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This TWO-PAGE section contains SCHOOL-HOMESCHOOLING court cases involving/affecting Children of Jehovah's Witnesses and their JW Parents. If you are looking for court cases involving adult Jehovah's Witnesses who are employed as School Teachers or other School Employees, then click this link to go to our JEHOVAH'S WITNESS SCHOOL TEACHERS - EMPLOYEES webpage available at our JW EMPLOYEES website.

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HISTORICAL PROSPECTIVE

NEW YORK v. JAMES SULLIVAN was a 1909 New York criminal court case which aptly demonstrates how the WatchTower Cult has historically viewed children, child-rearing, and schooling. Also see opening section of this website's HOME PAGE linked above.

James Sullivan was the 15 YEAR-OLD son of BETHELITE and WATCHTOWER PILGRIM, Owen L. Sullivan, whom also had two older daughters and a son-in-law who all were BETHELITES at WatchTower HQ in Brooklyn. Those two older daughters were the children of O. L. Sullivan and his deceased first wife (Alabama), while James Sullivan had been born to O. L. Sullivan and his second wife in 1894 -- soon after their marriage (Tennessee).

It appears that Owen L. Sullivan had become a WATCHTOWER BETHELITE sometime around 1907, so we are guessing that James Sullivan's mother had died sometime shortly prior to 1907, and that after her death, O. L. Sullivan had abandoned the rearing of his then 13 year-old son to either relatives or a boarding school. At some unknown point in time, WATCHTOWER BETHELITE and PILGRIM, O. L. Sullivan, had forced James Sullivan to live at Fox River Academy, which was a SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST "school" located in Illinois. Notably, the name of that "school" had been changed in 1908 from Sheridan Industrial School to Fox River Academy -- admittedly to improve the "institution's" image. In reality, this "school" was a working farm where the students were required to perform all of the manual labor when they were otherwise not being indoctrinated with SDA beliefs and practices, and given a free basic education in exchange.

James Sullivan foreseeably did not like living as a "slave" at Fox River Academy, and ran away to live with relatives sometime during the Spring of 1909. Around July 1909, 15 year-old James Sullivan traveled to WatchTower HQ, in Brooklyn, where he thought that he would find his "loving" father, Owen L. Sullivan. However, at the time, O. L. Sullivan was traveling with Charles Taze Russell in the western Pacific states. Apparently, BETHELITE brother-in-law A. G. Wakefield arranged for James Sullivan to also become a BETHELITE and work at WatchTower HQ. After a month or so of performing slave labor for room and board at WatchTower HQ, James Sullivan ran away to relatives living in Philadelphia.

James Sullivan apparently was "tricked" into returning to WatchTower HQ, where brother-in-law, Averett G. Wakefield, and James Sullivan's two half-sisters had him arrested and jailed with the intent of having him legally declared a "juvenile delinquent", and shipped off to a REFORM SCHOOL. Outcome unknown.

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HIGH TECH BILLIONAIRE DISFELLOWSHIPPED WHEN JW TEEN

Asking too many questions has reshaped Andy Konwinski's life more than once.

First, his doubts about the Jehovah's Witness religion cost him his family and his faith. Then, curiosity helped him become a top computer researcher and co-founder of Databricks, one of the world's most valuable startups. Next, he helped build Perplexity, an artificial intelligence-powered search engine designed to answer questions better than Google. The ventures have made [Andrew] Konwinski, 42, a billionaire, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Databricks, which develops software to manage and analyze large datasets, was valued at over $100 billion in its last funding round, while Perplexity is worth $20 billion. He declined to comment on his net worth. 

Still, his inquisitiveness isn't satisfied. [Andy] Konwinski, whose nine-inch beard and magnetic energy give him the air of a diviner, recently launched the Laude Institute, a nonprofit backed with $100 million of his own money. It offers short-term "slingshot" grants to launch research out of the lab and longer-term "moonshot" awards designed to tackle era-defining questions, like how to reskill workforces in the age of AI and repair civic discourse. His goal is nothing less than solving "species-level problems" by turning research into technological breakthroughs. Key to it is keeping progress out in the open at a time when a lot of the cutting-edge work in the US is being done inside corporations, rather than being shared with the world. 

"When I look around at who's got the microphone, who's leading the AI conversation, I don't really see anybody I trust that resonates with that ethos or value system," Konwinski said in an interview at La Val's, a legendary pizza shop that he frequented while attending grad school at the University of California, Berkeley. "I want to put the microphone in the hands of the researchers who are building the thing and help them feel the weight on their shoulders of the implications of what they're building."

Konwinski grew up in rural Wisconsin, where his elementary school was tucked into corn fields. As a kid, he'd rub his dad's feet when he came home from his job as a machinist. His mom was mostly a homemaker, who worked part-time at the Piggly Wiggly and later as a school bus driver. On the weekends, a young Konwinski worked on cars and rode dirt bikes. 

Much of his life, though, revolved around his religion. Raised a Jehovah's Witness, he often brought his Bible to school. His parents, both senior leaders in the faith, would load him and his four siblings into their van for conventions around the state. In high school, the innately curious teenager began questioning some of the religion's beliefs. He was told not to talk about his doubts. 

"That was the wrong thing for me to hear," he said. "I believe to this day in curiosity and discourse and discovery and pursuit of knowledge. And that led me out of the religion, which the [Jehovah's] Witnesses call disfellowshipping."

By the time he was 18, he was expelled from the faith. Some of his siblings stopped speaking to him in a silence that would stretch decades; his parents lost their leadership roles. Unmoored and without a community for the first time, Konwinski said he felt empty and often thought about killing himself. 

A high school counselor steered him toward higher education, which became his new north star. He went to a trade school for six months and later transferred to a two-year community college that acted as a feeder to the University of Wisconsin, Madison. There, his programming skills, eagerness and relentless questioning set him apart and he graduated in 2007 with a computer science degree.

He went on to grad school at Berkeley, home to Nobel laureates, Turing award winners and pioneering computer research labs. He still teaches a research seminar for Ph.D. students interested in starting companies from their research. ... At 6-foot-5 with a Darwin-like beard -- something that was banned by his religion -- Konwinski is hard to miss around campus. On a walk to the computer school after a $5 slice of pizza at La Val's, he's stopped by students eager to discuss their research or startup ideas. The computer lab, where he met his wife and co-founders, still feels like home, he said. 

When Konwinski arrived at Berkeley in 2007, Stanford University was still thought of as the best place to launch a startup, said Matei Zaharia, a Databricks co-founder and close friend. That changed, thanks in part to Konwinski's role as an early organizer of the Computer Science Graduate Entrepreneurs club, which helps students turn research into companies. Fueled by bean-and-cheese burritos, the two friends practically lived in the lab, helping invent open-source architecture for large-scale data processing, including Apache Mesos and Apache Spark. Midway through his Ph.D., Konwinski realized he'd rather build something than become a professor. He and six fellow Berkeley researchers launched Databricks in 2013. 

"That's when I realized that research only matters if you ship it," he said.

Perhaps it was his background in proselytizing, but in Databricks' early days, Konwinski naturally gravitated toward working with customers. He organized Bay Area meetups, Berkeley training camps and the company's first user conferences. He was "one of the first people to really act as product manager, primarily to hand-hold the early customers," Zaharia said. " He knew all the users and was able to get the product working, going from a demo to something these people would actually use every day."

When Konwinski stepped back from day-to-day operations in 2019, Databricks was valued at $2.8 billion. That was before the explosion of interest in AI -- it's now in talks to raise funds at a valuation north of $130 billion, according to a report from the Information. 

Databricks' success proved to Konwinski that research must be open-source but also commercialized in order to be transformative. It also cemented his view of his own strengths. 

"Building the thing isn't my gift," he said. "My gift is building the team that builds the thing."

To find his next team, Konwinski returned to Berkeley, hanging out with Ph.D. students and advisers and testing an early version of what would become Laude Ventures. (The name Laude is inspired by the Latin cum laude -- "with honors" -- used by universities to denote exceptional academic achievement.) He raised a small investment fund, called Computer Science Graduate Ventures (CSGV), from 25 researchers and professors.

While he was disbursing CSGV's money, Konwinski met Aravind Srinivas, then a researcher at OpenAI. He admired his drive and stubbornness, and Srinivas' idea of an AI-driven search engine appealed to his curiosity. Srinivas left OpenAI to co-found Perplexity, CSGV's sixth investment. 

Konwinski no longer holds an executive role at Perplexity but continues to act as an adviser to CEO Srinivas, who describes him as someone who's "good at asking questions."

"Andy has this gift for making everyone around him want to ask 'why not?' instead of 'why?'" Srinivas said in an email. "Launching Laude is an example of his drive. He's out to prove that big ideas are possible and they're necessary."

In some ways, the Laude Institute is Konwinski's third startup, albeit one that aims to help other founders emulate his success. He started with Laude Ventures, a $150 million venture fund launched last year that's raised capital from over 50 researchers and professors, as well as institutional investors. Building off the CSGV playbook, its goal is to identify promising research and work with founders from the earliest stage to help commercialize it. Perplexity is one of its portfolio companies. 

But he quickly realized that venture funding alone can't solve all the problems researchers face, and its return horizon isn't always aligned with the pace of scientific discovery. To address these hurdles, Konwinski used his Databricks money to found the $100 million Laude Institute. Its board includes computing pioneer Dave Patterson, Cohere's chief AI officer Joelle Pineau and Jeff Dean, Google's chief scientist and co-founder of Google Brain.

There are lots of barriers to commercializing research, Dean said in an email. Funding is a big one -- "in particular, obtaining funding for long-ish periods to give people the comfort and space to tackle ambitious problems," he wrote. " This is where the approach used by the Laude Institute of providing extended multi-year grants to tackle ambitious projects will be useful."

In November, Laude awarded its first batch of 15 "slingshot" grants to help researchers around the country bring their work to market. Some of the projects were focused on the technical development of AI, while others pursue novel ideas like a self-improving AI scientist.

The moonshot program aims to tackle the sweeping questions that drive Konwinski, with a focus on themes including civic discourse, health care, scientific progress and workforce re-skilling in the age of AI. More than 600 researchers, including Nobel and Turing winners, representing 130 projects applied for the first batch of $250,000 grants. The initial funding will help teams refine their proposals. Ultimately, the Laude Institute will fund one to four research labs with about $10 million each. It's also providing a $15 million anchor gift to Berkeley for an AI systems lab.

One requirement of Laude's funding is that the initial work must remain open and available to all.

"Research happening in the open makes research happen faster," Konwinski said. 

It's also a matter of keeping the door open for future kids like him. 

He starts getting choked up as he sits in La Val's and thinks about his path, from an insular religion that discouraged critical thought to trying to answer the question of how to create a better world for his two young daughters. 

"Here I am at the frontier of AI -- this kid who rode dirt bikes and hung out with farmers and had a dog named Samson, and jumped on trampolines and broke my leg all the time," he said, his voice faltering." And now I get to work on a species-level thing all day, every day. It's essential that we let this mobility happen, and it won't happen if things happen behind closed doors." -- BLOOMBERG, 11/2025, Edited.

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WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMURS By Tim Husband

Tim Husband is a highly experienced Captive Wild Animal Manager and Zoo Consultant. He is well respected as a teacher, an ardent supporter of animal keepers, and is a devoted advocate for the conservation of wild animals. Tim Husband is one of a handful of international specialists known for their expertise in animal care. He has directed, designed, and curated at some of the best-known zoos in the world, building a reputation as an exotic animal whisperer.

Tim Husband grew up in a very strict and loveless Jehovah's Witness family in New Zealand, who spent their free time knocking doors distributing literature for the WATCHTOWER CULT. Tim found that being around animals helped him to find the missing bits in his life. As a child, Tim often visited zoos, animal parks, and pet shops to see what was there and to learn as much as he could about wildlife. Struggling to fit into the CULT, Tim found refuge in the bush, collecting and caring for injured animals.

At age fourteen, Tim Husband was "disfellowshipped", "shunned", and thrown out of his home by his father and the church elders. He was taken in by the owner of the local zoo, and in exchange for a bed and food, Tim spent the next decade caring for the wild animals. Patiently observing these exotic animals gave Tim his first true sense of family. In his early 20s, Tim left New Zealand to live in Australia. At Sydney University, he earned a degree in zoology. Tim has worked for more than forty years at zoos from Dubai, to India, to Bali, to California.

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SHE COULD HAVE BEEN A FULLTIME PIONEER!!!

Karen Marie Winkfield, MD, PhD, professor of Radiation Oncology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), executive director of the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance and professor of Medicine at Meharry Medical College, didn't realize then how fortunate she was to live on the "good side" of a school district line. A few blocks from her home in Long Island, New York, the other school district didn't have such a strong support system.

African-American Karen Winkfield was a senior in high school, skipping class and hanging out in the cafeteria, when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Mrs. Miller, a mild-mannered woman with dark curly hair who taught English, wanted to know why her star student had suddenly become a slacker. Winkfield confided that her parents would not let her go to college. So, Miller, coordinating with other educators, opened a pathway.

To pursue a college degree, Winkfield had to break through a barrier by defying the orders of her parents, devout Jehovah's Witnesses, a religion that teaches, according to its official website, that higher education "can lead to moral and spiritual dangers", and that even though many people attend universities to attain "noble goals", and "improve themselves and the world", its members "have chosen a different path". Only 9% of Jehovah's Witnesses obtain an undergraduate degree, and just 3% achieve a postgraduate degree, according to Pew Research Center. Winkfield almost acquiesced and let her ambitions wilt.

"I was cutting class when I had been at the top of my class," she said. "I could have easily been salutatorian or valedictorian. I ended up falling to third in my class of 270 because I was fooling around my senior year."

Miller coordinated with Winkfield's high school vocal teacher and guidance counselor to get her into college. The dean of admissions at Binghampton University also assisted, helping her declare independence from her parents so she could apply for financial assistance and scholarships. She received a President's Scholarship.

Her parents' religion had been a brick barrier for Winkfield, but once in college she became intrigued by how systems and programs affected people's lives. She had initially majored in music, but after a four-year break from college when she worked for a law firm, she returned to Binghampton and graduated with a degree in biochemistry. She then went to Duke University School of Medicine, receiving medical and PhD degrees and becoming the second Black woman to graduate from the Medical Scientist Training Program at Duke. She completed her residency training at the Harvard Radiation Oncology Program in Boston.

During her residency, she had the opportunity to train and rotate at six different hospitals and observe protocols. When it became time to apply for a job, she approached the leadership at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) about establishing a comprehensive clinical program focused on hematologic malignancies in the Department of Radiation Oncology after first consulting with her medical oncology colleagues to make sure they were on board. ... She helped develop the first multidisciplinary clinic for patients with hematologic disorders at MGH. ...

While at Massachusetts General, Winkfield was a co-principal investigator of a $3 million grant that established the Lazarex-MGH Cancer Care Equity Program, an initiative to improve clinical trial access and enrollment in vulnerable populations. She was responsible for the community outreach and education component of the grant. She continued working in this field in 2016 when she went to Wake Forest University, where she was associate professor of Radiation Oncology and served as associate director of Community Outreach and Engagement for the comprehensive cancer center and director of the Office of Cancer Health Equity from 2016 to 2020. ...

She was recruited to Vanderbilt from Wake Forest University and began working in Nashville in November. Winkfield succeeds Consuelo Wilkins, MD, MSCI, professor of Medicine, who had served as the Alliance's executive director since 2012. Wilkins was named in 2019 to the newly created positions of Vice President for Health Equity at VUMC and Associate Dean for Health Equity with the Vanderbilt School of Medicine.

Karen M. Winkfield has led national initiatives to achieve better diversity. She is co-founder and director of the Association of Black Radiation Oncology. She served as chair of the American Society of Clinical Oncology's (ASCO) Health Disparities Committee from 2016-2017. She led a taskforce on improving racial and ethnic diversity in the oncologic workforce that resulted in the development of ASCO's strategic plan for workforce diversity. She was lead author of that plan. -- Adapted/edited from Barrier Breaker - VICC Momentum, "Karen Winkfield helps people navigate society's invisible boundaries", March 1, 2021

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From [Jehovah's Witness] Child Bride to Stanford [University] on a Full Ride: 

The Incredible Story of a [Connecticut] Community College Graduate

By Alison Cross, Hartford Courant (Edited)

May 28, 2024

Carla Galaise's life was survival.

As a child, Galaise did not think she would ever graduate high school. In fact, she never thought about her future at all, but this fall the single mom and Northwestern Connecticut Community College grad will move to California to study anthropology at Stanford University.

After decades of struggle, Galaise was certain that the letter in her inbox from Stanford was going to be a rejection, but even more shocking than the acceptance was that the education would be 100% free -- in addition to institutional aid, Galaise was one of 60 students selected from across the nation to receive the national Jack Kent Cooke scholarship.

For the first time in her life, Galaise will be able to study and take care of her 8-year-old son without having to worry.

"I can't even comprehend it. It's just huge, life-changing in every way," Galaise said.

"I'm still battling food insecurity, I don't know how I'm going to make rent for next month, and I have a flat tire on my car right now," Galaise said. "But after (I got in), all I could think of was 'I did it, I broke the cycle.'"

'Rewriting my history'

Galaise grew up in Falls Village, Connecticut as a member of an isolated Jehovah's Witness community based out of Massachusetts.

Galaise said her mother was a hoarder who struggled with severe mental health issues and was abusive. Galaise's father was in prison for most of her childhood.

"The [Jehovah's] Witnesses really controlled every part of my life," Galaise said, explaining how most of her days were spent locked in her mother's house, prohibited from associating with anyone from the "outside world."

"I wasn't allowed to go to friends' (houses). I wasn't allowed to participate in sports," Galaise said. "I was discouraged from even graduating high school, much less going to college. That just wasn't an option for women or men really, but definitely not for women. Our job was to devote our life to God and have kids."

Galaise said the one thing that saved her was going to public school.

Most kids in her congregation were homeschooled, but Galaise was permitted to enroll in her community's small, rural school. Studying beside only eight kids from kindergarten to eighth grade, Galaise said it felt more like family than class.

"School was my escape," Galaise said. "My future was gray, there was nothing there, except when I was learning at school."

Galaise said the two worlds were in constant conflict.

"I adored school when I was there but the second I came home, I was like, 'Well, there's no point in doing my homework. It's not like any of this is going to amount to anything,'" Galaise said. "I was in AP classes by the time I was a senior and I was failing out of all of them. ... But when I was in class, I was fully immersed in my world."

At 14, Galaise said her mother started "loaning" her out to families in the congregation to babysit. Galaise would do the work while her mother pocketed the cash.

It was during this period that Galaise met the man who would be her husband and abuser: the 20-year-old son of one of the families she babysat for.

"He groomed me," Galaise said. "He picked me when I was 14 and my mother ... she facilitated the grooming process."

When the elders of the congregation found out, Galaise said no one protected her, they protected the church's reputation, "going to the ends of the earth to cover it up."

In 2009, still in her senior year at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, Galaise got married. She was 17 years old.

"To say I had no choice, doesn't even begin to capture it. I was just an object at that point," Galaise said. "I didn't know what was happening to me."

After the marriage, Galaise said the elders ended up excommunicating her husband for his conduct and shunned her with him.

"I spent my entire childhood just trying to make them happy. And then all of a sudden it was just, I was his wife and that's all I was," Galaise said. "I had done everything that they wanted in my life, I gave up my entire life to them to just have them pretend I didn't exist."

Despite all odds, Galaise graduated high school. She moved to her in-law's house in Massachusetts immediately and spent the next three months in her husband's bedroom, isolated from the world, barred from even having a job, as she slipped into a "deep dark depression."

"No matter what direction I looked, there was no one," Galaise said. "It was just empty. The hardest time ever was during this time ... I've experienced a whole ton of stuff since then, and nothing was even remotely as horrible."

One day, Galaise's husband told her that he got a job and they were moving to Burlington, Vermont. Six months into the move, he told her they were going back to Massachusetts and the congregation.

Galaise refused to leave.

"He was so confident that I would follow him," Galaise said. "He left and he told me 'You have no one, You're going to follow me.' If he didn't say that line, I probably would have followed ... but I didn't and I stayed in Vermont."

A week after her 18th birthday, Galaise found herself alone.

She got a job working 10 hours a week as a cashier at a local grocery store, trekking more than two miles every day to get there.

In the beginning, Galaise said she almost got fired because she was so shy.

"I just turned bright red and (would) run and hide from people," Galaise said. "I was messed up."

The money was enough to keep Galaise from being homeless, but that was about it. At the time, Galaise did not even know about food stamps.

Ultimately, Galaise said the store's "sample lady" saved her. After watching the weight fall off Galaise's thinning frame, her elderly woman coworker began making Galaise to-go meals out of the food reserved for free samples.

Galaise was almost fired again, but she held onto the job. Within the year, she rose to the ranks of department manager and became Price Chopper's employee of the year.

"I'm really proud of this because this was a huge turning point in my life," Galaise said. "From there on, it was not an easy journey by any means, there's so many, many phases I had to go through, but that was the first (moment of) 'OK, I can do this and I'm going to make this happen."

The next defining moment came in 2014 when Galaise gave birth to her son Eli.

In the years after her marriage, Galaise bounced from one abusive boyfriend to the next, but she said her son's father was "probably the worst of all of them." When Eli was 7 months old, she escaped the relationship, taking refuge at a domestic violence shelter.

"That kid saved me," Galaise said. "My childhood and experiences were so terrible that I (said), 'I can't, I'm not letting this child live through any of that' and I knew that I had to change myself and rewire everything I knew."

Galaise said she realized that education was the only path forward.

"I have to learn more about the world in order to save my son," Galaise said.

In 2016, while working full time, Galaise enrolled in community college in Vermont. Galaise took one to two classes a semester, squeezing in her studies after Eli went to bed.

Every month, her finances fell into the red. Galaise struggled with food insecurity and lost weight. It was difficult, but looking back Galaise said "It doesn't feel as much like a hard time, because it didn't feel like survival. It felt more like, 'OK, I'm making these decisions because I wanna get to the next step.'"

When the pandemic hit, Galaise and Eli moved back to Connecticut. They settled in Galaise's childhood home after her brother bought the property when their mother moved out of state.

She came with a purpose: to emotionally heal.

In Vermont, Galaise said she pretended her childhood never happened. In Connecticut, she confronted it all.

"It was horrible at first. I had to feel all the pain from my childhood," Galaise said. "I would have nightmares of my mother ... I couldn't sleep. I thought I just made a big mistake, and then I started seeing a therapist and she helped me work through the hardest nine months (of) cleaning all that up mentally."

"I started having happy memories and started having (Eli's) friends over," Galaise added. "It was very symbolic. I wasn't going anywhere in the outside world ... I was sitting in my hometown, not doing (anything), but I was rewriting my history."

'Our school helps save lives'

When Galaise finally enrolled in Northwestern Connecticut Community College, the school gave her more than an education, it offered her support.

"I'd go to that food pantry every week. When I had an internship, I could go to the Care Closet and get professional clothes," Galaise said. "They helped meet those basic needs, but I didn't feel looked down upon for it."

At school, Galaise excelled and became a leader, mentor, honor society member, and school policy maker representing thousands of students on the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities Board of Regents.

Galaise said her relationships with professors transformed and healed her.

"They believed in me from the very beginning," Galaise said. "They just saw me in class and they (said), 'Hey, I see something in you,' and that made all the difference in the world."

When Professor Tom Bryda first met Galaise in one of his history classes, he knew she was someone special.

"I told her, a year or so ago, that I had big plans for her. And she just sort of chuckled and brushed it off," Bryda said. "She never thought that good things would come her way."

This semester, when Bryda broke the news that Galaise was one of 60 students nationwide selected for a Jack Kent Cooke scholarship, Bryda said Galaise was "flabbergasted."

"She started crying and she just couldn't believe that all these great things were happening because it's hard to get her to see herself and how great she really is, (how) brave she really is," Bryda said.

For Bryda, the moment was bittersweet. Through the semesters, Bryda said Galaise and her son Eli had grown to become like a part of his family, spending Easters and Christmases at his house and sparking so much joy in everyone's life.

"She sacrificed a great deal for her son, to make sure he was healthy and happy, but also making sure that she could study and experience as much as she could experience," Bryda said. "I'm just so proud of her ... I really am going miss her, but I wish her the best and I know she's going do amazing things out in California."

"We have some wonderful students with amazing success stories who've overcome incredible odds and every year is a new story," Bryda said. "One student in particular, he came back to visit last week, he said the thing he loved about our college is that it saved his life, and we sort of had that as kind of a mantra, you know, 'Our school helps save lives.'"

In a statement to the Courant, CSCU Chancellor Terrence Cheng said "faculty and staff perform magic" on community college campuses, every day.

"They change lives, the way they helped change Carla's life," Cheng said. "CT State Northwestern rallied around Carla and became the family and support network she needed to shine. And with that support, you can see that she has shattered expectations while changing the trajectory of her life and her son's life."

"There are hundreds of thousands of students like Carla: folks who are told by society what they should be. We disenfranchise so many each and every day when that happens," Cheng added. "Carla is amazing, but she is just one of so many examples of how community college students are just as good as any other. The gumption, the work ethic, and the grit they have innately just needs a chance, and that is what we give them."

Galaise's accomplishments, however, are myriad.

She served as chair of the CT Board of Regents Student Advisory Committee, representing all 58,000 CT State Community College students, and serving as a full voting member of the board. She also interned at the Legislative Office Building, mentored dozens of NCCC students as a Peer2Peer mentor and lobbied on behalf of students both at the college and before the state legislature.

Even after accomplishing so much, Galaise still finds it hard at times to fully recognize her worth.

"I've only thought about myself as a lost cause," Galaise said. "Not as much anymore (now) that I got into Stanford and got this amazing scholarship. But up until this point, like I've just been dumping all of my knowledge into (my son) because I don't want everything that I've been through to be for nothing."

Now, as Galaise and Eli prepare to move to California, Galaise said "it feels like the possibilities are endless."

"I couldn't have had any of these opportunities if I hadn't gone to community college," Galaise said. "If I just skipped over (it) and tried going to one of the state universities, I don't think I would have had these opportunities or felt as safe looking for these opportunities as I did at community college."

Galaise said that even today, she doesn't think about the future, but she always follows her gut.

"When I was in community college, I wasn't thinking I was going to transfer out to a better school," Galaise said. "I was just like, 'OK, this is the next step. This is what I'm going to do.'"

No matter where anyone might be in life, Galaise said the key is to keep moving forward "even if they're baby steps."

"Every single day, do something that makes you slightly uncomfortable and just take a step forward, whatever that means. If you're severely depressed and a shower is your big step of the day, that's still progress," Galaise said. "If you don't see a step in front of you, find one, even if it's just sitting down and reading a book, just constantly searching and raising your hand and saying like, 'Yeah, I want to do that. I want to try that.'"

"Taking that next step consistently, day after day can lead to some huge things."

"I've never tried to guess what the future is going to look like," Galaise said. "I'm just taking things step by step."

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IN RE GERALD GREEN was a 1969 Pennsylvania court decision. In June 1969, Gerald Green, age 16, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, mysteriously collapsed soon after receiving his diploma during graduation exercises at Edward Bok Technical High School. Transported to Einstein Medical Center BY THE POLICE, doctors discovered that Gerald Green was INTERNALLY HEMORRHAGING due to causes they would not release. JW Stepfather and JW Mother -- Robert Armistead, age 47, and Ruby Armistead, age 46 -- not only refused to consent to life-saving blood transfusions, but indicated their intentions to physically resist such, Einstein Medical Center sought and obtained court intervention, including orders to arrest Robert Armistead and Ruby Armistead if they attempted to interfere. The Judge also confined Gerald Green to the hospital until such time that doctors determined that all dangers to the teenager had passed. Robert Armistead and Ruby Armistead were outraged, and threatened a federal lawsuit for the supposed violations of THEIR constitutional rights. Robert Armistead continued to bark threats to reporters that he was going to remove his step-son from Einstein Medical Center. Apparently, there was much more to this story than was released to the public.

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Jehovah's Witnesses Pulling Kids From School Over 'Harsh Rules'

Author: Andrea Martinez (edited)

November 23, 2016

Parents at the [private, Christian] Brook Hill School in Bullard [, Texas] claim they will be homeschooling their children next year after what they allege are harsh rules enforced on their child, and other rules that may impede on their constitutional rights.

Rudy and Yvonne Wright allege their child was sent home from school several days in a row because of hair color that the school called "not natural".

The Wrights allege the school officials said as long as their child toned down the blue roots, the style would be fine. however, when she did, they sent her home a second time, asking her to change it again. The parents say the school kept raising the bar, and sent her home a third time, insisting that the color still wasn't "natural" enough.

In addition, the Wright's are Jehovah's [W]itnesses, and complain a letter sent home earlier in the year in response to National Anthem protests impedes on their religious freedoms.

"It's really heartbreaking when rules are put forth that potentially violate the freedom of religion," said Wright. "And then other rules are applied randomly, and applied overly harsh to us."

Wright said if the school had told the family on the first day that the hair style was not allowed, it would have been acceptable. "But to put us through this emotional anguish, and deal with a heartbroken child, we have decided we are going to go ahead and home school from now on," he said. Wright said out of frustration, their daughter has decided to shave her hair entirely.

The school's headmaster, Rod Fletcher, said "It would be inappropriate for me to address a special student or incident. We do have a dress code that includes grooming guidelines. From time to time we ask students to make adjustments to adhere to the guidelines. We asked students not to protest the playing of the national anthem. Abstaining respectfully for religious reasons could be very different."

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NAACP & JEHOVAH'S WITNESS PARTNER TO INTEGRATE THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

HIRAM T. WHITTLE v. UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND was a 1949-51 Maryland lawsuit in which the ***NAACP*** "cherry-picked" an African-American Jehovah's Witness Plaintiff in its eventually successful attempt to force the racial integration of the entire University of Maryland system. (UM's Princess Anne campus was all-black.) During the latter 1930s, NAACP lawsuits had forced the admissions of a handful of African-Americans to various graduate programs at UM, but given the nature of graduate programs and graduate students, full racial integration at UM had not occur in actuality. That's why Hiram Whittle's much tougher admission as UM's first African-American undergraduate student was so significant. (The fight for the integration of the University of Maryland was led by NAACP Attorney and Baltimore native, Thurgood Marshall, who had been denied admission to UM Law School in 1930.)

Hiram T. Whittle was the fourth of nine surviving children, and the second oldest of seven sons. We do not know when Whittle's parents became Jehovah's Witnesses, but Whittle claims that he was "raised from birth" as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Interestingly, in 1937, a newborn son was named "Jehonadab", which was the WatchTower Cult's term for the "Great Crowd" starting in 1932. (See PROCLAIMERS, pages 83-84, 243, and 166-170. Note that there was much more confusion regarding the activities and obligations of the "Jonadabs" during the 1930s than the PROCLAIMERS book lets on -- typical of the WatchTower Cult's REWRITTEN history book.) In the decades to follow, the Whittle Family became one of Baltimore's more prominent African-American families. Hiram Whittle's father, Norman Whittle, eventually rose to the level of "Congregation Servant", or "Presiding Overseer", and reportedly served multiple Baltimore congregations until his death in 1980.

In Spring 1949, Hiram Whittle graduated from Dunbar High School. Whittle applied for admission at the University of Maryland's all-white College of Engineering, but was denied admission as an African-American. This lawsuit followed. In the meantime, Whittle entered state-owned/operated, all-black Morgan State University, in Baltimore, in Fall 1949. In June 1950, the state also offered Whittle admission at all-black Maryland State College. However, Whittle returned for his third semester at Morgan State in Fall 1950. In January 1951, the NAACP filed a mandamus petition asking the state courts to order Hiram Whittle's admission to UM's College of Engineering. The lawsuit was rendered moot, when on learning of its filing, Hiram Whittle was immediately admitted to UM's College of Engineering at its all-white College Park campus. The President of the University of Maryland and its Board of Regents simply had grown tired of enforcing the policy of segregation forced onto UM by Maryland's state legislature.

Hiram Whittle spent his first semester at UM's College Park campus living off-campus with a local A-A family. However, in Fall 1951, Whittle moved into a UM dorm which he shared with 23 caucasian students. Despite the tremendous amount of time, effort, and expense spent by the NAACP and the involved parties, Hiram Whittle did NOT complete the Engineering program, or any other UM program. Surprisingly, to everyone but WatchTower Cult historians, Whittle quit UM at the end of his third semester (Spring 1952). UNBELIEVABLY, the AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDIES PROGRAM at the University of Maryland teaches and publishes that Whittle was forced to leave UM prematurely due to "severe and constant harassment". In a 2004 media interview, Hiram Whittle insisted that he never encountered even one single incident of racial discrimination while at the University of Maryland. (Many other liberal, typically A-A, authors who write about Whittle misstate "facts" -- either intentionally, incompetently, or both -- so as to exaggerate their liberal, racist agenda. One recent A-A author publishes that Whittle graduated from UM, and went on to have an engineering career.)

INTERESTINGLY, in that same 2004 media interview, Whittle "let the cat out of the bag" regarding why he quit UM after his junior year of college. Whittle, whom had never lived anywhere but the greater Baltimore area, moved to New York City, where he worked "factory jobs" until he returned home to Baltimore in 1955. (Whittle served as a WATCHTOWER BETHELITE -- for those whom can't put 2 and 2 together. Note that Hiram Whittle claims that he was not baptized until 1964, which may be true.) CURIOUSLY, after returning home from WatchTower World HQ, in 1955, Whittle went back to work at the neighborhood grocery store where he had worked since he was 12 years-old. It was not until 1966, when he was 35 years-old, that Whittle put his three years of college to work by getting a drafting job with the City of Baltimore. Whittle claimed to still be working for the City of Baltimore in 2004.

***

***** FOOTNOTE. Many years ago, while in attendance at a national convention of a certain political party, this Editor was approached by a male Caucasian Party Official (CPO) and was asked to sit in on and assist at a private meeting between that CPO and a female African-American NAACP official. The purpose of that meeting was to present a platform position which CPO hoped that the NAACP would fully support. The platform position was presented to the NAACP official as being a huge positive for the African-American community as a whole. However, both CPO and myself were taken aback when NAACP official expressed ZERO interest in the platform position. Assuming that NAACP official had not understood his presentation, CPO attempted to review the platform position. However, NAACP official interrupted CPO, and stated that we were wasting her time. Expressing her annoyance, NAACP official let us two Caucasians know that it was we who did not understand her. In parsed language, NAACP official let us know that she didn't care what our platform position could do for ALL African-Americans. NAACP official first wanted to know WHAT WAS IN IT FOR HER -- PERSONALLY? CPO and I were a little slow, but we finally "understood" what was wanted by that NAACP official. Apparently, that older, more politically experienced female African-American NAACP official had played this game before, and apparently, this NAACP official was not going to do anything, for anybody, for nothing. Well, three persons left that meeting disappointed. My own disappointment has lasted until today.

Only a few years later, I had a second chance encounter with two female African-American NAACP officials, which pretty much sealed my opinion of that "charitable" organization. By that point in my life, I was working for an international conglomerate. One morning, my Supervisor informed me that I was to travel to Pittsburgh the next day. Even before Supervisor had finished his opening sentence, I was ecstatic. On a previous trip to Pittsburgh, a JW Elder had driven me around Pittsburgh pointing out multiple downtown locations where Society buildings had "once stood". JW Elder even took me to the cemetery, where we actually stopped for a few minutes and viewed the "oddities". I immediately looked forward to this Pittsburgh trip, so that I could do some "sight-seeing" on my own.

However, Supervisor ruined my sight-seeing plans as he continued talking -- I would be returning home tomorrow afternoon. This was going to be my very first time that I had flown long distance for business purposes, while having arrived at my office at 9:00 AM, and while still going home at 5:00 PM the very same day. Aggravated that the next day was going to be so hectic, I spent much of the day thinking of less wasteful ways that my employer's business could be accomplished in Pittsburgh without my having to fly there. My aggravation was offset by the fact that this was a direct flight of only a little more than an hour, and typically the late morning and mid-afternoon flights were sparsely occupied.

When I arrived at the gate the next morning at around 10:00 AM (pre-TSA), there were only about two dozen people waiting for the direct 737 flight to Pittsburgh. Gradually about another dozen people arrived at the gate -- including two middle-age African-American females well-dressed in business attire. While the two-three dozen waiting caucasians were all sitting close to the gate, the two A-A females noticeably sat as far as they could get from the gate and the rest of their fellow passengers. Having no luggage but my briefcase, the then much younger I paced in and around the gate area in anticipation of the hour-long flight. At various times, as I repeatedly walked past the two A-A females, I observed NAACP materials and overheard conversation which indicated that the two A-A females were NAACP officials.

I was highly amused when a gate agent announced boarding for "first-class passengers". My immediate thought was, "Who would be STUPID enough to pay $800-$1000.00 for a first-class ticket on a routinely sparsely occupied hour-long flight?" I observed a few other passengers sitting around me who also rolled their eyes at the thought that there would be first-class passengers on this short flight. Then, I heard movement behind me. I turned and observed the two A-A NAACP officials gathering together their belongings. With their heads tilted back as far as possible, and with their noses pointed to the ceiling, each NAACP official walked single file through the midst of their caucasian fellow passengers without acknowledging anyone else's presence like it was a coronation procession. I could have sworn that I heard "Pomp and Circumstance" playing in the background. END FOOTNOTE.

***              ***             ***

Back in July 1942, when Hiram Whittle was only 11 years-old, his 18 year-old brother, Edgar Whittle, was killed while working at the Martin Bomber factory in Baltimore. Edgar Whittle's death was ruled to have been his own fault -- having been caused by an otherwise unidentified defective part that he himself had made.

HIRAM WHITTLE ET AL v. GLENN L. MARTIN COMPANY was a 1957-58 Maryland wrongful death lawsuit in which Whittle claimed to be the administrator of his deceased brother's estate. Outcome unknown, but predictable.

HIRAM WHITTLE ET AL v. MARYLAND STATE POLICE was a 1959-60 Maryland unsuccessful mandamus action in which Whittle alleged that Edgar Whittle had died as a result of a CONSPIRACY against him at the Bomber factory. Whittle further claimed that the Maryland State Police had secreted away information regarding such, and Whittle asked the state court to order the release of that info.

HIRAM WHITTLE v. SELECTIVE SERVICE was a 1962 Maryland federal lawsuit about which we have no more info.

HIRAM WHITTLE v. GOVERNOR OF MARYLAND was a 1965 Maryland federal lawsuit which unsuccessfully sought to compel the Governor to investigate the 1942 death of Edgar Whittle. 

HIRAM WHITTLE v. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION was a 1990-91 Maryland federal lawsuit in which Whittle alleged that the FBI possessed secreted away information about the death of Edgar Whittle. Whittle also unsuccessfully asked for the FBI to be court-ordered to investigate the 1942 death of Edgar Whittle.

***

Sometime after the Summer 1966 WatchTower District Convention, Hiram Whittle began to publicly proclaim that he had observed an outpouring of the Holy Spirit while sitting in the bleachers of Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. We are unclear whether Whittle believed that the entire crowd was anointed by the HS, or whether it was just he that was anointed. In any event, in years to come, Hiram Whittle has apparently published and distributed his own religious literature, and more recently Whittle has operated his own multiple websites -- all while claiming to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses. A sampling of the contents seems to indicate a belief that Whittle and other members of the Whittle Family have a special relationship with "Jehovah".

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"We put our trust in God's word, the Bible. ... If the Bible is inspired of Almighty God, it's important for parents -- today or 2,000 years ago -- to try to bring their children up in the discipline and mental regulation of the Almighty Creator. ... We don't take the viewpoint of a lot of religious extremists who take things out of there [Bible] and misconstrue them."

"... other children, if their moral values are not the moral values we're trying to teach our children, we've got to be cautious. ... It's not that we tried to eliminate Josh from ever having contact with any other child, because that's not the truth. There are many other children we exposed him to."

"... activities such as entertainment and sports are of this world and controlled by the devil. ... The lionizing of sports heroes comes close to idolatry. ... Josh, at one point, I'd have to say, he was idolizing Michael Jordan."

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BAILEY CLEMMONS v. GUILFORD TECHNICAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE ET AL was a 2016-17 North Carolina federal court case in which a mid-20s female African-American Jehovah's Witness college student sued her college because ... well you have to read below to believe it.

Bailey Clemmons was enrolled in the Dental Assisting program at Guilford Technical Community College. On or about September 15, 2015, Bailey Clemmons was walking her dog, Penelope, near her home in Durham, North Carolina, when her dog was struck and killed by a car.

Thereafter, Bailey Clemmons sent a text message to her instructor, Sherry Shook, explaining: "Good morning, Mrs. Shook. This is Bailey. I won't be in class today. My sister died in a car accident this morning." Clemmons also sent a similar text to one of her classmates.

Sherry Shook personally contacted Bailey Clemmons that evening to offer her condolences. Clemmons thanked Shook for her consolation, responding, "It is not easy. Life is different now at home."

Clemmons missed the next two days of classes. As gestures of sympathy, Clemmons's classmates purchased a card and collected nearly $200.00 in honor of Bailey's deceased sister.

GTCC's Dental Assisting department chair emailed her condolences, and assured Clemmons that Clemmon's situation "certainly qualifies as an extenuating circumstance, so you will not be penalized for absences during this time. ... Stay with your family."Clemmons replied that she was in the process of making funeral arrangements.

Clemmons also reported to her instructors that there was going to be a memorial service for her sister at a local Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses on September 18, 2015, and that she would be taking a few days off for "mental mollification". Clemmons also spoke to an administrative assistant in the Dental Assisting department and informed her that she had two sisters, Madison and Penelope, and that Penelope was the sister who died.

Clemmons quickly was reaching the maximum number of allowable absences without incurring an academic penalty. On multiple occasions, both Instructor Shook and the Director of the dental program inquired about an obituary and requested that Clemmons bring one to GTCC officials so that her absences could be excused. Clemmons agreed to do so.

About ten days into the charade, GTCC faculty discovered through Facebook that Penelope was not Clemmons's sister, but her dog. The Director of the dental program then filed a formal complaint charging that Bailey Clemmons had violated GTCC's Student Conduct Policy.

On October 2, 2015, GTCC's Chief Disciplinary Officer informed Clemmons of the claims against her and that he would be investigating. The CDO explained that Clemmons was alleged to have violated two provisions of the GTCC Student Conduct Policy: (1) forgery, alteration, or misuse of college documents, records, or instruments of identification providing false information to the college, and (2) violation of local, state, or federal criminal law on college premises.

Clemmons emailed the CDO on October 6, 2015, writing that she took full responsibility for the "miscommunication". The CDO and Clemmons met on October 7, when the CDO informed Clemmons that she was accused of providing false information to GTCC, stating falsely that her sister had died in a car accident. After that meeting, on October 23, the CDO determined that Clemmons had violated the Student Conduct Policy by providing false information to a college official, and placed Clemmons on restricted probation for four semesters.

On October 26, 2015, Clemmons appealed the CDO's decision to the GTCC Review Committee. A hearing for her appeal was set for November 3. Before the hearing, the CDO emailed Clemmons to inform her of the witnesses that GTCC officials would call, plus information concerning her rights during the hearing, including the right to have counsel present, the right to call witnesses, the right to present evidence, and the right to testify or refuse to testify. Clemmons also had the right to appeal the Review Committee's decision, but only for two grounds: (1) the severity of the penalty, or (2) an alleged violation of GTCC's procedures during the hearing or investigation. The CDO's email also explained that the Review Committee would determine appropriate sanctions, which would not be limited to those imposed by the CDO.

At the hearing, faculty and students testified that Clemmons told them that her 10 year-old sister had been killed. Faculty witnesses also expressed concerns about whether Clemmons could be trusted, especially during clinic rotations.

At the hearing, Clemmons discussed the service held for her dog at a (unknown) local place of worship. However, on November 9, when asked about that service, Clemmons stated that there was no service; instead, a few individuals had convened to comfort her. Clemmons later argued that her hearing testimony was another "miscommunication". The Review Committee voted to suspend Clemmons until the fall 2016 semester. The Review Committee also mandated that Clemmons complete ethics training before re-enrolling.

Clemmons again appealed her decision to the Vice President of Student Support Services. That VP affirmed the Review Committee's decision, finding no violation of GTCC's procedures during the hearing or investigation and concluding that the sanction imposed was appropriate. Because Clemmons was suspended and could not complete her coursework, GTCC gave her failing grades for her incomplete courses.

In February 2016, Clemmons filed this lawsuit in state court against GTCC, which properly removed the case to federal court. Clemmons sought reversal and expungement of her long-term suspension, alteration of her failing grades to incomplete grades, a refund of any tuition paid to GTCC by or on her behalf, an injunction, and attorneys' fees. In July 2017, the USDC summarily DISMISSED all of Clemmons federal claims and remanded the case back to state court for whatever the state court wished to do with such. Outcome unknown.

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IN RE FEMALE JEHOVAH'S WITNESS TEENAGER was a 2013 Quebec family court case initiated by the then 16 year-old daughter of Jehovah's Witness Parents who had decided that she did not want to be a member of the WatchTower Cult. (Published decision is sparse on details, and even available details are in French.) The family were at some unspecified time "converts" to the WatchTower Cult, but apparently sufficient time had passed beyond mere conversion that JW Father had been given certain unspecified "privileges" in the family's Congregation. However, JW Father had had such "privileges" removed by the Body of Elders due to JW Father's inability to control the life of his daughter. When daughter was 16 years-old, she apparently moved out of her JW Parents' home -- possibly to the home of one of her high school teachers -- and initiated this emancipation action.

This legal proceeding to formally remove 16 year-old daughter from the legal authority of her JW Parents was filed by Quebec's DIRECTOR OF YOUTH PROTECTION, which was alleging that the negative actions of the JW Parents toward their daughter were endangering that daughter's personal security, personal development, and future stability. Specifically, the DYP was alleging that the JW Parents had been "psychologically abusing" their daughter due to the fact that Daughter no longer wanted to attend the family's Kingdom Hall, nor wanted anything else to do with the beliefs and practices of the WatchTower Cult. The JW Parents were further alleged to be continuously denigrating their 16 year-old daughter due to the fact that she was sexually active with her boyfriend. (The court decision did not indicate whether Daughter had been baptized, but regardless, under the aforementioned circumstances, Daughter undoubtedly also would have been "shunned" by her JW Parents' Congregation, whether that be via disfellowshipping, public reproval, marking, etc.)

The DIRECTOR OF YOUTH PROTECTION pointed out that Daughter had no "other" behavioral problems -- only problems caused by her JW Parents. Her performance in school had declined. She suffered from anxiety. She did not sleep well, and she was losing weight due to loss of appetite. Daughter did NOT want to be force to return home. There was little or no genuine communication between Daughter and her JW Parents. Daughter was afraid to communicate her true feelings to her JW Parents. The JW Parents failed to understand or sympathize with the plight of Daughter, and the JW Parents had no understanding or appreciation how their actions were negatively impacting their daughter.

While denying all of the DYP's allegations, the JW Parents agreed with the emancipation of their daughter. In fact, JW Father stated that he would rather have no daughter at all than have a daughter who behaved as did his daughter. JW Father threatened to thereafter cut off all communication with his daughter. The Court of Quebec approved this emancipation -- plus ordered that all legalities be cooperated with in regard to a foreign school trip in May 2014.

CAUTION: JW Teens should understand that this remedy is NOT the remedy for every child who has problems with their Jehovah's Witness Parents. This JW Teenager was forced to take extreme measures due to extreme circumstances. Unfortunately, other JW Teenagers have not reached out for help, and as a result eventually have taken even more extreme measures to escape even more extreme circumstances. Under lessor circumstances, biding your time until you graduate from high school is nearly always the better choice. However, if necessary for your personal well-being, don't hesitate to contact school counselors or teachers. They are trained to evaluate such situations and provide you with confidential assistance, including helping you to decide whether other helpers need to be involved.

Other readers should understand that the WatchTower Cult has trained its members to interpret this situation as being that of a rebellious teenager demanding that they get their way, which in this case would be seen as an immoral teenager demanding to be permitted to continue to practice immorality. Jehovah's Witnesses are trained to ignore the fact that there are other possible or even other more likely interpretations of this scenario. Jehovah's Witnesses are trained to ignore the fact that life within the WatchTower Cult often produces husbands who ignore the needs of their wives, wives who ignore the needs of their husbands, and parents who ignore the needs of their children. Often, emotionally and psychologically abused CHILDREN are the result. Some Jehovah's Witness children turn to alcohol and drugs. Others turn to crime. Some, like this teenager, turn to non-JWs for help. When one of those helpers turns out to be a boyfriend or girlfriend, sexual activity is inevitable. That's what humans who care for each other inevitably do. There's a difference between responsible sex between two committed persons who love one another, and rebelliously and stupidly engaging in wholesale sex with multiple different persons as a recreational activity.

Jehovah's Witnesses are locked into a 3500 year-old set of rules which then did not care for what reason sex was being engaged. The purpose then of those rules and their enforcement was to separate the humans from the animals. True, humans have not progressed nowhere near as far as most liberals believe. True, in this 21st century, there is a current resurgence of a animalistic segment of humanity which exists even below the level of healthy animals, but human societies which permit such are always eventually destroyed by their own moral decay (not a matter of "if", just a matter of "when"). However, the marker has moved some distance for advanced humans during the past 4000 years. Humanity has reached the point where distinctions can and should be made.

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In 1974, David Fakunle Hundeyin was a 23 year-old final-year university student studying at the University of Ghana on an American-sponsored OAU scholarship. However, during his time at the University of Ghana, Hundeyin had joined the WatchTower Cult. At the time, the Jehovah's Witnesses believed that the "end of the system of things" -- "Armageddon" -- was going to happen in October 1975.

As David Fakunle Hundeyin attended the five Kingdom Hall meetings three times every week, the WatchTower Cult's end-times message was hammered in to him with increasing urgency -- using articles in their literature and assembly and Kingdom Hall "talks" which explicitly urged members to stop their regular pursuits and prepare for the end of the system of things. Hundeyin soon decided to drop out of university and spend the rest of 1974 and 1975 serving as a Jehovah Witness missionary preaching the word about the impending "end of the system of things".

At the time, David Fakunle Hundeyin was using part of his excessive scholarship grant from the United States to fund nursing school programmes for two of his sisters back home in Lagos, Nigeria, and dropping out of university would have meant also sacrificing the education of his two sisters. Hundeyin reasoned that such did not matter, because nurses would not be needed in paradise. After all, Armageddon was coming in October 1975!

Fortunately, David Fakunle Hundeyin happened to mention his plan to drop out of school to a Jehovah's Witness missionary from Ohio, USA, who unknown to Hundeyin had started having doubts about "Armageddon" and the Jehovah's Witness religion as a whole. That JW missionary told Hundeyin, "David, the Bible does not say that students will not be saved. The Bible also says that you should finish what you start."

That good advice stopped David Fakunle Hundeyin from dropping out of university in 1974. October 1975 came and went. Hundeyin finished his programme with First Class Honours and returned to Nigeria, which was then going through an oil boom. Within a decade, Hundeyin had a good wife, many children, many cars, a luxurious home, and much prosperity that he was never supposed to have in the pre-Armageddon world. Hundeyin's taking the "apostate" missionary's advice greatly benefited not only himself, but his two sisters, other siblings, and their children, among whom became doctors, pilots, engineers, and business professionals. David Hundeyin never stopped associating with the Jehovah's Witnesses, and many of his now prosperous extended family also became devout members of the WatchTower Cult.

But, what happened to those dumbasses who obeyed the directions which came from Watchtower HQ in the USA? Around the world, thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses dropped out of high school and university, sold their homes and businesses, quit their jobs, and some even took out large loans, ran up their credit cards, and made other unwise purchases to support their "Armageddon" ministry.

Most of 1976 was spent "waiting on Jehovah", but by 1977, a few Jehovah's Witnesses were beginning to ask the tough questions. WatchTower HQ began to "rewrite" what had happened. Their "October 1975" prediction -- which had been repeatedly printed in its literature and disseminated through public lectures -- was not in fact its official position, but was merely a "possibility" which had been improperly promoted by a few indiscreet members. The Cult even began using the scandal as a cautionary tale -- portraying itself as the victim of its own faith in Christ's return.

A few members exited the WatchTower Cult, but most Jehovah's Witnesses like David Fakunle Hundeyin simply moved on from the event. "God's Only True Religion" could never be wrong after all, so it was only a test of their faith. Those who left were "apostates", and anyone remaining within the group who continued to ask the tough questions were "marked", and if they persisted, they were "disfellowshipped" from the cult.

****************

IN RE MALE JEHOVAH'S WITNESS TEENAGER was a 2002-03 Quebec family court case which involved another troubled Quebec family in which their 14 year-old son refused to become a member of the WatchTower Cult. However, this published decision did not contain as many specifics as does the decision in the Female Teenager case. This published decision specifically identified only the Mother as a "Jehovah's Witness". However, the father, while not identified in this decision as a Jehovah's Witness, had little or no interest in having his rebellious 14 year-old son return to live with the family, and the father even told a social worker in April 2003 that he considered his 14 year-old son "dead". Thus, if that Father was not an active Jehovah's Witness, then he certainly had somehow fully internalized the attitude of an active Jehovah's Witness Father at some point in his life.

In November 2002, a Quebec family court formalized the teenager's earlier temporary placement in a foster home made at the request of the DIRECTOR OF YOUTH PROTECTION. It was ruled that the negative actions of his parents were endangering the 14 year-old boy's personal security, personal development, and future stability. The boy's parents admitted most of the allegations and agreed to their son's temporary removal from their home. At the June 2003 Hearing, neither parent contested the permanent placement of their son into foster care until he reached the age of majority.

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CZECH REPUBLIC v. CZECH JEHOVAH'S WITNESS PARENTS was a 2009 Czech criminal prosecution of JEHOVAH'S WITNESS PARENTS who had KICKED OUT OF THEIR HOME their 18 year-old daughter, because that daughter had refused to be baptized as a Jehovah's Witness. Those JW Parents also told their daughter that if she agreed to be baptized that she could return home.

That "very smart" 18 year-old secondary-school student apparently reported her JW Parents' ABUSE and EXTORTION to the local police in her home town of Zlin, South Moravia. The local Prosecutor decided to charge the JW Parents with violation of a Czech criminal law, which media translated into English as, "Oppression", which under Czech law is defined as when a Perpetrator abuses someone else's dependence or emergency situation to force him/her to do something the Perpetrator wants them to do. Although the JW Parents' daughter had reached the age of majority in the Czech Republic -- 18 years-old -- she was a student in secondary school, and apparently, she had never held a job. Thus, her JW Parents abandoned their daughter without any financial means of support.

Although the outcome of this prosecution is not known, our best guess is that once the JW Parents were arrested and their prosecution hit the international news, the JW Parents had a sudden change of heart. Children of JW Parents around the globe, especially those in the United States, who find themselves in the same/similar dilemma should use this scenario as an excellent lesson as to how to deal with their JW Parents who are BLACKMAILING THEM to be baptized as a Jehovah's Witness. Especially note that this "very smart" 18 year-old apparently gave her JW Parents NO OTHER REASON OR REASONS by which they could excuse their kicking their child out of their home. If an unimaginative local prosecutor attempts to dismiss such a complaint as being nothing that he can do due to the complaintant's age, that lazy prosecutor should be reminded that modern society has a significant interest in not forcing taxpayers to provide such victims with food stamps, welfare, and other social assistance. We suspect that state social service agencies and especially the local newspaper will also take some interest in such an abusive scenario.

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IN RE DOE and IN RE ROE were related 1975 Washington state family court EMANCIPATION cases in which two sisters attempted to "divorce" themselves from their Jehovah's Witness Mother because of their JW Mother's WatchTower religious beliefs and practices. Keeping in mind that the WatchTower Society had predicted that Armageddon would occur in October 1975, or soon thereafter, in 1975, two Washington state female Minors, ages 12 and 16, petitioned Juvenile Court to remove them from their JW Mother's home, because they refused to convert to the WatchTower religion as had their mother. This drastic decision was apparently not forced on them by outside parties given that no relatives stepped forward to take them into their homes. The older girl was placed in a foster home, and the younger girl was placed into a state facility pending placement into a foster home. The two girls apparently had ran away from home, and absolutely refused to return so long as their mother tried to force them to convert. Outcome unknown.

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IN RE CHRISTY BROWN is yet another situation where a child of Jehovah's Witness Parents attempted to "divorce" themselves from their Jehovah's Witness Parents because of WatchTower religious beliefs and practices. In 1987, 15 year-old Christy Brown, of Des Moines, Iowa, was disfellowshipped from her family's Des Moines Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses due to "rebelliousness". Brown alleged that she was disfellowshiped for wearing makeup, wearing fashionable clothes, and listening to Michael Jackson music. Brown further claimed that as a result of her being disfellowshipped from her family's Des Moines Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses that her JW Parents instituted multiple ridiculous punishments, including making her wear the same green dress for six straight weeks. In response, Brown obtained her own personal attorney, and filed legal action to remove herself from her JW parents' custody. Outcome unknown.

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TEXAS v. MICHAEL ALLEN JOHNSON. In November 1989, then 12 year-old Michael Allen Johnson was accused of stabbing to death 24 year-old teacher, Jana Simpson, at Glen Park Elementary. It was the teacher's first day on the job at this school, which had not yet started classes, and she was stabbed 17 times just outside her mobile home classroom. Simpson's purse went untouched, which left few motives for the attack. Police initially were drawn to Johnson as a potential witness, but after what was later described as unlawful threats and coercion, Johnson admitted to killing the teacher after she discovered Johnson prowling the school grounds. Johnson later passed several polygraphs in which he retracted the confession and denied the murder. Most of the confession was not admitted at trial, and the jury acquitted Johnson in only 40 minutes. Johnson was the only suspect, and since no murder weapon was found, noone else was ever prosecuted for the murder.

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The most emphatic and animated of the group, Courtney has strong opinions about life and how people should treat each other. Wearing a skirt that covered her knees, she was the only participant wearing glasses. Courtney quickly, almost defensively, professed her Christian faith and indicated that it was her faith that caused her to dress the way she did. Courtney also said that she believed it was her dress and faith that caused her to be picked on by others. Academically, Courtney's sixth grade year mirrored her elementary experience, where she made mostly Cs while barely passing EOG tests. In the seventh grade, however, Courtney's grades were mostly Ds and Fs. Although she passed her EOGs (low IIIs) and attended summer school, Courtney was still retained. The shortest girl, this thirteen-year-old African American female on reduced lunch, was one of the more immature acting of the group. She often interrupted others in the focus group with her overly expressive comments. With eyes wide, head weaving, and hands on hips, Courtney would focus her anxiety on the boys in the group, trying to get them to notice her, whether positively or negatively. ...

Courtney's teachers call her "very religious." According to the teachers, the family attends the Jehovah's Witness church. The girls in the family always wear skirts, no pants. The mother is very diligent in attending conferences. Courtney is considered by her teachers to perform in the low average range, needing lots of practice and sustained focus. One teacher stated that Courtney is considered to have a "victim mentality," and often uses race as an excuse for any perceived injustice. Another teacher said that Courtney lacked basic skills and knowledge and should not have been promoted last year. Courtney, by her teacher's reports, did little work last year and did not get along well with others.

Reading about "Courney's" lack of basic skills and knowledge and victim mentality reminded me of a field service car group conversation that occurred back in 1997. The car group was composed of myself, an unemployed 20 year-old male African-American Pioneer and son of an Elder, a male 20s Hispanic publisher, and a then 19 year-old male caucasian Pioneer Son of a MS. (In 2007, this Zionsville, Indiana now-Elder's Son and former JW Pioneer did jail time in Florida for passing a bad check.) The 20 year-old African-American Elder's Son-Pioneer let the car-group know that he had been a "victim" of racial discrimination earlier that week when he had applied for part-time employment as a Salesperson at one Indianapolis's well-advertised Home Improvement companies. Unemployed African-American Pioneer related how everyone at the Company's office was "white", and how arrogant and dismissive the "racist" recruiter had been toward his door-to-door "sales" experience, his "construction" experience working with the Regional Building Committee for the prior year or so, his never having held a full-time job, his relevant prior part-time work experience as a Red Lobster waiter, etc., etc., blah, blah, blah. Unknown to Unemployed 20 year-old African-American Elder's Son-Pioneer was the fact that this company was one of my clients. Salespersons for this Home Improvement Company were required to have the construction knowledge and experience to be able to go into any home in the city and be able to completely assess cause-effect of the homeowner's problem, write an accurate estimate for all materials and labor needed to remedy the homeowner's problems, sell the contract and obtain payment, or obtain a downpayment and/or financing application, etc. The Company advertised that "part-time" employment was available in the hope that such would attract construction-experienced and construction-knowledgeable retirees who were looking for something to do to keep themselves active. Salespersons specifically had to be readily available for weeknight and weekend appointments. Yeh, this know-nothing, done-nothing JW would have been perfect for this position if only he was "white".

JW Kids -- Go to school. Stay in school. Work as hard as possible. Get as much education as possible. Bad attitude begets bad attitude. If you are being "persecuted", try to honestly assess whether you are "advertising" for the negative attention, and if so, eliminate that behavior. This world is already overflowing with 40 year-old persecuted losers with perpetual bad attitudes. If that is how you live your teen years, you will most likely live as such for the rest of your miserable life. Oh, by the way, Jehovah's Witnesses are NOT the smartest, most knowledgeable people on the planet, and neither are you!

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We know that this webpage will sometimes be visited by minority age CHILDREN of Jehovah's Witness Parents who are being denied opportunities to engage in sports at school, who are being denied higher education opportunities, who are being denied the opportunity to associate with non-JWs, who are denied ... , denied ..., denied ... , denied ... , etc.

Frankly, over the years, we have ran across instance after published instance of Jehovah's Witness Parents who ARE ALLOWING their children to take advantage of those and other once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, and who still remain loyal Jehovah's Witnesses. Although we have until now failed to post or archive those many, many published instances, we have now decided to post this edited excerpt from a September 2015 obituary which well demonstrates that not all JW Parents are "WatchTower Nazis", and not all Congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses are "WatchTower concentration camps" (This is an unfortunate source, but where else are JW Parents who do not march lockstep with the WatchTower Cult permitted to fully disclose such biographical info? Certainly not in the pages of the WATCHTOWER or AWAKE! magazines, nor at any WatchTower Cult conventions or assemblies where only severely-strict JW Families are trotted out as examples for other JW Families.):

"... He was currently enrolled in Helena College University of Montana in the Aviation Maintenance Tech program with his brother. He also holds an Associates of Applied Science degree in Fire and Rescue along with being a trained EMT. ...

Koby was an award-winning and record breaking athlete and one of the most gifted and talented individuals excelling at everything he did. He was a member of the National Honor Society and Class Vice President. His awards are many but not limited to: Offensive MVP - Football (FB), All-Conference (FB), All Star Team (FB), Great Falls Tribune Athlete of the Week (FB), Nominated for All Spice Athlete of the Year (FB), and State Track 5th in 100M.

Koby was an energetic and well-loved server and bartender at the Applebees Family Restaurant in Helena. He held a Professional Mixologist license as well as a Food Server Certification. His co-workers and guests have set up a memorial on site and the restaurant will be closed for five hours in honor of Koby to allow for a public mourning. ... ... ...

Koby was strong in his faith and attended the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Butte and Valier.

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JOHN C. MENNE OBITUARY

John Charles Menne, 61, of Sycamore (IL) passed away unexpectedly on Friday, March 4, 2022 at Kishwaukee Hospital in DeKalb. ...

He was employed as the Director of Human Resources at Accuride Corporation in Rockford, IL. ... John was a man of strength, both physically and spiritually. He had a passion for weightlifting, sports, Sci-Fi, meticulously grooming his yard, the Caribbean Beach, ... but above all, John was defined by his tender heart and devotion to his God, family, friends, and congregation. John served in the DeKalb Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses as a shepherd for many years. He was the shoulder to cry or lean on, the protector of the downhearted, the arms to run to, the "safe place" to pour out your soul to, knowing there was no judgement. He was happiest when he was helping others spiritually through use of the Bible, and his infectious smile and positive attitude radiated throughout his life and relationships.

... His favorite sayings were, "It's all about Love" and "It ain't no hill for a hill-climber!" John will never be forgotten and we look forward to seeing him again when "all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out." John 5:28,29. There will be a Memorial Service held on Saturday, March 19, 2022 at 2:00PM over Zoom by the DeKalb Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. 

Guest Book

John and I were baptized on the same day, Nov 3, 1990 in Janesville WI at a Circuit Assembly of Jehovah's Witnesses. We shared that same bond throughout the years of our friendship. However we bonded even closer during the exciting 6 years of Chicago Bulls championship runs during the '90's; especially so in the last year of that run, 1998. We spoke back and forth throughout the Eastern Conference finals against the Indiana Pacers. One memorable call from John had him so nervous and so anxious during game 7 of that series, it warms my heart just thinking about it. He paced back and forth at his home and I assured him that the Bulls would prevail! He was dangerously close to losing faith in our team, but he credited me to calming him down and realizing the the Bulls could prevail. Year after year we spoke of that call! Then the "piece de resistance", was 2016 our Chicago Cubs won it all! He texted and called me minutes before the final out of game 7 assuring me, "we're gonna do Ray!". Can't wait to talk to him again about those two events and what happened here at the very end! I love you John my Brother!

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