Jehovah Witness Elder Clergy Privilege Guide

     The Watchtower denomination has known about clergy privilege since 1989 per Watchtower Body of Elders letters. The following diagram is from a 1991 elder's manual. Please see the diagram below

This diagram is for informational purpose only. This site does not engage in the routine posting of copyrighted JW holy writ as some anticultists do. Do not copy and/or distribute this document. This document is copyrighted and we will assist the authorities in any copyright violations

The Anticult Movement-Agents of Chaos

    My experience with the anticult movement (ACM) started in 1996 when I met ACM activist Walter Shiel. Walter Shiel was on the board of a large ACM organization called Cult Awareness Network (CAN). CAN collapsed under the weight of a lawsuit around the time I started. This gave rise to various ACM organizations. 

    I left the Jehovah's Witnesses in anger, which started with mistreatment by an elder. I took this single mistreatment and blamed the whole religion. It took me years to recover from this mistreatment, and now I will never go back. I officially left when a legitimate social issue arose: pedophile problems. I could not believe what was being done and how the Jehovah's Witnesses treated the entire problem as collateral damage.

    My advent from the ACM came in three stages. Two were ideological, and one was social.

1. Stage one. In the early 2000's I was introduced to human rights through three documents called the International Bill of Human Rights. These three documents are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, along with its optional protocols. The ACM seemed at odds with the international bill, particularly the deprogramming process. Deprogramming involved forcing a person to recant his "cultic" beliefs
2. Stage two. This involves the brainwashing model used to sometimes justify deprogramming. Brainwashing emphasizes that a person's identity is changed or repressed. One day in the early 2000s, I checked the scientific literature to see what it said about brainwashing. It said zero. That is because the brainwashing model is not scientific. A person can be socialized, but his identity cannot be changed.
3. Stage three. This was the most emotional part and started in 2005. Walter Shiel had a kiddie porn video, which bothered me a little bit. It was a video stolen from a "cult's" storage unit to use against them. At the same time, Walter planned and carried out a deprogramming on me for studying Wicca. I started talking about him. No one listened, and those affiliated with Wally stopped socializing with me. This is ironic that they would do that because these very same people accused the Jehovah's Witnesses of being the same way. In the end, I was accused of stalking and booted from the ACM. I had already had a difference of opinion with the ACM. It was only a matter of time before it erupted into something heated.

    Now I study the science of cults and sects, not the ACM way. The ACM way is not scientific and not human rights friendly. More to come...

We Have Gone International

    This is unexpected. This is a site focusing on Watchtower pedophile issues in  Arizona. It now has international traffic quite a bit. Maybe the international community is interested in the plight of Arizona. If you live outside the United States and you are looking for information but cannot find it on our site. Send us an email. We will try to get the information to you. Thanks for visiting

My Disassociation Letter

     Below is my disassociation letter. No one is ever officially gone until a JW disassociates himself or herself. I never felt the need to do so because I reasoned 'why should I comply with the Watchtower by disassociating my self. I have been an "inactive" JW for 25 years. I now have a reason to disassociate myself, but not to comply with their process of disassociation. I want to communicate with the Watchtower. I will not even remotely affiliate with a "pedophile paradise." I am not a famous person so I do not expect the media to be beating on my door, but I just cannot do nothing. I want it to be known to the Watchtower that I am disassociating myself because they treat child sexual abuse issues like collateral damage. A copy of this letter is below

Prince vs. Massachusetts- The Start of Watchtower Child Abuse

   During World War II, the Jehovah's Witness faith community defended its freedom of religion before the U.S. Supreme Court, of which has set precedents for the late 20th and  early 21st centuries. What about that one the Watchtower did not win? What precedent has Prince vs. Massachusetts set? This post will detail the history of the Prince case rather than provide a legal analysis as the poster is not an attorney.

     Even though she lost the case, Sarah Prince needs to be thanked. Her loosing the case helped set a precedent in protecting children. This case centers around Mrs. Prince taking her niece out in her Watchtower proselytizing work.

     Two of the three convictions were upheld. For one, she was charged with breaking a Massachusetts child labor law that reads, "No boy under twelve and no girl under eighteen shall sell, expose or offer for sale any newspapers, magazines, periodicals or any other articles of merchandise of any description, or exercise the trade of bootblack or scavenger, or any other trade, in any street or public place."  The rest of the statute prohibited sales to minors for resale or trade, and other legal guardians from forcing a minor to participate in sales or trading.

     In a 5-4 decision Justice Rutledge stated that "[t]he family itself is not beyond regulation in the public interest, as against a claim of religious liberty. And neither the rights of religion nor the rights of parenthood are beyond limitation…. The right to practice religion freely does not include the right to expose the community or the child to communicable disease or the latter to ill-health or death..." The Dissenting opinion offered by Justice Murphy said, ""Religious freedom is too sacred a right to be restricted or prohibited in any degree without convincing proof that a legitimate interest of the state is in grave danger."

 This Supreme Court case is also significant even though Mrs. Prince's convictions were upheld. Religion is no excuse to mistreat children. Forcing children to go out and preach, and treating child sexual abuse cases as collateral damage must stop. Jehovah's Witnesses are not above the law (Romans 13:1), and children must be protected from this Watchtower abuse

Watchtower Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Blog Briefing

     On April 7, 2020 at 6:52 pm, My wife and I published a blog briefing about Jehovah's Witness child sexual abuse. What is significant about this briefing is it took place while all JW's were celebrating their holiday The Lord's Evening Meal. The Lord's Evening Meal, or The Memorial is the Watchtowers interpretation of communion. The Memorial is an annual observance for Jehovah's Witnesses

  There is another Memorial we can celebrate too. Jehovah's Witness child sexual abuse survivors must be remembered and advocated.

     Every year during the Watchtower's memorial season is to be designated Jehovah's Witness Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Month

 

Current Watchtower Child Sexual Abuse Policy

     The links below are to the Watchtower Society's current child sexual abuse policy. There are minor changes. Some of the changes indicate an effort is being made in writing, but whether Jehovah's Witness elders will follow this direction is the main concern. Please click links below

November 6, 2014 Legal Matters BOE 
September 1, 2017 Child Abuse BOE