Jerry Bergman on JWs destroying library books

by Dogpatch 67 Replies latest jw friends

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  wha happened?

  I used to frequent used book stores. Witnesses would vandalize "apostate" books. Writing remarks etc.
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  White Dove

  Wha happened?,

  Did the marks in the books include any confessions of who marked up the book?

  Just curious.
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  drew sagan

  Another member of this elitist club is Wayne Magnani of witness inc.
  
  Both gentlemen have views of brotherhood and community that are as narrow and exclusionary as those they learned from the Watchtower.

  I remember talking to a fellow on the phone from Witness Inc. a good while back, right when I was coming out. For whatever reason I mentioned how much I liked Ray Franz's books. The fellow on the other end railed on me and told me that it was a shame that Ray Franz wasn't a "true christian" because he didn't believe the trinity.
  
  Talking with that guy made me sick to my stomach. What a judgmental jerk he was.
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  Burger Time

  It sounds to me more like unwitting fundies confusing them for pro JW books. I have never heard of JW's going to book stores to destroy books. Not saying it doesn't happen but just doesn't fit the JW style.
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  kool aid man06

  In Rye New Hampshire there is a wonderful old book store called Drake's Books. It is in an old barn and has been there for many years. The owner's name is Bob. He told us a story about how many years ago, when Bob's father ran the store, One of the top officials from Brooklyn used to come up there every summer and purchase any Watchtower publications that they had. We too have purchased many Watchtower publications for our library. We have one of the largest Watchtower libraries in New England. So many people have destroyed their literature, later to regret it, as having these publications is one of the only ways to prove the ever changing doctrines of the Watchtower Organization.
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  slimboyfat

  I did buy apostate books from a secondhand bookshop and destroy them at one stage. Never stole books from a library though.

  I really regret destroying those apostate books now, not least because I since found out one of them is slighty rare and worth about £40 or so.
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  daniel-p

  This is an interesting article he wrote. It seems more like a advert for his own achievements and publications than the supposed problem of library vandalism. On a further note, it says this on Wikipedia: "Many of his views are highly controversial, such as implying a causal relationship between Darwinism, Nazism, and the Holocaust." -What a guy!
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  daniel-p

  More from Wiki: "Bergman was hired in the 1973-74 school year by Bowling Green State University. He was initially employed as an assistant professor but was reduced to the rank of instructor later for not receiving his Ph.D. as soon as he had expected. His employment was continued until 1976 when the university recommended that he receive a terminal contract for 1976-1977. Bergman's contract for 1976-77 year was changed from terminal to temporary while studying for his Ph.D at Wayne State. In 1978 Bergman was denied tenure. Bergman believed this was due to his involvement in the creation movement and his religious beliefs and subsequently filed with both the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Ohio Civil Rights Commission on the grounds that he had been discriminated against on the basis of religion, with both agencies ultimately ruling that he was not let go due to his religious beliefs, but because his peers voted to terminate him. Bergman filed suit against Bowling Green State University in federal district court in 1980, alleging that his due process rights had been violated and that he had been denied tenure on the basis of his religious views. The due process claim arose from his allegation that he never received annual written evaluations as required by the University charter. The case was dismissed in 1985. Bergman appealed but the appeal was turned down in 1987. The court ruled that the reason he was let go was because of ethics, namely that he claimed to have credentials in psychology when, in fact, he "had no psychological credentials."[2]"
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  Balsam

  Back in 2000 before I left the witnesses I went to the library in Asheboro, NC in hope of finding some publications on JW's that gave a more open view than what they told us. I found a Crisis of Conscious on the shelf. I couldn't check it out right then because I had my children with me and didn't want them telling on me. I went back the next day and it was gone, so I went and to check to see if someone had checked it out. No they said and went and checked and sure enough it was gone. The librarian told me they had a lot of trouble keeping opposing views of JW's on the shelf that people were stealing them or destroying them. She told me that they had found one book with the pages torn out of it that gave a less than favorable view of JWs and it had been an older book from the 1940's which was irreplaceable. I was sick that I didn't check out COC and now I would have to find another way to read it.

  Back in the 1980's I heard an Elder bragging on how he would steal publications from local libraries he visited and destroyed publications that talked against JWs. Apostate literature he called it. Some of it was secular books and not written by ex-witnesses like COC is. I know for a fact that JW's Elders are told to do this by the society because this Elders said they were encouraged by the Society to do so. Even stealing the books was considered OK because it was called a spiritual battle and stealing and lying were OK. I found this rather sick and really creepy back then. I once caught a pioneer sister doing that when she went with me to the library around 1988 and I stopped her. She was going to trash a book she considered apostate. I told her she would be turned in by me for destroying library property. The books she was holding she put back but weeks later when was in there that book was gone. The witnesses consider stealing apostate literature spiritual warfare. These important books Jerry Bergman is talking about should be under lock and key and not allowed to leave the library in my opinion. Jehovah's Witnesses think nothing of stealing from libraries if the publication is about them and it puts them in a bad light.

  Ruth
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  AWAKE&WATCHING

  Wow...that's all I can say. Oh yeah, I hate those f**king evil bastards.