SILENT WITNESSES" TV SHOW HITS WATCHTOWER HARD IN AUSTRALIA
Transcript courtesty of silentlambs.org:
GRAHAM DAVIS, REPORTER: At the Melbourne Tennis Centre, the gods of
sport make way for the real thing, as 10,000 voices praise the almighty.
These are just some of the 60,000 or so Australians who belong to the
Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, better known as the Jehovah's
Witnesses.
PREACHER: We need to be zealous as proclaimers of God's kingdom, shining
as illuminators of the world.
REPORTER: They're the clean-cut evangelists who appear at our doors,
preaching Armageddon and the paradise to come for true believers.
PREACHER: Call back on everyone who shows even the slightest interest,
even if we've just left them with a tract.
REPORTER: Yet as we'll see, the shepherds, as church leaders portray
themselves, have created a hell on earth for some of the most vulnerable
of their flock and they're outlaws in the classic sense, having placed
themselves outside the laws that protect children from sexual predators.
When it finally dawned on you that what you were witnessing was a policy
of covering up child abuse, how did you feel about them?
NATALIE WEBB, CHILD ABUSE VICTIM: Devastated. Disappointed. Angry.
REPORTER: Today, victims like Natalie Webb speak out for the first time,
accusing the church of covering up the crimes against them. She was
abused by her own father, Victor, an outwardly respectable member of the
Bentleigh congregation in suburban Melbourne.
NATALIE WEBB: My earliest memory is having a bath with my father and he
was touching me, and from other things around me, I realised that I
would have been about four.
REPORTER: Four years old?
NATALIE WEBB: Four, yep.
REPORTER: And how long did the abuse go on for?
NATALIE WEBB: Till I was... just turned 17.
REPORTER: 17?
NATALIE WEBB: Mmm-hmm.
REPORTER: And presumably it progressed from...
NATALIE WEBB: Just touching to intercourse, penetration.
REPORTER: Natalie lived with her terrible secret until she was married -
her father beaming like any other on her wedding day. Then, unable to
bear it any longer, she told her story to this church elder, Maurice
Hadley. Was there any suggestion whatsoever that the police be informed?
NATALIE WEBB: None at all. The opposite, actually. Maurice said to me
that the authorities shouldn't be notified because it would be a bad
witness and that they would be able to handle the situation.
REPORTER: So Maurice Hadley told you quite specifically not to go to the
police?
NATALIE WEBB: Yes, yes, and no psychiatrists or psychologists either for
me because I was having difficulties.
REPORTER: Why did he ban psychiatrists or psychologists from seeing you?
NATALIE WEBB: Because they're worldly and they are possibly Satanic and
could fill my head with rubbish.
REPORTER: Incredibly, Natalie's story is the norm, not the exception,
for child abuse victims in the Jehovah's Witnesses. Simon Thomas was 12
when he fell prey to this man, Robert Souter, of the Corrimal
congregation on the NSW south coast. Even when Souter admitted his
crimes to church elders, he was allowed to continue as a Jehovah's
Witness. He also continued to molest other children. Was there any
suggestion that anybody go to the police over this?
SIMON THOMAS, CHILD ABUSE VICTIM: No, none at all. My parents spoke to
elders locally, they spoke to travelling overseers, and they were told
that they shouldn't go to the police and the best thing to do would be
to keep the congregation clean, not say anything, pray more and leave it
to Jehovah.
REPORTER: How can you keep the congregation clean by keeping quiet and
covering up something like this, when the person who's unclean is
allowed back in?
SIMON THOMAS: Well, I don't know. I don't know.
REPORTER: Today, some disturbing answers, clear evidence that the
Watchtower Society routinely tries to pervert the course of justice in
child abuse cases by obstructing police investigations.
JIM DONALD, FORMER ELDER: Well, this is my copy of an elders' book and
these are my handwritten notes taken down at the dictation from the
circuit overseer.
REPORTER: Jim Donald is a former church elder now blowing the whistle on
his fellow brothers with details of an edict so sensitive, it was never
committed to paper.
JIM DONALD: This was a letter to all bodies of elders.
REPORTER: And it says here "child abuse confidential". What is it
telling us there?
JIM DONALD: It's saying to us here "If interviewed by social workers or
police or other authorities, "do not reveal if a confession has been
made. "Contact society immediately."
REPORTER: So if a child abuser has said, "Yes, I did it", you're not to
tell the police that?
JIM DONALD: No, not at all.
REPORTER: Do you think that's obstruction?
JIM DONALD: Obviously. Obviously.
REPORTER: Jim Donald is a Justice of the Peace who once spread Jehovah's
word as a church elder in the northern NSW town of Glen Innes. Now he
confines himself to spreading news of worldly matters on his paper
round, having abandoned the church four years ago.
JIM DONALD: We were to resist every approach by the authorities to
willingly give over any information.
REPORTER: And you knew, did you, that that was the agenda, that you were
not to cooperate?
JIM DONALD: Absolutely. You see, every instance like that is to be seen
as an attack against pure worship and against Jehovah's name, and so
what they call theocratic warfare is to take place.
REPORTER: Theocratic warfare?
JIM DONALD: Yes.
REPORTER: What does that mean?
JIM DONALD: That means we are in a battle situation.
REPORTER: With the police? With the State?
JIM DONALD: With the State.
ANDY FARRELL, FORMER MEMBER: They have a phrase they refer to which is
theocratic warfare, and that is basically that it's acceptable to lie or
to cover over things if it's for the good of God's purpose.
REPORTER: Andy Farrell left the Jehovah's Witnesses five years ago after
a lifetime's association.
ANDY FARRELL: They won't condone breaking the law where it's a more
black and white issue, say it was a murder case or something like that,
but there are certainly a lot of problems of a lesser scale that the
church tries to deal with internally that probably belong in a court of
law.
REPORTER: Child abuse?
ANDY FARRELL: Yeah, exactly.
REPORTER: You've written here "search warrants and subpoenas". Now, what
did they tell you?
JIM DONALD: They may make a forced entry into the hall. So we were
encouraged to stand in front of the door and not to willingly open the
door for them.
REPORTER: Officially, the church denies all knowledge of the concept of
theocratic warfare, but Jim Donald's account of the verbal instruction
not to cooperate with police was confirmed to Sunday by another former
elder, though he wouldn't be filmed. There's nothing on paper, right?
JIM DONALD: No.
REPORTER: Nothing on paper at all?
JIM DONALD: No.
REPORTER: Do you think this is because their legal department would have
known they might have a problem with this in the future?
JIM DONALD: Oh, I think so, yeah.
REPORTER: Because they've got a big problem with this, haven't they?
JIM DONALD: Absolutely, yes.
REPORTER: And the man who was once the society's own lawyer agrees.
REV WARRYN STUCKEY, FORMER WATCHTOWER SOCIETY LAWYER: I think it can
have the practical effect of perverting the course of justice.
REPORTER: It could?
REV WARRYN STUCKEY: It could have that practical effect.
REV WARRYN STUCKEY ADDRESSING CHURCH: Let's commence our service by
singing together our first hymn number 673 - 'There is a redeemer'.
REPORTER: The Reverend Warryn Stuckey has left behind the law and the
Jehovah's Witnesses to become an Anglican priest. It was a short journey
physically, for his church is a stone's throw from the Watchtower's
Sydney headquarters. But in personal and theological terms, his was a
momentous defection and as a former elder and director of Watchtower
companies, he's a potent witness against his former associates.
REV WARRYN STUCKEY: I could imagine that if it was a case of any other
crime, like murder or something, that there would be full cooperation
and why in this case there is not suggests that there is something that
they're protecting.
REPORTER: Protecting the church's reputation or even protecting child
abusers perhaps?
REV WARRYN STUCKEY: Or particular child abusers.
REPORTER: The Jehovah's Witnesses, in fact, routinely shield paedophiles
from the law - as in the case of Robert Souter, allowing them to offend
again and again. It's been called a 'paedophile paradise'. Would you
agree with that?
JIM DONALD: Yeah, I've heard that, yes.
REPORTER: Would you agree with that?
JIM DONALD: Yes.
REPORTER: You would?
JIM DONALD: Yes.
REPORTER: Paedophile paradise?
ANDY FARRELL: Yes.
REPORTER: You'd agree with that?
ANDY FARRELL: I think that's true.
REPORTER: So this was the body of the Kingdom Hall here?
SIMON THOMAS: Yes.
REPORTER: And in the greatest betrayal of all, far from suffering the
little children, the church has inflicted untold suffering that lingers
into adulthood.
SIMON THOMAS: I remember that the first time he actually touched me and
did something to me, I just - that was a real life-changing moment. It
was terrible. I just knew it would never be the same after that.
REPORTER: For years, Simon Thomas has privately nursed the hurt of a
blighted childhood at the Kingdom Hall. Now he wants his story told of
how the church protected his abuser, Robert Souter.
SIMON THOMAS: It was supposed to be a really nice, safe place, but it
wasn't for me or a lot of other kids.
REPORTER: You now know, don't you, that after Souter was abusing you, he
was abusing a whole host of others?
SIMON THOMAS: Yes.
REPORTER: How many?
SIMON THOMAS: I know of 10 personally, but the police that I've spoken
to have said there's around 40.
REPORTER: 40 others?
SIMON THOMAS: That they know of.
REPORTER: After you?
SIMON THOMAS: After me.
REPORTER: If the church had listened to the pleas that you were making,
how many of those kids could have been saved?
SIMON THOMAS: Well, all of them, I think.
REPORTER: All of them - 40 kids?
SIMON THOMAS: I think all of them could have been saved.
REPORTER: Ingleburn, south-west Sydney, the Watchtower's Bethel or House
of God, its sprawling Australian headquarters. More than 300 people live
and work on this site, that includes a publishing arm printing
Watchtower material in 70 languages. In the legal department here, every
instance of child abuse known to the church is carefully filed away, but
it's not reported to the authorities. The church regards such cases as
confidential. So, just how many child abusers are there on the files in
there? Well, the church tells us pointedly, it's none of our business.
But at every turn in this investigation we came across victims unwilling
to speak out, not because of their abusers, but because of the church -
fearful of losing their friends, even their families. The church calls
it "Keeping the congregation clean". Not of paedophiles, but of anything
that damages the Watchtower's reputation. How do you think you're going
to be treated by the church from now on?
SIMON THOMAS: I don't know. It's yet to be seen. But I would rather say
something than to just be quiet and wait any longer.
REPORTER: Surprisingly, Simon still counts himself a witness, whereas
Natalie Webb has left the church behind, unable to come to terms with
the blind eye it turned to her father's depravity.
NATALIE WEBB: Because my dad wanted me to have sex with animals and have
lesbian liaisons and like all these things.
REPORTER: And you told them that?
NATALIE WEBB: Oh yeah, yeah, they knew, and they said "We don't need to
know details to make a decision. We're being guided by God".
PREACHER: Jehovah, our God of love, we come before your lofty throne and
ask that we can be heard by you.
REPORTER: But before we examine these cases in detail, some
understanding is needed of what sets the Jehovah's Witnesses apart, what
makes their critics doubt they'll ever be shamed into reform by the kind
of allegations that have forced changes in the mainstream churches, like
the Anglicans and Roman Catholics. Is there any chance whatsoever that
this organisation can reform itself?
REV WARRYN STUCKEY: No.
REPORTER: None?
REV WARRYN STUCKEY: None.
REPORTER: So if there's going to be any reform of their handling of
child abuse, it's going to have to be imposed on them?
REV WARRYN STUCKEY: Yes.
REPORTER: To Jehovah's Witnesses, there's only one true religion -
theirs. Jehovah God, the only God, his word in the Bible to be taken
literally. The act of baptism through total immersion symbolises total
surrender to Jehovah and his only legitimate authority on earth, the
Watchtower Society. Witnesses live in what they call "the truth", the
rest of us in "the world", a world the church would have it governed by
Satan.
PREACHER: If you decide you want to do some of your own thing, well, you
can. But be careful, because this world is deceived. It's deceived by
the Devil.
REPORTER: And Satan's temptations abound, even across a crowded room.
Jehovah's Witnesses aren't allowed to marry outside the church, a source
of much heartache in itself. What were the circumstances that led to you
leaving?
JIM DONALD: I attended a son's wedding.
REPORTER: Your own son?
JIM DONALD: My own son, yeah.
REPORTER: What was wrong with that?
JIM DONALD: Well, he was marrying a young lass who was an Anglican. Now,
all other churches are considered as children of the Devil. So they said
- and I quote from the man who was the branch coordinator at the time -
"You don't give your children to the Philistines."
REPORTER: But the strictures go on. Jehovah's Witnesses can't vote,
can't join the military, aren't allowed to celebrate Christmas, even
their own birthdays.
ANDY FARRELL: Birthdays because they see it as bringing too much
attention to a single person. With Christmas, I think everybody
understands that a lot of the symbolism associated with Christmas
obviously isn't Christian, it's come from other practices around the
world and they use that as part of their justification.
REPORTER: And most controversial of all, Jehovah's Witnesses can't have
blood transfusions, a dictate based on an obscure biblical passage
that's cost many thousands of lives worldwide.
REV WARRYN STUCKEY: I was 18 at the time, my brother was 20. He shot
himself in the next room. Um, he shot himself in the head. We rushed in
there, he was bleeding from every - you know, from his ears, his nose,
everything. My first thought, I said to my parents "Whatever you do,
don't let them give him a blood transfusion".
REPORTER: So you'd been brainwashed?
REV WARRYN STUCKEY: I had been brainwashed. That is what I thought, he
mustn't have a blood transfusion. Here's my brother dying in front of
me, and that was my first thought.
REPORTER: Your priority.
REV WARRYN STUCKEY: My priority.
REPORTER: How do you feel about that?
REV WARRYN STUCKEY: Oh, on the verge of tears now as I think about it.
It was just so callous, so... yeah, that's what the religion does.
REPORTER: Bad stuff.
REV WARRYN STUCKEY: Bad stuff. Bad stuff.
SIMON THOMAS: Some of it actually here inside the hall...
REPORTER: And then there's the child abuse, all the elements of
exploitation, betrayal and cover-up present in the saga of what happened
to Simon Thomas. He actually molested you inside the church itself?
SIMON THOMAS: Inside the Kingdom Hall, yeah, yep.
REPORTER: Amazing.
SIMON THOMAS: It is, looking back it was amazing.
REPORTER: And equally amazing, Natalie Webb's story. Her father's abuse
compounded by the callous indifference of church leaders when it was
brought to their attention. You must have been devastated?
NATALIE WEBB: Well, I tried to take my own life a few weeks later
because I couldn't cope with it, mm.
REPORTER: So you tried to commit suicide?
NATALIE WEBB: Mm.
REPORTER: As a result of that, did you get any help at all from them?
NATALIE WEBB: I got a counselling session from them saying that it was
due to me not forgiving my father, that's why I wasn't coping.
SIMON THOMAS: Well, I was told that to endure until the end is a... is
to be faithful. It demonstrates your faith. And I was also told to leave
it to Jehovah because Jehovah will work it out, but why can't we expose
these things that are happening and then leave it to Jehovah?
REPORTER: In part two, the shocking details of these cover-ups. Yeah, I
just wanted to talk to you about the sex abuse case involving Natalie
Webb. And we confront the elders, who in Jehovah's name and with the
church's backing, kept the authorities at bay. Do you recall telling her
that she shouldn't go to the police?
MAURICE HADLEY, CHURCH ELDER: Not at all.
REPORTER: She says you did?
MAURICE HADLEY: Well, that's her word against mine, isn't it?
REPORTER: Like many victims of child abuse, Natalie Webb kept her secret
into adulthood, but at the age of 26, she could cope no longer. It was
her husband who finally brought matters to a head.
NATALIE WEBB: He rang up my father and said, "We can't live with this
anymore. It has to come out in the open. "I'll give you a week to go to
the elders."
REPORTER: But Victor Webb wasn't about to confess, so he was exposed.
OK, so your husband goes to the elders. Which elder did he go and see?
NATALIE WEBB: Maurice Hadley.
MAURICE HADLEY: Maurice Hadley, yes, I'm Maurice Hadley.
REPORTER: Hi - Graham Davis from the Sunday program. I just wanted talk
to you about the sex abuse case involving Natalie Webb.
MAURICE HADLEY: Oh, right.
REPORTER: You know her father?
MAURICE HADLEY: Well, indeed I do.
REPORTER: You used to play tennis with him, didn't you?
MAURICE HADLEY: (Laughs) Where did you get all this information?
REPORTER: Well, we have our sources. Do you still have any contact with
Vic?
MAURICE HADLEY: Oh, occasionally.
REPORTER: What did Maurice Hadley say to him?
NATALIE WEBB: Um well, he was very shocked and couldn't believe it.
REPORTER: Because your father had been so devout?
NATALIE WEBB: And they were quite friendly.
REPORTER: What do you think about what he did to his daughter?
MAURICE HADLEY: Oh, I think it's deplorable. Absolutely disgusting.
REPORTER: Why had...
MAURICE HADLEY: And I have never ever condoned that man's behaviour.
REPORTER: As senior elder at the local Kingdom Hall, Maurice Hadley
formed a judicial committee, the way the church deals with all breaches
of its code of behaviour, from smoking a cigarette, through to serious
crimes.
NATALIE WEBB: There were three elders, including him, in that committee.
And they apparently - so Maurice told me - spoke to Bethel in Sydney and
decided amongst themselves that no-one should know about it, it should
be a private reproof.
REPORTER: So, for sexually abusing his daughter from the age of four, a
crime he readily admitted, all Victor Webb got was a reprimand behind
closed doors. A private reproof?
NATALIE WEBB: A private, yep so, and then he would be put on a course of
bible studies, because that's what was wrong with him - spiritually he
was sick, so he was told.
REPORTER: At the very least, Natalie Webb had wanted her father
disfellowshipped - expelled from the congregation - the ultimate
sanction for Jehovah's Witnesses. It didn't happen. Why didn't the
elders of the church disfellowship him for what he did?
MAURICE HADLEY: Why didn't they?
REPORTER: Yep. Why didn't YOU?
MAURICE HADLEY: Well, I'm not the decision maker.
REPORTER: You were.
MAURICE HADLEY: No, no, I was only one of them - I was a committee -
part of the committee at the time.
REPORTER: Can you tell me why he wasn't disfellowshipped?
MAURICE HADLEY: Well, not now I can't.
NATALIE WEBB: I'd believed all my life that when you do something wrong,
you get disfellowshipped, and I guess I went a little bit crazy and I
just couldn't work it out.
REPORTER: A secret deliberation, a private reproof, no recourse
whatsoever to the proper authorities. Did you go to the police?
MAURICE HADLEY: ..which is a reasonable - no, I didn't.
REPORTER: Why not?
MAURICE HADLEY: Well, it was something for the family to decide and do.
NATALIE WEBB: Maurice said to me that the authorities shouldn't be
notified because it would be a bad witness and that they would be able
to handle the situation.
REPORTER: So Maurice Hadley told you quite specifically...
NATALIE WEBB: Mmm-hmm, yes.
REPORTER: ..not to go to the police?
NATALIE WEBB: Yes.
MAURICE HADLEY: Yeah, and I say that that's not true.
REPORTER: You swear by that?
MAURICE HADLEY: I swear by that categorically.
REPORTER: You never said that to her?
MAURICE HADLEY: Never said that to her.
REPORTER: Yet here's something that lends weight to Natalie's claim - a
letter from her mother to Maurice Hadley and the other elders in 1997 -
"Your inability and reluctance to deal with the police shows we would
have been waiting forever."
REPORTER: By now, the family had had enough and had gone to the police
themselves.
NATALIE WEBB: Because I'd never had any dealings with the police, I was
very apprehensive, but they were just the most compassionate, wonderful
lot of people, and I was so surprised. I got more caring and concern
from them than I did from any elder. Genuine caring.
REPORTER: Victor Webb pleaded guilty in the Victorian County Court to
eight counts of indecent assault and seven counts of incest. He was sent
to jail for 10 years, but the church elders supported the criminal, not
his victim.
NATALIE WEBB: They sent three representatives from the congregation to
be with Dad, yep, and...
REPORTER: During the trial?
NATALIE WEBB: During the trial, and no-one was sent for me, and in fact,
they ignored us when we walked into the court, they wouldn't even speak
to us. I guess they thought I was Satanic or heading down that way,
yeah.
REPORTER: But the real evil-doer is still being supported behind bars.
You go and see him in jail?
MAURICE HADLEY: I visit him periodically.
REPORTER: So you go and see him in prison?
MAURICE HADLEY: About twice a year.
REPORTER: And why do you do that?
MAURICE HADLEY: Why do I do it?
REPORTER: Mm.
MAURICE HADLEY: Well, don't you you believe that people can change?
REPORTER: Even now, Victor Webb hasn't been disfellowshipped, though the
private reproof became a public reproof when the police became involved.
MAURICE HADLEY: Yes, before all onlookers, other members of the
congregation were advised of his situation so that parents could, if
they chose to, take precautionary steps to avoid situations that might
compromise their children.
REPORTER: And that was it. How do you feel about the church now?
NATALIE WEBB: Mm, um... I'm still very disappointed. The more I hear, I
just am so saddened that it's so endemic and everywhere. It's very
saddening.
REPORTER: And there are other cover-ups in the church that have had even
more serious consequences, allowing paedophiles to offend again and
again. What happened to Simon Thomas is, by any measure, a shocking
indictment of the Jehovah's Witnesses and their wilful disregard of the
secular law. Now this is where he brought you or followed you quite a
bit, wasn't it?
SIMON THOMAS: Yep.
REPORTER: We're back at the place where, aged just 12, Simon first
encountered his abuser, Robert Souter.
SIMON THOMAS: You know, he'd touch and feel and he'd laugh about it or
he'd give me a clip around the ear, give me a good whack, and...
REPORTER: Just to make sure you went along with him?
SIMON THOMAS: ..just to make sure I, yeah. And then he'd go back up
inside.
REPORTER: And then there were the bible study sessions at Robert
Souter's home.
SIMON THOMAS: Probably the worst of what happened to me happened here at
this house.
REPORTER: And we're talking about extreme abuse?
SIMON THOMAS: Yeah, extreme, yeah, extreme abuse. At first it was almost
surreal. It was like it wasn't happening, but I was afraid to say
anything. It's just the usual - I was just afraid because I didn't want
my parents to be upset and I didn't want the congregation to be upset, I
didn't want bad things said about Jehovah's Witnesses, so I basically
just...
REPORTER: Kept it to yourself?
SIMON THOMAS: ..kept it to myself, copped it on the chin.
REPORTER: For how long? SIMON THOMAS: For about three years.
REPORTER: Then one night, a shocking revelation. When Simon's younger
brother has a nervous breakdown on a church trip to the NT.
SIMON THOMAS: He phoned my parents to tell them that he'd been abused by
Robert Souter, and it was horrific, the situation was terrible. So my
father approached one of the elders and said, "Look, Robert Souter has
done this and this and this to my son." So the elder said, "OK, we'll
take care of it." And I'd heard this, obviously, and I approached the
elder that my father spoke to and I said, "Look, my brother's telling
the truth because it's also happened to me."
REPORTER: Can you tell me the name of that elder?
SIMON THOMAS: That elder that we spoke to at that time was John Wingate.
REPORTER: John Wingate?
JOHN WINGATE, CHURCH ELDER: That's right.
REPORTER: Yeah, I'm Graham Davis from the Sunday program at Channel 9. I
just wanted to talk to you about Robert Souter and the abuse of the
Thomas boys in Wollongong.
JOHN WINGATE: No comment.
REPORTER: The boys first came to you, didn't they, the family first came
to you?
JOHN WINGATE: No comment.
REPORTER: Well, Simon Thomas has told us that, so we know that. John
Wingate is still an elder of the Cooma congregation in southern NSW,
where Robert Souter had moved and we now know, had begun abusing
children at the Kingdom Hall there. What did Wingate say to you?
SIMON THOMAS: Well, he said - he seemed to take it very seriously and he
said, "Look." He said, "We'll chase it up and leave it with me." And
that was the last we heard of it.
REPORTER: You said to him, "Leave it with me." He says that's the last
he heard of it. Did you feel that you had any responsibility to get back
to this family.
JOHN WINGATE: I have no comment to make to you. No, I have no comment to
make to you.
REPORTER: Unbeknown to the family, John Wingate and the other elders did
act. They disfellowshipped Robert Souter, expelled him from the
congregation. But it wasn't long before the Thomas family got some
devastating news.
SIMON THOMAS: It was around about the six months and they reinstated him
into the Cooma congregation.
REPORTER: What did you think when you were told that?
SIMON THOMAS: I couldn't believe it. I was stunned and I was
unbelievably upset.
REPORTER: Now, what that family wants to know is why he was reinstated
into the church around six months later?
JOHN WINGATE: Ring the Watchtower Society of Australia and they'll
answer all your questions regarding that situation.
REPORTER: Well, can you tell me, sir, why you...
JOHN WINGATE: I cannot make comments on it.
REPORTER: Why can't you speak about it?
JOHN WINGATE: Because I'm not at liberty to.
REPORTER: Why?
JOHN WINGATE: Because I'm not.
REPORTER: You handled the case.
JOHN WINGATE: That's none of your business.
SIMON THOMAS: I spoke to an elder down there and he said Robert Souter
was repentant so when you're repentant, you're allowed back into the
congregation.
JOHN WINGATE: Do you have a problem with hearing? Do you have a hearing
impediment? I just told you...
REPORTER: I'm trying to find some answers.
JOHN WINGATE: You're not going to get answers off me because I've told
you...
REPORTER: So in the absence of any answers from the elders, let's look
at the Watchtower's guidelines for dealing with child abuse -
"When a judicial committee determines that a child molester is repentant
and will remain a member of the Christian congregation, it would be
appropriate to speak to him very frankly, strongly urging him as to the
dangers of hugging or holding children on his lap."
REPORTER: I mean, what sort of a deterrent is that?
JIM DONALD: (Laughs) Well, it's none, obviously, because those sorts of
things would be just, what would be in public view. The thing that
escapes the society's viewpoint on this child molesting situation is
that all of this takes place in secret.
REPORTER: So secret is child abuse that Simon Thomas thought he was
alone in being abused by Robert Souter, until he found out about his
younger brother and then later, about another brother as well. Did you
have any sense of guilt that you might have been able to save your two
brothers?
SIMON THOMAS: I did, from then on, and I still have that feeling. And
it's part of the reason why I'm doing what I'm doing today. Because if
I'd said something back then, I could have saved - I could have helped,
maybe in some way, dozens of others.
REPORTER: But maybe not. For in the most extraordinary dictate of all,
the Jehovah's Witnesses rulebook insists on this - "There must be two or
three eyewitnesses, not just persons repeating what they have heard. No
action can be taken if there is only one witness."
REPORTER: Blind Freddy knows that a child abuser doesn't sit around
waiting for two or three witnesses before doing anything. JIM DONALD:
That's correct.
REPORTER: How is it that this escapes the elders of the church?
JIM DONALD: They rely on a biblical text which says that all matters are
to be established on the mouth of two or three witnesses.
REPORTER: As Jim Donald tells it, this rule has stifled the plaintive
cries of victims time and time again and was a major factor in his
decision to leave the church behind for good.
JIM DONALD: A young lass made allegations that this particular
individual had interfered with her sexual organs. Yeah. REPORTER: And
you were given the job of investigating...
JIM DONALD: Yes.
REPORTER: ..this allegation? What happened?
JIM DONALD: Well, all we could do is pose the questions.
REPORTER: To him?
JIM DONALD: To him, and obviously he said, "Oh, no, no, that's all a
mistake and she's had problems. And you know, she comes from a weird
family," sort of thing.
REPORTER: So in the absence of the church's rule that there be at least
two or three witnesses, this girl was not to be believed?
JIM DONALD: That's right.
REPORTER: And that was the end of the matter?
JIM DONALD: Yep.
REPORTER: But for her father's confession, that's just what would have
happened to Natalie Webb. If he'd denied it and it was only your word
against him, because of the two witness rule, nothing would have
happened. Is that fair to assume?
NATALIE WEBB: That's correct.
SIMON THOMAS: This one's called 'The Wrestle'. It's actually wrestling
with a decision on whether I should actually go to the police.
REPORTER: For Simon Thomas, years went by, as he and his family nursed
their trauma - black years chronicled in his paintings.
SIMON THOMAS: This one there, that's called 'Life at 15'.
REPORTER: Then, six years ago, Simon approached the church elders again.
SIMON THOMAS: And I said to the elders there that I was really
struggling with what happened to me and that I needed some help. I
wasn't coping.
REPORTER: And what did they say to you?
SIMON THOMAS: They said to me back then, they said - and these are the
exact words - They said, "Obviously for this problem to be bothering you
"for so long, "you're not praying enough."
REPORTER: You're kidding?
SIMON THOMAS: That's exactly what was said to me, so I shut up again for
another year or two.
REPORTER: And then?
SIMON THOMAS: And then I decided that I was going to go to the police.
REPORTER: Robert Souter was sent to jail for a minimum of three years by
Judge John Goldring, who had this to say about the Watchtower Bible and
Tract Society -
"The church authorities took it upon themselves to act as if they were
the civil authorities which they had no right to do. This matter was not
reported to the police, as it should have been and I am surprised that
the police have not taken any action against the church authorities. I
hope they will do so. The State has responsibility of protecting young
people and all citizens have a serious moral responsibility to assist it
in doing so. I cannot criticise the church sufficiently seriously for
not having reported this matter".
REPORTER: Do you feel any moral responsibility for the fact that he
continued to abuse other children?
JOHN WINGATE: I think you have a moral responsibility to respect my
wishes and follow the procedure I've given you and that is to contact
the Watchtower Society of Australia. Don't harass me.
REPORTER: Every child in this photograph with Simon Thomas was abused by
Robert Souter. As we now know, the total number Souter molested could be
as high as 40.
SIMON THOMAS: I think all of them could have been saved, but I could
have been saved myself because I found out that one of the sisters in
the congregation had spoken to an elder and said that she'd seen Robert
Souter doing something to HER son and this was before Robert Souter
abused me.
PREACHER: Remember our hearts and minds are dedicated to Jehovah and we
must be holy because he is holy.
REPORTER: We asked the Watchtower Society a series of questions about
its handling of the cases of Robert Souter and Victor Webb and asked
them to tell us how many child abusers they've uncovered in their ranks.
We were told it wasn't the business of the media to know, though the
church did say very few were elders or those holding positions of
responsibility. In this letter, Viv Mouritz, the society's Australian
president, declined our request for an interview and said about the
claims of Simon Thomas and Natalie Webb -
"My inquiries indicate that the elders involved did not give
instructions not to report the abuse to the police".
REPORTER: It's at odds with everything we've heard from a number of
sources, including a judge. But on previous form, the congregation will
be told our story is the work of Satan.
PREACHER: The media out there, with all its power and its might, it
presents human nature in three Ds, three Ds - debauchery of every kind,
deception of every kind and demonism of every kind - and we need to be
aware of that.
REPORTER: But the authorities and the courts need to be aware of
something else, something far more sinister - the church's notion of the
truth. In this book 'Insight on the Scriptures', it says here, doesn't
it "Lying generally involves saying something false to a person who is
entitled to know the truth".
JIM DONALD: Yes.
REPORTER: Would your average judge or magistrate be somebody who was
entitled to know the truth?
JIM DONALD: It would be very difficult for a person not to uphold what
the society would want. They would back the society, and they would see
that as backing Jehovah, in which case, these people, the court, is not
entitled to know the truth.
REPORTER: Is not?
JIM DONALD: No. And in that case they would say that's not a lie.
REPORTER: So it's quite possible, given this definition of lying, that a
Jehovah's Witness could go before a civil court in this country and lie
to their back teeth?
JIM DONALD: Yes.
REPORTER: And this from the man who was once the society's own lawyer.
REV WARRYN STUCKEY: That has always been, as long as I remember, has
been Watchtower doctrine, that only those who are entitled to know the
truth deserve the truth.
REPORTER: Right, but if they determined that a particular judge or a
particular court is not entitled to know the truth, they won't tell the
truth?
REV WARRYN STUCKEY: Correct.
REPORTER: Do you recall telling her that she shouldn't go to the police?
MAURICE HADLEY: Not at all.
REPORTER: She says you did?
MAURICE HADLEY: Oh, well that's her word against mine, isn't it?
REPORTER: So who is entitled to know the truth?
MAURICE HADLEY: I mean, who do you think you are anyway? Since when have
you become the bees knees on all of this?
REPORTER: So is Vic repentant, is he, is that it?
MAURICE HADLEY: Well, I would like to think so, but that's not for me to
judge, is it? That's between him and his God ultimately, is it not?
REPORTER: Him and his God?
MAURICE HADLEY: Well, don't you think that?
PREACHER: Brothers, as we continue to pray for help in controlling our
sinful inclinations, we will see Jehovah help us.
REPORTER: Leave it to Jehovah, the constant refrain of those who purport
to live in the truth and see themselves as his only true
representatives. Their victims want them brought to account in the
world, an official investigation into the Watchtower Bible and Tract
Society.
NATALIE WEBB: It needs reform forced on it and waiting for Jehovah just
doesn't work.
JIM DONALD: I think it needs to have the lid taken off, yeah, because
young kids' lives are being ruined.
REPORTER: So it's time that governments cracked down on this
organisation?
NATALIE WEBB: Oh, definitely, mm. I'd hate to think how many children
are being abused now.
REPORTER: Even as we speak?
NATALIE WEBB: As we speak.
SIMON THOMAS: I find it hard, even though there are beautiful people
within the Jehovah's Witnesses - a lot are still my friends - I find it
extremely difficult to have a bond and to be a part of a brotherhood
with them now. The organisation - the organisational procedures need to
change because kids cannot suffer like that anymore. It's wrong.
---------------
WATCHTOWER SOCIETY AND QUESTIONABLE ACTIVITY WORLDWIDE:
From: Daswws@ aol.com
As a former JW of over 50 years the WT Org. has used the term theocratic
strategy to LIE to the civil authorities to protect their image and
pocket book . I have sat in the court house and witnessesed
Watchtower Lawyers and the JW Congegation members LIE under oath when i
was a member . My own brother in law who was a city overseer in regards
to a blood issue case where the young girl was kidnapped from the
hospital taken to the home of JW and fed orange juice instead of
recieving the proper medical care and died and my wife said her brother
felt bad ., but not bad enough to to tell the authourities of her
whereabouts .
We just had a recent case here in Calgary Alberta where the father
Lawrence Hughs a JW consented to a blood tranfusion for his daughter
Bethany . His wife and children and WT lawyers intervened costing
Lawrence thus far about $170,000.00 after 19 WT appeals and a dead
daughter .
After leaving the WT ORG. 9 years ago i contacted my MP and obtained
the WT patent license application to do business in Canada.In that
documemt i also received from the library of parliament research branch
by Susan Alter , Law and government division stating that they will use
EVERY legal means under the constitution " To protect the CORPORATION"
I also Contacted my MP regarding the charitable status of the WT ORG.
because i knew that being a jw of 50 years i was NEVER asked to
contribute to any charitable org. The WT T3110 registerd charity inf.
return plus a reply from Herb Dhaliwal,minister of national revenue
about his concern for TRANSPARENCY ignores the fact that in all the
categories listed re charitable the WT lists only 2 fields in E
category ,e2 and e3 missionary org. ana religious publishing and
broadcasting. The net proceeds listed for that activity was
$27,070,246.14
My concern was with those deep WT money pockets and claiming to be a
charity they are able to destroy all who would challenge in the courts
of the land .
If you should investigate iam sure you will find a simliar setup in your
country."TO PROTECT THE CORPORATION" at the exspense of its citizens.
Don Smith
----------------
EMAILED TO US FROM *RAFUSE (drafuse @accesswave.ca) "It has been brought
to my attention that there may be a major scandal working in the
Billings Montana area. It involves more than ten elders in a motel room
at the District Convention this summer and 14-16 year old girls. My
information source says there is more to come with possible charges
being filed, but key JW's work for social services there and are
involved in the investigation. If anyone knows anything about this
please contact me or if you know any of the victims please direct them
to silentlambs.
silentlambs"
-------------------
FROM VELTA ([email protected]):
You may have heard the story about a Nigerian woman (Amina Lawal)
sentenced to death for having a child out of wedlock. She will be buried
up to her neck. Then her punishers will surround her and throw rocks at
her head until her skull is crushed and she dies a painful and horrible
death. I have attached the link to the Amnesty International site. On
the right-hand side, there is a letter to the Nigerian president which
you can sign. The woman has 30 days to appeal against her sentence. It
takes less than one minute to sign the letter.
Please forward this on to all your friends - hopefully the power of
numbers can help this woman. http://www.mertonai.org/amina/
------------------
GIVE COPIES OF THE FOLLOWING TO ALL THE MEDIA YOU CAN PLEASE!
FROM SILENTALAMBS: (info@ silentlambs.org): 100+ Sex Abuse Victims to
Deliver Hundreds of Stuffed Lambs to International Headquarters of
Jehovahs Witnesses
First Ever March for Jehovahs Witness Child Rape Victims Worldwide
Elders Threaten Abuse Victims for Supporting silentlambs March
First Ever Courage Awards Presented on Front Steps
WHAT:
In a protest march September 27th at the Home office for Jehovahs
Witnesses over one hundred abuse survivors will deliver hundreds of
stuffed lambs for victims around the world as a symbol of innocence
lost. Adults molested as kids by Jehovahs Witnesses and advocates
will speak out and demand a church hearing to investigate possible
criminal cover-ups by the denominations leadership for Jehovahs
Witnesses the Governing Body.
WHEN:
Friday, September 27, 2:00 p.m.
WHO:
William H. Bowen founder of silentlambs, a recently established
support group for Jehovahs Witness abuse victims will be conducting.
The following groups will attend in support and speak,
www.keep-our-children-safe.com Tina Alfano-- www.toysofhope.org Melissa
Dokofsky-- www.savethechildren.dyns.net Kerry StraitSNAP, Survivors
Network of those Abused by Priests, David Cerulli Child Protection
Advocates, Dan Dugo-- along with several Jehovahs Witness abuse
survivors.
WHERE:
The march will start at Pierrepont Place and Columbia Heights at the
park and proceed down Columbia Heights to Jehovahs Witness Home office
at 25 Columbia Heights at the front entrance.
DETAILS:
This is the first public event ever for child rape victims of Jehovahs
Witnesses. According to William H. Bowen founder of silentlambs,
Elders have threatened abuse survivors across the country for speaking
out about abuse. Several supporters have been threatened with expulsion
if they attend. While leadership of Jehovahs Witnesses tries to silence
victims with disfellowshipping, we are going to give awards to those who
speak out for children on their front steps. Silentlambs is formerly
requesting the church to establish a tribunal to prosecute the Governing
Body for their crimes against children.
Contact:
Jean Kraus, local chapter director: 212-319-1195
Dan Dugo 646-641-6211 Child Protection Advocates
Tina Alfano: 516-978-4840 Keep Our Children Safe
David Cerulli 917-757-1791 SNAP
www.silentlambs.org, William H. Bowen: 270-527-5350, cell 270-559-5345
-------------------
TORONTO LAWSUIT: "http://ca.news.yahoo.com/020923/6/p4ni.html
Monday September 23 5:43 PM EST
Closing arguments begin in Jehovah's Witness lawsuit; sexual coverup
alleged
By JAMES MCCARTEN
TORONTO (CP) - In 1988, a terrified victim of childhood sex abuse -
raised from birth as a Jehovah's Witness - did as allegedly instructed
by church elders and confronted the abuser: her father.
In so instructing Vicki Boer, those elders shattered the life, faith and
family of a formerly devoted Witness and ought to be held to account,
Boer's lawyer argued Monday. "She was almost like a turtle without a
shell," Charles Mark told Ontario Court Justice Anne Molloy during
day-long closing arguments in the civil case, which has been sitting for
more than two weeks.
"Her life had been built around the church, and because of the way this
has been handled, her life is a mess."
Church elders Brian Cairns, Steve Brown and John Didur, along with the
Watchtower and Bible Tract Society of Canada, should never have forced
Boer to confront her father about the abuse, Mark said.
Instead, they should have reported the abuse to the Children's Aid
Society and encouraged Boer to get counselling as soon as possible.
"If that had been done, none of the confrontations would have had to
take place."
It was in keeping with the tenets of their faith that the elders in
Shelburne, Ont., decided to compel Boer to confront her father, Gower
Palmer, even though it was plain the idea of such a meeting was
abhorrent to her, Mark said.
"The descriptions . . .are those of a person who is on the edge of
suicide. That's the degree to which it frightens her."
For two weeks, Molloy has been getting a crash course in the ways of the
Witnesses as Boer squares off against the church that shaped her life
for more than 20 years.
Boer, now 31, alleges the defendants failed to get her adequate
treatment for the abuse she suffered between the ages of 11 and 14 in
the family home in Shelburne, about 100 kilometres northwest of Toronto.
Rather than immediately notify the Children's Aid Society and allow Boer
to seek counselling outside the church, she was required, according to
Biblical principles, to confront her father in 1988 and allow him to
repent his alleged sins, the suit alleges.
"She was brought up (believing) that the church was what mattered; the
rest of the world was a hostile (place) with which she should have no
contact," Mark said Monday.
"She accepted this, as it had been instilled in her from youth."
But it was apparent throughout the day that Molloy was struggling with
Mark's interpretation of the law.
"It's not like this was a professional disciplinary body," she said at
one point about the three-member "judicial committee" that determined
Palmer's punishment in 1989.
"This is to do with issues of spirituality; how does that differ from
someone going to a confessional in a church and receiving absolution?"
Then later in the day, in response to Mark's suggestion that despite
having free will, Boer had to follow the counsel of the elders: "You can
always choose to say, 'I don't want this religion anymore,'" Molloy
said.
"That is also an _expression of free will, and one that, evidently, some
people do choose."
Eventually, some six weeks after the allegations first surfaced, the
case was reported to Children's Aid and the police, although no charges
ever ensued.
Palmer, 58, continues to live in Shelburne.
The defendants, meanwhile, have argued strenuously that they never
prevented Boer from seeking help or forced her to confront her father.
Their lawyers, expected to begin their final arguments Tuesday, have
suggested that it was the abuse, not the ways of her church, that sent
Boer down a rocky path in her adult life, one rife with job insecurity,
sexual dalliances and emotional turmoil.
While victims of sexual abuse normally aren't identified in public, Boer
has agreed to allow her name to be publicized as part of her effort to
promote what she alleges in abuse within the confines of the church's
congregations.
As part of their beliefs in a strict interpretation of Bible teachings,
Jehovah's Witnesses reject anything political or "worldly" that
distracts from their focus on Christ and the second coming, which they
consider imminent.
Anyone who runs afoul of the religion's strictest tenets will find
themselves excommunicated, often to such an extent that they're shunned
by their own family." The preceding was emailed to us courtesy of
silentlambs.org
------------
AT THE TOP NYC COMPANY PROFILES (NEARLY $1 BILLION REVENUE!):
NYC 40
September 23, 2002
To be eligible for this ranking by revenue of the 40 largest private
companies in New York City, a company must have its headquarters in one
of the five boroughs. Employment figures are company wide; if a local
figure is given, it represents the company's employment in the city.
http://www.newsday.com/business/printedition/ny-nyblurba2935802sep23(0,4425582).story?coll=ny%2Dbusiness%2Dprint
34.
WATCHTOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY
OF NEW YORK
25 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, 11201
718-560-5000
www.watchtower.org
Revenue: $951 million
Industry: Publishing
President: Don Adams
Employees: 3,181 in Brooklyn (volunteers)
There's no need to stop the presses at the Watchtower Bible & Tract
Society of New York now that the Supreme Court has upheld the
constitutional right of Jehovah's Witnesses to continue their
door-to-door ministry.
"We were very pleased with the decision," said spokesman J.R. Brown,
adding that while Jehovah's Witnesses "don't need any government to
authenticate this work ... it is comforting to know that this primitive
version of Christianity is still validated."
The society publishes 24 million copies of "Watchtower" and 21 million
copies of "Awake" to supply more than 6 million Jehovah's Witnesses.
The preceding was shared courtesy of silentlambs.org
-----------------------
ACTION IN AUSTRALIA!
"Jehovah's Witness abuse claims
By Peter Williams
September 23, 2002
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,5150540%255E421,00.html
SOME elders of the Jehovah's Witness church covered up child abuse and
obstructed police investigations, according to victims of the abuse and
former elders.
The church's leader in Australia yesterday denied the allegations, but
said police were sometimes not informed to protect victims.
One victim, Simon Thomas, a member of the Corrimal congregation on the
NSW south coast as a boy, said if the church had listened to his pleas
other children could have been spared abuse by convicted paedophile
Robert Souter.
Souter pleaded guilty in August 2000 to one count of buggery and four
counts of indecent assault on two teenage boys from 1978-80 and was
sentenced to five years jail with a non-parole period of three years.
"If the church had listened to my pleas, all of those kids could have
been saved," Mr Thomas told the Nine Network's Sunday program."
The preceding came to us courtesy of silentlambs.org
-----------------
EXTREMELY INTERESTING NEWS FROM SLOVENIA!
This TV program was aired recently (3.9.2002) in Slovenia, Europe, on
the biggest slovenian TV station, POP tv (www.pop-tv.si)
About 250.000 people saw it. We translated the whole TV program. Video
will be available soon. Enjoy!
JEHOVAHS WITNESSES IN SLOVENIA TRANSCRIPT OF THE THE TV PROGRAM
Otos parents joined the Jehovahs Witnesses when he was four years old.
By reason of their religious rules he wasnt allowed to celebrate his
birthdays, new years or any other, as they name them, pagan holidays. He
was dissuaded from associating with worldly children, watching TV or
films, which had no reference to the faith.
OTO: As long as you are a Jehovahs Witness being with other people
means nothing but talking about Gods Kingdom, about the wonderful good
news. Any other conversation is said to be throwing pearls to the
swine.
The only entertainment he could enjoy beside going to school was the
regular Bible study, meetings (five hours a week) and the door-to-door
service.
OTO: I was always scared that some of my school-friends or teachers
might answer the door. At school I was named a jehovist. I was
stigmatized all the years of my school time..
Marko was their member for some years, together with his wife and his
children. He disassociated himself because he could not agree with the
pressure which the elders put upon the education of his children. As he
created a new life after leaving the organization, he asked us not to
reveal his identity.
MARKO: They dont baptize children and they pride themselves with that,
but they are indoctrinated since their earliest age, before they are
able to read and write. They have cassettes to watch and their parents
must study with them, they should bring them to all meetings, even if
they are only two or three years old. They must sit silently for two
hours, if they are not quiet, they punish them physically. The physical
punishment is one of the commands to the Jehovahs Witnesses.
GRAPHICS FROM A JWS PUBLICATION: BUILD UP A HAPPY FAMILY LIFE, p. 133:
Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the
rod, he shall not die
Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell
(Prov. 23:13,14)
That the Jehovahs Witnesses treat the children in an extremely unusual
way became quite obvious in May this year, when it was discovered, that
in the USA, where the Witnesses have their headquarters, there is a list
of more than 23.000 pedophiles in their ranks. Most of them were never
reported to the police.
MARKO: There is a secret manual for elders where its clearly stated
that such crimes should not be reported to the police.
GRAPHICS: THE SECRET ELDERS MANUAL (PAY ATTENTION TO YOURSELVES AND ALL
THE FLOCK, 1982):
If the elders are informed about an illegal activity or any other delict
or wrongdoing committed by a member of the community, they will not,
even if it is instructed by the laws of the Church, announce it to the
authorities.
OTO: The Society is a real pedophile paradise because their judicial
committee needs two eyewitnesses, but in these cases usually there are
no witnesses.
GRAPHICS: THE SECRET ELDERS MANUAL (PAY ATTENTION TO YOURSELVES AND ALL
THE FLOCK, 1982):
What proving material is applicable?
There must be at least two or three eyewitnesses, not only the persons
who repeat what they heard. If there is just one eyewitness nothing can
be done.
Those victims who, although they were not allowed to, informed the
police about the crimes, were later disfellowshipped. As we wished to
get some further information about what is going on in this religious
group we asked their spokesman, Mr Janko Novak for an interview. At
first he was willing to permit the filming but when I let him know that
their former members would also take part in this TV program, his answer
was this:
JANKO NOVAK, JW SPOKESMAN: I dont think we can make it. You can tell
that we refused any cooperation.
Later he accepted the interview but he didn't allow us any other filming
or conversation with other believers, even with no camera. When I asked
him about their secret manual for elders he first denied existence of
such rules:
JANKO NOVAK, JW SPOKESMAN: A far as I know it was never, never and
nowhere written that we should not report such things to the police.
THE REPORTER: Is this book yours? (she shows him the manual)
JANKO NOVAK, JW SPOKESMAN: Yes, it is. But these rules have been out of
practice for many years. (he laughs nervously)
THE REPORTER: But they were in practice then?
JANKO NOVAK, JW SPOKESMAN: That was 20 years ago, I was too young then
to know
THE REPORTER: But you probably have newer rules, can you show those, if
it is not written anymore
JANKO NOVAK, JW SPOKESMAN: I cannot show it to you if it isnt written.
THE REPORTER: May I check it out?
JANKO NOVAK, JW SPOKESMAN: Yes, you can.
THE REPORTER: Will you show me the new manual?
JANKO NOVAK, JW SPOKESMAN: Yes, I will, after the filming.
But it all came to nothing. When the camera turned off, even after
having been promised I couldnt see the new manual. At the police
station they didnt know how to answer my question if they had ever come
upon a case of pedophilia. They say that the accused persons are never
asked about their religion.
Besides I was interested in some other directives. By reason of
scriptural restrictions they reject the blood transfusions. What follows
if an individual accepts blood if he is strictly forbidden to do it?
JANKO NOVAK: You know what would happen? If an individual accepted the
transfusion if he were forced to do it, he could fall in such a bad
state that he should be helped. We had cases like that and the members
told us, they felt like being raped.
THE REPORTER: Would you have accepted a transfusion?
OTO: Yes, I probably would. If I had of Id probably have been
disfellowshipped.
In the central hospital I was told that so far they havent had any
problems with patients rejecting blood. The main reason is a low number
of Witnesses (1850), so they havent had a case where they should deal
with serious complications. Nevertheless there have been many death
cases abroad, with many children among them.
OTO: If a person refuses the transfusion and dies, then they write
articles on him in their publications. They make him a hero, they praise
him almost like god.
JANKO NOVAK, JW SPOKESMAN: I know none of such cases (that anybody died
for rejecting blood)
GRAPHICS: A JWS PUBLICATION: GOOD NEWS WHICH WILL MAKE YOU HAPPY, p.
178:
It has already happened in rare cases however that the conscious
objection prevented some people from accepting blood and they died
therefore. As they respected Gods law faithfully they will be
resurrected in Gods paradise.
What makes a person who becomes a Jehovahs Witness and what is in fact
going on within this group? I asked these questions to some other former
members, for example a woman who, as she says, wishes to forget her
bitter life experience as soon as possible.
THE WOMAN: I was going through a terrible life situation and at that
time I was glad to hear that something better was promised to us. A
world with no pain and no suffering at that time those words made me
deeply relieved.
Their system of collecting new members seems to be built up to detail.
They write down quite everything about the people who let them enter
their homes.
THE WOMAN: They write down in fact anything they notice about the person
they are talking to: how he reacted, what questions he asked, his
interests, his education and what should be done that the preaching to
him should be as much successful as possible.
GRAPHICS: NOTES ABOUT INTERESTED PERSONS
Soon she found out that things are not so wonderful as they had been
promising to her. Any doubt was automatically suppressed.
THE WOMAN: Spying on everybody is obligatory. Every member must report
any wrongdoing which is committed by some other believer. If he refuses
to obey he risks disfelowshippment himself.
MARKO: These things go so far that a husband is to denounce his wife and
vice versa.
Oto was betrayed by his then friends. He was disfellowshipped for being
intimate with a girl who did not belong to their religion. The other two
disassociated themselves. They all agree that the deepest pain was the
absolute isolation which followed their leaving the group. The believers
are commanded to avoid any contact with a former member.
OTO: As a matter of fact theres no worse punishment from the threat
that you would be disfellowshipped because you live in your own world
and you know no other world except the world of Jehovahs Witnesses.
OTO: Everybody shuns you, even the contacts with your own parents are
limited, especially from the spiritual side, the others are avoiding you
on the street, looking away.
THE WOMAN: It happens very often that, if they don't live in the same
household, the children shun their own parents, brothers, sisters
grandparents are not allowed to see their grandchildren anymore. Such
cases are very frequent.
Mr. Novak denied everything that I had been told by the former members.
JANKO NOVAK, JW SPOKESMAN: Its just complaints brought out by some
individuals who left the ranks of Jehovahs Witnesses, I dont know for
what reasons which may be best clear to themselves.
The former members explained their reasons for leaving the group on the
web sites. (www.izobceni.streznik.org, www.jehovovexprice.tk) They say
that it is the only way to warn the present and the future members
against the abuse they experienced themselves.
OTO: Now I can see that I was manipulated and that everything was just a
delusion. His only wish after his 20 years life among the Witnesses is
trying to compensate the lost years of childhood. At the age of 25 he
celebrated his first birthday.
END
TV PROGRAM LEADER: Former and even current members are planning a
protest march at the end of September. They want to warn about problems
in the organization.
_______________
Translated by Ema
Production: Izobceni streznik team (www.izobceni.streznik.org)
Article about this TV program:
http://24ur.com/naslovnica/preverjeno/20020903_2013700.php
Commentary (in slovenian but with some interesting screenshoots of JW
spokesman): http://users.volja.net/izobcenec/clanki/28.htm
The above was sent courtesy of silentlambs.org
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