Since the late 1800's the Watchtower has been in the business of of systematically recruiting and training people to do their bidding. Since the very beginning, they've collected the money of the individuals they've recruited making it possible to build and then hide behind the iron gates of the empire they've built for themselves.
It's small wonder that a rag tag group of former members, (most of whom are recovering from having their lives forever altered) had difficulty creating the a dramatic impact they had hoped for. An impact that would equal the negative impact the Watchtower Society has had on their lives.
All, that many of us former JW's ask for, is to be heard. We want to be acknowledged and we want to know that someone knows what has happened to us. Many of us would simply go away if that ever happened. Instead of the Watchtower Society taking this opportunity to show Christlike compassion and arranging to meet with these people in one of their auditoriums or even in some public place, they hid within the walls of their resort-like accommodations and turned their lawn sprinklers on them.
It seems to me, that in this day and age, (especially after the Scientology expose) anyone living in the area would be more than a little suspicious of a huge religious organization who builds a complex like the one at Warwick, and then proceeds to surround itself with high walls and manicured grounds and barricade itself off from the community with security gates and high tech security systems. What a fine witness it was for a giant organization who claim to be backed by the true God, to use their sprinklers as a weapon against individuals who's only goal is to be the voice of those who've died from blood loss, those who were abused as children and the countless others who no longer have an intact family.
Much of the Watchtower's operating style has been is based upon secrecy and protecting it's image, so they can recruit new members before they find out what's going on behind the scenes. Individual JW's had no idea the scope of what was happening within the organization. Most having difficulties, thought their situation was an isolated incident...a unique case.
At first glace, it might seem like the efforts of this weekends protest group may have been a bit futile , but it's a beginning. This effort, combined with all that has gone before it and will come after it, will eventually little by little, one by one, add up to something that can't be ignored. One day, anyone (except for born in children) who joins the organization will do so knowing the other side of the story that has always been hidden, in the past.
