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TaitenAndProud
I sent off my official letter of resignation on Tuesday, demanding that the SGI remove *all* my personal information (and that of my children) from their records. Under US law, they have to do that. If they don't, I have grounds to sue the pants off them. I don't have to do *anything* for them - they have no choice but to do as I say - OR ELSE. I asked for a letter confirming that they have removed my personal information from their files. I haven't received that yet. Once you send an official letter of resignation, they cannot ask *anything* from you. They can't demand that you return your gohonzon, for example. They can't require that you meet with anyone. They have to do as YOU say. It's the law.

So, in other words, T&P, you can keep the Gohonzon and still be erased off their membership files? I didn't know that. Did you send the request to Santa Monica?

As for SGI centers needing toilet paper---really?? It's just going to the Big Till to multiply some more.

And I must comment on Danny N. wishing a Happy Easter. It seems that they may be trying to ingratiate, showing SGI has a true tolerant stance. The Easter Bunny is one thing, but we know it is a serious Christian day for billions around the world.

Danny and The EB.....okay.

So, in other words, T&P, you can keep the Gohonzon and still be erased off their membership files? I didn't know that. Did you send the request to Santa Monica?

Yes and yes. Their rules about the gohonzon only apply to you if you accept the organization's authority over you. And you *paid* for your gohonzon, didn't you? That makes it *yours*, doesn't it?

Precedents:

GUINN V THE CHURCH OF CHRIST OF COLLINSVILLE

Final decision by the Supreme Court of Oklahoma, January 1989

Marian Guinn, a member of the Church of Christ of Collinsville, OK, hand delivered her resignation to the minister after he told her he was going to excommunicate her for fornication. The minister refused to honor the resignation, went ahead with the 'excommunication' and then announced it from the pulpit. Guinn sued and was awarded $390,000. On appeal the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that Guinn's resignation was effective immediately and that anything the church or the minister did after the minister received Guinn's resignation was tortable. In other words, she could sue for anything they did after she resigned. The court ruled that with her resignation Guinn withdrew her consent to being treated as a member and she withdrew her consent to being subject to church discipline.

Of extra importance is the fact that the court ruled that the right to freedom of religion also includes the right to unilaterally resign from a church. [www.mormonnomore.com]

And who said the Mormons weren't good for anything??? *wink*

Unilaterally means that YOU can decide, on your own, all by yourself, to resign, and you do not need their permission to do so. Thus, they cannot establish conditions under which you will be *allowed* to resign - such as "You have to first return your gohonzon to us because you signed something." The fact that you signed something doesn't mean diddly squat once you have notified them that you resign. Nothing that you agreed to while a member or in the process of becoming a member stops you from resigning. Right now. Whether they like it or not.

The fact that *anything* they do after you resign (after the moment your resignation letter is in their hands) is tortable means that they dare not demand that you return the gohonzon. If they do, feel free to tell them that you'll gladly sell it to them for $40. But I think they're law-savvy enough to know that, if you have sent the letter of resignation, it's game over. I think they'll just roll over and play dead, frankly.

I sent my letter certified, so that its receipt at its destination is on record. You don't have to send it to a specific person.

From a site giving instructions on demanding that the Mormon church remove former members' names (as far as the rules on religions go, what's sauce for the Mormons is sauce for the SGI):

NOTE: If you mailed your letter via certified mail or if you used some other service, they might return your letter to you with a claim that you have to find the local bishop or branch president and give your resignation to that person.

You do NOT have to do what they say. Legally you can submit your resignation to any representative of the church and Member Records is the obvious best place to send it. If they returned your letter to you, you probably received a letter from them plus a stamped and dated copy of your original letter of resignation. Both of those items are proof that they received your letter of resignation. The stamped photocopy of your letter is legal proof that you stopped being a member of the church on that date (that's true IF you said that the letter was your formal resignation and that it was effective immediately).

Remember, you are no longer a member and they no longer have any kind of authority or power over you. Please be assertive about this.

Keep copies of both of the items they sent you. You can make photocopies of them and send the copies back to Member Records, if you want. Send them back to member records with a note restating your resignation. As an example:

"As you know, I stopped being a member of your church on the day you received my letter. It is clear that someone in your office thinks I don't know what my rights are.

I do NOT have to contact anyone else regarding my resignation. As a non-member I am no longer subject to your rules and regulations or policies. I DO have a right to get a letter of confirmation from you that states that my name has been removed from the membership rosters of the church.

Please stop wasting time and effort and handle my resignation appropriately. If you don't handle this appropriately, I may involve a lawyer or the press." [www.exmormon.org]

And there's *nothing* they can do to stop you from involving a lawyer or the press.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/2013 05:27AM by TaitenAndProud.

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And I may wake up married to Hugh Jackman tomorrow, too - right?

You never know. Have you heard of NMRK or tried the magic chant yet? It works, you know. We only deal in concrete real proof. Please try it and get back to us. Here's your magic scroll. Don't forget May is contribution month. Once you wake up next to Hugh Jackman, and you most certainly will...you owe us, missy!

-the sleepy skunk

Roflcopters, skunkie!! :D

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Shavoy
As for SGI centers needing toilet paper---really?? It's just going to the Big Till to multiply some more.

I heard the same spiel at my local kaikan, something about keeping the lights on, rent and paying to keep the community center stocked with the things needed to run it, etc..

It never persuaded me either, that's for sure. I've heard this stuff so many times that it just went in one ear and out the other with me.

I don't know how they get away with it now. That kind of stuff might have worked better back in the days before the internet, but now .... ??? I guess the membership brainwashing, willful ignorance and denial are all worse than I ever imagined it to be.

Believe it or not, I remember they used to hit us up in the YMD (some people were kids) and browbeat us verbally to subscribe to "The Weird Tribune" in our own name (one paper for the family was NOT acceptable). They also used to regularly follow-up on it every new month at YMD practice / meetings to check if you had done it. I also recall them twisting our arms to donate even $5-10 or more during special zaimu campaigns - kids were told to mow lawns, wash cars or sell lemonade - it was all a "reflection of your faith."

Absolutely disgusting, looking back on it.

Quote
Shavoy
And I must comment on Danny N. wishing a Happy Easter. It seems that they may be trying to ingratiate, showing SGI has a true tolerant stance. The Easter Bunny is one thing, but we know it is a serious Christian day for billions around the world.

Danny and The EB.....okay.

Sorry about that, Shavoy. Perhaps I should clear this up a little. My title was a play on the content of the clip and it being Zombie (err, I mean Easter) season now. There is no full bunny suit or easter wishes, just a bunch of gakkai cult members making fools of themselves again.

The clip starts out with several men's division members dressed in skirts, frilly blouses, wigs and make-up all dancing on the raised platform in front of the butsudan area. This goes on for a while until somebody else with bunny ears joins them on stage. Shortly thereafter Nagashima is up there dirty dancing away in his Japanese salaryman dark suit; at one point, one of the men's division members even does a nasty move with Nagashima as his mouth goes agape.

This is the "general director" of the $GI USA Cult Org.. I never saw Williams-Sadanaga do stuff like that. It's unbelievable to me. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes in the clip, I wouldn't believe it. How can anyone take somebody like that seriously??

Like I said, I just don't understand it all. In many ways, this is all much, much worse than when I was in it.



- Hitch

Just saw a post on facebook from a "friend" who is still a member that SGI has launched an online magazine called Create (Createmag.org). It is a Buddhist (seriously???) take on the news and culture, etc. Interesting.

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opendoor
Just saw a post on facebook from a "friend" who is still a member that SGI has launched an online magazine called Create (Createmag.org). It is a Buddhist (seriously???) take on the news and culture, etc. Interesting.

Direct quote:

"It Only Takes One…
January 30, 2013 by Rosa Luisi in Education · 1 Comment

Did you know that the Universe as we know it exists today because of the victory of one single particle in a battle with its negative counterpart?

That’s right! That vast Universe and everything in it – including atoms, people, planets, galaxies, space and time – came into existence almost 13.7 billion years ago because of this encounter.

During the first second of the Big Bang, the first particles of matter were created from energy. Now, for every particle of matter created, there was an opposite “twin” born with opposite electric charge: the antimatter particle. When they meet, these particles destroy each other.

In these first moments after the Big Bang, this epic battle between matter and antimatter particles destroyed almost all matter, except for a trivial amount that was left over. Everything that exists in the Universe now emerged from this fight.

In Buddhist terms, our lives undergo a similar battle everyday in a process called human revolution. This inner transformation is the result of an ongoing struggle between our fundamental enlightenment – our Buddha nature - and our fundamental darkness – our innate refusal to accept our true nature as Buddhas.  

Can this battle between our own nature –positive and negative - be fought and won within our own human hearts?

SGI President Daisaku Ikeda says in his novel “The Human Revolution”:

“A great human revolution in just a single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a nation and, further, can even enable a change in the destiny of all humankind.”

If the victory of one particle over its negative can create the whole Universe, what are we capable of achieving if we fully embrace doing our human revolution and determine for our Buddha nature to win? 

Well, the Universe is the limit…  

Tags: universe, science, human revolution, daisaku ikeda, buddhism, buddha"

End quote.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Oooooh, my sides hurt! hahahahahahaha!


- Hitch

Boy, that's really reaching for it - even for the Ikedabots! Who's buying this crapfest?

I forgot to include the comment, too:

"Guest • 10 days ago
I really could've used this article in the physics class I took. Wish I had known of this then."

[createmag.org]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

I'll bet that class was at $oka Cult U., too! If so, sounds about right! hahahahahahaha!!!

****

Thanks for making my day, opendoor. :-))

hehehehe!!


- Hitch

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Hitch
I forgot to include the comment, too:

"Guest • 10 days ago
I really could've used this article in the physics class I took. Wish I had known of this then."

[createmag.org]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

I'll bet that class was at $oka Cult U., too! If so, sounds about right! hahahahahahaha!!!

****

Thanks for making my day, opendoor. :-))

hehehehe!!


- Hitch

Now that is what I call an April Fool. Yeah it was still technically March, but I don't care.

As for the comment, they have to be trolling the website. There is no other explanation for that kind of stupid.

Regarding the men's division in drag, bunny ears, Nagashima & Malone absurd dirty dancing YouTube clip [www.youtube.com]: I just noticed, if you look very carefully at the front of the butsudan table area, where the person who leads gongyo sits, over on the left side, you'll see a small B&W framed photo. It's about 6 inches tall and guess who it's of? The Dear Leader, Ikeda-sama. There were NEVER any photos of Ikeda on the butsudan area for all the time that I was in the $oka Gakkai N$A Cult Org.. Never. Only up on the side walls away from the butsudan.

You can get a good glimpse of it from the 1:00-1:03 minute mark, at the same time somebody in the audience says "OMG!!"

OMG is right. Unbelievable. Like I said, I don't recognize this cult anymore. That is creepy as all hell.


- Hitch



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/2013 02:52PM by Hitch.