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They will come to your door and they will bear in hand a November 15, 2001 Watchtower magazine (1) that warns you about “religious hypocrisy”. They are sure about their message and goal of recruiting you and your children. But do they have the whole story? In what is turning out to be a major scandal, many Jehovah’s Witnesses are being shocked to find out that their parent organization, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, has been privately “associating” (2) with the United Nations. This in religious circles is like the Pope privately agreeing to support Planned Parenthood and abortion rights*.
The 6 million Jehovah’s Witnesses (3) worldwide have been taught by their leadership, the Governing Body, that they must stay politically “neutral” (4). Witnesses must “respect” government such as paying taxes, but they must not show any “support” for government such as joining the military, waving the flag or pledging allegiance to a Charter or Constitution. The same holds true for the United Nations as stated in an October 1, 1995 Watchtower magazine (5) . In fact the Watchtower teaches that the United Nations is the evil “scarlet colored wild beast” of the Bible’s Book of Revelation. This view is comparable to how a Catholic would view the Antichrist**. All of the world’s religions, except the Watchtower, are considered supporting the evil United Nations and make up the “Great Harlot” that rides the wild beast. The Watchtower teaches that at the “end as we know it” the beast will eliminate the Great Harlot (all religions) and it will take Jehovah God to come and kill the beast to save the Witnesses.
To knowingly “support” a government Charter or a war would personally cost a Jehovah’s Witness excommunication (6) , loss of God, death at the soon to come Armageddon and shunning by family and friends (6) in the congregation. A serious step for Witnesses who only know their congregation. Witnesses must take “neutrality” (4) so seriously that they were killed in concentration camps (7) for refusing to join the Nazis. Thousands more were brutally killed or attacked by a Malawi dictator (8) in East Africa during the 1960s and 1970s. Today Witnesses are in prisons for refusing to join mandatory military duty (9) in countries like Greece and Singapore and teased at school for refusing to participate in flag waving.
But while teaching to their flock that the UN was the evil beast, the Watchtower, considered a Non Governmental Organization (NGO), “voluntarily approached” (2) (10) (11) and applied to the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI) for “associate” status in 1991. According to the DPI’s 1994 brochure (10) , the DPI’s 1999-2000 Directory (11) of all “associated” NGOs and present brochure (2) , “associate” NGOs, such as the Watchtower, would receive a variety of public UN documents, have access to huge amounts of informational sources and could attend special meetings at the UN’s New York head office.
To become an “associate” NGO, the UN Department required the Watchtower, like all NGOs, to voluntarily agree with its criteria (10) (11) (12) . Present criteria (12) and past criteria (10) (11) required the “associated” NGO to voluntarily “support” and “respect” the ideals of United Nations Charter and to prove their support to the UN by distributing and promoting UN documents and activities to their membership. In fact the UN’s Committee Resolutions (13) issued in 1968 and updated in 1996 (14) actually require the “associate” NGOs to “conform” (or obey) to the spirit, purposes and principles of the UN Charter.
Knowingly supporting the UN charter is considered a non-neutral activity (4) (6) that would require the immediate expulsion and shunning of a Witness as outlined in chapter 5 (6) of the Elder’s Handbook titled “Pay Attention to Yourselves and to All The Flock” (6) published in 1991 by the Watchtower. Yet, it seems the Watchtower has never officially informed its Rank and File about what DPI calls a “partnership” (15) and why they were publishing the UN promotional material in Watchtower’s magazines (example - November 22, 1998 edition of Awake! (16)). According to an 11 October 2001 letter issued by Mr. Paul Hoeffel (17) , Chief of the NGO Section of the UN’s DPI, the Watchtower, as a NGO, applied in 1991 to the DPI and received “accreditation” from a DPI committee by 1992. DPI and other area NGOs also confirmed that “associated” NGOs like the Watchtower must complete and provide DPI with samples of their UN promotional work in an annual report and complete an annual accreditation form (18) in order to keep their “associate” status.
Since August 2001, members, ex-members and other interested people have researched this scandal (19) . The 1994 (20) and 1999-2000 DPI directories (11) of all NGOs associated with the United Nations show the Watchtower’s name and address along with the names W.L. Barry, Ciro Aulicino and Robert Johnson. Mr. Barry was a former Governing Body member and past Vice President. The Barry name links the approval for the “partnership” (15) with the UN at the highest levels in Watchtower’s Brooklyn, New York headquarters. Mr. Hoeffel’s letter (17) also indicated that the DPI had received numerous inquiries about the Watchtower and by October the Watchtower quietly requested their affiliation with DPI to be terminated. On October 9, 2001 the DPI officially “disassociated” the Watchtower. The Watchtower leadership has yet to inform the Rank and File about the “disassociation” in any of their publications and creates the impression that they realized a horrendous blunder had been made.
By October 2001, Guardian newspaper articles (21) (22) (23) by Mr. Steve Bates blew the lid off this scandal in the United Kingdom. In an October 22, 2001 letter to the Guardian, Mr. Paul Gillies (24) , a Jehovah’s Witness Press Officer, admitted to the “membership” (24) but attempted to deflate the articles by suggesting that the Governing Body did not know about the UN Criteria. A November 1, 2001 letter from Watchtower headquarters (25) to its Branches provided similar excuses. Yet the Hoeffel letter (17) , a 1994 UN brochure (10) , a 1999-2000 DPI Directory (11) , two 1992 UN press releases (26) (27) , an “annual accreditation” form (18) that had to be completed and signed by a corporate officer, and the 1968 UN Economic and Social Council resolutions (13) clearly show a different account. An “independent” account that proves Watchtower had to “voluntarily solicit” (2) (10) the UN, support the ideals of the UN charter (2) (10) and prove their support to the UN (2) (10) by distributing promotional UN literature. Due to the misinformation in the Gillies letter (24) the Guardian has refused to publish the Gillies’ letter.
It also seems the Watchtower’s responses are ignoring the fact that “associate” NGOs must disseminate UN propaganda to their members and to regularly report back to the UN samples of their activities in annual reports. In fact in the first two years of being an “associate” NGO, the Watchtower had to prove their “support” or loyalty to the UN (10) by devoting a portion of their publications to the beast’s agenda and building support for the beast. Who in the rank and file knew that as God’s chosen organization, “meat in good season” was the “scarlet colored wild beast” according to the leadership.
So while the Watchtower has been teaching “neutrality” (4) , the UN is an evil beast, other religions wrongly support the beast, Witnesses who knowingly wave a flag must be shunned and why religious hypocrisy is wrong, the same leadership was also “supporting” (2) (10) and proving their loyalty (10) to this same “evil beast” over the last 10 years. It appears that the Watchtower and its leaders, considered by Witnesses as God’s chosen organization, are doing exactly what they accuse mainstream churches and others of doing in their November 15, 2001 Watchtower magazine (1) .
The human cost of the leadership’s non-neutrality support to Rank and File members is demonstrated in Chapter 7 (Articles 39 to 51) (29) of the UN Charter (28) . Chapter 7 (29) , which the Watchtower voluntarily agreed to “support” (2) (10) , provides the United Nations with a tool to use military actions and allows a member country to use armed force to defend itself if attacked. It would be compelling to hear the opinions of Witnesses, who follow their leader’s teachings and are jailed in Singapore for military duty refusal or those who died in Africa and Germany, on what their parent organization has done by politically supporting the UN over the last 10 years.
One also has to wonder where the United Nations committee was in 1991 and 1992 when accrediting the Watchtower as an “associate” with DPI. There are many articles in Watchtower publications explaining the “scarlet colored wild beast” (5), the shunning of ex-members, the sexual orientation discrimination and children not allowed certain life saving blood transfusions (30) . The above examples can be considered as human rights problems in some countries and go against the UN charter (28). Also, there are pedophile cases (31) that have been reported in United States newspapers and will be reported on an upcoming NBC Dateline show. Yet, the Watchtower, with the help of four references obtained its “association” in 1992.
Some insiders have suggested that the Watchtower, as an NGO, used this “associate” status in countries (such as Russia and France) that treat the Watchtower as a dangerous sect. A DPI “associate” status and approved by a United Nations committee could be used by the Watchtower to quell sect fears in these countries and help obtain an “official religious organization” status.
The Watchtower’s British representative, Mr. Gillies, letter (24) as well as a November 1, 2001 Watchtower letter (25) suggested that the “membership” (24) with the United Nations was used to obtain an identification card for the United Nations’ library (32) . According to the Watchtower, the organization needed information that could only be obtained from the United Nations’ library (32). Yet the access information provided by the United Nations’ library system (33) shows that a person does not need to be an “associate” NGO to obtain all information from the UN library. It is shocking that a Watchtower leadership would “voluntarily” agree to politically “support” a UN charter and sacrifice its own teachings and members all for the sake of a measly library card that it did not need. Prepared by Andrew W. LuskReferences (1) “How do you handle Hypocrisy?” Pages 21 to 23, The Watchtower magazine, November 15, 2001, published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., Brooklyn, New York
(2) “NGOs and the United Nations Department of Public Relations: Some Questions and Answers”, an Internet Page of the United Nations, http://www.un.org/MoreInfo/ngolink/brochure.htm , Maintained by Mr. Paul Hoeffel, Chief, NGO Section, Department of Public Information, Room S-1070L, United Nations, New York, New York, 10017, tel: (212) 963-6842, fax: (212) 963-6914/2819
(3) “Statistics: 2000 Report of Jehovah's Witnesses Worldwide”, an Internet Page of the Watchtower, http://www.watchtower.org/statistics/worldwide_report.htm , Maintained by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., Brooklyn, New York
(4) “Neutrality”, Reasoning from the Scriptures, Pages 269-276, 1989, 1999 Watchtower CD ROM, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., Brooklyn, New York
(5) “50 Years of frustrated efforts” and “A World Without War - When?” , Pages 3 to 7, The Watchtower magazine, October 1, 1995, published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., Brooklyn, New York
(6) “Overseers ‘Ruling for Justice Itself’”, Chapter 5(a), Pages 92 to 96 and pages 100 to 103 , Pay Attention to Yourselves and to All The Flock, Acts 20:28, Kingdom Ministry School Textbook, 1991, Internet Version at http://home2.inet.tele.dk/carloc/index.htm , published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., Brooklyn, New York
(7) “They Stood Firm Amid Nazi Persecution” , Page 32, The Watchtower magazine, August 15, 1997, 1999 Watchtower CD ROM, published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., Brooklyn, New York
(8) “The Worship of the “Wild Beast — Why True Christians Refuse”, “Worship of the Wild Beast Today” section, Pages 632 to36, The Watchtower magazine, October 15, 1976, 1999 Watchtower CD ROM, published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., Brooklyn, New York
(9) “A Successful Witnessing Campaign in Greece”, Pages 8 to 10, The Watchtower magazine, April 15, 1996, 1999 Watchtower CD ROM, published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., Brooklyn, New York
(10) “…Who is Eligible for Association with DPI?” and “… The Application process” , The United Nations Department of Public Information and Non-Governmental Organizations, April 1994, DPI/1438-02997, printed by the United Nations Reproduction Section, New York, New York
(11) “Introduction – What are the Criteria for NGO’s to Become associated with DPI? ” and “What is the Procedure for NGOs to Become Associated with DPI?”, Pages vi to vii, “Alphabetical List”, Page 324, “Index of NGOs”, Page xxiv, “Index of all Representatives”, Page i, Index of area of Interest, Page 39, “Index by Region”, Page 24, Directory of Non-Governmental Organizations Associated with the Department of Public Information 1999-2000, 1999, Published by Chief, NGO Section, Department of Public Information, Room S-1070L, United Nations, New York, New York, 10017, tel: (212) 963-6842, fax: (212) 963-6914/2819
(12) “Criteria for Association with the Department of Public Information”, “Application Form for Non-Governmental Organizations” and “Required Applications Materials” , 2001, Published by Chief, NGO Section, Department of Public Information, Room S-1070L, United Nations, New York, New York, 10017, tel: (212) 963-6842, fax: (212) 963-6914/2819
(13) “Resolution 1296 (XLIV) Arrangements for Consultation with Non-Governmental Organizations” and “Resolution 1297 (XLIV) Non-Governmental Organizations” , Pages 21 to 26, Resolutions Supplement No. 1, Economic and Social Council Official Records Forty-Fourth Session 6-31 May 1968, Number 16951, August 1968, United Nations, New York, New York (Alternate Internet sites http://www.globalpolicy.org/ngos/ngo-un/info/res-1296.htm and http://www.un.org/partners/civil_society/docs/ngo1297.htm )
(14) “Resolution 1996/31 (XLIV) Consultative Relationship between the United Nations and Non-Governmental Organizations” , Pages 53 to 61, Resolutions and Decisions of the Economic and Social Council Supplement No. 1, Official Records 1996, ISSN-0251-9410, Number 77251, November 1997, United Nations, New York, New York
(15) “NGO: Working with Permanent Missions to the UN, A DPI/NGO Communication Workshop” , 21 May 2001, an Internet Page of the United Nations, http://www.un.org/MoreInfo/ngolink/wsmay01.htm , and “DPI/NGO Communication Workshops”, December 1999, an Internet Page of the United Nations, http://www.un.org/MoreInfo/ngolink/workshop.htm , Examples of NGOs and UN Partnerships, Maintained by Mr. Paul Hoeffel, Chief, NGO Section, Department of Public Information, Room S-1070L, United Nations, New York, New York, 10017, tel: (212) 963-6842, fax: (212) 963-6914/2819
(16) “A Long Job Finished”, “A View from the 29th Floor”, “Human Rights and Wrongs Today” and “Human Rights for All – A Worldwide Reality!” , Pages 3 to 14, Awake! Magazine, November 22, 1998, published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., Brooklyn, New York
(17) “Hoeffel letter on Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York , 1 page, 11 October 2001, by Mr. Paul Hoeffel, Chief, NGO Section, Department of Public Information, Room S-1070L, United Nations, New York, New York, 10017, tel: (212) 963-6842, fax: (212) 963-6914/2819
(18) “Year 2000 Accreditation Form For Representatives of Non-Governmental Organizations Associated with the United Nations Department of Public Information” , 2 pages, 1999, Form prepared annually by Chief, NGO Section, Department of Public Information, Room S-1070L, United Nations, New York, New York, 10017, tel: (212) 963-6842, fax: (212) 963-6914/2819
(19) “Internet Research Into the Watchtower’s association/partnership with the United Nations”, 2001, http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/forum/thread.asp?site=3&id=13530&page=1 and http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/forum/thread.asp?site=3&id=10732&page=1 , Maintained by Jehovahs-Witness.com
(20) “ Part II – Other Non-Governmental Organizations Associated With the Department of Public Information ”, Page 261, “Index of Representatives”, Pages 324, 325 and 333, “Regional List”, Page 23, “Thematic List”, Page 45, Directory of Non-Governmental Organizations and NGO’s Representatives Associated with the Department of Public Information 1994, 1999, Produced by the Non-Governmental Organization Section, of the Department of Public Information, 801 Union Plaza, Room U-104, New York, New York, 10017, tel: (212) 963-6842, fax: (212) 963-6914/2819
(21) “ Jehovah’s Witnesses Beat Hasty Retreat After UN Affiliation Exposed ”, Page 23, By Stephen Bates, The Guardian Weekly, Thursday October 18 to Wednesday October 24 2001, Volume 165/No 17, Printed in Montreal, Canada.
(22) “ Hypocrite Jehovah’s Witnesses Abandon Secret Link with UN ”, Page 13, By Stephen Bates, The Guardian, Monday October 15, 2001, Printed in United Kingdom.
(23) “ Trouble at Watchtower ”, By Stephen Bates, The Tablet, November 3, 2001, Printed at 1 King St. Cloisters, Clifton Walk, London, W6 OQZ, United Kingdom
(24) “ Press Officer for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Britain letter on the Watchtower and the United Nations to the Guardian Newspaper ”, 1 Page, October 22, 2001, by Paul Gillies, Jehovah’s Witnesses Office of Public Information, Jehovah’s Witnesses Office of Public Information, Watch Tower Society, The Ridgeway, London NW7 1RN, telephone 020 8906 2211
(25) “ Watchtower Headquarters response to the Watchtower and Untied Nations Association ”, 1 Page, November 1, 2001, by Chairman’s Committee, via CompuServe, World Headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses, 25 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, New York, 11201-2483, tel: 718-560-5000
(26) “ Thirty-Seven Organizations Granted Association Status with DPI ”, 2 pages, 14 February 1992, Department of Public Information - United Nations Press Release, NGO/208 PI /755, The Dag Hammarskjöld Library, United Nations New York, New York, 10017, Head Librarian Phone: (212) 963-7443 - Fax: (212) 963-2388 - Room: L-327A, [email protected] (27) “ Forty-Four Organizations Granted Association Status with DPI ”, 1 page, 7 August 1992, Department of Public Information - United Nations Press Release, NGO/211 PI/770, The Dag Hammarskjöld Library, United Nations New York, New York, 10017, Head Librarian Phone: (212) 963-7443 - Fax: (212) 963-2388 - Room: L-327A, [email protected] (28) “The Charter of the United Nations”, 26 June 1945, The Dag Hammarskjöld Library, United Nations New York, New York, 10017, Head Librarian Phone: (212) 963-7443 - Fax: (212) 963-2388 - Room: L-327A, Electronic Mail [email protected] (Internet site: http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter/index.html )