Editorial column by editor of newspaper -Bryant

by seven006 24 Replies latest jw friends

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  seven006

  Additional new stories with more information about the Bryant tragity can be found on this link to the News Register of McMinnville Oregon.
  http://www.newsregister.com

  Published: March 23, 2002
  Jeb Bladine

  Whatchamacolumn - A tale of two freedoms
  
  
  Do you believe in God?

  Do you believe the Bible provides explicit instructions for how to spend your life on Earth? Will you follow the edicts of men who interpret those instructions, even as their interpretations change over time and conflict with basic human values?

  If commanded, will you remain silent about your doubts?

  Can you accept, without question, any proclamation, any theological theory decreed by your church, and withhold your friendship and loyalty from members who don't show total allegiance? If demanded, will you reject, rebuff and shun all contact with your mother or father, your son or daughter, your best friend in life, no matter how sick or distressed that loved one may be?

  Welcome to the world of Robert Bryant, a world in which a perceived mental illness and his known religious conflicts came crashing together to produce a terrible crime against humanity. Welcome to the world of Jehovah's Witnesses, a religion that many consider a cult.

  But before you judge the members of Jehovah's Witnesses, remember that judgment is the weapon this religion uses to control the minds and souls of its followers. Before you judge Robert Bryant, remember that his mind and his soul were shaped, then cast aside by the religion that dominated his life. His unthinkable response was to leave this world, and take his family with him.

  Perhaps, as spoken this week by his surviving sister-in-law, Robert Bryant's purpose for being on this earth was to deliver the message that comes from this tragedy. That message, said Sharon Roe, is that you have no right to judge men in the way that the Jehovah's Witnesses judged Robert Bryant, in the way that this religion and others have judged and damaged so many people throughout history. She wants to believe that something of value and consequence can come from this act that stunned our community, our state, our nation.

  I want to believe that, too.

  I know that our Constitution gives the Jehovah's Witnesses, and others, the right to judge men in any way that they choose, and that our forefathers died to protect that right. But we have another important right, that of free speech.

  We have the right to speak out when a religion produces astonishing levels of psychological abuse. We have the right to say that it's wrong, dead wrong, and to ask for a change.

  I join Sharon Roe in exercising that right.

  -Jeb Bladine is editor and publisher of the News-Register.-
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  meat pie

  Powerful and honest.
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  DakotaRed

  What powerful editorials. This is the story that should be picked up and ran with the A.P. Thank you for posting these.

  Lew

  If God's Spirit is filling a Kingdom Hall, how is it that Satan can manuever the ones within that Kingdom Hall at the same time?
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  belbab

  This editorial sums it up for me. I have been confused sorrowful the last few days about Robert Bryant and his family, and the tragedy ending these lives. This editorial has opened my eyes and ears to message that Robert Bryant was conveying to me.

  Some people use the language of violence, the language of oppression, the language of bombs and explosives. In his desperation and anguish, he chose the language of self-destruction.

  Thank you Jeb Bladine, Thank you for showing us you got the message too. I hope others also will discern the message.

  Thank you, Sharon Roe, for delivering the message.

  belbab
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  waiting

  I know that our Constitution gives the Jehovah's Witnesses, and others, the right to judge men in any way that they choose, and that our forefathers died to protect that right. But we have another important right, that of free speech.

  We have the right to speak out when a religion produces astonishing levels of psychological abuse. We have the right to say that it's wrong, dead wrong, and to ask for a change.

  I join Sharon Roe in exercising that right.

  -Jeb Bladine is editor and publisher of the News-Register.-

  That is awesome, particularily coming from a *worldly* person. Slowly, ever so slowly, the secret underside of the WTBTS beast is being shown to the world.

  waiting
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  Had Enough

  Thank you Dave and many thanks to the writer of this article.

  It really gives me such satisfaction to see something written that reaches right to the core of the issue....something written by an informed non-JW who doesn't pull any punches and yet tells it like it is without sounding like he's biased against one religion.

  I am so glad this tragedy is not just being swept under the rug and not dealt with. These things are the honest facts that need to be said and read by all, JWs and non-JWs alike.

  Thank you for pursuing this story, Dave, and getting it out to the public.

  Had Enough

  "Never doubt that a small group of citizens can change the world.
  Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."...Margaret Mead
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  Dutchie

  Finally, a brutally frank and honest article!

  
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  SixofNine

  Very nice writing, and a great job of cutting to the chase about what is so wrong about the JW religion.

  Thanks for sharing that.
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  waiting

  This NEEDS to stay on page 1.

  waiting
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  Pierced Angel

  I wish this could make papers across the country, it's fantastic.
  A good one to pass along to a few "friends" of mine.

  Anne