Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 8, No. 2, 2009, Page 62
we were semi-shunned by other members of the congregation, treated like lepers, and we
weren‘t allowed to hang out with kids in my congregation, at their houses, if one of their
parents was disfellowshipped.
Whether or not Jehovah‘s Witnesses is a cult—Abrahams thinks it is—it‘s a very rigidly
controlled group that uses social isolation and the threat of social isolation to keep people in
line. The pressure to witness was constant. Witness‘s kids taking high school biology had to
give their teachers the group‘s anti-evolution book. Our children‘s books had disgusting
pictures of things like Jezebel being thrown to the dogs, or a Canaanite getting ready to toss
a baby into a fire or into the lap of their idol. The worst part was a section of a big
panoramic picture of Armageddon: this little girl, her doll, her dog, and her bicycle, all
falling down into this big chasm in the Earth. Gave me nightmares. It‘s probably why I was
afraid to learn how to ride a bike. I stopped going [to the Witness church] the minute I
turned 18, and so did my sisters. We‘re not the bad kids people said we‘d be. We‘ve all
gone to college and we‘ve got our lives together and we‘ve got jobs and great
relationships.‖ But Jehovah‘s Witnesses still call us and preach return. ...
A Canadian court in Calgary in May dismissed Lawrence Hughes‘ appeal of a lower court
decision in his lawsuit against the Canadian branch of the Jehovah‘s Witnesses. He had
accused the sect and its lawyers of being responsible for the death of his daughter,
Bethany, 17, who died nearly seven years ago after refusing blood transfusions to treat her
leukemia. Hughes‘ original legal action led to his being shunned by his children, divorced by
his wife, and bankrupted by legal costs. The fact that Bethany eventually received 80
transfusions was enough to persuade the appeal court that the influence of the Jehovah‘s
Witnesses believers had caused ―no harm.‖
But Hughes still has reason for hope as he continues to press his attack on this legally
aggressive sect accustomed to mobilizing the courts to block members from receiving life-
saving transfusions against their family‘s or doctor‘s advice.
University of Calgary legal ethicist Alice Woolley explains that the judgment is significant in
not saying that Hughes was wrong in claiming that his daughter received problematic
advice, as Woolley puts it, from lawyers working not only for Bethany, but at the same time
for a religious body intent on seeing her denied the blood she needed. ―If I was advising
the Watchtower Society [parent organization of the Jehovah‘s Witnesses],‖ Woolley
continues, ―I would now say: ‗At some point, this [method of dealing with the blood
transfusion issue] is no longer going to work out for you.‘ ‖
Indeed, one of the appellate judges said that the sect‘s advice to Bethany to refuse
transfusions on religious grounds—a refusal supported by her Church-connected lawyers—
appeared to present a potential conflict between the Church‘s interests—promoting its belief
that the Book of Acts prohibits transfusions—and the unique interests of a sick girl.
Another Judge said that Bethany‘s mother, as well as the ―hospital liaisons‖ sent by the
Watchtower to stay constantly at Bethany‘s bedside, had persuaded the girl to refuse
treatment by providing ―incorrect information‖ [about the process], and unduly influenced
her, clouding her ability to independently make decisions. Hughes argues that his daughter
was the victim of implicit threats of social and family ostracism. ―If you accept the blood
transfusion,‖ he says, ―it‘s like someone standing there with a gun to your head.‖
Nor did the appeals court affirm the lower court ruling that Bethany‘s lawyers were not
conflicted. ―It is not necessary for us,‖ the court said, ―to decide whether the claims of
conflict or misrepresentation were arguable.‖ Woolley comments: ―This is conspicuous. I
think if they thought Macleod [the lower court judge] was right, they would have
pronounced on it.‖ In any case, the judges refused to dismiss the suit against the lawyers.
That decision, Hughes believes, gives him the opportunity to show in court that hospitals
we were semi-shunned by other members of the congregation, treated like lepers, and we
weren‘t allowed to hang out with kids in my congregation, at their houses, if one of their
parents was disfellowshipped.
Whether or not Jehovah‘s Witnesses is a cult—Abrahams thinks it is—it‘s a very rigidly
controlled group that uses social isolation and the threat of social isolation to keep people in
line. The pressure to witness was constant. Witness‘s kids taking high school biology had to
give their teachers the group‘s anti-evolution book. Our children‘s books had disgusting
pictures of things like Jezebel being thrown to the dogs, or a Canaanite getting ready to toss
a baby into a fire or into the lap of their idol. The worst part was a section of a big
panoramic picture of Armageddon: this little girl, her doll, her dog, and her bicycle, all
falling down into this big chasm in the Earth. Gave me nightmares. It‘s probably why I was
afraid to learn how to ride a bike. I stopped going [to the Witness church] the minute I
turned 18, and so did my sisters. We‘re not the bad kids people said we‘d be. We‘ve all
gone to college and we‘ve got our lives together and we‘ve got jobs and great
relationships.‖ But Jehovah‘s Witnesses still call us and preach return. ...
A Canadian court in Calgary in May dismissed Lawrence Hughes‘ appeal of a lower court
decision in his lawsuit against the Canadian branch of the Jehovah‘s Witnesses. He had
accused the sect and its lawyers of being responsible for the death of his daughter,
Bethany, 17, who died nearly seven years ago after refusing blood transfusions to treat her
leukemia. Hughes‘ original legal action led to his being shunned by his children, divorced by
his wife, and bankrupted by legal costs. The fact that Bethany eventually received 80
transfusions was enough to persuade the appeal court that the influence of the Jehovah‘s
Witnesses believers had caused ―no harm.‖
But Hughes still has reason for hope as he continues to press his attack on this legally
aggressive sect accustomed to mobilizing the courts to block members from receiving life-
saving transfusions against their family‘s or doctor‘s advice.
University of Calgary legal ethicist Alice Woolley explains that the judgment is significant in
not saying that Hughes was wrong in claiming that his daughter received problematic
advice, as Woolley puts it, from lawyers working not only for Bethany, but at the same time
for a religious body intent on seeing her denied the blood she needed. ―If I was advising
the Watchtower Society [parent organization of the Jehovah‘s Witnesses],‖ Woolley
continues, ―I would now say: ‗At some point, this [method of dealing with the blood
transfusion issue] is no longer going to work out for you.‘ ‖
Indeed, one of the appellate judges said that the sect‘s advice to Bethany to refuse
transfusions on religious grounds—a refusal supported by her Church-connected lawyers—
appeared to present a potential conflict between the Church‘s interests—promoting its belief
that the Book of Acts prohibits transfusions—and the unique interests of a sick girl.
Another Judge said that Bethany‘s mother, as well as the ―hospital liaisons‖ sent by the
Watchtower to stay constantly at Bethany‘s bedside, had persuaded the girl to refuse
treatment by providing ―incorrect information‖ [about the process], and unduly influenced
her, clouding her ability to independently make decisions. Hughes argues that his daughter
was the victim of implicit threats of social and family ostracism. ―If you accept the blood
transfusion,‖ he says, ―it‘s like someone standing there with a gun to your head.‖
Nor did the appeals court affirm the lower court ruling that Bethany‘s lawyers were not
conflicted. ―It is not necessary for us,‖ the court said, ―to decide whether the claims of
conflict or misrepresentation were arguable.‖ Woolley comments: ―This is conspicuous. I
think if they thought Macleod [the lower court judge] was right, they would have
pronounced on it.‖ In any case, the judges refused to dismiss the suit against the lawyers.
That decision, Hughes believes, gives him the opportunity to show in court that hospitals
