Campaign to stop pro-JW documentary

by Grace 41 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Grace

  I have been concerned since I read on a couple of posts about the pro-JW documentary which is in the works to be publicly aired on PBS. This is the website: http://www.knocking.org

  I studied the website, and it looks extremely favorable to Watchtower. I assume it will not present the side we all know to be true: the side that is shunning, hurtful, rips apart families, and is even dangerous. I know of people who have committed suicide because Watchtower got them so screwed up. And, judging by the response to my post on alcoholism and JWs, this is an issue unto itself.

  I suggest we all email various PBS stations to ask if they are, in fact, planning on broadcasting this documentary. If so, and they DO NOT PRESENT THE TRUTH OF WATCHTOWER by talking to ex-JW's, then I will be appealing to shows like 60 Minutes and other news magazine shows (both in the US and Canada) to tell the whole truth.

  I ask that each one of you who is equally disturbed by this pro-JW one-sided program to email PBS as well.

  Posting on this website is wonderful, and I thank the creators of this site; however, it is time we, as a collective, started taking action to teach the world the truth about this sadistic cult. Look at the members' directory on this site alone. Just by our sheer numbers we're a force to be reckoned with.
• 

  delilah

  I was wondering when someone would post this....It was sent to me from an old family friend last week...I didn't know what to make of it....wasn't really interested in reading about it or looking at the site, so I deleted it.....Maybe I will take a closer look now.

  Delilah
• 

  sweet tee

  I agree. BOTH sides should be represented. We know that the current R&F can't tell the whole truth without fear of repercussions. That's something that PBS needs to understand: Witnesses will only say what they are PROGRAMMED to say. You can't get any more biased than that.
• 

  HappyDad

  Grace......

  I have a hard time articulating my thoughts to paper ........ in this case........my Word Pad.

  Could you or someone else come up with a written pettition or whatever that I and others could send to the local PBS station with our name or e-mail address?

  I would be more than happy to send my two cents worth to WQED here in Pittsburgh.

  HappyDad
• 

  Grace

  I just "googled" PBS and, it appears, there is one PBS umbrella for all the stations (I could be wrong in this, but at first glance it appears so). I sent an email with my request that, if it is true that PBS plans on showing this program, that they may wish to interview ex-JWs because "I'm sure PBS would not want to be part of a propaganda campaign"; in other words, it would not be in PBS's best interest to air a program which is biased or one-sided. My email was short and to the point. I'll await my response from PBS.

  My point is this: if as many of us as possible email just to ask about it, then perhaps they will consider not showing something which has this much controversy. And, we know, untruth.

  Grace
• 

  Winston Smith :>D

  Good catch!

  An organized effort to ensure that PBS, at the very minimum, gives a BALANCED view regarding JW's should be put in motion.

  As it looks now, this will not be the case.

  Take a look at this quote from the website, it makes my stomach turn:

  KNOCKING tells a moving and enlightening story about how one unlikely religion — however ignored and criticized — became such a vital thread in the fabric of American life.

  A few form letters that we all can forward to the producers of this movie & to our local PBS stations should be drawn up and then mass mailed by the x-JW community.

  I think the goal here should not be to stop the film, but rather as stated, to allow for a balanced, opposing view from x-JW's. The more attention drawn to JW's IMO is good. Keeps them under the microscope and hopefully better behaved. Any rebuttal should not be an attack. As we all know, attacks on JW's only enforce the indoctrinated idea to JW's that they are God's Chosen Earthly Organization and are now being attacked by Satan.

  What say ye?
• 

  RescueMe2

  In doing a search of the names of the two gentleman who are behind this documentary, I found that Thomas Sheppard can be contacted
  Phone:(619) 231-0996 Fax: (619) 236-0683 SnailMail Address: 610 West Ash Street, Suite 1401, San Diego, CA 92101
  email : [email protected]
  

  I could not find any contact info for Joel P. Engardio, but did find that in 1995 he helped write an article regarding the Watchtower, with Kenneth L. Woodward which can be found on the Watchtower.observer.org site (link included here) titled "Apocalypse Later"

  Excerpt of that article:

  Jehovah's Witnesses decide the end is fluid
  
  «THE THIRD MILLENNIUM is just four years away, and you'd think that Jehovah's Witnesses would be ecstatic. Ever since the movement's inception in the 1870s, the Witnesses have insisted that the world as we know it is about to end. According to their unique Biblical calculations, the countdown to Armageddon commenced in 1914 -- the first world war was a major sign -- and Christ would establish his millennial kingdom on earth "before the generation who saw the events of 1914 passes away." For countless Witnesses, this prediction was good reason not to save money, start a career or make burial plans. As one of their leaders famously preached in 1918: "Millions now living will never die."
  
  From Newsweek magazine, December 18, 1995, page 59. Article by Kenneth L. Woodard, with Joel P. Engardio.
  
  Now, it seems, all millennial bets are off. In last month's issue of The Watchtower, the sect's leaders quietly acknowledged that Jesus was right in the first place, when he said that "no one knows the day or the hour." All previous references to timetables for Armageddon, the magazine now suggests, were speculation rather than settled doctrine. The year 1914 still marks the beginning of the last days. But those who hoped to witness the battle of Armageddon and the establishment of God's kingdom on earth will have to wait. Henceforth, any generation that experiences such calamities as war and plagues like AIDS could be the one to witness the end times. In short, the increasingly middle-class Witnesses would do well to buy life insurance.

  http://watchtower.observer.org/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040310/GRABBAGSELECTION/10519018

  Just a tiny bit of extra information on those who are actually doing the documentary. I think it's a good idea to get as many as possible to email PBS to ask that they be fair in their coverage of the Watchtower Society and the JW's themselves.
• 

  carla

  I feel the same way. I was going to ask Simon if in the Action: Jump to- area if it would be possible to add a 'letter writing area' ? If people could please include any emails or snail mail addresses it would be helpful. thanks, carla
• 

  garybuss

  It would be a crime if the Nazi Germany resistance story was told without telling that the resistance came AFTER compromise and lobbying failed.
  
  If these documentary makers are honest they will check with Jim Penton and Ray Franz about the history of the organization.
  
  The Watch Tower Publishing Corporation is definitely a business success story. Jehovah's Witness's story is an entirely different matter. The Witness people have a long history of being used, abused, set up, and exploited by the Watch Tower Publishing Corporation, called "the Society".
  
  Being used by the Society to distribute it's products and solicit donations.
  Being abused as children sexually, psychically, and emotionally.
  Being abused as adults by the blood medical guidelines and the shunning practice.
  Being set up to be in conflict with the education systems from flag salute issues to athletics.
  Being set up to be in conflict with the selective service by required refusing alternate service.
  Being set up to be in conflict with the economic systems by limiting educations and job restrictions.
  Being exploited as unpaid agents for the Society while serving as elders and pioneers.
  Being exploited by avoiding political compromise while the Society associated with the United Nations.
  
  The film detailing the facts of the Watch Tower Corporation's tricks like the Bulgaria blood deal, scams like the Tacoma Dome parking practice, and frauds like their literature donation arrangement, would have to be a SERIES.
  
  
• 

  Winston Smith :>D

  Additional info from the website:

  Engardio was raised a Jehovah's Witness in Michigan, but never joined the religion. His mother is the only Jehovah's Witness in his Catholic family.