Stephen Bates recently wrote an article about the flogging death of a girl in Chicago http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4301026,00.html
He kindly sent me a copy of a letter he received from the WTS office in Pennsylvania and gave me permission to post it. I don't have time to fix the formatting right now.
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of PennsylvaniaThe attachment is a four paragraph statement by Leon Slack, dated
25 Columbia Heights,
Brooklyn,
New York
Phone: 718 560-5000December 14 2001
Emily Bell
Editor in Chief, Guardian Unlimited (ie: our electronic website)
3-7 Ray Street,
London EC1R 3DRDear Ms Best (sic!),
In the United States, the Guardian has regularly been regarded as a
source of
reliable news. I have been among those who considered the information
in the
Guardian to be fair and unbiased. Our international journals, Awake!
and The
Watchtower quote from it extensively. Sadly, my opinion has been
changed as a
result of the coverage given to a subject that I am quite familiar with
-
Jehovah's Witnesses.The last piece written about Jehovah's Witnesses, by Stephen Bates,
repeated a
story on a tragic incident in Chicago, Illinois, in which the parents
of an 11
year-old girl were charged with causing her death (November 17 2001,
"Devout
couple accused of flogging daughter to death") We checked with our
office in
London and found out that no one contacted them for the facts of the
story
before the piece was run. We have no record of anyone contacting our
office here
in Brooklyn, New York, either. We feel that Mr Bates gave insufficient
attention
to facts and put more emphasis on sensationalism. Had Mr Bates
inquired, he
would have been supplied with a relevant statement given by the uncle
of the
victim who wished to set matters straight after seeing inaccurate
reports in the
media, some of which were repeated in the Guardian's November 17
article. We are
enclosing a copy of that statement for your information.I am writing you to call this matter to your attention in the hope
that the
normal, high standards of the Guardian will extend to the coverage of
Jehovah's
Witnesses.Sincerely,
J. R. Brown
Director
Office of Public Information for Jehovah's Witnesses
November 16 in
which he contests the "false impression" that the horrible events on
November 10
were the result of his brother Larry Slack following the beliefs of
JWs:
"In
fact, nothing could be further from the truth. I am a father myself;
and I am
also one of Jehovah's Witnesses, as are other members of our family.
None of us
could ever even imagine doing such a thing to any of our children no
matter what
we thought they did wrong.
"Larry and Constance Slack were not devout Jehovah's Witnesses as some
reports
said. Larry has not been a practicing (sic) Witness for Jehovah for
many years.
He was baptised as...a teenager many years ago. For the last 10 years
they have
not shared in our worship services, although there were a few
relatively short
time periods that they would sporadically show up at meetings with the
congregation.
"It was the hope of the family and the local congregational members
that he
and his family would actually practice the faith...as this could help
them just
as it helps many people in a spiritual way. But...he fervently insisted
on not
being pressured in that regard and we respected his decision. We have
no idea
what was going on in his head that made him capable of doing this to
Laree.
"On the other hand, something I appreciate about being one of
Jehovah's
Witnesses is that we abhor all violent actions and behaviour. Life is
sacred to
us. To physically harm, abuse or kill others is diametrically opposed
to the
Bible principles we believe in and strive to practice. Among the
qualities we
study about in the Bible and are strongly encouraged to inculcate in
our
everyday family lives are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness,
goodness,
faith, mildness and self-control. We love our families and cherish our
children,
viewing them as an inheritance from God."