by Marvin Shilmer 36 Replies latest jw friends
If you want Jacoba Atlas or the other dude at PBS, I went directly to them by using their first intital and last name ... eg.... [email protected].
Barb or Marvin,
Please feel free to forward my letter I sent to PBS yesterday to this other dude. Barb was copied on the Email yesterday. I am not at my other computer to forward the Email and will not be there for the next few weeks.
BTW - who screwed up this thread so I can't read everything on my screen? Please fix it.
hawk
I just saw this. Great news. I've planned on working on my letter tonight.
Kwin
Thanks Marvin!
I left a little note.
Bryan
Have You Seen My Mother
No one is trying to push the program off the air. No one is trying to squash free speech, except the WTS does inhibit free speech for JWs
Indeed. I am not interested in treading on the Witnesses' freedoms despite their delight in trampling mine.
What I am interested in is voicing my opinion about an informercial that masquerades as a 'documentary'. Why should my tax dollars go toward pushing a particular agenda? And while I realize this infomercial was not produced by PBS, their broadcast of it gives it a stamp of legitmacy that is not warranted.
Frankly I would be very interested in seeing a true documentary on Jehovah's Witnesses, one that includes certain facts about their past corporate and religious teachings, as well an honest look at the tremendous impact their teachings on blood and child abuse have had on thousands of people.
A true documentary is one that records, as objectively as possible, the subject matter. KNOCKING fails horribly in this, and I am exercising my right of free speech in stating my objections.
Chris
| Tell us what you think about KNOCKING. Selected submissions will be posted here, so check back regularly and join the discussion. 7/13/05 Chris Scott Murphy, Texas I would like to see a balanced presentation of Jehovah's Witnesses. The public at large knows little, and an honest look inside the organization would be helpful. As a member of this organization for 18 years (I started studying on my own at age 9) I have many good memories and the emphasis on Bible study has stayed with me even now. Unfortunately however, Jehovah's Witnesses take an even more dysfunctional view toward child abuse than the Catholic Church. I was molested by my father, and his friends and yet my father still holds a position in this organization to this day. My pleas for help fell on deaf ears as I did not have eyewitnesses to my rapes. Finally I was forced to leave Jehovah's Witnesses. I would hope that any program about Jehovah's Witnesses includes their child abuse teachings. 7/13/05 Bryan Lee McGlothin It is true today, that many documentaries are one sided. Though the truly informative works of this type cover all aspects of the story. I'm sure Mr. Engardio neglected to how show members of this cultish organization are forced to disown their own family members if these ones decide the organization is not for them. I m curious, also, whether he quoted the 1933 letter from the Watchtower to Adolph Hitler stating: pThe Bible Students of Germany are fighting for the same high ethical goals and ideals which the National Government of the German Reich ..? and ppthe contents of our booksp referred only to circumstances in the Anglo-American World Empire and that it-especially England-is to be held responsible for the League of Nations and the unjustified treaties and burdens placed on Germany.? The Watchtower says if a woman does not pscream? when being raped, she is guilty of fornication. (Watchtower 1964 January 15 pp.63-4) Therefore if a woman were to freeze in fear or decide to live to see another day. She would be found guilty in sin and cast out from her family and friends. I personally would rather see an evenly balanced production. Thanks you, Bryan Lee McGlothin 7/13/05 Danny Haszard Bangor Maine USA I have JW family in Naples Florida who practice the Watchtower cult enforced ritual shunning that i have not seen or heard from in 15 years. I am not the only one,the 'fraud in the name of God' Jehovah's Witnesses have defrauded MILLIONS of followers. The central CORE dogma of the Watchtower is Jesus second coming (invisibly) in 1914 and is a lie.Jehovah's Witnesses are a spin-off of the man made Millerite movement of 1870. A destructive cult of false teachings, that frequently result in spiritual and psychological abuse, as well as needless deaths (bogus blood transfusion ban). Danny Haszard former Jehovah's Witness X 33 years and 3rd generation http://www.dannyhaszard.com 7/13/05 Maria O'Loughlan Will the program be showing the mind control exercised by the leaders of the Watchtower religion? Jehovah s Witnesses are told they must obey their leaders or face shunning by family and friends. JW s are not even allowed to have independent thinking. They must unquestioningly follow the leaders they call the pfaithful and discreet slave?. Their own magazine, when referring to a pmature Christian? says, pHe (a Witness) does not advocate or insist on personal opinions or harbor private ideas when it comes to Bible understanding. Rather, he has complete confidence in the truth as it is revealed by Jehovah God through his Son, Jesus Christ, and "the faithful and discreet slave." Watchtower August 1, 2001. Is KNOCKING going to tell its audience that if they join the Witness religion they will not be able to padvocate or insist on personal opinions or harbor private ideas? or disagree with ANY teaching or question any of the failed prophecies of 1914, 1915, 1918, 1925, 1975 etc etc. Yes, the Watchtower wants religious freedom alright. Shame they don t give it to their own people. 7/13/05 Serena Conn Oxford, Ohio I hope you address the academic dishonesty of this organization & how it's "bible" was "translated" by uneducated men who had no grasp of biblical language. I hope you point out they're anti-family and refer to children as "handicaps." I hope you point out they're anti-society and only give physical/financial relief to other JWs. I hope you point out that, while they're at your door offering you magazines, they're sizing up your house for their future occupation after Armageddon. I hope you point out that they gleefully long for the day when their God, Jehovah, will kill all their non-JW relatives, neighbors, and co-workers because they wouldn't convert. Bet you won't. 7/13/05 Randall Watters Manhattan Beach CA I worked at Watchtower headquarters in Brooklyn from 1974 to 1980, and left after seeing the bad shunning treatment given any that dare question the theology or practices of this authoritarian religion. I was a factory floor overseer, an elder and a traveling representative of the Watchtower for three of the years I was there. Although I have nothing against any individuals in this organization, the leadership is guilty of gross lying, deception and cover-up of scandals, not the least of which is their tolerance of pedophiles in their midst. I highly resent this organization being placed in a positive light until major changes in leadership are made. 7/13/05 Sammie Lee California The public need to know about and see the absolute destruction that happens to a person when they are disfellowshipped/shunned. They need to see the aftermath of the act - grandmothers who never get to meet their own grandchildren; parents who stop all communication with their children; siblings who have nothing to do with one another. All friends and family cut off from their lives. Many people stay in the Society simply because they fear being cut off (dead) to their families and not because they believe the 'truth' any more. I also believe that the incorrect use of the 607 date needs to be exposed as well as all of the underlying rules of life that JW's must follow. Rules that alter their lives and keep many of them close to poverty with little education and no future. There is a sense of apathy when you live in the world but don't care about it and a real prejudice when you use what's in the world but hate all that is 'wordly'. 7/13/05 Marvin Shilmer Do Jehovah's Witnesses abstain from blood? Jehovah's Witnesses literally choose to paccept all fractions derived from any primary component of blood.?(1) That is to say, so long as blood is sufficiently fractionated there is no limit on the amount a Jehovah's Witness can accept as taught by the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, and Jehovah's Witnesses DO ACCEPT all this from blood. It is absurd to suggest all this use from the donated and stored blood supply is somehow "abstaining from blood" as WTS propaganda suggests! Compounding this is the fact that the WTS does not encourage its millions of adherents to replenish what they are so willing to use from by donating blood at least for uses condoned by the WTS! Right now Jehovah's Witnesses use heavily from the limited donor blood supply yet they are unwilling to replenish the same supply with their own blood. Is the KNOCKING program going to make these facts plainly evident as a documentary on the subject should? Or will bias and/or religious rhetoric obfuscate the issue? Reference: 1. From acceptable line item in the Durable Power of Attorney form provided by the WTS for JWs, dated 2001 7/13/05 1. The KNOCKING program is said to chronicle unpopular stands taught by the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society of Pennsylvania Inc., (WTS, the controlling and enforcement organization behind Jehovah's Witnesses). This representation is false regarding the WTS blood doctrine. The program documents an instance of a Jehovah's Witness (JW) accepting a more advanced medical therapy rather than an instance where a JW dies prematurely for refusing what is unquestionably a more advanced medical therapy involving a use of blood forbidden under pain of extreme religious and social shunning enforced by the WTS. The former is no more unpopular than any other use of advanced medical practices, whereas the latter represents the unpopular stance medical professionals object to. 2. The KNOCKING program repeats a false statement that Jehovah's Witnesses refuse blood transfusions. Jehovah's Witnesses do accept certain types of blood transfusions, and which are condoned by the WTS. Specifically, the WTS condones blood transfusions among Jehovah's Witnesses so long as the transfused blood is autologous and it is part of what the WTS ambiguously refers to as a "current therapy". For this reason it is false for a supposed documentary to tell viewers that Jehovah's Witnesses refuse blood transfusions. 6/8/05 JOAN FERGUSON Kelowna, BC Canada I would like to see a balanced program with ex-jws giving their viewpoint also. This religion has a long history of spin-doctoring and stonewalling. There IS another side to the face they present to the public and it's very disturbing. I would like to see this other face addressed in your program as well. Any dedicated reporter would have no trouble finding plenty of evidence refuting their claims of being this squeaky clean, spiritually superior paradise of happy people. I would like to see them confronted with their shunning policies that have torn lives apart and destroyed families. And their bizzare coverup of pedophiles numbering in the thousands needs to be made public also. Show the other side of this outrageous cult and you will have a documentary to be proud of. The JWs are NOT what they may seem at all. 6/8/05 JOAN FERGUSON Kelowna, BC Canada It would be journalistic honesty to get the other side of the JW story from some of the thousands who no longer want to be a part of this disturbing faith. There IS another face to this cult...pedophile coverups, shunning resulting in the destruction of countless families, hypocracy and much more. I'd like to see a balanced approach in your program..I can guarantee that the REAL story of what REALLY goes on would be more educational than the one-sided view planned for future viewing.
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I just whipped off this e-mail to PBS . Just sorry I forgot the whole title of the Knocking show...but they'll know what I'm talking about.
Dear Reader:
As an avid watcher of PBS, I find that most of your programming is terrific. I recently heard that you are considering airing a program concerning Jehovah's Witnesses entitled "Knocking..." (I think there is more to the title than that though).
I implore you to reconsider airing any PRO-Jehovah's Witness program, without at least having a "rebuttal" program also.
My husband and myself were Jehovah's Witnesses for almost five decades and finally broke free from their controlling grasp just a few years ago. I cannot even begin to go into detail about the damage that this religion has caused to myself, my husband and our children. It is a cult. (It is difficult to acknowledge a cult when you're in it...but our eyes were opened and we can now see it for what it is). Would you air a program that supported the Nazi's? Or a program that encouraged terrorism? I think not. But the Jehovah's Witnesses, in our eyes and many others, are very much like Nazi's and terrorist groups; just good at hiding behind their nice suits and pretty smiles.
I myself know of at least three people who have committed suicide because of the disfellowshipping/shunning arrangement of the JW's. They shun innocent people and this can drive many fragile people to killing themselves. I myself am shunned by my mother and sister; though I have done nothing wrong...except chose to leave the Witness organization.
This organization, once it has you in its grasp, uses fear and "strong-arm" tactics to keep you in. They lie when they say that people are free to leave. They aren't. If they do, it comes with horrible and long-lasting psychological damage. They protect pedophiles, keep their members from getting life-saving blood transfusions and lie about their involvement with the United Nations (which is taught to be the "Wild Beast" of Revelation. JW's are not to have anything to do with this organization lead by Satan himself).
I strongly urge you to cancel the airing of this program. Otherwise I feel PBS is supporting terrorism and a cult. If you intend to show this program; please let OUR side be heard! There are literally thousands of "X"-Jehovah's Witnesses who have been "terrorized" by this seemingly innocent religious organization.
Sincerely,
Cathy Laszewski
XXXX Road
Stevens Point, WI 54481
(715)XXX-XXXX
http://www.itvs.org/search/ataglance.htm?showID=1040
By the looks of it, I'd say WTBTS is very much a part of this "project", as it provided this
a baptism photo as a "courtesy":
photo: Courtesy Watch Tower Bible
and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
"Their most recent victory at the high court in 2002 was considered an important protection to free speech after September 11th."That in itself shows the film maker knows not of what he speaks. They sue to have their free material removed from the Internet. It would seem to me any group who claims to be the messenger of God could stand up to the scrutiny of having all of their material online, "giving life's water free" as it were. Seeing that it is distributed for contributions only, left at laundromats, bathrooms, etc, one assumes those staunch supporters of free speech wouldn't be threatening web hosts and website owners with litigation.
I am sure the rather mundane life of the average Jehovah's Witness will interest some, but the larger picture would most likely disgust many. The makers of this film would do their viewers one better by speaking the truth about "The Truth".
Travis Bush
Dallas, Texas
Former Jehovah's Witness of 17 years
I wrote this on the itvs talkback forum. Maybe they will post it..
Sincerely,
District Overbeer
Thank you Marvin for the information.
The Andersons
bttt
I think that doing a comprehensive documentary on the JWs, including both good and bad, would be a real interesting thing for a general audience. Cable TV has lots of documentaries on much less interesting stuff, including wierdo stuff like UFOs, Bermuda Triangle, Nostradamus, and some very fine programs like on religious topics like the meaning of The Revelation to 1st century Christians. A good writer could make a hell of a documentary on JWs.
AlanF
