I have been requested to post the following from a dear friend who used to work with my buddy and all time hero Ciro Auliciano:
Please post the following message informing readers about who the author was that wrote the very important Awake! article of September 8, 1991, The United Nations-A Better Way? - that was the beginning of articles that seemed to signal a more moderate viewpoint of the United Nations by JWs.
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One morning I was in Ciro's Aulicino's office and unexpectedly Ciro asked me if I had read the latest September 8, 1991 Awake!, which Bethelites just received in their rooms a few days before.
I told Ciro that I had. He then asked me what I thought about the articles on the United Nations, which were featured on the September 8, 1991 Awake! cover--The United Nations?A Better Way? I told him that I thought the presentation of the subject was interesting. What surprised me the most was the way the article ended, I said. Wasn't it unusual not to attack the U.N. as we usually did? Further, I asked him if this obviously new method of not castigating the reputation of the U.N. was done so as not to alienate the non-JW reader by using a more complimentary approach? He agreed with my assumption. I actually thought his idea was good, but told him, laughingly, that it was rather sneaky. (Let the reader use discernment as to whether the end of the article was done in a rather underhanded, devious way.)
The end of that article, page 10, reads as follows:
"Jehovah?s Witnesses firmly believe that the United Nations is going to play a major role in world events in the very near future. No doubt these developments will be very exciting. And the results will have a far-reaching impact on your life. We urge you to ask Jehovah?s Witnesses in your neighborhood for more details on this matter. The Bible clearly paints a picture showing that the United Nations will very shortly be given power and authority. The UN will then do some very astonishing things that may well amaze you. And you will be thrilled to learn that there is yet a better way near at hand that will surely bring eternal peace and security!"
Ciro agreed with me. He then asked if I was wondering why he brought up the subject of this particular Awake! article. "Of course," I answered. Ciro told me it was because HE wrote the article and wanted to know what I thought about it. He needed input as to its effectiveness, he said. I remember him being clearly elated when telling me he wrote the article, and asked me not to tell anyone else. I understood because I knew the policy of the Writing Dept. in this regard. I learned from Ciro that day that he didn't write for the Writing Dept. very often because he was too busy with other things to do, but Lloyd Barry called him into his office to give him the assignment. So I wasn't surprised over a decade later when I saw on a copy of the NGO application the signature of Lloyd Barry and Ciro Aulicino.
Also, when I saw the signature of Robert Johnson on that same application, it proved to me that the Service Dept. was also involved in the decision to become an [associated] NGO. Robert Johnson was and still is one of the most important members of that department. He takes his orders from GB member, Ted Jaracz, who directs Service. Robert Johnson would never sign that application without the knowledge of GB member Jaracz. (If, as Watchtower has said that they became an [associated] NGO member to obtain a library card, what did the Service Dept. need a library card to the United Nations for? This would make more sense as an excuse used by the Writing Dept.)
During my discussion with Ciro, he told me that along with his weekly Wednesday run to New York City to pick up books he ordered from libraries for the Department's writers, he would also stop at the U.N. to see what was going on. He told me he had a pass to get into the U.N. and could get into areas the public couldn't. I asked him why he wanted to do this. He said this was arranged by the request of the Writing Dept. but was vague and didn't say much more. He never told me about Watchtower's [associated] NGO status. So every Wednesday there was a little note stuck on Ciro's office door that said he was in New York City.
Were subsequent articles in the Awake! discussing the United Nations written by Ciro Aulicino? I don't know the answer to that question, but perhaps he did. His weekly snooping visits at the UN could have provided him with new information for complimentary United Nations Awake! articles, so that the UN would continue to allow the Watchtower to remain an NGO member. Why did Watchtower want to be an [associated] NGO member? It doesn't make sense that they joined [partnered]solely for informational purposes when we know that the same information at the UN Library was available at central NYC libraries. Was their purpose to offer more interesting, half-truth articles in the Awake! about the UN done solely to attract an unsuspecting public to inquire further about Jehovah's Witnesses viewpoint on this subject? I doubt that. I believe they did it for the PERKS which being an [associated] NGO member would bring them around the world. It is not my purpose today to discuss what those perks are for [associated] NGO members since I believe this subject has been covered by other people in the past.
There is another point that I want to bring to your attention. In retrospect, the September 8, 1991 Awake! opened up a Pandora's Box for Watchtower with regard to their hidden involvement with the United Nations. However, this was only the beginning of their problems. One month later, the October 8, 1991 Awake! cover featured a young woman staring into a mirror seeing herself reflected along with a small child superimposed in front of her. The title of that Awake! was HEALING THE WOUNDS OF CHILD ABUSE.
It was this article that began the Watchtower's nightmare which has not ended yet because of revelations of Watchtower child abuse policies that covered up widespread child abuse within their organization. Perhaps, it could be said that 1991 was the beginning of Watchtower's demise.