Jehovah's Witnesses link to UN
queried
Sect accused of hypocrisy over association with
organisation it has demonised.
Stephen Bates, religious affairs correspondent
Monday October 8, 2001
The Guardian
The United Nations is being asked to investigate
why it has granted associate status to the
Jehovah's Witnesses, the fundamentalist
US-based Christian sect, which regards it as the
scarlet beast predicted in the Book of Revelation.
Disaffected members of the 6m-strong group,
which has 130,000 followers in the UK, have
accused the Witnesses' elderly governing body of
hypocrisy in secretly accepting links with an
organisation that they continue to denounce in
apocalyptic terms. The UN itself admitted
yesterday that it was surprised that the sect,
whose formal name is the Watchtower Bible and
Tract Society of New York, had been accepted on
its list of non-governmental organisations for the
last 10 years.
A former member said: "There is a glaring
inconsistency which has emerged between the
WTBTS's frequent portrayal of the UN as an evil
organisation and its behind-the-scenes attempts
to curry favour with that organisation. Were
individual members to be aware of any formal
link they would be devastated. "By no stretch of
the imagination could the WTBTS be considered
to share the ideals of the UN charter unless you
suppose that destruction of the UN by God is
consistent with that charter."
The Witnesses, most frequently encountered by
non-members when they attempt to make
doorstep conversions, have faced accusations of
bad faith before. These have been most notably
over the hierarchy's insistence that members
should not accept blood transfusions and over
accusations that sexual abuse of children by
Witnesses' ministers in the US have been
covered up. Followers who criticise the
Witnesses' leaders or question their decisions are
routinely "disfellowshipped" which means fellow
members including their families must shun
them.
An obscure and ill-publicised decision by the
hierarchy in New York last year modifying the
prohibition on transfusions by deeming that God
had revealed to them that transfusions of some
blood components might be acceptable, providing
there was later repentance, has come too late for
many hundreds of followers known to have died
because they refused blood. In child abuse cases,
the hierarchy insists there must be two
independent witnesses - an almost impossible
stipulation - before accusations are investigated.
The Watchtower Society has been denouncing
the UN and its predecessor the League of Nations
for 80 years, believing them to be a world empire
of false religion, predicted in the Book of
Revelation. A recent publication since the
organisation obtained its recognition describes
the UN as "a disgusting thing in the sight of God
and his people".
In an internal document, the WTBTS describes
its policy as a "theocratic war strategy". It claims:
"In time of spiritual warfare it is proper to
misdirect the enemy by hiding the truth. It is
done unselfishly; it does not harm anyone; on the
contrary it does much good."
Being a recognised NGO with the United Nations
- as more than 1,500 organisations are - gives
status though not grants. To qualify,
organisations must show that they share the
ideals of the charter, operate on a non-profit
basis, "demonstrate interest in UN issues and
proven ability to reach large or specialised
audiences" and have the commitment and means
to conduct effective information programmes
about UN activities.
Disaffected Witnesses believe that the
association, which has not been publicised to
followers, is intended to increase the cult's
respectability to sceptical governments, such as
France's, which have refused to recognise it.
Paul Gillies, the Witnesses' spokesman in Britain,
said: "We do not have hostile attitudes to
governing bodies and if we are making
representations on issues to the UN we will do
so." "There are good and bad bodies just as there
are good and bad politicians. We believe what the
Book of Revelation tells us but we do not actively
try to change the political system." A
spokeswoman for the UN said: "I think we may
not be aware of their attitude, which seems to be
really strange."