Thanks Nelly, for that link to PinnacleNews. Here's an email I just sent to the publisher:To: letters@pinnaclenews.com
Subject: Dean Paton's articleI just read Dean Paton's article, "Judge ordered murdered mom back." Although I have no doubt that the court's failure set the stage for this murder/suicide, I believe that another factor was also at work here - both Leo and Stephanie Rodriguez were Jehovah's Witnesses. You might think that mentioning the couple's religion is irrelevant to the story, but I suggest it is VERY relevant.Christian Longo, the man who murdered his wife and four young kids in Oregon, was raised as one of Jehovah's Witnesses -his father was an elder in the congregation. Longo was disfellowshipped from the JWs because he was a liar and a cheat, but the beliefs that in his mind justified his murderous behavior were beliefs he learned from Jehovah's Witnesses.Robert Bryant and his family were all Jehovah's Witnesses until Bryant was disfellowshipped for disagreeing with Watchtower dogma. Overnight, he lost the community upon which he depended for a living, and despondent, he killed his family as they slept, then himself.Jehovah's Witnesses are in crisis. They are an apocalyptic religion, founded at the end of the 19th century with expectations that the 20th century would bring Paradise to Earth after the destruction of the world's governments, false religions and more than 99% of humanity at Armageddon. These expectations have proven false over and over and over again, and Jehovah's Witnesses find themselves forever trapped in a world they had condemned to fiery destruction. They teach that if a person dies now -- either a natural death or as the victim of violence -- they are assured a resurrection into Paradise, where they will have a chance to prove their loyalty to God. Also
resurrected will be murderers and suicides -- Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in Hell or any kind of conscious eternal punishment, only the "sleep" of death and the resurrection.When people's spiritual underpinnings fail them, they may find the world too difficult to bear and long for a way out. The doctrines taught by Jehovah's Witnesses -The Watchtower Bible & Tract Society - can give such a person poisonous thoughts.
Subject: Dean Paton's articleI just read Dean Paton's article, "Judge ordered murdered mom back." Although I have no doubt that the court's failure set the stage for this murder/suicide, I believe that another factor was also at work here - both Leo and Stephanie Rodriguez were Jehovah's Witnesses. You might think that mentioning the couple's religion is irrelevant to the story, but I suggest it is VERY relevant.Christian Longo, the man who murdered his wife and four young kids in Oregon, was raised as one of Jehovah's Witnesses -his father was an elder in the congregation. Longo was disfellowshipped from the JWs because he was a liar and a cheat, but the beliefs that in his mind justified his murderous behavior were beliefs he learned from Jehovah's Witnesses.Robert Bryant and his family were all Jehovah's Witnesses until Bryant was disfellowshipped for disagreeing with Watchtower dogma. Overnight, he lost the community upon which he depended for a living, and despondent, he killed his family as they slept, then himself.Jehovah's Witnesses are in crisis. They are an apocalyptic religion, founded at the end of the 19th century with expectations that the 20th century would bring Paradise to Earth after the destruction of the world's governments, false religions and more than 99% of humanity at Armageddon. These expectations have proven false over and over and over again, and Jehovah's Witnesses find themselves forever trapped in a world they had condemned to fiery destruction. They teach that if a person dies now -- either a natural death or as the victim of violence -- they are assured a resurrection into Paradise, where they will have a chance to prove their loyalty to God. Also
resurrected will be murderers and suicides -- Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in Hell or any kind of conscious eternal punishment, only the "sleep" of death and the resurrection.When people's spiritual underpinnings fail them, they may find the world too difficult to bear and long for a way out. The doctrines taught by Jehovah's Witnesses -The Watchtower Bible & Tract Society - can give such a person poisonous thoughts.