Ex-Jehova demonstrates against social exclusion. 'We stand for civil rights'

In recent years, ex-Jehovah's Witness Henri Dahlem (53) has rang the bell at the head office of the Jehovah's Witnesses in Emmen several times in vain. Once the receptionist answered over the intercom: “You come without asking.” To which Dahlem said: “You always come to the door uninvited, don't you?”

“I don't have to tell you where I learned that tenacity,” Dahlem says, laughing on the phone – referring to the Jehovah's practice of going door to door to try to convince non-Jehovah's of their faith.

But he doesn't smile for the rest of the interview. And sometimes his voice even breaks.

This Saturday, Dahlem will demonstrate at an event of the Jehovah's Witnesses in the Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam. NRC Dahlem said on Friday. The Jehovah's organize conferences more often, but now for the first time in years the entire community is coming together – about thirty thousand people. The program includes a lecture by a member of the central board of the Jehovah's Witnesses, which is based in the United States.

An excellent opportunity for Dahlem to try to convey his message – for the umpteenth time: stop the 'social declaration of death' of ex-Jehovah's. If a Jehovah decides to leave the community, the members are expected to stop associating with the 'apostate'. Not even if it concerns a family member.

Dahlem himself broke with the Jehovah's years ago because he no longer felt at home there. At the funeral of his grandmother (also Jehovah) no one condoled with him. They didn't even look at him.

The demonstration Saturday is a silent protest with banners, together with forty to sixty others affiliated with the Against Watchtower Shunning Foundation, of which Dahlem is the chairman. About six hundred people have “reported” there over the past two and a half years. Many are ex-Jehovah's, but about 10 percent are still active in the community, Dahlem says.

It is exciting for many demonstrators to take action, because at the Arena they will see family and friends with whom they have not had contact for years.

Are you nervous too?

“I'm mostly sad. I miss my friends and family. And when I was a boy growing up in the community, there were sometimes apostates outside; I thought that was scary. Now I am pretty much the main apostate in the Netherlands. But I do this precisely for the children. They may later face social exclusion themselves. And I do it for the children with excluded parents.”

What exactly do you hope to ultimately achieve?

“We are emphatically not concerned with the religion itself. We stand for civil rights. The exclusion policy of the Jehovah's is contrary to Article 1, among other things [gelijke behandeling en discriminatieverbod]. The Belgian former Jehovah Patrick Haeck is a source of inspiration. He won a case against the Jehovah's Witnesses in the first instance in 2021. The judge ruled that the community incited discrimination against members who had withdrawn. Unfortunately, the ex-Jehovah's lost on appeal and at the highest court. We have discussed the options for legal proceedings in the Netherlands with a law firm. We would be strongest in a civil procedure, and we are now raising money for that.

In Norway, the state has stopped subsidizing the Jehovah's Witnesses because of their social exclusion practices. The Jehovah's therefore went to court, but the court ruled in favor of the state. [Volgens de Noorse nieuwswebsite VG staat in het vonnis dat het bij de uitsluitingspraktijk gaat om „ernstige schendingen van de rechten en vrijheden van anderen”.]”

Have you also entered into discussions with the board of the Jehovah's Witnesses in the Netherlands?

“Over the past two and a half years, I have written several letters to the board asking for a dialogue, to no avail. And we rang the head office doorbell several times to no avail. I was arrested three times because I did not want to leave the site.

But we have had victories in other ways. For example, last month a motion by Michiel van Nispen was adopted in the House of Representatives [SP] who asks the government to see what can be done to combat social death.”

Also read
the story about the 'social declaration of death' of Henri Dahlem by the Jehovah's Witnesses

The Jehovah's Witnesses also came under fire a few years ago because of an investigative report into sexual abuse in the community. It turned out that hundreds of reports had been made. And perpetrators were tried through an internal legal system. Does that also have your attention?

“Yes! There is even a very clear link with social exclusion. Many victims of sexual abuse are also affiliated with our foundation. If they reported it, they were excluded. So they became double victims.”

If the Jehovah's were to abandon the exclusion principle, would you join them again?

“No. What always bothered me is that I had to completely obey an administration in America that has a direct connection with Jehovah, God. But if you believe, it should not be about the people who determine everything, but about God.”

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