Catholic Workers Ordered to Attend Jehovah’s Witness Meeting

[Musky]

Catholic Workers Ordered to Attend Jehovah’s Witness Meeting

 

September 8, 2014 by Mary Maria 

 

 

San Francisco, California – In an interesting case of religious rights in the workplace, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that employees of the San Gabriel/Pomona Regional Center must attend services from the Kingdom Hall of the Jehovah’s witnesses. The protestant church is not exactly known for its ecumenical cooperation or respect for the Catholic Church which it often decries as being a supreme object over the whole earth that rhymes with the word “lore”.

 

At issue is a five year dispute brought on by Catholic employees who care for a disabled man at the facility. The man is a Jehovah’s Witness and would like to attend services for his faith. The trouble is that his disability requires physical assistance to and from the place of worship and constant monitoring. This means those workers providing aid to him would effectively have to sit through the meetings. The workers sternly objected to attending the services claiming that Catholic dogma forbids attending worship at other churches. To bolster their position, they cited Title 7 regarding the rights of workers which requires employers to make “reasonable accommodation” to the honest beliefs and practices of religious adherents.

 

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decided that “reasonable accommodation” does not mean the employer has to accommodate the religious beliefs of their employees. Presumably, in the case of the San Gabriel/Pomona Regional Center, an effort was made to find someone capable of assisting the disabled patient whose religious sensitivities would not be offended. This was not possible. In the end, the judges cited the fact that the disabled man also had the right to be treated. Also, the attorneys for the workers failed to make the case that standing by as mere observers at the church would be akin to being compelled to worship in a manner contrary to their religious beliefs.

 

http://latinonewstoday.com/2014/09/08/catholic-workers-ordered-to-attend-jehovahs-witness-meeting/

Edited September 10, 2014 by Musky

[will11j]

What a victory for Jehovah's people. I work in healthcare myself and ( I don't know what the difference are between US and UK policies regarding this) Service Users (aka Patients, Residents) should always be free to engage in worship of their choice, and it is the workers responsibility to make sure these needs are met. If they are not prepared to meet the needs of those entrusted in their care, they should do something else for a living.

I'm really glad (as I'm sure we all are) that our Brother will get to go to his meetings and interact with and encourage/ be encouraged by his fellow Brothers and Sisters.

Maybe the employees that have to take him will learn something.

[UpstateKate]

Very interesting article! Now the brother can attend the meetings and maybe the employees will have their interest piqued by what they hear there. 

[trottigy]

Or one could see the flip of this - A JW who is a nurse for a Catholic that wants to attend mass every week, but has to have a nurse 24/7 and only JWs are available. Now what?  2 Kings 5:15-18

[Stavro]

Or one could see the flip of this - A JW who is a nurse for a Catholic that wants to attend mass every week, but has to have a nurse 24/7 and only JWs are available. Now what?  2 Kings 5:15-18

 

Religious rights trump employment rights. If the workers disagree, whether Catholic or JW, they are free to work elsewhere, just as Witnesses regularly quit jobs when asked to violate Scriptural guideline. (In many cases they would be legally justified in taking the case to court, though they nearly always keep peace with the employer and seek another job, or work out a mutually acceptable deal without invoking the legal system.)

[Toy Poodles]

I personally think that Jehovah and Jesus want this worker to attend meetings. It always fascinates me when a worldly person is surrounded by witnesses for some reason or another that there is a reason. I hope they love what they learn. 

[agape]

Maybe its just me but i would feel bad for a witness that worked at a care facility that a catholic man wanted to attend his church and the courts forced the bro/sis to attend a catholic meeting. They would have to quit there jobs. doesnt seem very fair. 

 

What im surprised about though is that the witnesses at that hall didnt jump up and say they would care for him and maybe just ask the catholic workers to sit close by outside if they like and can be called on if he needs immediate help?

 

Who knows. Atleast the bro is at meeting!

[maladee]

Or one could see the flip of this - A JW who is a nurse for a Catholic that wants to attend mass every week, but has to have a nurse 24/7 and only JWs are available. Now what?  2 Kings 5:15-18

I was wondering what would be done if a JW owned a nursing facility, I guess she would have employees they might be Catholic.

[Hartley]

Maybe its just me but i would feel bad for a witness that worked at a care facility that a catholic man wanted to attend his church and the courts forced the bro/sis to attend a catholic meeting. They would have to quit there jobs. doesnt seem very fair.

What im surprised about though is that the witnesses at that hall didnt jump up and say they would care for him and maybe just ask the catholic workers to sit close by outside if they like and can be called on if he needs immediate help?

Who knows. Atleast the bro is at meeting!

I notice it said specialist care. Likely the brothers are not qualified and can't help.

Hartley

[carlos]

Maybe its just me but i would feel bad for a witness that worked at a care facility that a catholic man wanted to attend his church and the courts forced the bro/sis to attend a catholic meeting. They would have to quit there jobs. doesnt seem very fair. 

 

Maybe they would not need to necessarily quit their jobs. Jerry mentioned an interesting scripture above which presents a similar case: 2 Kings 5:15-18:

 

15 After that he went back to the man of the true God,+ he and all his entourage,* and he stood before him and said: “Now I know that there is no God anywhere in all the earth but in Israel.+ Now accept, please, a gift* from your servant.” 16 However, E·li′sha said: “As surely as Jehovah whom I serve* is living, I will not accept it.”+ He urged him to accept it, but he kept refusing. 17 Finally Na′a·man said: “If not, please, let your servant be given two mule-loads of soil from this land, for your servant will no longer offer a burnt offering or a sacrifice to any gods other than Jehovah. 18 But may Jehovah forgive your servant for this one thing: When my lord goes into the house* of Rim′mon to bow down there, he supports himself on my arm, so I have to bow down at the house of Rim′mon. When I bow down at the house of Rim′mon, may Jehovah, please, forgive your servant for this.”

[Hartley]

At first glance it sounds as if the rights of the workers are being trampled on. But one must remember the nursing home would be a business run by the church. Whether personaly or through goverment funds the brother would be paying to stay there. Some how they must also be contracted to provide care outside the home as well, otherwise the judge would not have made this decision.

Hartley

[shali]

Maybe its just me but i would feel bad for a witness that worked at a care facility that a catholic man wanted to attend his church and the courts forced the bro/sis to attend a catholic meeting. They would have to quit there jobs. doesnt seem very fair. 

 

What im surprised about though is that the witnesses at that hall didnt jump up and say they would care for him and maybe just ask the catholic workers to sit close by outside if they like and can be called on if he needs immediate help?

 

Who knows. Atleast the bro is at meeting!

The BIG difference here is If the tables were turned and a Witness caregiver was ordered to accompany a Catholic man to his church and the witness quit his job to keep Jehovah's standards (and perhaps he felt he didn't want to be in any of BTG's buildings or around the idoltry) - then Jehovah would be sure to bless that witness's decision because he made it out of loyalty to Jehovah and for a protection of his faith.  Catholic's don't have that kind of assurance, we do.

[palmhat]

Maybe they would not need to necessarily quit their jobs. Jerry mentioned an interesting scripture above which presents a similar case: 2 Kings 5:15-18:

"...But may Jehovah forgive your servant for this one thing: When my lord goes into the house* of Rim′mon to bow down there, he supports himself on my arm, so I have to bow down at the house of Rim′mon. When I bow down at the house of Rim′mon, may Jehovah, please, forgive your servant for this.”

This was a request and the question arises, What was Jehovah's response to this request?

(2 Kings 5:19) "At this he said to him: 'Go in peace.' Accordingly he went away from him for a good stretch of the land."

 

Therefore,

1. a faithful witness could engage in an occupation that requires attendance at a ceremony of false worship if said attendance is incidental to the employment, yes?
2. Could a witness in this situation still be considered exemplary?
3. Could an MS, elder, or pioneer keep their privileges under these circumstances?

    

Edited September 18, 2014 by palmhat

[Old]

Therefore,

1. a faithful witness could engage in an occupation that requires attendance at a ceremony of false worship if said attendance is incidental to the employment, yes?
2. Could a witness in this situation still be considered exemplary?
3. Could an MS, elder, or pioneer keep their privileges under these circumstances?

 

Do  thorough research on each individual case.

One size doesn't fit all. Talk to your local elders (my failure below) It isn't be a good idea to try and come up with some Talmud like decisions on this, it could be endless.

We have been given principles to guide us. We all take the command to "get out of her my people" very seriously. Questions to ask, "Would I be seen as a participant or a bystander?" Is it my job to help the person partake of the 'sacraments? or is it my job to see he doesn't choke to death on the sacraments? 

 

I have been in circumstances where I was considered bad association, zero privileges, my family also was blacklisted (my term). My employment had fallen into a gray area. I wasn't working for a defense contractor, I wasn't working on anything military, but was involved with housing construction inside a Navy Base fence. My company had employed me to run a civilian hospital project that had come to a stop. Now the company was trying to just keep me busy until the hospital project was back up and running. The mitigating circumstances: this was a temporary assignment, we did not do defense work, I was not seconded to a defense project. My only involvement with the Navy was being greeted by a Marine guard every morning when I went through the gate. The local elders decided that I couldn't go through the base gate and be in good standing.  I could understand their feelings as half the brothers had been involved in working in the Navy Shipyard and had been directed by the Branch  to find other work within six months. It was a very sensitive issue for them

 

I did two things. First I started applying with other construction companies, second I wrote the Branch and explained as best I could what my circumstances were and the research I had done. I did find different employment. Gave notice of quitting the following Friday. That Thursday I received  a reply from the Branch. They thanked me for doing  thorough  research, and agreed that my current employment did not appear to be inappropriate. I only showed the letter to one elder and he just grunted and gave it back. The new job required we move to a different town and congregation. We remain good friends with those brothers to this day. The grunting elder went to work for me shortly thereafter.

[shali]

Really makes you yearn for a time when nothing will be in the dreaded "gray area"!  Satan's world puts us in all sorts of positions and situations we would prefer to not be in - that will be a thing of the past in the new world.  Everything we do will be blessed and sanctioned by our King! All our work assignments will be from him as well so we won't have to worry about these kinds of things.  I wish Jehovah could resurrect Adam long enough to see what his one act of disobedience did to Jehovah's name, his offspring and the earth - then put him back in the dust!

[Hartley]

Really makes you yearn for a time when nothing will be in the dreaded "gray area"!  Satan's world puts us in all sorts of positions and situations we would prefer to not be in - that will be a thing of the past in the new world.  Everything we do will be blessed and sanctioned by our King! All our work assignments will be from him as well so we won't have to worry about these kinds of things.  I wish Jehovah could resurrect Adam long enough to see what his one act of disobedience did to Jehovah's name, his offspring and the earth - then put him back in the dust!

Fortunatly for Adam, Jehovah is not a God of vengence. Besides he wouldnt remember it, once he was dust again.

[will11j]

I wish Jehovah could resurrect Adam long enough to see what his one act of disobedience did to Jehovah's name, his offspring and the earth - then put him back in the dust!

Don't forget though, Adam was not the only one to disobey Jehovah and put us in this current situation. Satan is still here. Isn't it satisfying to know that just before he is bound for 1000 years, he will see his entire empire of false religion destroyed. Then once he is released, he will see loads of perfect, faithful people having unwavering loyalty to Jehovah. He will then realise what a nincompoop he's been and then BANG!

[ReadYourBible]

 He will then realise what a nincompoop he's been and then BANG!

LOVE IT!

[RaymondG]

But Revelation says he'll convince a third of those people having 'unwavering loyalty' that they should follow him into oblivion...

How careful we have to be to be prepared for this test!

[roland ato]

Reading some of your comments, i feel i need to realy learn so i too can make scriptural reasonings like dese