Newspaper Article Really Upset My Old Congregation

by Seeker4 11 Replies latest jw friends

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  Seeker4

  When my former congregation did a quickbuild in October, I worked with a reporter at a sister paper, a hard news daily, on an article that dealt with JWs - including a fair amount of not-so-flattering background - pedophile issues, the effect of the Net on the Witnesses, etc. I thought the reporter was really even-handed.

  I posted about it here on JWD under this topic: Newspaper Article on JWs today - Write the paper - PLEASE!!

  While I had hoped for a little harder edge to the piece, I talked with my ex-wife a few minutes ago, and found out that she and the congregation were really upset about the article. It ended up really pissing them off. She said she knew I was behind it, and that she and others had called the paper to complain about the article.

  God, that pleased me to no end! They got upset at the oddest things, and thought the piece was inaccurate. Read it for yourselves - it's really quite even handed.

  I told my ex-wife that this is really how the JWs are viewed on the outside, and they will never see it because they are forbidden to investigate anything on the Internet.

  My god, how they would have reacted if the article I wanted to get in there had been published!

  It was not the right time, but I will soon tell her to pass on to the body of elders that they should have just left me quietly alone instead of hunting me down to try to disfellowship me 8 months ago. Once they did that, the gloves came off, and I decided to become much more of an activist. If you check my other posts from earlier this year, they include the letter that was my response to being visited by an old elder friend and the new CO.

  I had a greater impact with that one article in this area, than the JWs have had in decades of Witnessing.

  And they haven't seen anything yet.

  S4
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  misspeaches

  They can be so silly at times. Don't they realise you are trying to elicit repsonses from people! Good for you S4. I can't wait to read about what else you have up your sleeve.

  Keep up the great anti-witnessing work!
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  Cellist

  They just can't seem to understand that saying, "let sleeping dogs lie". We avoid talking JW things in the community because we're "faded". But like you, if they came after us, the gloves would come off.

  Bravo to you.

  Cellist
• 

  AuldSoul

  If I could whistle shrilly in here, I would.

  Every little bit of pressure pops some out. I know people say JWs just draw in tighter, but that is a VERY uncomfortable way to live. Increase the internal pressure enough and it'll split wide open.

  Good job! Glad to know we will be seeing more examples of your fine work.

  AuldSoul
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  garybuss

  I hurt the Witnesses so bad here with the article I interviewed for 10 years ago that they had to build a new Kingdom Hall and start a new congregation. Before I opened my big mouth, they had one Kingdom Hall and three congregations. Now they have two Halls and four congregations.
  
  
  
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  Apostanator

  Good job Seeker4, I guess you came around and bit them in the Ass !!
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  Eyebrow2

  Besides the mention of the NH case, I don't see how the article was damaging...and why anyone at the hall would have been so offended. It seemed to be very accurate.

  But, maybe I would have if I was an active JW.
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  caligirl

  Ha! Some nerve getting upset at that article! It was too fair to them in my opinion. Nothing at all that should have gotten their panties in a bunch- just honest reporting. Seems that the quotes used in that article were given willingly enough- what else were they supposed to do but print them?
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  Mysterious

  I think the extraordinary growth was in reference to how far it has come since it was started rather than recent years. Any word on a followup article? Perhaps on their overreaction? Of course they deny all the child abuse information so its no wonder they were outraged but there was certainly no bias to the journalism imo.
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  Seeker4

  Eyebrow:
  That's the way I felt. It seemed pretty evenhanded. What they were upset about was that they thought it should have just dealt with the quickbuild, and not all the other issues as well.
  Part of it is that the Witnesses are so sheltered from all the controversy that we see around them. They don't look at it on the Net, and tend to avoid anything else that might question the WTS. it just shocks them when they see anything negative, whereas if they spent a half hour just investigating JWs online, it would be obvious.
  
  Mysterious:
  I wrote a followup editorial for that paper, and then rewrote it in a much condensed version, but it has yet to be published. My ex told me tht she called the paper and blasted them for the article that was published, and she probably wasn't the only one, so I'll bet the editor has been scared off from publishing the editorial. I've e-mailed him each week about what's happening, but haven't heard back for a month or so, which I think is a bit rude, as we're editors of papers under the same ownership.
  My bet is that more people read that article than I ever Witnessed to going house to house in this same area.
  The power of the press.
  S4