Howdy,
Well, didn't get much response from the PR I sent to media outlets for the Dallas/Ft Worth Texas convention. So I decided to redo the PR and try again, for this coming weekend in Florence, South Carolina. I have sent it to the following:
Morning News (newspaper)
WBTW - 13 - CBS
WPDE - 15 - ABC
Following is the text of the PR:
************************************************
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRESS RELEASE
Tuesday, June 7, 2005
JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES DESCEND ON FLORENCE, SOUTH CAROLINA, FOR ANNUAL RELIGIOUS CONVENTION
DESPITE SLOWING GROWTH IN THE US DUE TO A NUMBER OF SCANDALS IN RECENT YEARS, THOUSANDS OF DEVOUT JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES FROM THE SURROUNDING AREA WILL BE MEETING AT THE FLORENCE CIVIC CENTER THIS WEEKEND.
FLORENCE, SC - For this one weekend, area Jehovah’s Witnesses will suspend the door to door proselytizing for which they are so well known, in order to meet together for a three day program of instruction prepared by the world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Brooklyn, New York. This gathering is only one of two hundred twenty-seven (227) such conventions to be held this summer in the United States, with dozens more in countries around the world.
Few in the community at large know much about the beliefs and activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses, in spite of their well known evangelical activities to distribute the books, magazines, pamphlets, and tracts they produce by the millions. Once informed of their beliefs, many view them as a high control group (sometimes referred to as a cult).
Their ranks grew rapidly in the last few decades of the twentieth century, in spite of the documentation of their failed prophecies, constantly changing Bible chronology, flip-flopping doctrinal changes, bizarre medical advice, and dogmatic teachings that many consider physically and emotionally harmful. That growth has slowed somewhat in the last few years, and according to many ex-members the reason for this is greater access to information exposing these “problems”, especially via the Internet. As a brief example, please note the following:
• One of their core doctrines is that their leadership, called the Governing Body, is ‘God’s sole channel of communication to mankind.’ To even question this is to be labeled an “apostate” and be expelled from the organization. Such expelling also includes a complete shunning of the apostate by all former friends and family, which practice has been proven to be mentally and emotionally harmful, and a primary tactic of control used by cults. Thousands of families have been torn apart by such dysfunctional and harsh doctrines.
• Another strongly held belief is that very soon, more than six billion humans will be executed by God, and only active Jehovah’s Witnesses will survive this global genocide. An actual date for this end has been predicted by Jehovah’s Witnesses on several occasions, only to lose thousands of members each time the promised date passed without incident.
• Their well know practice of refusing blood transfusions, regardless of the severity of the medical condition, has led to thousands of needless deaths.
• More recently, their internal procedures regarding the treatment of pedophiles within their midst have been exposed as harmful to victims and protective of the perpetrators. Media in several countries, including the news program Dateline NBC here in the US, have been instrumental in publicizing this scandal.
• After demonizing for decades the United Nations as the “beast” of Revelation and a ‘tool of the Devil’, and after criticizing other religions for joining part in UN activities in the pages of their magazines, it was recently exposed that the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of New York was secretly registered with the UN for most of the 1990’s. Interestingly, they cancelled their registration with the UN the very day after their membership was exposed by an article in a UK newspaper.
For further information on these and other scandals, as well as their beliefs and activities, please review the information provided by the following sources: www.silentlambs.org quotes.watchtower.ca www.freeminds.org www.freedomofmind.com www.watchtowerinformationservice.org
Contact: Brandon Bartlett - fax (866) 801-8642
If you decide to run a story on this subject, we would greatly appreciate it if you would simply notify us by fax.
Thank you.
###
***************************
Forgive the formatting above. I'll let you know if anything happens on this one.
Brandon
