Any country that would obliterate freedom of religion, and even freedom of opinion, because of the Witness article deserves no respect. The way to counter opinions is in the court of public opinion. Caring what the Witnesses say about you is to embrace them fully and perhaps be more enslaved to them than when you were in. Who cares what the National Enquirer or Star reports?
So many people want some legal victory that will not arrive. I say let the Witnesses hang themselves with their outrageous remarks. Does anyone truly here believe that the Watchtower is the DSM-IV or whatever the current number is for the diagnostic manual. Hyperbole, puffery is allowed in communication. Since no one believes the WT, how do you prove damages for libel? Hitler had hate crimes. Stalin and MAO must have, too. I am certain the Khmer Rouge did. I just finished listening to Early Christianity by Bart Ehrman for the Teaching Company. He pointed out, as has every writer, that Christians were martyred because they were secretive. NonChristians convicted them of the crimes against humanity. They were fed to the lions for cannibalism and bizarre sex (incest). They ate the body and blood of someone from the altar and called strangers "brothers" and "sisters," sharing agape feasts.
Hate crimes easily become distorted. The Roman Catholic Church no longer controls every action in the Western World. Watch who defines "hate." People don't seem to believe me but the law is a very crude instrument that only sometimes correlates with justice. Public opinion, teaching critical thinking skills from kindergarten, Bible literacy in a neutral fashion are all much better alternatives. Strange I never see Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Scalia, or perhaps Justice Breyer post here, so glad that the law will cripple the WT. Neither do law professors.
The WT needs ignorance to flourish. Cut off its air, ignorance and deference, and it cannot exist. If people were encouraged to read their Bibles as a regular book with no intervention, how could the Witnesses prevail? This was the first order of business for the Protestants. I keep reading English accounts of the widespread influence of Protestant, while illegal because people thirsted for knowledge. Teaching people to ask questions and not automatically assume the role of compliant study is also the way to go. It is unnatural to expect a total stranger, knocking at your door, to direct a Bible study. It should be a two way street.