I got an email notice today on this excellent letter of resignation from a German Family that is trending on Reddit. I thought I would share it here if anyone is so inclined to write one. For those with PIMI JW family and JW business connections, it may not be wise to share such a letter, but I imagine it must be very freeing to send such a letter. I have read many such letters over the years, and this is one of the best. What do you think? Would would you add or remove?
"Our
letter of resignation
This is an English translation of our resignation letter
written in German, which we distributed last week via our WhatsApp status. Over
150 people have seen it.
~
Dear Elders,
We are making this
public statement because certain circumstances among Jehovah's Witnesses have
become unacceptable to us. Even if our family has fortunately not yet been
affected by it, child abuse is more than just "serious wrongdoing" or
a "spiritual sickness". It cannot simply be repented of and
"handled" by talking to elders who have no psychological training
whatsoever. Pedophilia is a serious mental disorder. The main issue is not
whether the perpetrator can be forgiven or not, but whether further cases can
be prevented. It is unacceptable for the protection of offenders to take
precedence over the protection of victims and for the "privacy" of a
potential offender to outweigh the welfare of children. In such cases, elders
must not be "primarily concerned with maintaining the sanctity of God’s
name", as if HE could not do that Himself. Instead, they should attend to
their duties for the good of the flock (1 Pe. 5:2, 1 Tim. 6:20). "The
responsibility to protect children from harm" cannot simply be shifted to
"the parents" alone (for quotes see w19 May, pp. 8-13).
It is common knowledge
that child abuse hardly ever happens in the presence of other witnesses, and it
is also obvious that the biblical two-witness rule was never intended for such
cases. Nevertheless, it is still used today as an explanation as to why elders
do not pass on the names of perpetrators to the authorities or make them known
in the congregation. There are indeed biblical principles that come much closer
to the facts of the case and do not require two witnesses (Deut. 22:23-27, Ex.
21:29).
The cases of abuse in churches
are extensively denounced in our publications. However, not a word is said
about the cases in our own ranks. In contrast to the churches, Jehovah's
Witnesses have not commissioned any independent studies to investigate the
cases. While the Pope has publicly apologized for the suffering caused, nothing
of the sort has happened on the part of the governing body. The fines totaling
millions have been concealed from the members.
In 2015, it became known
that the Australian branch of Jehovah's Witnesses had records of alleged
perpetrators of child sexual abuse. This information became part of a major
government commission of enquiry. The findings of the Australian Royal
Commission (ARC) are staggering:
At least 1,800 victims,
1,006 perpetrators and 579 confessions. 28 people were appointed as elders or
ministerial assistants despite the allegations. Nevertheless, the commission
concluded that NOT A SINGLE CASE was reported to the authorities. Elders were
even instructed by the legal department of the branch office to destroy records
that could have been used as evidence. The final report sharply criticized the
lack of transparency and the existing structures at Jehovah's Witnesses. (Royal
Commission: "Case Study 29: Jehovah's Witnesses". See under
"Submission" the document "Submissions on behalf of Watchtower
Bible and Tract Society of Australia", pp. 20-22, sections 2.1 and 2.2)
However, the Governing
Body subsequently refused to publicly apologize to the victims and to pay into
the Australian National Redress Scheme for victims of abuse. While over 500 organizations
had already contributed to this fund, six were publicly reprimanded by the
Australian government for refusing to do so, including Jehovah's Witnesses. It
was only when the government threatened to withdraw their charitable status
that the organization relented.
But although even
Geoffrey Jackson of the Governing Body testified under oath before the
Commission and the videos of this were made available to everyone by the
authorities, the Governing Body does not say a word about this in its monthly
broadcasts, so that hardly any Jehovah's Witnesses are likely to be aware of
these abuses. Instead, JW Broadcasting prefers to report on bushfires under the
keyword "Australia". After the scandal became public, the Watchtower
immediately called on the faithful: "Loyally support the leadership (...)
when faced with what appear to be damaging attacks by apostates or other such
deceivers of the mind - however plausible their charges may seem. " (w17
July, p. 30). The charges are indeed very serious. However, the judges of the
Royal Commission are certainly not deceivers. But instead of endeavoring to
clarify the situation, the legal department prefers to sue victims'
associations, as recently happened in Spain (AEVTJ, Madrid).
In Australia alone,
based on the known cases alone, there would be an average of one child abuser
for every assembly. Since the cases cited only concern Australia, where not
even 1% of all Jehovah's Witnesses live, and the number of unreported cases of
sexual abuse is usually 15 to 20 times higher, it must be assumed that the true
extent is enormous. None of this can be attributed to Satan or the evil world
alone. Whenever people are brought up to give absolute obedience, to eliminate
critical thinking and to consider the reputation of an organization more
important than the welfare of the individual, the door is opened to abuse. We
cannot believe that this is the result of the guidance of the Holy Spirit. What
appalls us, however, is not primarily that these things have happened, but that
they continue to happen and not even a "governing" body feels
responsible for them.
But that's not all that
has been on our minds recently. The marginalization we have experienced since
we stopped "functioning" as expected has made us very concerned and
thoughtful. Especially as we have not been guilty of anything other than
passivity.
Due to our bitter
experiences over the past few years, we have done a lot of research and
prayerfully studied the Bible. In doing so, we have come to some shocking realizations.
We strongly recommend that you look up the biblical passages quoted and check
for yourselves whether this is really the case (Acts 17:11).
Firstly, it must be
noted: The critical examination of special teachings is not apostasy, but a
Christian commandment (1 John 4:1, 1 Thess. 5:21). If we find differences
between the commandments of God and those of men, we must obey God more than
men (Acts 4:18, 19; 5:29). To give absolute obedience to a human organization
is to serve a second Lord besides Jesus (Matt. 6:24, 2 Cor. 1:24, 1 Cor. 7:23,
Matt. 23:8-10).
The doctrine of faith of
every Christian was already definitively established in the first century, at
the time of the apostles (Jude 3, 1 Cor. 2:1-5, Acts 16:31). Nevertheless, it
was expanded more and more by the Bible students under J. F. Rutherford, later
by various presidents and by the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses.
We note with sorrow that
the "Governing Body" has taken a position which, according to the
Bible, belongs to Jesus alone (1 Tim. 2:5, Matt. 23:8).
Jehovah's Witnesses also
do not practice a Christian baptismal vow (Matt. 28:19), but baptize into an organization
instead of in the name of the Holy Spirit (w20 March, box on p. 12).
In addition, they have
inadmissibly expanded the content of the Good News, which is a serious sin
according to the Bible (w81 1.1. box on p. 29, Gal. 1:6-9).
The doctrine of two
classes with two hopes is clearly unbiblical (John 10:16, Eph. 2:13-19; 4:4, 5)
and was not established by a governing body, but by one man (w15 15.7. p. 9
par. 14; w21 January, p. 14-15 par. 2-4), whereupon millions of people no longer
obeyed Jesus' command to celebrate the Lord's Supper (Matt. 26:26-28, John
6:53, 54, 1 Cor. 11:23-26).
Disfellowshipping is
misappropriated and used as a means of pressure, even against family members,
children and those who were minors at the time of their baptism. This not only
contradicts the Bible (Mark 2:16, 17, Proverbs 17:17, Isaiah 58:6, 7), but also
the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the German Basic Law (Art. 3) and
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and has massive consequences for
mental health.
We want to be able to
gather freely with other Christians without being viewed with suspicion or marginalized
(Matt. 18:20, Heb. 10:24, 25).
Nowhere does the Bible
mention that Christians should call themselves by the name that God gave to the
people of Israel, which significantly does not appear once in the basic Greek
text of the New Testament. We want to be witnesses of Jesus and simply be
called Christians - as Jesus commanded and as it was also ordained by divine
providence (Acts 1:8; 11:26).
The judgement of other
people who follow Christ was not given to us, but to angels (Matt. 13:27-30,
39, Mark 9:38-40, Gal. 3:26, Rom. 8:14).
Our salvation does not
depend on obedience to mysterious human instructions in the future, but on our
personal faith in Jesus (Gal. 3:11, Rom. 14:22, 23, Acts 16:31). Salvation does
not come by performance, but by grace alone (Eph. 2:8-9, Rom. 3:27-28; 10:2-4).
We do not believe that
God guides us by progressive error, but by truth (1 John 1:5). According to the
Bible, truth is not found in a plethora of books, magazines and special
teachings that change regularly, but in Jesus himself (John 14:6).
We believe that contact
with other worldviews is not dangerous, but enriching. Proven faith is,
according to the Bible, as lasting as gold (1 Peter 1:7). It has nothing in
common with a soap bubble that threatens to burst at the slightest touch.
We believe that
education, art, culture, the free development of the personality and sufficient
free time are not detrimental to faith, but rather conducive to it. We are
convinced that knowledge is always better than ignorance - and freedom is
always better than coercion.
We do not believe that a
symbol is more sacred to God than what it stands for. Consequently, blood is
not more sacred than the lives of our children. In emergency situations, we
therefore follow Jesus' example of mercy (Matt. 12:7-12).
We want our children to
grow up in an environment where the focus is not on terms such as Armageddon,
Gog of Magog, Babylon the Great, overlapping generation, Governing Body or
years, but on love (1 Cor. 13:2, 13).
We believe that
unconditional love should be the essence of every family and every Christian
(Prov. 17:17, 1 Cor. 13:2).
We want our children to
be able to talk about their personal faith and doubts at any time without
making themselves suspicious or being afraid of being ostracized by their
family.
Our experience in recent
years has shown us that this is not possible with Jehovah's Witnesses. We
therefore hereby declare that we no longer wish to be known as Jehovah's
Witnesses.
We ask for written
confirmation.
4 September 2024
