Anderson's attorney fires back....
Watch Tower Bible And
Tract Society of New York, Inc.
Legal Department
ATTN: LLB
25 Columbia Heights
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Re: Barbara Anderson
Manchester Congregation of
Jehovah Witnesses
Dear Sir:
I am in receipt of your letter of May 9, 2002 which obviously did not answer any of my questions. I did note a couple of very important statements in your letter. First, it was noted that at the judicial committee hearing the elders must establish “by at least two or three witnesses that she (Mrs. Anderson) has committed the serious sin charged”. Mrs. Anderson was unaware of any serious sin charged except some general allegations of apostasy or contacting an apostata. No proof was presented by any witnesses this past Friday (May 10, 2002 at 3:00 p.m.) regarding the generalities of this particular charge and certainly no proof was presented regarding what J. R. Brown referred to as “other sins unrelated to the Dateline interview” which apparently brought all of this about.
Other statements that have been made by J. R. Brown to the media indicate that he had no idea who the persons were that were to appear on Dateline until just a few days before Mrs. Anderson’s day of hearing on this past Friday. This letter will advise you that we have documentation that that is an incorrect statement which we must at this point obviously assume was knowingly made. Your letter also stated that this matter would be handled by the local elders. It is our understanding that they were conducting this hearing pursuant to directions from New York. Is that true, or not?
Watchtower
Page 2
May 16, 2002
Therefore, this letter will serve as notice upon you that we feel Mrs. Anderson has been slandered by allegations that she has committed a “serious sin” unrelated to the Dateline interview. This would certainly lead anyone to believe that she committed serious personal sins against the laws of God and leaves the mind open to all sorts of rampant speculation about what an immoral person she might be. It implies that the church has certain information regarding serious sins and we absolutely deny any such allegations and would again point out that no such proof was presented at the hearing.
Therefore, we must demand from you an immediate public apology and letter of vindication to Mrs. Anderson. We expect that to be published in all AP affiliate newspapers within the next five (5) days or you stand in jeopardy of having legal action taken against you. Unfortunately this may involve local elders who have apparently been following the dictates of Watchtower and who did not initiate this judicial committee hearing contrary to Mr. Brown’s previous statements to the press indicating they were the source of the charge. Let me re-emphasize that at this time you must issue this immediate public apology and immediate letter of vindication of charges to Mrs. Anderson.
This letter will also remind you that Mrs. Anderson has not had a falling away of her faith in God nor the dictates of the Bible and she does not intend to be disfellowshipped nor to disassociate herself as such. She is most concerned about the welfare of the church and the problems that will occur unless the church’s policy with regard to the reporting of child molestation and abuse is changed so that it is in conformity with applicable laws governing criminal conduct including, but not limited to, the mandatory reporting of child abuse under Tennessee law.
By copy of this letter to the elders I am advising them of Mrs. Anderson’s position in this matter and while I chose not to attend the judicial committee meeting out of courtesy to Mrs. Anderson and to the elders, I will not stand idly by while Mrs. Anderson’s personal rights are violated and she is ostracized for following the dictates of God and the requirements of state and federal law. She feels that the church should render unto Caesar those things that are Caesar’s which specifically includes the reporting of allegations of child abuse and molestation to the appropriate legal authorities of the state.
Watchtower
Page 3
May 16, 2002
I will await your usual, prompt and courteous response to this letter and hope that you will immediately and publicly vindicate Mrs. Anderson who has been a good and loyal supporter of the church for many, many years.
Sincerely yours,
JERRE M. HOOD
JMH/dg
cc: Manchester Congregation Elders:
Dateline
Tennessean - Leon Alligood
NYP - Dan Mangan
Tullahoma News - Mary Reeves