From: smith_w@apollo.hp.com (Walter Smith)
Subject: Re: JWs Child Custody booklet, and why a judge might have felt it promoted "untrue" testimony under oath
Summary: Say one thing to insiders, another to outsiders...
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Corporation, Chelmsford, MA
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 12:02:56 GMT

This thread is dealing with a booklet put together by the Watchtower
Bible and Tract Society, the parent corporation of the Jehovah's Witnesses.
The booklet is to aid JWs and their lawyers prepare for child custody
cases; specifically, how to deal with the issue of their religion
and how it affects who will get custody of the children, the JW parent,
or the non-JW parent.

In a custody case in Kansas, the judge awarded custody of an 8-yr
old boy to the non-JW father.  As part of his ruling, he said:
1) that the JWs booklet "recommends 'untrue' testimony under oath",
   also, that the booklet instructs adherents of the group on how
   to testify so as to conceal from the courts the true limitations
   and restrictions placed upon the children.
2) The value structure and lifestyle of the JWs is enforced upon
   children by fear and emotional and social pressure and coercion,
   and fosters in its adherents low self-esteem and a disdain and
   mistrust of all other religions, professional and governmental
   institutions.
3) The lifestyle and value structure imposed upon children by the 
   Jehovah's Witnesses is emotionally abusive and may be physically
   detrimental to the children.
                                             
When this was posted to talk.religion.misc, 2 of the Jehovah's
Witnesses on the group responded by saying that the judge's
decision was "garbage".  So, to show where the judge may have been
left with such an impression, I'm reproducing parts of the
booklet, and following the statements in the booklet with
related statements from other JW literature.

This is the section of the booklet dealing with the questioning
of JWs who are children. First, the intro:

===================================================================

Direct Examination & Responses for young witnesses

Evidence of young people:
    This can be used to show that they are normal.  Identify and
interview young people from local congregations who have been 
raised as Jehovah's Witnesses and, in the eyes of the presiding
overseer, are spiritually minded but also enjoy the normal healthy
things that young people do.  They don't have to be competitive to
enjoy sports.  Be careful that they don't get the impression that 
they are in a demonstration at the circuit assembly, when they
would show that the first things in life are service and going
to the Kingdom Hall.  Show hobbies, crafts, social activities,
sports, and especially plans for the future.   Be careful they
don't all say that they are going to be pioneers.  Plans can
be trade, getting married and having children, journalism, and
all kinds of other things.  maybe you can show an interest in art
and theater.  They must be clean, moral, honest, but with interests
that you would expect from other young people.
=====================================================================

What jumps out at me is the awareness on the part of the JW writer
that they want to portray a different set of values and goals
to the court than they would to other members of the group.
If the kids were in a demonstration at a JW assembly, they
would be expected to say that serving as a JW is the first
thing in life, that their plans for the future are to be
full-time door-to-door JW workers instead of going to college,
etc.  But in court, because they want to portray JW children
as being brought up "normal", with "normal" values and aspirations.

This is what Jehovah's Witness children are taught about what they
should do with their future, and what things should come first
in their lives:

Following are pertinent statements from the JWs Watchtower magazine:

"What does it mean to be spiritually progressive?  It means being like
young Jesus and Timothy, who put spiritual interests first in their
lives.  If you are spiritually progressive, you will know what you 
want to do with your life.  You will not say, "I'll begin to think
seriously about serving Jehovah when I get older."  No, you will
serve him NOW! (italics in the booklet) 
(WT, 8/15/87, p.15)

"if so, then is it not proper that you do all you can in Jehovah's
service?  And would that not include, for at least many more of
you, volunteering to serve at Bethel homes or to engage in the
pioneer work?" 
(WT, 8/1/86 p.20)

"But for us who are alert to the significance of world events in
the light of Bible prophecy, there are much stronger reasons for not
putting a worldly career foremost in life.  We might compare ourselves
to a person that sees a building with a sign: "This Company Going out
of business"  Would we seek employment there?  Of course not!  And 
if we worked for such a company, we would wisely look for employment
elsewhere.  Well, the sign is evident everywhere on this world's
institutions: "going out of business - End Near!"...relatives and friends
who, as they put it, want the best for you.  'You have to earn a living',
they may say.  So they may advise you to get a college or university
education to prepare yourself for a well-paying profession...The physician
Luke never encouraged Christians to follow his former career example...
Evidently Luke became a physician BEFORE he learned about Christ, but afterward
put his Christian ministry first in life."
(WT, 8/15/87, pp.11-12)

"As you think about your future, no doubt questions run through your mind.
Should I go to a university and seek a career as a doctor, a lawyer, or
a scientist?...Or, as a youth devoted to Jehovah God, should I choose
the full-time ministry as my lifetime career, thus 'remembering my Creator
in the days of my youth'?"
(WT, 4/15/86, p.28)

"As Harry increased his Bible knowledge, the goal of pursuing a university
education and teaching career lost their appeal.  He quit college, got a
part-time job, was baptized, and soon qualified to become a pioneer - a full
time preacher...The contageous spirit had rubbed off on the younger ones.
By the time they reached high school, practically all of them had set full-time
service as their goal.  At 13 years of age, one sister decided to pioneer.
She said, "It seemed like the natural thing to do."  She and the other youths
in the congregation never gave a serious second thought to anything else."
(ibid, p.28,30)

"As for myself, I now have the joy to serve as a regular pioneer and that is
my wish for all young people."
(WT, 4/1/79 p. 14)

##############################################################################

If you were a judge in a child custody case involving Jehovah's Witnesses, 
how would you react to this?  The JWs booklet telling the kids to not
say that service is first in their lives, and then example after example
of the kids being told that the "right thing to do" is to forgo college
in favor of service, to put service first in their life.  The same booklet
telling the children not to say that they all are going to be pioneers,
and then example after example of the children being taught that they
*should* be pioneers?

What sort of effect does this sort of thing have on children?  It
teaches them that it is OK to be untruthful to those outside the
group, even if it is a judge, and even if you have sworn on the
Bible to tell the truth.  

Walter Smith
smith_w@apollo.hp.com