Most of us are familiar with the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society's association with the UN as an NGO. This fact has been confirmed via correspondence with the UN numerous times, notably in a letter received recently by one of our own members. For details and photocopies, see here:
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/11/65439/1.ashx
In the letter, the United Nations staffer indicated that she had received "scores" of similar letters and was unable to respond to them all. This prompted several members here to start talking about a letter writing campaign to petition the United Nations to post details of the WTBTS' association as NGO on the official UN web site. This would enable people who want the facts to confirm them easily and reliably, and it would hopefully relieve the UN Department of Public Information of some of its workload.
The steps are easy:
- Use the letter below as a general template. If you copy-paste the template, please be sure to replace with three [ bracketed sections ] with your own content.
- Please strongly consider writing the letter entirely in your own words. Our goal is not to send a thousand identical letters to the UN. Instead, we would like to put a thousand different human faces on the issue to show the UN why this request is so important to us.
- Please definitely include the highlighted bulleted points, which detail the specifics of our request.
- Drop the letter in the mail.
If each person posts a reply to this thread when they have sent their mail, we can keep an unofficial tally of roughly how many letters have been sent. Please encourage your friends and family to write as well. Spread the word on other XJW boards. An hour spent by each of us can help us accomplish this great goal!
On your marks! Get set! Go!
SNG, on behalf of several others here
[ template letter follows ]
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Chief, NGO Section
Department of Public Information
Room S-1070L
United Nations, New York, N.Y. 10017
January 27, 2004
To Whom It May Concern:
I recently read excerpts from a letter sent by Ms. Isolda Oca to an acquaintance of mine which detailed the association of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society with the United Nations as a Non-Governmental Organization between 1992 and 2001. On behalf of the scores of people who have viewed this letter, I wish to express my sincere thanks to your office for providing this straightforward verification of the facts. I would also like to describe why such information is so important to people in my situation, as well as to make a special request that you publish this information on your official United Nations web site.
First, please allow me to give a brief history. [ Briefly describe how this information has benefited you. ]
The reason this relates to the United Nations is that for decades the Watchtower Society has demonized the UN, portraying it as the Wild Beast of Revelation, on which the Great Harlot rides. [ Include some quotations if you like. ] The UN figures prominently in Watchtower predictions for the end of the world. Because of this fact, and because Witness doctrine enforces strict political neutrality ? even in the face of death ? the association of the Watchtower Society with the United Nations in 1992 poses a contradiction of extremely shocking nature. So utterly unbelievable is it that when faced with this information to this effect, Witnesses will insist that it must be a fabrication. Actual proof of such association would indicate hypocrisy in the extreme on the part of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.
In her letter to my acquaintance (postmarked 20 January 2004, but accidentally dated 19 January 2003), Ms. Oca mentioned that your office has received scores of letters requesting verification of these facts. She also requested that the letter be shared, since it was not possible to respond individually to each request. I would submit that there are two groups of people sending you requests for verification of the Watchtower Society?s membership in the UN: 1) People trying to secure concrete proof of the Watchtower Society?s involvement to show to friends and family still in the organization, and 2) People in the organization who are shown such proof, but who refuse to believe it unless it comes directly from official channels. Since Witnesses are indoctrinated that disseminating information harmful to the Watchtower Society is ?apostasy? ? the worst type of sin possible for humans ? it is not realistic to expect current Witnesses to share the facts regarding this matter.
I would like to petition your office urgently to consider posting a brief statement of the facts regarding this subject on your official web site. Such a clear statement on the UN web site would accomplish two things: 1) It would allow the thousands of people who are confused as to the truth of this matter to get an accurate and trustworthy account of the facts, and 2) it would relieve your office of the considerable volume of mail you are likely to continue getting on this subject for years to come.
Ideally, such a page would include the following facts:
- The dates of the Watchtower Society?s membership as an NGO.
- The names of the Watchtower Society officers who signed the agreement.
- The then-current terms an organization must agree to in order to become an NGO.
- Photocopies of the agreement with signatures.
As long as the page were a part of the un.org domain and could be found using the search function, it would be more than adequate.
I realize that this is a very unusual request. But I hope you are able to understand why it would be so important to so many people. There are literally millions of friends and family members out there who stand to benefit immensely from knowing the facts. I can assure you that your help in this regard would mean a great deal to me personally, and to many of my friends.
I have the utmost respect for your organization. I thank you for your kind consideration in this matter.
Very sincerely,
[ Signature and typed full name ]
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