Why We Are "Knocking" Knocking - A Common Bond's Response to the Documentary Knocking

Overview

On May 22, 2007, a documentary program entitled Knocking was shown on some Public Broadcasting System (PBS) stations throughout the United States as a part of their "Independent Lens" series of programs. This show, done in documentary format, traces the history of the Jehovah's Witnesses religion and extols many of the virtues of the denomination by debunking myth and explaining their unorthodox doctrine. Much of this program was filmed in cooperation with the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, the parent corporation that controls the activities and operations of Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide. According to this program's own website:

The New York-based Watchtower Society directs the worldwide ministry of Jehovah's Witnesses. It publishes the "Watchtower" magazine and other religious books and journals distributed by Jehovah's Witnesses. Viewers who would like to know more about the role of the Watchtower Society in the production of "Knocking" may call Watchtower at 718-560-5600 (weekdays between 8am and 5pm Eastern time). "Knocking" is an independent film production. Watchtower cooperated with the film's producers, providing them with archival material, granting interviews and permitting their cameras access to Watchtower's headquarters. "Knocking's" camera crews were also allowed to film at a district convention of Jehovah's Witnesses, inside local Kingdom Halls and accompany Witnesses in the door-to-door visitation work. Watchtower had no editorial control over the program, but the producers provided an advance courtesy screening of the completed film.

While not officially endorsed by the Watchtower, this program has been previewed by many, and has earned kudos and high praise from Jehovah's Witnesses everywhere. We will explain why below.

About the Co-Producer/Co-Director

"Joel Engardio, Michigan State University class of 1994, received the 2000 Evert Clark/Seth Payne Award for young science journalists. The award was given for a story entitled "Genes without Frontier," which appeared in the San Francisco Weekly. Engardio has written for the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Weekly, Newsweek, Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor and P.O.V. magazine. In television, he worked as an associate producer for ABC News at 20/20 and the network's documentary unit, Turning Point. Engardio also consults as a media and communications strategist for the American Civil Liberties Union." ~source: Michigan State University website

Engardio was raised as a Jehovah's Witness but opted not to be baptized. His mother is an active Witness. Here, in part, is an interview with him by SFGate Magazine:

But you opted not to stay in the religion when you got older. Why?

-I guess because the worldview of a Jehovah's Witness is that all of the things that are wrong are going to be fixed when God's kingdom comes, when this new paradise is brought onto earth. And so Jehovah's Witnesses are fulfilled by going door-to-door and telling people this "good news," as they call it. That's where their activism ends, because they feel that they don't need to fix the problems of the world today -- they just need to tell people it's going to be fixed soon. I felt like I'd be more interested in rolling up my sleeves as much as I could to work on the world's problems -- now. And that's why I thought being a journalist would be an interesting way to contribute.

You are also openly gay. Did that have anything to do with your decision?

-No. My decision not to convert was bigger than my sexuality, but, of course, you can't be actively gay and be a Jehovah's Witness, so it wouldn't have worked out anyway.

How did your mom handle the fact that you are gay?

-She is not happy about it, but it's been long enough that we have a common understanding.

Why A Common Bond Objects to This Program

Reason #1: Documentary Bias

As stated above, this program has captured praise from Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide. Were this show to accurately depict all aspects of Jehovah's Witnesses, both positive and negative, it would not, by the very nature of the religion's belief that they are the holders of God's only true teachings, have been able to garner compliments from active Witnesses. While we believe that this program was well researched, important facts about the Witnesses were either overlooked or ignored. Several examples follow.

On the PBS website, a list of "Myths and Realities" are listed. For brevity's sake, we are only addressing a few of these.

Jehovah's Witnesses shun members who leave the faith. - Reality

While there is an admission of shunning, the depth of the problem is glossed over on the PBS site. Treatment of the disfellowshipped and disassociated within the Watchtower organization is commonly cruel and heartless. While it is meant to encourage the "sinner" to "repent", it frequently has the opposite effect. Families are torn apart. Some members may be permanently cut off from all family contact. Individuals are thrown into the streets, often with no means of support. Child custody battles get ugly. Such shunning sometimes leads to extreme emotional disturbance, culminating in suicide.

Jehovah's Witnesses forbid blood transfusions. - Reality

Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in organ transplants. - Myth

What is not mentioned here is that Jehovah's Witnesses once forbade organ transplants, calling the procedure "cannibalism", and claiming that the transplantee could suffer from "personality transplant", acquiring the personality of the donor. Individuals who were disfellowshipped for having transplants before the doctrine was changed were not invited back into the faith after the procedures were accepted.

Jehovah’s Witnesses are politically neutral. - Reality

According to Mr. Engardio's blog, he states:

When the "Knocking" crew was filming in Atlanta, we followed a group of Jehovah's Witnesses in the door-to-door ministry. It was election season, and as the Jehovah's Witnesses turned the corner, they ran into a group of people knocking on doors to ask residents to vote for a certain candidate. Jehovah's Witnesses do not vote. They believe that Christians should not put faith in human politicians to solve mankind's problems -- JWs say only God can do that.

Apparently, Mr. Engardio didn't do his homework on this issue, or he chose to ignore the fact that in the Watchtower magazine's November 1, 1999. issue (p.28), Witnesses were now given permission to go to the polls and vote.

Another issue that Knocking delves into is the fact that Jehovah's Witnesses are pioneers in Supreme Court landmark decisions regarding civil rights and liberties. What is not commonly known, and what the Witnesses will not discuss, is the true motivation behind the Watchtower Society's percieved need to champion these rights in the court system -- money. In 1940, an article by Stanley High appeared in the Saturday Evening Post entitled "Armageddon, Inc.", claiming that the door to door work was little more than unlicensed hucksterism of Watchtower literature. According to William J. Schnell,

Whenever a town or hamlet arrested Jehovah's Witnesses for selling books without a license, legal action was immediately begun to establish that this was merely preaching by use of the printed page instead of the spoken word....
This sure fire pattern was serving its purpose well. It slowly but surely began to create the impression that Jehovah's Witnesses were being persecuted for practicing their "religion," while the accusation that they were conducting a racket gradually fell away....
Before this campaign started the people had begun to refuse to buy books any longer in ordinary house to house work. Now many again became interested if for no other reason than to support Jehovah's Witnesses in the fight. -Thirty Years A Watchtower Slave, pp 109-110

Knocking also explores the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Nazi Germany during World War II. Unfortunately, the program fails to make mention of the fact that the director of the German branch of the Watchtower Society at the time, Erich Frost (pictured), betrayed seven district servants to the Gestapo -- Artur Nawroth, Otto Dauth, Fred Meier, Walter Friese, Heinrich Ditschi, Albert Wandres, and Karl Siebeneichler (who perished in Sachsenhausen). According to the German-language book Die Falschspieler Gottes, a Gestapo document titled "Haftbuch Nr. 292, Gestapo Berlin, Dienststelle II B 2" clearly shows that Frost freely gave this information to the Nazis without the use of torture. As reward for his cooperation, he was taken to the German-occupied island of Alderney, where he remained for the duration of the war. Afterward, he returned to Germany, and resumed his duties as the Watchtower branch chief, complete with a new set of district servants.
~ For further information, read "Jehovah's Witnesses and the Third Reich - Sectarian Politics Under Persecution" by M. James Penton.

Reason #2: Joel Engardio - Gay Activist

It is not the purpose of this essay to attack the person or reputation of Mr. Engardio. He has done fine work within the gay community over the years, and continues to champion gay causes. As members of the larger gay community, A Common Bond is grateful to Mr. Engardio for his active promotion of gay rights issues. According to The Detroit News:

Joel Engardio, an award-winning journalist, is using his reporting skills to help identify people with compelling stories of job bias, as part of a joint effort by the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the Human Rights Campaign to lobby Congress to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, according to columnist Deb Price. "If you've suffered anti-gay job discrimination, turn your setback into a victory: Tell the story finder," Price writes.

Mr. Engardio himself is quoted as follows:

Regarding gay marriage: “You can have the greatest story in the world, but if that person isn’t willing to testify in front of Congress, it’s not going to make an impact,” says Engardio. “Somebody has to speak up.”

Joel Engardio's partner was the late Mark Lim (pictured together) who died at age 33. Before Mark died in October 2002, he became a spokesperson for the Jade Ribbon Campaign, urging all Asians to check their hepatitis status. Mr. Engardio wrote an article about this for the San Francisco Chronicle on May 1, 2002 entitled "Dying to Know."

What we cannot understand, and are baffled by, is the fact that Mr. Engardio, who is gay himself, knowing the condemnation the Watchtower organization heaps upon gay people in its midst, would undertake such a project, and produce a documentary slanted towards the Jehovah's Witnesses religion -- a religion he, by his own admission, cannot join unless he pledges to remain celibate for the rest of his life. We do recognize that his mother is an active Witness, and this fact alone likely endeared him to the project, but we are disappointed that his undertaking did not include a more balanced view of the faith, inclusive of its errors as well as its good points.

Reason #3: Contact With "Known Homosexuals"

It is an established fact that the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society vilifies homosexuals. It's literature is rampant with condemnations against lesbian and gay people, refering to homosexual relationships as "an abomination", "detestable", and, of course, "sinful". What many people do not know is the lengths the Watchtower Society has gone to in order to condemn homosexuals. Between 1970 and 2002, the words "homosexual" and "homosexuality" appear in Watchtower literature 2,305 times -- and in each instance, a negative and condemning connotation is derived. According to the "Pay Attention" elder's manual, any Jehovah's Witness spending the night in the home of a "known homosexual" can be disfellowshipped.

Many of A Common Bond's members have been disfellowshipped because they are gay. Some of them were asked to leave their homes with little or no resources for survival in "the world." Most of our members know of at least one gay Witness or ex-Witness who has attempted suicide. At Watchtower assemblies, Witnesses are warned to "beware of homosexual apostates" in their midst, in the belief that we are infiltrating their religion trying to "recruit" new members into our "lifestyle." Watchtower literature has taught such archaic beliefs as homosexuality being caused by masturbation and demonic influence. Because of the Watchtower's continued anti-gay inculcations, many gay people living within the organization live deeply guilt-ridden, closeted lives. Many families of gay Witnesses and ex-Witnesses heap pleas of "repentance" or hurtful words of hatred upon them, if they speak to them at all. Many gay individuals raised as Jehovah's Witnesses will opt not to be baptized simply so that they will not be disfellowshipped and can continue associating with their families.

This is why we are baffled by the Watchtower Society's decision to "cooperate with the film's producers, providing them with archival material, granting interviews and permitting their cameras access to Watchtower's headquarters. [Their] camera crews were also allowed to film at a district convention of Jehovah's Witnesses, inside local Kingdom Halls and accompany Witnesses in the door-to-door visitation work." (As quoted above from Knocking's website.) Were they not aware that they were, by opening their doors to the producers, associating with a "known homosexual" -- and not any homosexual, but someone actively involved in gay rights and activism? Did they make this exception because of the positive light they knew this documentary would shine on them? Were they willing to bend the rules in exchange for publicity? Were they willing to look the other way as they allowed a "known homosexual" into their facilities and go door-to-door with them because the co-producer had never been baptized? What if A Common Bond wishes to make a documentary? Will they let us in, too?

In Conclusion

We have no doubt that there will be individuals reading this essay who will point an accusatory finger at this website and condemn us as being "Watchtower bashers". As strongly as we deny these intentions, we will come under judgement. It is a certainty. We could not keep our mouths shut on this issue, though. Any documentary aired to the masses should, by its very definition as a documentary, provide an unbiased analysis of both sides of the same issue. We believe that Knocking does not fit this criteria. We felt it our duty to provide additional information that were either accidentally or deliberately overlooked by the producers of this show, and of which PBS, who is airing it, may not be aware. We hope that this essay has been read with an open mind, and that it is understood that what is stated above is not merely opinion, but is backed up with reliable sources. We do not expect the condemnation of gays and lesbians by the Watchtower to cease, or even diminish. That is why A Common Bond exists. The purpose of our network is to provide a safe place of comfort and support to all those feeling disenfranchised from their faith because of their sexual orientation.

Knocking - Funding, Doctrine, and Hypocrisy
A Common Bond's Response to the Documentary Knocking - Part 2