1964 Awake! - Theocratic Collector.com

) In the course of their propaganda
activities through the various residential
areas of Lisbon, as well as in other towns,
the "Jehovah's Witnesses" have violated
the privacy of> the citizens, by imposing
their presence in their homes on false pre-tences,
and forcing propaganda material on
them, often with threats and insults. In
several instances, these "Jehovah's Witw
nesses" have literally forced doors open
when the alarmed residents tried to close
their doors to protect their privacy. This
is a flagrant violation of the rights of priw
vacy of the citizenry in Portugal.
3. The civic and religious groups in Porw
tugal, both Catholic and Protestant, as
well as the population itself, became very
alarmed in the face of the unethical and
seemingly nonwreligious propaganda and
activities of these "Jehovah's Witnesses",
and the local authorities were flooded with
complaints which led to an investigation
of such activities and eventually to certain
measures to curb them.
It is deplorable, indeed, dear Sir, that
the members of the "Jehovah's Witnesses"
should have placed themselves in a posiw
tion so hostile to Portugal that the genu·
ine alarm of the population and Churches
compelled the local authorities to adopt
restrictive measures to prevent more dis·
agreeable consequences. Portugal is a deeply
Christian country but the Portuguese
people also believe in the concept of naw
tionality and in the defense of their Naw
tion's security, and of the dignity of the
people.
It would appear to us that the missionw
ary activities of all Christian groups should
be re-routed towards the anti-Christian
countries of the World-of which, unfortunately,
there are many-rather than being
wasted and creating ill will among peoples,
such as the Portuguese, who have
followed the precepts of Christ for a thou-
18
sand years, and Who have toiled and. died
throughout the centuries trying to carry
the message of Christ to all corners of the
world. We fail to understand this extraordinary
paradox in the behavior of the
"Jehovah's Witnesses."
In the meantime, allow me, dear Sir, to
regret the organized hate campaign which
the "Jehovah's Witnesses" in the United
States are carrying on against Portugal,
by means of letters addressed to the Emw
bassy. It is a shocking organized campaign
by the members of your sect, for we have
received many hundreds of letters-the
text is often the same in dozens of them,
and some even arrive in the wrong envelope!
Hastiness, we presume, must have
caused the mix-up. But the contents of
such unanswerable letters (which are open
to your personal inspection) is mainly inw
suIting, coarse, and often bordering on the
unprintable. We find it impossible to associate
the feelings of the authors of such
deplorable letters with the principles of
Morality and Christianity, as you, Sir, and
I know them.
The Embassy would be very obliged to
you, if you would kindly have this letter
printed in your publication, for this is our
clarification in connection with yOur article
about the situation of the "Jehovah's
Witnesses" in Portugal.
Sincerely,
J. tk Menezes Rosa [Sig.]
J. DE MENEZES ROSA
MINISTER·COUNSELOR
cc: MR. GRANT SUITER
"WATCH TOWER"
124 COLUMBIA HEIGHTS
BROOKLYN 1, NEW YORK
MR. ANTON KOERBER
WASHINGTON REPRESENTATIVE
"WATCH TOWER"
A W AKBI