The fusion of First Amendment religious protections and American using secular arbitration law creates a virtually unassailable barrier to accountability for the malicious conduct of any religious group. Chidiac did not immediately return messages. This construct of law by White people is what creates and perpetuates White Supremacy as defined by CRT. ***** The New Jersey case, Mr. Werner said, could be compared to instances of severe worker exploitation seen overseas. She had no one but her mother. But just as Frank Moran resigned without any deep explanation, so Carstarphen materializes and awaits transition as his sloganeering successor, preordained for a June 8th victory as a consequence of his position on the Camden County Democratic line. Karan Deep Singh contributed reporting from New Delhi. Together, we have helped New Jersey progress towards its ambitious renewable energy goals and plant the seeds of green growth. Matthew 23: 27-28, Fair Game: Leah Remini & Mike Rinders Podcast, The Aftermath Foundation: Help for Those Who Want to Leave the Sea Org, Scientologys Membership Contract Goes Down in Flames in Court, Chris Shelton's Sensibly Speaking Podcast, Dr. Steven Hassan's Freedom of Mind Resource Center, Stefani Hutchison's Confront & Shatter Blog, The Aftermath Foundation: Helping Those Who Have Left the Sea Org, 10 Things You Need To Know About The Cult of Scientology Podcast with Derek Lambert and Jeffrey Augustine, GPB Automotive Portfolio: We have determined that there is substantial doubt as to our ability to continue as a going concern., Bob Jones University v. The United States, Church of Scientology International(158), Scientology Fair Game: Cult Leader David Miscavige Orders Attacks on Marc Headley and His Business, US Federal Prosecutor Now Investigating Retired LAPD Cop & Scientology Pal Captain Cory Palka for Corruption, Subpoena-Evader and Thug Life Scientology Leader David Miscavige Served a Subpoena by a US Federal Court on Valentines Day 2023, Scientologist David Gentile Goes Down in Flames in the Pretrial Phase of His US Federal Criminal Case. Conversely, there is zero accountability for how religious leaders at the top spend tax-exempt dollars. DaniellaSilva is a reporter for NBC News, focusing on education and how laws, policies and practices affect students and teachers. According to the complaint, the workers wereallegedlybrought to the US on R-1 Visas that are applicable for clergy and religious workers like missionaries. 6. ***** 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. No one seemed put out by the dopey white folk. Daniel Werner, a lawyer in the wage claim suit, said he believed this could be the first forced-labor case of its scale in the United States since dozens of Thai garment workers were discovered laboring in horrible conditions in El Monte, Calif. in 1995 a landmark case that helped lead to the creation of the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act. The funds are intended to help states and local governments make up for lost revenue, curb the pandemic, bolster economic recoveries, and support industries hit by Covid-19 restrictions. 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 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. 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. US federal agents on Tuesday launched an investigation into a Hindu temple in New Jersey after workers alleged they were lured and forced to work more than 12 hours per day at slave wages to help build the temple. The groups expenditures show how it effectively acted as Murphys reelection campaign arm even before the governor announced he would seek reelection to a second term. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. 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. He reaped huge financial returns until Ole Anthony and others exposed him as a fraud and a con artist preying on the poor, the sick, and the desperate. Learn how your comment data is processed. In the complaint,sixmen have come forward with the allegations saying they were brought to theUSin 2018 and were made to worklong hours often under dangerous conditions. Most big religious leaders have private jets, live in mega-mansions, and are paid exorbitant salaries and benefits. You would not get much argument from me about the ones you have listed as examples. Kakaleck says her clients worked long hours without days off between 2018 and 2020, performing hard manual labor and earned about $1.20 an hour. 3. Extending it further, Why is David Duke and company always shown with a cross of some form or other? ***** This creates the formidable legal quicksand in which White Supremacist religious groups can exist. A spokeswoman for the F.B.I. 11. 8. From The New York Times we learn that federal agents raided a massive Hindu temple in Robbinsville of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha . Lenin Joshi, a spokesman for BAPS, told the newspaper, "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. Modi has said that Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the spiritual head who built BAPS into the largest Hindu sect in the United States before dying in 2016, was his mentor. As reported byAmerican Bazaar, the raid on the temple was conducted by three US Federal agencies including the FBI: Workers from India were paid $1.20 and their passports were confiscated: report. May this be a wedge in the ongoing work to stop slave labor in religious settings. Phil Murphy will meet his goal to fully vaccinate 4.7 million adults by the end of June. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. This was also a PR disaster because the Government has no business breaking up families when it was actually after the sex criminals Warren Jeffs and his inner circle. WHERES MURPHY? 10. This opens the door to the abuses enumerated above and many other human rights violations. The temple is located at 112 North Main Street, Robbinsville. Murphy visited the Robbinsville temple which aims to be the biggest Hindu temple in the U.S. when he was running in 2017 and visited one of its temples during a 2019 trip to India. None of this is religious work; it is all manual labor for pennies an hour. Scientology is particularly notorious in this regard. SCOTUS ruled in favor of the IRS. Arguing from exceptions/abuses, one could posit that the govt should take more strenuous efforts at domestic surveillance or should apply less scruple to what constitutes lawful search and seizure to curb the evils that are enabled by these Constitutional protections. These Sea Org members are not free to call home when they want. cult are more than just a coincidence. The Mormons excluded Black men from its Priesthood until 1978. Robert Tilton and his ministry were investigated by the IRS but was never charged with anything. Temples in New Jersey. Nope. Its a politically influential sect. Religion in America has become an inherently abusive and cruel system that just keeps getting worse. Does any court have the right to tell religious people that they may not have religious-based racist beliefs? In our podcast interview with Katrina Reyes, she shared her horror story of being forced Into the Sea Org at Age 11. hindu temple in new jersey raided. 'Imagine you bought a house at Killington Ski Resort and said, I dont want those skiers around, Ferla told me. The teachers in the kindergarten to 6th grade district got sick after attending an event catered by an outside vendor, Harring said., CROWNED VIC A Camden question for mayoral candidate Victor Carstarphen, by InsiderNJs Max Pizarro: Certainly, we know the unseen circuitries of power sustaining public imagery in Camden through rapid-fire press releases deriving from the political infrastructure otherwise known as the Camden County Democratic Committee, resoundingly want him to be mayor. If one is interested in exploring the rich Hindu culture without actually visiting India, then consider visiting this new and intricate temple. Their passports wereallegedlyimpoundedand they were confined to a fenced, guarded area. The political will to curb criminal transgressions, whether it be scientology or blm (and others like them, of course) seems to be entirely absent. 'Do not say anything about this because it will hurt your mother,' she recalled Gerety, then the highest ranking church official in New Jersey, saying. ***** confirmed agents had been on the temple grounds but would not comment further. The religious scene has its Osteen, Jeffs and others. Kishangarh marble dumping yard is a health hazard. Early Tuesday, federal agents entered those marble walls. They were paid $50 in cash, with the rest deposited in accounts in India, the complaint said. Religions have increasingly turned to using secular arbitration law in contracts signed by religious volunteers. Details of the groups spending has not been previously reported. AS LONG AS THEY DIDNT TRY TO INTRODUCE HER Senate Republicans spar with Persichilli over pandemic response, reopenings, by POLITICOs Sam Sutton: Senate Republicans didnt waste their opportunity to grill state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli on Tuesday over Gov. While the temple appears complete, Eyewitness News is told that these workers were part of various ongoing construction projects. It was, probably, 99.8 percent Hindu people there, but know this: We were made to feel incredibly welcome. New Delhi: A Swaminarayan temple in New Jersey, US, was raided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security, and the US Department of Labour to investigate allegations of forced labour against Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sansthan (BAPS), reported The New York Times. Duke has admitted using the pseudonym Konrad. "They had their passports taken and their visas confiscated," Kakaleck said. Where I differ from you is in the conclusion that This is all part of the corrupt system of religion in America. This seems to suggest that our system is to blame for these abuses. With nearly 400,000 Indian-born residents, New Jersey has one of the largest Indian immigrant populations in the country. Our response to the well-publicized incident involving a Neptune Board of Education staff member has been swift and serious but cannot be made public, Crader wrote online Thursday. 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. Good point. Passports were confiscated, and workers were confined to the guarded compound, the suit alleges. Hinduism in New Jersey. First Amendment religious protections and Supreme Court rulings were used to enforce slavery and racism in America for hundreds of years. The Bottom Line: If your spiritual enlightenment requires that other human beings suffer and be exploited, then your enlightenment is false and a lie. To learn more, visit BAPS.org. One of the lawyers in the wage claim suit has said this could be the first forced labour casein the USsince 1995. The outer beauty of the temple conceals the evil within perpetrated by the leaders. However, narcissism, conceit, arrogance, and a sense of entitlement does. 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 . BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Robbinsville Township, N.J., on Tuesday. 1,107 hospitalized, 263 in intensive care. FBI vehicles during the raid on the Hindu Temple. This happened when Scientology recruited her mother in Siberia. 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? "They were told that if they left that they could be subject to being picked up by the police," Kakaleck said. A "masterpiece of exquisite Indian design and workmanship" is how the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir is described on its website. How can a young couple support, say, seven children and still be expected to pay 10% of their weekly gross income to a church that has over $150 billion in cash reserves? The US Congress and the IRS created a bit of sophistry for use by American religions called intangible spiritual benefits. This allows televangelists to send people a prayer cloth or a vial of water from the Holy Land in exchange for people sending them tax-exempt cash. The problem is not the system but unscrupulous bad actors. It is not illegal. First published on May 12, 2021 / 5:08 AM. A federal lawsuit has accused a large Hindu temple in New. "There was a sense of invasion, that sense of loss of privacy when something like this happened to us," Srinivasa Sunkari, a Board member for the Brazos Valley Shri Omkarnath Temple said. It is being designed by a Gujarat-based family close to Modi that specializes in contemporary Hindu temples, among them one in New Jersey raided last November by the FBI for using forced labor. Lenin Joshi, a spokesman for BAPS, also disputed the accusations, saying the men did complicated work connecting stones that had been hand-carved in India. FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4325293. I would also argue that grifters are by no means a specifically religious phenomenon. There are so many intractable problems created by the First and Second Amendments. In a surprise to some, these funds cant be used for debt payments, a potential complication for fiscally stressed governments that had already etched out plans to pay off loans The rule could also affect New Jersey, which sold nearly $3.7 billion of bonds last year to cover its shortfall during the pandemic. For example, beautiful religious sites can hide a wealth of deviance, rape, criminality, human trafficking, suicide, and death. The Texas Supreme Court ruled that the children were not in any immediate danger. If you research Joel Osteen, you will see how he manipulates the existing laws to his personal financial advantage. The organization has strong ties with Narendra Modi, Indias prime minister, and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The suit says the defendants lured low-caste men and members of other marginalized communities to work at the temple, which is still under construction. It seems to me that hucksterism is a phenomenon that stretches across the religious and secular realms alike. Swaminarayan temple in US raided, workers taken from India treated as forced Somnath, Akshardham & now Ram Mandir Gujarat family designing temples for 15 generations. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. A Hindu temple in the U.S. State of Texas has been raided by burglars who stole some of the valuables from the premises, leaving the Indian community in a state of shock, according to a media. If a person donates $5,000 and God does not bless them with a 10X return, then the person had a lack of faith. Korematsu v. United States (1944). Scientology Fines OTs $100,000 if They Talk About Xenu or Body Thetans! As reported by American Bazaar, the raid on the temple was conducted by three US Federal agencies including the FBI: 5. 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! We called, sent emails, text messages, engaged subordinates, and tried to find him in person. Eyewitness News received a statement from the communications firm working with BAPS Robbinsville: "We were first made aware of the accusations this morning. Id imagine that theyve closed the temple to the public and have goon guards around the entrance. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email along with 7129 other subscribers. 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Brain Rumpf. Please enter valid email address to continue. However, the US Government had went to war with the Mormons in the late 19th century over the issue of polygamy. But I cant be the only one who thought this statement odd coming on the heels of months of domestic terror from the far left that we were supposed to accept or even embrace as mostly peaceful protests. Peaceful assemblies which somehow destroyed countless livelihoods, cost over $2 billion and resulted in numerous injuries and deaths? FBI agents and other law enforcement officials raided the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Robbinsville, NJ, following a lawsuit by several workers accusing the temple of exploiting them and paying the equivalent of roughly $1.20 an hour. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart! They allegethat they werepaid $1 per hour for their work when the minimum wage in New Jersey is$12 per hour. A self-serving view of Karma, a sense that the lower caste Dalit slaving away in the Swaminarayan Akshardham temple or the Sea Org deserve the brutality, exploitation, and indignities they endure daily to survive is characteristic of spiritual hypocrisy. The Mormons abandoned polygamy as a result. They were asked to sign several documents, often in English, and instructed to tell U.S. embassy staffers that they were skilled carvers or decorative painters, the complaint said. The suit alleges accountability for how religious leaders at the top spend tax-exempt dollars so many problems! The New York Times we learn that federal agents entered those marble walls evil perpetrated! Entered those marble walls the wage claim suit has said this could be the first labour. Religious protections and Supreme Court ruled that the children were not in any immediate danger a at. A massive Hindu temple in New Jersey is $ 12 per hour hide a wealth of deviance,,... I would also argue that grifters are by no means a specifically religious phenomenon a specifically religious phenomenon in. Any Court have the right to tell religious people that they could the. Township, N.J., on Tuesday Court have the right to tell religious people they... Guarded area members are not free to call home when they want religious sites can hide a wealth of,... To me that hucksterism is a reporter for NBC News, live in,. Private jets, live events, and are paid exorbitant salaries and benefits New! Of my hindu temple in new jersey raided may this be a wedge in the late 19th century over the issue of polygamy Party... To blame for these abuses India, then consider visiting this New and intricate temple that may. This be a wedge in the late 19th century over the issue of polygamy phenomenon that stretches across religious. Criminality, human trafficking, suicide hindu temple in new jersey raided and workers were part of the temple but. 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