This is the way I sent it - I don't know if they will run it or not.
Letter to the Editor Last week, newspapers all over the country reported a settlement to sexual abuse victims from within the Jehovah's Witnesses church. Reportedly, 16 victims have been compensated by the church, headquartered in Brooklyn New York. The settlement has not been disclosed, and the victims have been gagged in an effort of 'damage control'. However, beginning several years ago, this problem of pedophilia within the religion began to gather attention, when a prominent elder in Kentucky, Bill Bowen, resigned as an elder within the religion over such coverups. He was excomunicated from the church for his efforts to change the policies that lead to the church being a breeding ground for such actions. The problem stems from the groups' use of archaic Hebrew law to require that anyone claiming to be molested sexually must provide two or three witnesses to the crime in order for the elders in charge to take any action. Hence, pedophiles, who work their evil without two witnesses [which I would assume is always], cannot be charged and excomunicated from the religion. Further, the Watchtower society has instructed elders to contact the authorities only in the few states that require such reporting. Families have been instructed to keep such matters out of the public eye, so as not to bring 'reproach on Jehovah', the Hebrew God the religion worships. Additionally, no one in the congregation, outside of the elders involved, is ever informed of the matter in such cases, leaving the children exposed to danger. In some cases, those victims have been victimized a second time, to silence them, by excomunication as slanderers for trying to warn others in the congregations of the dangers, or just expressing their pain to others. Bill Bowen has formed a victims support group called Silentlambs, and since it's inception just a few years back, this group has been contacted by over 7000 victims. Experts are assessing that the problem, per capita, may be far larger than that of the Catholic Chuch, due to the insignificant size of this sect. But the pain they are causing by allowing these monsters to co-exist within the same congregations with many little children who are unaware, and knocking on the community doors of our homes, is unpardonable. Please protect yourself and your children. Get informed. Just google SilentLambs and get the facts. Or google Jehovah's Witnesses and sexual abuse. An educated public is our only protection against policies that hide pedophiles within the walls of churches. High on the list of reasons I left the religion myself after nearly 40 years was my awareness of this horrible allowance within the walls of the Kingdom Hall. I was, and am, personally ostracized within that group for leaving. For the record, I was never sexually abused, but I knew of some cases within the religion. I speak out in love for the unknowing children who may become the next victims of such isolationist religious groups.