We’re always very happy to receive replies to our stories from Jehovah’s Witnesses who want to present their point of view. Yesterday, we posted a story by ex-JW Michael Paddock, who talked about being instructed to sneak around Red Cross officials in order to locate and help only Jehovah’s Witnesses in the relief effort after Hurricane Katrina. With a counterpoint, here’s Witness Jimmy Price…
Your piece with Michael Paddock doesn’t present the whole truth about our efforts to assist non-JWs during those hard and pressing times. The following links are from non-Witness sources, that demonstrate that we do not seek to help only our own:
From 2001: “While most of the victims are fellow Witnesses, the repair effort has spread to include some families and neighbors of church members hit by Houston’s most costly natural disaster. An estimated 50,000 houses were inundated when floodwaters hit in early June.”
A letter after Hurricane Katrina, by a non-Witness: “No one in Homestead is slamming doors on the Jehovah’s Witnesses this week — even if they still have doors to slam. About 3,000 Witness volunteers from across the country have converged on the disaster area, first to help their own, then to help others. . . . Any military organization might envy the Witnesses’ precision, discipline and efficiency.”
From Nepal, 2015: “Jehovah’s Witnesses provide food for fellow worshippers and other disaster victims twice a day.”
From 2016: Saipan Mayor David M. Apatang, who visited one of the home-construction sites, said he was impressed by the volunteers’ work and dedication. He also lauded the church for reaching out to members of the local community who need help.
From 2015: “Mr Gbedemah said the Witness has arranged for medical professionals to take care of people affected around the Alajo and Adabraka areas, where both Witnesses and non- Witnesses were given medical attention, including diabetics patients and other people on special medication.”
I ask that you consider this worthy of publishing. It’s fact-based, from non-Witness sources, covering a span of 15 years from various disasters.
— Jimmy Price
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Posted by Tony Ortega on April 8, 2019 at 12:00
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Tony Ortega is a journalist who was formerly the editor of The Village Voice. He’s written about Scientology since 1995, and in May 2015 released a book about Scientology’s harassment of Paulette Cooper titled ‘The Unbreakable Miss Lovely,’ and more recently a compilation of his stories, ‘Battlefield Scientology.’ He continues to monitor breaking developments in the Scientology world, as well as other subjects such as Jehovah’s Witnesses. You can reach him by sending him a message at tonyo94 AT gmail.com (Drop him a line if you’d like to get an e-mail whenever a new story is posted.)
