Great article and well-researched! Thanks for posting it Erie Guy!
I too am surprised we did not get more critiques of JR Brown's comments by forum posters.
Where can we get more info on this voting in Venezuala? That would be good info to pass around to current-believers.
The article was printed in the Floridian section. Here's the email addy in order to send a whopping THANKS to reporter Tubbs and her researcher Cathy Wos: write to: Floridian: [email protected]
Well, here's my Very Non-Scholarly CRITIQUE OF COMMENTS by JR BROWN in THE ST. PETERSBURG TIMES' article, FWIW!
ST. PETE WROTE: "Jehovah's Witnesses believe disfellowshipping is an act of love, intended to INSPIRE sinners to change their ways so they eventually can apply to be readmitted to the faith."
Grits: How INSPIRING is it when, even if you do have a change of heart, there is no one to help you. Your former JW friends cannot talk to you, nobody will study with you. It's "all on your own" or forget it.
ST. PETE WROTE: "Elders disfellowship 50,000 to 60,000 Witnesses around the world each year, Brown said. 'It's not an unusual occurence, as far as we're concerned, he said.
GRITS: That struck me as funny! If DF'ing is NOT an "unusual occurrence," what does that say about the religion itself and its "faithful adherents"?
ST. PETE WROTE: "In interviews, Jackson and several others said Witnesses are not allowed to socialize with non-Witnesses unless they are proselytizing. Brown, the Witnesses' spokesman, said this is not true..."
GRITS SAYS: Brown is a flat out liar. The PRESSURE and STRONG IMPLICATION taught at the K.Hall and in all of the WTBTS literature is that having any "wordly friends" is a BIG RISK and a BIG "NO NO" because you will become spiritually weak; or you will pick up their bad habits; or they will draw you away from the JW religion. If you have any worldly friends, and the JWs know it, you will be LOOKED DOWN UPON as being "weak." No 'ifs' 'ands' or 'buts' about that.
ST. PETE WROTE: "She became even more disillusioned in the mid 1990s when, she said, elders dismissed her suspicions that a fellow Witness was sexually abusing his 8-year-old daughter. No one called the police.
GRITS AGREES: THIS IS RAMPANT ALL OVER THE COUNTRY & THE WORLD. JR BROWN IS A LIAR WHEN HE SAYS CHILD ABUSE IS INVESTIGATED AND HANDLED. Sure, they "investigate," and find out the only "witness to it" is the one child, and then they say, "Tough Stuff, nothing we can do about it," and that is how it is "HANDLED." More like MAN-HANDLED, Over & Out!
ST. PETE WROTE: "One charge was 'speaking out against a brother' with regard to the child molestation, she said. She said they told her to stop cavorting with her non-Witness friends. And someone had told them what she had said about not feeling God's presence in the Kingdom Hall.
GRITS SAYS: SEE? These elders told her to stay away from her worldly friends, which is the exact OPPOSITE of what JR Brown (Media PR MAN for the WTBTS) said above!
ST. PETE WROTE: "As far as the Watch Tower is concerned, that means Witnesses can't take action against someone unless at least two people can verify an offense happened.
GRITS SAYS: The WTBTS "strains out the gnat (ABUSE VICTIM) but gulps down the camel (MOLESTERS)" by picking and choosing which of the Hebrew laws it wishes to use. In this case of pedophelia, it looks more like they want to "COVER THEIR HIDES," just like the Catholic Church. IMAGE and protecting their money (by not getting sued) is what it boils down to.
ST. PETE WROTE: "That standard is difficult to meet in cases of child molestation, where often only the victim and perpetrator are present."
GRITS SAYS: Yes, can you imagine Jesus himself, after being approached by a child telling Jesus of being abused/molested -- can you see Jesus telling the child, "Run along now. There's nothing I can do about that, because you are the only one saying it. Go on back home now with your [abuser] and suffer some more, and come back and see me when you can PROVE IT at the mouth or two or three of your little playmates once they also have been RAPED by the same individual."
ST. PETE WROTE: "When Bowen described the situation, he says he was told there was nothing to be done -- the man had denied it, so there weren't enough witnesses. He would have to "leave it in Jehovah's hands."
GRITS SAYS: I believe Jehovah God expects us to help children when we hear of it. This "leave it in Jehovah's hands" is another way of saying, "Don't ruffle feathers. Don't make any waves for us." Does Jehovah God expect us to take our own garbage out of our houses and put it on the street for the garbage man to collect? Then why would we expect that Jehovah would not want us to get the GARBAGE OUT of the congregations and put them on the STREET for COLLECTION by the AUTHORITIES? Or should we say, "I am waiting on Jehovah to come INTO MY HOUSE and take out MY garbage for ME." Well, that is exactly what the WTBTS has done... waited and waited... decade after decade, while the atrocities of child rape and molestation continued to grow and spread, like PILED-UP Garbage! And now we can only hope the authorities WILL GO INTO THE HOUSE (of the WTBTS) and TAKE OUT THEIR GARBAGE all the way to jail (i.e., demand they turn over the names of the 23,000 abusers on file at headquarters, etc.).
ST. PETE WROTE: "Brown, the Witnesses' spokesman, ... scoffed at allegations that Witnesses protect child molesters."
GRITS SAYS: JR BROWN is full of baloney. The 5,000+ indivduals who have contacted Bill Bowen and Silent Lambs PROVES BROWN IS A LIAR. In other words, no support and ENCOURAGEMENT, but "keep it quiet, there were NOT two eyewitnesses, so if you speak of this to anyone, you will be disfellowshipped for slander." There are hundreds of accounts of this very thing at the Silent Lambs website and thousands more who have contacted Bowen directly.
ST. PETE WROTE: "The Watch Tower does keep records of people accused of molestation, but the number in the database is far fewer than 23,000, he [Brown] said, declining to give a specific figure.
GRITS SAYS: Funny how Brown had no qualms with stating Specific Figures for how many are Disfellowshipped each year (50,000-60,000). And he had no qualms about stating how many "come back to the truth" each year (30,000-40,000). So why is JR SHY about telling the real figure of Molesters on File at HQ? If the number is so much LOWER, then WHY HIDE IT?? Wouldn't you think Brown would be EAGER to tell this Much Lower Number?? I find this VERY ODD. The man can NOT BE TRUSTED. He speaks with a FORKED TONGUE.
ST. PETE WROTE: "After the Dateline program aired in May, Bowen, Anderson and Anderson's husband were disfellowshipped. A couple who said their daughter had been abused by a Witness were also threatened with excommunication."
GRITS ADDS: If you're speaking of the Pandelos, they WERE disfellowshipped.
ST. PETE WROTE: "The denomination's governing body and a workforce of other Witnesses operate a massive and well-organized religious base with a legal department, publishing house and printing facilities that ship Witness literature and Bibles all over the globe."
GRITS ADDS: And please don't forget the PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT! (Which is basically a SCHMOOZE DEPARTMENT for the media and the current JWs who have little contact with the outside world or the internet, so they still believe whatever HQ & Brown tells them).
ST. PETE WROTE: "The governing body also establishes policy for Witnesses to live by that it says is based on the Bible. Witnesses cannot vote, receive blood transfusions or salute the flag, among other restrictions"
GRITS ASKS: Wasn't JR Brown quoted in the not-too-distant past as saying that that voting was a matter of conscience? Or was that military service? As far as blood transfusions, there are certain parts of blood that now ARE ALLOWED. SIDE NOTE: I found this link about the voting issue. JR Brown told a NY radio station that voting was a "matter of conscience." http://quotes.jehovahswitnesses.com/spokesman.htm ----- and this one about the blood: Then there is the case of the "Blood in Bulgaria" where the Society's lawyers agreed that blood transfusions are a matter of conscience! Say WHAT? http://quotes.jehovahswitnesses.com/euro_blood.htm
ST. PETE WROTE: "Brown said Witnesses believe that sexual activity between men and women should "follow the normal course" of things. "We feel that oral or anal intercourse would go beyond that."
GRITS ASKS: I THOUGHT THE WTBTS FINALLY DECIDED TO GET OUT OF THE BEDROOM A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO?
ST. PETE WROTE: "By 1980 ... a march at Watch Tower headquarters. ... nothing more than "false prophets."
GRITS ADDS: Make that False PROFITS.
ST. PETE WROTE: "Brown says disfellowshipping INSPIRES wrongdoers to come back to the religion. Those who want to reapply can do so, but they must adhere to Witnesses' policies. They are allowed inside the Kingdom Halls but are IGNORED by the other congregants until readmitted to the faith."
GRITS SAYS: Who in their RIGHT MIND thinks BEING IGNORED EQUALS INSPIRATION? WAIT! I'm having a REVELATION!! NEW Scriptural Light: Jesus said, "IGNORE your neighbor as YOURSELF." And this New Scripture: "There is MORE HAPPINESS in IGNORING than there is in LOVING." Or how about this one: "Truly I tell you, the ANGELS IN HEAVEN before my Father REJOICE over one sinner who is IGNORED." And this: "TOUGH LOVE (IGNORING) promotes FINE WORKS." Or this one: "For God LOVES a CHEERFUL IGNORER." Oops! Another one just popped into my head: "Broad and Spacious is the road leading off to the IGNORERS, and MANY are participating in it; but narrow and cramped is the road of the IGNORED, and few if any are putting up with it." Seriously, how did things go for JR or anyone else for that matter, when they IGNORED THEIR MATE, IGNORED THEIR BOSS, IGNORED THEIR KIDS, IGNORED THEIR DOG, for any length of time? Yes, it works WONDERS when we IGNORE people! Great Human Relations Tactic! The WTBTS should get the Nobel Peace Prize for that bit o' T.L.C. Wisdom.
ST. PETE WROTE: "Each year, Brown said, 30,000 to 40,000 are reinstated, having 'come back to their spiritual senses.'"
GRITS SAYS: Yes, and those that do, do it WITH NO HELP and NO THANKS, THANK YOU, from their "TRUE CHRISTIAN" Brethren who are supposedly KNOWN BY such LOVING FRUITS of IGNORE IGNORE IGNORE, while we SNORE & SNORE & SNORE. -- Seriously, who believes that number? 50,000-60,000 are DF'd each year, yet 30,000-40,000 turn right back around and go back in? With the advent of the internet, I bet that figure is much less.
END OF COMMENTARY by GRITS.