Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2005, Page 54
Lethbridge denies the accusations and says the practice of authentic, grass-roots
Christianity requires a life commitment. ―I‘ve been working in the community for 18 years.
So how could I be accomplishing all these things, like brainwashing people, and getting
away with it for so long.‖
The church‘s attorney said: "This lawsuit seeks damages for people praying and confessing
their sins, and that is a blatant violation of the First Amendment." (John Chadwick, Bergen
County Record, Internet, 12/18/04)
Helge Fossmo/Knutby Church (Sweden)
Claims He Was Leader’s Sex Slave
Pastor Helge Fossmo, recently convicted of influencing the family nanny to kill his second
wife, says in his appeal trial that he was the ―sex slave‖ of the leader of his Knutby,
Sweden, congregation, Åsa Waldau, who is known as the Bride of Christ. The nanny, Sara
Svensson, said during his trial that she was Fossmo‘s sex slave.
Fossmo states now that his relationship with Waldau began as with an equal, but then ―she
began to speak of heavenly love. I had to caress her, to satisfy her sexually with my hands.
It was one-way love. I existed for her.‖ Fossmo‘s wife did not like him spending long days
working with Waldau, he added, so Waldau began to talk about God calling Mrs. Fossmo
―home‖ if she continued to object.
In light of his conviction, Fossmo will now be tried for the murder of his first wife, who, it
was thought, accidentally drowned in the bathtub. He said he was under Waldau‘s influence
when he immediately took his just-deceased wife‘s possessions to a second hand store,
falsified her death documents, and quickly got engaged to another woman, chosen by
Waldau. ―Åsa said that she had been out and had spoken with God. God had said to her that
her sister would be my new wife.‖ (The Local, Sweden, 10/7/04)
Jehovah’s Witnesses
Authorities Force Transfusion
A Jehovah’s Witnesses father recently removed his dying two-year-old daughter from a
hospital, in India‘s Darjeeling region, in order to avoid a blood transfusion for the girl, but
police chased them down and brought her back to physicians who had insisted on the
procedure. The parents say they wish their daughter had died rather than receive the
transfusion — which they say is forbidden by the Bible. Meanwhile, dozens of Jehovah‘s
Witnesses clergy have come to this tea growing region to take up the parents‘ case.
(Khaleej Times, Internet, 10/15/04)
Policy on Sexual Abuse
A New Hampshire suit brought against the Jehovah’s Witnesses by the daughters of a
man imprisoned for sexually abusing them when they were children is one among many
legal actions across the country that are bringing to light the church‘s public policy toward,
and private response to, such abuse.
The women‘s mother, Sara Poisson, is sorry she followed her Jehovah‘s Witnesses
congregation leaders‘ advice to pray more, be a better wife, and keep quiet when she told
them that her husband had abused their daughters. ―I was a puppet. It was ‗God says you
are a screw-up, so fix yourself and it will stop.‘ ‖ (A teacher finally reported the abuse.) The
church publicly supported the father during his trial and excommunicated his wife, the fate
of many critics, for cooperating with authorities.
Poisson‘s story, and the accounts of others, indicate that despite officially calling sexual
abuse ―abhorrent,‖ Jehovah‘s Witnesses rules actually protect molesters, perhaps because
Lethbridge denies the accusations and says the practice of authentic, grass-roots
Christianity requires a life commitment. ―I‘ve been working in the community for 18 years.
So how could I be accomplishing all these things, like brainwashing people, and getting
away with it for so long.‖
The church‘s attorney said: "This lawsuit seeks damages for people praying and confessing
their sins, and that is a blatant violation of the First Amendment." (John Chadwick, Bergen
County Record, Internet, 12/18/04)
Helge Fossmo/Knutby Church (Sweden)
Claims He Was Leader’s Sex Slave
Pastor Helge Fossmo, recently convicted of influencing the family nanny to kill his second
wife, says in his appeal trial that he was the ―sex slave‖ of the leader of his Knutby,
Sweden, congregation, Åsa Waldau, who is known as the Bride of Christ. The nanny, Sara
Svensson, said during his trial that she was Fossmo‘s sex slave.
Fossmo states now that his relationship with Waldau began as with an equal, but then ―she
began to speak of heavenly love. I had to caress her, to satisfy her sexually with my hands.
It was one-way love. I existed for her.‖ Fossmo‘s wife did not like him spending long days
working with Waldau, he added, so Waldau began to talk about God calling Mrs. Fossmo
―home‖ if she continued to object.
In light of his conviction, Fossmo will now be tried for the murder of his first wife, who, it
was thought, accidentally drowned in the bathtub. He said he was under Waldau‘s influence
when he immediately took his just-deceased wife‘s possessions to a second hand store,
falsified her death documents, and quickly got engaged to another woman, chosen by
Waldau. ―Åsa said that she had been out and had spoken with God. God had said to her that
her sister would be my new wife.‖ (The Local, Sweden, 10/7/04)
Jehovah’s Witnesses
Authorities Force Transfusion
A Jehovah’s Witnesses father recently removed his dying two-year-old daughter from a
hospital, in India‘s Darjeeling region, in order to avoid a blood transfusion for the girl, but
police chased them down and brought her back to physicians who had insisted on the
procedure. The parents say they wish their daughter had died rather than receive the
transfusion — which they say is forbidden by the Bible. Meanwhile, dozens of Jehovah‘s
Witnesses clergy have come to this tea growing region to take up the parents‘ case.
(Khaleej Times, Internet, 10/15/04)
Policy on Sexual Abuse
A New Hampshire suit brought against the Jehovah’s Witnesses by the daughters of a
man imprisoned for sexually abusing them when they were children is one among many
legal actions across the country that are bringing to light the church‘s public policy toward,
and private response to, such abuse.
The women‘s mother, Sara Poisson, is sorry she followed her Jehovah‘s Witnesses
congregation leaders‘ advice to pray more, be a better wife, and keep quiet when she told
them that her husband had abused their daughters. ―I was a puppet. It was ‗God says you
are a screw-up, so fix yourself and it will stop.‘ ‖ (A teacher finally reported the abuse.) The
church publicly supported the father during his trial and excommunicated his wife, the fate
of many critics, for cooperating with authorities.
Poisson‘s story, and the accounts of others, indicate that despite officially calling sexual
abuse ―abhorrent,‖ Jehovah‘s Witnesses rules actually protect molesters, perhaps because
