Pro-JW article in the Boston Globe! write 'em!

by detective 11 Replies latest social current

detective

Well, sadly I missed catching this article when it ran this past Sunday (June 23). That means that I can't link to the article online so that people here can get a look at it. I've got a hard copy but it doesn't seem likely that I'll be able to scan it.
If I have time, I'll try to put some highlights out there for you folks to consider.
Here's the lead-in paragraphs:
STREET SMART
Published on June 23, 2002. Author(s): Marcella Bombardieri, Globe Staff
JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES TACKLE ONE DOORSTEP AT A TIME
Vacuum cleaners are sold in stores, not on porches. The Fuller Brush man has made himself scarce. Most mothers work, kids are often told not to open the door to strangers, and it's hard to find Americans at home much at all these days.
Yet the Jehovah's Witnesses haven't given up. One doorstep at a time, they doggedly carry out what might be the most systematic and comprehensive campaign of one-on-one marketing in the United States today. They intend to speak to every American...
The article is generally quite positive (apparently this reporter isn't interested in doing her homework or she'd know a little more about this high-control group than what the PR machine spouts off).
The article includes a quote from JR Brown:
"We try to reach everyone, so individuals can say yes or no", said J.R. Brown, spokesman for the witnesses at their headquarters in Brooklyn. "We are not forcing ourselves on anyone, but our responsibility is to give them the opportunity."
The article which is primarily supportive only briefly addresses any counterpoints and quickly dismisses them in the following paragraph.
"The movement is also seen by critics as insular, discouraging outside interests and higher education.Members who are 'disfellowshipped' are shunned by friends and family. These are among the reasons that Bob Pardon at the New England Institute of Religious Research calls it a highly destructive group.
But if the religion has harsh elements, there was no evidence of it on a recent day in the field with canvassers."
In other words, the reporter bought the happy face shown to the world without a second thought. Grrrr.
To contact the reporter:
Bombardieri, Marcella
Reporter
Metro / News (617) 929-3435
[email protected]
To write a letter to the editor:
Buell, Glenda S.
Letters To The Editor / News (617) 929-3038
[email protected]
You've got your opening people! Who is going to step up and take advantage of really edifying the public?
You can buy an online copy of the article here:
http://nl12.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=BG&p_theme=bg&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_text_search-0="street%20smart"&s_dispstring=street%20smart%20AND%20date(6/23/2002%20to%206/23/2002)&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date:B,E&p_text_date-0=6/23/2002%20to%206/23/2002&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no
hawkaw

Here's my letter. I hope it helps:
hawk
June 23, 2002
Dear Boston Globe,
I cannot believe that you would write such a positive article about the JWs after all your coverage on the Catholic abuse scandal.
I guess you missed the May 28, 2002 Dateline episode on NBC that showed how the Witness leadership abuse's their child abuse victims, protects their child rapists and requires a "cunning" child rapist who is also a JW to go to the public's door without the pubic's knowledge.
Even the June 24, 2002 edition of Newsweek (page 81) noted the abuse scandal.
These child abuse problems are even worse than the Catholic scandal that you have reported on.
As a father of a 6 year old, I would not want a child rapist, who has one thing on this mind - little children - to come to my door and check out my child and his environment!
Please do your job and alert the public that this Church, the Watchtower, requires cunning pedophiles, who are also Jehovah's Witnesses, to evangelize on an unsuspecting public. Be aware that the Watchtower will explain that these "evangelizing" Pedophiles are accompanied by another person. But, what they don't say is that accompanying person is NOT trained to deal with a "cunning" pedophile and there is NO such policy.
xxxxxxx
p.s - w
hy not read the Dateline transcript yourself at www.silentlambs.org
detective

Hawk!! Thank you!!! Thank you very, very much!
I should have known that you'd be the first one to step up and come through the way you have. You're wonderful, you know that?
I've got a long day ahead, but hopefully later this evening I'll be able to type more of the article up and post it. I'd like to send of a letter to the editor myself and that may have to take priority over typing in the article- we'll see.
People, please! You don't get open doors to discuss something that has forever changed your life like this group has done in yours! It's much harder to get an article "cold" into the presses than it is to capitalize on a recent article. Please take a moment to write the author of the article or to write a letter to the editor. They key is to do it now...today. In a week this article will be a distant memory as far as the paper is concerned. However, there are a lot of people who will have read this article and thought about how nice those witnesses looked who were featured in the two photographs. Those readers will be thinking about how nice the efforts are of those witnesses interviewed for the article. They won't be thinking about lives lost over blood issues and organ transplants or families torn apart by shunning or pedophiles going door to door...unless YOU take the time to tell them about it. Please. Do something for the community around you, especially if you know what it's like to not be able to help the people you love the most. Don't let others get fooled by a probably well-intentioned but incredibly misinformed article. Please write them.
hawkaw

D,
I don't know if I was the first but I just wanted to tell you what I stated. Like I said the Boston Globe has this big ass separate web site dealing only with the Catholic scandal as the be all end all. That's fine but don't let other religious groups away with what they do too.
I sent my Email to both the idiot reporter and as a letter to the editor. Of course I gave my name, address and phone number to make it a legitimate letter that they will have to take seriously.
I have also copied Bill and Barb to alert them.
Take care
hawk
Nathan Natas

here's a link - http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/174/metro/Street_smart+.shtml
"Go therefore, and rip in them a new one!"
teenyuck

I sent the following letter to the editor: I am surprised that a respected newspaper like the Boston Globe would do so little research on a story. I suggest that the reporter join the Jehovah's Witnesses to see up close how they handle things. This would require that she do an "in home bible study." This would give her the opportunity to study their literature and go to the meetings. When you see and hear the message up close, you realize that there is more than meets the eye. The Jehovah's Witnesses have predicted Armageddon since the late 1870's. They have reversed their dates on "the end" when nothing happened. Their last prediction was for 1975. Other than disco, nothing monumental happened that year. I find it amusing that the woman in your article, June Tench, would not go to a door because of a dog. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that if you are not a Jehovah's Witness when Armageddon occurs, you will die. By ignoring the homeowner, she possibly doomed this person to death. According to Jehovah's Witness doctrine they have a duty to tell every person. This action on her part is telling. What if Armageddon happens tomorrow? She is more worried about logging her hours and filing out her time card than she is in telling the homeowner a possibly life saving message. Worse is the issue of child molestation. Dateline NBC aired a report May 28, 2002, on the Jehovah's Witnesses and showed a convicted pedophile going door to door. Why is this allowed? The Jehovah's Witnesses have no answer to this. They are allowing convicted child molesters to go to people's doors. If their faith demands that they preach, the convicts and pedophiles can do it online or over the telephone. As to your reporter noted that they were "unfailingly cheerful and polite"...what do you expect? They are on a marketing campaign after the Dateline episode. I went door to door as a Jehovah's Witness for years. The things said about homeowners and their views is not polite or nice. If you tell them you are not interested, they walk away and tell each other you are apart of Satan's world and deserve to die at Armageddon. They tried, you resisted, so you will be dead when Armageddon occurs. When is your reporter going to do a story on the child molestation issues regarding the Jehovah's Witnesses? This is the story that needs to be in the newspapers. Why are convicted pedophiles going door to door? Why are the victims being shunned and blamed for being abused by an adult? Why are Jehovah's Witness elders (lay clergy) encouraged to "help" families with this? They have no training that clergy usually require. Why are the pedophiles not immediately reported to the police? The Jehovah's Witnesses have many questions that they have evaded. We need answers.
I sent my name, address and phone number. Perhaps the editor will ask the reporter what I am writing about.
detective

Thank you Nathan for finding a clickable link! That means that I won't have to devote the end of a long work day to typing up a thousand word article for this website to see! I'm also glad that people will get to see the article and won't have to take my word on (what I feel is) an article that boosts the image of the organization in our area.
Puffs,
great letter. Very powerful. I'm really glad you took the time. They need to know how this thing really works and you did a great job telling them!
Hawk,
I'm not surprised that the Globe has added a website devoted solely to the scandal in the Catholic Church. The other major Boston paper, The Boston Herald, likely has done something similiar (despite the fact that it caters to the religiously and politically conservative crowd). Around here, the church scandal is the big story. Absolutely, everyday. There isn't a day that I can remember in recent months that there weren't (at the very least) two stories on the subject on a daily basis in the two major papers. More often it's about four stories and sometimes more!!
Now, here's where I start to get a little nutty(?)
About this reporter...hmmmm.
Is it common for a rank & file witness to be interviewed by a reporter? Dissidents- yes. But faithfuls- I don't think so. And the Globe featured two photographs of witnesses going door to door. So, we've got two big photos, interviews with rank & file members, a c.o. and JR Brown.
Ummm, anyone wonder why the sudden open behaviour from the upper eschelon on this one? Unless, of course, they somehow magically knew that the article would be SYMPATHETIC to their cause. Say, maybe the writer is studying with JWs? Maybe they have JW family members? Seems to me that the bigwigs put a big amount of trust in this reporter. I tend to wonder why.
Edited by - detective on 25 June 2002 15:28:47
hawkaw

Well - why not embed this puppy .....
bad_associashun

thank you detective- my letters are on the way already
detective

Hopefully i'll have a letter off to them tomorrow. I'm a bit too beat to think about being coherent tonight.
Skally, if you're reading this- I'd love to know if you ever made that call to the reporter!
Bad associashun...thank you! the more responses we generate, the better our chances are of being heard!

Pro-JW article in the Boston Globe! write 'em!

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