Seventh Open Letter to the Dutch Branch Office and the Headquarters of the Watchtower Society in Brooklyn New York for the personal attention of Brother Ted Jaracz
Maarssen,
Dear brother Jaracz,
My name is Rijk Janssen and I?ve been a Jehovah?s witness for 20 years now. The position in which I, and many of my brothers and sisters, find ourselves in has made me decide to address this ?Seventh Open Letter to the Watchtower Society? also personally to you. You will be visiting my birthplace, , on for a talk in the Jaarbeurs. I kindly request you to research the enclosures that come with this letter. The ?Six Points? (Enclosure 1) which are online at http://www.jehovah-getuige.nl make it clear that the Watchtower Society has disfellowshipped itself from Jehovah?s witnesses and can no longer be considered as one of them. I kindly request you to make that announcement before all attendants during your talk on April the 10 th . Such an announcement, given by you would be just, right and correct based on these words and facts.
I?m aware of the fact that many of us may think of this as a strange or even laughable request. However, the facts regarding the behaviour of the Watchtower Society and the suffering that has been brought over many thousands of witnesses of Jehovah and others in the last decennia, give confirmation of the fact that it would be just and correct to announce that the Watchtower Society has disfellowshipped itself from the people who want to be witnesses of the God Almighty, Jehovah. The hypocritical and arrogant behaviour of the Watchtower Society has brought tremendous reproach on Jehovah?s Name. For people who have a zeal for love and justice it has become impossible to conform to the rules and regulations of the Watchtower Society and its man-made system of worship.
Brother Jaracz, I?m also aware of the fact that my tone is very direct and I?m not beating around the bush. From 1996 to present I?ve written more than fifty letters. Most of them are located at the Dutch branch office and thirteen of them are also located at the headquarters in Brooklyn . For years I?ve been treated as an outcast by local elders, just like many of my brothers and sisters worldwide. These elders act on behalf of the Watchtower Society and implement the unjust policies of the Society. A small portion of this can be read on http://www.jehovah-getuige.nl. Meanwhile the Dutch government is also informed about the way the Watchtower Society treats witnesses of Jehovah and interested persons, as you can read in Enclosure 2.
Although these ?Six Points? convince me of the fact that the Watchtower Society has disfellowshipped itself, I can imagine that you and others have to get used to that idea or that you disagree with it altogether. I can understand. But, would it be just and loving to drag hundreds and maybe thousands of brothers and sisters worldwide before judicial committees and to disfellowship them from their family, friends and brothers and sisters ? without really listening to them? Yes, is it loving to separate people from their family by declaring them ?spiritually dead?? Parents worldwide refuse to talk to their children and vice versa. Is that what Jehovah wants? That we treat each other that way? Is it just, brother Jaracz, that so many of us have gone and are going through a crisis of faith, are being disfellowshipped, have disassociated themselves and maybe even stopped having faith in the Almighty God, Jehovah, because of the sins of the Watchtower Society? Is it just, my brother Jaracz, that others are being punished for the fact that the Watchtower Society and all of its subsidiary companies don?t want to lose face before the world? Didn?t the same happen to our example Jesus Christ when the corrupt leaders ruled him out by unjust jurisdiction because he spoke the truth? Is it just to tell a lie when we know the truth? Is it just, brother Jaracz, to worship a Golden Calf while our God Jehovah deserves exclusive devotion? I?m not going to cite a lot of scriptures, because we all know fully well how Jehovah thinks about these things. Every person who is a witness of Jehovah and not a Watchtower Witness (WT-Witness) knows fully well to whom we may bow and to whom we don?t bow. For a witness of Jehovah the Watchtower Society is something completely different than our God, Jehovah. They can?t even begin to compare.
In conclusion I want to ask you something personal. I?ve also sended you a Third Enclosure with this letter. It?s a short letter from the presiding overseer of the Utrecht-Maarssen congregation. He delivered this at my house address with his wife. The address at the top of the letter is the home address of this brother and sister. He didn?t sign this letter as an elder or in name of the body of elders or on behalf of the ?judicial committee?, but he uses the word ?we? five times. In my understanding he means ?he and his wife?. This brother again restates that somehow I know the reasons for the fact that he and his wife no longer consider me as one of Jehovah?s Witnesses. I requested many times (by public letters) to reveal those reasons to me by letter. To date I haven?t received a response to that. In the meantime they no longer consider me as one of Jehovah?s witnesses and I?m asked to respond within seven days by letter when I disagree with this and I can make my request for reinstatement also by letter.
Brother Jaracz, in 1996 I reported a corrupt elder to his fellow elders. From that time on I?ve been treated as a piece of dirt. Over the years I?ve written dozens of letters and entered into conversations in which I held out my hand. I was never ?received back? and given a normal treatment. I was removed as a ministerial servant. The presiding overseer in my congregation had an adulterous affaire with a sister and he thought I knew about this because of some supposed remarks I made in one of my public talks. But, I never knew about this. I wasn?t acquainted with this adulterous affaire of that elder, just as many of my brothers and sisters worldwide weren?t acquainted with the adulterous affaire of the Watchtower Society as a NGO at the United Nations at that very same time. Is it just, my brother Jaracz, to send me such a letter because I?ve chosen to serve Jehovah and only Him? Are my brothers and sisters going to receive such letters in the near future, resulting in a loss of their family, friends and association in the congregation while they did nothing wrong? I haven?t attended the meetings for over two years now. I couldn?t handle the badger anymore. I?ve always stood up for truth and justice without regard to persons, and the result is that I?m branded an apostate and I?m no longer considered as one of Jehovah?s witnesses. And it?s truly distressing to see that I?m not the only one! May I ask what you think of this situation, brother Jaracz?
In conclusion I?m wishing you strength and a good and save trip to my birth country. I will be attending the meeting on the 10 th of April in the Jaarbeurs Utrecht to hear what you are going to say. If you want to meet with me, there are plenty of ways to arrange this. Almost all the elders in and around know me. Also Jan Crans of the branch office knows who I am. He knows my intentions for many years and retains all my letters carefully. I wrote this letter in Dutch and another brother translated it and the three enclosures in English.
I?m sending you my regards and wish you Jehovah?s blessing,
Your brother,
Rijk Janssen
Copy to : Branch Office, Dutch Branch Office, Elders Utrecht-Maarssen
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