This is what the FCN said in defence of the book and includes another email that just came in from Denmark. The molestation and privacy issues aren't going away for the Watchtower. Send copies on to friends.
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Covering the Bible, health, religion, science etc
All Belief Systems Welcome, Come To
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jahchristian
Egrouper Annette (Danish name Åge Iversen - netmor at yahoo.com) sent the following produced in full which we alluded to in the last full newsletter and which the anti-cults "doomsdaycults" Yahoo egroup has also already run. Before you read her article which at its beginning refers to her investigating spying on JW bedroom activities then elsewhere notes other issues, we wish to note in its defence the following:
The extent of surveillance from congregation to congregation likely
varies, although as all former JWs will recall all JWs are told to
report on each other. Watchtower Society heads put out articles
saying for elders to no longer "police" the bedrooms in 1978 which
you can confirm by looking in the index or via CD ROM under sex or
oral sex. In a talk (but not in writing) in 1983 members were
told "The Practice" of some marital intimacies can lead to
Expulsion. This whole topic has also discussed on Jehovahs-
Witness.com. So regular JWs absent that evening have been "expelled" (harassed/trained) without clearly aware why. See
for yourself that the "Insight" books by the WTS have articles on all
Bible books except the Song of Solomon (also called Canticles) which
has much positive marital imagery out of line with the Gov Body's
views of what is "holy." Instructed to keep such things, child
molestation etc "in-house," when asked most elders deny the 1983-
onwards policy on sex in the confines of matrimony in order to
protect the Gov Body.
In 2001 nearly 100,000 JW congregations existed earthwide and privacy
abuses in only 1% of those would entails abuses in 1,000 halls. If
25% of the abuses occur in the USA then that's 250 cases of abuse of
privacy or at least 4 halls having such problems per state, although
many times that number in some of the larger population states. Ray
Franz's two books give concrete examples of spying, noting for
example an instance where an observant JW noticed elders watching his
home from behind bushes after which he crept up behind and took their
pictures. Also in Greece branch Bethelites in a van were arrested
and convicted of breaking the law by secretly videotaping exJWs who
showed up to partake of emblems at an apartment. After this occurred
Watchtower magazines began denouncing Greece and the Greek Orthodox
Church as allegedly being major "human rights" violators against
JWs. Many years ago ex-Zone/Branch Servant William Schnell wrote
Thirty Years A Watchtower Slave in which he described visual
surveillance and the usage of files including against himself.
Anette's nation Denmark has been home to some particularly bad cases
of invasions of privacy by the usage of files kept on members
(strictly against European Union law) which have been published in
the Danish paper Politiken. Outraged to learn what had been going on
a number of JWs there quit the WTS and formed groups in opposition to
the WTS, for example lobbying legislators and distributing "No JWs"
labels for affixing to doors. As said this does not mean that
pervasive spying, even regarding married couple's sexual activities,
occurs in every single congregation. But recall that many
congregations do have cases where elders did the Watchtower Society's
will and covered up, for example, child molestation.
(silentlambs.org) In fact some have estimated the number of such
congregations at least in the USA are much much greater than 1%.
We believe that in those places in particular compliant elders have
felt pressure to also invade privacy "for the good of the
organization." In some situations members have reported elders
resorting to physical harassment (poking, shoving etc),
hinting "Jehovah's eyes are everywhere" and giving details of the
members' most private conversations and bedroom doings with their own
marriage mates. Again, there are good elders but those who openly
speak up against the WTS are subject to so-called "training"
or "disciplining in righteousness". For example Bill Bowen spoke up
openly and ceased being a JW elder over child molestation then his
every step (even to the bathroom) was dogged in the Draffensville,
Kentucky, (near Paducah) Kingdom Hall, he received threatening mail,
was called "Satan," etc so it's not surprising more people have not
yet gone public over the privacy issue either although in the
anonymity of chatrooms it is sometimes discussed. Most of us would
call these abuses harassment. We therefore commend Anette for her
continuing investigative efforts regarding the invasion of privacy
issue and pray that many others will follow in her footsteps.
Anette wrote the following:
"Finally I recieved a response , for my request to obtain a specific
artikle from Berlingske Tidende, Denmark. The article I recieved was,
however again, not the one I requested about the elders spying on
Jehovas Witnesses in their private bedrooms. I will keep trying to
get it though. The book that is again referred to in the following
article, has been mailed to me 2 weeks ago and will hopefully soon
show up in my mailbox.
Berlingske Newspaperdata: date- october 6 1994...Writer: Åge Iversen.
Archive in the organization, who expose information about Jehovas
Witnesses. Article heading: "Jehovas Witnesses rule with force and
deadly fear." Subtitle:"The invisible prison".
How far can a civilized world stretch itself in relations to an
organization, that makes slaves, without an identity, out of it's
members? (referring to the book "Skæbner fra et usynligt
fængsel"(victims of an invisible prison). The religious sect, Jehovas
Witnesses, is again in the spotlight in connection with Irma
Lauridsens book"Skæbner fra et usynligt fængsel".The book is an
atrocious revelation of, what is going on behind the shining and
polished front, that Jehovas Witnesses try to keep up toward the rest
of the world. This book is unique in that it gives those people a
voice, who have been through this organizations psychopathic
brainwashing. What these people have been the subject of, can mildly
said, be called downright dirty.
The book reveales an organization, who uses religion as a front for
their real aganda, which is money and power. The organization is
based on a mix of fear, anxiety, division and cronic guilt. because
the whole organizations fundamentally buils on deadly fear. If you do
not do exactly what the organization tells you, you will die on
doomsday, which can arrive at any time now. People who dare to speak
against the organization are disfellowshipped and get a deathsentence
along as baggage. This deathsentence, is in some cases, impossible
for a person to cope with, as this persons social network is pulled
from under them from one monent to the next. By which means the
deathsentence is carried out, the organization leave up to each
person, weather it be mental illness or suicide. New scientific
findings shows, that mental illness is much higher among people, who
are or has been in contact with Jehovas Witnesses, than in the rest
of the population.
In the question about blood, the deathsentence is delivered at the
christening . At that time a person gets disfellowshipped if they
don't agree to die for the organization. The watchtower, Jehovas
Witnesses organization, is run by force. Human rights are suppressed
and grossly violated. The human rights convention in this country
(Denmark) ensures, that every citizen in this country, has the right
to think, believe and speak freely. The right to change religion and
the right to cast their vote in political elections. All these rights
are prohibited for Jehovas Witnesses. To think, to believe and to say
something, that is not accepted in The Watchtowers rules and
regulations, is cause for being disfellowshipped. To change religion
will cause the social network to be removed. Th vote in political
elections is cause for
disfellowship.
That is why I(Åge Iversen) am investigating allegations about The
Watchtower, that has been presented to The Human Rights Tribunal in
Strasbourg. By the same token, Jehovas Witnesses have to break the
code of silence, that medical personnell and others adhere to, if
they, as employees at at hospital have access to information about
other Jehovas Witnesses, who have had an abortion or a
bloodtransfusion. They have to beat their children even if it is
strictly forbidden according to danish law.They have to refuse any
form of military training, as the countrys requirement of an
individual, is transferred to The Watchtower. They have to put God's
law ahead of the countrys law.
The Watchtower is a totalitarian and dictatorial state within a state
that uses brainwashing as a means to accomplice their goal. This they
do by inducing a constant deadly fear, combined with the surpression
of any form of pleasure and joy. These methodes has the greatest
impact on the children. They do not have an earthly chance to
experience anything else but The Watchtower world. Everything else is
forbidden and a sin. This extreme oppression of pleasure is in many
cases the cause of incest and rape among Jehovas Witnesses. All ex-
Jehovas Witnesse are telling about frustrated sexual feelings among
Jehovas Witnesses, because everything of sexual nature is surpressed
and made visible.
The rest of the Article is about how The Watchtower do not adhere to
any law but their own and how incest and rape victims are punished
and the perpetrators go free.
Annette"
