There's a reference to a news story on the main page [1] concerning attacks against various religious groups in Georgia. An excerpt, emphasis mine:
More than 40 attacks have taken place this year; more than 80 violent incidents have been reported since 1999. The memorandum, based on first hand interviews with victims, documents ten of the attacks that have taken place in 2001. The assailants, civilian militants who are sometimes led by Orthodox priests, have meted out beatings, ransacked homes, and destroyed religious literature. The mobs target Jehovah's Witnesses, Pentacostalists, Baptists, and followers of other Christian faiths non-native to Georgia, attempting to intimidate them into abandoning their faith. Encouraged by government and police inaction, the frequency of attacks is on the rise.
As you probably know, the Watchtower has been trying to gain more publicity of this problem for quite a while. They also set up a special Web site dedicated to the JWs' situation in Georgia [2]. Now, what's interesting about this article is that it's the first time I see _other_ groups than the JWs being mentioned. In all press releases and articles published by the Watchtower that I've seen so far, those attacks are said to be directed _against Jehovah's Witnesses_. Period. "Pentecostalists, Baptists, and followers of other Christian faiths" are never directly mentioned - only rare, obscure references to a "persecution of minority religious", usually in quotes from non-Witnesses, which were generally put in a way to suggest that the Witnesses are actually the only, or at least by far the most affected group.
To the casual observer and the faithful Witnesses, it may seem as if the JWs really are the only group that's being persecuted over there. And we all know that Jehovah's true followers will be hated by everyone.....
Now, if the Watchtower would really care about human rights and religious freedom in general, why should they be silent about those other religious? Wouldn't it give much more weight to their message to show the full extent of violence?
Is the Watchtower really trying to bring relief to these people, or are all those press releases just a matter of "preaching to the choir", fostering the notion of world-wide persecution against "the truth"? Are they afraid to say straight out that even "false" religions are facing violent opposition?
Questions over questions. But it seems to me that this is yet another example of one of the Watchtower's favourite tricks of rhetoric: if there's something you don't want to exist, or don't want your followers to know, just don't mention it. Don't _deny_ it (hey, true Christians don't lie!). Just be completely silent about it, even when people ask you directly.
f., who can't shake off the thought that those self-righteous, hypocritical bastards don't give a damn about anyone except themselves
[1] Georgia: Mobs Terrorize Non-Orthodox Christians
http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/08/georgia-0829.htm