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Questions for cult apologists

posted 18 years ago by madamequixote
11 replies | jump to latest

March 12, 2004, edited

An Open Letter, Re: "Knocking," a documentary on
Jehovah's Witnesses

To: PBS and Joel Engardio

Dear PBS and Mr. Engardio:

I would like to hear from you regarding a few questions I have about the new film, "Knocking," about Jehovah's Witnesses:

* How was it received at the recent Sundance Festival, where you planned to present it?

* In making your film, did you present interviews with a variety of former Jehovah's Witnesses?

* Is there any discussion of how the JW practice of refusing blood transfusions has negatively impacted the lives of Witnesses or their families who have lost loved ones by following the dictates of their cult?

* Is there any reference to attorney Kerry Louderback-Wood's article,"Jehovah's Witnesses, Blood Transfusions And The Tort Of Misrepresentation," which documents how the JWs have misrepresented secular medical facts to promote cult practices that result in suffering and death?

* Is there any discussion of how the disfellowshipping policies of JWs have wrecked many families associated with the Witnesses?

* Do you discuss how the JW policies on sexual abuse have negatively impacted children and spouses subjected to abuse from their JW relatives?

* Do you have any discussion of how JW policies create a safe haven for sexual predators?

* Is there any discussion of how the JWs hypocritically condemned the United Nations for years and then lied about their UN membership?

* Is there any discussion of how the JWs have predicted the end of the world, specifying exact dates, many times, and failed to prophesy it accurately, disappointing and losing members as a result?

* Are there any references to ex-JW support groups or websites or any discussions about how to exit a cult and cope with all of the emotional and psychological aftermath?

If you have not included such information in your documentary, then I don't see how it could be considered unbiased or accurate in any way. If you have, then I thank you in advance for your truly unbiased research and presentation.

I look forward to your responses.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

T. J.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] mannfann 18 years ago

the film addresses three topics:
the blood issue, the issue of neutrality, and the issue of the freedom to preach.
Regarding any one who is reported by a member or a family member in the case of abuse (sexual), the elders encourage the victim to call the authorities to intervene or depending on the local laws, they will contact them.

[–] wonderfullifeathome 18 years ago

>>Regarding any one who is reported by a member or a family member in the case of abuse (sexual), the elders encourage the victim to call the authorities to intervene or depending on the local laws, they will contact them.

Not exactly correct. Depending on the local elder body(where is the worldwide unity on this aspect?), the elders will first call the legal desk at Patterson, NY, a branch of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, for direction on how to proceed with the matter. The legal desk will ask which state they are reporting from. If that state, by law, requires clergy to report an instance of child abuse, they must comply and will be told to do so from the legal desk. If the state does not have clergy reporting laws, it is left up to the parents or someone who has knowledge of the crime to report it. But in some cases, the parents are discouraged from reporting it due to bringing "reproach" upon the congregation and Jehovah's name. Some may even be threatened with disfellowshipping if they report it(if there's only one witness to the crime - the child).

[–] mannfann 18 years ago

sadly, some of the sexual child cases from the past were not handled in the proper manner due to a lack of knowledge on the handling of such acts.
This type of unseen conduct seems to be more prevalant in today's world.
For example, this can be seen in the news daily and in news programs where they have stings to set up predators on-line.
No one is discouraged from reporting it to the authorities, it is their right to do so if they are a victim of sexual abuse.
It will not bring reproach upon Jehovah's name or the congregation for it will keep it clean from such ones. No one is threatened with disfellowshipping, but a person can be disfellowshipped if they are lying about the abuse at the time or if it comes out later if the person is falsely accused of such an act.
I know of a case where a man was accused of secretly abusing some children that came to light and the parents and the children confronted the abuser at a committee. He denied such actions, but the family members went to the authorities to report him and he was arrested. No one was disfellowshipped from the family members or the children. It was found out to be true even though the abuser denied any of his actions. He was disfellowshipped.
The elders are not the superior authorities (police, judges,etc)and it is true that they follow local laws.
The best they can do is to judge a person according to Bible standards and if that person has failed to live up to such standards and has been secretly practicing such obscene conduct toward a youth, he will be removed.
Again, what if a person is falsely accused of child molestion and disfellowshipped? This is a serious matter to consider.
If a parent feels that his/her child has been abused and the person denies such an action before the elders, they can directly go to the authories who will investigate it.
I have been a JW for over 25 years and have never been a victim of child abuse and none of my friends have been of a victim. The JWs that I know who have been victims of child abuse were abused by person who were not JWs when they were growing up. I had a teacher in high school who was arrested for abusing students after class and this was back in 1984! He was my photo teacher and I had photography for 3 years!
I feel bad for those who were victims of abuse by members in the congregation, in the past and sadly, these types of crimes will happen from time to time.
The elders are more aware of such actions and can handle these cases when they arise with more knowledge and understanding for the victims of such abuse.

[–] BigErnMcCracken 18 years ago

Nice thought out post. Too bad your not gonna get any rational answers to it. Just a lot of personal attacks. Kind of funny these people get offended when you call their religion out on something, yet they have no qualms about crapping all over anyone elses' religion. Is'nt that the definition of HYPOCRISY?

Guess what????

I got a fever!!!!!!

And the only prescription....

IS MORE COWBELL!!!!

[–] imfromthepast 17 years ago

I don't know, mannfrann's reply seemed pretty rational to me.

[–] lafferty812 17 years ago

All religions think their religion is the right one and that all other religions are the wrong ones. All religious people get offended when you say something bad about their religion. It is just human nature.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] sheherazade3000 17 years ago

I just felt this needed to be brought back into focus, for everyone's benefit:

The point of this film was not to argue for or against the teachings of this religion. The point was to show how this religion, regardless of their intentions, have advanced society by way of the legal battles that they fought and won.

The 3 stories that it covers is that of a young man about to undergo bloodless surgery, a holocaust survivor, and the neutral stance of a young woman.

In the case of bloodless surgery, Jehovah's Witnesses have forced the medical community to find alternatives to blood, leading to solutions to blood shortages and contaminated blood supplies. Because of their bloodless stand, everyone benefits from these advances in medicine.

In the case of the neutral stance of the young woman leads to our freedom to stand respectfully during the flag salute, if we feel uncomfortable about doing so, without being kicked out of schools or public events.

The holocaust survivor explained how the Jehovah's Witnesses in concentration camps actually inspired hope and resolve in fellow inmates, simply by their strong faith that lead to their own hope. And as the survivors of these camps know, hope is all you have.

So the items brought up in this letter really wouldn't fit in the subject matter of the film. Maybe in a more general Jehovah's Witness documentary, they would make more sense.

I went to the screening in LA, where they had a discussion panel after the show. The selection of panelists proves my point: a director from the ACLU, a surgeon who dealt with bloodless surgery since the early '80s, and a lone Jehovah's Witness elder, along with a mediator (who seemed to make it a point that he was a Methodist).

Thanks for reading!
sheherazade3000

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] 17 years ago

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