Posts by marcopolo

on december 1st, a relatively large group of ex-jehovahs witnesses and supporters of human rights held a demonstration in front of the italian parliament in piazza montecitorio.. the manifestation sprung from the reaction of many of those who have been disfellowshipped or expelled by the governance of the jehovahs witnesses cult and who, following the instructions of the watchtower leadership, have been shunned not only by their ex worshipping fellows, but even by the members of their own family.. shunning is an old weapon used by the watchtower leadership against those who stop sharing their views on religious matters and if a demonstration was all that was required to alert the public opinion about it, then it should have been acted upon very long ago.. the reason why the demonstration took place now rather than in the past is because the italian parliament is about to approve a law which would grant the watchtower even more religious freedom and privileges than what it has enjoyed up to now, including the right to receive from the italian state their share of the 0.8% of the income tax revenue paid by the italian tax payers.. while jehovahs witnesses, as an organization, already enjoy a large amount of religious privileges in the country, they claim for themselves from the state the same rights granted to the catholic church and other recognized religious denominations.

but, contrary to those other religious movements, only jehovahs witnesses violate the human rights granted by the un charter, the european union charter and the italian constitutional rights by shunning those who decide to leave the movement, instructing their members to totally discriminate socially, secularly and even family wise, their ex members.. the objective of the demonstration last wednesday was to alert the public opinion about the issue and, because the place where it was held, alert the italian parliament about the law they are about to approve in favor of the watchtower.

the demonstration followed the hundreds of letters sent during the last three months by many ex jehovahs witnesses and other supporters of human rights, directly to individual members of the parliament or to the whole parliamentary commission for the constitutional affairs.. what can be said about the demonstration itself; was it a success or a failure?.