WHY WOULD THEY LIE?
When the Watchtower Society wants to gain something from any government, they
do whatever they need to do to get it their way. They compromise on any subject,
and they lie directly without blinking. Just take a look at this letter -
Ministry of Culture
Preparatory Committee of Religious Society
of Jehovah's Witnesses JUDr. P. Zeman July 30, 1993
Prague
Registration of the religious community of Jehovah's Witnesses
Dear director;
This is an answer to your letter of June 28, 1993, where you expressed some
objections to the basic principles of work of Jehovah Witnesses and where you
asked three questions we are to answer:
1. Relations between communities disbanded by the Ministry of Home Affairs on
April 4, 1949 and the religious Society of Jehovah's Witnesses will be formed
in a new way with respect to your letter.
2. Article VIII, paragraph 2 will be modified as follows: "Community can
establish its premises with legal subjectiveness/independence. Details will
be given in the foundation document."
3. Article VIII, paragraph 1 will be modified with respect to your suggestion
as follows: "The religious Society possesses the legal subjectiveness and
the Committee is its statutory body. To make legal documents valid, signatures
of at least two members of committee are required."
Questions given in your letter can be answered as follows:
Question 1: Does the Society of Jehovah's Witnesses teach that a parent, member
of the Society, is to defend his child which has not yet come of age from being
given blood transfusions in such a case when, in opinion of the doctors, the
refusal of blood transfusions can cause health damage or death?
The answer: No, the Society does not teach that
Detailed commentary: The teaching of the Society of Jehovah's Witnesses is based
on the Bible that only briefly encourages the Christians to "abstain from
blood" (Acts 15, 29.29). It is not the aim of the Society to control
lives of individuals who are its members and to tell them what they must and
cannot do in extreme life situations. Generally we can say that Christian parents
wish for their children the best medical care possible and that Society of Jehovah's
Witnesses highly respects the achievements of medicine. If parents turn to the
Society of Jehovah's Witnesses for advice, the Society cannot give them any
medical instructions. They can, however, be informed about hospitals that provide
successfull bloodless (with artificial blood) medical procedures. Such information
taken from scientific medical literature and from references to renowned physicians
of all branches of medicine has helped solve possible conflicts between parents
and physicians in thousands of cases around the world. The Society of Jehovah's
Witnesses will gladly help both parents and doctors by providing them the necessary
information.
Question 2: Does the Society of Jehovah's Witnesses teach that a member of the
Society of Jehovah's Witnesses cannot start or serve in the basic military service,
or compensatory service and participate in military exercises as given in the
military law No 49/1949?
The answer: No, the Society of Jehovah's Witnesses do not teach that.
Commentary: In this matter we can refer to the short biblical commandment: "You
shall love your neighbour as yourself" (Matthew 22,39). With respect to
the Document of Basic Rights and Freedoms the Society of Jehovah's Witnesses
appreciates that Article 15, paragraph 3 of this document gives the right to
any citizen to refuse military service if this is against his conscience or
religious conviction.
Question 3: Does the Society of Jehovah's Witnesses teach that a member of the
Society shall not start compensatory civic service according to the law No 18/1992
about compensatory military service and the law No 135/1993?
Answer: No, the Society does not teach that.
Commentary: Bible does not say anything about compensatory civic service. In
connection to this point we can only say that the Society of Jehovah's Witnesses
generally encourage the obedience of laws but does not say to others what they
should do in particular cases. If somebody's conscience does not allow him to
do civic service, it is his personal responsibility before God and laws of his
country. The Society of Jehovah's Witnesses as a legal subject cannot assume
the responsibility that according to the laws of the country belongs to individuals.
However when we found out that there were some problems in several cases that
might have been prevented, we contacted the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
This step helped to mutual understanding. The report from the meeting of June
7 1993 says: "Both sides have the interest to solve plausible contradictory
questions within the limits of the law. . . . In case of need they can ask (a
representative of the preparatory committee of the Society) and require explanation.
We are awaiting your decision.
Yours
On the behalf of the Preparatory Committee
Eduard Sobicka
Ondrej Kadlec (??Name hard to read)
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