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Donate for Watchtower Blood Lawsuit

Donate for Watchtower Blood Lawsuit

I’ve made a donation myself and I hope that you can send any amount via PayPal or postal service. It’s a reasonable fund-raising goal and I think it is very important to support this case. One man against the whole legal apparatus of the Watchtower Society is facing a hard road but there is a chance here for some amount of accountability. Here is the letter from Barbara Anderson:

Dear Friends,

For those unfamiliar with Lawrence Hughes, he’s a 55-year-old Canadian (Calgary, Alberta) architectural technician whose 16-year-old daughter Bethany was diagnosed in February 2002 with acute myeloid leukemia. The conventional treatment is chemotherapy with blood transfusions, treatment resisted by the Hughes family because they were Jehovah’s Witnesses. It was late afternoon, Feb. 13, 2002, when Lawrence Hughes and his wife were told by the local Hospital Liaison Committee (HLC) of Jehovah’s Witnesses that the Watch Tower Society (Jehovah’s Witnesses Corporate head) had already dispatched lawyers who were on their way to Calgary to represent the family.

In the hospital, Witnesses were standing guard in shifts in Bethany’s hospital room, to make sure no one forced Bethany to take blood, choking the corridor and pressing religious tracts on everybody. Hughes says Watch Tower representatives promised Bethany her resistance would be celebrated in the church publication Awake! That magazine, in the mid-1990s, fed a thirst for martyrdom with a cover showing the smiling photos of 26 “Youths Who Put God first,” by dying after refusing treatment.

After obtaining medical opinions, the Director of Child Welfare appealed to the Provincial Court to gain control of Bethany’s medical treatment. Control was granted on February 18, 2002 and medical treatment commenced over the objections of Bethany. By this time Lawrence Hughes was supportive of the blood transfusion treatment, but his wife was opposed.

The order was appealed but dismissed because the Court concluded that the treatment was in Bethany’s best interests. The Court determined Bethany to be a mature minor and entitled to be consulted, but decided that she was not in a position to make independent decisions about her treatment.

Shane Brady and David Gnam are Watch Tower attorneys and also Jehovah’s Witnesses. They represented Bethany and her mother in the appeal. Hughes endeavored to have them removed as counsel for Bethany on allegations of conflict of interest but was defeated. Brady and Gnam appealed to the Court of Appeal to stop the transfusions, but their appeal was dismissed. Also, leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada was refused.

By July 2, 2002, Bethany received some 80 transfusions, but the treatment was not effective and the doctors decided no more transfusions for Bethany. By her insistence, she was discharged from Alberta Children’s Hospital on July 13, 2002 and immediately sought an alternate form of treatment, namely, arsenic trioxide and Vitamin C, at Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton under the care of Drs. Turner and Belch. Bethany died September 5, 2002.

When Lawrence Hughes rejected Jehovah’s Witnesses teachings on blood transfusions and agreed to allow Bethany to undergo transfusions during her chemotherapy treatments, this, in effect, destroyed his marriage and he was shunned by Jehovah’s Witnesses. He and his wife divorced, October 2003.

After the court approved Hughes as an administrator of his daughter’s estate, he began litigation in 2004 on behalf of his daughter’s estate and in his own right against: Shane Brady, David Gnam, Merrill Morrell, Thomm Bokor, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Canada, Dr. A. Robert Turner, Dr. Andrew Belch, Cross Cancer Institute, and Alberta Cancer Board in a $1-million wrongful death suit. He alleged, amongst other things, inappropriate treatment of his daughter by the doctors at Cross Cancer institute; a conspiracy to prevent her from getting the proper treatment, and undue influence of his daughter causing her to withhold her consent to appropriate medical treatment.

In February 2006, the Watch Tower Society and its lawyers brought an action to strike out the statement of claim. Subsequently, the court struck out all of Hughes claims. He appealed the decision. On September 1, 2007, the Appeal Court agreed with the lower court except on two major claims—that Hughes has the right to sue the Watch Tower and its attorneys for deceit and misrepresentation; (Hughes contends that it was the attorneys who convinced Bethany, a minor, to go with the arsenic treatment. They misrepresented the benefits of withholding blood transfusions by pointing out to her that chemotherapy/blood transfusion protocol for her leukemia was experimental, which the high court stated was not.) Previously, in the lower court, Hughes had been removed as administrator of Bethany’s estate, but the Appeal Court ruled that Hughes should be restored as administrator. The decisions meant that Hughes could proceed with his legal action on behalf of his daughter’s estate over allegations the church’s influence hastened her death. Part of his argument will be that his daughter’s death certificate states her death was due to arsenic poisoning.

A while back, producers at the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) Television Network planned to do a documentary on Lawrence Hughes’s case, but changed their minds when his lawsuit was thrown out. However, when he appealed the lower court decision, and the Court of Appeal overturned the previous decision in Hughes favor, re-instating him as the Administer Ad Litem of his daughter’s estate (being Administrator Ad Litem now gives him certain powers that places him in a good position legally), CBC producers once again contacted him to say they were interested in doing the one hour documentary.

As his daughter’s representative in behalf of her estate, Hughes asked Bethany’s lawyers to give him a list of the documents they possess in her file which relate to the “wrongful death” lawsuit that he has filed against them and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, Inc. of Canada, who they also represent. However, the attorneys are claiming Client/Counsel Privilege and refuse to provide an Affidavit of Records or give him pertinent documents. The hearing was April 16th and now he’s waiting for the decision. However, the court did rule Defendants can’t introduce videos taken of Bethany into the next court hearing, May 29th, where their application for Summary Judgment is to be argued.

If Lawrence Hughes loses Summary Judgment, the lawsuit will be dead. This means that CBC may decide not to do a documentary. It is very important that Hughes receive donations to hire an attorney. Hughes, representing himself, was in court as many as five times in the past few months. The attorney who was assisting him is running for political office and no longer has time for Hughes lawsuit. There is a law firm that has expressed interest in representing him but requires a retainer of $5,000. Simply put, Lawrence Hughes is broke and worn out. He has spent nearly $50,000, some of that money being donated. Because the Watchtower lost the decision at the Appeal Court level, under Canadian law the loser has to pay all the other side’s cost of litigation. Within a few months, with an attorney’s assistance, Hughes will be able to collect his past expenses from Watchtower and should be able to carry on with future expenses of the lawsuit without further donations—that is—if he wins Summary Judgment.

Simply put, right now Hughes is not able to pay any attorney a $5,000 retainer, and without the money, an attorney will not take the case. Not having an attorney to represent him means he will most likely lose the court hearing at the end of May. This could end CBC’s interest in doing a one hour documentary for TV.

Lawrence Hughes has pointed out that Bethany’s attorneys are employed by the Toronto law firm, W. Glen How and Associates. In reality, though, this law firm is a front for the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the corporate entity used by Jehovah’s Witnesses, and headquartered in Georgetown, Ontario. The facts are that Watchtower’s Legal Department is made up of these same attorneys who work with W. Glen How and Associates, and, Attorney, W. Glen How, is an important Jehovah’s Witness in Canada.

For decades, W. Glen How and Associates have been deceiving courts and the public by deliberately misrepresenting themselves as an independent law firm which, they say, occasionally represents Jehovah’s Witnesses. This “independent law firm” assertion is found in their Notice of Motion and, as such, the attorneys with W. Glen How and Associates contend they did not have a conflict of interest when representing Hughes’s daughter and her mother. Although the attorneys are Jehovah’s Witnesses and work with a law firm that was and continues to be a front for the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, they claim they gave Lawrence Hughes’s 16-year old Witness daughter and her Witness mother, proper, unbiased legal advice. Hughes discounts this assertion and believes it is important that people write the media in Calgary, Alberta, the Law Society of Alberta and the Law Society of Upper Canada to expose this deception of W. Glen How and Associates.

The following is a list of lawyers that have been involved in this case on behalf of Bethany, her mother, and the Watchtower Society over the past six years. Lawrence expects he will be up against most or all of these lawyers at the May 29th and 30th court hearing:

David Gnam, Watchtower Society (a.k.a.:W. Glen How and Assoc.), Georgetown, Ont.
Shane Brady, Watchtower Society (a.k.a.:W. Glen How and Assoc.), Georgetown, Ont.
John Burns, Watchtower Society (a.k.a.:W. Glen How and Assoc.), Georgetown, Ont.
Daniel Pole, Watchtower Society (a.k.a.:W. Glen How and Assoc.), Georgetown, Ont.
David Day, Lewis Day, St. John’s, Newfoundland
Terry Davis, Parlee McLaws, Calgary, Alberta
Jeremy Hockin, Parlee McLaws, Edmonton, Alberta
Eugene Meehen, Lang Michener, Ottawa, Ontario
Philip Huband, Calgary, Alberta
Allan Ludkiewicz, Ludkiewicz, Bortoluzzi, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Also, two of the largest law firms will be representing the doctors and hospital:

David Steele, Bennet Jones, Calgary, Alberta
Brent Windwick, Field, Calgary, Alberta.

On May 29th and 30th, as usual, Lawrence Hughes expects he will be standing alone on one side of the court room representing himself. On the other side of the court room will be a crowd of lawyers, mostly senior partners in these large firms; the Jehovah’s Witness Lawyers; HLC members, and members of Jehovah Witnesses. As you can see, he is vastly out-numbered. He asks that you pray that he succeeds in this endeavor.

Few people in Hughes’s financial situation can expect to win a lawsuit in Canada against an extremely wealthy religious organization such as the Watchtower Society. However, Hughes has always believed that winning is possible with help from a group of persons. As long as this lawsuit continues, it will mean more ongoing worldwide news coverage exposing the Watchtower Society, which might put enough pressure on them to put an end to their ban on the use of blood transfusions for Jehovah’s
Witness patients in need of such. This would then stop many pointless and unnecessary deaths. And if Hughes wins this lawsuit, it could be instrumental in other people suing the Watchtower for causing loved ones to refuse a life-saving blood transfusion and then die. Thus, this could be another way this religious organization will be forced to change its “blood ban” or go bankrupt from litigation.

Money donated to this cause in the past has helped Lawrence Hughes accomplish so many positive things. He had a land-mark win; and the massive Canadian media coverage about the lawsuit and subsequent victory has been invaluable to show Canadians how harmful this organization’s policies are. Let’s keep up the momentum.

If just 500 people contribute $10.00, Hughes will have the $5,000 necessary for the attorney retainer. Please put $10.00 in an envelope and send it to him. And tell your friends. Just think what we can accomplish together to help this man win his lawsuit! If he does not win, none of us will have lost much money, but we will have the satisfaction that we tried to help.

For those who would like to contribute more, Hughes has set up and registered a
trust fund in the Province of Alberta named, WATCHTOWER LAWSUIT. He also has opened a bank account by that same name and arranged for a chartered registered accountant to do a financial statement each year. Anyone who donates and asks will receive a copy of that statement. As soon as a law firm comes on board, an attorney will take care of the fund. When this lawsuit is won, donations will be returned.

And for the convenience of contributors, a Paypal account has been opened and a donation can be made at the following email address: watchtowerlawsuit@yahoo.com.

Your check or $10 cash money can be mailed to:

WATCHTOWER LAWSUIT
Lawrence Hughes
Box 20161
Calgary Place RPO
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
T2P4J2

Thank you,

Barbara Anderson and other friends of Lawrence Hughes

(thanks to Brenda Lee)

Jehovah’s Witnesses in the News

Jehovah’s Witnesses in the News

Are JWs training more tennis players?

DUMBO’s only open-air tennis court will soon be open for business. The hard-surfaced court, which sits atop a five-story building at 69 Adams St., has been drooled over by the net set, which has long hoped the court would be returned to service. Excitement volleyed around the neighborhood after workmen were spotted refurbishing the rooftop court.

“We are resurfacing it and patching it up,” said Richard Devine, a spokesman for the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, which owns the building. But Devine cautioned locals to not start practicing their backhand: The court is only open to Jehovah’s Witnesses who live in other Watchtower buildings in DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights — not to the general public. Talk about a double fault!

~ ~ ~

Melanie D. Popper, 29-year old attorney, has filed a lawsuit (pdf) alleging that her Jehovah’s Witness father sexually abused her for a decade, beginning at the age of 8. She also claims to have witnessed the rape of her twin sister. The Apple Valley Cheyenne Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses is also named in the suit.

In May 2004, Popper sent her letter of dissociation to the congregation. She said that she sent them a demand letter and that they have had two investigations but believe that they are not liable. “If it wasn’t for the very cult-like nature of the church,” Popper said, “I would have had somewhere to turn.”

~ ~ ~

America’s Most Wanted featured Frederick “Rick” McLean, a JW “Ministerial Servant” who used his position to commit multiple sexual crimes against young girls. My previous post has more details on how he ended up on the U.S. Marshal’s Fifteen Most Wanted list.

As one victim’s parents told AMW, they had no clue that an alleged sexual predator was amongst them — even though church elders had prior knowledge of complaints against McLean from another congregation.

~ ~ ~

As the Vancouver case (about whether blood transfusions should have been forced on any of the surviving premature sextuplets of Jehovah’s Witness parents) heats up, academics and ex-JWs are raising questions about why Jehovah’s Witnesses will refuse blood transfusions for themselves or their children – even unto death.

“We’ve all come together because of the number of people who are dying,” says Juliet Guichon, who teaches health law and medical ethics at the University of Calgary.

In a recent public statement, Guichon joined two religion scholars and two former Jehovah’s Witnesses with legal expertise in saying that the actions of the Watchtower Society “suggest that these leaders value doctrinal adherence more than they do the lives of their members.”

The statement says senior medical officials confronted by Jehovah’s Witnesses who refuse blood transfusions for themselves or dependents are often unable to make sound ethical decisions because they’re limited by their own “ignorance of the Watchtower’s authoritarian rule.” In other words, the statement claims, medical staff often don’t realize individual Witnesses in medical emergencies may be overwhelmed by their fear of the religious and social repercussions of accepting a transfusion.

Three of the babies are home with their parents, one remains in the hospital, and the other two (who did not receive blood transfusions) have died. The JW parents want a statement that their constitutional rights were breached in the case. I guess the survival of the children didn’t make much of an impact. The case has been postponed until at least July.

Questioning JW Records Disfellowshipping Process

Questioning JW Records Disfellowshipping Process

In the words of Christopher Walken in the role of The Continental, “Wow. Wowie-wow-wow-wow.”

I stumbled across this today while backtracking some google searches that led people to this site. It’s always interesting to see what else comes up under the same search phrases. Go to this page at FreeMinds.org to hear the recordings. It doesn’t take long for someone who is looking for answers to their questions to be shunned. This gives a pretty good idea of their pastoral expertise.

Sick of Lies Conversations with Elders

The following phone conversations reveal the lying, misinformation schemes and doubletalk of elders and other brothers that are often triggered by a conversation with a questioning Jehovah’s Witness who is trying to get truthful answers from the Watchtower Society.

“I get many people asking me why I did this, it started as an idea. I wanted to leave and just disassociating myself seemed pointless because I wanted people to know why I was leaving and not just have a blank statement read to the congregation that I’m no longer one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I decided that I would get myself disfellowshiped and document every step of the process. I had already been ‘reproved’ for asking to many questions on the subject of evolution, so I decided to continue to ask questions. I phoned up several elders and asked them questions on various topics, including 607, child abuse, UN NGO statue and more. When I first started doing this I started having second thoughts, I decided I would not pursue the matter anymore, I doubted anything would come of the questions and decided to leave it alone. Well it was only two days after asking these questions that the elders told me that they wanted to meet with me in a judicial committee and discuss what I had said. I was very nervous, but I decided to finish what I had started and carry out my project.

During the whole process I listened to questions and comments from other people who have been through emotional distress because of this religion, I tried to incorporate some or their concerns and questions in where I could. All in all I would say that this has been very therapeutic for me, facing my abusers who caused much depression and hardship in not only my life, but many others has made me feel like I took control of the situation and left under my own terms. After the whole ordeal was finished I left feeling no fear and no anxiety, I felt totally free.” – Sick of Lies

A few sample descriptions:

The elder who denies the “Two Witness” rule that protects pedophiles in the congregation as well as the Watchtower’s connection with the United Nations as an NGO (and they are still an NGO) (19:37)

An “anointed” elder is asked about proving the validity of the 607BCE date for the destruction of Jerusalem, gets flustered and says, “If the Watchtower says that’s what it is, then that’s what it is.” He is then asked about how you know you are of the anointed, and what would happen if the caller partook at the Memorial observance. (11:37)

Asking an elder about 607 BCE. (2:59)

The committee begins, they start by stating the reason they are there: “because your questioning everything” then state the reason they feel that I’m asking the questions is “your just trying to show your superiority because you have an education”. The elders in this committee repeatedly run down ‘higher education’ and state how it destroys spiritual minds.

“You’re looking for information that’s outside of what the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society has published… I support what the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society has to say. Those are my beliefs.” Never is the bible mentioned as the highest source, but always the Watchtower.

Questions are asked about how the elders handle someone who is suicidal or mentally ill. The elders simply reply that this is not their concern and they are simply there to assess wither or not the person qualifies for membership anymore. The elders state that baptism is a contract, and that once joined there is “no nice way out”. They take no responsibility for any depression or suicides that occur because of the shunning that results from their decision.

Second appeal hearing Part One. This time Dan is accompanied by Sean who came to provide him support and counsel if needed. Until last meeting where the elders allowed an outsider (Dan’s mother) to attend the entire hearing and even speak freely, this time they state confidentiality / elder privilege / organizational policy prevent any outsiders from viewing judicial committee under any circumstances.

Part two of appeal hearing. Elders ask if the meeting is being recorded and ask him ‘do you want to get in a war with us?’ ‘If this recording is being used for clandestine purposes you are in a heap of trouble’. Also the person is told that a picture he took of the elders was illegally taken.

04/26/06 Final Meeting with elders. Here the person is told the appeal committee has decided to uphold the decision to disfellowship. He is told there will be no more appeals and this decision will not be overturned.