Quite a while back Garybuss said:
I think it's well done. The producers obviously had high Watch Tower support for the project since they had the top
Watch Tower lawyer and a Watch Tower vice president on lengthy interviews.
The Witness statements, like the blood teaching, seems like a public relations department sanitized statement. The
elder says "We don't take blood in any form.". It seems to me a blood fraction like hemoglobin might be seen as "any form".
He added:
I'm glad I ordered it and glad I watched it and the purchase price was well spent by me.
So, I did not buy the DVD. I have trusted Gary's recommendations in the past on books, and was not disappointed
when I trusted him. Instead, I decided to go to the May 2nd screening in a small theater in Chicago. The promise
was not made that anyone from the film would be present, but I thought that a big city ought to get someone.
We got the producer/writer himself- Joel Engardio.
I expected a biased film, pro-JW on how they fought for rights in the civil courts. Well, the story had some of that, but
it really was a film by a non-JW. He let the people in the film, JW's and non-JW's, make all the biased statements.
I thought it was very fair in it's treatment. (After all, I am biased. I might love it to attack JW's, but shouldn't expect it.)
It was really a film about the lives of the ordinary rank-and-file members that were chosen. There was balance in that
it allowed non-JW family to comment, and also others who had feelings about JW's. One family member even said
they are a cult, and that her grandson only feels that he shouldn't have blood because of the religion's "pressure" upon
him. Excellent for a 53 minute version- the same one that will air on PBS. It won't convert people to JW's.
The discussion afterward- I looked around when the lights came on. I didn't recognize any JW's so I felt safe speaking
my mind, but at the same time, I recognized the tone of confrontational wasn't necessary. Joel wasn't a JW, and wasn't
defending any of their beliefs.
Joel said that he had a difficult time negotiating with WTS for some cooperation. He didn't get much at first. They had
to cooperate without being allowed any say-so in the finished product. In the end, they cooperated and provided some
film footage of the early days, along with some interviews. Joel said they had a courtesy showing at Bethel, and as far
as he could tell, they were okay with the end result. Even if they were not, it wouldn't have been changed.
The audience questions seemed to deviate a bit toward the JW's and beliefs. Not an attack, but trying to understand.
Nobody attacked the film and it's content. They just didn't understand these Jehovah's Witnesses. Joel explained things
from the view of a non-JW whose mother is a JW, and who, himself, went to KH meetings when a boy. The consensus
of the questioners was that JW's won't vote, won't serve in the military, but will try to use the court system to their
advantage.
Joel said that they would only use the courts to establish their own particular rights. They would not join other religions
in an effort to promote causes outside their own realm, such as abortion. I cut in and said "But they did join Jimmy
Swaggart in the 80's to avoid paying taxes on their literature." Joel agreed and he fully explained that to the audience,
how they filed as a friend of the court, lost, so they changed the sale of literature to donations-only.
I also asked "At the beginning, you (Joel) said that your mother wanted you to be a Witness, but you became a Journalist,
instead. Can you tell us why you could not have been both, or why that statement seemed important for you to put into
the film?" His answer was "A person could be both, but the JW's want you to focus on their preaching and not really on
career. I focused on career. Also, they don't want you to examine and question everything. I clearly wanted to do that."
Me and one other guy commented or questioned more than anybody else. At the end, Joel asked how many were JW's.
It's a small theater, 100 seats. Maybe 70 in attendance. I think about 25 were JW's. I noticed that they didn't participate
in the discussion, but listened. Discussion lasted about 40 minutes.
Ask anything, but I recommend the film for you all. Many JW's will like it, but will say it shows them as normal people.
Most outsiders will like it, and say it shows them as fundamentalist door-knockers, but they probably won't use the
words "whacko" or "bizarre" from this film. "Cult" might come up.