In my open letter to the Governing Body "I Want My Mother Back," I told them I would be sending copies of my letter to others as well-- friends, family, media-- along with a list of web sites where these could go for a more complete picture of the WTS's doctrines.
Here it is, but I need HELP finishing the list. I decided to add BOOKS because not everyone has internet access. Please give me the names of the books that have so often been recommended here (I didn't write them down). Thanks in advance.
INFORM YOURSELF"Make sure of all things. Hold fast to what is fine. Abstain from every form of wickedness."
--1 Thessalonians 5:21, 22
Here is a list of resources for anyone interested in learning more about Jehovah's Witnesses and the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society--who they are, where they came from, what they teach and are taught, what they say about themselves, and what others say about them.
WEB SITES ON THE INTERNET
www.watchtower.org "Official web site of Watchtower Society, the legal organization in use by Jehovah's Witnesses."
www.jw-media.org "Authorized Site of the Office of Public Information of Jehovah's Witnesses."
www.strictlygenteel.co.uk "Theocratic Resources." "The intention is to provide access to publications which would normally be found in the library at the Kingdom Hall, but which often cannot be found there today."
www.reexamine.org "...a resource for all to carefully examine their faith." Contains a mirror site of quotes.watchtower.ca which was shut down and appropriated by the Watch Tower Society of Canada who also tried to sue the owner for $100,000. The Quotes site was "devoted to collecting and preserving interesting and/or significant quotes from the Watch Tower Society, without additional commentary or editorial, for the purpose of scholarship and research."
www.silentlambs.org A website dedicated to protecting children through education, and assisting survivors with healing in the area of child abuse and molestation. The Watch Tower Society's Child Protection Policy has been shown to protect abusers far more than it protects children or helps survivors. "Victims and advocates have been silenced by sanctions within the congregation that range from being marked as bad association to outright disfellowsipping for trying to protect children."
http://ajwrb.org "Official web site of Associated Jehovah's Witnesses for Reform on Blood." Addresses the issue of the Watch Tower's official stand on blood transfusions and the medicinal use of blood products and fractions.
www3.baylor.edu/Church_State/ordering_publications.htm Where you can order a copy of the essay "Jehovah's Witnesses, Blood Transfusions, and the Tort of Misrepresentation," found in Baylor University's peer reviewed Journal of Church and State's Autumn 2005 issue. It exposes the vulnerability of the Watch Tower Society to tort claims because of their misrepresentation of secular information.
www.jwtruth.com Here you can find, amongst other things, The Jensen Letters, documenting the correspondence between an active JW elder and the Watch Tower Society on the issue of blood. Because of the "continued absence of sound scriptural answers" to his questions, he finally found it necessary to leave his position as an elder.
www.randytv.com/secret/unitednations.htm Information about the Society's secret relationship with the United Nations, and why such a relationship was hypocritical and a violation of their own teachings.
www.jwfiles.com "Research on Jehovah's Witnesses."
www.freeminds.org "...promoting awareness of the Watchtower and its authoritarian tactics."
http://dbhome.dk/carlo A copy of the secret guidebook all JW elders must follow.
www.rsicop.org/si/2000-11/beliefs.html An article from Skeptical Inquirer magazine that doesn't say anything about JWs specifically, but does help people understand "Why Bad Beliefs Don't Die."
www.empowerthespirit.com/truthquest/whoami.htm "Help for ex-Jehovah's Witnesses Seeking Comfort and Truth." Because, as many of us know, learning the truth about "The Truth" can be very traumatic. It often leaves one without friends, family, structure, support, and belief in God, causing one to feel lost, alone, betrayed, shocked, angry, and devastated, with nowhere to turn.
www.jehovahs-witness.com A supportive, informative discussion forum open to anyone who is, was, or is thinking about becoming a JW, or otherwise has experiences in connection with them or questions about them.
BOOKS
Crisis of Conscienceand
In Search of Christian Freedom by Raymond Franz, former member of the Governing Body of the Watch Tower Society, carefully detailing his reasons for choosing the doctrines of God over the teachings of men, and why this meant he could no longer be one of Jehovah's Witnesses.
[your help here]
~Merry