US DIPLOMATIC CABLES RELATING TO JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES AND THE WATCH TOWER SOCIETY

JW Leaks has commenced publishing US Diplomatic Cables relating to Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Watch Tower Society.
The first series of diplomatic cables deals with the years 1973 – 1976 and provides a unique insight into the role the US government played in assisting the Watch Tower Society around the world during the turbulent mid-1970′s.
These diplomatic cables deal with the treatment of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Malawi, the banning of the Watch Tower Society in Kenya and Argentina, arrests of Jehovah’s Witness missionaries and members around the world (incl. Turkey, Spain, Greece, Kenya, Mozambique), the US government’s diplomatic political assistance in trying to get Grant Suiter and Milton Henschel into South Africa for a visit, and the seizing of Watch Tower Society property in various countries.
When taken together the cables show the degree of reliance the Watch Tower Society has placed in the US Department of State and various US embassies to secure the presence of the corporation in Africa, Asia, and South America.
These diplomatic cables will especially assist those who are researching the history of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Africa, Asia, South America, Turkey, Greece, and Spain.

www.jwleaks.org

Jehovah’s Witnesses under fire

25. jul. 2013 13.26 English
At the recent summer conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Silkeborg and Herlufmagle, speakers likened lapsed members to a deadly virus, snakes and contaminated soil that should not be mixed with clean soil.

The rhetoric was so strong that the movement may have breached article 266b of the Danish Criminal Code, under which “any person who publicly or with the intention of dissemination to a wide circle of people makes a statement or imparts other information threatening, insulting or degrading a group of persons on account of their race, colour, national or ethnic origin, belief or sexual orientation shall be liable to a fine, simple detention or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years”.

Overstepping the markThis is the conclusion of lawyer Niels-Erik Hansen, head of the Documentation and Advisory Centre on Racial Discrimination (DRC), after having read excerpts from the sermons delivered at the summer conventions, reports Danish newspaperKristeligt Dagblad.

“The speeches clearly overstep the mark. When someone compares another group to deadly diseases and snakes, we’ve moved into the core area of the anti-discrimination article,” said Hansen.

Harsh attitude towards defectors
“The speeches are the same type of rhetoric that we heard against the Jews in Europe in the 1930s. This is precisely what the anti-discrimination article was introduced to restrain,” said Hansen.

Jehovah’s Witnesses are known for having a harsh attitude towards those who choose to leave the movement. Among other things, many defectors find that existing members refuse to have any contact with them.

Nevertheless, Poul Dal, chairman of the Support Group for Former Jehovah’s Witnesses, believes the language used at the summer conventions represents a stepping up in rhetoric.

Could be reported
“The rhetoric has become more intense in recent years, when they have begun to use terms such as ‘mental illness’ and ‘Satan’s workers’ in relation to former members who now oppose the religious community,” said Dal.

The support group is now considering reporting Jehovah’s Witnesses to the police for violating the anti-discrimination article.

Carit Stypinsky, a spokesperson for Jehovah’s Witnesses, denies that the summer conventions’ sermons and denunciations of former members are in breach of Danish laws.

Watchtower cult shuts down websites to coverup Pedophilia letters

Just when you thought it was safe to call watchtower a done deal it seems watchtower is going on a mission to tell the body of elders in a series of letters to basically cover up any illegal activity within the organization and then tell the elders to destroy the letters once they have read them. The corruption seems like something out of a bad horror movie, like a monster that won’t seem to die.

The story seems to start where watchtower decided to shut down websites using copyright clams as an excuse to cover up these leaked watchtower letters. Its not the first time watchtower has been caught bullying or going after websites but apparently this time the watchtower realizes the situation is getting out of control so there solution to the problem is to tell the body of elders to cover up any tracks of criminal activity.

First lets talk about the letters regarding watchtowers desperate attempt to cover up cases regarding pedophilia.

The document reads:

“1. This letter updates the letters to all bodies of elders regarding child abuse dated March 23, 1992; February 3, 1993; August 1, 1995; March 14, 1997; July 20, 1998; May 24, 2002; April 1, 2004; June 5, 2006; and May 24, 2010. Those letters should be removed from the congregation permanent file of policy letters and be destroyed. No one should keep originals or copies of any of those letters.”

Obviously telling someone to destroy a document regarding Child Abuse is not only suspicious but illegal.

But wait it gets better. According to the watchtower the document is saying in black and white that basically, it is not child molestation, as long as the person is approaching adulthood and is a willing participant. The reality is Children are not capable of making adult sexual decisions with an adult.

“In harmony with these references, we are herein discussing sexual perversion in which children are the object of sexual abuse, including fondling, by an adult. We are not discussing a situation wherein a minor who is a willing participant and who is approaching adulthood has sexual relations with an adult who is a few years older than the minor nor, generally speaking, are we discussing situations in which only minors are involved. Rather, we are referring to situations in which it is established that an adult brother or sister has been guilty of sexually abusing a young child or has been sexually involved with a minor who is approaching adulthood and who was not a willing participant.”

As sick as this sounds elders rather then reporting these problems to the authorities they are strongly encouraged to seek legal advice from there legal department. Last I heard this falls under the pretenses of aiding and imbedding a known felon. Not that this comes to any kind of shock. I think what is most festinating is that they are writing a sort of step by step guide to conducting illegal and unlawful practices within a religious organization. But there is nothing to see here right?

“4. Most states have child-abuse reporting laws that, depending on the facts, mandate elders to report an accusation to the authorities. Thus, when elders learn of an accusation of child abuse, two elders from their congregation should immediately call the Legal Department for legal advice. If the individuals involved are in different congregations, each body of elders should arrange for two of their elders to call the Legal Department. A call should be made even when both persons involved in sexual misconduct are minors. The elders should not ask an alleged victim, the accused person, or relatives of the victim or accused to call the Legal Department.”

Now lets move on to the next brilliant watchtower letter telling elders how to hide or manage digital information that may have illegal or legally sensitive information.

“What should never be stored online? Any information of a sensitive or confidential nature, including judicial matters, should not be stored online or be distributed electronically. The same is true for documents already available on the jw.org Web site.”

Jehovah's Witness community mourns Whitney Heichel

Sunday was the first day since Whitney Heichel disappeared that her congregation gathered for a formal meeting at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Gresham.

The gathering included references to scriptures that might lend comfort in a time of crisis, said a congregational elder, but wasn't materially different from a regular service.

It was Saturday that emotions ran high, when the congregation mourned for Heichel at an impromptu gathering at the hall. Jehovah's Witnesses from Gresham, Portland, Sandy, and Washington met there, said Jim Vaughn, a family spokesman and one of nine elders who lead Heichel's congregation.

"Local elders shared scripture and reminded friends that God doesn't stop bad things from happening, but good can come from the bad," Vaughn said.

He noted how Gresham police worked around the clock to search for Heichel. The way her and her husband's families took food to search parties during cold and rainy days last week. The way the city mourned for the family, with 350 people attending a vigil for Heichel on Saturday. The way Gresham businesses have come forward to offer fundraisers and donations in support of the family, such as the Portland and Gresham Dutch Bros. Coffee shops donating half their sales Monday to the Heichel family.

"They didn't know her, and we've had an overwhelming response," Vaughn said.

Her husband, Clint, is devastated by his loss and did not attend the meetings, Vaughn said.

On Friday, Heichel's body was discovered on Larch Mountain in Multnomah County and a neighbor in her apartment complex, Jonathan D. Holt, 24, was arrested and accused of her murder.

Early Sunday morning Holt was transferred to jail in Clackamas County, where police believe he killed Heichel.

Holt is being held without bail on three charges of aggravated murder. He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday afternoon in Clackamas County Circuit Court.

Police would not elaborate on means or motive, said Laura Bridges-Shepard, city communications director. Nor would they release the Multnomah County medical examiner's autopsy report, which was completed Saturday afternoon.

Vaughn declined to comment on accusations against Holt, who is a Jehovah's Witness and was acquainted with both the Heichels, possibly through Jehovah's Witness gatherings, investigators said. Several small congregations of around 100 people each meet at different times in the same Kingdom Hall.

The Gresham community was shaken by the four-day search for Heichel. It was a topic of discussion from beauty shops to candidate forums, with people who didn't know her lamenting the loss of a young woman who, by all accounts, was devoted to her religion and family.

Saturday at the gathering, a man who didn't know Heichel read a comforting scripture to the group. It turned out to be Whitney Heichel's favorite:

"Who will separate us from the love of the Christ? Will tribulation or distress or persecution or hunger or nakedness or danger or sword? To the contrary, in all these things we are coming off completely victorious through him that loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor governments nor things now here nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor any other creation will be able to separate us from God's love that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

At that moment, Vaughn said, "There weren't too many dry eyes."

http://www.oregonlive.com/gresham/index.ssf/2012/10/jehovahs_witness_community_mou.html

Ex-bethelite's skull found

He apparently committed suicide in October 2010…

ex-bethelite's skull found near beach in Delaware

So tragic…Delaware City, Del. —

The skull found near Pea Patch Island June 24 has been identified as belonging to Timothy Finamore, 53.

Finamore, of Newark, was last seen alive Oct. 15, 2010 at the time of his disappearance.

A man swimming in the water found the skull in the area between the high and low tide beach of Pea Patch Island near Delaware City at around 6 p.m. June 24.

Police believe that Finamore jumped from the Delaware Memorial Bridge.

His obituary was published Oct. 27, 2010 in the Delaware News Journal.

Finamore served for 11 years at the world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses in New York and then ran his own business, Aftermarket Restylers, according to the obituary.

The Delaware’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said that the skull was degraded and had been in the water for more than six months. Forensic identification positively established the skull’s identity. The New Jersey man who found the skull told police he had taken his boat to Pea Patch Island to swim with his daughter and friends. He took the skull back to Carney’s Point, N.J., and then notified the Delaware State Police.

Watchtower, October 15, 2012

In the latest October 15th 2012 Watchtower (page 13)... "Because of what they perceive as defects in the elders, some individuals who engage in serious wrongdoing in the congregation have refused to appear before a committee of elders assigned to help them. This could be likened to a patient who loses out on the benefits of a treatment because he does not like something about the doctor." Sounds like they're now trying to stigmatize those who try to avoid judicial action. Of course, it's also supremely ironic that they talk about declining medical treatment in a negative way, but encourage people to do precisely this when it comes to treatment using blood transfusions! Furthermore, they are equating the skills of a physician who trains for decades for his job with a part time, inadequately trained, more than likely uneducated, congregation elder.

Changes in Coventions Startung 2013

Starting service year 2013 - 2 day District Conventions. We all saw this coming. This year at the Convention we had streamlined talks (almost manuscripts now) with the introductions picked out, illustrations picked out, exact interviews, etc. No extra off-the-cuff comments from Bethel speakers, COs or DOs is being allowed. If you don't comply, no more parts or you are moved to the South or backwoods.