SWISS ABUSE SCANDAL
On November 11, 2010 the Swiss program ‘Present Time’ aired a documentary on Jehovah’s Witnesses and the abuse scandal. The program is in French and approximately one hour long. Below is a rough translation of the description of the program.
You can read a partially translated transcript to English here
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
00.10
We all have been visited on some day or another by Jehovah's Witnesses. Tireless lobbyists of God, armed with a broad smile, they come announcing the imminent end of the world and promise us the coming of heaven upon earth. In Switzerland, there are are 18,000 followers. We went out to meet those who believe, those who are lost and those who report a huge scandal. In this report, all of our Witnesses have in common that they grew up with Jehovah. / /
01.30
Fulvio and Amanda are a brother and sister. They were born to Jehovah's Witnesses. As adults, they have distanced themselves from the religion ... Today they maintain a cynical glance at their youth spent going from door to door. / /
Amanda di Stefano
Ex Jehovah's Witnesses
Fulvio di Stefano
Ex Jehovah's Witnesses
03.09
School at Geneva, Amanda keeps in mind all the festivals she missed. Pagan roots of Christmas for the Jehovah's Witnesses. Pagan, thus prohibited. / /
Amanda di Stefano
Ex Jehovah's Witnesses
04.46
Among Jehovah's Witnesses, everything is immutable, as their only reference is to the Bible. So it was for Amanda from childhood, and still yet nothing has changed / /
04.58
In Valais, the Udry family is considered a role model. Spiritual fulfillment is advocated by Jehovah's Witnesses. The Romande hierarchy moreover has carefully organized our visit home. The father holds the office of Elder, the equivalent of a pastor. It's Saturday, Claude-Alain Udry is one of the speakers at the rostrum of the Kingdom Hall. / /
Claude-Alain Udry
Elder, Jehovah's Witnesses, Vétroz, Valais
07.07
The eldest son of the family Udry every day saw the requirement for purity. For example, going camping with friends, boys and girls is prohibited. / /
Claude-Alain Udry
Elder, Jehovah's Witnesses, Vétroz, VS
09.29
Relations must be perfectly pure in the sight of God. This image runs from page to page in the publications of Jehovah's Witnesses.
09.39
From adolescence subject to a teenage vow of perfection that their parents had wanted for them, Amanda and Fulvio have keep the bitter taste of confinement, an adoloscence that came then flew away. / /
Fulvio di Stefano
Ex-follower of the Jehovah's Witnesses
11.11
The way to happiness is drawn from the Bible, or rather from the interpretation that Jehovah's Witnesses have of it. This pathway is paved with prohibition. No sports competitions are allowed, not even soccer. All political activity is banned. Also prohibited are being a juror in a trial, playing chess or even wearing a jewel-shaped cross. There are also prohibitions besides the more famous ones, such as blood transfusions or tobacco. Alongside these prohibitions, there are rules of conduct. / /
12.06
The father is responsible for strict compliance, even when the children have gone well past adolescence. / /
Fulvio di Stefano
Ex-Jehovah's Witnesses
12.12
Fulvio's father has since left the congregation. But previously he would not tolerate any transgressions. / /
Fulvio di Stefano
Ex-Jehovah's Witnesses
Roberto di Stefano
Longtime Ex-Jehovah's Witness
13.45
Roberto, the father of Amanda and Fulvio, was also born into Jehovah's Witnesses. Now in his 60s, he had a sense for organizational talent. Noted for his zeal as an Elder, he rose in the hierarchy. / /
Roberto di Stefano
Ex-old Jehovah's Witness
14.17
Roberto is at this time an executive with Dupont de Nemours in Geneva. Between his work with the multinational and his service time spent for Jehovah, the days were long. / /
Roberto di Stefano
Ex-elder Jehovah's Witness
15.06
On top of this quasi-military organization stands the Watchtower, ... The Vatican of the 7 million Jehovah's Witnesses in Brooklyn, adjoining New York City ... Jehovah's Witnesses are a young religion, sparked into existence in 1881 by Charles Russell an American who at that time was age 30.
His reinterpretation of the Bible convinced him that Christ was already back with us, although unseen, and that Armageddon, the end of the world, was near. / /
Roberto di Stefano
Longtime Ex-Jehovah's Witness
16.35
On several occasions, the Jehovah's Witnesses even announced a date for the end of the world / /.
Roberto di Stefano
Ex-old Jehovah's Witness
17.00
Thus, children who grow up with Jehovah are filled with thoughts about the imminent end of the world. This prophecy gradually builds an invisible wall that separates them from non-believers ...To address our issues, Jehovah's Witnesses in the Suisse Romande have appointed an elder. He greets us in a oom in the kingdom. / /
Georges-Philippe Mayor
Public Relations for Western Switzerland’s Jehovah's Witnesses
18.55
The horror of Armageddon will be followed by paradise on earth. Only those who will be chosen by God can enter. All others will die. Being a Jehovah's Witness, is to be serving a God who will operate soon to enact that final sorting. It is the hope of earning a place in paradise. / /Georges-Philippe Mayor
Public Relations for Western Switzerland’s Jehovah's Witnesses
19.39
The true life of this man is a hellacious nightmare. For 8 months, his 12 year old son, Anthony has refused to see him. / /
He attributes this estrangement to the religion of his mother, a Jehovah's Witness. / /
20.55
Before Anthony’s birth, his mom said became estranged from Jehovah's Witnesses. But once pregnant, she decided to return to practicing the religion of her family.
Anne-Marie Grimaldi
Estavayer-le-Lac, Fribourg
23.22
The father now requires anonymity. He feared reprisals from Witnesses at his work. / /
21.59
Anthony's mother said she had done everything to encourage the sharing of custody. / /
Anne-Marie Grimaldi
Estavayer-le-Lac, Fribourg
23.44
But as of the end of last year, shared custody was broken off. / /
24.31
Dad, however, continues to enjoy the right to see his son, and he will be consulting his lawyer. Involving as it does a decision regarding a child, this is a tricky case. / /
25.05
Faced with a religion that imposes a world view and strict precepts about life, the parents are torn, the child himself is torn. / /
Mr Laurent Schneuwly
Advocate, Freiburg
26.58
To avoid such situations, Jehovah's Witnesses have much clearer precepts than exist with Swiss law: precepts that, of course, are drawn from the Bible. / /
Georges-Philippe Mayor
Public Relations for Western Switzerland Jehovah's Witnesses
27.52
The word Christian here is used in regard to Jehovah's Witnesses ... Amanda, who grew up with Jehovah, had no illusions about it.Amanda di Stefano
Ex-Jehovah's Witnesses
29.16
Thus, the future of such Jehovah's Witness children is drawn up for them. Instead of childhood friends spent in discoveries of innocent love, you are invited to build relationships with elect ones of the promised paradise. / /
Amanda di Stefano
Ex-Jehovah's Witnesses
29.28
Take the case of this man we'll call Eric. He is still a Jehovah's Witnesses as is his entire family. He knows that giving us this interview is prohibited. / /
30.07
For 10 years, Eric has had his doubts, felt his faith waver. But doubting has no place within his congregation. / /.
30.44
All the same, doubts were still reinforced the day his child, a very sick child, had to undergo a blood transfusion, one of the major things banned among the Jehovah's Witnesses. / /
31.32
Eric never said if his child had finally got a transfusion; he isn’t ready to face the possibility of drinking from the cup of excommunication. / /
32.37
Suffering from mental confinement, constant group pressure group, this terror of excommunication, which leads to social death, is far from being a paradise. And yet there is worse to come. / /
32.49
Since 2002, victims of pedophilia within the Jehovah's Witnesses have been daring to post their stories on the Internet. We are in Tennessee, near Nashville, with Charlie Jones. He was 8 years old when his mother confided something to a another member of his congregation. / /
33.11
Charlie Jones
Knoxville, Tennessee
"My parents left me with somebody, another member of the congregation, because they had something to do. This man would was allowed to take care of me. Once at his home, he abused me, and it happened twice. "
"When my mother returned, he was in the process of abusing me. He washed me and quickly took me to my mother, I was in tears. To explain why I was crying, he told her that I had behaved badly, and suddenly my mother punished me. "
33.49
William
"Why do you think did that happens between members of the congregation? Is there a particular reason? "
33.57
Charlie Jones
Knoxville, Tennessee
"Yes, in regard to my case, because my parents did not know he was a pedophile. And it happens that very often, people move, move from one congregation to another, and we never tell anyone in the new congregation what happened before. "
34.17
William
"Even if the abuser is known to be such by the elders? "
34.24
Charlie Jones
"Yes, nobody can know because the congregation is instructed to maintain secrecy. "
34.30
He was 36 years old when he read other testimonies of victims on the Internet. He decided to go public with his secret. His parents then cut all their ties with him. / /
34.44
Charlie Jones
Knoxville, Tennessee
"My mother died three weeks ago. When I went to Texas for the funeral, I walked past my father, I asked him if I could come see him. He said no. / /
"Jehovah's Witnesses consider themselves to be a perfect organization in an imperfect world, if they let filter out any information about what's really happening inside, they can not give the image of being a perfect organization. "
35.19
Along with his wife, Charlie Jones visits his friend Bill Bowen. If so many testimonials are posted on the Internet, it is thanks to this man. / /
35.29
Bill Bowen
Nashville, Tennessee
Ex-elder Jehovah's Witness
"I have used the term "pedophile paradise. " I believe while it may be in other religions, there are many pedophiles among Jehovah's Witnesses. "
35.37
Bill Bowen was also born into Jehovah's Witnesses. He was carrying the responsibility of being an elder when he discovered that a pedophile was abusing children in his congregation. He asked his superiors for the right to report it to the police. / /
35.54
Bill Bowen
Nashville, Tennessee
"They told me to ask him abot it and if he denied it to leave it in Jehovah's hands. I felt myself facing a moral and ethically impassable wall. I realized that if I followed the orders of the Legal Department of Jehovah's Witnesses, I would be allowing an abuser to have continued access to children. "
36.23
Bill Bowen left the Jehovah's Witnesses. In 2001, he created the Internet site "Silentlambs." For the first time victims were given a voice. But that's not all. It also made known to the public secret information obtained from the top of the hierarchy. An overwhelming database. / /
36.47
Bill Bowen
Nashville, Tennessee
"Information about the database that I obtained and published online in April 2002 showed that there were 23 720 cases admitted by the abusers.”
37.00
Bill Bowen says that three different people, all three active in the Watchtower, told him the same number over 23,000 cases of child sexual abuse.
37.16
Bill Bowen
Nashville, Tennessee
"I invited the leadership of Jehovah's Witnesses to correct me if I was wrong and to give me the exact number. Even if it might have been much lower. Everything had to do with give accurate information. The only official response given to me was that it was not meaningful to reveal the actual number. "
37.40
William
"You've never been sued by the Watchtower? "
37.44
Bill Bowen
"Never once. They never approached; they never sued."
Immediately
37.51
Since 2001, Bill Bowen says he has steadily receive testimony from victims of sexual abuse from within the Jehovah's Witnesses. / /
38.01
Bill Bowen
Nashville, Tennessee
"Every week we receive testimonies from victims who find the site for the first time, I think we have been contacted by over 7,000 victims.
38.16
William
Which country?
Bill Bowen
Currently it has to come from 40 to 50 countries. "
Raindrops
38.35
Here in Tennessee, competition is fierce among Baptists, Evangelicals and the countless variations of Christian fundamentalism. We are in what Americans call the Bible Belt. To compete, Jehovah's Witnesses have their most fervent preachers ... This is the case for Barbara and Joe Anderson. In the 90's they build this Kingdom Hall near Nashville. / /
39.10
Barbara Anderson
Former archivist at the Watchtower world headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses"When we came here it was definitely to convert people to the Jehovah's Witnesses religion. "
39.19
Joe Anderson
Longtime Ex-Jehovah's Witness
"I was an Elder for nearly 40 years."
39.23
At the time, their faith was unwavering. They considered it a privilege to have spent the twenty years in Brooklyn, the holy of holies in the Watchtower. / /
Barbara was dedicated to shine forth the word of Jehovah. / /39.48
Barbara Anderson, Former archivist at the Watchtower world headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses
"I was archivist for the publications department and it was a great project. I helped write a history book about Jehovah's Witnesses. "
40.02
In 92, Barbara and Joe were even among the chosen few whom Jehovah's Witnesses used as an example. / /
40.14
Barbara Anderson, Former archivist at the Watchtower world headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses
"My husband and I in 1992, were on cover of the Awake!, to be precise the one of July 1992 ... I'm here ... and here is my husband. "
40.30
William
"At that time, did you have 100% confidence in the Watchtower? "
40.35
Barbara Anderson, Former archivist at the Watchtower world headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses
"Yes, absolutely. I could go freely anywhere in the library and everywhere there were historical records. They made me really confident. "
40.51
The scandal of pedophilia, Barbara Anderson was going to become aware of a pedophile scandal at the highest level. Here superior invited here to sort letters on the subject that had been sent to the Watchtower Society. She remembers her amazement at the number of cases / /.
41.10
Barbara Anderson
Former archivist at the Watchtower world headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses
"There were these men, abusers, who treated the kids like dirt, but when they were charged unlike in other situations, a different view arose: a Watchtower precept is taken as a commandment from the Bible. For a matter to be established, another eyewitness, in addition to the victim, must be present, and of course for sexual abuse that never happens, as a result the accusations never come to anything. "
41.48
As a former elder, Joe recalls the formal guidelines of the Watchtower on this point. / /
41.57
Joe Anderson
Longtime Ex-Jehovah's Witness
"At an Elders School where I went, they informed us whenever there was an allegation of sexual abuse against children; there was to be an immediate call made to Watchtower. "
42.14
So Watchtower is kept well informed. Barbara Anderson expressed herself to her superiors on this matter of conscience. How could we be tolerating not going public about the abusers? / /
42.29
"I told them that I thought members of the congregations should be warned. "
42.38
Barbara Anderson was never to succeed. She followed the example of Bill Bowen. She alerted the media. She mentioned the letters she had seen. / /
Channel 4 WSMV TV Nashville
42.44
"Many of the letters complained of sexual abuse and some abusers were even leaders in the congregations."
"If the victims could not prove their accusations, they were threatened with excommunication; that's why the secret was kept for so many years. "
43.18
Bill Bowen was excommunicated for speaking out, Barbara continued to investigate, this time from the outside. She learned that the Watchtower had secretly paid millions of dollars to some victims of sexual abuse to avoid a public trial. Being a professional archivist, Barbara began to research the court records. She fell upon a confidential document obtained from a U.S. prosecutor of the Watchtower. / /
43.45
Barbara Anderson, Former archivist at the Watchtower world headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses
"I was absolutely amazed, it was a form that only concerned the sexual abuse of children with blanks to be filled in by the elders; it proved that there were already many cases to be dealt with. "
44.02
The form is an internal document to the Watchtower that is to be filled in for every known case of sexual abuse. It contains a question that reflects the mindset of its authors. / /
44.15
Sentence to be posed:
"How many elders felt that the victim is in one way or another at fault or willingly participated in the acts? "
44.21
Barbara Anderson, Former archivist at the Watchtower world headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses"Anyone who has properly studied the subject of the sexual abuse of children will tell you this is never, ever, an issue that could arise. "
44.34
Another element of concern comes up at the very outset. In the United States, law differs from state to state. In some states the clergy have no right to professional secrecy. In this case, the form instructs the elders to go to a phone booth to anonymously report the sexual abuse.
In other states, the Watchtower elders are reminded that they can maintain secrecy. / /
44.59
Barbara
"I thought, but how can Christians do that? "
Georges-Philippe Mayor
Public Relations for Western Switzerland’s Jehovah's Witnesses
45.49
Elsewhere in Switzerland, a longtime Jehovah's Witness is living a different reality. He burns to testify, but he is afraid of the strong reprisals that would come upon him and his family. He has decided to write out the text of his testimony. We have authenticated it word for word with a notary. We can ask for an actor to read it though. / /
Text read by an actor
Written testimony authenticated before a notary
Georges-Philippe Mayor
Public Relations for Western Switzerland Jehovah's Witnesses
50.20
In Switzerland, the law states that child abuse must be reported to the police by anyone who has knowledge of it. Everyone, except those covered in cases of professional secrecy. We consulted a lawyer who is an expert in the field of such beliefs. / /
François Bellanger
Advocate, PSDT Board of Trustees
Information Center intercantonal (between-Swiss-states) on Beliefs
50.53
But then, Switzerland does not keep an official list of religions. This belongs to the court on a case by case basis as to assessing the ecclesiastical character of the office of Jehovah's Witness elder. More broadly-speaking, Mr. Bellanger is convinced that our legislation has a major loophole in it. / /
François Bellanger
Advocate, PSDT Board of Trustees
Information Center intercantonal on Beliefs
51.35
The faith of Jehovah's Witnesses, insofar as it may seem go against non-believers, can not be discussed. However, gaps in the Swiss legislation are worthy of consideration. No elected Swiss has dared to take on these within recent years.
Another partial translation
I will try to recount what they were saying in French, starting with "Eric".
That is not his real name. Since he is still a JW, he didn't want to be recognized, hence the covered head and synthesized voice. The narrator says Eric wanted to give the interview incognito.
Eric starts by saying that just giving this interview and saying anything that goes against the Watchtower would result in excommunication. He would be shunned and no one among his family or friends would speak to him. For ten years, Eric has been having doubts. But inside the congregation those doubts must not be cited. They have made it clear that if anyone has any doubts in God's organization then you doubt God, doubt the Christ, doubt your family who believe in this organization, and therefore the final result is excommunication.
Excommunication is a sword that is always hanging above your head, Eric said. These doubts were enforced even more the day his very sick child had to have a blood transfusion, one of the major interdictions of the JWs. Eric's view is that his child did not choose to be a JW. Although Eric himself is one, his child did not choose to be one. He won't impose his religion on his child. He told the doctors to do what ever necessary, and if his child needs blood, then give it to him.
Since his child was hospitalized, he got constant visits from elders, citing scriptures to encourage Eric not to have his child transfused. He did not want to tell the elders that his child had already been transfused. He does not feel ready yet to be disfellowshipped. He says that the day he will be disfellowshipped, he would be ostracized by his friends and family; they would not be able to see nor speak nor even ask how he is, even to respond to an SMS or an email. If he is trying not to be disfellowshipped, the only reason is so as not to distress his parents. He is actually waiting for them to pass away so that he would be finally free of the JWs. If he was disfellowshipped, for his parents it would be like he was dead—impossible to see him again.After Andersons’ interview, the JW elder who was interviewed said: "We as Jehovah's Witnesses warn our children to be careful and watch out for inappropriate behavior from adults in this respect. He then showed magazines saying that the JWs have published articles years before the Catholic priests scandals warning not only JW children but children from all over the world the dangers of pedophilia.
Then there is the part of the program where the guy is writing furiously and the words appear on a computer screen. Somewhere in Switzerland, another elder says he has lived a different reality. He is burning to tell his story, but is afraid of strong reprisals for him and his family. He has decided to write down in text his experiences. His writings are then officially authenticated by a notary public, then read out loud by an actor:
"One of the members in our congregation, a brother, had come forward to tell us elders, that he had committed a serious sin, that he had been sexually abusing two of his children. I thought the world was falling apart. How could something like this be even possible in the midst of Jehovah's house? In this type of situation,
all the elders must keep this in absolute secret. The procedure is as follows: a committee is comprised of three elders capable of judging the case, a kind of closed court within the JWs. The decision of the
closed court, with the agreement of the leadership in Thun, was excommunication.
“But even more serious, is the fact then none of the leaders or elders denounced this man, either locally or nationally, to the police for violating the law against incest. None of the leaders took any action to protect the young victims. This man committed a crime, and nobody lifted a finger to deliver this man to justice. I personally gave my opinion on this matter to the JW authorities in Switzerland, and even higher up, but in vain. So I ended up leaving the JWs."
Now the same elder who was interviewed before comes on. He says "Well, I read half of the text", and the journalist cuts in and says "I invite you to read the entire text, it's important." And he replies,
"No, well, this text is written by one person, one-sided, doesn't give his identity; doesn't give a date... I'm not capable to react to this type of anonymous message."
The journalist then asks, "Is it true that in a case like this you demand two witnesses, as the bible demands two witnesses?"
The elder replies: "In the majority of cases, yes. But in pedophilia cases, it is too serious to ask for two witnesses. You have a hard time imagining finding two witnesses in a case where an uncle or someone else is molesting a child in his room while the parents are away."
Journalist asks, "Is the person denounced immediately and without discussion to the police?"
Elder: "In a case like this, it is up to the parents to go to the police, according to Swiss legislation."
Journalist: "And if it is a case of incest which has become known to you?"
Now the elder feels uneasy and fumbles.
"Well...uh...so.... in that case.... uh... well, I never experienced this case personally, so I can't answer that, but anyway, I know of two cases, one was proven and one was not, but in the proven case, the
police were immediately called."
Then Roberto explains about what is highlighted in the elder's manual. He then says as an elder he knew of several serious cases which were not denounced. He knows of others which were. It depends on the case. In most cases the organization demands secrecy. If the person is already disfellowshipped and no longer a JW, then it's easy to denounce him, and would be a show that they were "doing something about it" but when the person is not disfellowshipped, then they don't go to the police.
Then they interview a lawyer who is an expert on this subject. The journalist explains that in Switzerland the law makes mandatory every citizen who comes to know of a case of child sexual abuse to denounce
them to the police, every citizen except those who are covered under the law of professional confidentiality. The lawyer who is interviewed is an expert on religious beliefs. He says, "A clergyman benefits from
the laws of confidentiality, protected by the same penal codes as a doctor, for example. In consequence, he is not under obligation to tell the authorities, but he does have the ability to do it."
The journalist then explains that in Switzerland, there is no list of official religions. It is up to the courts on case by case basis to determine the ecclesiastical functions of the title of "elder."
The lawyer admits that the Swiss legislation on this matter has a large loop-hole. He says, "Personally, I think because of the fragility of the minors involved and often their impossibility to express
themselves, or sometimes doing so very late in life or sometimes too late in life, I think there should be a clear obligation to denounce these facts by anyone as soon as they become known."
Journalist: "So they should change the laws on this matter?" Lawyer: "The laws must evolve accordingly in this domain, absolutely."
The journalist concludes: "The faith of the JWs, no matter how backwards they look from the outside, is not up for discussion. However, the gaps in Swiss legislation are worth thinking about. During these past few years, no Swiss legislator has dared to take on this dossier."
Comments from the key person that worked to develop the program
The program was one of my goals as exit strategy, together with the sending of a 6 pages letter to over 300 JW delegitimizing the JW baptism and the FDS as the entity used by God to communicate with men, the launching of my internet site (basically in Italian) and the organization of Barbara’s European trip, where I acted as translator of her two conferences on pedophilia and the dangers of associating with Jehovah Witnesses.
The judicial committee had invited me to attend on May 20th of 2009. That same day, instead of me showing up at the JC meeting, my letter was received by over 300 people and my internet site went online.
Right after, I have contacted the Swiss Television national channel and lobbied the airing of a new program on JW, as a follow-up to the previous Swedish program on pedophilia, which was aired in Switzerland 5 years ago in July 2005.
The idea was discussed with the TV program management and for a number of months, I had to meet with several representatives to tell my story and what the subject could be for a new program.
After a while, the project was accepted. At first they just wanted to allow me to tell my story for about 10 minutes, but when they heard the different aspects of the subject I would have loved to see discussed in the program, they ended up giving it the maximum time allowed for that national Swiss French program, viz. 55 minutes!
I suggested that the program included Ray Franz, Barbara Anderson and Bill Bowen and I gave the journalists their contact details. Their participation would have given more weight to what the program wanted to demonstrate.
Unfortunately, Franz declined the offer, because he did not feel well physically, but gave me his agreement to use, if needed any of the tapes available of his different trips in Europe.At the end, the journalists discarded this option, but retained the participation of Bill and Barbara.
This is how their interview has finally ended up in the program.The shooting and the collection of the information from which to compile the program took over three months and has cost, according to the journalist, over 200’000 dollars.
The whole thing was completed end June, and we were just waiting for the program to be put on the agenda. Finally, it has been aired on November 11th, and will be aired again tomorrow afternoon by the Swiss TV and will, later, be aired by TV5 all over the world, but we do not have the dates yet.
The Swiss TV opens a forum for each program it airs, every week, to give the public the opportunity to comment, ask questions or … bitch about it.
The reactions on the forum are very interesting. You have had the chance to read the translation done in Queben and posted by Barbara. Unfortunately, translating the whole forum is just impossible.
Right now, there are over 120 threads open, each one with its own discussions, which can be 1 to over a dozen posts each. It is just unbelievable the echo this program is having over here.
Geneva is not a large town, just over 300’000 people. You normally know several people who know several others, and at the end one can say that you are … known around, specially if your professional activity touch hundreds of people, such as the internet business of Fulvio, my son, the bank business of Amanda, my daughter or my job at DuPont, one of the American multinationals around here where I spent 38 years.
Therefore, the comments coming from Geneva, are very very personal. Many people have appreciated and applauded our courage to come in the open, not hiding our name or our face. Some of these know us personally. Others have recounted their miserable experiences as JW.
Many active, inactive or ex-JW whom we know very well, even when we read their anonymous posts on the forum, have been widely violent, attacking personally my kids and myself. Fulvio and Amanda have responded, I didn’t.
I am waiting for the activity on the forum to die out and then I will post my reply and comments.
I have already prepared it (in French) and it is just waiting for the right moment to be posted.
It is 4 pages long, and covers
- a) distinction between people and the Organization and its teachings
- b) why I left the Organization (which was obviously one of the questions many people had knowning that I had been a witness for 59 years, and an Elder for 27 years)
- c) what I am doing now (some have alleged that I am a guru leading a new cult ….)
- d) what I think of the outrageous and despicable comments made by many witnesses and ex witnesses.I will be translating the document into English and post it right here.
Well, this is where we stand now.
Roberto DI STEFANO – alias Nick!
Just a couple of words of translation about Philippe Mayor, the Public Relations Representative for the French zone of Switzerland (by the way, in Switzerland we have four national languages, and therefore PR is by native language), participation.
He did a good job, until he was asked by William, the journalist, about the JW policies on child abuse.On pedophilia, instead of telling the audience what the internal instructions are, he said that it was the parents responsibility to report the abuse to the authorities, whereas, in Switzerland, reporting known crimes to authorities is compulsory and not limited to “parents responsibility”. But he got into trouble with the next question, “and what about if the abuse was perpetuated by the parents themselves?”.
At that point, the poor Mayor didn’t know what to say as his previous justification would not hold anymore. He started, nervously, by taking the time to think about an acceptable answer which would not violate the Watchtower mandate, and, as he could not find any, he dismissed the question by a diversionary move, replying “I cannot tell you, I have never had the case”! But he was not asked about his experience with child abuse cases, he was being questioned about the Watchtower’s official position on child abuse and incest.
Swiss TV Program – My reaction to the TV forum participants
This afternoon, William Heinzer, the journalist who, together with Florence, were responsible for the Swiss TV program called me and confirmed that, although this program on Jehovah’s Witnesses has been the one which had the highest number of interventions in the TV forum, they had to withdraw the forum, because of the atrocious allegations made against myself and my two kids, Fulvio and Amanda.
I planned to copy and publish on my site, a selection of the JW and ex.JW posts, just to show the low moral of these people, who pretend to worship the true God. Even ex-JW, whom I know pretty well, and who were expelled for immorality, but still believe the JW are Jehovah’s only people, have spit their venom against us. Most of these ex-JW were just nothing in the congregation, people who usually don’t turn in any monthly report, seldomly attend meeting, but were between the first ones to bitch about us, attacking us personally, instead of debating the subjects covered by the TV program.
Just before the forum was closed by the TV Program management, I was able to post a kind of “press release”, addressing some of the legitimate questions and, on the other hand, the despicable reaction of the Witnesses.
The next post is the one I posted on the TV Program forum, now unavailable, and on my internet site.
Being the promoter of the program, I felt I needed to answer the legitimate questions asked by participants to the forum of the Swiss TV Program “Temps Présent” of November 11th, 2010 and to add certain observations, opinions and conclusions.
ANSWER TO QUESTIONS AND ALLEGATIONS OF SOME FORUM’S PARTICIPANTS:
Clarifications:
To avoid any misunderstandings, I need to distinguish first a few notions such as, Jehovah Witnesses as individuals, their moral teachings, their internal problems, their beliefs and what we could call their internal regulations.
1. Jehovah’s Witnesses as individuals: My opinion is that they are honest, sincere believers, firmly engaged in the tangible expression of their faith, but surely not the only ones on Earth.
2. Their moral teachings: They are, in general, Christian teachings, of which they do not have neither the exclusivity nor the monopole.
3. Their internal problems: My opinion is that they suffer, neither more nor less, of the same problems as other religious movements, such as divorce, suicide, tax and social fraud, depressions and metal diseases, rebel children, addiction, fornication … As far as pedophilia is concerned, exposing the problem Jehovah’s Witnesses have with it, and not the assigning of the hit parade award, was the real intent of the program. The problem is not the presence of pedophiles within their own members. Logically, they probably and proportionally have a similar number of pedophiles as any other religious group. The problem Jehovah Witnesses have are their internal regulations which govern all aspects of the daily life of their members, not least, the handling of cases of child abuse.
4. Their beliefs: Jehovah Witnesses, as any other religious movement, have the right to have their own beliefs, as long as these do not hinder public order or violate the Law. Their beliefs can include, such as those they had , the resurrection of the faithful men of the past, such as Noah, Moses and David in 1925, that Jehovah resides in the constellation of the Pleiades, that the creation days are six thousand years long or, still a current belief, that none of the billions people who will be resurrected after Armaghedon, according to their teachings, will have a chance to marry, since this is what Christ said and, contrary to the previous teachings, that the stillborn now have the right to be resurrected. This to mention just a few examples.
5. Their internal regulations: These are not the moral Christian principles already mentioned above and about which there is no discussion. These are the countless civil rights which are limited, discouraged, negated or clearly condemned, by applying the extreme discipline of ostracism, that is to say the social death sentence.
Many of these rules, written or not, are surrounded by ambiguity, the preferred technique used by the leadership to impose their line of conduct without having to bear the legal responsibility, as, for example, the multiple cases of death caused by blood transfusion refusal which are, supposedly, a free individual choice, not the teachings imposed on the cult members by the ungodly interpretation of the Bible by their leadership. If it really were the case, how can they explain that, only about them, Jehovah’s Witnesses, have such a collective conscience but none of the members of other religious communities, who base their beliefs on the Old Testament, such as the Jews, nor those who base themselves on the New Testament, as the majority of the Christians? How is it possible that, from one day to another, seven million people or so, who up to then refused any trace of blood in both their food or the medical treatments, start to accept some specific fractions of blood but not others, on the day the leadership publish this new position in their official magazine? One cannot pretend that this sudden and unexpected change in policies is not the trigger of the new “free individual choice” on the matter.
All these internal regulations are nothing else but fallacious interpretations of God’s Word for who, life is sacred!
Hereafter, now, I would like to comment on the following subjects: Why I left the Jehovah’s Witnesses Organization, what is my current mission, and what do I have to say about the allegations and defamatory accusations of certain TV forum participants.
Why I left the Jehovah’s Witnesses Organization:
This is a legitimate question when one happens to know that I spent therein the first 59 years of my life, and almost 30 serving as an ‘elder’, that is to say a spiritual pastor.
Being born in the cult, I would have never questioned the legitimacy of the spiritual authority same as no one would, in his sane mind, and without any serious reason, the parental legitimacy of his parents.
Same as I accepted and practiced Jehovah’s Witnesses teachings and, as an ‘elder’, enforced them on those assigned to my responsibility, I expected the same from their leadership. When they refused abide by their own principles, I started to question the spiritual legitimacy of the leadership who claims to be the sole communication channel with God. The Bible clearly says “do you, however, the one teaching someone else, not teach yourself? You, the one preaching ’Do not steal’, do you steal?” - Roman 2:21
That is when, for the first time in my life, I took the time to examine the leadership’s claimed evidences demonstrating the legitimacy of their position of authority and I finally came to the conclusion that, their own arguments delegitimized their claims on this subject.
One could dismiss the subject classifying it as a simple theological opinion, which should not influence the rest of the beliefs of the cult, but we are talking about the core doctrine of the cult, since, once you reject it, you delegitimize it, as I did, all their other teachings are mere human random interpretations of the Bible. The constant change of interpretations of their key beliefs, such as the meaning of ‘generation’ which would have witnessed the last days of this world, which has changed six times since the foundation of the cult; the eschatological calculations which gave 1914 as the year of the end of the world, postponed to 1925 and finally expected in vain for 1975, are nothing else that the result of pitiful flights of human fantasy and not God’s revelations through his only communication channel.
What is my current mission:
No, I am not heading a dissidents’ movement, and, all the less, I consider myself the guru of a new cult; I have already wasted enough time on this kind of adventure!
To the contrary, as Observer and Critic of the religious movement of Jehovah’s Witnesses, I claim for myself the same rights as Jehovah’s Witness claim for themselves to divulge the results of my researches on the movement. It is my constitutional right and I intend to use it fully. I simply asked the local leadership and the leadership in Thun (where the Swiss branch office is) to leave me alone. They did so for about five years and I respected their silence but, they couldn’t resist the temptation to eliminate me socially and the moment they wanted to clamp me down by announcing publicly my official expulsion (disfellowship), preventing me to say a simple hello to those I had associated with during a whole life, I couldn’t anymore stay still.
The intransigent and discriminatory attitude assumed by the leadership of this organization, who ignores the fundamental freedoms granted by the Universal Declaration of Human rights, subscribed the 10th of December 1948 by the representatives of the civilized world , an organization which claims for itself the respect of its religious rights, but steals the individual rights of their members “to change [their] religion or belief” (article 18) or to exercise their own “freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers” (article 19). These facts cannot remain undisclosed - http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/
Ostracism and shunning, in violation of human rights, must be denounced!
What about the defamatory and insulting allegations made by certain participants to the TV Forum?
I deplore the hate and aggressiveness of certain Jehovah’s Witnesses and ex-Witnesses who participated to the discussion forum of the Swiss TV program “Growing up with Jehovah” which tarnish the reputation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. No true Witness would ever dear attacking personally an individual in such a sick way instead of discussing courteously the arguments. Their interventions denote a dishonorable morality which has nothing to do with the ethical principles taught by the Witnesses who, usually, apply the apostolic rule expressed by Peter in his first epistle chapter 3 and verse 15 which says be ‘always ready to make a defense before everyone that demands of YOU a reason for the hope in YOU, but doing so together with a mild temper and deep respect’.
The program did not attack anyone personally. It only presented the facts and, in certain cases, opinions, but never has it attacked any individual in particular in the way many of the members of the forum have done, vomiting their venom against the participants to the program, in violation of the human fundamental rights, in particular article 8 of the Convention of the European Court of Human Rights, which states that “Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life”
As for the accusation of ‘apostasy’ that certain members of the forum have launched against the program participants, they forget that changing religion or belief is a constitutional right. Negating this right, by calling them ‘apostates’, is a demonstration of intolerance and a violation of the human rights that we just considered and which state that ‘no one should interfere with his opinions’.
Jehovah’s Witnesses should be honest, and respect their own principles as when they state in their “Awake” magazine article of July 2009, page 28 titled “Is It Wrong to Change Your Religion?” which claims that “No one should be forced to worship in a way that he finds unacceptable or be made to choose between his beliefs and his family”. Or is it only a one way argument valid solely for those who leave their previous beliefs and enter the Jehovah’s Witnesses cult, but not the other way round?
If the right to leave their cult is an ‘apostasy’, according to the terms used by Jehovah’s Witnesses, then they should stop their activity of proselytism which prompts people to become ‘apostates’ by using the same right of abandoning their previous faith.
Not having been the object of a personal attack, they attack simply to defend their ‘clan’. Their reaction reveals their intimate feelings that are nothing else but the feelings of fanatics, as we know many of them, who are ready to sacrifice themselves for the sake of their clan even if this means appering as the worse people on earth (see the definition given by Lee Harris in his book ‘The suicide of reason’). This is what is most appalling!
Conclusion:
I hope I have given, although only briefly, an answer to those who ad legitimate questions.
However, I will not waste my time embarking in any sterile discussion with those who do not have the courage of their opinions and hide anonymously and vilely behind a screen giving a pathetic spectacle of themselves.
Roberto di Stefano: Promoter and participant to the TSR Swiss TV Program of November 11th 2010, ‘Temps Présent’ on the subject “Growing up with Jehovah”.
“Present Time”, French Jehovah’s Witnesses agreed to reveal their beliefs about purity, Armageddon, end of the world, which they estimate is imminent, how their brothers and sisters treated them, their years of mental control under the strict monitoring of followers through a quasi military organization. With the investigation “Present Time” goes back to the source; a worldwide scandal of sexual abuse. Former members of Bethel - the Vatican of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Brooklyn, New York - present documentation of the abuse scandal. From childhood to adulthood, indoctrination in the first years create a quasi impossibility of leaving the sect under threat and radical social insulation, the journalists raise the veil on what means “to grow up in the truth”. Repeat broadcast on Friday November 12, 2010 at 0:30 and on Monday November 15, 2010 with 15:40 on TSR2.