: In Trenton for a 1 p.m. coronavirus press conference. A federal lawsuit has accused a large Hindu temple in New. The political will to curb criminal transgressions, whether it be scientology or blm (and others like them, of course) seems to be entirely absent. wont support eminent domain, wants to negotiate BMC deal with HRH, Former Newark Archbishop sexually abused 5-year-old in church rectory, lawsuit claims, Swift action kept outbreak of COVID variant in NJ facility from spreading into community, How the closed pipeline and truck driver shortages could affect N.J. gas pumps, N.J.s famous Delaware River hot dog man, Greg Crance, dead at 56 from COVID, View all our political and policy newsletters, View the Full New Jersey Playbook Archives . In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. When assault weapons become part of religiously-based White Supremacist groups, you get private racist militias with First Amendment religious protections. 5. Not enough evidence (sure not)? In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. Eyewitness News. In America, religious groups have no obligation whatsoever to make any financial disclosures to the IRS whatsoever so long as they do not earn any unrelated business income. But whats striking is that this is in the United States, he said. The Mandir is geographically situated at the heart of the U.S. Northeast megalopolis and with relative proximity to Newark . Did the Founders want cynical and self-serving religious leaders and their churches to amass great wealth and power by conning simple believers and covering up for rapists and pedophiles in their midst? As of 2021, only 2% of Utah is Black. Kishangarh marble dumping yard is a health hazard. The temple has previously come to the attention of authorities. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart! Scientology recruits poor people as labor for its Sea Org from Mexico, Eastern Europe, Siberia, and many other impoverished places. The foundation has close ties with theBharatiya Janata Party, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has hailed the spiritual head of the organisation Pramukh Swami Maharaj as his mentor. The Biden Administration wants to define these groups as White Supremacist terrorist groups. First Amendment religious rights and Second Amendment gun ownership rights exist simultaneously. Them next, please. It looks like this group has connections to both Modi and the Patels. Lawyers for the workers said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, a Hindu sect known as BAPS that has close ties to Indias ruling party and has built temples around the world, had exploited possibly hundreds of low-caste men in the yearslong construction project. And I share your outrage that these criminals abuse the special trust and vulnerability that exists in a belief-based (religious or otherwise) relationship. FBI vehicles during the raid on the Hindu Temple. Mukesh Kumar, a 37-year-old worker who has since returned to India, contacted Ms. Sawant, the immigration lawyer, who began investigating. ***** Is there any way we could have done something better in New Jersey?, EDNA MAHAN Despite law, NJ prison oversight on hold, by NJ Spotlights Colleen ODea: To ensure some level of dignity to the incarcerated, legislators last year passed a reform law that gave broad powers to the corrections ombudsman and created an advisory board to assist those efforts. But it was contained to 50 health care workers and 31 adult patients at the facility, none of whom developed serious illness or was hospitalized, he said., How the closed pipeline and truck driver shortages could affect N.J. gas pumps, R.I.P. I appreciate you bringing something to our attention that would otherwise quickly sink in the din of news noise. They have to be fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. In 1976, Newark Archbishop Peter Leo Gerety befriended her family and sexually abused her on multiple times in his bedroom in the church rectory when she was 5 years old, she said. Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the presidents ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. The federal raid comes as a lawsuit claims workers were lured there from India. 10. confirmed agents had been on the temple grounds but would not comment further. There are so many intractable problems created by the First and Second Amendments. Their passports wereallegedlyimpoundedand they were confined to a fenced, guarded area. FBI agents raided a Robbinsville, New Jersey, Hindu temple over allegations of forced labor. And it is truly despicable. Photo: CBS Philly. I respectfully disagree with the wage claim, Kanu Patel, the chief executive of BAPS, told The New York Times, while noting he was not in charge of day-to-day operations at the site. 3. As volunteers, religious workers can be fired for no cause, are not entitled to medical insurance, and will receive no social security when they are old as they do not pay into the system. While these groups are anti-Government and racist, they nevertheless enjoy tax exemption and other religious protections. Pein said she was notified by Superintendent George Chidiac through an email following Monday night's school board meeting. The lawsuit, filed by six named workers in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, says at least 200 Indian nationals who work or have worked at the temple in Robbinsville would be part of the class. We are not alone in arguing that here is a pervasive and widespread abuse of the First Amendment religious protections. Why is this even allowed? 11. This is how the First Amendment works. This person objected to the LDS demanding a 10% weekly tithe from young LDS couples with the large numbers of children the LDS also demands of them. The backlash caused the Government to back off conducting raids on religious groups for fifteen years. Tilton poured his budget to buy television time into these communities he targeted. Ah, so not only is your Aryan (if they can define that) Princess supposed to cook, clean, rear children, help with the crops, and respond to all your desires, she also has to learn Kegels. In a good week the pay might be $50 which is still only 50 cents per hour. BAPS has beenbehind scores of temples built around the world. Inside Newarks affordable housing crisis, $15M in rent, utilities assistance coming to [Essex Countys] tenants, Bayonne council pres. "They were brought in as religious workers, but they were not religious workers and they certainly were not volunteers," Patricia Kakaleck, an attorney at Kakaleck Law, said. Intangible spiritual benefits allows any religious group to take tax-exempt cash in exchange for conferring intangible spiritual benefits upon believers. Eyewitness News received a statement from the communications firm working with BAPS Robbinsville: "We were first made aware of the accusations this morning. The raid wasfirst reported by the local outlet NJ105, which said the agents showed up at the temple before 8 a.m. The New Jersey temple, or mandir, is itself a multimillion-dollar operation, public records show. The Mormons excluded Black men from its Priesthood until 1978. Earlier, the organisation had comeunderthe radar of US federal agencies after a 17-year-old boy diedin 2017 followinga fallatthe construction site. New Direction New Jersey, which is organized under Section 501(c)(4) of the federal tax code, quietly disclosed all of its donations and spending to the state Election Law Enforcement Commission in February. The majority are Dalit, the lowest rung in Indias caste system. It builds temples around the world that draw visitors with awe-inspiring white stone spires, intricate carvings, gurgling fountains and wandering peacocks. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents raided a temple in New Jersey Tuesday after allegations that a Hindu sect lured hundreds of low-caste men from India to work on the building's construction for about $1 per hour under grueling conditions, numerous sources reported. But what happens when White Supremacists claim religious status, i.e. About 90 workers were removed from the site, according to a person familiar with the matter. Korematsu v. United States (1944). This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. The workers, who lived in trailers hidden from view, had been promised jobs helping to build the temple in rural Robbinsville, N.J., with standard work hours and ample time off, according to the lawsuit, a wage claim filed in U.S. District Court in New Jersey. The FBI has also raided the building, from which they removed about 90 workers who were allegedly paid less than $1 USD per hour. This is our secret. The New Jersey Independent Victim Compensation Program, a board created by the Catholic Church to settle abuse claims out of court, reviewed the womans allegations last year, her attorney said. To further illustrate this point, when one looks at the blessings promised by the likes of Osteen, typical televangelists or scientology even, these blessings are invariably material and self-centered. BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Robbinsville Township, N.J., on Tuesday. From The New York Times we learn that federal agents raided a massive Hindu temple in Robbinsville of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha . The complaintadded thatthe workers passports had been confiscated, theywere givenlentils and potatoesfor mealsand that their paywas cutfor thesmallestof violations such as being seen without a helmet. CORONAVIRUS TRACKER: 858 newly-reported positive PCR tests for a total of 881,171. This construct of law by White people is what creates and perpetuates White Supremacy as defined by CRT. Hidden category: Commons category link is on Wikidata. The labourers were presented to the US government like volunteers. In this case, the IRS revoked Bob Jones University 501(c)(3) religious tax exemption due to BJUs ban on interracial dating. The evidence is all there. A prominent Hindu sect that operates a New Jersey temple raided by federal authorities earlier this year is facing new accusations that it forced hundreds of low-caste workers to labor. In our podcast interview with Katrina Reyes, she shared her horror story of being forced Into the Sea Org at Age 11. Awe-inspiring Hindu temple in New Jersey The temple complex sits off Route 130 in Robbinsville, intended as a pillar of the large Hindu population in New Jersey. If one is interested in exploring the rich Hindu culture without actually visiting India, then consider visiting this new and intricate temple. Superintendent Tami Crader stopped short of revealing exactly what action was taken against Neptune Middle School Vice Principal Michael Smurro, whose conduct during the April 24 skirmish were caught on cellphone video and widely shared. We are naturally shaken by this turn of events and are sure that once the full facts come out, we will be able to provide answers and show that these accusations and allegations are without merit, Mr. Joshi said. These constructed religious legal protections amount to an unfair advantage which benefits monotheists, polytheists, and other religionists while excluding secular persons. The US Government did not challenge the Mormons on its racist priesthood. In the pandemic, the group has donated masks to hospitals in Los Angeles and has flown oxygen to India, which has been recently engulfed in a devastating Covid-19 outbreak. He can take in tax-exempt donations for doing this. IE 11 is not supported. "It was just an extremely traumatic and isolating experience," said Patricia Kakalec, an attorney representing the workers. It says such R-1 visas are religious visas available to "those who minister or work in religious vocations or occupations" and are members of the religious denomination sponsoring the visa holders. The Texas Supreme Court ruled that the children were not in any immediate danger. The lawsuit said the mens passports had been confiscated, and they were confined to the fenced-in and guarded site, where they were forbidden from talking to visitors and religious volunteers. The way he moved from Neo-Nazi KKK Grand Wizard to a born again Christian rooted in the racist Christian Identity movement was pure semantics on his part. At least three federal agencies the F.B.I., the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Labor were involved in the action early Tuesday, which was said to be connected to the claims of labor and immigration law violations, according to three people familiar with the matter. The Mormon treasure horde is only known about due to a whistleblower. The largest Hindu temple in North America is reported to be the massive Swaminarayan Akshardham, located in Robbinsville, New Jersey. Kakalec said that the situation was a "labor trafficking" case" and that the workers were "constantly monitored" with dozens of cameras and threatened with fines for breaking rules. In any event, while my conclusion may differ from yours in this case, I am most thankful that youre putting the facts out there and following the money. Always good to read your blog! Religions are legally allowed to do this as it is a matter of faith. QUOTE OF THE DAY: This lady simply introduced me because she knew me because of my role in the Legislature. They also issued astatementsaying, We were first made aware of the accusations this morning, we are taking them very seriously and are thoroughly reviewing the issues raised., Also read: Somnath, Akshardham & now Ram Mandir Gujarat family designing temples for 15 generations, Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram. Too rich? The Civil Rights Cases (1883) It also raises the question of how much power we should invest govt with in the areas of our homes, families faiths and other beliefs. The outer beauty of the temple conceals the evil within perpetrated by the leaders. With Ocean Wind 2 . But what happens when First Amendment religious protections and Second Amendment gun protections collide with the Government wanting to impose a terrorist definition on a religious group? Tax-Exempt cash in exchange for conferring hindu temple in new jersey raided spiritual benefits upon believers scientology recruits poor people as for. 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