IMPORTANT IDEA! Petition the Society and embaress them for their hubris

by Terry 31 Replies latest jw friends

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  Terry

  I may have an important idea! (Beginner's luck).

  What if we all (and I mean every last one of us; BIG NUMBERS OF PEOPLE) wrote a scathing and precise petition or letter of protest (as an open letter) to the governing body of Jehovah's Witnesses and released it to the press on a slow news day with lots of fanfare?

  We would "call out" the rascals in no uncertain terms citing our grievances (like the founding fathers to George III) and enumerating our personal suffering under the policies we want changed.

  The list would include setting themselves up as little dictators speaking in God's name and issuing papal decrees upon penalty of excommunication.

  We could demand apologies for stealing the future of children born to JW families who lose the happiness of childhood through worthless Pharisaic adherence to blind rules such as no Birthdays, Christmas, Easter, Holidays in general, etc.

  We would demand apologies for stealing the future of families who were encouraged in God's name to renounce higher education, houses, cars, marriage and children to sell Watchtower warnings to the public under the bogus banner of chicken little's The Sky is Falling (Armageddon).

  We could demand an end to blood policies that take the lives of children and mothers and every other faithful family member frightened more of displeasing Brooklyn than of losing their own lives.

  We could demand a clear accounting of the millions of dollars taken in by the unpaid labor of house to house salesmanship on the basis that we see no benefit from the $$$ sent in. No JW schools, nursing homes, daycare facilities, retirement plans, youth programs, colleges, medical research facilities, or charities even exist which would account for the money being absorbed by the Brooklyn piggy bank.

  We could demand a policy of mercy, patience and forgiveness for members who ask honest questions and seek answers based on something other than stony silence from the leaders. We could demand a dialogue, an open ear, a humble willingness to listen to the opinion which does not match theirs without bringing down condemnation and the wrath of god.

  We could demand some mechanism whereby the governing body could be corrected for error by the flock of God and no hide behind a veil of supreme indifference and empowered cowardice.

  We could ask for an explanation of how over a century of worthless misinformation could be published about vaccinations being worthless, aluminum cookware being poisonous, germs not causing disease, pyramids giving dates for destruction, God living in a star cluster and various other crackpot notions. How could this be published and distributed in the homes of innocent people under the banner of God's work?

  This and many other things could clearly be enumerated and presented publicly to catch the attention of the world and focus a spotlight on the secrecy and hubris of the Brooklyn plutocrats.

  Indifference and hurtful policies allow children to be molested, women to be brutalized, families to shatter and lies to go forth as truths all because 12 very rich and powerful men choose to get away with it as mobsters for God Almighty.

  End organized crime---hold the Governing Body of the New World Society of Jehovah's Witnesses accountable!!

  Who among you say "YEA" ?
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  seattleniceguy

  Hey Terry,

  I like your style. You seem quite motivated, and I'm right there with you. I have been wondering for a while now what we could do to accomplish something effective by means of print media, and this may be a good start. After our successful letter-writing campaign to the UN, I have learned never to be pessimistic about the possibilites.

  There's only one suggestion I have. In any group of people, you have a core that is willing to work extra hard, and a majority that supports the cause but can't do as much or has some reservations. In the UN campaign, which I thought seemed pretty sure, we had only about 20 people actually write letters (that we know about). I think if we are to make an impact on the media, we will need to have a larger constituency act.

  To that end, we need some way to make it easier for people to get involved. Maybe we could print the petitions and somehow distribute them so that people could sign and send them easily. Or simply make them available in PDF format online or something. If we talked about it on several boards for several weeks, and prepared correctly, we could give the word and have, say, a thousand people send them to a couple media outlets simultaneously. I bet that would make a pretty good splash.

  I think we need to make it more newsworthy, too. Aren't open letters usually paid advertising? I don't know if a for-profit organization like a newspaper will print something like that out of the goodness of their hearts. But if we can find a way to actually make the campaign into a news event, then I think we stand a better chance.

  Anything can happen with drive and creativity. Let's get some more ideas in the discussion!

  SNG
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  Terry

  Yes, you are are quite right. The easiest way for Watchtowerland to deflect the criticism is to marginalize the smallness of our numbers.

  We probably won't end up with a Million Man March, but, it would have to be enough bodies to represent the disenfranchised of WT detritus.

  Ideally we could have petitions and petitioners outside Kingdom Halls picketing and calling attention to the effort.

  First wave would be a letter writing campaign to local newspapers saying something like:

  "This letter and thousands like it are being mailed today to newspapers in lands, countries, states and nations where former Jehovah's Witnesses are calling attention to the long overdue necessity of getting a hearing ear from the ivory tower of religious bigotry in Brooklyn New York. If the Branch Davidians had been able to hear from the mouth of their own former brothers and sisters the wrongful and heinous indifference of David Koresh lives might have been saved which otherwise perished in vain. So too with Jehovah's Witnesses who are forbidden to speak to family members who have left the organization, forbidden to read anything critical of the dictates of the leadership, forbidden to have friendships with non Witnesses, forbidden to make important decisions in their own lives which might include breaking free of abuse by husbands, fathers or elders who sexually abuse them, force them to put their own lives at risk in dubious policies and who shield lawbreakers from due process by a covert policy of silence and insular solidarity."

  If this activity were co-ordinated so that it happend specifically on key dates in key cities and with enough grass roots hubub; it would then be NEWSWORTHY. Otherwise it is sour grapes and whining.

  This is the very strategy Judge Rutherford used to propel JW's into the limelight when he was pumping up the volume on the religion he had wrested from Russell's named successors. Rutherford turned his flock into activists who put their thumb in the eye of religious leaders and politicos to garner newsprint and he was eager for plenty of ink. It worked!

  If all the newsgroups, JW groups and their associates were to put some intelligent organization into this we could MOVE MOUNTAINS.

  But, you hit the nail on the head: we need numbers.
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  johnny cip

  i agree terry and sng. ; i'm not much of a writer, but can handle most any jw in a conversation. this is a great idea. sf in this board is good at some of these things. for my part i will sign or distribute anything i can agree with . this is a very workable idea, behind a non-for profit org. or some christians group that takes on the wt ie brci, macgregor ministeries slilentlambs etc. i'mv sure it could happen if we all great into it. john
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  XQsThaiPoes

  How come places where the government or church is actively fighting the jws they print all kinds of stuff in main stream media against the jws. Yet JWs grow. I cant see the advantage. THe wts either secretly bowed down to those governments and did not tell jws elsewhere or launched their own propaganda mill.

  I say the best way is to recruit JW infiltrators. Drs lawyers critiques etc from other faiths. Train them how to be JWs and just take jws over. THe religion is straving right now in develope lands. Ofcoarse most people dont treat religions like corporate take overs except Rutherford and that worked!
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  Terry

  I think of it this way. The occasional news story about JW's is a mosquito bite to the WT society. It is merely annoying. A cluster of stories, such as child molestation, are embaressing. But, what I'm suggesting in the "Open Letter" or petition campaign is a world wide and sudden onslaught from all corners to demonstrate that there are tens of thousands of people who went into the organization with high hopes and faith and came out as half-eaten sausages!

  Demonstrate the REAL IMPACT of the JW preaching work in terms of lives ruined and you put the big hurt on Brooklyn.

  Truth in advertising: JW's are vampires; they suck the future out of your life.
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  dorothy

  I'm in! If this idea gets going and there's any way I can help PM me.
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  Jim_TX

  Good ideas...

  I think though - that if you do something like this - you need to assign a 'date' - for when it will 'hit the media'...

  You also need to assign it a 'codename', so that everyone can refer to it easily. I am thinking something like 'Armageddon' ought to do it.

  Then take off with it. Use sound-bites like, "Armageddon is coming on October 15th, 2005. Are you ready?"

  This will instill dread into many of the JWs. Others will get confused - thinking that their own organization has issued another proclamation of impending doom - and sell their belongings and pioneer - like they all did pre-1975. Create chaos.

  Then let the media have the story. All over the globe.

  Regards,

  Jim TX
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  DevonMcBride

  Great Idea! I would definitely be a part of this campaign.

  Devon
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  Bubbamar

  I'm getting goose bumps thinking about it! I'm in!!! Let's go!! Woohoo!! Great idea!!!