragile vessel. From the outside it seems weak. But inside, it carries something precious. When pressure comes, you think: It will break. But it holds. Not because of its own strength… but because of what it carries. That is how it is with us. Jehovah does not only see our weaknesses. He sees what is inside us. In Psalm 139:14 it says: “I praise you because I am wonderfully made.” Jehovah created us in a way that we can endure more than we think. Maybe you have experienced moments when you thought: I can’t go on. And yet… you kept going. Why? Because Jehovah gave you strength. Jesus said in John 16:21: “When a woman is giving birth, she has grief… but when the child is born, she no longer remembers the distress because of the joy.” The pain does not last forever. It can transform… into something beautiful. And when we suffer? In Psalm 56:8 it says: “Collect my tears in your skin bottle.” Jehovah sees every tear. Not one is unnoticed. (Conclusion – calm, heartfelt) So the next time you think: I can’t do this… Remember: You are stronger than you think. Not because you can do everything… but because Jehovah is with you. And with him… you can overcome even the impossible.

I did stockpiling choco powder and flour but our apartment is not rat proof.. ..rat comes in and theyve eaten my flour ... And chocolate powder drink and biscuits .. so annoying ... I need to kill them first.

Dustparticle isn't going to like this but I saw a headline yesterday that said 40 different chocolate makers are recalling their chocolates! No chocolate for you!

Baptised on the 11th this month

Ive been watching the news and they say that the fuel crisis is worse than Covid. And with so many worse predictions. And yeah, things got worse since covid.. food prices has skyrocketed and same with services. And its getting worse.

David, I partially agree with you. I too appreciate the good work those brothers are doing. NWS and NWP are really useful and they save me many hours every month. However, it is not free. It's commercial software. The support brothers do not reply to issues and suggestions in their free time, they do it during their work hours. It's their job. They should provide such good service as any other software company. It's reasonable to expect Witness customers to be understanding and loving. But it's also reasonable to expect full-time service elder developers to reply in an understanding and loving way too, which is often not the case. Several of the questions you need to answer to report an issue are outright impertinent.

This paper finds that AI changes meaning when making edits to grammar: https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.18161