Newsweek Letter Writer Silenced

The following email was sent to me today, if anyone would like to send and encouraging comment to Loris I will be glad to forward it to her.  All she did was tell the truth and now she is facing SANCTION in the congregation.  So according to WT PR you are not sanctioned if you go to the police but you are sanctioned if you talk about it.  WT misinformation clear and simple.

silentlambs

Dear Bill, I am under investigation at present by the body of elders in my KH in . I wrote a letter to the GB protesting the treatment of abuse victims and I made a comment to the Newsweek web site coverage of JW's. They printed my comment in the Newsweek magazine. That was more public than the elders cared for. I got a visit from the and my book study overseer on Monday. The local needs talk on Tuesday was given by an elder who is personal friends with several members of the GB. It was about the dangers of speaking to apostates. I am really afraid of what they have planned for me. My children are appalled at the unloving treatment I am receiving. There was nothing in the letter to the GB that I am ashamed of. I still feel the same way. In my opinion, they are behaving like Eli. The comment in Newsweek was altered somewhat by the magazine but was essentially correct. It perhaps could be viewed as damning.

    I knew from the beginning that there would be repercussions from taking a stand for the children. But I choose this battlefield. I will fight with honor. There was no one to stand up for me and my children 25 years ago. Now I have a chance to stand up for others who at present are beat down and not able to fight for themselves. I need to do this in order to heal from my own pain. And at the same time to save others from having to go through the pain at all. That would be worth all the embarrassment of the present.

    Soon I will join the ranks of the DF'd. and have to were a big "A" on my back.

    Thanks for listening. Thanks for being here for us

Sincerely, Loris

 

Edited by - silentlambs on 17 July 2002 21:27:51

loris you did what you think is the right thing. I and all others here agree with you. The vast manority of the public at large agree with you. You did nothing wrong. If they df you that is their loss. Stand up for your rights and if you wish take the legal steps to discourage them. However it turns out you will always have the backing of all on this forum.

I am df'd and I am enjoying my new found freedom and self respect. Only some minor problems with family and shunning. I can live with that. I think you can also. We can no longer bow down to an org that has no love or conscience regarding its followers.

You have no reason to feel embarrrassed. Feel proud and justified instead.

Edited by - outoftheorg on 17 July 2002 21:39:18

((((((((((((((((((((Well-Done, Lorris)))))))))))))))))))

jwsons

This reminds me of a movie called "The Scarlet Letter" that many including myself have seen extremely close parallels between early Puritan life around the time of Columbus, to life in this Puritanistic organization today.

In the movie, Demi Moore must wear the letter "A" on her forehead. It stood for "Adulteress" (or if on a man "Adulterer"). I recall some comment that one could get the scarlet letter tatooed onto one's forehead by either committing literal adultery or spiritual adultery which is also known as Apostasy -- in order to mark them so that everyone they came in contact would shun them -- and thus an Apostate would also receive the mark of the scarlet letter.

I sincerely hope that 100 years from now the organization has done away with this bazantine practice of "marking" brothers and sisters for shunning, and not gone the opposite direction, perhaps requiring an elder take a red rubber stamp and stamp the foreheads of DF'd ones before they can enter Kingdom Halls.

Derrick

 

Loris:

I am so sorry for what you are going through.  It is not right, nor is it fair.  Fourteen years ago I fought a similar fight.  I told my elders about my incestuous family.  Nothing happened.  For 4 years I argued, harangued, wrote letters and practically screamed from the platform, all to no avail.  Finally the circuit overseer told me if I said one more word I would be disfellowshipped.  So I left and haven't been back.  After reading so many stores on Silent Lambs and elsewhere, I found out that what I went through is not even on the radar screen compared to the abuse others suffered.  This madness must stop.

Hebrews 11 talks about people of faith and how they encountered opposition for their beliefs.  At some point in each of their lives, each of these people had to make a choice to either stand up for what is right, or cower to others.  You are such a person of faith.  By standing up now, in this way, you are showing your allegiance to God, and not to a man-made organisation.  You have shown yourself to be a link in the chain to righting a tremendous wrong.  The God I was taught about is aware of your troubles and I have to believe that he will take care of you.

Peace

Chris

Edited by - Big Tex on 18 July 2002 1:24:59

All the best Loris,

We are all behind you a 100%. Its just desperate measures from a bunch of desperate old men to keep the truth from getting out. The WT is falling like a deck of cards and lets see if they really have spirit backing.

Will

Loris,

You are fighting with many brave soldiers. We are happy to have you within our ranks. We have chosen our battles and accept our responsibilities. We will force the hand of the wt society to finally accept responsibility for their injustices and criminal activities.  We will see this to the end or when justice is served.

I am truly sorry for the fact that you are being persecuted by your own religion for taking a stand against injustice.. Talk about hypocrits!!

The good news is:

Looks like maybe your children will be leaving with you!!!

CONGRATULATIONS, and I admire and applaud your bravery!!!!

Loris, if an employer tried to repress an employee's freedom of speech by threatening the employee regarding speaking with the press, the employer would be dragged into court so fast that his head would spin. What in the world gives the WTS the idea that they can repress a member's constitutional rights and not pay any consequences. You may be a JW, but you are still an American citizen with constitutional rights. WTS doesn't beat around the bush when it comes to dragging anyone that they feel is suppressing their "freedom of speech" into court. Do they believe that you somehow are not afforded the same rights? Just because a person is a member of a religious organization does not mean they have somehow sacrificed their rights. I sincerely would speak to a lawyer and get a legal opinion regarding this matter. It would be well worth a reasonable consultation fee. 

This organization has its members so conditioned into believing that it is the Lord and Master,  that it has itself convinced that it can also take away one's constitutional rights, if it so chooses, without any consequence whatsoever. How dare they! The WTS flaunts that it wins victories for Americans' freedom of speech, perhaps it's time for them to be the defendant. 

You sound like a very caring person, I wish you well.

 

Loris:

I'm sorry to hear of the unpleasant repercussions of your comment to newsweek, although they are not unexpected, I'm sure. I too would like to complement you upon your bravery and tremendously strong principles in speaking out. You did the right thing! By trying to silence you, they expose themselves as callous liars.

I hope that your children stick with you, and wish you the best.

Expatbrit

By their fruits you will know them.

As well as taking legal advice, would not Newsweek be interested in hearing about the consequences of talking to them?

Perhaps Dateline and the BBC would be interested too.

Come to think of it, certain British MP's and US representatives may find this relevant?

Expatbrit

 

Dear Loris,

You are a very brave woman.  All  the best to you.

Free

There is a truth that is greater than the frivolous, mean-spirited variety that men with ulterior motives often come up with. It is the kind of truth that never goes out of style, never wears out, is always pure and clean, always rings with crystal clarity. You have tapped into it. You have nothing to be ashamed of.

Imo, the men who are now trying to besmirch your character are gutter rats. One and all, they are no better than flea infested dogs that one day will pay for their demonic ugliness -- an ugliness that shows not one shred of concern for innocent and defenseless CHILDREN. If there is a god of truth and right, these men will one day pay, and severely.

You are a woman of rare and tremendous courage. You spoke the truth. In life, there is no finer thing a person can do.

Loris, you are a brave woman and you have spoken up for the truth.  I'm sorry that the congregation is trying to silence you in this manner, but you should know that we here are all extremely proud of you for taking a stand.

Good for you loris!  More Silent lambs will be helped when people are not afaid to speak up.  And the WTS will be exposed for the hypocritical organization it is!  I applaud you for taking a stand and not backing down.

Good for you, Loris! You have disconnected from the matrix and are beginning to see what the organization is all about. It's too bad that interested persons and most dubs will never be able to get a true glimpse of the true picture.

The society is more vested in protecting its own image rather than in helping any victims. I can attest to this as an abused wife who wrote many letters to the society, my circuit overseer and anyone else who would listen. The only responses I received in return were admonitions to wait on Jehovah to reveal matters and clear them up and to not bring reproach on Jehovah's organization by calling the police on my abusive JW husband.

The org has an image to maintain and it will fight ruthlessly with anyone within who it perceives as a threat to that image.

Loris,

I am sorry your speaking about justice and telling truth is causing you trouble from those who want to hide in the dark.  I appreciated your letter to Newsweek and I believe you took a very courageous stand.  I am sure Newsweek would be interested in reporting the consequences of writing a letter to them and the reasons why someone who makes a stand for justice could be punnished.

Thirdson

Loris,

I'm the one who emailed you from the first, the one you said, "We may not win the battle, but we can pick the battlefield we die on."    I'm sorry it came to this so soon for you.  However, I think the society made a mistake when they choose to go to battle with you.   Write Newsweek a letter, include a clipping of your published comment in their magazine.  I believe dear lady, you personally can gather more press than you have imagined, if not from Newsweek than from other media.  The Battle is not over.

Since this thread is about letters I thought I would share this letter posted on Panorama. The question is do you think this is really a "worldly" person?

I am not a Witness but I do live close to the town where this all erupted. I have never allowed my wife or anyone in my family to even open a door to a Jehovah's Witness in the past. However because of all the publicity down here I decided that the next time one came I was going to ask a few questions. I expected denials and excuses. I was quite surprised one the man I spoke with admitted that not all JWs are perfect and that they are primarily concerned when a mistake has been made of correcting it. He was such a humble man that I cannot in good conscience pass judgement on someone who I feel is sincere in his beliefs and interested in nothing more than trying to be a good person. Even though I do not subscribe to their beliefs I do see more good than bad. I cannot understand why so much focus is being made on the bad rather than the good. Anyway I am glad I listened, I feel that as an American it is his right to worship freely and I probably will talk the next time they come to my door again, it depends on what kind of mood I am in I guess. Anyway I can't knock them on many things and on the others to be fair the BBC and Dateline needs to open an investigation on every religion to determine the depth of this problem. I think they will find an equal if not worse problem in all the others.
Robert
Hopkinsville, Kentucky