Campaign to stop pro-JW documentary

by Grace 41 Replies latest jw friends

  • jgnat
    jgnat

    You can send your comments directly to PBS (though they do not promise a response due to the high volume of requests they receive.)

    http://www.pbs.org/aboutsite/aboutsite_emailform.html

  • IT Support
    IT Support

    Thanks, jgnat.

    However, that form has a limit of 500 characters! This is what I wrote to Tom and Joel:

    Hi,

    I came across your web site www.knocking.org and am extremely concerned about the unrealistic and one-sided--dare I say, ' sanitized '-- view of the Witnesses that you appear to be portraying . Your web site states that your documentary is federally funded , intended for national broadcast on PBS in 2006. I would seriously urge you, in the interests of public safety, to reconsider your view of the Watchtower religion and see through their promotional 'spin' to recognize they are not as benign as they like to portray.

    What Are The Real Issues?

    Civil liberties

    You r web site (http://www.knocking.org/issues.html) state s , "Jehovah's Witnesses h ave gone before the U.S. Supreme Court 46 times, more than any other group. Their 37 wins set Constitutional precedents ranging from free speech and assembly to equal protection." This is t r ue and the Watchtower Society is to be justifiably congratulated for this record.

    Less laudably, however, the Watchtower Society daily abuses the human rights of literally thousands of its members. It denies current members the right of free speech by forbidding them from speaking to former members , even if they are close family members . And it denies former members their right of freedom of worship by refusing to allow them to leave the religion with dignity, should they come to disagree with Watchtower's practices or doctrines.

    Holocaust

    Your web site states, "German Jehovah's Witnesses went door-to-door speaking out against Hitler. For their noncompliance to the Nazi State, they were arrested, their books burned and printing presses destroyed. They were among the first put in the concentration camps..." This is true. The integrity, decency and bravery of many individual Jehovah's Witnesses, and their refusal to cooperate with Nazism, deserves the highest praise.

    Sadly, however, the same cannot be said for the Watchtower organization, which tried to play power politics with Adolf Hitler. At first, J. F. Rutherford (President of the Watchtower Society) tried to ingratiate the movement with the Nazis. When that failed, he called on the Witnesses to go from door-to-door (while under total ban) playing phonographs and selling Watchtower literature. In addition, he had the Witnesses distribute extremely anti-Nazi leaflets all over Germany, which was simply insane. When one Witness was caught, all the Gestapo had to do was beat him or her to a pulp and find out who else was involved in the distribution. Quite unnecessarily, then, many ended up in the concentration camps who otherwise might have escaped. While the role of Nazi state can never be excused and was the direct cause of Witnesses' suffering, Rutherford himself deliberately provoked the state and must be held, at the very least, indirectly responsible for the consequences.

    Medicine

    You r web site state s, "Jehovah's Witnesses do not accept blood transfusions based on an interpretation of the Bible that blood is sacred." That is indeed the public justification they give for this policy. Even if it was true, their Biblical interpretation is based on selected phrases, taken out of context, misinterpreted and given an added twist of hyperbole.

    What the Watchtower Society does not publici z e, however, is how much suffering their changing medical policies have caused over the years. For example, starting around 1921, they repeatedly condemned the use of vaccinations, considering them un scriptural, "a crime," "devilish," and they were sometimes likened to rape. They dogmatically stated that "Vaccination is a direct violation of the everlasting covenant that God made with Noah after the flood." The prohibition was not reversed until 1952. M ore recently, organ transplants were permitted up until 1967, when they were suddenly deemed "cannibalistic." That ban was lifted in 1980.

    In the early 1940s, blood transfusions were spoken of favorably i n their publications , but were then banned in 1945. In 1954, the policy was clarified to specifically forbid the acceptance of blood fractions along with whole blood. This changed in 1958 when limited use of blood fractions was permitted: gamma globulin and blood serum for diphtheria inoculation. Such blood fractions were again banned in 1961 and then unbanned in 1964. One-by-one, over the years since, most 'minor' fractions have been allowed.

    A major problem is that t he Watchtower Society has used medical--not Scriptural--arguments to weave such a complex set of rules and exceptions that it leaves the average Jehovah's Witness baffled as to which blood components are 'permitted' and which are not. The consequence, however, is that today these Pharisaical regulations would actually permit a Jehovah's Witness, if they only realised, to accept a cocktail of blood fractions that would satisfy the most unsympathetic surgeon. Thus , it is in correct that Jehovah's Witnesses do not now accept blood transfusions.

    Now, it must be acknowledged that blood transfusion carries risks and the whole community will potentially benefit from advances in bloodless surgery, often 'guinea-pigged' by Jehovah's Witnesses. But at what price? The Watchtower Society has admitted that thousands of their members have died while obeying their changing prohibitions on blood , misguidedly believing they were doing God's will . They have never published the numbers of Jehovah's Witnesses killed or severely harmed by their vacillating policies on vaccination and organ transplants. No doubt the family of the last Jehovah's Witness to die for want of an organ transplant was extremely upset when the ban was rescinded, as it meant their relative had died in vain, from following men's commands not God's.

    In March 1998 the Watchtower Society reached an amicable settlement with the Bulgarian government and the European Commission on Human Rights (which operates under the authority of the World Court) that Jehovah's Witnesses in Bulgaria would be permitted free choice over whether or not to accept blood, "without any control or sanction." In every other country in the world, a Jehovah's Witness who voluntarily accepts a blood transfusion "must be cut off from God's people by excommunication or disfellowshiping... As a rebellious opposer and unfaithful example to fellow members of the Christian congregation he must be cut off therefrom by disfellowshiping." The ex-Jehovah's Witness is then shunned by their Jehovah's Witness family and friends. Thus, as a consequence of this settlement, either (a) the Watchtower Society had one policy for Bulgaria and another for the rest of the world, or (b) the Watchtower Society committed perjury before the European Commission on Human Rights, and Bulgarian Jehovah's Witnesses would continue to be disfellowshipped for accepting a blood transfusion. Amazingly, in April 1998 the Watchtower Society's Public Affairs Office in New York issued a press release stating that "The terms of the agreement do not reflect a change in the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses." And in August 1998 the Watchtower Society stated, in reply to a question on the matter, that, "Each individual is responsible for his own choices in life and the repercussions of those choices... this may at times lead to the Scriptural action of disfellowshipping." It is clear the Watchtower Society ha d no intention of honoring their agreement with the Bulgaria n government and the European Commission on Human Rights. Bulgarian Witnesses will continue to be subject to "sanctions" and "control , " despite Watchtower's assurances to the contrary. Watchtower leaders are proved to be deceptive and have demonstrated that neither their word nor their sworn statements can be trusted .

    There is one final medical matter that deserves attention. Medical professionals (and also lawyers and accountants) who are Jehovah's Witnesses are required to breach patient/client confidentiality if in their professional work they learn of a fellow Witness breaking Watchtower's rules. Thus the ludicrous situation could arise where a Jehovah's Witness doctor could be administering a blood transfusion in one room (permitted), and reports to the local church officials (' elders ') on a fellow Jehovah's Witness in the next room who is donating blood (forbidden) which he conscientiously feels obliged to do after accepting a transfusion of a ( permitted ) blood fraction.

    Child abuse

    All the above 'issues' pale into insignificance when compared with the Watchtower's criminal negligence in failing to properly care for children in the congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses, which have resulted in Kingdom Halls around the world becoming pedophile havens. Individual Jehovah's Witnesses are generally decent, well-meaning--albeit misguided--individuals. However, Watchtower Society is a menace to society and its children.

    The following has repeatedly taken place in congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide, which all strictly follow the policies laid down by their global headquarters in New York: -
    • Church rules require there to be two witnesses to the alleged child abuse before elders will take any disciplinary action. If there are not two witnesses and the alleged abuser denies the charge, he is considered innocent until proven guilty. This works to the pedophile's advantage since he's highly unlikely to hang around for another witness to appear before molesting his victim.
    • Even when the abuser confesses what he has done during internal tribunals, he is given complete anonymity within the congregation and the elders will only report this to the authorities when compelled by state laws : e ven then, they have repeatedly broken these reporting laws. Where such laws do not exist, the pedophiles are usually shielded by the elders, acting directly on the instructions of Watchtower's Legal and Service Departments.
    • If there were not two witnesses to the alleged abuse incident, the elders will have decided the accused is 'innocent' and parents of molested children are threatened with expulsion from the congregation--and total shunning by Jehovah's Witness family and friends--if they try to warn other members whose children may be in danger. The parents of a victim are required to follow the direction of the elders and trust their judgment of the matter. The 'reproach' of the congregation is turned into 'reproach' on God and provides the basis to keep parents from going outside the congregation for assistance. If a parent does go to the police, they are usually advised not to disclose what religion they are, so as to not bring 'reproach' on God's name. This can hinder police investigations by not giving them complete information . C ongregation members will often impede a police investigation, to protect a person the elders have already deemed 'innocent.'
    • While elders are usually instructed by Watchtower to remain neutral when it comes to reporting an incident of child abuse to the police, in reality, i f a parent of a victim reports their Jehovah's Witness abuser to the police, they--the parent and the victim--are often shunned and abandoned by the rest of the congregation for 'bringing reproach on the congregation.'
    • The child victims have been blamed for 'allowing it to happen.' A lthough Watchtower claims they support victims of child abuse and help them seek treatment, in reality Jehovah's Witnesses is a closed society that thinks everyone outside the organization is a part of Satan's world and will soon be destroyed by God at Armageddon. This reinforces the Jehovah’s Witness mentality that any time you go outside the organization, you should not trust what you are told because the help you obtain is ultimately from Satan. Thus a Watchtower letter to elders states that therapy could be sought for molestation victims if it was "in harmony with Bible principles." This implies victims would need to approach a therapist and demand that any guidance given must be in complete harmony with the Watchtower's interpretation of the Bible.
    • Elders themselves have absolutely no training in guidance, therapy or counseling when it comes to child molestation issues, and are specifically advised against getting any such training. They are told they "are spiritual shepherds only." The admonition was to listen, read a scripture, and say a prayer -- and that should be sufficient. Their attitude was that some things would not be solved until after Armageddon--when, they believe, God will transform the earth into a global paradise--and anyone with problems should learn to endure till then. Troubled victims are advised to cope by reading the Bible, praying, being regular at church meetings and participate more in their door-to-door ministry.
    • Even when local elders know a pedophile is present within their congregation, they take no steps to warn other parents of the danger in their midst. Watchtower's Service Department requires elders to maintain absolute confidentiality with all judicial matters--if a concerned elder breaches this to protect other children in the congregation, he risks being removed as an elder. There have been occasions when elders stopped their own children from being around 'known' pedophiles, while the children of other members of the congregation--because they were not told of the pedophile's past--were molested.
    • When someone is disciplined by local congregation elders--for child abuse or any other breach of Bible law--a record is kept in the congregation's confidential file and a copy is sent to Watchtower's Legal Department. These files contain thousands of crimes that have never been reported to police, and never will be, because Watchtower claims 'ecclesiastical privilege,' allowing thousands of child molesters to escape prosecution.
    • A pedophile can serve as an elder--or any other position of responsibility--in a congregation even if convicted by a court of law. In fact, this protection for a pedophile extends so far that if any Jehovah’s Witness disagrees with this policy, then that person can be deemed to be 'causing divisions' and can be disfellowshipped from the congregation and shunned .
    • When the pedophile moves from one congregation to another, the elders are supposed to send a letter to the new congregation telling them of that person's past. However, only the elders in the new congregation know this information. No one else within the congregation can be informed of the pedophile's presence, not even the elders' wives. This can be a real danger for children, putting them into contact with a confessed or convicted pedophile.
    • If a pedophile is expelled from the congregation, he may be reinstated again after as little as six months. He only has to convince the local elders he is 'repentant,' and he is back in among the children.
    • Jehovah's Witness pedophiles are expected to engage in their door-to-door 'preaching,' just like every other member of the congregation. The primary purpose of this 'preaching' is to start home Bible studies with members of the public. If a Jehovah's Witness pedophile starts a home Bible study with a family who has children, the Watchtower Society has no policies or protocols to monitor what is happening or to prevent further abuse. There have been occasions where a molester started a home Bible study with people that showed interest in the Jehovah's Witness religion, and then molested their children.

    Thus, when you -- or your child -- opens the door to Jehovah's W itness es , how are you to know if it is a pedophile 'knocking' at your door? As Australia's Graham Davis, an award-winning investigator with the 'Sunday' TV program on channel NineMSN, concluded in his report on May 29, 2005:

    "A two-witness standard of proof, derisory punishment, routine forgiveness for acts of contrition — the Jehovah's Witnesses are truly a magnet for paedophiles."

    Please, people deserve to be told the truth. I hope this information may be of assistance in helping you to present a more realistic and balanced view of Jehovah's Witnesses. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require documentary evidence for anything above.

    Regards,

    Ken Smith

    --

    "It is not religious persecution for an informed person to expose publicly a certain religion as being false... it is a public service..." The Watchtower 11/15/63 p. 688 par. 3

    References

    Official Watchtower child abuse policy

    Jehovah's Witness sexual abuse victims support

    Some recent TV programs reporting Watchtower's pedophile problems

    I don't think that would quite fit into 500 characters!

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