Dateline Precursor: CBS 60 Min. w/Leslie Stahl

by Room 215 24 Replies latest jw experiences

• 

  Room 215

  Nico,

  I enjoyed your contribution to the thread. it seems your recollection of the piece is sharper than anyone that has commented here thus far.

  You raise points about the presentation that merit serious consideration. Leaving aside for a moment the question of the strength of your argument, the one question that nags at any JW and which begs an answer is: Why couldn't some Bethel bigwig muster up the guts to appear and mount a defense as ably as you have just done?
  
  What does their willingness to hide behind a well-meaning but obviously unnerved local JW, leaving him there to ``twist in the wind,'' naked in front of a national audience suggest about their character?
• 

  Nicodemus

  Room 215,

  I think that's a fair question. The truth is that I don't have enough recollection about any of the specifics to contribute a meaningful comment.

  I'm sure my argument could be debated from a variety of perspectives. I think my bigger point is that the CBS show came across as a bit of a "hit piece." At best, I think the example I gave was perceived by many, including non-Witnesses, as "making a mountain out of a molehill." For active JWs, it gave them a very easy "out" in believing the presentation was a rather blatant attempt to "bash" the Witnesses.

  The upcoming Dateline, in my opinion, might have a much greater effect. Certainly, the issue of child molestation meets the test I suggested of being "legitimate" and "carry[ing] some weight." Next questions will be: What, exactly, is it alleged that the JW organization did, or didn't do? Is sufficient evidence presented to make a convincing case? Would it leave an honest, thinking, JW genuinely troubled? Is the issue clear enough, and the evidence troubling enough, that it would become difficult for a JW to discuss it with an individual when preaching to them at their door?
• 

  AMNESIAN

  Room ,

  Upon re-viewing the "60 Minutes" piece by Leslie Stahl, my exceptionally keen skills of investigative analysis reveal that its original broadcast was the last Sunday of December, 1992. I had been pretty certain that it'd aired quite some time ago and I'd recalled correctly.

  Just fyi, the clues were obscure, but I managed to apply my incredible powers of deduction: the commercials that ran wished viewers "Happy Holidays from CBS"; an ad for Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes ran---deadline for contestants' entries, January 29, 1993; finally, and the toughest to crack, was Mike Wallace's sign-off at the end of the broadcast with "That's it for tonight. We'll be back next year with more episodes of '60 Minutes.'" Boy, am I good.

  Btw, in re-watching the program, I am able to objectively conclude that there were significant aspects of Stahl's on-camera interview with an attorney who was a JW and her overall presentation that, imo, made her arguments much less persuasive than they might have been. Neither did the non-JW parents fighting for custody make strong cases for why they would be better custodial parents for their children other than the fact that the JW lifestyle is so restrictive for youngsters. Imo, that is quite the weak argument in a society that is arguably too indulgent and permissive with its minors. There is much, much more that is indicting of JW life for adults and children alike than the fact that they are generally forbidden participation in extracurricular activities and have to go door-to-door. It's the stuff that's not even mentioned in the fine print in the shiny, smiley marketing brochures, the stuff you don't learn until you've signed on the dotted line that should have parents fleeing with their children in tow as far away from WT dogma and practices as possible.

  Anyway, from what I am reliably informed regarding the upcoming "Dateline" broadcast, I am confident that its impact will far exceed that "60 Minutes" might have had---owing both to its content and presentation and the fact of today's highly-sensitized environment regarding the subject on tap.

  Bluesapphire ,

  I'm happy to make you a copy of the telecast. I am going to dub it onto a fresh cassette---hope the quality doesn't degrade much---and add the "Dateline" story to it. I'll then make you a copy. Contact me at my email with your mailing particulars.

  AMNESIAN
• 

  SweatPea

  Amnesian.......I would also be interested in receiving a copy of the Dateline program from Tuesday, May 28, 02. I had been waiting months for it to air and some how I missed it. I would be more than glad to send you a blank tape plus postage for the return. I have the transcript on that 60 minutes and its dated December 27, 1992.
  Thanks
• 

  Elsewhere

  http://12.239.160.163/elsewhere/DatelineNBCMay28_2002.htm

  Go to this page and then right-click on the one you want.

  "As every one knows, there are mistakes in the Bible" - The Watchtower, April 15, 1928, p. 126
  Believe in yourself, not mythology.
  <x ><