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Jehovah's Witnesses is a nontrinitarian millenarian restorationist Christian denomination. As of 2022, the group reported approximately 8.5 million members involved in evangelism, with 19.7 million attending the annual Memorial of Christ's death. The denomination is directed by a group of elders known as the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses, which establishes all doctrines. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the destruction of the present world system at Armageddon is imminent, and the establishment of God's kingdom over earth is the only solution to all of humanity's problems. The group emerged from the Bible Student movement founded in the late 1870s by Charles Taze Russell, who also co-founded Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society in 1881 to organize and print the movement's publications. A leadership dispute after Russell's death resulted in several groups breaking away, with Joseph Franklin Rutherford retaining control of the Watch Tower Society and its properties. Rutherford made significant organizational and doctrinal changes, including adoption of the name Jehovah's witnesses in 1931 to distinguish the group from other Bible Student groups and symbolize a break with the legacy of Russell's traditions.
Jehovah's Witnesses's practices are based on the biblical interpretations of Charles Taze Russell (1852–1916), founder of the Bible Student movement, and of successive presidents of the Watch Tower Society, Joseph Franklin Rutherford and Nathan Homer Knorr. Since 1976, practices have also been based on decisions made at closed meetings of the group's Governing Body. The group disseminates instructions regarding activities and acceptable behavior through The Watchtower magazine and through other official publications, and at conventions and congregation meetings.
Jehovah's Witnesses have been criticized by adherents of mainstream Christianity, members of the medical community, former Jehovah's Witnesses, and commentators with regard to their beliefs and practices. The Jehovah's Witness movement's leaders have been accused of practicing doctrinal inconsistencies and making doctrinal reversals, making failed predictions, mistranslating the Bible, harshly treating former Jehovah's Witnesses, and leading the Jehovah's Witness movement in an autocratic and coercive manner. Jehovah's Witnesses have also been criticized because they reject blood transfusions, even in life-threatening medical situations, and for failing to report cases of sexual abuse to the authorities. Many of the claims are denied by Jehovah's Witnesses and some have also been disputed by courts and religious scholars.
Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills is a 1996 American documentary film directed, produced and edited by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky about the trials of the West Memphis Three, three teenage youths accused of the May 1993 murders and sexual mutilation of three prepubescent boys as a part of an alleged satanic ritual in West Memphis, Arkansas.
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen is a 2004 American teen musical comedy film directed by Sara Sugarman from a screenplay by Gail Parent, based on Dyan Sheldon's 1999 novel of the same name. It stars Lindsay Lohan as an aspiring teenage actress whose family moves from New York City to New Jersey, Adam Garcia as her favorite rock musician, Glenne Headly as her mother and Alison Pill as her best friend. The film introduced Megan Fox in her theatrical film acting debut.
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James Sclavunos is an American drummer, multi-instrumentalist musician, record producer, and writer. He is best known as a drummer, having been a member of two seminal no wave groups in the late 1970s. He is also noted for stints in Sonic Youth and the Cramps, and has been a member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds since 1994. Sclavunos has led his own group the Vanity Set since 2000.
Albert David Hedison Jr. was an American film, television, and stage actor. He was billed as Al Hedison in his early film work until 1959 when he was cast in the role of Victor Sebastian in the short-lived espionage television series Five Fingers. NBC insisted that he change his name and he proposed his middle name; he was billed as David Hedison from then on. He was known for his roles as the titular character in The Fly (1958), Captain Lee Crane in the television science fiction drama Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964–1968), and CIA agent Felix Leiter in two James Bond films, Live and Let Die (1973) and Licence to Kill (1989).
James Karen was an American character actor of Broadway, film and television. Karen is known for his roles in Poltergeist, The China Syndrome, Wall Street, The Return of the Living Dead, Invaders from Mars and The Pursuit of Happyness, but was perhaps best known as the signature pitchman for Pathmark, famously appearing in commercials for the now-defunct East Coast-based supermarket chain from the late 1970s to the early 1990s which earned his nickname "Mr. Pathmark".
Various individuals, courts and the media around the world have raised concerns about the manner in which cases of child sexual abuse are handled when they occur in congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses. An independent 2009 study in Norway was critical of how Jehovah's Witnesses dealt with cases of child sexual abuse but stated there is no indication that the rate of sexual abuse among Jehovah's Witnesses is higher than found in general society. The organization's stated position is that it abhors child sexual abuse.
Kenneth Hughes is an actor, dancer, director and writer working in film, TV and stage internationally.
Jehovah's Witnesses originated as a branch of the Bible Student movement, which developed in the United States in the 1870s among followers of Christian restorationist minister Charles Taze Russell. Bible Student missionaries were sent to England in 1881 and the first overseas branch was opened in London in 1900. The group took on the name International Bible Students Association and by 1914 it was also active in Canada, Germany, Australia and other countries.
"Faithful and discreet slave" is the term used by Jehovah's Witnesses to describe the group's Governing Body in its role of directing doctrines and teachings. The group is described as a "class" of "anointed" Christians that operates under the direct control of Jesus Christ to exercise teaching authority in all matters pertaining to doctrine and articles of faith.
Robert M. Bowman Jr. is an American Evangelical Christian theologian specializing in the study of apologetics.
The beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses are based on the Bible teachings of Charles Taze Russell—founder of the Bible Student movement—and successive presidents of the Watch Tower Society, Joseph Franklin Rutherford, and Nathan Homer Knorr. Since 1976, all doctrinal decisions have been made by the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses, a group of elders at the denomination's headquarters. These teachings are disseminated through The Watchtower magazine and other publications of Jehovah's Witnesses, and at conventions and congregation meetings.
Truth Be Told is a 2012 documentary about growing up in the Jehovah's Witnesses denomination. The title refers to the Jehovah's Witnesses' perception that their beliefs are 'the truth'.
Lauren Lakis is an American film and stage actor, singer, and multi-instrumentalist.
Charlie Buhler is an American director, photographer, and producer. She is best known for her directorial debut, Before the Fire, a pandemic thriller that premiered in 2020 amid the COVID-19 crisis. Buhler's other notable work includes the documentary Rosebud and Eric Stoltz's feature film Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk where she played Jasmine. In 2008, Buhler was the first African American woman to be crowned Miss South Dakota USA. She later represented South Dakota at the Miss USA 2008 pageant.
References
- 1 2 Joe Leydon (February 22, 2018). "Film Review: 'Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk'". Variety.
