Indiana Kingdom
Halls of Jehovah's
Witnesses in:
Halls of Jehovah's
Witnesses in:
| Studies show us that the more sexually repressed the religion, the more child sexual abuse occurs among its members. Phillip Garrido, for example, who kidnapped Jaycee Dugard and held her as a sex slave for 18 years, was a Jehovah Witness minister. Police were only alerted when he tried to take the babies that he fathered with Jaycee onto a University campus to preach and distribute Watchtower magazines. Do you want these people on your private property, knocking on your door, talking to your children? |
| Even especially prominent JW Representatives, like Robert Edinger, of Bedford (Mitchell Kingdom Hall), for example, repeatedly intoxicated his son with alcohol at the age of 14 or younger, following years of stripping him and beating him. That son survived, however, earned a PHD in Religion at the University of Southern California, and is now fighting back, especially because my father is taking advantage of the fact that my mom has Alzheimer's and cannot express her wishes clearly. After a lifetime of being an attentive son to my mother, now, when she has Alzheimer's and can no longer defend her wishes, my father capitalizes on this and keeps me away from her, because I am not a JW. I have come to realize now, at the age of 54, that child abuse among Jehovah's Witnesses lasts a lifetime. And this web site represents the expression of a lot of hostility over a lot of stupidity of those in power in this organization with their proud egos, not even taking into consideration the consequences of these failed policies that tear families apart, if not sooner, then later. Many family members of JWs suffer, and we need solidarity in order to face these challenges. |
| Adult Survivors of Jehovah Witness Child Abuse |
| Jehovah Witnesses invade private property with no permission of any kind, by surprise, sometimes when you are not at home. Often, they solicit home bible studies with children. Sometimes, they come to visit when you are away from your home and unable to protect your family. They have all of Bloomington, Bedford, and Mitchell, Indiana mapped out into territories for door-to-door canvassing, hoping to be invited to a return visit. The law does nothing to stop this invasion of your private property, since it is considered to be within their 1st amendment rights to solicit our conversions. The only recourse that you have is to notify them that you do not want to be called on and then they will put you on their Do Not Call list. Inform them that Jehovah Witnesses are not allowed on your property. Only by having notified them will you be able to put legal force behind your no trespassing sign. We urge you to do this as soon as possible. Protect your children! Tell the Jehovah Witness representatives listed on the right, or the number in your local phone book, that under no circumstances do you want them to call at your home! |
| We, those of us who had this fearsome and violent ideology thrust upon us in our infancy, we are the principal victims of this fossilized, anachronistic, destructive, and dangerous philosophy of idolatry of self that the JWs try to force with violence upon silent lambs. The Jehovah's Witnesses organization is built on fear, not truth, fear of the almighty warrior god Jehovah, fear of the end of the world, fear of one's neighbors or classmates, or most of all, displeasing the elders, being spied upon, the threat of being outcast and unable to even socialize with one's own mother. Much worse, however, is that they go door-to-door trying to scare us, bothering us when we are trying to enjoy a family meal or getting ready for work. They want you to be afraid as well, so that you will donate to their cause. |
| If you do not like this page or think that it is inappropriate, please contact the following people. Bloomington: Martin Boling, 2506 S. Milton Drive, 47403 (812) 339-8638 (812) 332-6184 Bedford: Faith Spicer, 3609 River Bluff (812) 275-2987 Tell Faith How You Feel: Mitchell: Steven C. Steuer 245 Riverview Addition Bedford, IN 47421-8286 (812) 849-3739 Please leave message! |
| If you have any information about child sexual abuse among Jehovah Witnesses, it is your legal duty to report it to your local law enforcement agency. Please report it to us as well at: info@jwchildabuse.com |
| We are dedicated to helping protect Jehovah Witness children from sexual abuse and to fight against the cover up of sexual abuse. We are investigating a particularly egregious case that has been reported to us involving three local congregations of Jehovah Witnesses in Bloomington, Bedford, and Mitchell, Indiana. Please help to inform the ministers (elders) of these congregations that they have a legal duty to report child sexual abuse to local law enforcement agencies! |
| We wish to thank all of the Christian churches and other non-profit organizations in Indiana and elsewhere that are helping with our campaign. |
The purpose of this website is to bring together in one website much of the information scattered across the world wide web that relates to
the unique issues which American employers encounter when employing Jehovah's Witnesses. Recently, while working on a somewhat
related research project, it occurred to me that I had not stumbled across a single webpage, much less website, which was dedicated to the
"Non-JW Employer - Jehovah's Witness Employee" relationship.
Specifically, I would like to concentrate on gathering and posting "real world" scenarios, which are memorialized in official federal and state
court documents, as well as news media reports. When an employer wants to educate themself as to the pitfalls lurking in the "real world",
there is no substitute for actual lawsuits which describe actual scenarios which led employers to being sued by one of their Jehovah's
Witness employees. Currently, this website summarizes or discusses in varying degrees approximately 750 Jehovah's Witnesses related
cases and incidents -- including civil court cases, criminal court cases, threatened lawsuits, complaints filed with various governmental
agencies, media reports, other miscellaneous memorializations, and historical background cases.
The goals and beneficiaries should be obvious. A better educated and more informed employer is less likely to violate the civil rights of a
Jehovah's Witness employee, thus, is less likely to end up embroiled in a nasty lawsuit which will drain the employer's time and money. The
end result should be happy employees and happy employers, who each work together to make happy customers.
FEDERAL & STATE LAWS PROHIBIT RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION
Religious discrimination occurs when an individual is treated differently at any point in the employment process because of their religion,
religious beliefs, or religious practices; or lack thereof. An individual rejected for employment, or an employee who is fired, denied a
promotion, denied a pay raise, denied a training opportunity, harassed or otherwise harmed in their employment because of their religion,
religious beliefs, or religious practices may have suffered unlawful religious discrimination. Unlawful religious discrimination may also include
an employer's denial of an employee's request for a change in a workplace rule or policy as an "accommodation" of the employee's religious
beliefs and practices.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination based on religion. The federal government's Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces Title VII, and provides oversight and coordination of all federal equal employment opportunity
regulations, practices, and policies. Covered are all private employers, state and local governments, and education institutions that employ
15 or more individuals. Also covered are private and public employment agencies and labor organizations.
Although federal law covers only employers with at least 15 employees, many states and even some cities and counties also have
anti-discrimination laws that cover workplaces with fewer than 15 employees. Some of the state and local anti-discrimination laws may even
be broader than federal law, or may even provide additional protections.
Employers not covered by federal, state, or local anti-discrimination laws may also be subject to private civil lawsuits brought directly by an
aggrieved individual on grounds such as "wrongful termination/discharge", etc.
WHY JEHOVAH'S WITNESS EMPLOYEES REQUIRE SPECIAL ATTENTION
Probably more than any other religious group in the United States, Jehovah's Witnesses have a number of religious beliefs and practices
which can lead to confrontations with their employers, with their co-workers, with customers, and with others with whom they interact on the
job. That fact does not mean that the civil rights of a Jehovah's Witness Employee are any less inviolate than the civil rights of other
employees. It simply means that employers will probably have to pay a little more attention to those employees who are Jehovah's Witnesses.
Despite their low numbers (one to four million in the United States - depending whether counting "active", "inactive", "unofficial", "former",
etc.), Jehovah's Witnesses are one of the most geographically diverse religious groups in the United States. Consider that there are
approximately 3000 counties in the United States, and approximately 12,800 Congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States.
While members of larger denominations are often concentrated in certain regions of the country and absent from others, Jehovah's
Witnesses are everywhere - just in smaller quantities. Thus, nearly every American employer will likely interact with a Jehovah's Witness
Employee sometime in their business career.
LITIGATION IS IN THE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES BLOODSTREAM.
The founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses, Charles Taze Russell, was secretly involved in many different businesses other than just his
religion business. Charles Taze Russell was involved in oil wells, gas wells, coal mines, gold (and possibly silver) mines, kaolin mining and
brick manufacturing, money loans, asphalt sales, piano-organ retailing, chemical products manufacturing and sales, automobile
manufacturing, silent film companies, phonograph manufacturing and sales, cemeteries, commercial properties speculation, residential
rental properties, and occasionally printing, publishing, and clothing retailing. Click here to read the FINANCIAL BIOGRAPHY OF CHARLES
TAZE RUSSELL As early as the 1890s, Charles Taze Russell found himself involved in two separate court cases involving his oil and gas
interests, which both went all the way to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. In 1895, Russell filed a lawsuit against the City of Allegheny over
street construction damage to his home. In the early 1900s, the Divorce action between Russell and his former wife lingered for years.
Russell was often made fun of and mocked by newspapers and by clergymen around the world. Around 1907, on the urging of a recent
convert named Judge Joseph F. Rutherford, Russell started filing civil lawsuits against a number of newspapers (and threatened many
others). Russell even once filed criminal charges against one Canadian clergyman. Court cases involving followers of Russell, who were
arrested on disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, and other similar charges, while distributing WatchTower literature, date all the way
back to the mid 1880s.
Charles Taze Russell died on Halloween 1916, and Judge Rutherford succeeded Russell as President of the Watch Tower Society. By 1918,
Judge Rutherford and the Directors & Officers of the Watch Tower Society were convicted of obstructing the war effort in violation of the
Espionage Act of 1917, and served 9 months in Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. The first SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES case
involving the WatchTower Society, and the only SCOTUS case involving a Director and Officer of the WatchTower Society, resulted from
United States v. Rutherford, but was not that case itself. That historical case is found in our SECRET HISTORY CASES section.
Starting in the latter 1920s, Judge Rutherford began training his Jehovah's Witnesses membership to fight in their local courts anyone and
everyone who dared oppose the work of the Jehovah's Witnesses. Religious services at Kingdom Halls included "mock trials", with Elders
playing the roles of Prosecutors and defense attorneys. JWs were trained what to say and how to behave when being arrested, while in jail,
and at trial (which they assumed they would lose), so as to make their case the best possible for the appeals process which was to follow.
Appellate cases were what the WatchTower Society was hoping for, and it was at the appellate level that the WatchTower Society would
jump in and help with the case. By 1935, the number of cases across the United States were so many that Rutherford decided to form a
separate Legal Department within the WatchTower Society.
Olin R. Moyle, a Jehovah's Witness Attorney from Wisconsin, was selected by Rutherford to head up the new Legal Department. Moyle did
an excellent job. In 1938, Moyle won the LOVELL case before the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). However, in 1939, Moyle,
who had been a teetotalling Prohibitionist before he was a Jehovah's Witness, got into a personal spat with Judge Rutherford over
Rutherford's heavy drinking and cursing. Moyle submitted his resignation, along with a letter denouncing Rutherford's unchristian personal
habits. Judge Rutherford was furious, and had the WatchTower Society's Board of Directors formally fire Moyle. Rutherford thereafter
slandered Moyle in the pages of one of the Watchtower's magazines, and Olin Moyle successfully sued the WatchTower Society, and was
eventually awarded $15,000.00 -- a hefty sum during World War II. Interestingly, Olin Moyle had been handling the famous GOBITIS case,
and Moyle had won at the trial court level, and Moyle had won at the Court of Appeals level. However, after Judge Rutherford fired and
slandered Moyle, the MINERSVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICT appealed the GOBITIS case to the Supreme Court of the United States. Judge
Rutherford himself argued the case before SCOTUS in 1940, and Rutherford lost the case by a vote of 8-1. It was this very event that
triggered the nationwide wave of violence against JWs that lasted for the next several months. [CLICK HERE TO GO TO 180 SECRET
WATCHTOWER-RELATED CASES FROM THIS ERA.]
In late 1939, Judge Rutherford selected Hayden C. Covington to replace Olin Moyle as Head of the WatchTower Society's Legal
Department. Hayden Covington was a young "fireball" attorney from San Antonio, Texas, who had only recently converted to the Jehovah's
Witnesses. Covington's personal habits more closely mirrored those of Judge Rutherford than did Moyle's. Hayden Covington's father was
known as the "Meanest Texas Ranger" of the 1920s-30s, who reportedly was disappointed that he had killed only 45 men. Covington's
father is known to have assisted in at least one WatchTower court case -- against the City of San Antonio in 1940. Hayden Covington was
married to a prominent San Antonio socialite, who moved with him to WatchTower headquarters. However, she did not stay long. She
returned to San Antonio in late 1940, divorced Covington in 1941, and remarried in 1942.
When Judge Rutherford died in January 1942, his aggressive litigation policy was carried on by Hayden Covington. Honoring Rutherford's
deathbed wishes, Hayden Covington was even elected Vice-President of the WatchTower Society, despite having been a JW for only five
years. In the following years, Hayden Covington came to be hailed as one of the greatest civil liberties attorneys in American history.
However, Covington did not get along with Rutherford's successor, Nathan Homer Knorr. Covington first resigned as Vice-President of the
WatchTower Society, and eventually resigned as Head of the WatchTower Society's Legal Department. In 1963, Covington was even
"disfellowshiped" from the Jehovah's Witness religion. Covington was not "reinstated" until a year or so before he died in 1978.
GO TO THE "FINANCIAL HONESTY" and "SECRET HISTORY" PAGES TO DISCOVER WHAT PROBABLY MOTIVATED HAYDEN COOPER
COVINGTON'S EXCOMMUNICATION! While it has long been believed that Hayden Covington, who was the WORLD'S BEST KNOWN
JEHOVAH'S WITNESS DURING THE 1950s, was "disfellowshiped" because of his heavy drinking, a closer investigation discloses that for
several years prior to 1963, Covington had lost his moral compass and would go to any lengths to force Americans to kowtow to the whims of
the WatchTower Society. The tidbits scattered and hidden in multiple court opinions that we are able to discover 50 years after the fact are
probably nothing in comparison to the schemes that the WatchTower Society Hierarchy were privy to in the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s.
No other religion in America has spent more time in the state and federal court systems. Jehovah's Witnesses have won 48 cases before the
Supreme Court of the United States. That is probably more wins at the SCOTUS level than every other religious group in America put
together. Considering that today's Watch Tower Society has an extremely active legal department, and considering that Jehovah's
Witnesses are "favorite sons" of the ACLU, any employer who violates the civil rights of a Jehovah's Witness Employee will pay dearly for
doing so.
SOME UNIQUE JEHOVAH'S WITNESS BELIEFS & PRACTICES
BIRTHDAYS & HOLIDAYS The Jehovah's Witness Employee's belief that celebrating birthdays is a sin can result in extremely embarrassing
situations, with lingering results, in the foreseeable situation where a Jehovah's Witness Employee is approached by a group of well meaning
co-workers singing "Happy Birthday". Since Jehovah's Witnesses also believe that it is a sin to celebrate New Years, President's Day,
Father's Day, Mother's Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and even Christmas, there are
regular opportunities every few weeks for confrontations to occur where co-workers, customers, or others unwittingly do or say something
which might offend your Jehovah's Witness Employee, or vice versa.
AMERICAN FLAG & LOYALTY OATHS The Jehovah's Witness Employee's beliefs that the American Flag is a "false idol", and that saluting
the Flag or reciting the Pledge are acts of "worship", can result in extremely embarrassing situations, with lingering results, in the
foreseeable situation where a Jehovah's Witness Employee is approached by co-workers distributing American Flag stickers, lapel pins, or
other similar patriotic items around the Independence Day holiday, or especially during emotional times of patriotic fervor like post-9/11. The
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society also teaches Jehovah's Witnesses that all human governments, including the United States of America,
are active partners with Satan in his rebellion against GOD. Thus, Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to engage in any patriotic acts or activities,
including signing or reciting "Loyalty Oaths". Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to vote. Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to engage in politics.
Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to serve in the military, or work for employer's who service or supply the military. Any of these topics discussed
during breaktime or casually brought up while working can give opportunity for your Jehovah's Witness Employee to be offended, or for the
Jehovah's Witness Employees' response to offend co-workers or customers.
SHUNNING The Jehovah's Witness Employee's practice of "shunning" (treating as if dead) persons who have resigned from or who were
disfellowshiped (excommunicated) from the WatchTower religion can result in extremely embarrassing situations, with lingering results, in the
foreseeable situation where a Jehovah's Witness Employee must service a customer or cooperate with a co-worker who is a former
Jehovah's Witness. There are a handful of anecdotal stories posted on discussion boards, etc. in which former JWs relate their being
shunned by a JW Employee while shopping at supermarkets, "Mart" stores, etc. JW Employees have no legal right to shun customers or
co-workers while performing their duties as an employee, and when reported doing so, practically every Employer will respond positively to
complaints from customers or co-workers.
These and many other Jehovah's Witness beliefs and practices are discussed more thoroughly in this website. Click on upper left-hand
Menu.
the unique issues which American employers encounter when employing Jehovah's Witnesses. Recently, while working on a somewhat
related research project, it occurred to me that I had not stumbled across a single webpage, much less website, which was dedicated to the
"Non-JW Employer - Jehovah's Witness Employee" relationship.
Specifically, I would like to concentrate on gathering and posting "real world" scenarios, which are memorialized in official federal and state
court documents, as well as news media reports. When an employer wants to educate themself as to the pitfalls lurking in the "real world",
there is no substitute for actual lawsuits which describe actual scenarios which led employers to being sued by one of their Jehovah's
Witness employees. Currently, this website summarizes or discusses in varying degrees approximately 750 Jehovah's Witnesses related
cases and incidents -- including civil court cases, criminal court cases, threatened lawsuits, complaints filed with various governmental
agencies, media reports, other miscellaneous memorializations, and historical background cases.
The goals and beneficiaries should be obvious. A better educated and more informed employer is less likely to violate the civil rights of a
Jehovah's Witness employee, thus, is less likely to end up embroiled in a nasty lawsuit which will drain the employer's time and money. The
end result should be happy employees and happy employers, who each work together to make happy customers.
FEDERAL & STATE LAWS PROHIBIT RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION
Religious discrimination occurs when an individual is treated differently at any point in the employment process because of their religion,
religious beliefs, or religious practices; or lack thereof. An individual rejected for employment, or an employee who is fired, denied a
promotion, denied a pay raise, denied a training opportunity, harassed or otherwise harmed in their employment because of their religion,
religious beliefs, or religious practices may have suffered unlawful religious discrimination. Unlawful religious discrimination may also include
an employer's denial of an employee's request for a change in a workplace rule or policy as an "accommodation" of the employee's religious
beliefs and practices.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination based on religion. The federal government's Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces Title VII, and provides oversight and coordination of all federal equal employment opportunity
regulations, practices, and policies. Covered are all private employers, state and local governments, and education institutions that employ
15 or more individuals. Also covered are private and public employment agencies and labor organizations.
Although federal law covers only employers with at least 15 employees, many states and even some cities and counties also have
anti-discrimination laws that cover workplaces with fewer than 15 employees. Some of the state and local anti-discrimination laws may even
be broader than federal law, or may even provide additional protections.
Employers not covered by federal, state, or local anti-discrimination laws may also be subject to private civil lawsuits brought directly by an
aggrieved individual on grounds such as "wrongful termination/discharge", etc.
WHY JEHOVAH'S WITNESS EMPLOYEES REQUIRE SPECIAL ATTENTION
Probably more than any other religious group in the United States, Jehovah's Witnesses have a number of religious beliefs and practices
which can lead to confrontations with their employers, with their co-workers, with customers, and with others with whom they interact on the
job. That fact does not mean that the civil rights of a Jehovah's Witness Employee are any less inviolate than the civil rights of other
employees. It simply means that employers will probably have to pay a little more attention to those employees who are Jehovah's Witnesses.
Despite their low numbers (one to four million in the United States - depending whether counting "active", "inactive", "unofficial", "former",
etc.), Jehovah's Witnesses are one of the most geographically diverse religious groups in the United States. Consider that there are
approximately 3000 counties in the United States, and approximately 12,800 Congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States.
While members of larger denominations are often concentrated in certain regions of the country and absent from others, Jehovah's
Witnesses are everywhere - just in smaller quantities. Thus, nearly every American employer will likely interact with a Jehovah's Witness
Employee sometime in their business career.
LITIGATION IS IN THE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES BLOODSTREAM.
The founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses, Charles Taze Russell, was secretly involved in many different businesses other than just his
religion business. Charles Taze Russell was involved in oil wells, gas wells, coal mines, gold (and possibly silver) mines, kaolin mining and
brick manufacturing, money loans, asphalt sales, piano-organ retailing, chemical products manufacturing and sales, automobile
manufacturing, silent film companies, phonograph manufacturing and sales, cemeteries, commercial properties speculation, residential
rental properties, and occasionally printing, publishing, and clothing retailing. Click here to read the FINANCIAL BIOGRAPHY OF CHARLES
TAZE RUSSELL As early as the 1890s, Charles Taze Russell found himself involved in two separate court cases involving his oil and gas
interests, which both went all the way to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. In 1895, Russell filed a lawsuit against the City of Allegheny over
street construction damage to his home. In the early 1900s, the Divorce action between Russell and his former wife lingered for years.
Russell was often made fun of and mocked by newspapers and by clergymen around the world. Around 1907, on the urging of a recent
convert named Judge Joseph F. Rutherford, Russell started filing civil lawsuits against a number of newspapers (and threatened many
others). Russell even once filed criminal charges against one Canadian clergyman. Court cases involving followers of Russell, who were
arrested on disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, and other similar charges, while distributing WatchTower literature, date all the way
back to the mid 1880s.
Charles Taze Russell died on Halloween 1916, and Judge Rutherford succeeded Russell as President of the Watch Tower Society. By 1918,
Judge Rutherford and the Directors & Officers of the Watch Tower Society were convicted of obstructing the war effort in violation of the
Espionage Act of 1917, and served 9 months in Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. The first SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES case
involving the WatchTower Society, and the only SCOTUS case involving a Director and Officer of the WatchTower Society, resulted from
United States v. Rutherford, but was not that case itself. That historical case is found in our SECRET HISTORY CASES section.
Starting in the latter 1920s, Judge Rutherford began training his Jehovah's Witnesses membership to fight in their local courts anyone and
everyone who dared oppose the work of the Jehovah's Witnesses. Religious services at Kingdom Halls included "mock trials", with Elders
playing the roles of Prosecutors and defense attorneys. JWs were trained what to say and how to behave when being arrested, while in jail,
and at trial (which they assumed they would lose), so as to make their case the best possible for the appeals process which was to follow.
Appellate cases were what the WatchTower Society was hoping for, and it was at the appellate level that the WatchTower Society would
jump in and help with the case. By 1935, the number of cases across the United States were so many that Rutherford decided to form a
separate Legal Department within the WatchTower Society.
Olin R. Moyle, a Jehovah's Witness Attorney from Wisconsin, was selected by Rutherford to head up the new Legal Department. Moyle did
an excellent job. In 1938, Moyle won the LOVELL case before the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). However, in 1939, Moyle,
who had been a teetotalling Prohibitionist before he was a Jehovah's Witness, got into a personal spat with Judge Rutherford over
Rutherford's heavy drinking and cursing. Moyle submitted his resignation, along with a letter denouncing Rutherford's unchristian personal
habits. Judge Rutherford was furious, and had the WatchTower Society's Board of Directors formally fire Moyle. Rutherford thereafter
slandered Moyle in the pages of one of the Watchtower's magazines, and Olin Moyle successfully sued the WatchTower Society, and was
eventually awarded $15,000.00 -- a hefty sum during World War II. Interestingly, Olin Moyle had been handling the famous GOBITIS case,
and Moyle had won at the trial court level, and Moyle had won at the Court of Appeals level. However, after Judge Rutherford fired and
slandered Moyle, the MINERSVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICT appealed the GOBITIS case to the Supreme Court of the United States. Judge
Rutherford himself argued the case before SCOTUS in 1940, and Rutherford lost the case by a vote of 8-1. It was this very event that
triggered the nationwide wave of violence against JWs that lasted for the next several months. [CLICK HERE TO GO TO 180 SECRET
WATCHTOWER-RELATED CASES FROM THIS ERA.]
In late 1939, Judge Rutherford selected Hayden C. Covington to replace Olin Moyle as Head of the WatchTower Society's Legal
Department. Hayden Covington was a young "fireball" attorney from San Antonio, Texas, who had only recently converted to the Jehovah's
Witnesses. Covington's personal habits more closely mirrored those of Judge Rutherford than did Moyle's. Hayden Covington's father was
known as the "Meanest Texas Ranger" of the 1920s-30s, who reportedly was disappointed that he had killed only 45 men. Covington's
father is known to have assisted in at least one WatchTower court case -- against the City of San Antonio in 1940. Hayden Covington was
married to a prominent San Antonio socialite, who moved with him to WatchTower headquarters. However, she did not stay long. She
returned to San Antonio in late 1940, divorced Covington in 1941, and remarried in 1942.
When Judge Rutherford died in January 1942, his aggressive litigation policy was carried on by Hayden Covington. Honoring Rutherford's
deathbed wishes, Hayden Covington was even elected Vice-President of the WatchTower Society, despite having been a JW for only five
years. In the following years, Hayden Covington came to be hailed as one of the greatest civil liberties attorneys in American history.
However, Covington did not get along with Rutherford's successor, Nathan Homer Knorr. Covington first resigned as Vice-President of the
WatchTower Society, and eventually resigned as Head of the WatchTower Society's Legal Department. In 1963, Covington was even
"disfellowshiped" from the Jehovah's Witness religion. Covington was not "reinstated" until a year or so before he died in 1978.
GO TO THE "FINANCIAL HONESTY" and "SECRET HISTORY" PAGES TO DISCOVER WHAT PROBABLY MOTIVATED HAYDEN COOPER
COVINGTON'S EXCOMMUNICATION! While it has long been believed that Hayden Covington, who was the WORLD'S BEST KNOWN
JEHOVAH'S WITNESS DURING THE 1950s, was "disfellowshiped" because of his heavy drinking, a closer investigation discloses that for
several years prior to 1963, Covington had lost his moral compass and would go to any lengths to force Americans to kowtow to the whims of
the WatchTower Society. The tidbits scattered and hidden in multiple court opinions that we are able to discover 50 years after the fact are
probably nothing in comparison to the schemes that the WatchTower Society Hierarchy were privy to in the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s.
No other religion in America has spent more time in the state and federal court systems. Jehovah's Witnesses have won 48 cases before the
Supreme Court of the United States. That is probably more wins at the SCOTUS level than every other religious group in America put
together. Considering that today's Watch Tower Society has an extremely active legal department, and considering that Jehovah's
Witnesses are "favorite sons" of the ACLU, any employer who violates the civil rights of a Jehovah's Witness Employee will pay dearly for
doing so.
SOME UNIQUE JEHOVAH'S WITNESS BELIEFS & PRACTICES
BIRTHDAYS & HOLIDAYS The Jehovah's Witness Employee's belief that celebrating birthdays is a sin can result in extremely embarrassing
situations, with lingering results, in the foreseeable situation where a Jehovah's Witness Employee is approached by a group of well meaning
co-workers singing "Happy Birthday". Since Jehovah's Witnesses also believe that it is a sin to celebrate New Years, President's Day,
Father's Day, Mother's Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and even Christmas, there are
regular opportunities every few weeks for confrontations to occur where co-workers, customers, or others unwittingly do or say something
which might offend your Jehovah's Witness Employee, or vice versa.
AMERICAN FLAG & LOYALTY OATHS The Jehovah's Witness Employee's beliefs that the American Flag is a "false idol", and that saluting
the Flag or reciting the Pledge are acts of "worship", can result in extremely embarrassing situations, with lingering results, in the
foreseeable situation where a Jehovah's Witness Employee is approached by co-workers distributing American Flag stickers, lapel pins, or
other similar patriotic items around the Independence Day holiday, or especially during emotional times of patriotic fervor like post-9/11. The
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society also teaches Jehovah's Witnesses that all human governments, including the United States of America,
are active partners with Satan in his rebellion against GOD. Thus, Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to engage in any patriotic acts or activities,
including signing or reciting "Loyalty Oaths". Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to vote. Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to engage in politics.
Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to serve in the military, or work for employer's who service or supply the military. Any of these topics discussed
during breaktime or casually brought up while working can give opportunity for your Jehovah's Witness Employee to be offended, or for the
Jehovah's Witness Employees' response to offend co-workers or customers.
SHUNNING The Jehovah's Witness Employee's practice of "shunning" (treating as if dead) persons who have resigned from or who were
disfellowshiped (excommunicated) from the WatchTower religion can result in extremely embarrassing situations, with lingering results, in the
foreseeable situation where a Jehovah's Witness Employee must service a customer or cooperate with a co-worker who is a former
Jehovah's Witness. There are a handful of anecdotal stories posted on discussion boards, etc. in which former JWs relate their being
shunned by a JW Employee while shopping at supermarkets, "Mart" stores, etc. JW Employees have no legal right to shun customers or
co-workers while performing their duties as an employee, and when reported doing so, practically every Employer will respond positively to
complaints from customers or co-workers.
These and many other Jehovah's Witness beliefs and practices are discussed more thoroughly in this website. Click on upper left-hand
Menu.
| Dear Brother or Sister, If you have any comments or suggestions concerning this web site, please send them to Chuck Davis at Superior Small Engines, 8835 State Road 60 W, Mitchell, Indiana 47446-7547. Or please feel free to call Charles at 812-849-9944 if you think this site is inaccurate. Or if you would like to defend the Witnesses from these allegations, write to: Chuck@superiorsmallengines.com (Please witness to Chuck by email, let him know the truth about Jehovah's organization!) |