October 2002 Guestbook

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Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
00:32:26
Comments
Masturbation? Bills gay? Dammit, who let the 8th graders in again! Geez, you guys are sooooo cool, you really got us this time! I guess being gay and/or masturbating really is worse than raping babies! Wow. Hooray for people like you. If your over 15, I really, really feel bad for you. Did you get your ass kicked on a regular basis in high school? Does your daddy not love you? WAYYYYYY to much time on your hands. Shouldn't you be out in service or something? Go volunteer at a suicide hotline or a rape crisis center, perhaps a domestic violence house. Oh, wait, I forgot, witnesses just do enough by handing out literature. We know who you are, & your quotes here will be reported to the elders! Then you'll really have some time on your hands!

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
05:16:02
Comments
It was a privilege to be among the 125 on the 27th. I had a chance to meet many wonderful people on that day - not only the courageous survivors of abuse but also those who have sacrificed so much to lend their support. I applaud the efforts and mission statement of SilentLambs and hope that one day the Society will implement the much-needed changes it recommends. BB BbsStuff@aol. com

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
05:20:23
Comments
I am happy to know that people are speaking out against a religion that is so anti-Christian in their actions. I wish I were brave enough to add my name. But here is another sad example of Witness behavior. My mother and I had studied with the witnesses for 9 years. In 1977 I was invited along on a trip to the skate rink with a group of supervised teens. One of the church elder's son was there. Even though I knew I shouldn't, I went off with him and two other girls and boys. I was naive and trusted him to do good. I was wrong-raped-terrified of letting anyone know. I found out I was pregnant,he was disfellowshipped. His best friend, also a witness offered to marry me,(looking back,it was probably the church elder's idea),which I did. For the brief time I stayed married to him, I was continually reminded of my failure to call out,(I had been knocked out),during the rape and told that I was at fault. He was also very abusive. Not only that, but despite their claims of honesty, the relationship with him, other members and his grandparents was fraught with lies. I have kept this largely a secret for many years. My son is wonderful and I am so glad we left when we did. I can't even begin to go into the psychological harm he suffered when they tried to pull him back in to the religion 9 years later when I agreed to let him see his Witness grandparents on the condition that they not bring him to see his,(step), father until it was settled in court,(he had tried to suffocate my son with a pillow when he was 9 months old because he made too much noise when he was trying to sleep-that's when I left), and they lied to me about not giving him to his,(step), father too. I am so glad to be away from those people and their religion. I would like to excuse it with every group has some bad people in it but I can't. In every congregation and Kingdom Hall, I saw similar situations evolving or being hidden and I just can't justify them. My neighbors have been studying for almost a year now and I'd love to point out some of the websites I have found,so that they may know there are two sides to this, but they are too involved to see. Thank you-I feel better for being able to share this. I love your web site, I feel as though I am no longer alone :)

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
06:50:55
Comments
Still waiting to see all the press coverage other than backwoods newspapers. Show me some CNN, some NBC, ABC, FOX something for God's sake. If this stinking march was so big show me some press!

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
06:58:55
Comments
You are doing a vital work. Ian White iwhite63@hotmail. com

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
07:57:44
Comments
Hey everybody RJ is back! (Don't look so disappointed) I've been on vacation for a week and just trying to get caught up on all the posts and march news (or lack there of) Who ever posted the links to the monkey pics that was pretty clever. What are you trying to do steal some of the limelight from me? So what's up with the low turnout? Everybody was expecting such a big thing with national press coverage but I stayed glued to all the news channels that day and the next but I never saw a darn thing! What's up with that? SOAPBOX aka CLAUDIA what's the deal with saying numbers aren't a big thing to you guys? All I see when you first enter this site is 23,720. Then there are all the posts with numbers. How many TV stations did a piece on SL. How many newspapers did an article on SL. You always mention the numbers when it comes to crap like that! So numbers are important to you! You can bet your rose colored glasses if there were 1,000 or 5,000 at the march it would be broadcast with post after post of the good news! But with such a poor turnout all the sudden numbers don't matter only that God was looking. Hah!!!!!!! Who do you think you are kidding? You are a hypocrite just like you say we are! Lets see 100 or so out of 5,000 that Billy boy has said have called him (the Popes right hand man) reporting abuse. That's not a very good turnout in comparison with the throngs of the so called abused. What's your explanation for this? Did the elder mafia order hits on everyone that went to the march? Or maybe it was some other crazy crapload of propaganda laden excuses similar to this? I want to help anyone hurt and abused also whether you believe it or not but I will do so within the congregation. This is the wrong way. You guys have a terrible chip on your shoulder that is about to get knocked off. Can't you see that the way you are going about it is futile? RJ

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
08:23:33
Comments
To Not Alone: Thank you for sharing your story. I am so sorry about what happened to you and your son. The most important vital aspect of silentlambs, to me, is that the ones who have been harmed now know they are not alone or crazy or spiritually weak and that you do not have to be silent any more. ****Have you told your story to the neighbors? Or maybe you could print a few of these stories for them to read. ***** Please know that you can call Bill Bowen or email him if you need to talk or need help. You can also write your story in the Abused Lambs section of this web site. *****

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
09:50:45
Comments
I was in a congregation in So. California for 16 years. During that time, a friend of mine's husband was found to be a child molester. He was disfellowshipped several times, but always reinstated. Now, at the time, we, of course, did not know why he was disfellowshipped. And my kids played at their house all the time, even spending the night. Years later, when I found out why he kept getting disfellowshipped, I was appalled. Every child in the congregation who had contact with this guy was at risk. I was deeply disturbed and disappointed that protecting the image of the society was more important than protecting its members.

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
10:05:43
Comments
There is an article in today's Dallas Morning News regarding child abuse within the Highland Park Presbyterian Church. For those of you who do not know this church is in an extremely wealthy area of Dallas. Contrast this church's response to abuse allegations to Watchtower's response (or lack of one). Although the abuser is now dead, the CHURCH ITSELF mounted an investigation that revealed DOUBLE the number of victims. . . . . . Some excerpts: "This evidence was more than compelling; it was overwhelming," the report said. "At the close of the investigation, with the puzzle pieces in place, the . . . [committee] is left with an inescapable conclusion about which there can be no doubt," that Mr. Pruitt molested 22 females, including three adults, a total of "at least 48 times. " Their median age was 12 to 13. Two girls were not believed when they told other missionaries that they had been molested by the kindly man who entertained children with magic tricks and humor. For many, if not all, of his victims, his abuse left lifelong injury," the report said. The document also said Mr. Pruitt's wife, Virginia, "played an active role in concealing the truth about her husband. " (IN THE VICKI BOER CASE WATCHTOWER ARGUED THAT ELDERS DO NOT OWE VICTIMS A DUTY OF CARE) notice the comment from Presbyterian church Pastor: "We're trying to do whatever we can pastorally for the alleged victims. "Those who feel they were abused need to be cared for. " SHOULDN'T WE EXPECT MORE FROM WATCHTOWER
http://www. dallasnews. com/latestnews/stories/100102dnmetabusereport. 9ab42. html

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
11:23:57
Comments
R. J - you are hopeless and one spiritually ugly guy and you stand out like a sore thumb here. Are you really a JW?????? You sound like a pagan. Don't forget Jehovah watched while these silentlambs were being raped and molested - that is the "news" broadcast up to the heavens, just like your posts look ugly, mean, petty, all the way up to the heavens. You are broadcasting all the way up to the heavens how ugly you are and the lack of love your heart projects. And you are worried about us?????? Don't bother.

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
12:41:37
Comments
If there is one thing I know, you cannot reason with a ridiculer. I am tempted to reason with RJ - but proverbs says it will only bring shame to try and do so. Experience has proven this to be true - I have had lots of experience with ridiculers.

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
12:42:45
Comments
Hooray, the watchtower society is in the limelight for pretending their policy on child abuse works, now what about the mental abuse we suffer for having a different thought to the GB, and being kicked out as apostates! and telling us god hates us, and we'll be destroyed by their killer God, Now that's Abuse! www. antijehovahswitness. com

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
13:36:28
Comments
To all those who were disfellowshipped because they didn't scream when raped, there was an article about rape that PLAINLY STATED that screaming wasn't required. It pointed out that some women (or girls) may be so scared that they can't scream. This isn't a case of someone being knocked unconscious. It's a case of not being able to scream because of fear, etc. Being knocked unconscious is even more reason for not screaming. I'm into it with elders all the time because they don't know what's in their own publications. Even those at H. Q. don't necessarily know what's in their publications. You've got to do your own homework and bring this stuff up -- if they let you. I know of cases where they don't let you defend yourself or want to know what you have to say. I looked but can't find that article but I had a talk with an elder and he was saying that "if she screams" and I told him that's not what the article says. He apparently had it handy and he started reading it aloud and he, too, realized that the article specifically talked about cases where the victim couldn't scream. The biggest trouble is we don't do our own research before seeking the assistance of elders. We're looking to them to know what to do or say and, in a lot of cases, they don't know because they're not familiar with our publications. Oh, they may say that's not true but I've had elders argue with me about information in our very current magazines -- study articles to boot. I don't like being at odds with people, especially the elders or the society, but they contradict their own information practice so much that I've finally come to realize that they don't even know what's in our own publications. Therefore, in specific matters, you better believe that I'm armed with information that comes from our own publications and the scriptures that support their statements. I'm sure there are some who'd love to knock me out of the congregation or organization. I'm a thorn in their flesh, so to speak. However, NO ONE EVER TAUGHT ME THE BIBLE and ALL THE GOOD THINGS OF THE BIBLE but Jehovah's Witnesses. I know this is the right organization. The problem is some are trying to make it their own exclusive paradise regardless of whom they harm. There was a child abuse case in Georgia a couple of years ago and the society successfully argued in court that they're not responsible because the abuser was not in an appointed position. I strongly disagree and I've said so. Now they want everyone to agree that they're doing the right thing in this child abuse sham. I've made it clear that I do not agree with what they're doing. I'm not disfellowshipped but I'm sure they like to think I'm the one that's not in the right, or crazy, or spiritually weak, or whatever. No matter how hurt one is, they MUST do their own research to find FROM THEIR OWN PUBLICATIONS the information you need because the odds are (and it is a "toss up" when it comes to what elders you have to deal with) that the elders don't know this information and they didn't do any relevant research, either. They apply a scripture or scriptures as the letter of the law and ignore important information in our publications that SHOULD help them exercise the scriptures in the SPIRIT of the law. My opinion is that there are a bunch of lazy ignorants running things -- for whatever reason or excuse. YOU'VE GOT TO KNOW FOR YOURSELF IN EVERYTHING. Even if you're going through a divorce or any secular legal matter, you need to do research because you can't even trust an attorney to do proper research and give you all the assistance that is available to you. I am surviving as a Jehovah's Witness because I know for myself what the Bible and publications say and I don't make it a secret. I'm not obnoxious but no one can pull anything over on me because when one is right, they're right -- especially when you've got the proof there for anyone to see in black and white in their own publications. This organization will not die but someone isn't running it right and it's important to find out who the apostate(s) is and get rid of them. If what they're doing isn't scriptural, then someone is abusing this organization. The result is that the sheep are being abused -- in more ways than one. --Anonymous Until It's Time

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
14:23:44
Comments
To all the new posters here. . . . Welcome. I am Linda Thoman. We are here to help anyone who wants or needs someone to talk to. If there is anything either Jesika or I can do to be of help, please let us know. If you want/need contacts local to you to talk to, let me know. If you would like to be a part of a group who've been through it too, let me know. Don't hesitate to email me or Jesika, my niece. Linthoman@hotmail. com

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
14:23:55
Comments
To all the new posters here. . . . Welcome. I am Linda Thoman. We are here to help anyone who wants or needs someone to talk to. If there is anything either Jesika or I can do to be of help, please let us know. If you want/need contacts local to you to talk to, let me know. If you would like to be a part of a group who've been through it too, let me know. Don't hesitate to email me or Jesika, my niece. Linthoman@hotmail. com

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
16:14:54
Comments
WOW, So much time devoted to this matter. I wonder if anybody would take some time to go preach the word of GOD. If Someone is abused they should go straight to the authorities if they feel they should, nothing wrong with that. I guess the watchtower doesn't have enough to do, that now they have to be district attorneys too, how silly u all are. . . . . . just handle things as u must. People inside the congregation have settled various things using the judicial system, nothing wrong with that, u all just wasting your time.

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
16:28:19
Comments
Your march on 9/27 was a farce. See if it will help you or anything else---it won't!See if it will hurt the JW's---it won't. The are steps ahead of you and a whole lot smarter. I heard you left a lot of litter there at Brooklyn. You relish in the attention of the Media and that IS what's important to you. I was wondering if you were ever going to be disfellowshipped and now finally you are! Jehovah is just! That's what happens to people who cause divisions in the Congregation. The bible tells us that and you, an ex-witness and an ex-elder. ought to know that. Another thing about df'ing. What the AP reported what Anderson said about the Witnesses is a downright lie. He is a liar and if he lied once he will lie again and has lied before. Here is his quote about the JW's. "They will not speak to you," Joe Anderson said. "I mean, if you are lying on the road, they will drive right past you. " He is right about not speaking to him. The bible tells the JW's NOT to speak to those who have caused divisions in the Congregation. The Bible tells us NOT to associate with those who do this and those that are out of the Congregation. But as far as the rest of what he said is like I said before. A downright lie. You and other apostates ignore the Bible and you depend on yourself Bowen to reach your conclusions and so do most of the most one's without many smarts who post and read on here. *bonnielyn 'Father' is not a name. It is a title. So to be sure, God has a name. *bjc. . . you posted a great report. Thanks. DC

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
16:38:02
Comments
http://safetypub. com/meagan. htm *** Megan'sLaw in All 50 States *** On May 17, 1996, the President signed Megan's Law into federal law. As a result, local law enforcement agencies in all 50 states must notify schools, day care centers, and parents about the presence of dangerous offenders in their area. *** By forming partnerships with legislators, law enforcement, the private sector, organizations and concerned citizens, the world that we leave to the children will be safer and more secure than the world we live in today. *** The best source of information on the registered sex offenders in your community is quite often your local sheriff's office or police department. If a state's website does not represent your community, you should check with local law enforcement. *** The number of sex offenders by state as of 10/99: 324,924 *** Alabama -- 2,063 Alaska -- 1,986 Arizona -- 9,800 Arkansas -- 1,688 California -- 82,597 Colorado -- 6,600 Connecticut -- 1,222 Delaware -- 855 Florida -- 13,000 Georgia -- 2,800 Hawaii -- 1,100 Idaho -- 1,550 Illinois -- 11,500 Indiana -- 10,500 Iowa -- 3,000 Kansas -- 1,200 Kentucky -- 1,100 Louisiana -- 4,000 Maine -- 269 Maryland -- 591 Massachusetts -- 8,000 Michigan -- 24,000 Minnesota -- 9,000+ Mississippi -- 1,496 Missouri -- 5,500 Montana -- 2,100 Nebraska -- 800 Nevada -- 5,000 New Hampshire -- 1,784 New Jersey -- 6,000 New Mexico -- 700 New York -- 9,091 North Carolina -- 3,650 North Dakota -- 781 Ohio -- 2,720 Oklahoma -- 3,000 Oregon -- 9,0002 Pennsylvania -- 3,021 Rhode Island -- 250 South Carolina -- 3,370 South Dakota -- 1,000 Tennessee -- 4,000 Texas -- 22,499 Utah -- 4,400 Vermont -- 1,218 Virginia -- 7,480 Washington -- 15,289 West Virginia -- 807 Wisconsin -- 11,000 Wyoming -- 630 *** Sex Offender Registration & Community Notification Internet Access 12/07/99. The best source of information on the registered sex offenders in your community is quite often your local sheriff's office police department. If a Website does not represent your community, you should check with local law enforcement. The following is a list of the most recent updated online information regarding registered sex offenders. Alabama: http://www. gsiweb. net/ Alaska: http://www. dps. state. ak. us/Sorcr/ Arizona: http://www. azsexoffender. com/ Note - (This site does not contain information on all convicted sex offenders! Information is only provided for level 2 or level 3 sex offenders released from jail/prison or sentenced to probation on or after June 1,1996. ) Yuma: http://www. ci. tucson. az. us/police/sort1. htm Arkansas: http://www. acic. org/registration/04-registered_sex_offenders. html (Information Only) California: http://www. sexoffenders. net/ (Not an official State Webpage) Also: Child Molester Hotline Number ~ 900-463-0400 ($10 per call).
Connecticut: http://www. state. ct. us/dps/Sor. htm Delaware: tp://www. state. de. us/dsp/sexoff/index. htm Florida: http://www. fdle. state. fl. us Hollywood PD
http://www. hollywoodfl. org/hpd/sexpred/sexpred. htm Osceola County Sheriff http://www. osceolasheriff. org/sexpred/Default. htm Polk County http://polksheriff. org/wanted/ Royal Palm Beach http://legal. firn. ed/muni/rpalmbch/offenders. html Seminole County http://www. seminolesheriff. org/sex_offenders/sex_offender_register. html Tallahassee PD http://www. state. fl. us/citytlh/tpd/cid/predator. html Georgia: http://www. ganet. org/gbi/sorsch. cgi Atlanta PD
http://atlantapd. org/arrests/arrest. html Columbia County http://www. columbiacountyso. org/offenders. htm DeKalb County http://www. dekalbsheriff. org/regnames3. html Floyd County http://www. romegeorgia. com/Sheriff/sexoffenders. htmlWhitfield County http://www. wcso. com/so_index_page_two. html Idaho: Ada County: http://www. adasheriff. org/sexoffenders. htm Illinois: Cook County, IL: http://www. ccspd. org/sexreg. htm Chicago, IL: http://12. 17. 79. 4/ DuPage County, IL http://www. dupageco. org/sheriff/ Kane County, IL http://www. co. kane. il. us/sao/sexoff/sofind. html Kankakee County IL http://www. keynet. net/%7Epatrol/sexoffender. html Lake County IL: http://www. co. lake. il. us/sheriff/sexoffnd/index. htm McLean County, IL http://www. mclean. gov/sheriff/list. htm St. Clair County, IL: http://www. sheriff. co. st-clair. il. us/sexofd. htm Indiana: http://www. ai. org/cji/html/sexoffender. html Kansas: http://www. ink. org/public/kbi/search. html
Labette County http://www. geocities. com/Heartland/Plains/3524/sex. html Sedgwick County http://www. sedgwick. ks. us/sheriff/index. html Michigan: http://www. mipsor. state. mi. us
Macomb County: http://www. jaye. org/MACPSOR. html Muskegon County: http://www. mlive. com/news/crimes/faces. html Minnesota: St. Paul PD http://www. stpaul. gov/police/sexoff. html New Mexico: http://www. nmsexoffender. com
New York: http://www. parentsformeganslaw. com/ North Carolina: http://sbi. jus. state. nc. us/sor/ Ohio: Greene County: http://www. co. greene. oh. us/sxoffendr. htm Stark County: http://www. sheriff. co. stark. oh. us/pr01. htm University of Akron: http://www. uakron. edu/police/sexoff. htm Oklahoma: Blaine County: http://www. pldi. net/~blaineso/blaine_county_sexual_predator_pa. htm Enid PD: http://www. enid. org/police/registered. htm Oregon:
Benton County: http://www. co. benton. or. us/sheriff/corrections/bccc/sonote/
Yamhill County: http://www. co. yamhill. or. us/correct/ The Sex Offender Network and Oregon's Special Sex Offender Strategies South Carolina: http://www. scattorneygeneral. com/public/registry. html Tennessee: http://www. ticic. state. tn. us/
Texas: http://records. txdps. state. tx. us/dps/default. cfm Balch Springs PD: http://www. bspd. com/public/sexoff. html Collins County: http://www. co. collin. tx. us/sheriff/sxoffen. htm Duncanville PD: http://www. ci. duncanville. tx. us/framespage. htm Garland PD: http://www. ci. garland. tx. us/police/gpdsex. htm Farmers Branch PD: http://www. ci. farmers-branch. tx. us/police/sexoffend/index. htm Virginia: http://sex-offender. vsp. state. va. us/cool-ICE/ Washington: Cowlitz County: http://www. co. cowlitz. wa. us/
Island County: http://www. islandcounty. net/sheriff/sex-map. htm King County: http://www. metrokc. gov/sheriff/sxoffsch. htm Okanogan County: http://okanogancounty. org/Sheriff/soffend. htm Wahkiakum County: http://www. geocities. com/CapitolHill/Lobby/7649/ Renton: http://www. ci. renton. wa. us/police/sexlevl3. htm TriCities: http://www. tri-cityherald. com/sexoffenders/ West Virginia: http://www. wvstatepolice. com Wisconsin:
Madison PD http://offender. doc. state. wi. us/public/ Toll Free Registry Hotline, in English and Spanish 1-800-398-2403 Another good online source of information is:
http://www. wolfenet. com/
~dhillis/sexoffen. htm
Wyoming: http://www. state. wy. us/~ag/dci/so/so_registration. html Converse County http://www. state. wy. us/~ag/dci/so/counties/so_converse. html Fremont County http://www. state. wy. us/~ag/dci/so/counties/so_fremont. html Laramie County http://www. state. wy. us/~ag/dci/so/counties/so_laramie. html Natrona County http://www. state. wy. us/~ag/dci/so/counties/so_natrona. html

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
16:42:31
Comments
I don't get it, did anybody bother to see what the watchtower encourages people to do? obviously not, perhaps u should read watchtower january 1st 1995 page 11. simple explanation: 2 sides to each problem, in the congregation, and outside the congregation. Outside the congregation someone is free to make an accusation against someone if its a brother and take them to court if they see fit, the proper authorities investigate that. now inside the congregation: (now come on guys we all know how this works) just cause u make an accusation that is not enough to punish someone, do you have proof? do u have witnesses? if the person does not confess there are no grounds to punish him, only based on your word, including child abuse. Very simple huh? now are the elders going to tell the whole hall about it? or the authorities? OF course not, innocent un till proven guilty. now do u still want to report that person to the authorities? YES? well its your right, go on have a ball. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
16:47:02
Comments
***********THE MOLE*********Info update. I thought I would return one MORE time just to let you know that the couple who questioned the elders in our hall was removed as apostates. I did get another letter from Brother Franz and he stated that he is saddened over the crisis that he heard only rumors of long ago from some large cities but not the magnitude of what was being addressed on TV. Much of his knowledge are those who were wrongfully accused for questioning the society's reasoning. I on the other hand seen things as I have reported before that was just horrible and swept under the rug. After the Connie Chung report it is clearly evident that the brothers now want to sweep this under the rug also. Basically the subject is being ignored in our hall and anyone who speaks of it is ignored and spoken of as being spiritually weak. The grind stone has crushed and bullied many to remain silent so the matter will just blow away and forgotten. It saddens me that I have no power to control or will it to help those in need. All I can do is advised those current members to be weary and keep an eye open. I meet with several now in our homes to have study and question the things the brothers want us to feel they the have power over us. Reading is power, I shall break the chains of my past and become free. . . . . . . . . *********THE MOLE*********

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
16:54:11
Comments
http://www. paloaltodailynews. com/projs/megan/ *** WHY MEGAN'S LAW DOESN'T WORK *** Law to Protect Children Often Frustrates Parents *** Dec. 19, 2000 © 2000 Palo Alto Daily News *** BY ELAINE GOODMAN AND EMILY RICHMOND DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS *** When Redwood City resident Hamilton Woods heard that a sex offender had moved into his Friendly Acres neighborhood, the father of four decided to find out more about his new neighbor. *** Woods knew the sheriff's department had a statewide listing of sex offenders known as the Megan's Law database. *** But knowing about the list was easier than getting to it. *** To see the list, Woods had to drive to downtown Redwood City during working hours, sign a form saying he was not a sex offender, and wait behind a security window as a sheriff's department employee ran a criminal background check on him and photocopied his driver's license. *** When that was over, Woods was taken to a special booth and given 15 minutes to wade through dozens of names and photos of sex offenders living within his zip code, and attempt to identify his new neighbor from the mug shots. *** To make matters worse, he wasn't allowed to take notes. *** Overwhelmed, Woods gave up on his search. *** "It's useless information unless you have a good memory and hours and hours to sit there," Woods said. *** Megan's Law was intended to give the public better access to information about sex offenders in their midst. But four years after it was passed by the California Legislature, residents don't know the database exists, don't bother to use it or, like Woods, find the system cumbersome and ineffective. *** Even supporters of the system -- including the state attorney general's office -- admit that too few people use the database. *** While state records show 29,000 people viewed the database last year, and an estimated 100,000 have seen it since its inception, that's still only a minute fraction of the state's 34 million residents, according to Mike Van Winkle of the attorney general's office. *** "We acknowledge more people out there could use it," Van Winkle told the Daily News. *** The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office in Redwood City had 213 people show up last year to view the database, or fewer than one each working day. *** Officials in Palo Alto and San Mateo, two cities that allow the public to view the database at the police station, say only a few visitors stop in to view the registry each month. *** Those who have been following the evolution of the database say it isn't doing what it was intended to do. *** "What wasn't taken into consideration was the abject laziness of the population," said Marc Klaas, father of 12-year-old murder victim Polly Klaas and a child safety advocate. "People don't want to go all the way down to the police station to query the CD-ROM. " *** Megan's Law has also been blasted by criminal rights advocates, who say the public database marks offenders with a lifetime "scarlet letter. " *** "I have a lot of sympathy for the people being hounded for the rest of their lives," said Stephen Elrick, a senior trial lawyer with the Santa Clara County Alternate Defender Office. Elrick is representing Franklin Means, a former Burlingame building inspector accused of child molestation. *** "Let's face it, if (police) have got an unsolved sex case, whose cage do you think they're going to start rattling?" Elrick said. *** Meanwhile, the number of registered sex offenders in California has climbed to 87,000, or roughly one in every 180 adult men. *** And just two months ago, an 8-year-old East Palo Alto girl on her way to a Halloween party was snatched off the street by a stranger on a bike who raped and then abandoned her, according to police reports. *** What is Megan's Law? *** Megan's Law is named after Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old New Jersey girl who was raped and murdered in 1994 by a convicted sex offender who moved in across the street without her family knowing. *** The law, which requires local law enforcement agencies to notify communities about potentially dangerous sex offenders in their midst, was signed into federal law by President Clinton in May 1996. *** Before Megan's Law, California has required sex offenders since 1950 to register with police every time they move to a new community. But although police had records on the whereabouts of sex offenders, the information wasn't available to the public. *** Now, every state in the nation has a version of Megan's Law on the books, with varying requirements. Twenty-three states make a sex offender database available to the public on the Internet. Florida's database on the Internet includes sex offenders' home addresses. *** In California, residents must visit a sheriff's office or police station to view the database. There, they can search for sex offenders by name, zip code or birth date. *** California's database includes photos for most offenders, a list of sex offenses they've been charged with, aliases they use and whether they have scars or tattoos. *** While people convicted of nearly any sex crime must register with police, the public can only view information on offenders considered serious or high-risk. A third category, simply called "other," includes those convicted of lesser sex crimes, such as exhibitionism or incest. *** The sex offender registry can also be searched by calling a 900 number set up by the state. It costs $10 to check two names. *** Note-taking prohibited *** Sheriff's departments in every county are required to make the Megan's Law database available to the public, as are cities with population greater than 200,000. *** Palo Alto and Mountain View have opted to provide public access to the database even though they're not required to do so. *** In San Mateo County, the city of San Mateo lets its residents view the registry. *** But residents of smaller cities -- including East Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Burlingame -- are referred to the sheriff's office in Redwood City if they want to view the database. *** That means a trip to downtown Redwood City during working hours, finding a parking space and then passing through an airport-style metal detector to get into the county government center. *** Prospective database viewers must sign a form saying they're not sex offenders themselves. Then they wait behind a security window while a staff member makes a copy of their driver's license and checks their criminal background. *** Then the viewer is led to a special booth with a sliding plastic door that is set up next to the front desk. A glass window into the booth lets the desk clerk on duty keep an eye on the person using the database, and a digital timer placed in the window counts down the 15-minute session. *** If the viewer takes out a pen and paper and starts taking notes, the desk clerk will tell him or her to stop. Under Megan's Law, members of the public who copy or distribute information from the database can be charged with a misdemeanor and spend up to a year in jail. *** And police or sheriff's departments have the discretion to ban note taking or set a time limit, according to Van Winkle of the attorney general's office. Those who visit the attorney general's office to see the database can take notes, Van Winkle said. *** San Mateo residents can view the sex offender database by appointment at the police station on Delaware Street. It usually takes one day to get in to see the records after making the appointment. *** Andrea Lozano, the police department's information services supervisor, sits next to the resident using the database on a computer terminal inside an office, giving tips on searching the records and making sure nothing is written down. *** Law enforcement officials say the many restrictions placed on using the database are so that viewers comply with its intent -- to allow residents to protect themselves and their families from sexual predators. *** The fear is that wider dissemination of the sex offender information -- such as by posting it on the Internet -- would make it easy for sex offenders to network and share strategies, according to the attorney general's Web site. *** Van Winkle said wider distribution of the information could lead to vigilantism. *** For example, East Palo Alto residents who found out a paroled rapist had moved into their neighborhood successfully drove the man away. Jack Manes, who was nicknamed the "doggie door rapist" because he invaded homes through pet doors, asked police to move him out of East Palo Alto in November 1998 after demonstrations erupted outside his home. *** While some say the prospect of visiting the sheriff's office discourages many would-be viewers, Burlingame Police Chief Gary Missel said the trip wouldn't stop parents who are concerned about the safety of their children. *** "It wouldn't be too inconvenient," Missel said. *** And Missel said the database isn't the only way residents can get information about sex offenders. He said residents are welcome to call their local police department to discuss concerns about someone they think might be a sexual predator. *** Some successes *** Megan's Law has scored some successes. *** In a well-publicized incident after California enacted Megan's Law, parents in San Bernardino spotted a longtime Little League coach on the sex offender registry after rumors began circulating that he had a history of child molestation. A sheriff's investigator then began questioning Little Leaguers and found that Norman Watson had been molesting boys for the past eight years. He was ultimately convicted of 39 counts of lewd acts with children and was sentenced to 84 years in prison. *** Nathan Barankin, spokesman for Attorney General Bill Lockyer, admits there's no way of knowing how many sex offenders are stopped from committing new crimes. *** The best evidence Lockyer has that Megan's Law is doing some good is the response from people who view the database at booths set up at state and county fairs, Barankin said. *** Barankin said viewers often see people they know. *** "They're shocked. It came as a surprise," Barankin said. *** Van Winkle, also of the attorney general's office, estimated that one in every seven or eight people who view the database at the fair recognizes someone they know. *** Safety versus privacy *** The crafters of Megan's Law tried to strike a balance between the public's. right to know about sex offenders in. their midst and the offender's right to privacy. *** Users of the public database sign an agreement that the information is to be used only "to protect themselves and their children from sex offenders. " Officials say the ban on taking notes from the database is a further protection of offenders' privacy. *** But some say the law doesn't do enough to protect the rights of people who have already served their sentence. *** "This registration is like wearing the scarlet letter and it has become an instrument of social ostracism," said John Webster, an unsuccessful Libertarian candidate in last month's election for the state Senate seat that represents San Jose and Sunnyvale. Webster was convicted of child pandering in 1990. "There's no way you can go out and be an accepted member of your community once your name is on this list. " *** Webster, a San Jose resident, told the Daily News he answered a personal ad from the "swingers" classified section of a weekly newspaper and began having lengthy telephone conversations with the woman who placed the ad. *** During the conversations Webster mentioned that he had wished his own parents had been more open with him about sex and that if he ever met the woman he would consider letting her "educate" his own son, Webster said. The "woman" turned out to be a San Jose police officer and Webster was arrested. *** The "offer" of his son was nothing more than a continuation of the telephone fantasy, Webster said. And since his ex-wife has custody of his two children and Webster is only allowed supervised visits, such a meeting with the woman from the personal ad would be impossible, he said. *** Despite this, Webster pleaded no contest to the charge of child pandering in exchange for a promise that he wouldn't have to register as a sex offender. But six years later, when Megan's Law was passed in California, Webster was informed that he would have to register after all. Webster refused and took the case to court. After his former public defender testified that the deal had indeed been struck, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge John Ball ruled that Webster would be exempt from registering. *** Vigilante fears *** Just as criminals are sentenced to prison for specific amounts of time, Webster said there should be an expiration date to an offender's listing on the Megan's Law database depending on the crime. *** "There has to be some kind of recourse for second chances," Webster said. "Otherwise you're essentially destroying people's lives, and I don't see what that has to do with protecting kids. " *** It's an argument that's been the rallying point of the American Civil Liberties Union's opposition to Megan's Law -- the illegality of double jeopardy, or punishing someone twice for the same crime. *** And the ACLU argues the database encourages vigilantism. *** Elizabeth Schroeder, an attorney and director of the ACLU of Southern California, has questioned whether the purpose of the notification laws are to let the public "vent its anger at sex offenders, like a stoning in the Bible. " The ACLU says it's against notification laws because it won't prevent sex offenders from committing new crimes and rehabilitated former offenders have no chance at a fresh start. *** Law enforcement officials argue that sex offenders are extremely likely to commit the same offenses again, and so extra safeguards are needed. *** "They have a real poor record of rehabilitation," said Burlingame Police Chief Gary Missel. *** But Missel acknowledged the public database would be "one heck of a hindrance" for an offender who is truly trying to reform. *** Dr. Douglas Tucker, a forensic psychiatrist who evaluates sex offenders for the state prison system to see if they're fit for release, said Megan's Law is "useless. " *** When people find out there's a sex offender in the neighborhood, the usual response is suspicion and prejudice, Tucker said. *** "That just makes it more difficult for the offender to develop healthy relationships and forces them to remain in a deviant lifestyle," said Tucker, also an assistant professor at the University of California, San Francisco. *** When people check the list and don't find any offenders in their neighborhood they get a false sense of security, Tucker said. *** "There's a far greater number of sex offenders who are out there than just the names on the database," Tucker said. "Some people are never caught, and they're out there just the same. " *** List unknown to many *** A major factor working against the Megan's Law database is that many people don't know it exists. *** A Peninsula father whose son was molested by Robert Hunter Wilson of Menlo Park told the Daily News he didn't know about the public database before his son was attacked. *** "Megan's Law could be a valuable resource, but I don't think enough people know about it," the father said. "I certainly regret not going and checking it out when Wilson first came into our lives. " *** Wilson, an attorney who has resigned from the state bar, was fired from his job as a prosecutor in Sacramento County after he molested two boys in 1979. He spent a year in a locked mental ward -- then the standard punishment for child molesters. *** In 1991, he was prosecuted by San Mateo County District Attorney Jim Fox for failing to register as a sex offender. Fox discovered the lapse when Wilson was defending several men charged with importing children for sex. While Wilson was acquitted of the charge, Fox called it "ludicrous" that Wilson wouldn't have known he was required to register. *** Mike Piha, president of the Palo Alto Little League and Palo Alto Knights junior football program, said he didn't know the Megan's Law database was available at the police station. Most of the people who volunteer with the two sports leagues are parents of players, Piha said. The other volunteers must provide three references which are checked, Piha said. *** When a parent suggested last year that more thorough background checks be performed, other parents balked, Piha said. *** "Some people saw it as an invasion of privacy," Piha told the Daily News. *** Weaknesses in Law *** Another hole in the Megan's Law system is that only those who have been convicted of a serious sex crime are listed. Many molestation cases involve perpetrators with no sex crimes on their criminal records. *** Richard Allen Davis, the convicted killer of Polly Klaas, had no prior convictions for sex offenses and wouldn't have been on the public database had it been available when the girl was kidnapped from her Petaluma home in 1993, according to her father. *** Marc Klaas said that although Davis had been charged with a previous sex crime, the charge was dropped as part of a plea bargain. *** But listing people suspected of committing sex crimes on the database -- rather than only convicted offenders -- would face staunch opposition from civil libertarians. *** Davis was also a drifter, and may have been hard to find on the database if someone checked by zip code, which is the only location given for offenders. Sex offenders are required to reregister with police when they move, but some may not comply. *** It's not uncommon for sex offenders to move frequently -- in part to avoid harassment, said Santa Clara County Sheriff's Sgt. Bob Schiller of the county's Megan's Law enforcement division. There are also sex offenders who are transients and must reregister every 90 days, Schiller said. *** The database is updated monthly and therefore doesn't show changes of address that have occurred more recently. *** "The database may say John Smith lives at 123 Main St. , but it turns out John Smith moved out a month ago and we have no idea where he is," Schiller said. *** Palo Alto police Detective Jean Bready said she knows several sex offenders who register in Palo Alto during the summer and spring months but go to Sunnyvale in the winter when the National Guard Armory shelter opens. *** What about the Internet? *** As an increasing number of states post their sex offender databases on the Internet, a debate is brewing over whether California should do the same. *** Officials are leery of going online with the database, fearing the law will then get knocked down in court by privacy advocates. So far, California's version of Megan's Law has withstood court challenges. *** And the attorney general's office claims that an Internet listing would make it too easy for sex offenders to network with one another. *** James Sibley, a prosecutor with the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Sexual Assault Unit, said sex offenders do seek each other out. *** "There's no question pedophiles are using the Internet to find each other and share ideas," Sibley said. "For them, it normalizes their behavior when they can find someone else who's doing the same things. " *** Pedophiles will use chat rooms and Web sites to direct each other to park locations, give names of social service agencies looking for "big brothers" and even direct each other to the nearest video arcades and shopping malls, Sibley said. *** But State Sen. Jackie Speier, who was one of the co-authors of Megan's Law when she was in the state Assembly in 1996, said the pluses of moving the database to the Internet outweigh the minuses. *** "Information should be made available to the public with the least effort required," Speier said. "Otherwise it's not truly public disclosure. " *** Some police departments are posting maps on their Web sites that show the general location where sex offenders are residing. Palo Alto posts such a map, as does Pleasanton. *** Palo Alto shows where sex offenders live by marking the map with house symbols. Most of the sites are in south Palo Alto, with. the exception of a residential hotel and a low-income apartment complex in the downtown area. *** Attorney General Lockyer hasn't taken a position on posting the sex offender registry on the Internet. "What the Attorney General supports is making this information much more accessible to the public," said Barankin, Lockyer's spokesman. *** But Hamilton Woods, the Redwood City resident who couldn't find out if he had a neighbor who is a sex criminal, has no doubt that access to the Megan's Law database needs to be expanded. *** "There's only one computer in the whole city," Woods said. "That's not really giving people access to the information. "

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
16:55:37
Comments
Please go to http://www. google. com and type in Meagan's Law for the search. A lot of information comes up here.

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
17:50:45
Comments
AP: BILL BOWEN LAUNCHES NEW WEB SITE! Bill Bowen, administrator of the silentlambs. org web site devoted to JW abuse issues has just launched a new web site for JW's and EX-JW's - you can find it at www. silentmasterbaters. org. Bill Bowen said today: "lambs, there is no need to struggle with your masturbation problem alone! Now you can talk to other masturbators on the all-new guest book". In related news, Bill Bowen also revealed today that he is gay. [APNEWS] Masturbation? Bills gay? Dammit, who let the 8th graders in again! Geez, you guys are sooooo cool, you really got us this time! I guess being gay and/or masturbating really is worse than raping babies! Wow. Hooray for people like you. If your over 15, I really, really feel bad for you. Did you get your ass kicked on a regular basis in high school? Does your daddy not love you? WAYYYYYY to much time on your hands. Shouldn't you be out in service or something? Go volunteer at a suicide hotline or a rape crisis center, perhaps a domestic violence house. Oh, wait, I forgot, witnesses just do enough by handing out literature. We know who you are, & your quotes here will be reported to the elders! Then you'll really have some time on your hands. (<---- masturbator)

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
18:12:57
Comments
HaHAHAHAHAHAHA you apostate wankers your march sucked and you only proved you're a bunch of gays and prostitutes. Are you happy? Are you proud now you've started your own cult under the leadership of your grand "masturbator", Bill B. ? Gather 'round to take the milk from flaccid Bill B. ! Gather all the lambs to the great circle-jerk!

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
19:05:07
Comments
Re: I don't get it, . …. . Okay, I'll explain IT to you. Question: Why should ALL acts of sexual abuse by reported to the authorities? (Regardless of the abuser DENYING the charge, regardless of having only one witness: the VICTIM, regardless of the elders opinion of guilt or innocence) …… Okay follow along; we are going to talk about Federal Rules of Evidence admitted in criminal prosecution. Evidence of Other Acts of Sexual Assault or Molestation by Perpetrator IS Admissible for any Relevant Purpose under New Federal Rules. Evidence of other sexual offenses may be admitted regardless of whether the charge or accusation led to a conviction. (Rules 413, 414 and 415 of the Federal Rules of Evidence) WHY is this law important? ) In support of the new rules, advocates argued that a history of similar acts in child molestation cases, for example, tends to be probative because it demonstrates an unusual disposition that does not exist in ordinary people. In addition, the difficulties proving cases of child sexual abuse were cited to Congress . . . . . . . So do you get it now? Child abusers molest again and again and again in the congregation or in the neighborhood. If the first victim does NOT report the crime then the molester may not be convicted if charged with a second offense. Very simple you say? Yes, very simple to apply Watchtowers rules if you are protecting Pedophiles rather than Children.

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
19:20:26
Comments
To HaHAHAHAHAHAHAHA -- I'm not agreeing anyone here is a prostitute. You demonstrate a total lack of compassion and understanding for humans -- their mental and emotional needs. Being a victim doesn't make one stupid or immoral and certainly doesn't warrant their being called derogatory names! -- What would you call Rahab, the PROSTITUTE that became an ancestress of Jesus Christ, himself. Apparently, Jehovah God doesn't ridicule prostitutes, so why would you?

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
19:38:42
Comments
FIRST, the ELDERS have NO BUSINESS knowing anything about anyone IF MATT. 5 OR MATT. 18 hasn't been followed with the right spirit and intentions. If MATT. 5 or 18 has been correctly followed, then one needs to take 2 or 3 witnesses with them to establish the matter. These witnesses, according to the society's own publications, DO NOT HAVE TO BE ELDERS. They should be people FAMILIAR WITH THE PROBLEM. NOW, we have a difficulty. HOW CAN ONE BRING 2 OR 3 WITNESSES FAMILIAR WITH THE PROBLEM if they DON'T KNOW ANYONE that KNOWS ABOUT THE PROBLEM (especially in the matter of CHILD ABUSE)? To me, it means that a parent or parents of another or other abused children should be coming with the one that approached an "offender" and wasn't successful between them alone and confidentially. If elders get involved as witnesses and a person denies the allegations, it is my opinion that EVEN INSIDE THE CONGREGATION, they should make a covert investigation. I don't think investigations should be left up to the secular authorities only. Besides that, since it appears that the elders ALREADY KNOW that one or another is a child molester, they have MOUNTING EVIDENCE that that person is a problem and a danger to the others in the congregation. That cannot be treated as here say or insufficient evidence. Of course, if an elder or elders themselves are responsible for child abuse, you wouldn't expect them to make a big to do about child molestation, would you? Of course not. They'd poo-poo it and minimize it to seem as though it's not as bad as it seems. My bible training taught me to reason situations out. How would you like to be treated as though your mind and heart don't matter? So, to the paralyzed minds that are posting such idiotic ridiculing of the victims, get a brain that lets you reason on matters.

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
19:41:56
Comments
Hah hah hah Mole is gonna dig himself a hole. Kiddin' Mole. One other reason Bill Bowen is doing this so called service to the world besides grabbing media attention is because----------he LOVES to hug and get all the attention from the girls who supposedly were abused. Yup, he loves those hugs!!

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
20:00:34
Comments
To the IDIOT that continues to post SLANDEROUS remarks about Bill and who pretends that he is posting AP news articles: I have a question. Do you realize that your IP address is recorded with each post you make? Do you know that your identify is not actually hidden? Slander is a civil offense. Do you think your host provider would be interested that their customer vilifies a Sexual Abuse Victim's Support Website? How do you intend to protest your innocence: Will you explain you slandered the victims because you didn't think they were obedient to the elders? Idiot!!

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
20:09:21
Comments
CAN ANYONE SHARE WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE "MARCH" ON 9/27? THANK YOU . . . . FRED

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
20:12:50
Comments
Hi, i have been dealing with a sexual abuse case with the witnesses over the last 14 months and i don't go anymore as a result of nothing being done about the abuser. i was wandering if anyone knows: Is New Zealand one of the NON-REPORTING STATES? I REALLY NEED TO KNOW. THANX SW (N. Z)

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
20:39:08
Comments
Bill Bowden loves his work. He really loves those hugs and attention from the supposedly abused girls. Hey Bill----why don't you work for the Protestants? They are the top sexual abusers of all. It's a fact. Read about it!

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
20:43:50
Comments
Hey HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA That's exactly what we say when one of you people present your outdated 1914, this generation will not pass, just around the corner, canned presentations. People are more informed in these times and all the Watchtower failures spring up in our minds when you are mentioned. The Organization is experiencing zero or negative growth in developed countries, because people know better. Better send people where "the need is great"(countries where no one knows your background). Then you may be able to buy another 120 years till they catch up to you too.

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
20:56:37
Comments
" Millions now living will never die". That was another one of the big Watchtower predictions from 1925. What a joke this religion has turned out to be. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
21:28:39
Comments
To the slanderous idiot, any "christian" religion that is not catholicism, is by definition protestant, THE JW'S ARE PROTESTANTS.

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
21:49:07
Comments
This is so sad. I really feel for the people who have been so devastated by these issues. The Bullies will get their fill of picking on the weaker ones and that shows their character. I know the value of arguing. ATTACK always ATTACK this takes away the others power. So they think. All power belongs to you the individual, all power, "yours and theirs". That is why if you are a victim of these crimes, even right now, and you have anyone, ANYONE, who tells you that you are to be silent or to wait is a fool and has nothing to do with God or the spirit of Christ. You must come forward; If you do not then others will suffer as you suffer. You will find that there are people all around you that will help you, I know that. As more people awaken and understand that ALL that these people have is the perception of power over you. For so long women have been led to believe that they are nothing with out their husbands. Regardless of how piggish he may be. It is a part of the "Big Lie. " Being a husband is a privilege not a birth right. A wife is not an indentured servant or a slave of a man. The so called "secular laws" are in place to protect all of us and thank God they are, because just think of life with the Governing Body as the law of the land. That is scary. There will be so many news reports as people come forward. You the victim have the key. You have the power. You have the choice. I will support you, and so will others. That does not mean to abandon your faith. Your faith is not (or should not) be in a building, or in any man. Your faith is in God though Jesus Christ. That does not = the Governing Body. It just does not! WAIT? At the expense of our children? NO! We must stand together. I want to believe that the things that I do today will make for the better world of a child 100 years from now. Many believe that there will not be 100 years. But there just might be. As there was 100 years. "Pray to God but row to shore. " You would not get very far if you just "waited on Jehovah." How would Tom Hanks faired it he had just waited in Cast Away? He did not and this is no different. If you are called a liar for telling the truth but later say that what you said was not true then what are you? Were you a liar or were you turned into one? I want to be one in Christ but not at the expense of everyone around me. I would rather be labeled"apostate" by a man than to answer why I could have protected children and helped victims but instead I was worried about image on Judgment Day. -Jayson (The talking ape)

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
22:02:57
Comments
Since the so-called FDS is composed of supposed "spirit-anointed" persons, what is going to happen in the next decade or so when they are all dead? I'm not a JW, but from what I understand, there are only about 8000 or so of these folks still around, so how will the FDS dispense it's so-called "food" once they are all gone. Do you think the borg will just drop the teaching (sort of like the 1914 "generation") and hope the rest of their followers don't notice the doctrinal change? After all, we all KNOW that eventually the rest of the anointed are going to die and Armageddon will not have arrived. As a wise person once said, "Time is always the greatest enemy of a false prophet". Lawrence P. S. Congrats to the courageous marchers. You have definitely exposed the dirty linen of the GB and their mind-numbed "theocratic" followers! I'm enjoying turning the tables on the JWs I meet on the street or at my door.

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
22:03:15
Comments
Since the so-called FDS is composed of supposed "spirit-anointed" persons, what is going to happen in the next decade or so when they are all dead? I'm not a JW, but from what I understand, there are only about 8000 or so of these folks still around, so how will the FDS dispense it's so-called "food" once they are all gone. Do you think the borg will just drop the teaching (sort of like the 1914 "generation") and hope the rest of their followers don't notice the doctrinal change? After all, we all KNOW that eventually the rest of the anointed are going to die and Armageddon will not have arrived. As a wise person once said, "Time is always the greatest enemy of a false prophet". Lawrence P. S. Congrats to the courageous marchers. You have definitely exposed the dirty linen of the GB and their mind-numbed "theocratic" followers! I'm enjoying turning the tables on the JWs I meet on the street or at my door.

Remote User:

Date:
01 Oct 2002
Time:
23:47:13
Comments
HaHAHAHAHAHAHA you apostate wankers your march sucked and you only proved you're a bunch of gays and prostitutes. Are you happy? Are you proud now you've started your own cult under the leadership of your grand "masturbator", Bill B. ? Gather 'round to take the milk from flaccid Bill B. ! Gather all the lambs to the great circle-jerk!

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
00:05:31
Comments
To the person who said "You demonstrate a total lack of compassion and understanding for humans -- their mental and emotional needs. " I am laughing at Bill B. and his limp-dicked followers. Like you, I'm not associated with JW's any more, but I think your attitude sucks. Just move on, GET A LIFE GROW A BRAIN GROW UP. Bill B. is in it for the attention, so he creates his own lil' "cult" following, at least 50% of the people involved have nothing to do with being abused, but found out about this and said "Whoopee!! Now I can jump on the bandwagon and proclaim my irrational hatred for JW's!". John (the "spelling retard") being a case in point. Anyone who rubs shoulders with these kind of venomous snakes who make it their life's work to spread lies and hate do not fit my definition of victims. Nobody who posts here can claim to be "innocent". Any so-called victim who thinks he or she will find love and acceptance amongst Bill B. and his cronies is warped and completely mistaken. The same kind of twisted people that make up lies to accuse elders or say "I was raped at bethel" I'm not in denial, it goes on. But people who tune in to this web site are seeing an overblown, unrealistic picture. The apostates LOVE it. YEAH! Negative propaganda against the witnesses! Satan laughs with delight. HaHAHAHAHAHA

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
04:44:48
Comments
The person that signs HAHAHAHA is a probably a JW elder loser who leads a double life(surprise,surprise)Not that uncommon.

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
06:55:47
Comments
Hey Jayson the talking ape. Your little speech was so compelling. Wow! What graceful, articulate and well arranged words. It should go down in annals of history as one of the greatest stories ever told. You and Martin Luther King Jr must have the same blood line or something. And to the one who is trying to scare the AP poster with all that crap about IP addresses. There is nothing illegal about obvious parodies. You need to take a look at the law or get you a better legal encyclopedia. That is no more slander than what this site says and claims about JW's and their teachings. Take a look back through some of the posts and you will see all the kind comments about JW's. Is that slander or is it matter of opinion? That is the difference you big nameless jerk (oh did I slander you? Sorry) So AP poster you just keep on posting if you want. There is nothing that can legally be done by a cowardly nameless poster or this site unless they want a lawsuit themselves. We have as much right to express opinion as anyone else. The problem is that it scares some in here who would like to keep the party to themselves so they can wallow in each others mire rather than look at other points of view. Your threats are no different than the so called threats and intimidation you say JW's dish out to dissenters. Hypocrite! Again I ask all objective observers, Who's better than who? RJ

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
08:47:56
Comments
To the legal expert that keeps posting here, there is NOT any slander at this web site. Slander is when one or others talk to people other than the person they're talking about and they say or repeat derogatory talk about the non-present person or persons. Slander is face-to-face VERBAL abuse. It is LIBEL when you vilify or publish derogatory talk about another or others. That's when the bad talk is put in writing. You need to check your legal encyclopedia. By the way, there is software that can record each visitors address and capture their E-mail address if it's not already a capability within the system one is using. There is so much ignorance posted here about everything and everyone, including the Watchtower organization. Yet, such ones talk as though they're authorities on the subject. Also HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, what's wrong with wanting hugs and kisses? Affection is a natural demonstration of liking, respect and appreciation. Regular people like expressing and receiving it. What is the matter -- didn't anyone ever hug and kiss you without sexual overtones?!?!?! Poor baby in an adult's body.

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
08:53:14
Comments
March pictures can be view here
> http://www. jehovahs-witness. com/forum/thread. aspx?id=37652&site=3

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
08:58:50
Comments

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
09:13:59
Comments
What you say on your website is so true. I used to be a JW years ago, my aunt , uncle, cousin and his wife recently have left. I am so glad for them. This is more of a cult than religion. They have to much control on peoples life. I am so glad to be out of it. Your website is fantastic and you hit the nail on the head. I heard there was a protest march in front of the watchtower headquarters but it was not televised, Why wasn't it? If you know please advise. Thanks. ginny@pivot. net

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
09:33:44
Comments
NEW ZEALAND CHILD ABUSE LINKS: http://www. geocities. com/peterzohrab/ischlabu. html and http://library. canterbury. ac. nz/web/ref/justicestat. shtml -- FOR MORE INFORMATION GO TO http://www. google. com and type child abuse in New Zealand in the "Search" rectangle and then press "Enter". I didn't notice anything about reporting. Perhaps you will find information that is helpful to you through these links.

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
09:37:05
Comments
CHRIST CHURCH, NEW ZEALAND, RITUAL ABUSE CASES -- http://www. religioustolerance. org/ra_newze. htm

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
09:38:48
Comments
GENES, CHILD ABUSE AND VIOLENCE IN NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA -- http://www. abc. net. au/health/minutes/stories/s641516. htm

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
10:05:34
Comments
Hi I hear the March on the WT headquarters was successful. Congratulations to the organizers and those that attended. I am sure you had lots of fun. I am sorry for not being with you. Mr. Lawrence Hughes is looking for those that are hurting because of Jeh. Witnesses. He is organizing a GLOBAL CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT against the Governing Body of the WT in Brooklyn New York. All interested parties call him for information so you can register for compensation. Here is his email. LawrenceH@cpgroup. com Even those qualify that were never members of this Cult but were somehow connected so there was emotional or other damage done to them. Let's have more FUN with the Watchtower "god's gift to mankind". rmk. RMK

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
10:06:35
Comments
to ginny@pivot. net There was no televised footage of the march because nobody gave a hoot. The JW organization works hard to help those in need and the world in general knows that and view JW's as no more a serious threat than the mennonites, catholics, protestants or any other religious group. They had more important news to broadcast other than 100 people or so spouting out hot air. Thus no one really gave a hoot.

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
10:26:43
Comments
Jayson, Thank you for the profound wisdom. I especially liked the "Pray to God but row to shore". We can not sit back and do nothing and expect God to bless us for the "nothing" I have recently been silenced by the congregation. My DA announcement was on Tuesday Sept 24. But even those of us who have been cut off from communication with the former "friends" can have a voice. And like you I would rather be branded an apostate by man than be found wanting by God. Jah's opinion of me is what counts. **** Mole, My family has begun having a serious Bible search lately too. We are not using the prescribed study formula of the WTS. We are digging into various subjects using every source we can until we come to an understanding. Amazing what we find. *** I have been out of touch lately. Sorry if I caused anyone concern. I still visit this site and enjoy reading everyone's thoughts. (even the sad rantings of the seriously disturbed)(they deserve our kindness since their minds have been twisted and distorted by years of mental abuse by the WTS) *** I still love Ya'll, Loris

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
10:43:39
Comments
RMK give me a break! A global class action lawsuit against the GB what a laugh! Why don't you just get on with your life? If this Mr hughes has nothing better to do than organize a global class action lawsuit against the GB then he too needs to get a life. It will never get the momentum to even get on the docket. I'm sorry for anyone that has ever gotten hurt but is brooding over it for the rest of your lives going to give you peace and closure? You have already removed yourself from the JW organization why don't you just move on now? That's what I am doing and it has worked for me. I don't even want to go through all the bad memories again. Sorry if I sound harsh but I just think it's futile. Leave it in God's hands just as you leave your salvation in his hands by the choices you make.

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
10:51:44
Comments
It seems the protest was quite a success. The most direct evidence here is the vitriol it elicited from the JW defenders. Not one word assailing the value of the issues. What I read is a boat load of unreasoned, childish name calling and attacks on the messenger. Excellent job! One point I have been considering: I think the JW defenders are laying bare one of their most significant weaknesses, namely their lack of education. It is weak minded to address an issue by name calling and attacking the messenger. But they do it because it is an approach that they hear constantly in their five-times-weekly indoctrination sessions. I firmly believe they are sincere. If they would learn to think for themselves, they would be willing to work through the issues. Again, nice job folks. - Buster

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
11:07:35
Comments
Mary had a little lamb, its pee was yellow in the snow. A circuit overseer saw how "unclean" the snow was, and asked an elder to oversee its removal. The elder, being lazy as elders are, used a commanding, authoritative voice when commanding the ministerial servant to clean it up. The bashful, humble, sick MS had someone he molested clean it up. See how piss and shit work flow downhill??

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
11:25:38
Comments
And Buster does the above Mary had little lamb story comes show that the SL supporters are more educated? Man that was about as childish as anything I've seen posted on here. Even the AP poster who is undoubtedly ignorant cannot be compared to that little bit of literary genius. That just shows that ignorance comes in all forms of life. Don't go bad mouthing some of the JW's who have come in here for being uneducated in your opinion when it clear that some of the SL supporters are just as ignorant if not more so. Case in point above!

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
11:34:42
Comments
The Jehovah Religion has disrupted my family. My sister is active in the jehovah religion and my family is very upset with this. You cannot talk to her about religion or god as she believes that we are all wrong and that jehovah is right. This is very sad for our family as we are loosing her as a family member. mayngo@aol. com

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
12:03:48
Comments
Sorry to say I will not be posting here until there is a way of registering with ID# and password if I wanted to be further abused by WT pedophiles I would go to the KH and use the rest room RJ you are a pile of steaming pucky, I will be on Jehovahs-witnesses . com were there is a little more structure to the site, I have not noticed this sort of abuse going on there, sorry I will be back when there are sanctions of some sort removing these abusive pedophiles from the WT from entering the site. . . NP

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
12:29:55
Comments
NP *** DITTO *** There has to be more order and less chaos here. The lambs are going to shrink back into silence. ABUSE MUST STOP. Here would be a good place to start

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
13:02:27
Comments
To the better legal expert. You are correct. The remarks are SLANDEROUS however, the legal charge is LIBEL. . . . SLANDER - A false defamation (expressed in spoken words, signs, or gestures) which injures the character or reputation of the person defamed; distinguished from libel. The defaming a man in his reputation by speaking or writing words which affect his life, office, or trade, etc. Falsity and malice are ingredients of slander. Written or printed slanders are LIBELS. . Each guestbook users IP address should be captured along with the time of the entry. Also IP addresses can be blocked by the website host or a complain can be made to the guestbook abusers service provider. Most providers do not care about TROLLS on a forum but libel and harassment of victims on a support site could be a different issue. Basically I think the child using the computer should be aware that there can be consequences.

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
14:09:08
Comments
And you still have not told me how the words and statements on this site both by Bill Bowen and numerous posters to the guestbook and marches made on the WT with signs is not slander or libel. They are not slanderous or libel they are simply opinions. Facts have to be presented to prove something. That is why a class action lawsuit would fail and that's why the other lawsuits have failed. The problem is that you guys don't like dissenting views. You like to be in your own little paradise and tell your stories to make each other feel better. You can't take the heat that you yourselves began to dish out the moment you started call all JW's pedophiles and calling for the destruction of the WT society. So go over to JW. com because there they only let in your kind. The reason there is "structure" is because the minute someone registers with a dissenting view he is booted after a few posts. This keeps you all in your little paradise without having to listen to us. Then you can bash and poke fun at JW's and doctrine without interference which is how most cowards like it. Yes IP addresses can be logged and yes the administrator of this site could block one. But there will be no lawsuit over freedom of speech. It has been struck down more times than Clinton said "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, miss Lewinsky" What do you think keeps Jay Leno and Letterman in business? It is called freedom of speech! They have made many JW puns and jokes. Yet they are not sued by JW's. It's called freedom of speech! Why do you think all the other JW sites are online? Do they have nice things to say about JW's. No they are full of dissenting views and insinuations, even GB names are used and blasphemed. It's called freedom of speech my friends. The worst thing that can happen is an IP address is blocked and then there are public libraries, cyber cafes, and other computers for rent. You will not be able to stop opposing views so get used to it legal genius! RJ

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
15:59:58
Comments
RJ: The slander remarks was not in reference to dissenting opinions but was in regard to the false AP reports and the false website listed as owned by Bill, calling Bill a homosexual and insinuating that he was a child molester. Those type comments are not opinions they are libelous statements. You constantly complain that JW's are not treated fairly on this site, therefore, you surely must agree that this type of conduct should be taboo.

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
16:21:23
Comments
What is an FDS?

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
16:47:57
Comments
RJ: The trouble is we already know your views are the same as the WTS and that your attitude is one of hatefulness towards anyone who opposes your "view. " WTS keeps people "silent" within the organization and then yells for free speech in public. There is no "free speech" within the organization unless it is agreeable to the WTS. You come here to exercise this free speech that the "society" forbids you at the KH and amongst the "friends. " Would you print all your posts and proudly present them to the District Overseer and know that he would approve of the way you love your enemies?***** You come here to let it all hang out in a way you could never ever speak openly with your congregation. JW's idea of free speech is oppressive and that is exactly what you try to do here. You intimidate and try to oppress free speech of others and then when someone wants to stop you - you yell free speech. Your right to "free speech" has to be done responsibly with the rights of other's free speech not infringed upon. But you don't know the meaning of "free speech" or the responsibility that goes with it. You don't hear, you don't respect that this is our place here - not yours. You have a right to disagree respectfully - but you do it oppressively like you have been taught at the KH. We left because of the oppressive atmosphere - to the extent that they would intimidate and oppress a child who has been raped or molested. The whole show is based on oppressiveness and now you want to come here and intimidate people into more oppressiveness with mockery and ridicule. If they have to shut you out because they can't shut you up - well, deary this is exactly what they do at the KH! Do you GET IT? I know you don't approve of Bill and Silentlambs - but why do you come here? Tell us once and get on with your life, right??? Get over it. You don't see the grave concerns, we accept that you don't. Now accept we are not going to accept your "grave concerns" and you just need to get over it. **************RJ, I don't think any of us hates you - but you do the hypocrite thing and you don't realize what a hypocrite you are being because you believe so sincerely that the WTS is holy, that we are nothing but a bunch of goats that can't get over it and are condemned to be destroyed. ********Another time I will give you my take on the 1st Amendment "rights" and how they have been twisted to allow child porn and how the 1st Amendment has lost the original meaning and purpose of the original intention. **********I truly believe in God's Kingdom as the ultimate solution to all mankind's problems. Out of the love for Jehovah we all need to show the love that Jesus commanded. ****************Balancing Act in Progress

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
17:42:58
Comments
Nameless. I do not need your advise regarding life. My mission in life is precisely what you want me stop doing. There is a high moral issue here. The existence of the WT a secretive Society that is enslaving unsuspecting destroying physical spiritual and economical life of it's members must be opposed. There is nothing more noble than to become a helper in liberating our loved ones from the the clutches of the Borg in Brooklyn. The prognosis of a successful GLOBAL LAW SUIT against the GB is realistically great provided there is sufficient number of individuals that are willing to participate. The participation will be basically free for all because the case will be conducted on Contingency principal. I personally refuse to forgive the WT anything because their tyranny continues. Please give my regards to your friends in the GB and tell them what is coming to them. I suggest that you stop mentoring. Your position here is clearly to promote the GB. Again here is the address for Mr. Hughes. LawrenceH@cpgroup. com rmk

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
17:52:51
Comments
Lois-I have not seen a E-address so I want to say that I hope you are happy right now. I hope that you have found friends here. I hope you have a support network IRL. We love you I want you to know that. You are not alone-All lambs

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
18:14:17
Comments
More proof that silent lambs are a bunch of "masturbators"! To the idiot who suggested that what I'm saying is slander or libel, that's what this whole site is based on. False numbers suggesting 23,720 abuse cases on file. Suggestions that there are at least 2 molesters per cong. A person saying he was "abused at Bethel". Get real. And suggesting this is any kind of "victims support website" - this is no different to any other apostate or hate site. There are privacy laws and free speech laws that basically mean I can post just about anything I want here. How ironic. Bill B. and the rest of you can keep tugging all you like, and I'll keep laughing. HaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
18:44:58
Comments
AP: BILL BOWEN ARRESTED! Bill Bowen, administrator of the silentlambs web site is in police custody tonight after being caught doing unspeakable things to stuffed toys. A staff member at silent lambs said "I couldn't believe it. I walked into the store-room and there he was, naked from the waste down, indulging in some weird sexual fetish! It was then I realized why all the lambs had large holes in the back of them!" The stuffed toys, which are sold by the hundreds, were analyzed and found to contain traces of Bill's masturbatory emissions. The "abused lambs" were too traumatized to make any comments today. AP.

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
19:07:08
Comments
Actually you are wrong about both the privacy issue and free speech comments. Legal Definition of LIBEL - Published material meeting three conditions: The material is defamatory either on its face or indirectly; The defamatory statement is about someone who is identifiable to one or more persons; and, The material must be distributed to someone other than the offended party; i. e. published; distinguished from slander. Criminal Law. A malicious defamation expressed either in printing or writing with intent to provoke the living; or the reputation of one who is alive and to expose him to public hatred, contempt or ridicule. It has been defined perhaps with more precision to be a censorious or ridiculous writing, picture or sign, made with a malicious or mischievous intent. The writer of a libel is liable to be punished criminally by indictment or is subject to an action on the case by the party grieved. Both remedies may be pursued at the same time.

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
19:17:21
Comments
I have rarely talked to ANYBODY who left a mainline church that was treated with the aversion and hatred that ex-members of the JWs, Mormons, Churches of Christ International, and certain other cultic groups are treated. Shunning is an awful, anti-Christian, method of controlling members who have not got the courage to leave such groups yet. I have seen much love in action from many Christians in the churches (which, according to the WT liars, were to be destroyed in 1918) who feed the poor, clothe the naked, build apts. for senior citizens, hospitals, etc. What an awful place most cities would be if the churches shut down tomorrow. But if every Kingdom Hall were to close, most neighborhoods would not be any worse off. The "works of Christ" are evident to the needy. that's why when people need material help, they avoid Kingdom Halls at all costs. After all, an Awake!(ZZZZZZZZZZZ. . . ) or a Watchtower has never put food in the stomachs of the hungry. But many churches have. I believe that the Lord of the Universe takes notice of this, and no amount of "bible-based" reasoning will ever excuse the WT. Oh, by the way, JR, in a previous post you accused others of "blaspheming" the Governing Body. In case you are not aware (and you probably aren't) only a deity can be blasphemed! And those old geezers are NOT God, although some of them are pretty ancient! Silent lambs, continue to comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable!

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
19:35:50
Comments

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
20:31:33
Comments
ha ha thank you ; no name, rj , mary jane,,,your comments. are helping all here go to a wacktower comic book study and come in our pants. . . how's that spelling . make up your mind are you a member of the wacktower or not. . one second the wacktower is your god , 2 seconds later it's not. . . sounds like you have turning disease. . . your posts are perfect ,, it lets all non jw's know how the wacktower mind control works. . i'm sure you are winning over a lot of converts here????? the only ass hole here who agrees with you . . is yourself . you post and 2 minutes later you post again and glorify yourself. . . you ARE tooooo!!!!smart for me. . i know if i listen to you and the wacktower. i'm sure ya'll take me to a higher place. like the top of the brooklyn bridge, and then try to push me off!!!!then my picture will be put on the cover of the wacktower!!!!!!!!!!!thanx for all your love . . . . . . . . . john

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
20:37:33
Comments
SHOCKING NEW EVIDENCE! Neighborhood in shock as Bill Bowen is accused of displaying flagrant homosexuality! Go here: (no, really, I mean it, this site is real): http://www. bill. bowen. isgay. com

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
20:40:58
Comments
hi girls; slc soapbox, linda, jesika, etc. etc. etc. please keep up the good work here i see a lot of new lambs that need ya'll help. . . so keep it up . . . I didn't forget you guys we have some good men here also!!!!john

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
20:46:32
Comments
Hey, that site is actually real. Where did you find that story? We want details.

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
20:48:33
Comments
Hey, that site is actually real. Where did you find that story? We want details.

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
20:57:45
Comments
Here is the transcript of the MARCH---It was on TV on Channel 11 in NYC I was there and saw it on TV that night. Jesika Thoman------------------ silentlambs march September 27, 2002 Summary On 9-27-02, 125 abuse survivors from 22 states delivered hundreds of stuffed lambs for victims around the world as a symbol of innocence lost. The march started at Pierrepont Place and Columbia Heights and proceeded down Columbia Heights to Jehovah's Witness Home office at 25 Columbia Heights at the front entrance. We had the t-shirts at the park and were setting up when the park officer asked if we had a permit to be in the park. We had to say no and it was moved to the Promenade which was much nicer anyway. The park officer said they would be glad to store any extra materials we had on the march till we returned. We supplied them with silentlambs t-shirts when we returned. The hurricane that hit the gulf was supposed to be coming over New York that day. Rain was predicted at 90% and it looked like we were going to be drenched. I had bought forty poncho's just in case. I am sure six million Jehovah's Witnesses were praying for rain to see us get washed away, but it appears our prayers were answered instead. It did not rain one drop through the entire march. Do you think that our experience will be in the next Watchtower? We passed out silentlambs t-shirts to everyone there and then the press showed up just as we were getting ready to go. There was two newspapers, three television crews, and one very well known radio DJ on abuse in the New York area. While this was good I am sure it could have been better, but we were happy just the same. The march was for those who were there to march more than anything else. As we started off the police decided to have us march on the sidewalk instead. I think it was better as we stretched out for over a block and made it look even bigger. As a side note we were in Brooklyn Heights at noon. I found it interesting to see bethelites patrolling all over in two's. Now they were supposed to be working why were they walking around the Heights? They had patrols on every block and when they saw our t-shirts would follow and switch off. Boy, were they sneaky, it was like trying to hid two Mormons walking around Iraq, it was a little obvious. When the police arrived they were very kind and helpful. Asked to see the permit and we were ready to go. A few locals from the Heights stopped by and asked to join us, I found that interesting. Some walked up and asked what it was about and were appalled to find out what Watchtower was doing to children as the survivors testified. Most were aware due to news coverage that there was a problem. As the march started certain ones started marching chants and everyone joined in, they were as follows: One, two, three, four, Silentlambs No More! No More Pedophiles at My Door! I Don't Know What You've Been Told, But Silentlambs Are Mighty Bold!, Listen to the Lambs Roar! It was quite loud and I am sure we woke up the neighborhood along the way. People were looking out their windows and stopping on the street to see what this was about. Then we got to 107 and 124, it really got loud there. I am sure all the home boys and house keepers knew when we walked by. As I got closer I realized I had forgotten how loud it was with the BQE going in front of the 25 building. I was so happy Jeannie suggested we get a bull horn, it really came in handy to speak to the crowd. When we arrived there were a few more chants to wake them up. Several noted different ones peeking out the windows and hiding trying to look. It was a surreal scene, 125 abuse survivors all smiling and laughing coming together to support one another. It is true there were those angry but more importantly everyone felt they were being support and cared about, something few get from Watchtower when it comes to abuse. When we arrived they were chanting, J. R. Brown Must Go Down!! Silent Lambs No More!! "They're looking out the window, when we looked back or waved they would hide I started the program off with the following script: Opening Statement: Bill Bowen: Today is a wake up call to the men and women who work behind these walls. For twenty one months we have been saying something is wrong and children need to be protected. For twenty one months they have been saying nothing is wrong and you do not exist. Today we are here to say we exist, your policy hurts children. Acknowledge the problem and apologize to those who have been hurt by Watchtower Policy. This march is about a cause for protecting children, it is about exposing the protection of child rapists, it is about a religion crushing a movement that has as its only goal and purpose to support and encourage healing to Jehovah's Witness victims of abuse. As the Governing Body appoints judicial committees in an attempt to “beat their brothers” (Matt 24:39) into silence, the entire issue is really about the victims. They will not be beaten into silence they will no longer allow witness tampering by church tribunals to stop them from speaking out, today is your day the silent lambs are silent no more. Today the lambs are roaring and will continue to do so until Jehovah's Witnesses stop their policy of shielding child rapists and preventing their members from be protected by keeping secret databases of child molesters hidden in building like this. It is the Governing Body that will be silenced, it is their henchmen that will be dragged down these steps and through the doors of the American justice system in the form of billions of dollars of litigation for those injured because they did not take decisive action for children. What comes to your mind when you define what a hero is? A hero is not the biggest person, the strongest, or the best looking. A hero is a person with the courage to take action in the face of overwhelming odds to assist someone in need. What better way to describe those who have taken a stand with silentlambs in the interest of protecting children. When you came forward about your abuse, you were called a liar, when you tried to warn others you were silenced, when you tried to get justice in the courts you were stabbed in the back by your brothers and sisters. Yet today we are honored to be in the presence of real heroes, people with enough courage to sacrifice everything in the interests of protecting children. Watchtower punished you for doing so, today silentlambs wishes to introduce a new program to award heroes who stand up for children. It is called the silentlambs “courage” award. Your names will appear on the silentlambs website as the heroes who in spite of the odds had the honor and integrity to do what was right. We will continue to award those this honor as decided by the silentlambs board of directors on a quarterly basis. Today we have the first twelve “courage” awards to deliver on the front steps of those who punished you for doing what was right. We are proud to recognize heroes and set the example for Jehovah's Witnesses to see how they should treat those who stand up for children. (applause) The first recipient is one of the first persons to step up to the media and reveal the terrible abuse she suffered as a child. Her effort opened the way for the many other abuse survivors to speak out and finally be heard. She did an extensive interview for Dateline but it was all left on the cutting room floor. Today I am happy and very honored to name Cory Pandelo as the first recipient of the silentlambs “courage” award. (applause) All: Corie!! Corie!! Corie!!! Corie accepts her award and gets a hug, she is a bit overwhelmed to say anything, but says a thank you to all present. She gets a nice round of applause. Bill Bowen: The next person I would like to announce, went to the national media, spoke out, and when she came forward about her abuse, she was told that she would be disfellowshipped. She then went to the police, and reported her molester. When she went to court to testify about the horrible abuse she suffered from age four to thirteen her fellow Jehovah's Witnesses sat on the molesters side of the courtroom, and protected him and even sent her a death threats, for standing up and reporting a child molester. Today we are very honored to present Erica Garza as the next recipient of the silentlambs “courage” Award. All: Erica!! Erica!! Erica!! Erica goes up and says a few words about standing up for what is right and gets a hugs along with nice applause. Bill Bowen: The next recipient of the Silentlambs Courage Award was not able to be here today. She was in court for the last two weeks testifying about the Watchtower policy that literally destroyed her life. As she was in court for the last two weeks, the Watchtower hierarchy sought to get close to one hundred Jehovah's Witnesses called from several congregation in Toronto to sit on their side of the courtroom in opposition to her. Yet she stepped forward and she testified. That court case has yet to be decided as of today, in Canada, where this trial took place. And so I'm very honored, in absentia to present Victoria Boer with the next silentlambs “courage” Award. All: Victoria!! Victoria!! Another nice round of applause for Vicky. Bill Bowen: The next person was also featured on Dateline and it was discussed about the molester that she knew who molested 17 little girls. He remains a Jehovah's Witness in good standing as he resides in a prison penal facility. Yet when she tried to warn other members of her congregation about what happened, the elders disfellowshipped her for trying to protect the children. So I'm very honored to present Laurie Fitzwater with the fourth silentlambs “courage” Award. All: Laurie!! Laurie!! Laurie!!! Laurie was quite surprised and came forward to say: My father in law raped seventeen children according to a letter from the circuit overseer. When he gets out of prison he will go back to the congregation in good standing because he's continues to deny the charges. When I tried to tell others in the congregation the elders came after me, they said I had a bad attitude and that I was a danger to the congregation. I was disfellowshipping for trying to protect their children. Bill Bowen: Not all people who receive the Courage Award are necessarily victims of abuse, but they step up and stand up for them. The person that is next in line, sat on the other side of that courtroom with Erica as the Witnesses gave them dirty looks and ill treatment, but she was a friend who stood by Erica. She came back to the courtroom when this man had to be reconvicted and she testified in Erica's behalf and told about the extent of the abuse and how it had affected her life. So for her courage in coming forward, for protecting and helping a victim of abuse, I'm happy to award Sherry Galvez as the next recipient of the silentlambs “courage” Award. Sherry: I was molested as a child along with my brothers who cant be here today, and I hold lambs for them. This is an evil, wicked policy that can ruin lives it continues to damage untold thousands who live in denial. Today the lamb Roar!! All: Nice applause Sherry!! Sherry!! Sherry!! Bill Bowen: Watchtower intimidates those who suffer abuse. The next recipient was afraid when she spoke to me to use her own telephone for fear of what the organization would to do to her. Now that she has been involved with the progress of the silentlambs organization over two years I have seen her growth both personal and spiritual. She is a person who has courageously stepped up and not only spoken out in court for victims of abuse but also spoken about her own abuse and has went fearlessly to the media recently and contacted them She did an excellent job of articulating how Watchtower policy hurts so many and the need to protect the children. The next person to receive this award is Pat Garza. Pat is overwhelmed with emotion and gets a long hug, she says a few words of appreciation. There is nice applause. Bill Bowen: The next silentlambs “courage” Award to goes to two parents that stood beside their daughter and enabled her to be strong to stand up. They supported her when she went to the media to be interviewed about these things. They have fearlessly stood up for what was right and for their bravery they were disfellowshipped. The next recipient of the silentlambs “courage” Award is Carl and Barbara Pandello. They are greeted by a nice round of applause and then Barbara talks first. Barbara Pandelo: We were told that we were the only ones, that if we say anything that we would be bringing reproach on Jehovah's name. To find out that there was just so many people like us, its so encouraging and being here for the other children is an honor. Thank you it's all an honor for me to be here. Carl Pandelo: Being raised by Jehovah's Witnesses, probably one of the most horrifying things is to be disfellowshipped, but in fact its an honor to be disfellowshipped for being apostates and to stand and know what is wrong and knowing what's right, I'm really proud to be, me and my wife, are disfellowshipped for speaking out, we have no fear of them. Thank you. (There is another nice round of applause) Bill Bowen: The next person I would like to present the silentlambs “courage” Award to is a person who was abused herself. When trying to reach out for justice in helping her daughter she to was threatened with disfellowshipping for trying to warn the congregation about the man who molested her daughter. When they went to the elders, they were told to be silent, threatened with disfellowshipping, and by her being here today, the elders may still try to disfellowship her. She helped many of you to be here today. She is the director for the local chapter of silentlambs, her name is Jeanne Kraus. Jeannie Krause: My daughter was molested by my husband, when I went to the elders they said it was a misunderstanding because we did not have two eye witnesses. The elders ordered me and my daughter into silence and refused to allow us to warn others in the congregation. I am happy to be able to speak out now and appreciate this award. Bill Bowen: Next award goes to another married couple who stood up on abuse issues and were terribly sanctioned as a result. When the wife went on Dateline and told the truth about cover-ups she was faced with judicial committees, when the husband simply resigned as an elder after 43 years to protest abuse, he was disfellowshipped within two weeks. For their courageous effort in standing for what is right I am honored to present Joe and Barbara Anderson with the silentlambs “courage” Award. Joe Anderson: If I take this (referring to award) over to that building (pointing to 25 building) do you thing they would make me a Witness again? I doubt that and I would not accept it if they did. The policy has harmed thousands of children and they want to act like nothing is wrong, they know it is wrong and they willfully put children in danger. They should be afraid of what the Creator thinks and who will hold them accountable for their actions. Barbara Anderson: I worked for ten years right here in this building behind us, for three years I was in the Writing Department, two of those years, I knew of the extent of the abuse. For the last ten years I have been trying to find a way to get the word out and protect the children. Children of Jehovah's Witnesses are not safe and its just wonderful to see you here today united and taking a stand for what is right. It is shameful to force Jehovah's Witnesses and their children into danger for the way they use old bible edicts of having two witnesses to each molestation We love our children, yes, we love our children more than we love the Watchtower Society. (nice round of applause) Bill Bowen: The last recipient of the Silentlambs Courage Award goes to someone I know very well. When I first came out on this issue of abuse, this person was told, that all they had to do was just leave me, and they would be protected and taken care of along with my children. She turned them down flat and as a result has suffered the ridicule that follows those who stand up for children in this organization. So the next recipient of the silentlambs “courage” Award is Sheila Bowen. All: (applause) Sheila!! Sheila!! Sheila!! Bill Bowen: I think this illustrates to everyone that silent lambs come from all walks of life, and abuse victims know that they support them and stand behind them with the courage to say don't be silent and let them know that they can speak out. For you to be here at this march, for your efforts to present this to the media, for just wearing the silentlambs t-shirt, it may appear to just be small things, yet those small things will multiply and multiply and multiply until Watchtower is forced to see the reality and change their policies. Thank you for all your efforts and we appreciate your courage and how you have helped so many to no longer be silent lambs. If you wish to nominate someone for a “courage” award, please email or write silentlambs to do so. Bill Bowen: We have some kind supporters from the New York area who represent several groups who support abuse survivors. Would you like to welcome them here today? The first person I'd like to ask to speak is Tina Alfono, Tina my memory is not good you'll have to tell them the name of your group. First I'd like to have Tina come up, and then well hear from David Carillo from SNAP, and then third from Van Dugo, from Child Protection Advocates. (applause) Tina Alfano: Thank you all for coming here today. I know for some of you, it was really hard whether to come or not today. So for your strength and your courage we support you and are happy to see you here. My name is Tina Alfano, and I'm the president and founder of Keep-Our-Children-Safe. com. I came here today in support of all the silent lambs. Today, you are SILENT NO MORE! Every child matters. We will stand strong and firm against child abuse and molestation. We will be united in our plight and we will prevail. Children have rights. Children should have better laws to protect them. The wilderness has more laws to protect animals than we have laws to protect our children. Somehow, somewhere, we have failed to protect our children. But we can and must make a change to right this wrong. Where are our legislators? Where are our Congressmen and our Senators? Today you may ask, when will this all end? We must bring accountability to every individual who abuses our children no matter WHO THEY ARE! And to Watchtower: You have the power to change your policies. The power to change the lives of thousands of your children. I know you WILL do your best to change because it is God's will. And God has gathered us all here today, to rally for change, to say No More dead children, no more abused children, NO MORE SILENT CHILDREN! Thank you all again for coming to this history making March. Together we have already made a difference. God bless all of you here today and may today be the start of a better life for you and your children. (applause) Bill Bowen: Next we would like to hear from David Cerulli of SNAP Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. (applause) David Cerulli: Thank you for inviting me. I'm a survivor. As a boy of 14, I was repeatedly raped and sodomized by a priest at a church in Allentown, Pennsylvania. I was incapable of fighting the power of the priest and the church at age 14. Thanks to the help of my family and wonderful people along the way, and most recently SNAP, I can say I am a survivor. Many other victims are not so lucky. They try to numb the pain with alcohol and drugs and suicide. This tragedy continues today. SNAP exists to help victims become survivors. We don't want to lose any more victims along the way. We have monthly support group meetings and this Sunday we're having a rally outside of Saint Patrick's Cathedral from nine in the morning until one. You're all invited. I hope you can make it. I'd like to thank you for inviting me, for allowing me to speak today, I think you're doing a wonderful job, keep up the good work! (applause) Bill Bowen: We appreciate the extra effort David put forth to be here, he took off work to be with us today, and he's here to support us as abuse survivors. We're very appreciative of him making this trip. Thank you, David! (applause) The next person I'd like to let speak is Dan Dugo of Child Protection Advocates. (applause) Dan Dugo: I think its touching and nice to see everybody come here together from different congregations, from different religions, even no religions, just to stand here and give support to the cause. I tend to think that people need to speak a little more about the bigger picture, like the politics behind things, that's something I'd like to touch on. I feel that the issue of clergy members who abuse children sexually is an issue of child safety and not a religious issue, which these people hide behind. All religious leaders as well as politicians have a moral and civil obligation to take children under their watch. While our country is in the middle of a crisis of children that are being molested and raped by clergy members as well as other members of society, Senator Bruno of the New York State majority leader stated publicly that the clergy mandated reporting bill is not a priority right now. As for our top guy, Governor Pataki, it's nice to watch him stand on platforms and receive awards, but what is he really doing to protect children? It's time for him to put politics aside and do his job. If Pataki wanted a bill on his desk that would make clergy mandatory reporting, or for the statute of limitations to be extended, he would have that bill on his desk within the week. But because of his bid for re-election, the welfare, safety and health of defenseless children have been put on the back burner. God forbid he should pass a law that should upset some Catholics or some Catholic group that he might lose some votes from. Politicians are sacrificing the children for the sake of votes. We won't tolerate this and I'm asking society as well to put their foot down and say no, they won't tolerate it either. I don't know much about politics, but I'm being forced to learn very quickly, and what I see so far is disgusting. I also feel that the federal and state agencies should investigate all religious organizations who engaged in covering up and obstructing justice. (applause) Bill Bowen: Thank you Dan, Tina, and David for being with us here today. (applause) Next, we have an attorney here with us her name is Kimberly Norris from Dallas Texas area. And she has an announcement she would like to make to you here today. Kim Norris: Hey, I'm Kim Norris from FORT WORTH Texas! I hold in my hand the first of countless lawsuits to be brought in the fifty states filed by my firm and lawyers affiliated with us to be filed in Oregon today on behalf of a Jehovah's Witness Congregation victim/survivor asking for compensation in the amount of three million dollars. This is one of many, check our website, we'll update as we go. LET'S GO GET THEM! (applause) Bill Bowen: This is the last part of the program, and at this point, different abuse survivors said that they would like to say a few words. I ask you to keep it brief because we have a kind of a large group and were taking the valuable time of these police officers here. So if any of you would like to come forward, remember to hold the megaphone close and you're welcome to say a few words. The first is Barbara Carr from Michigan. Brenda, I'm sorry. Brenda Carr: I'm not a victim myself, but on behalf of a victim from Winnipeg Canada, who could not be here today, and whose family has been destroyed by the protection of pedophiles by the Watchtower congregation. She asked me to read a poem she wrote it's entitled, “I am a voice from the past” I am a voice from the past, abandoned, rejected and outcast. A child of twelve, and all alone, abused and treated like a criminal. Shamed and silenced by those I trusted, I die alone, depressed and deserted. I am a voice from the past, abandoned, rejected and outcast A child of five abused by brothers, no one to hear my cries, alone and scared, My life a mess, drugs and alcohol, to deal with the stress. I am a voice from the past, abandoned, rejected and outcast Abused as child, again as wife, no compassion from you I found. Abusers you keep within your walls, but you never hear the ** call. I am a voice of the future, of all those you call sinners, Hear me declare, for all to hear, ** you were. Hear from the innocents, God says, so do it!" Signed Lee Marsh (applause) Bill Bowen: Thanks you Brenda, next, I would like to ask Dorian Baker to come up and read a piece that was written by an abuse survivor that couldn't be here, and she asked her to share this today. (applause) Dorian: I'd like to begin by stating that I am honored to be in the company I am in, although I could not be there physically. Many of you know me as “a lamb”. I am a victim of sexual abuse by two elders, one being my father. One is an admitted child molester, having admitted to his actions both in court and at judicial meetings. No actions were taken by the elders involved, and he is still actively involved in a congregation and baby-sits for sisters on their studies. He is also regularly in contact with my own children against a court order the same court order that I am respecting by not attending today. If someone had done this thirty years ago, this lamb would not exist. How many lambs will there be next time? What price for the children to pay? What is enough? ONE is too many! To those who support the faulty policies of this organization: you can silence the cries of the innocents and the believers, but you will never silence us, the survivors. We are not going away! We will not disappear! We only ask that you do not add to our ranks. You can cripple our spirit and trample our innocence, but you cannot put out the fire that has been started. Truth and right will win. You can view us as dead and shun us, but you cannot kill our spirit, it is FREE! (applause) Bill Bowen: Thank you very much, would someone else like to come forward and speak? This is Mike Pence from Arizona. Mike Pence: Thank you very much. I would like first of all to thank the 16 and some odd individuals on the internet most of whom I have never known and will never know and who funded our trip here to be with all of you today. So a thank you to all of them. When I first started to write, after 9/11 I decided I wanted to be a writer and when I first started to write I realized I had to write about what was going on with Bill Bowen and silentlambs. And in the course of researching some articles it came forward that my own children had been abused. They had the courage to come forward and so I would like to salute them for their courage. My new lawyer has authorized me to say that the presiding overseer of the Orland Pennsylvania congregation is the man who our children alleged abused them, and we will not rest until this individual is brought to justice. Finally, I'd like to thank this man for the courage to step forward and to make the sacrifices in his personal life that I know he's had to make because that kept him tied up on the phone for enough hours and I'm sure some of other people have too. So thanks to Bill and to his family for the sacrifices they've made and thank you to, all of you for supporting victims of abuse like my children. (applause) Bill Bowen: Thanks you Mike, next we hear from Barbara Lees from Illinois. Barbara Lees: I'm so proud to be here with all of you, I just want to make it very clear that when a congregation body of elders decides they're above the law they're hurting so many people by just sending a pedophile out into the world and not warning authorities, not warning the congregation, not warning families in the congregation. We would love to be able to have the chance to make the decision whether we want our children around a pedophile and to threaten to discipline us because we won't go door to door with them. It's really important that they realize that they need to report this to the authorities. I know of a situation where the elders decided they could not handle a particular pedophile they removed him, let him out, he became a little league coach, admitted to multiple victims, went to prison, got out, went to another Kingdom Hall, got caught again, it was covered up and to this day remains a Jehovah's Witness in good standing. This has got to stop, they people must take responsibility and protect our children. (applause) Bill Bowen: Thank you Barbara and now here's Charles Riley from New York. Charles Riley: I just wanted to say that I'm here in support of everyone here and I also wanted to say that I'm also here in support of my niece in California because in 1984 she was molested on three different occasions by one of our brothers in the congregation in Tujunga California. And when my sister went to the elders to get it straightened out, they refused to do anything about it, she sent a letter to the Governing Body, and they wrote her back saying that they were not going to get involved. And this brother… this so-called brother…. went to another congregation and molested two other young ladies. I'm here in support of her, and I also wanted to say: I was an elder for seven years. And I know for a fact that they instructed elders NOT to go to the police when it comes to child molesting. And I also wanted to mention that of all the Governing Body members of the Watchtower appointed, one of the main culprits is Theodore Jaracz. He is the main culprit; he has to pay. And we are not gonna stop until justice is done for all of our children and for all of us that have been abused by this organization. (applause) Bill Bowen: Thank you Charles for your comments, next is Debra. Debra: It is a thrill to be here today. The elder uncle that molested me when I was 14 years old was in North Carolina at the time, I normally live in Staten Island New York. He traveled on to Tennessee where he was disfellowshipped for molesting many young girls. He had many flagrant affairs. I was warned that if I said anything my dear precious aunt would be dead. Less than a year later she did mysteriously die after her six year old son also mysteriously hung himself in North Carolina. “Steve” is now one of the anointed remnant of Jehovah's Witnesses. (applause) Bill Bowen: Thank you Debra and now we will hear from Pat Garza. Pat Garza: I'm Pat Garza, and I'm here to say that I was raped by Theodore Jaracz when I was a little girl, in the city of Los Angeles, he was the District Overseer at the time. There are two boys; their initials are "M. D. " and "M. W. ", if they could be found they could confirm my allegations- if I could find them they're older than me, they were there, there were witnesses! We were terrified and silenced! We were not allowed to talk. My life was threatened and my brothers were threatened, they were going to be killed if I spoke. And when I started remembering the abuse I was abused horrifically in the congregation and I wrote the Watchtower Society and I begged for help, I have the letters with me to show you the names of ten of the elders who hurt me and they told me they could not answer any of the questions I asked, nor could they comment on the circumstances that I described in the congregation. I ended up in the hospital, in crisis in the emergency ward because of what the elders did to me. And then I was hospitalized for months, because I had nowhere to go, I was homeless. They threw me out in the street, I was destitute and I was disabled, I was unable to work because of the flashbacks I was having. And I ended up on the street, and I have with me a photocopy of the letter that the elders, the entire body of elders sent me, it has all of their names on it. It says that they called the Watchtower Society here in New York, and asked how to help me and they sent me a list of homeless shelters and I have that list of homeless shelters, one of them was Parkside Projects on skid row in Portland Oregon. Two of them were churches in Beaverton Oregon and the other was the YWCA. The humiliation that I felt was beyond belief. I almost died when I got that letter from those elders, and I almost stopped praying. The Watchtower Society has stood as a block between children and your God. All they do is destroy a person's faith, take away their self esteem and make them feel like God does not love us. And I'm here to say that He does, and I'm saying for those of us who are victims of Satanic Ritual Abuse in this organization it is time to fight these elders and fight Ted Jaracz. It's safe to come out now and you can come and talk and I'm begging anyone who knows "M. D" and "M. W. " - I would say their names but for privacy I won't reveal them, but silentlambs knows the full identity of "M. D. " and "M. W. " who were there - would you please call silentlambs at 1-877-WTABUSE Please step forward and be my witnesses. They're bringing pedophiles into this organization, they're ruining children for sex and that's what they were doing with me, the boys were there to prepare me for sex with Ted Jaracz! They were there to keep me, to make me, disassociate so that I could not remember him. Bill Bowen: Thank you Pat for coming forward, thank all of you for speaking out and supporting abuse survivors. I would not like to attempt to deliver the lambs to Watchtower. (Bowen walks across the street and checks the gates, all are dead bolted. He then goes to the intercom and asks to speak with a representative about his meeting with the Governing Body. They turn the intercom off and do not answer. At this point a Watchtower Rep comes out with some of the media. Bowen speaks to him and is ignored, Bowen asks, “Will you accept this lamb as a gift from abuse survivors? The WT rep turns to go in and Bowen pitches the lamb and it hits him in the head as he walks away. Bowen turns to the group and says, “They ignore us today just as they ignore the cry of all abuse survivors within the organization. ”) ALL: Let him in! Let him in! Let him in! What are you afraid of! What are you afraid of! What are you afraid of? Bill Bowen: Everybody get back to the other side of the street, come back over. Come back on this side. (Headquarters refused to accept delivery and denied abuse survivors the right to do so when Headquarters summoned the police to charge anyone who left lambs at the front door with littering. Participants left hundreds of lambs stuck in a chain link fence across the street from the front door much like mementos left at ground zero from the 9-11 disaster. ) We thank you for your sacrifice and kind support in making the effort to be here. In Ezekiel there is an interesting scripture regarding the shepherds of ancient times it states, “The sickened ones you have not strengthened, and the ailing one you have not healed, and the broken one you have not bandaged, and the dispersed one you have not brought back, and the lost one you have not sought to find, but with harshness you have had them in subjection, even with tyranny. ” The Governing Body must wake up and realize as God did not tolerate tyrants in bible times he will not tolerate tyrants today. So while we “wait on Jehovah” we follow the course of Ezekiel and speak out to protect the lowly ones. Thank you for being brave, thank you for standing for righteousness, thank you for proving you are no longer silent lambs. I invite all in attendance to attend a meal at a nearby restaurant, We thank you for your sacrifice and kind support in making the effort to be here. Were going to have a meal at a restaurant that's right nearby within walking distance. And I invite all of you to come that would like to attend. So with this we will conclude, well let these nice police officers get on their way. We appreciate their kind effort in protecting us here today. So let's all move in that direction, and Jeanne Krause is going to show us where it's at. ALL: Thank you NYPD! Bill Bowen: This now concludes the silentlambs march. Afterward at 5pm we met at a local restaurant, there was around 70 who were able to make it. It was kind of like when a big group of JW's meet after an assembly, except better. All were laughing and having up building conversations about how rotten Watchtower acted today. There were many hugs and congratulations offered to the great sacrifice so many had to make to be there. We talked and visited for about two hours, the manager was very kind and totally supportive of what we were there for. When we left I gave silentlambs t-shirts to all the waiters at their request. It was an empowering day, it was a day we took the power that was robbed by Watchtower Policy. I believe everyone who participated will remember this day for the rest of their lives as a turning point for the better. Watchtower made asses of themselves they treated abuse survivors with disdain in front of the media and the rest of the world. Where was the compassion? Where was the humility? Where was the apology? Where was one iota of kindness? The very qualities that are held up for all members to follow were ignored in front of the children they have damaged by their policies. Was this wickedness or weakness? Silentlambs was able to assist 12 abuse survivors to be there due to the kind support of persons who donated toward their travel expenses. The expenses came to around $5,000 for the march and would not have been possible without the kind support of so many. I remember a $5 donation from one abuse survivor, it was all she could do and it reminded me of the illustration of the widow's mite. She gave all she could and her gift was part of the collective that made this all possible. The appreciation of those there made it worth every penny. It was a good day and it is the hope of all silent lambs that it will be the beginning of many more as we support those who suffer and stand up to those who bully the weak. silentlambs

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
21:14:16
Comments
thank you rj;;; now not only did you call jayson an ape. . you also called martin luther king jr. an ape also. . and you called me a racist????? the wacktower never printed SHIT. in support of black americans till after the 1940's in fact the wacktower was in full support of the jim crow laws. . . learn your history BOY!!!!!THEN YOU CAN teach me spelling!!!!!!! anyone here want to invite rj to their house for a book ---i mean a bible study. . . . don't worry you wouldn't need to take a number RJ cAN'T FIND anyone as stupid as him in his territory rj thanx again you make a great spokesman for the wt at this rate you will be an PO PEDIFILE OFFERNDER IN NO TIME. . . john

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
21:24:50
Comments
HI loris;; I'M HAPPY FOR YOU. NOW YOU CAN LET THE HOLY SPRIT GUIDE YOU. . . HOW REFRESHING. . . . you have lost nothing worth while and have gained the love of the lord. . . . may you be blessed. . . john

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
21:33:21
Comments
SHOCKING NEW EVIDENCE! Neighborhood in shock as Bill Bowen is accused of displaying flagrant homosexuality! Go here: (no, really, I mean it, this site is real): http://www. bill. bowen. isgay. com

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
21:33:31
Comments
hey NONAME RJ ; WHY YOU F!@#$%g WITH RMK ???? WHY DON'T YOU COME OVER HERE ,AND LET ME PUT MY SIZE 13 BOOT UP YOUR ASS. . . THEN LET US ALL HERE ,SEE YOU WAIT ON JEHOVAH. . . YOU WOULD BE THE FIRST FAGGOT CRYING TO THE POLICE. . PLEASE TAKE THIS BOOT OUT OF MY ASS. AND LOCK THAT ASPOSTATE UP. . JOHN

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
21:36:49
Comments
Hey, stop posting right after my posts with great big long boring posts about your lame silent pansies march that only 5 people turned up to.

Remote User:

Date:
02 Oct 2002
Time:
21:44:26
Comments
RJ GET A LIST OF ALL THE MONEY$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$THE WT PAID OUT IN THE FORM OF GIG ORDERS JUST TO KEEP THE CASES FROM COMING TO COURT. And to silence the victims. . . . i'll be waiting for dooms day for this info!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!john

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
06:18:34
Comments
so we all know who RJ's god really is, the GB. how dare anyone blaspheme them on this site! RJ proves himself to be such a good Jehovah's Witness. oh, but hang on, in order for someone to have a relationship with Jehovah, you need to go through Christ as he is the mediator, but only if you're of the anointed(according to the WTS). RJ isn't of the anointed, so Christ isn't his mediator, so he's mediator is the GB!!! no wonder he thinks they're a god!!!

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
06:47:15
Comments
OK the bill is gay website is taking things a little bit to far. I would ask the poster of this useless info to refrain from posting things like that. That is really in poor taste. However Johns comments laden with expletives is also in poor taste. John, don't commence to calling me a hypocrite when you use such vulgar language. This really shows a lack of character. I have never used such language to express my opinions. The fact is your filthy post was nothing less than an idle threat, one that serves no purpose on the web. You know and I know a fight will never happen because neither of us know each other. For all you know I may be a 300lb brute or on the other hand you could be a 300lb brute. Either way you know it's childish to make such threats over the internet because it simply won't happen. Before you tell people how to be good christians you should practice what you preach as you say we don't. Then maybe your message will come across w/o hypocritical undertones. Also to those who proclaim me as the great GB defender, show me one post where I have ever condoned a molester or the act and/or the GB as infallible angels. You interpret things and say what you want to say the same way you accuse JW's of doing. This again is exactly what I have been saying all along. If you ever tone down your attacks on my brothers then maybe my mission in here will be done. RJ

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
07:05:13
Comments
John. . . . thank you for your good wishes. I will not ever stop helping the victims. I have emailed those who have been posting their email addresses and will continue to do so. I find it rather funny that the JW defenders post the nonsense they put on the guestbook, it shows we've struck a nerve! Let them rant, I really don't care. But I also won't give them the satisfaction of replying to their nonsense. Ignore them everyone. Until Bill is able to make this guestbook/board? to where people have to have joined with a password etc, I just ignore the defenders. I only focus on those that need help and those who can be of comfort and care. These are the ones I care about most. Let the defenders foam at the mouth and rant and rave, it makes no difference to me. Linda Thoman Linthoman@hotmail. com

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
07:05:21
Comments
John. . . . thank you for your good wishes. I will not ever stop helping the victims. I have emailed those who have been posting their email addresses and will continue to do so. I find it rather funny that the JW defenders post the nonsense they put on the guestbook, it shows we've struck a nerve! Let them rant, I really don't care. But I also won't give them the satisfaction of replying to their nonsense. Ignore them everyone. Until Bill is able to make this guestbook/board? to where people have to have joined with a password etc, I just ignore the defenders. I only focus on those that need help and those who can be of comfort and care. These are the ones I care about most. Let the defenders foam at the mouth and rant and rave, it makes no difference to me. Linda Thoman Linthoman@hotmail. com

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
08:23:47
Comments
Hi guys: found a web site I think is helpful. Go to sidran. org and search: Recovery Bill of Rights. I also found w2w. lhm. org - a christian woman's website. Don't know if this is the same woman to woman that Jesika and Linda spoke about - I never could find that one!! This site has radio programs you can listen to. Love, Claudine

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
08:58:05
Comments
Want to view the Australian News Report about Jehovah's Witnesses cover up of child abuse? . . . Silent Witness. It has an account of a child molester in a congregation, this man was reported to the elders by a young brother, by a mother and her 4 yr son, but the witnesses were not to the same event so nothing was done. When the police arrested him he had 40 victims, mostly young witnesses. http://www. jehovahs-witness. com/forum/media. asp

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
09:51:53
Comments
Claudine? Woman to Woman? I used to have a web site called Woman to Woman, but I let it go due to my work with Silentlambs. There is a wonderful group for just ex-jw woman at woman-awake@yahoogroups. com Jesika and I both are on that group. Linda Thoman

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
14:43:44
Comments
Ken Grant. England. 13/3/02 ken@askmen. fsnet. co. uk Having read most of what is on your web site I don't honestly know what to say. My wife said we should say something to let you know we will be thinking of you at all times. We believe that our son in law a JW has had unlawful sex with both our daughters but he is so smug and righteous. He has now taken our daughter away from us to God knows where.

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
16:14:25
Comments
RJ, for once I don't agree with you. I thought the bill is gay website was damn funny! Just trying to inject a little humour into this god-forsaken place. I admit I do post some useless crap, but as long as jerks like john boy keep posting illiterate garbage, I'll feel free to post what I like. I suppose john is much more likely to be tolerated here, being a rabid apostate and all. . . although he's no less offensive. Anyways, here's that web site for those who haven't seen it: http://www. bill. bowen. isgay. com

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
16:17:23
Comments
APNEWS: BILL BOWEN ARRESTED! Bill Bowen, administrator of the silentlambs web site is in police custody tonight after being caught doing unspeakable things to stuffed toys. A staff member at silent lambs said "I couldn't believe it. I walked into the store-room and there he was, naked from the waste down, indulging in some weird sexual fetish! It was then I realized why all the lambs had large holes in the back of them!" The stuffed toys, which are sold by the hundreds, were analyzed and found to contain traces of Bill's masturbatory emissions. The "abused lambs" were too traumatized to make any comments today. APNEWS.

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
17:13:39
Comments
Complaints regarding the above website link should be addressed to: abuse@dwhs. net

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
17:49:14
Comments
These JW defenders are offenders - for language and content. Free speech doesn't come free. One way of looking at the criticism regarding the number of people who showed up from ALL OVER THE COUNTRY on 9/27 is that we only get two people out of the 6 million JWs to come here and they don't even have to leave home! And at least we acknowledge that they are here - we haven't locked the doors yet. We give them a chance to have their say no matter how offending which is better than the WTS who can't acknowledge a grave concern that does bring shame upon the christian congregation and the name of God and has ruined the lives of countless people. What effort does it take to turn on the computer and punch thoughtless offensive words of no concern????^^^^^^^^^^^ What effort does it take for 125 people to go to NY? Alot of effort and thoughtfulness, and time and money. ^^^^^^^^^ These two "guys" (RJ & AP)sit on their big butts AT HOME (two of them at most because they can't conjure up more support) and cannot lift a finger to defend the JW's but do lift a finger to offend the already offended. I say it is a poor showing to only have two butt heads with fingers on their keyboards compared to the 125 that showed up, traveled some for days to be at the March 9/27. RJ & AP can chide, deride, belittle all you want but your "numbers" are not even mentionable and the effort it takes to do this is even less mentionable. ****** Let's hear it for all those who contributed,organized, supported, actually went, the police that kept it safe, the stories told. . . CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! Good hands do good. Out of the mouth the heart speaks.

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
19:30:16
Comments
This needs to be in CAPS and REPEATED so here goes ----- "CONTINUE TO COMFORT THE AFFLICTED, and to AFFLICT THE COMFORTABLE. " ----- Yesssirrreee, that's a good one. Thanks to whoever posted that. THE LAMBS WERE MOST DEFINITELY COMFORTED by the AWESOME March itself, the program, AND the LOVE & COMARADERIE felt by EVERYONE present (not like here, where the soreheads seem to still be kicking up a lot of flak. Tsk Tsk. What a NEGATIVE WASTE of energy. Probably they are the SAME WT SPIES who were in Pierrepont Park & Promenade who were sent to, no doubt, take a head count. LOL! They TRIED to act so inconspicuous -- NOT! Try again fellas!) GLORIOUS! IT WAS A GLORIOUS DAY! HURRAY FOR SILENTLAMBS! ---- SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
19:34:42
Comments
Hey To My FRIENDS!! Sorry I haven't been around. Glad you girls and guys are running the show here. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Please keep up the GREAT WORK! (I got other stuff to take care of re: SL, etc. ). LOVE TO YOU "FINE" PEOPLE! (And you know who you are!) Hugs/SLC (seeing how many of the past few weeks of posts here I can read tonight. . . there's a lotta them!)

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
19:36:52
Comments
WELCOME LAWRENCE H. to the SilentLambs Guestbook! Keep up the great work! /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
19:46:15
Comments
For everyone frustrated with the SL site. . . All I can say is it's being worked on. No, I don't have any specifics, but I DO KNOW FOR A FACT it IS being worked on. It could take months to re-vamp the entire site, but it IS "under construction. " So keep the faith and hang in there. -- Unfortunately, I do NOT know if the actual Guestbook will be changed to a Forum (with registration, etc. ), OR whether a forum will be added in addition to the Guestbook. If/when I hear anything on that, I'll let ya know. But the re-construction of the SL SITE ITSELF IS being worked on, but my guess it will take several months (there's a lot of info on this site, and it needs re-organizing, etc. , plus lots of new stuff -- media stuff -- that hasn't been added, etc. ) All in all, IT'S GREAT NEWS! Love/SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
19:50:01
Comments
BUSTER: Excellent observation of yours at Date: 02 Oct 2002 Time: 10:51:44. Thanks/SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
19:52:18
Comments
To the No-Name who posted the Mary had a little lamb (pathetic) and then the self-righteous No-Namer who wrote immediately after it -- It would be my thought they are ONE & THE SAME PERSON. Remember the Troll? THEY like to write disgusting stuff, and then turn around and say WE wrote it. Sheesh! What a waste of energy. /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
19:55:08
Comments
HI LORIS! Glad to hear you are well and studying right along. . . Did you DA yourself, or did they DF you? You wrote you had been "silenced," so that's why I ask. Big Hug & Best Wishes/SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
20:01:21
Comments
TO: ginny@pivot. net ----- Contrary to what the ILL-INFORMED poster wrote in reply to your post, THERE WAS TELEVISION NEWS COVERAGE of the SL March. It was on the 10 PM NEWS that same night, WB channel, I saw it with my own eyes. And it was also on the UNI 11 pm NEWS that same night, I saw it with my own eyes. And I was told by two other people who saw it with their own eyes on CNN earlier in the afternoon (and a third person was told by four people HE knows that they saw it on CNN ALSO!) --- Even if it had not made the news (which it DID), it was a GRAND SUCCESS FOR THE LAMBS, which was one of the MAIN PURPOSES for it to begin with. The purpose was for the LAMBS TO TAKE THEIR POWER BACK, to SPEAK OUT at the GB, and to BOND IN LOVE WITH FELLOW SURVIVORS. It was a GRAND SUCCESS in all respects. It was an HONOR & a PRIVILEGE to be part of it! /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
20:06:45
Comments
JAYSON - Keep up the good thoughts! Thanks for the great post! /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
20:08:01
Comments
FRED: (You're not the SAME "FRED HALL" from JWD are you? Hope not, cuz nobody likes him anyway). For reports on the MARCH, see further below. . . I'll post some links. . . /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
20:10:45
Comments
REPORTS re: THE SILENTLAMBS MARCH -- Her's a few for now: Larry's Account of the March: <http://www. jehovahs-witness. com/forum/thread. aspx?id=37657&page=1&site=3#510981> Dana's report from NY on 9-28-02: <http://www. jehovahs-witness. com/forum/thread. aspx?id=37604&site=3> Dungbeetle's description of the March: <http://www. jehovahs-witness. com/forum/thread. aspx?id=37653&site=3> Zev's description of the March: <http://www. jehovahs-witness. com/forum/thread. aspx?id=37563&page=1&site=3#510838> Mulan got a report on the March on 9-27-02 -- w/FBI comment: <http://www. jehovahs-witness. com/forum/thread. aspx?id=37522&site=3>

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
20:13:29
Comments
PHOTOS from the SILENTLAMBS MARCH: Just2's photos: <http://www. jehovahs-witness. com/forum/thread. aspx?id=37584&site=3> Lambs on the fence: <http://www. jehovahs-witness. com/forum/thread. aspx?id=37613&site=3> <http://server3002. freeyellow. com/leehardiman/Misc-images/22-Sep27-58> Pic of Kim making THREE MILLION DOLLAR lawsuit announcement at the march: <http://www. jehovahs-witness. com/forum/thread. aspx?id=37631&site=3> Larry's #1 photo: <http://www. jehovahs-witness. com/forum/thread. aspx?id=37546&site=3> Larry's #2 Photos: <http://www. jehovahs-witness. com/forum/thread. aspx?id=37548&site=3> Picture of Larry and Bill on 9-26-02, the day Bill arrived: <http://www. jehovahs-witness. com/forum/thread. aspx?id=37461&site=3> Larry's #3 & Final Photos: <http://www. jehovahs-witness. com/forum/thread. aspx?id=37644&site=3> Simon's SLIDE SHOW of PHOTOS: <http://www. jehovahs-witness. com/forum/thread. aspx?id=37652&site=3> Click HERE for the slide slow: <http://www. jehovahs-witness. com/media/silentlambsmarch/default. htm> Which takes you HERE: <http://www. jehovahs-witness. com/media/silentlambsmarch/default. htm>

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
20:14:55
Comments
VIDEO of the SILENTLAMBS MARCH, professionally edited: Scroll down the list to: "SILENT LAMBS MARCH (VIDEO)": <http://www. jehovahs-witness. com/forum/media. asp?site=3>

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
20:16:01
Comments
PS: You have to be a member of J-W. com to watch any of the MEDIA at that site, which also includes DATELINE, PANORAMA, AND the most recent "SUNDAY" program from AUSTRALIA on 9-22-02. /SLC --------------- VIDEO of the SILENTLAMBS MARCH, professionally edited: Scroll down the list to: "SILENT LAMBS MARCH (VIDEO)": <http://www. jehovahs-witness. com/forum/media. asp?site=3>

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
20:23:36
Comments
Re: that Palo Alto article of why Megan's Law Doesn't Work --- I notice the date of that article is TWO WHOLE YEARS AGO. Maybe things have changed since then. --- Either way, FLORIDA IS DOING SOMETHING RIGHT FOR A CHANGE! Yes, the FDLE (Florida Department of Law Enforcement) website has a SEX OFFENDER section on their website. It's EASY AS PIE to look up the PERVERTS. Go there now and type in BYRON GILLILAND. See the PICTURE of someone who I know was a MINISTERIAL SERVANT for the 10 years I was in the same cong as him. HURRAY FOR FLORIDA FOR DOING SOMETHING RIGHT!!!

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
20:25:39
Comments
HANG IN THERE MR. MOLE! Thanks for the report. /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
20:28:44
Comments
Here's the FLORIDA Dept. of Law Enforcement website. I forgot to add it: Florida: http://www. fdle. state. fl. us

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
20:32:56
Comments
" DC" accused the Marchers of leaving a bunch of litter in Brooklyn. I WAS THERE. I SAW NO LITTER. However, I DID SEE a Silentlambs Flier or two, here and there, on a bench for anyone to read since there were ALOT OF WORKING PEOPLE around there sitting on the benches. But litter all over as you describe? Your sources (obviously BIASED sources) are in ERROR. ---- Additionally, you feel the WT is way ahead of SL? Well, guess who is Way Ahead of the WT? THE F. B. I. /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
20:35:25
Comments
Speaking of LITTER-ature, how many mags do you see on park benches, tracts floating in the yards, brochures in the sidewalks??? The more WT litter-ature the JWs hand out, the more end up all over the place as LITTER. I see it all the time. Why do you open yourself up for this? Silly people. /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
20:37:00
Comments
THANKS LINDA & JESIKA for helping the newbies to this site! Love ya/SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
20:39:32
Comments
Thanks for the Dallas article about the Presbyterian church. YES, SHOULD WE NOT EXPECT A WHOLE LOT MORE FROM "GOD'S CHANNEL"??? /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
20:42:50
Comments
WHO in their RIGHT MIND would even CONSIDER going to "RJ" for HELP? PUKE! Any newbies -- IGNORE THIS CREEP "RJ. " He would be extremely detrimental to your well-being as can be seen from his posts. (Reference his post: Date: 01 Oct 2002 Time: 07:57:44)

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
20:46:17
Comments
Dear "NO LONGER ALONE" -- Thanks for sharing your story, and glad you are able to get it out of your system. THAT IS THE SUCCESS OF SILENTLAMBS. Please join the "Email List" (sign up from the home page: ADD ME TO EMAIL). Hugs/SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
20:47:37
Comments
Dear BBsStuff@aol. com! THANKS for your thoughts on the March. Wasn't it AWESOME being there? Wonder if I met you? Hope so! Can't wait to go to the next one! Love/SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
20:51:33
Comments
Agent says Longo confessed http://www. oregonlive. com/news/oregonian/index. ssf?/xml/story. ssf/html_standard. xsl?/base/news/103364615383280. xml MATT SABO -- An FBI agent testified Wednesday that Christian Michael Longo confessed to killing his wife and three young children, although Longo wouldn't say how. Special Agent Daniel C. Clegg said during a pre-trial hearing in Lincoln County Circuit Court that Longo confessed on a Jan. 14 flight to after being arrested in a Mexican beach town. Clegg said during the flight he told Longo his theory: Longo's wife, MaryJane, caught him molesting one of his children and she was injured in the ensuing fight. "And then you killed them," Clegg said he told Longo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . During an interview with Longo in a Houston FBI office Jan. 14, Turre said that Roy Brown, an Oregon State Police investigator, told Longo that normally men who kill their families kill themselves. Then Brown asked Longo why he didn't kill himself. "There was a long pause," Turre said, "and I interjected, 'The reason you didn't do that is because you're not right with Jehovah yet. ' He said, 'That's right. ' "

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
20:52:04
Comments
Whoever posted the '97 WT: Thanks for reminding us how pathetically ignorant and pitiful the WT is. Anybody who knows anything about pedophiles KNOWS THEY DO NOT STOP. So if the WT wants them IN the congs, they are just saying, "Here's a FREE TICKET. COME AFTER OUR KIDS. " And to not allow the pedophile to have microphone privileges? BIG DEAL. Like THAT is really gonna keep a pedophile IN LINE. Sheesh. The ignorance is disgusting. --- And wait! The WT doesn't have enough kids to offer up to the sacrifice of the pedophiles, so their CAMPAIGN (as seen at their website) is now to BRING IN MORE SINGLE PARENT FAMILIES. Isn't that nice? Their website SHOULD read: "Bring us more PAWNS for our PEDOPHILES!!" --- /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
20:56:29
Comments
BEARDS -- To the person who asked about JWs and BEARDS -- a good source of info on that subject is by using the SEARCH feature here: www. jehovahs-witness. com ----- Type in "BEARDS" in the SEARCH window, and it will give you lots of discussion on this topic. The guys on that forum bring it up all the time. Actually, it's not something that interests me a whole lot. :-) /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
20:58:26
Comments
EXCELLENT POINT about Moses coming out. /SLC ----- Date: 30 Sep 2002 Time: 10:57:34 Comments Even Moses came out, face to face, to meet with the people who were complaining.

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
21:03:19
Comments
To the person whining about the lack of JW defenders on this site: Sorry, the 6,000,000+ JW's are out doing what they should be doing. A handful of the people who post here seem to be in defense of JW's and we have our own reasons for doing so. Perhaps some are JW's or used to be. One of the reasons I am here is to expose the hypocrisy of Bill Bowen and the silent lambs. The smug, smart-ass attitude that Bill shows, the way he seeks glory for himself, the way he tries to make him look "big" by pretending to comfort the women who have been abused. He only sucks up to his fag followers because he's got nothing else to do now (having been kicked out from being an elder/JW) Get your hand off it, Bill. You're nothing but a big, stupid, fat c*nt. And that's all you'll ever be. And guess what? I'm going to make fun of that retard john and his irrational arguments at every opportunity too. Nobody can stop me. Ain't free speech grand? HaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA [the ANTI-john]

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
21:04:17
Comments
To Deborah: Thanks for your comments. Sadly, you were very misinformed about the atmosphere at the MARCH. IT WAS NOTHING BUT LOVE EVERYWHERE. It was FANTASTIC. It's a shame you allowed the small-minded actions of posters on a guestbook to HINDER YOU FROM PARTICIPATING! That is a BIG SHAME, and makes me wonder how SINCERE you really are? Sheesh! If you read the rest of this site, you will see that SILENTLAMBS is "Don't Ask/Don't Tell. " In other words, whether supporters of SL are DF or DA or active, inactive, etc. does NOT MATTER. If your HEART is with the CAUSE of the SILENCED LAMBS, then THAT is ALL that matters. What a pity you would let a GUESTBOOK keep you from joining in. HOW SAD INDEED, because you missed an AWESOME, WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE to BOND with OTHERS of LIKE-PURPOSE, and to experience a camaraderie that will be long-lasting for those of us who felt it an HONOR & PRIVILEGE to be there. --- I just can't believe you would allow a GUESTBOOK to block your brain like that. What a crying shame. Hopefully, you will wise up before the next March or SL Event. Best regards/SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
21:07:03
Comments
To 9-30-02: Welcome xJW. Glad you love this site! AND, so true the words of the next poster after you, who wrote: "Say what you will but the marchers of September 27th were not the ones hiding behind a locked gate cowering inside a building. " --- HOW RIGHT YOU ARE BROTHER!!! /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
21:07:26
Comments
hey you JWs on here your not supposed to be talking to apostates you know. do you talk to apostates if you seen one on the street ? I don't think your allowed to associate with df'd and apostate. go ask and elder if I'm right.

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
21:08:44
Comments
WELCOME NANCY!!! Please read the ASSISTANCE page of this site to see how you can help! And be sure to add your name to the EMAIL LIST (can be found from the home page). Love/SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
21:12:14
Comments
MICHELE: What a beautiful tribute to your family. Thanks for sharing. Are you on the SL Email list? Love/SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
21:13:49
Comments
Hi Shannon! Thanks for stopping by. Hope you are finding the research material you need. There's lots more on the web, but you probably know that already. You can start with www. freeminds. org, and go from there. /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
21:14:03
Comments
haha bill buggers the lambs up the bum hole. that's funny.

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
21:15:02
Comments
THANK YOU Patti Pal! We're doing the best we can and will continue to do so! Thanks for the comments! /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
21:18:06
Comments
How weird can it get? More Jehovah's Witnesses in the news. Three high profile mass murder cases in Oregon involve JW's. . . . links to the news accounts and brief of a KATU channel 2 story: http://www. jehovahs-witness. com/forum/thread. aspx?id=37943&page=1&site=3#514344

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
21:31:39
Comments
To John H in Daytona Ohio -- Don't you know how to do a search on the internet? John gave you the news channels. Go find their sites. The audio is already up at www. jehovahs-witness. com (streaming media section). When those who videotaped the news coverage get copies to those who can put it online, we'll have more links to that too. -- Sheesh. Everybody wants everyone ELSE to put forth the effort, and all they do is sit around and complain. /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
21:32:33
Comments
To Steve in Panama City who thinks the 15 minutes of fame of SL is over. . . Things have ONLY JUST BEGUN my friend. Stay tuned for more. . . /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
21:44:33
Comments
Whatever sorehead wrote the fake AP article about 2 of the 3 protesters at the march being arrested -- THAT IS SO NOT TRUE. Visitors, I hope you recognize the soreheads on this guestbook from the sincere ones. Sheesh. The soreheads get worse and worse with their ridicule as time goes on. Just wait until all the SL lawsuits start flying all over the newspapers and in the courts. /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
21:59:37
Comments
To whoever asked about the VICKY BOER trial in Canada. . . you can get all the info you need by going to this site: www. jehovahs-witness. com and in the SEARCH feature type in either CANADA, or BOER, etc. Many many threads there with all the newspaper articles and reports from those who attended the trial. /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
22:32:26
Comments
" But when you drag all JW's through the mud and make us all look like criminals then that is wrong. That has been my point of contention about this whole matter from day one!" (written by RJ). ----- RJ, RJ, RJ, RJ, RJ. Either you have a very big head (pride) or you are so totally MISSING the point. ALL JWs are not being dragged thru the mud. ONLY THE ABUSERS, THE ELDERS & OTHER JWS WHO GO ALONG WITH THEIR COVERUPS, DF'ING OF VICTIMS, MISTREATMENT OF VICTIMS, and above ALL of those persons, THE GOVERNING BODY who instructs you elders what to do. Why do you keep whining about the reputation of ALL jws being dragged thru the mud? Sheesh. SHALLOW thinking, because you are MISSING THE WHOLE POINT. Make yourself at home and make a real pain of yourself. The guestbook IS ALL YOURS. The Silentlambs and their Supporters have more important things to do than try to remove the shackles from your narrow-minded eyes. Now, be sure and PAT YOURSELF ON THE BACK for the fact that ONE abuse case was handled properly (as you described in your post). WOW! ONE OUT OF 5,000 to 23,000! You can be so proud of yourself! Since you are so GOOD at handling things properly, why don't YOU start your OWN website strictly for all of the 40,000-60,000 ELDERS so you can EDUCATE THEM HOW to do the RIGHT THING, eh? Make yourself useful, why don't you? Not all of your fellow elders are as SMART as you, evidently. (If you do not know how to create a WEBSITE for such a MUCH-NEEDED purpose, then use YahooGroups. It's a piece of cake to set up a YahooGroup just for all of your fellow elders on the planet to teach THEM what to do, and to SHARE YOUR EXPERTISE in the matter. Let us know when you get it set up, so we can come to your site or your yahoogroup and read how ALL OF YOUR group of ELDERS IN THE WORLD ARE DOING. We would like to be INFORMED of how they are CURRENTLY HANDLING each and EVERY sex abuse case. And the FBI would like to know too. SINCERELY, and this is a SINCERE plea for YOU to make yourself USEFUL by USING your EXPERIENCE in sex abuse matters within the cong. /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
22:44:06
Comments
TO Nameless who wrote to RJ to "Wait on Jehovah" (23 Sept. 2002, 14:15:35). "Waiting on Jehovah" translated by the GB means "COVER OUR BUTTS FOR AS LONG AS WE CAN, and ALLOW THE ABUSE TO CONTINUE. " ----- "Wait on Jehovah" (in JW language) means DO NOTHING, and allow abuse to CONTINUE. ----- Both of you sad fellows are missing the point. If your child gets run over by a car, do you sit back and say, "WAIT ON JEHOVAH"? Or do you pick up the child and take him to get help? I wish each of you would follow the other's advice and quit hanging out with us so-called "APOSTATE" guestbook/website. /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
22:47:53
Comments
WOW! Linda, your post from back on 9-23-02 about handing out the flyers with Jesika and Elsewhere! That is so great! especially the lady who took the flyer (in the car) and said, "No, THANK YOU!" --- Say, how did it go when you held your mini-march with the 50 stuffed lambs? /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
22:48:44
Comments
Soapbox/CE: How ya doing? I really liked your post to RJ from 9-23-02. Blessings/SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
23:03:34
Comments
THANK YOU TINA & MARCIA! Adding Silentlambs to your website as a link is a GREAT THING! We appreciate it! /SLC ----- From Post 9-17-02: "Tina Alfano gave me your link. The only way I am able to help is to add your link to our web site. Marcia Duning mduning@woh. rr. com Webmistress, Angels That Care www. angelsthatcare. org"

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
23:10:00
Comments
HOW CAN YOU HELP? Make yourself useful. Write your congressmen and senators about removing ANY statute of limitations on child abuse cases. ----- Find out what YOUR state laws are re: the statute of limitations here: Statute of Limitations for sex abuse/all states: <http://www. lovenorrisattorneys. com/statute. html> ----- Then go here to add what you find to the list for the letter-writing campaign: <http://www. jehovahs-witness. com/forum/thread. aspx?id=26969&site=3&page=1> ----- Thanks/SLC

Remote User:

Date:
03 Oct 2002
Time:
23:15:15
Comments
Of course, we know RJ and his fellow elders around the planet, along with all JWs, will NOT write their congressmen and senators because you think it's going against Jehovah to do so. And you'd likely rather sit back and "Wait On Jehovah" to change the laws from Heaven, right? Think: If Jehovah allows the Superior Authorities to exist, and expects us to make use of those means, why is it wrong to write your congressmen and senators about changing laws? Even the WTS itself and its lawyers petition the Superior Authorities to change the laws, so why can't the lowly elder and average JW write letters for the same purpose? --- And I remember in the '80s when the WTS had all of us write letters to the Brazilian President over some matter (can't remember now what it was), but if it was OK for us to write letters to government officials for WT-directed-purposes, will you be writing to YOUR congressmen and senators from YOUR state to ask them to make sure YOUR state laws allow for any abuse victim to receive justice, no matter at what age they work up the courage to come forward? (Your answer to this should prove what kind of character you really have. . . . ) ---/SLC

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
03:10:01
Comments
Regarding 'bad apples: To the poster of Aug 6, regarding your statement to 'clear that one out and keep the rest' What a priceless comment. Beautiful!

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
03:33:20
Comments
Remember the 20-story WT "community center building" they wanted to build in Brooklyn around 1988? Why did it never happen? Read about it here. Fascinating Information. /SLC ----- http://www. jehovahs-witness. com/forum/thread. aspx?id=37836&page=1&site=3 ----- Also read the "embedded" letter from REED in that thread. Even MORE Fascinating Thoughts.

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
04:33:02
Comments
SLC. . . . would you please email me directly? I would like to talk to you. Linthoman@hotmail. com

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
04:33:12
Comments
SLC. . . . would you please email me directly? I would like to talk to you. Linthoman@hotmail. com

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
07:44:18
Comments
SLC: keep up the good work. Rich

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
08:51:36
Comments

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
09:16:50
Comments
Witnesses Now for Jesus Convention is being held October 10-13, 2002 at Blue Mountain Christian Retreat, R. R. #2, Box 118A, New Ringgold, PA 17960. Phone: (570) 386-2154 Fax: (570) 386-1145 We hope you will come and meet with many other ex-Jehovah's Witnesses and hear their testimony. There will be speakers who are experts on the many various cults that mislead our society. This is a wonderful opportunity to join together with prayer and sharing and making new friends. For more information, write to Joan Cetnar, Hostess and Coordintor, Rt. 3,Box 127, Kunkletown, PA 18058 or visit their website at www. pfo. org.

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
10:35:43
Comments
hi. . i am so proud of this site and what you are doing, i'm thankful i have not been subjected to what so many of you have and because of what this group has made me aware of i finally have peace with myself. i was disfellowshipped 8 years ago and have tormented my mind and soul wondering if this was the true religion. after learning of the way children and elders of the congregation have and are being treated over a criminal act such as this i can not agree with there judgment of such wrongdoing. . . . thank you for bringing this crime to the knowledge of the public. . . . . and thank you for giving me peace of mind in knowing the truth. . . rhonda harper rockindozin@aol. com

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
13:12:14
Comments
Rhonda, thank you for your comments. You have mail! :-) Linda Thoman

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
13:14:12
Comments
More Jehovah's Witnesses and Child Abuse in the news. . . . Suffer the Little Children . . . . October 6, 2002 . . . . . . . . . Reporter :Betsan Powys . . . . . Last week's Sunday investigation of the cover-up of child sexual abuse within the Jehovah's Witnesses in Australia has prompted a flood of new allegations against the church. Our report found the church (also known as the Watchtower and Bible Tract Society) had routinely pursued a policy of obstructing police investigations into child abusers. This week on Sunday there is damning evidence that these policies are part of a worldwide, systematic effort by the Church to protect its reputation and wealth — regardless of the cost to victims. FULL STORY : http://sunday. ninemsn. com. au/sunday/cover_stories/article_1157. asp

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
13:20:59
Comments
SUGAR MAGAZINE (Britian's Popular magazine for teenage girls) has storied entitled:'I Put My Sex Abuse Dad in Prison', the true story of a girl called Alison who suffered years of sexual abuse from her Dad 'cus nobody believed her. Her father was a Jehovah's Witnesses. Article is not online but has been scanned: http://www. jehovahs-witness. com/forum/thread. aspx?id=37985&site=3

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
14:28:54
Comments
SLC. . . . . . you are a little sunshine on a gloomy day. Thanks for your time and effort.

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
15:22:56
Comments

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
16:29:10
Comments

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
17:08:59
Comments
The Paducah Sun - Online Edition *** Friday, September 27, 2002 Paducah, Kentucky *** <http://www. paducahsun. com/cgi-bin/view. cgi?200209/27+0bkO_religion. html+20020927> ***Bowen leads protest in New York City today *** Bowen's group will head to the Jehovah's Witness church headquarters to demand a hearing to investigate possible criminal cover-ups by the denomination's leadership. ------------------------------------------------------ By C. D. Bradley cdbradley@paducahsun. com--270. 575. 8650 -------------------------------------------------------- Bowen (picture) *** BENTON, Ky. --Less than two years ago, Bill Bowen resigned as an elder in Draffenville's Jehovah's Witness congregation because of church policy on handling accusations of child abuse. *** Since then, he's been disfellowshipped, kicked out of the church and shunned by its members, including some of his own relatives, for "causing divisions" in the congregation. *** He set up a support group for abuse victims called silentlambs and has been featured in local, national and international media stories. He recently returned from presenting a program on the issue in England, and is considering invitations to travel to Australia and several countries in Europe. *** Bowen said he never thought his decision to quit his leadership role in the church and go public with his concerns would have worldwide implications. *** "This was just a Kentucky thing when we started out," he said. "Now it seems to be on a global scale. The message is appealing to people around the world. " *** Bowen takes another step today in his struggle to make the church, which denies it has done anything wrong, change its policies. At 2 p. m. , he will lead a march of what he expects to be hundreds of protesters to the front steps of the church's Brooklyn, N. Y. , headquarters demanding a church hearing to investigate possible criminal cover-ups by the denomination's leadership. The church maintains that its policy meets legal requirements for reporting accused child abusers and that it does not protect them. *** The protest march will also feature the awarding of Courage Awards to some victims who have come forward publicly. *** "The organization to date has punished people that speak out on abuse," he said. "We wanted to create a program where these people are rewarded rather than treated bad for talking about abuse. " *** Bowen held a similar but smaller rally at the United Kingdom headquarters of the church in London earlier this month after addressing a conference on the issue in Wales. He also met with Ester Ranson, a child advocate who started Childline, a national hotline for children in distress in Britain. Bowen said Ranson offered her support for a scheduled march in England next spring. *** Bowen also used the trip to ask supporters in Europe to place "silent lambs" — stuffed animals with Xs over their mouths — on the doors of kingdom halls throughout the continent. Bowen said he is trying to have the toys placed on as many halls as possible to raise awareness in the congregations about the issue.

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
17:12:20
Comments
From: "silentlambs" <info@silentlambs. org> Date: Fri, 4 Oct 2002 10:43:49 -0500 To: <info@silentlambs. org> Subject: Governing Body In Trouble *** 10-4-02 *** Service Committee 25 Columbia Heights Brooklyn, NY 11201 *** Dear Brothers, *** On June 6, 2002 you were sent a formal request to establish a judicial hearing in order to hear serious allegations against the Governing Body. The basis for doing so was a letter submitted by JR Brown to Dateline regarding the willingness of the Governing Body to resolve differences following theocratic procedures with the brothers and sisters who appeared on the program. While this request was made in good faith and it is interesting to note immediately you brothers at the direction of the Governing Body mobilized judicial committees to disfellowship those who were bearing witness to the harm WT Policy on child abuse has caused. At my appeal hearing the only proof submitted of charges against me was the letter written to you to request a judicial hearing for the Governing Body. What authorization does a committee have to disfellowship a brother with eye witnesses to wrongdoing committed by another? Why have you chosen to not respond to any letters written addressing these charges? Is this due to weakness or wickedness? *** On September 27 I arrived at 25 Columbia Heights and at great expense we arranged for 125 eye witnesses to be there to provide substance to the allegations that the Governing Body is guilty of apostasy, loose conduct, and causing divisions within the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses. Your cowardly response was to ignore your brothers and sisters, lock the front gates and refuse to speak to any of those who came to bear witness. Was this due to weakness or wickedness? *** With the current the allegation that Theodore Jaracz is a child molester, this now brings to five the number of Governing Body members who are alleged child molesters. Your inaction to these allegations along with the lack of compassion offered to abuse survivors within the organization have given many brothers and sisters great cause for concern. The lack of one word of apology argues this conclusion further. Is there not one spiritual man left who works at Bethel? *** Therefore with the above matters being taken into consideration, it has been requested that I notify you of the following. *** 1. The Governing Body made up of the following eleven members; John E. Barr, 90, Carey W. Barber 98, Theodore Jaracz, 78, Gerritt Losch, 61, Milton Henschel, 83, Albert Schroeder, 92, Daniel Sydlik, 84, Samuel Herd, David Splane, Steve Lett, Guy Pierce, is summoned to appear at a judicial hearing at the Holiday Inn Express in Draffenville, Kentucky on October 27, 2002 at 2 P. M. *** 2. It has been alleged that you have been committed apostasy, loose conduct, and causing divisions by eye witnesses who are Jehovah's Witnesses in good standing. *** 3. The committee authorizes the Governing Body to notify William H. Bowen of your compliance with theocratic order within ten days of the receipt of this letter. *** The committee wishes to invite any elder currently serving who would like to assist on this judicial hearing to contact William H. Bowen to confirm your attendance. *** This letter makes the fifth attempt in offering counsel to properly address the problem of child protection in the organization. This counsel dates to December of the year 2000 with the actions of the Governing Body authorizing the minimizing of the wrong, ignoring the cry of abuse survivors and disfellowshipping those who try and support them. Once again the question that begs to be answered, is this due to weakness or wickedness? We humbly wait for the judicial committee to make that determination on October 27th. *** May we suggest that the Governing Body sincerely consider their actions to date turn around and manifest works of repentance. Their eternal life is in the balance as the judicial committee endeavors to determine the decision already made in heaven. Beg Jehovah for his spirit to allow the Governing Body to humbly submit to His will, set the example for all brothers and sisters by showing their submission to theocratic arrangement. *** Very Truly Yours, William H. Bowen silentlambs ***

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
17:15:53
Comments
How many of you elders (and other JWs) here are going to finally stand up for the victims, and assist in getting to the bottom of the problem with THE BROTHERS in Bethel? Now's your chance, since you missed out on the 9-27-02 March. Plan to be in Kentucky on 10-27-02. We are sure you will not hold back any longer, right? Thanks for your support. /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
20:36:07
Comments
From what I know of the "religion" Jehovas Witnesses. Bin Ladin have your way with it.

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
21:08:44
Comments
ARTICLE. *** From: "silentlambs" <info@silentlambs. org> Date: Fri, 4 Oct 2002 21:56:36 -0500 To: <info@silentlambs. org> Subject: Article *** Shooting the Messenger *** by Ken Adams ***<http://www. liberator. net/articles/AdamsKen/> *** (e-mail: KAdams@liberator. net) *** [October 3rd, 2002] *** http://www. liberator. net/articles/AdamsKen/shooting. html *** On July 24, 2002, organized religion took a major step backward. *** “Since molestation is not reported, either to the police or the congregation, these molesters often offend repeatedly; turning the Jehovah's Witness religion into what Bowen calls a 'paedophile paradise'. ” *** On this day, Bill Bowen was disfellowshipped (excommunicated) from the Jehovah's Witness religion. Disfellowshipping, also known as shunning, is the most serious punishment that can be imposed by Jehovah's Witnesses. Disfellowshipped ones are completely ostracized, often even by family members. *** His crime? For the last two years, Bill Bowen has been championing the rights of Jehovah's Witnesses who have suffered from child sexual molestation. He has provided a meeting place, where these ones can come for healing and support. In the process, he has unwittingly uncovered a massive scandal. *** While the problem of child sexual abuse exists in every society and every organization, Jehovah's Witnesses are unique. Here's why: *** They have their own judicial system. Whenever a Jehovah's Witness commits a serious sin, he is expected to confess it to an elder. If he does not confess, anyone who knows about his sin is required to turn him in. The elders will appoint a judicial committee of three persons who secretly hear the case and render judgment. That judgment ranges from disfellowshipping, to removal of certain congregation privileges, to a simple warning. Although the punishment may be public, no other details are ever revealed. *** They keep meticulous records of judicial actions, both at the local congregation level and at the national headquarters. So, if a judicial committee uncovers an illegal act, and does not report it, this failure is documented in their own records. *** If the sinner does not admit his wrongdoing, the elders follow the advice from Deuteronomy 19:15, which requires two witnesses for a conviction to be made. Child molestation rarely has two witnesses. *** The primary motive of this system is to keep the reputation of the congregation clean. This means that they consistently act in the best interests of the organization, rather than those of the victim. *** It is this fourth point that gets them into trouble. Following written instructions from the Brooklyn headquarters, local elders have consistently covered up child molestation. They have failed to report molesters to the police, even in states where this is mandatory. *** And worst of all, they have re-victimized the children by threatening them and their parents with expulsion if they continue with their accusations, after a judicial committee has dismissed them. On numerous occasions, the offender remains in good standing, able to continue with door-to-door preaching, while the victim is threatened, marginalizes, and even expelled. *** Since molestation is not reported, either to the police or the congregation, these molesters often offend repeatedly; turning the Jehovah's Witness religion into what Bowen calls a 'paedophile paradise'. This paradise has turned into an enormous problem for the organization. A researcher at Watchtower headquarters has come forward with the information that 23,720 child molestation cases are on file in Brooklyn. *** Several test cases are now before the courts. Victims in Washington, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Ontario are currently suing the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society for their failure to deal properly with the issue. If these cases are successful, the Jehovah's Witnesses could find themselves with a legal epidemic of Catholic proportions. *** The Jehovah's Witnesses have responded by denying all wrongdoing, making some slight improvements to reporting policies (although they still hold to the 'two witness' rule), and embarking on an aggressive campaign of shooting the messenger. *** Bill Bowen is not the only one disfellowshipped over this issue. Barbara Anderson, the former headquarters researcher who leaked the size of the problem, and Carl and Barbara Pandello (parents of a victim) have also been disfellowshipped. The rank and file has been warned to have no communication with these persons, and to stay away from their web site. *** For decades, Jehovah's Witnesses have hypocritically denounced other religions, particularly the Catholic Church, for corruption. *** Well, I guess what goes around, comes around. *** Resources and Avenues for Further Study *** · WATE: Ex-members Accuse Jehovah's Witnesses of Mishandling Alleged Child Molestation Cases <http://www. wate. com/Global/story. asp?S=950427> *** · Newsday: Ex-Jehovah's Witnesses Speak Out <http://www. newsday. com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-jehovahs-witnesses0926sep25,0,62254. story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines> *** · Miami Herald: Abuse charge against Church gets Jehovah's Witnesses Ousted <http://www. miami. com/mld/miamiherald/4163522. htm> *** · Google: Society: Religion and Spirituality: Opposing Views: Christianity: Jehovah's Witnesses <http://directory. google. com/Top/Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/Opposing_Views/Christianity/Jehovah%27s_Witnesses/> *** Liberator Homepage: http://www. liberator. net/articles/

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
21:22:45
Comments
Another Forum where you can discuss the JW child abuse policies: http://www. carmforums. org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard. cgi?az=read_count&om=1008&forum=DCForumID17&omm=11&viewmode=threaded

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
21:27:41
Comments
ANOTHER "NEW" FORUM recently created (which used to be the JustJWs group at msn); but is now called The Watchtower. Visit it here: http://www. theWatchtower. org/ -------------- Of all the categories, the one entitled DEBATE has the most posts.

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
22:53:40
Comments
I have been pretty upset with RJ and Ap, the crude crud and such. But I realize that they really make the witnesses look bad - and we have nothing to with it, they do it themselves without a word from us. So RJ and AP and hahahaha. . . . as representatives for the WTS you do a great job to validate everything said here about the WTS is true and then some.

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
22:58:44
Comments
Sincere question for RJ, who wrote to whoever, I guess the group at this site: "If you ever tone down your attacks on my brothers then maybe my mission in here will be done. RJ" ----- (We can only hope, eh RJ? <JOKING, RJ! Can ya take a joke???> ----- Seriously, here's the Q: Why do you feel you have to defend your brothers? (Did Jesus defend himself and his brothers?) Either way, we hereby personally INVITE YOU to ALL of the silentlambs EVENTS from now on so you may do just that (you should have come to the March). We would like you to come IN PERSON from now on, and defend your brothers before us IN PERSON. Please. Are you willing to do that? If so, you'd be a bigger man than the Governing Body, since they won't defend themselves IN PERSON before their accusers, but only via videotape and paper statements to press, online, etc. (I guess the only way we'll ever get to hear an IN PERSON "defense" from them would be in a courtroom). -- We look forward to seeing you and meeting you at the next Silentlambs Event, and hearing your defenses for your brothers IN PERSON. Sincerely/SLC

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
23:11:45
Comments
LAWSUITS being filed in SEVERAL STATES and CITIES across the nation. COMING SOON to a COURTROOM near YOU. . .

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
23:14:04
Comments
Another sincere Q for Elder RJ, et al: When a JW-sex-abuse trial is conducted in YOUR town, we would sincerely like to know: Will you sit in the courtroom on the side of the (JW) ABUSER or on the side of the (JW or DF'd) VICTIM? This is a sincere question in light of this comment by you. . . ----- RJ had written: "Also to those who proclaim me as the great GB defender, show me one post where I have ever condoned a molester or the act and/or the GB as infallible angels. " -----That sounds to me like you, as a respected member in your cong and in your community, would do the right thing when a trial is held in YOUR town, and you would go to the trial and show YOUR SUPPORT for the VICTIM by sitting on the side of the courtroom behind the VICTIM, whereas (most likely) the majority of your brothers/sisters would sit on the side of the ABUSER (as has happened in all the trials so far). So, really, how would YOU, as a JW/elder, etc. , deal with such a situation? Would you have the COURAGE in PERSON to support a VICTIM at a trial, as you seem to say you do [support victims and not abusers] in your post? Thank you for your honest reply. /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
23:25:58
Comments
One last comment for RJ who had previously written to John ----- "John . . . You know and I know a fight will never happen because neither of us know each other. For all you know I may be a 300lb brute or on the other hand you could be a 300lb brute. " ----- LOL! Yes, we don't know your physical size or strength, RJ, but I, personally, wouldn't want to go messing with John. He's no "runt," that's for sure. . . . he "towers over" me (I'm a runt in size), and believe it or not, he was quite the gentleman at the March. Too bad you didn't join us. I really think you would have a whole different perspective on everything, as the great vibes, feelings, bonding and camaraderie that was evident would have softened that rattlesnake attitude that you have sometimes. I hope both you guys chill out, shake virtual hands, and never come to blows. So whattaya say, RJ? Will we be seeing a change of heart in you from here on in? Thanks! I know you have it in you. /SLC (PS: Please start planning now for the next Silentlambs event. You can come "incognito" if you need to. At the restaurant after the March, I sat at a table with a lady who was in a dark wig --- she's naturally a blonde, she said --- because she didn't want to be recognized in the photos and/or news filmings, videos, etc. If you're FOR THE VICTIMS, then I bet you have as much courage as the lady with the wig, don't you?? We look forward to meeting you, toupe/beard/dark shades and all. ) Sincerely, SLC

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
23:33:32
Comments
WHOEVER WROTE THIS, I THANK YOU for your good reasoning powers. Yes, it took A LOT of effort to get to the March, v. all who sit back and continue to "offend the offended. " I second your APPLAUSE!!! /SLC ----- An Anonymous Person wrote: Date: 03 Oct 2002 Time: 17:49:14 Comments These JW defenders are offenders - for language and content. Free speech doesn't come free. One way of looking at the critics regarding the number of people who showed up from ALL OVER THE COUNTRY on 9/27 is that we only get two people out of the 6 million JWs to come here and they don't even have to leave home! And at least we acknowledge that they are here - we haven't locked the doors yet. We give them a chance to have their say no matter how offending which is better than the WTS who can't acknowledge a grave concern that does bring shame upon the christian congregation and the name of God and has ruined the lives of countless people. What effort does it take to turn on the computer and punch thoughtless offensive words of no concern????^^^^^^^^^^^ What effort does it take for 125 people to go to NY? A lot of effort and thoughtfulness, and time and money. ^^^^^^^^^ These two "guys" (RJ & AP)sit on their big butts AT HOME (two of them at most because they can't conjure up more support) and cannot lift a finger to defend the JW's but do lift a finger to offend the already offended. I say it is a poor showing to only have two butt heads with fingers on their keyboards compared to the 125 that showed up, traveled some for days to be at the March 9/27. RJ & AP can chide, deride, belittle all you want but your "numbers" are not even mentionable and the effort it takes to do this is even less mentionable. ****** Let's hear it for all those who contributed,organized, supported, actually went, the police that kept it safe, the stories told. . . CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! Good hands do good. Out of the mouth the heart speaks.

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
23:43:46
Comments
[the ANTI-john] -- DEFINITION: [an ANTI-human being]

Remote User:

Date:
04 Oct 2002
Time:
23:54:08
Comments
Thanks Rich! I guess a little vacation from this site, AND getting to be in NY at the March has given me a "second-wind," so to speak. :-) /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
05 Oct 2002
Time:
00:29:56
Comments
C'mon EVERYBODY! Clap your hands together now. . . Remember the MO-TOWN beat AND the Rhythm & Smooth-Moves, 'cuz HERE TONIGHT to perform for YOU, THE LAMBS, YES!! Ladies and Gentlemen!!! ENTERING the stage for your listening pleasure, THE GREAT, THE AWESOME, THE MAGNIFICENT. . . T-E-M-P-T-A-T-I-O-N-S!!! (Lovin' those fellas in their pale-blue suits, shiny shoes, harmonizing their voices ranging from one end of the music scale clear to the other!!) ANNOUNCING in the deep bass voice: THIS song is dedicated to YOU, and here we go now. . . . . . "Doo, do do do doooo, Doo do do do do dooooo. . . I Got SUNSHINE, On a CLOUDY Day. . . Doo do do do doooo, And When it's COLD Outside, I've Got the Month of MAY. . . Doo do do do do dooo! I Guess YOU Say, WHAT CAN MAKE ME FEEL THIS WAY?? MY LAMBS! MY LAMBS! Talkin' 'bout MY LAMBS!!!!!" ************************************************** Hey, THANKS to whoever wrote: "SLC. . . . . . you are a little sunshine on a gloomy day. Thanks for your time and effort. " ---- See how such a little nice comment like that INSPIRED ME? :-) It propelled me to get THE TEMPTATIONS here to do a song just for THE LAMBS! :-) :-) :-) :-) *********** Let this be a lesson for all of us! We get a lot more with HONEY than VINEGAR! Let's hear it for another chorus by The TEMPTATIONS. . . (anybody wanna take over for the next chorus???) ----- Thanks again! /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
05 Oct 2002
Time:
00:53:23
Comments
MISS PENNY (remember her from 1950's TV?) says, "Play NICE until I get back, or I'm going to have to put you kids in SEPARATE sandboxes. " ----- And Jesus Christ says, Whoever shows the most Christ-like ATTITUDE will receive the CROWN OF LIFE. ----- Signing off. 'Til next time. /SLC

Remote User:

Date:
05 Oct 2002
Time:
01:23:44
Comments
what happened to october??????????

Remote User:

Date:
05 Oct 2002
Time:
08:28:26
Comments
Please tell me the other 4 GB members who are known molesters? Bill referred to them in his latest letter. Bill and Barbara, I admire both of you. I have been a JW nearly 30 years. I am shocked and disappointed with the bad behavior of the GB. This is really a wake up call!

Remote User:

Date:
05 Oct 2002
Time:
09:24:00
Comments
Who are the other 4 alleged molesters on the GB? I am referring to Bill's letter to GB.

Remote User:

Date:
05 Oct 2002
Time:
12:10:18
Comments
Well, from what I can see, there are 2 primary issues that MUST be satisfactorily resolved. They are (1) The fact that the society does not interfere with local elders and let their decisions stand no matter how unjust or unscriptural they are and/or in the spirit that they made their decisions and (2) that they judge themselves and not to any committee like the rest of us have to experience and endure. They must oversee what the local elders do and rehear cases as unbiased and objective hearers. They must demonstrate superior scriptural knowledge and a clear knowledge of what their publications state in these matters -- not just a few choice quotes from a limited amount of articles (or only one article). They need to be familiar with the "new" information, too (e. g. , a woman doesn't necessarily have to scream in a rape). The second matter is how they are being judged when they do wrong and, in particular, who judges them. I think they should be subjected to a committee of local elders who do not know who they are and let them experience what a lot of others in our association experience -- ignorance, intolerance, unreasonableness, unsympathetic and heartless insensitivity (similar to what some of the ridiculers display here). I figured this out a long time ago and I believe it's true -- they like to let each one of us feel as though we're the only one having a problem (no matter what the problem is) and make us feel isolated from all the rest. That, in itself, changes our behavior and we isolate ourselves because we believe (for lack of compassionate caring and clarifying) that we're the only ones with the problem, too. This helps to sweep unpleasant matters under the rug. Several single parent sisters (all previously married and divorced by their husbands who ran off with other women), privately told me the same things that I'd heard from other sisters in the same "boat". My suggestion was that we all get together and go directly to the society -- then they would see that it isn't just one person having the same problem (in this case, from the same body of elders). The reaction was one of fear and, of course, they stayed away from me for quite some time after. One sister likes to tell me that she's learned how to deal with men and elders. She prides herself on her acquired skills. All I can see is that she's learned to forget she's a person with legitimate feelings and she acts as though she doesn't know how to do anything without having to tell the elders her difficulties and getting them to help her figure things out -- even though she already knows the answers. These mere mortal men "eat it up". They seem to only like sisters that flatter them and treat them as though they're the smartest and most wonderful man in the world. This is puke behavior to me. Women are people and they have minds and hearts and feelings -- all legitimate. How dare anyone, in or out of the truth, expect women to still behave in a manner that completely denies that they are not second-class to men and that they cannot function without a man's putting his opinion into everything that they do? They interviewed an expert on the Moslem religion and he stated that the Moslem religion holds women in high esteem. That the people (men and women) that are beating and murdering the women are uneducated and poor who have fallen to very low standards in life and do not represent their religion. Perhaps that's what we have -- men and women who are uneducated and poor and still behave as a bunch of savage villagers rather than enlightened men and women who truly are educated by Jehovah God and understand his higher standards governing men and women who genuinely understand him. This sure isn't attitudes and behavior from people who respect Jehovah and his creations -- including women and children. I say hand them over to local elders who don't know their identity and let them do with them what they do to the rest of us who don't "know" anyone or "are" anyone in or out of this organization. THAT would most likely be the best lesson for them. Maybe THEN they would see that this is a system that is unjust and needs to be revamped.

Remote User:

Date:
05 Oct 2002
Time:
13:10:13
Comments
QUESTION TO ADMINISTRATORS Can someone break this guest book into months again?It takes me 5 minutes to get to the new messages. Thank You

Remote User:

Date:
05 Oct 2002
Time:
16:34:34
Comments
RE: 2 primary issues. You wrote an insightful and factual account of a situation that only a true insider can know. I have only one point of disagreement with your essay------ 1) The fact that the society does not interfere with local elders and let their decisions stand no matter how unjust or unscriptural they are and/or in the spirit that they made their decisions. Actually some of the worst decisions are made with much input from the society. Remember Bill Bowen's call to the legal dept regarding an abused child? He was told to not get involved. In our hall the terrible treatment of a little abuse victim was done with the society's approval. Our body of elders told us their hands were tied, as they had to follow WT guidelines. Did you read JR Brown's recent comments regarding a woman needing to scream if she was not to be viewed a guilty of fornication during a rape? Watchtower has continued to train elders to believe that they are superior and will be rewarded as Princes in the Earth, that they deserve a double measure of respect, etc. All theses perks are used to allow good men to over ride their consciences and do the bidding of an evil corporation. Sorry as sad as it is, but the Watchtower Society is much more guilty than any local body of elders. Nancy Naranjoy

Remote User:

Date:
05 Oct 2002
Time:
17:38:15
Comments
I'm mortified but by far not surprised at what goes on behind the closed doors of the Jehovah sect. There is JW's in my family, but my parents and I are not part. . All religion these days seem to have this happening and so I make the choice not to believe in anything. I really feel for you people out there suffering because of the ways of the religions you were born into. I cannot begin to understand how that makes you feel, I really do not know what to say. . . I feel sorry for you although it is not my fault, I feel sorry because I am part of a race, humans, that condone such things. I. . . I don't know what to say. . . but I'm sorry.

Remote User:

Date:
05 Oct 2002
Time:
18:01:48
Comments
To above poster- I hope that you have faith in you. In the ones that you love. I hope that you would stand with them and they you. We are all that we have. Believing that your actions have consequences and the ability to take responsibility for those actions without assigning blame to others goes a long ways to explaining what the true meaning of faith is. Religion or "religious law" without justice is good for little else than toilet paper. -Jayson

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