Hi Why: Living in thje USA I am unfamiliar with the Austialian Women's Weekly. Judging from your comments, it must not be a credible journal. Using such sources is a frequent tactic of the Watchtower writers. I truly believe that these people who write the Watchtower do not understand even basic high school journalism. There are some basic rules:
Correctly quote a source (don't put words in their mouth).
Verify the Source is the source (don't accept hearsay).
Independently confirm what the source said (cover your ass from suit).
Make sure the source is credible (is in a position to know).
A cool Experience: To illusstrate the importance of your post, I must go back in time to when I was leaving the Watch Tower religion in 1992.
Alan F. who posts a lot here is very strong in the sciences. His background is in the electronics engineering discipline. I share a similar discipline with him in that I was an electrical engineer in the nuclear power industry, engaging in testing and analysis. I did that type of work for about 25 years. Both of our professional backgrounds demand accuracy, and proper use of source information. Today, I work in commercial real estate, property management and court receivership. Likewise, I produce various reports all of which must be accurate, use credible sources, etc.
One day, Alan F came up to my house as we got to know one another during our exit process from the JWs. He had completed a critque of the JW book on Evolution. His work totaled about 500 pages. So it was obviously very detailed.
I looked at the references that Alan critqued, and he pointed out to me how the Watch Tower based much of the book on what a British TV fiction-tabloid writer said. They also quoted from such sources as "Popular Science" which is a tabloid version of science journalism.
I was shocked: My utter amazement was at two very important things: 1) That the Society uses such poor references, poor quoting methods, and 2) That I misssed all this, even though I am a professional in the sciences, and in some level of law.
The average JW who grows up in the religion, never goes beyond High School, and ends up working part time janitorial jobs to survive waiting on Armageddon, stands a slim chance of seeing or understanding the fraud that is being perpetrated upon them.
Thanks for your good post that raises a great issue. - Amazing
