AAWA.co | An international association providing support for those affected by the Watchtower Society.

Who Is There to Fear?

Contributed by: Ruben Ortiz

“An apostate walks into Bethel…”

Bo Juel inside Brooklyn Bethel
[Click for larger versions]

Nope – that is not a joke.

During his recent visit to the United States on March 21, 2014, Bo Juel Jensen brazenly walked into the Watchtower’s headquarters in Brooklyn Heights, New York and obtained a copy of the large version of the new New World Translation.

When Bo was also offered a Bible study by one of Bethel’s workers, he respectfully informed him that he was a principal volunteer with AAWA (Advocates for Awareness of Watchtower Abuses), even handing him his AAWA business card. The look he received from the Bethelite is priceless.

Continue reading this article…

Pedophile Warning Flyer Available in Spanish

AAWA’s very popular “Who is knocking at your door?” single page handout is now available in Spanish on our Flyers and Handouts page. A quick link is listed under Publications in our header menu.

Jose Perez, one of our valued multilingual volunteers, was kind enough to translate for us and arrange to make it available in PDF format.

If you want a text or Word document version of the flyer, please contact webmaster@aawa.co and he will arrange to get you the version you need.

Continue reading this article…

How the Watchtower Justifies its Crimes

Contributed by: Louise Goode

It was not the kind of decision that the Watchtower Society expected, as successfully justifying its crimes to members and courtrooms is almost taken for granted by the leaders of this high-control religious group.

But that’s exactly what happened on 13th June 2012 in the Superior Court of California when Candace Conti triumphed in her civil law case involving child sexual abuse by a member from her Jehovah’s Witness congregation. General damages of $7 million were awarded to Miss Conti. Costs were split between the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York Inc. (27%), the North Fremont Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses (13%), and Jonathan Kendrick, the abuser (60%).

On 14th June 2012 Candace was awarded additional damages of $21 million. One hundred percent of that award was to be paid by the Watchtower Society, punishing them for their policies which permitted the concealing of pedophiles within the congregation.

On 17th July 2012 the defendants requested the judge to overrule the jury’s verdict and order a new trial in the same court.

Continue reading this article…

Debunking Watchtower Misinformation For and About Women

Contributed by: Sue Hall

I was recently reminded of the damaging effect of Watchtower misinformation about women, and how and why many Jehovah’s Witness women do the things they do. My reminder occurred whilst reading a blog in which a woman made a comment trying to defend a convicted JW child molester. Not only was her defense poorly written, she also believed that everything written about this guy was a lie. The fact that he had experienced a jury trial and was now serving time in prison didn’t appear to register with her.

Her response made me ponder. What kind of misinformation must this woman have assimilated whilst growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness? It also led me to question why she and so many JW women like her find themselves attracted to manipulative and controlling men.

Continue reading this article…

Ex-JWs: Stop Respecting the Watchtower’s Wishes

Contributed by: Jeni Lundblom–Valdez

In a few weeks, it will be twelve years since I cut ties with the Watchtower.

After committing the defiant act of standing up for myself and not accepting the elder’s advice, I became “a problem” and “a rebel.” The elders formed a judicial committee to set me straight, but I paid no attention. By refusing to attend their judicial hearing and my unwillingness to coöperate, the result was an in absentia guilty verdict and they disfellowshipped me.

To this day, I’ve never begged for forgiveness, feigned repentance, or alluded to the possibility that I might ever return. That will never happen. Taking my leave the way I did was my act of defiance – my way of giving the Watchtower the proverbial “middle finger.”

Continue reading this article…

Petition: Protecting the Rights of Children

Late Friday evening (February 21, 2014) AAWA launched its second grievance petition on Causes.com. This petition focuses on protecting the rights of children.

Are you aware that mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse by clergy and religious leaders of faith-based institutions is required by law in only 40% of the states and territories of the United States?

That means that 60 percent of American children — innocent children — are not protected within their own churches, temples and Kingdom Halls. Why is this the case? Don’t you agree that reporting suspected and confirmed child sexual abuse to the authorities must be mandatory – especially by all institutions of trust that engage with our children?

Continue reading this article…

A Statement by David Clohessy of SNAP

For 25 years I’ve been the director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We have more than 15,000 members across the globe in all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. And we’ve helped victims, witnesses and whistleblowers in other institutional contexts too, like athletic programs and Scouting and summer camps.

I can’t recall ever seeing a policy anywhere that is more predator-friendly and self-serving than the Watchtower’s “two witnesses” rule. On its face, it is dangerous and callous. If any crime is likely to have no witnesses, it is child sexual abuse. If the law enforcement community adopted this rule only a handful of child predators would be charged, convicted and imprisoned every year.

One wonders if this rule means that Jehovah’s Witness officials do nothing even when they hear about another JW official admitting to molesting kids.

Continue reading this article…

Saving My Life With A Blood Transfusion

Contributed by: Anna Macaluso

At the tender age of ten, I began having gastrointestinal symptoms so severe that I required repeated medical attention. A year later, when the doctor could not figure out was wrong, she recommended a specialist, a gastroenterologist, who diagnosed me with Ulcerative Colitis and prescribed several medications, one being Prednisone.

During a routine checkup at the age of twelve, my doctor noticed that my liver and spleen were severely enlarged. After doing lab work and finding that my liver enzymes were extremely high, he wanted to do more testing, one of those tests being a liver biopsy. Because I was so young, the doctor wanted to see firsthand what my liver looked like, which would mean some serious cutting. My father asked for advice from a liaison committee of Jehovah’s Witness Elders, and based on their recommendation, he quickly put a stop to that idea. He believed such surgery would put me at risk for needing a blood transfusion, which is forbidden by the Watch Tower Society.

Several months later, my father agreed to a liver biopsy by needle. I remember on the day of the procedure one of the elders and his wife were at the hospital. At the last minute my father panicked and almost would’t allow the procedure. Finally, after much pleading with him that I needed to know what was wrong with me, he okayed the biopsy.

The diagnosis was Autoimmune Hepatitis and Cirrhosis of the Liver – the final stage of liver disease – pretty serious stuff.

Continue reading this article…