Jehovah’s Witnesses Accuse Their Own Literature and Correspondence of Being “Lies”

On November 1, 2014, a story was printed on the dailyrecorduk website about “offensive” leaflets being distributed in the Rutherglen area of Scotland, targeting Jehovah’s Witnesses. The story said that the leaflets make “several false and offensive claims” about the religion. It quoted a local elder from the Rutherglen congregation, James Woods, as saying that they were “clearly the work of some aggrieved person” and “There’s a lot of lies in there.” Another man quoted in the story said, “ I’m not a Jehovah’s Witnesses but I have a family member who is and the content is extremely offensive.”

The problem is, the leaflets in question are the ones I have composed here on this website, and there is not one single lie in them. Every flyer I have prepared includes quotes from Watchtower literature, correspondence, or public sermons made by their representatives. (See this page for the flyers in question.)

Point Out the Lies, Please

The news story said, “They include stating that: ‘confessed paedophiles may be put in positions of authority over others’ and that Jehovah’s Witnesses: ‘have blamed women for raising rapists’.

Well let’s look at those statements. The October 2012 letter to all elders dissected in this post states, “It cannot be said in every case that one who has sexually abused a child could never qualify for privileges of service in the congregation … Before privileges can be extended, such a man … must ‘also have a fine testimony’ from individuals inside and outside the congregation.”

Any one of Jehovah’s Witness or an ex-JW will tell you that “privileges of service” means authority in the congregation. You might also note the many lawsuits against Jehovah’s Witnesses that have been filed and continue to be filed in recent years for pedophilia and how many of them involve elders and others in positions of authority. These lawsuits also often involve the allegations of a cover-up by other elders. (Ironic that the very week this article was printed, a USD$13.5 million judgement was issued against Jehovah’s Witnesses for yet another case of pedophilia, and this one too involved an elder and allegations that other elders knew of his actions and ignored the problem for years.)

khall

The Kingdom Hall in Rutherglen, Glasgow, Scotland.

As for blaming women for raising rapists, the March 8 1974 Awake magazine says about rape, “Womankind must share the blame. To begin with, until the age of five or six years, the most vital period, little boys have their personalities molded largely by women, their mothers. And as they grow up, it is usually the mother that has the most opportunities to inculcate in her son respect for womankind, both by word and by example. But far too many mothers have come short in this regard. Especially and specifically blameworthy are those female relatives, such as an aunt or even a mother, who have used boys as sexual playthings.”

So note that they use the word “blame” specifically. I didn’t say that Jehovah’s Witnesses blame women for raising rapists; Jehovah’s Witnesses said that they blame women for raising rapists. (See this post for more info.)

What Offended You, the Words of Jehovah’s Witnesses?

Because my flyers quote right from the words of Jehovah’s Witnesses themselves, I would like to point out to the reporter and the man who said they were “offensive” that you’re actually calling Jehovah’s Witnesses offensive, not me. I didn’t say that pedophiles could be put in positions of authority, I didn’t invent the idea of blaming women for raising rapists, I didn’t lie when I said that they shun even “young ones” if they leave the religion; Jehovah’s Witnesses said all those things. If you find it offensive to think that pedophiles can have authority even over children or find it offensive to blame women for raising rapists, then you’re openly admitting that you’re offended at Jehovah’s Witnesses themselves.

In truth, this is a good thing. Despite the fact that the story was obviously not researched at all and contained outright fallacies, I find it interesting that the information on my flyers is “offensive” to people. It should be. It’s offensive to have pedophiles in positions of authority, to blame women for raising rapists and to threaten rape victims with shunning, and to shun your own family if they choose a different religion than you. The fact that my flyers received such a strong response is actually very flattering, but again, it must be pointed out that the offensive words are directly from Jehovah’s Witnesses, not from me.

Jehovah’s Witnesses Call Their Own Words “Lies”

While being offended at the words of Jehovah’s Witnesses is one thing, the idea that a local elder would call the information in those flyers “lies” is also very noteworthy. Rather than explaining their beliefs or trying to defend quotes from their own literature and publications, he simply denied the information. It speaks volumes as to the words of Jehovah’s Witnesses when they need to call their own literature and correspondence “lies” when being confronted with how offensive they really are. As the kids would say, you wish.

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If you wish to express your opinions about this story, you may contact the paper at:

 

 

p.mottram@mgn.co.uk
Paul Mottram, Editorial and Legal Compliance Officer.

Kenny.smith@trinitymirror.com
Kenny Smith, Editor

 

You may also write to the local Kingdom Hall, pictured above, at PO Box 3545, Rutherglen, Glasgow, G73 9AU.

Please also share this using the social media plug-ins below so that others can understand the typical JW response to seeing their own repulsive words in print.

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