Monday, March 5, 2012

Jehovah's Witnesses church leader 'poisoned' by rival

"Jehovah's Witnesses church leader 'poisoned' by rival," Sunday Mail (South Australia), Nigel Hunt, March 3, 2012 ... THE Adelaide Hills Jehovah's Witnesses community

[Right: Mt Lofty Kingdom Hall: Regi Varghese]

has been rocked by the alleged poisoning of a church official and his young family by a rival. The extraordinary series of events, in which glyphosate weed killer was injected into food, milk and fruit juice cartons in a fridge, was uncovered only after the victim set up a hidden camera in his kitchen - apparently catching the culprit in the act. The victim took the unusual step after becoming suspicious that someone had been repeatedly entering his Stirling home and tampering with food while his family was at church meetings in nearby Crafers. His family, including three young children aged five to 12, had also complained after coming home from church that food and drinks from the fridge had smelt and tasted toxic. As a result of this covert camera footage, a man is now facing 12 charges in connection with the alleged poisoning scheme, which played out over a seven-month period until he was arrested in October last year. ... The bizarre incident is believed to be connected to a disciplinary matter within the Mt Lofty Jehovah's Witnesses Church congregation, where both the charged man and the victim and his family are members. It is understood the charged man may have resented the involvement of the victim, a church elder, in a matter which saw him "disfellowshipped" in 2010 over his conduct. The poisoning victim, who asked not to be identified, said the charged man was no longer a member of the 100-strong congregation. "He was removed from the congregation," he said. "No single person makes a judgment like that - it's a committee decision. "There are processes there to address any grievance somebody might have if they feel wrongly done by. "There was no hint that was the case. He knew the score. "For all intents and purposes it seemed like he accepted it. "He was still free to attend our meetings, which he continued to do. We don't prevent anyone from attending the meetings; we just don't have anything to do with them if they have been disciplined by the congregation like that." ... After being remanded in custody for a fortnight, the man was bailed on November 11... He will next appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on May 4. ... A public window into the Watchtower cult's inhumane and un-Biblical disfellowshipping and shunning system:

"He was removed from the congregation ... it's a committee decision ... He was still free to attend our meetings, which he continued to do. We don't prevent anyone from attending the meetings; we just don't have anything to do with them if they have been disciplined by the congregation like that."

While not condoning this ex-JW man's alleged illegal actions, the fact that he allegedly targeted this particular JW elder and `reading between the lines' of the elder's comments, adds weight to the view that "the charged man may have resented the involvement of the victim, a church elder, in a matter which saw him `disfellowshipped' in 2010." Even the title of the article calling him a "rival" of this elder suggests he may even have been a also an elder? It will be interesting to see when the man has his day in court whether he airs the `dirty linen' of this congregation, and more importantly the Watchtower Society's `living death' disfellowshipping and shunning system:

"Shunning ... The elders form a `judicial committee' and `disfellowship' (expel) members who commit sexual immorality or who express disagreement with the Watchtower Society on any issue. The individual expelled for apostate thinking is shunned more completely than the JW disfellowshiped for fornication or adultery. One who voluntarily leaves the sect faces the same penalty at the hands of a judicial committee, but is considered `disassociated' rather than `disfellowshiped.' ... Visitors at Kingdom Hall meetings seldom learn about shunning right away or learn of the closed-door interrogations and trials held constantly to keep members in line. With press and media relations handled only by assigned spokesmen-always men, never women-trained in the art of euphemism, the sect usually manages to keep the internal disciplinary system hidden from the public eye, and hence to maintain a fairly good public image. The other side of the story is usually told in detail only by persons who have lived part of their lives in the group and, after leaving, have somehow been able to escape the fear and guilt that keep most former members quiet. When ex-JWs do speak out, the story that emerges is reminiscent of life in Nicolae Ceausescu's Romania where the Security Police were everywhere spying on people's private lives and forcing children to testify against their own parents. Many former Witnesses compare the Watchtower kingdom to the futuristic dictatorship of George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four where `Big Brother is watching you!'" (Reed, D.A., "Answering Jehovah's Witnesses: Subject by Subject," 1996, pp.211-212. Emphasis original).

"We had been taught to see that ... God's kingdom has a judicial branch that judges wrongdoers. When a case comes to the attention of the elders, they appoint three or more of their number to form a judicial committee and summon the sinner to stand trial. Obedience is thus compelled by two powerful forces: the mind control exercised over individual JWs by the organization, and the threat of punishment through the sect's judicial committee arrangement. Witnesses whose thinking has been brought completely into line willingly obey whatever the Watchtower Society says, rejoicing at the opportunity to do `God's will.' Those who have not completely surrendered, or whose ability to think independently has somehow been reawakened, are kept in line through fear of punishment. This punishment results in the victim being totally shunned by JW family and friends. Witnesses will not speak or even say as much as hello on the street, and the offender is no longer welcome in the homes of friends or relatives. He or she is no longer considered a Witness, and faces divine execution at the Battle of Armageddon instead of life in paradise." (Reed, D.A., "Blood on the Altar," 1996, pp.192-193).

"Jehovah's Witnesses can be summoned before a judicial committee without warning, without prior notification of the charges against them, and without any right to face their accusers-who may remain anonymous or may even be members of the committee itself. There is no right to representation by counsel. In fact, the trial takes place behind closed doors, without observers. The judicial committee's goal is to bring about `repentance' - i.e., to get the erring Witness to turn from his bad ways and conform to the organization's instructions. In order to bring about this desired result, the committee is empowered to impose a wide variety of penalties on the offender. These range from a mild, private rebuke to the extreme penalty of disfellowshipping. When an unrepentant `wrongdoer' is disfellowshipped, the committee announces the individual's name to the congregation as notification that everyone must henceforth avoid association with that person. No one may engage him in conversation, and J.W.'s encountering him on the street, must not even say 'Hello'. Immediate family members must restrict their interaction with a disfellowshipped member of the household, and relatives living outside the home must avoid the expelled person except for `necessary family business'." (Reed, D.A., "Behind the Watchtower Curtain," 1989, p.18. Emphasis original).

and if he claims in his defense that it drove him `over the edge' to commit these alleged crimes.

Stephen E. Jones, B.Sc., Grad. Dip. Ed.
My other blogs: CreationEvolutionDesign & The Shroud of Turin

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Disfellowshipping unrepentant wrongdoers is based on gods word .Paul states to remove the wicked from amoung yourselves.Perhaps our critic of Jehovahs Witnesses would love to welcome this attempted murderer into his ranks and expose innocent honest hearted people to such a threat.Both Jehovah God and in this case the law of the land disagree with your irratioal comments

Stephen E. Jones said...

Anonymous

>Disfellowshipping unrepentant wrongdoers is based on gods word.

In 1Cor 5:1-5 NWT the Apostle Paul orders the Corinthian church that a man who has committed fornication with his father's wife ey "should be taken away from YOUR midst":

"1Actually fornication is reported among YOU, and such fornication as is not even among the nations, that a wife a certain [man] has of [his] father. 2And are YOU puffed up, and did YOU not rather mourn, in order that the man that committed this deed should be taken away from YOUR midst? 3I for one, although absent in body but present in spirit, have certainly judged already, as if I were present, the man who has worked in such a way as this, 4that in the name of our Lord Jesus, when YOU are gathered together, also my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5YOU hand such a man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, in order that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord."

>Paul states to remove the wicked from amoung yourselves.

In 1Cor 5:11-13 NWT the Apostle Paul continues:

"11But now I am writing YOU to quit mixing in company with anyone called a brother that is a fornicator or a greedy person or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or an extortioner, not even eating with such a man. 12For what do I have to do with judging those outside? Do YOU not judge those inside, 13while God judges those outside? “Remove the wicked [man] from among yourselves.”

Therefore there is only Biblical mention of "disfellowshipping" for the most serious of sexual and other sins.

There is no Biblical warrant for JW elders disfellowshipping JWs for "smoking, working for military establishments, working for other religious organizations, voting in elections, accepting blood transfusions and celebrating birthdays or holidays such as Christmas and Easter":

"The biblical purpose of disfellowshipping is to cause the errant Christian to repent, to remove what could be a stumbling block from the church, so that others will not be affected, to teach others to fear God's righteous judgement and to keep the church clean in the eyes of outsiders. In 1 Corinthians 5 we read of Paul's instructions to remove a Christian who was cohabiting with his stepmother. ... The WBTS have gone further than the practice of disfellowshipping unrepentant sinners, and have included in their reasons for disfellowshipping smoking, working for military establishments, working for other religious organizations, voting in elections, accepting blood transfusions and celebrating birthdays or holidays such as Christmas and Easter. Talking to other disfellowshipped ones, even if that one is a relative counts as a reason. Also, if a dissatisfied person disagrees with Watchtower teaching and discusses that disagreement with other Jehovah's Witnesses so as to promote apostasy, then that person will be disfellowshipped. Thus the organization protects itself from general discontentment and enforces unity by use of disfellowshipping." (Harris, D. & Browning, B., "Awake to the Watchtower," [1988], Reachout Trust: London, Revised, 1993, p.320).

Also, the Bible does not say to let disfellowshipped persons keep coming to congregation meetings but "just don't have anything to do with them":

"He was removed from the congregation, ... He was still free to attend our meetings, which he continued to do. We don't prevent anyone from attending the meetings; we just don't have anything to do with them if they have been disciplined by the congregation like that."

In fact the Bible says the opposite: "Remove the wicked [man] from among yourselves."

[continued]

Stephen E. Jones said...

[continued]

>Perhaps our critic of Jehovahs Witnesses would love to welcome this attempted murderer into his ranks and expose innocent honest hearted people to such a threat.Both Jehovah God and in this case the law of the land disagree with your irratioal comments

The point is that he was not an "attempted murderer" when he was disfellowshipped. He has become an alleged "attempted murderer" because he was disfellowshipped.

As I wrote in my post above, it is going to be interesting if this man has his day in court and claims that it was the Watchtower's inhumane system of disfellowshipping and shunning that drove him `over the edge.'

Stephen E. Jones

Anonymous said...

I am a JW but have a different view than most JWs. Just because something is in God's word or was practiced by early Christians does not mean that God approved or approves of it. We have read in the Bible about many early Christians, as well as Israelites, doing things that did not meet with Jesus' approval. There are many actions and traditions, that although are recorded in the Bible, does not necessarily have God's approval. His permitting things does not mean that he approved of it. He permits the rampant wickedness in the world today. In the past, he permitted things such as polygamy and the setting up of Kings over Israel, but that did not mean that was what he wanted. The entire time Jesus was walking on the earth he tirelessly tried to convince his followers not to be setting themselves up over each other. He even washed their dirty feet. Did they get the message? Did they take note of his two commandments which would have prevented the contentions prevalent among them. All you need to do is look into the Bible where soon after Jesus death these early Christian men looked to a Governing Body to then make and enforce their rules or statues on things such as blood and circumcision. I never read that Jesus had set up this Governing Body. Did these few men on the Governing Body then have more Holy Spirit than the other spirit begotten men that had a different opinion? I also never read that one tongue of fire was brighter over one head than another. Because of rules back then some looked down on Jesus because of him not washing up to his elbows. Because of rules today some look down on others for even the material their clothing is made from. I guess you know how it is now forbidden by Watchtower to wear clothes made from denham to the meetings or their headquarters?

Some will argue that we have to be organized to get this work accomplished. Could that be putting more emphasis and reliance on ourselves and our organizational abilities than on Jehovah? Isn't he the one that could make the rocks cry out to accomplish this required witnessing work? If his spirit can do that for rocks it can certainly do that for humans, even unorganized humans. I strongly feel that Jehovah has his reasons for allowing the wickedness today. Perhaps he also has reasons for permitting other unjust and wicked things to happen inside this organization. For one thing it shows the scriptural thought, "that man can not direct his own step", applies to more than the governments of the nations. The unjustness and wrongs that have been done to me by some leaders (and one of my own daughters) inside this organization has brought me so much grief I am sure it has shortened my lifespan. However, there are some positive things that have come from it such as:
1) I have protected my daughter and her future offspring from a Jehovah's Witness pedophile,
2) our family that is left has become stronger and are closer,
3) I have become more compassionate for others that may be different from me in the way of beliefs or customs,
4) I have yearned more to study of Jesus' life and how he was treated by those in his organization. Also, how he responded in love to those that did terrible things to him,

Stephen E. Jones said...

Anonymous

Thanks for your comment.

>I am a JW but have a different view than most JWs.

Then you would not be a true JW, according to the WB&TS. The Society has warned JWs against "independent thinking":

"Avoid Independent Thinking .... How is such independent thinking manifested? A common way is by questioning the counsel that is provided by God's visible organization ... Yet certain ones have professed to know better. They have rebelled against such counsel and have done what is right in their own eyes." (Watchtower, January 15, 1983, p.22).

"Fight Against Independent Thinking ... just as in the first century there was only one true Christian organization, so today Jehovah is using only one organization .... Yet there are some who point out that the organization has had to make adjustments before, and so they argue: `This shows that we have to make up our own mind on what to believe.' This is independent thinking." ("Watchtower, January 15, 1983, p.27).

>All you need to do is look into the Bible where soon after Jesus death these early Christian men looked to a Governing Body to then make and enforce their rules or statues on things such as blood and circumcision.

It was not a "Governing Body," at least not of all Christians. In the context, some Jewish Christians were claiming to come from James, the leader of the Jerusalem Church, claiming that Gentile Christians needed to be circumcised to be saved. So Paul and Barnabas, for the first time, "after fourteen years":

Gal 2:1-2 NWT. 1Then after fourteen years I again went up to Jerusalem with Bar´na·bas, taking also Titus along with me. 2But I went up as a result of a revelation. And I laid before them the good news which I am preaching among the nations, privately, however, before those who were outstanding men, for fear that somehow I was running or had run in vain.

of Paul's ministry independent of this so-called "Governing Body," decided to meet with the apostles and elders of the Jerusalem Church, to clarify the issue:

Acts 15:1-2 NWT. "1And certain men came down from Ju·de´a and began to teach the brothers: “Unless YOU get circumcised according to the custom of Moses, YOU cannot be saved.” 2But when there had occurred no little dissension and disputing by Paul and Bar´na·bas with them, they arranged for Paul and Bar´na·bas and some others of them to go up to the apostles and older men in Jerusalem regarding this dispute."

The Watchtower Society is reading back into church history what isn't there, in an attempt to bolster its own authority as a 19th century `Johnny come lately'. In much the same way as the Roman Catholic Church falsely claims that Peter was the first Pope, to bolster the authority of its Pope.

[continued]

Stephen E. Jones said...

[continued]

>Because of rules today some look down on others for even the material their clothing is made from. I guess you know how it is now forbidden by Watchtower to wear clothes made from denham to the meetings or their headquarters?

The WB&TS is the modern-day counterpart to the Pharisees of Jesus' day, seeking salvation in negative rightousness. It also enhances the WT's control by inventing negative rules to be obeyed that are distinctive only of JWs, so that JWs falsely think that makes them somehow righteous in God's eyes for doing them. When actually it has the opposite effect, because they are in effect denying that Christ's sacrifice of Himself is good enough for them:

Gal 2:16,21 NWT. 16knowing as we do that a man is declared righteous, not due to works of law, but only through faith toward Christ Jesus, even we have put our faith in Christ Jesus, that we may be declared righteous due to faith toward Christ, and not due to works of law, because due to works of law no flesh will be declared righteous ... 21I do not shove aside the undeserved kindness of God; for if righteousness is through law, Christ actually died for nothing.

>The unjustness and wrongs that have been done to me by some leaders (and one of my own daughters) inside this organization has brought me so much grief I am sure it has shortened my lifespan.

I am sorry to hear that.

>However, there are some positive things that have come from it such as:
1) I have protected my daughter and her future offspring from a Jehovah's Witness pedophile,
2) our family that is left has become stronger and are closer,

Clearly the WB&TS is not "God's visible organization," as it claims to be, but a non-Christian false prophet, one of many who Jesus' warned would come:

Mt 7:15-16 NWT. 15“Be on the watch for the false prophets that come to YOU in sheep’s covering, but inside they are ravenous wolves. 16By their fruits YOU will recognize them.

>3) I have become more compassionate for others that may be different from me in the way of beliefs or customs,
4) I have yearned more to study of Jesus' life and how he was treated by those in his organization. Also, how he responded in love to those that did terrible things to him,

I encourage you to study only Jesus' words in a Bible other than the NWT. A modern translation like the English Standard Version (ESV) would be best, but the WT actually once printed the King James Version and the American Standard Version, so you could use them.

As you meet with Him, Jesus will then meet with you:

Rev 3:20 NWT. Look! I am standing at the door and knocking. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into his [house] and take the evening meal with him and he with me.

and make you one of His own sheep, free of the WT's control:

Jn 10:26-27 NWT. But YOU do not believe, because YOU are none of my sheep. 27My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28And I give them everlasting life, and they will by no means ever be destroyed, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Stephen E. Jones