Spooky Special

Mark Honeychurch - 30 October 2023

I’m happy to let everyone know that the result of the recent Jehovah’s Witness court case has been released. This was the High Court case I visited on my lunch break a couple of weeks ago, where the JWs were trying to argue that they shouldn’t be investigated as part of the government’s current Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry. Thankfully the church has lost its case, and its argument that it doesn’t “care” for its members was not enough to allow them to escape scrutiny. The Commission put out a short press statement after the decision was made public:

The High Court has announced this afternoon that the judicial review claim brought by the Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses (Australasia) Ltd has been dismissed.

This means the Royal Commission can continue to investigate the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and all other faiths, in accordance with the pastoral care approach we have been applying since 2019.

Reasons for the High Court’s judgment are not yet available but are expected in the near future. Until we receive the full judgment we are not able to make any further comment.

Remember that we are here to support you.

In this spooky, scary issue of our newsletter, Bronwyn looks at Light Parties, Hell Houses, and something I’d not heard of before - Trick or Trunks. This whole idea of subverting Halloween for religious reasons is fascinating to me, and reminds me of the time my children came home from trick or treating with a Ray Comfort tract (booklet), which one house was giving out instead of sweets (or candies, as I’m meant to say in this country!). It will come as no surprise that this particular neighbourhood house didn’t make any friends that year - although my children were somewhat excited that they had a weird Christian booklet to give to their dad, who they knew would be very interested in it.

I’ve written about a weird situation I seem to have got myself into, where I might be a training ground for new Mormon Missionaries. At least I’m learning a lot from talking to young Mormons about their faith - not so much the beliefs, as the Mormon church tends to keep quiet on a lot of the weirder parts of their history, but more so the day-to-day running of the church, including how sermons have changed their messaging over time, how the church attempts to frame itself to outsiders, and the kinds of doubts modern teenagers have grappling with the religion of their parents.

Finally, I’ve written up the first half of another scam I’ve courted in the last few weeks - this one based on cloning someone’s Facebook profile, and then offering money as part of philanthropic effort being run by the “Publisher’s Clearing House”.