Hello everyone,
Let’s talk about slander for a moment. We all know what slander is, and we’ve all experienced it at some point in our lives. Did you realize that slander is a form of murder? The reason is that the ultimate goal of the person spreading slanderous lies is character assassination. You have to ask yourself why a person would perpetrate slander. What do they hope to gain? It’s simple. By destroying the character of person in the eyes of their listeners, the slanderer is seeking to win over others to their cause.
Who does that remind you of? Well, who was the very first one to ever be slandered? That was Yehovah, our Father. The slanderer who lied about God’s character was an angel we now call Satan the Devil. But the real victim of the slander was Eve, and ultimately you, I and all of us have been victimized. Let us never forget that. Eve was dupped by the Devil’s lies into questioning the integrity of God’s character. Satan said,
“Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”
Eve replied honestly to which Satan countered: “You won’t die! God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”
The woman was convinced…So she took some of the fruit and ate it.” (Genesis 3:1-6a NLT)
Again, who was the victim here? Not God. You can’t victimize God. Eve was the victim. We think that the target of slander is the victim. No, the person listening to and accepting the slander is the victim. Why are they the victim? Because they are being played for fools, dupped into believing a lie and taking the side of the slanderer. They are motivated and manipulated into repeating the slander to others. The Devil has made them into his unwitting agents, and so they have been victimized by the father of the lie.
The apostle Peter warns us about this when he says the following:
“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8 NLT)
How can the Devil devour you? One way is by making you into a liar even though you are not aware of it yourself.
What Eve should have done is what every victim of slander should do: Verify! Verify! Verify! The Bible tells us: “Only simpletons believe everything they’re told! The prudent carefully consider their steps.” (Proverbs 14:15 NLT)
And,
“The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.” (Proverbs 18:17 NLT)
If Eve had only gone to her Father to get His side of the story. Did she stop to think for one moment that all she had to go on was the word of someone she’d never met before? Satan provided no proof for what he claimed. He had nothing to back up his accusations, but Eve still bought his lie hook, line and sinker.
On this channel, I have spent a lot of time exposing the false teachings and hypocrisy of JW.org. Is that slander? It would be if I were lying, but a characteristic of slander is the absence of proof. Jesus exposed the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, but he did so using Scripture, not hearsay. The Apostles followed the pattern Jesus set and exposed liars and false teachers. But it was the Jewish leaders who were guilty of slander. Likewise, today, if you expose the false teachings and hypocrisy of the Organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses with its Governing Body by using Scripture and comparing it with their teachings and conduct, they accuse you of being an apostate. But they offer no proof. Just lies and slander because those are the only weapons they have in the face of truth.
It is sad but not unexpected that after leaving the Organization some of us would again become targets of slander by those whom we’ve helped to break free of the JW cult. Perhaps this is a form of projection of the unresolved rage these ones feel toward the Organization which now gets redirected to anyone who disagrees with them on any number of things.
I’m not sure if this explains in entirety the campaign of slander directed towards my wife and me. About a month ago, a video was released that appeared to come from our channel. It featured the Beroean Pickets logo as well as photos of myself and my wife, Wendy. A number of our channel subscribers clicked the thumbnail who were misled into thinking it was a new video of ours.
So, from the start, the viewer was being manipulated. Furthermore, the video was titled, “BEROEAN PICKETS: A Public Call For Dialogue. Will You Meet With Those You Have Hurt?”
Notice the intentional sowing of doubt. From the get-go, the viewer is led to believe that we have hurt people and have been unwilling to meet with them.
When I was first made aware of this video, I realized that this was a person we had interviewed on our Beroean Voices channel some months ago. This person did not attempt in any way to contact us privately to invite us to this meeting. Instead, her first choice was to make her demand public with the threat that if we didn’t comply, she would air her dirty laundry publicly, which she has now done.
Some viewers have asked me why I didn’t simply agree to go to this meeting.
To explain that I need to give you a little history. This woman and her husband joined our zoom meetings last year, even hosting the Wednesday night Australia meeting. As a result of her interest in us, we interviewed them both and placed the interview on our Beroean Voices channel.
Some months later, she left the Australia meeting of her own volition to launch her own YouTube channel as an exJW activist. As time went by, we saw that the tone and direction of her channel differed from our own. We felt that by keeping her video interview up we might be seen to be endorsing the direction she was taking, so we took her video down. We did so quietly without any announcement. She, however, took great exception to this, and wrote us a bitter and hateful email, accusing us of being like the Watchtower. We chose not to respond for fear of making matters worse. This decision was based on what her husband revealed publicly in the video interview we had posted on Beroean Voices. You can still see the relevant portion by clicking on the link above.
Given that, you can see my reticence in responding to her public “invitation” to meet.
I did not feel confident that anything positive would come out of a private meeting chaired by her dealing with gripes from an unnamed group of people who had designated her to preside over the meeting.
If you have seen the video of my own judicial committee hearing before a group of elders—I’ve included a link here—or if you have had personal experience yourself with being called into a JW judicial committee, you will undoubtedly see the similarities.
At JW judicial hearings, you are not told specifics so that you can prepare yourself. You don’t know who the accusers are. You don’t know what sins you are being accused of committing. You don’t even know if you’ve already spent time with these people trying to resolve whatever issues they have with you, but to no avail.
Would you attend such a meeting?
Wendy and I were willing to face whatever she was going to throw at us. Of course, if there was some legitimate grievance we were not aware of, we’d be willing to do the right thing and make amends. However, if all that she had were disgruntled people who wanted to slander and lie about us, we were prepared to count that as a blessing.
“God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven.” (Matthew 5:11, 12 NLT)
Unfortunately, the slander and lies have not been confined to us but are causing harm to people we love and to the growing community of exJWs we care about and who are seeking a safe landing place after the brutality they’ve experienced upon leaving the Organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
So, in accord with Scripture, “There is a time for everything…a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7 NIV) I will now speak about the most egregious and hurtful lies that this woman’s channel has broadcast. And bear in mind that if you have been taken in by these lies, you have been victimized.
The first accuser she interviewed was a woman who attended the Spanish Los Bereanos zoom meetings by the name of Ruth Tersek Olmo.
I won’t waste your time by dissecting every lie and misrepresentation that Ruth is responsible for making. She falsely claims that there was a judicial hearing or committee that was directly responsible for the suicide of a brother in the Spanish Los Bereanos Bible Study Group. I contacted the brothers involved in hosting and managing the Spanish meetings asking them if what Ruth said was true or false. I’m going to read the response I got from one of the principal brothers involved in managing the Spanish meetings. Should anyone doubt what I’m about to share with you, they have only to go to the Sunday Spanish meeting and ask. They will find multiple eyewitnesses to the facts and events I’m about to read out to you.
What follows is an email response to my request for information pertaining to the case and suicide of Jonas, the man Ruth refers to in her interview.
Dear Eric
Ruth is acting against the Body of Christ:
By supporting and encouraging the unbiblical activity of praying to Jesus, along with another influencer who interviews her.
Proverbs 22:3
"The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty."
By unjustly blaming Los Bereanos, a group of God’s children, for Jonas’ suicide. Despite some procedural errors that were addressed and attempted to be corrected, extraordinary help was provided to Jonas, including:
Financial and emotional support for many months before and after his sinful events occurred.
Disciplinary measures due to reprehensible actions, such as Jonas’ romantic involvement with Lily (real name Gabriela) in the presence of their families and in the meetings and WhatsApp groups. In those forums, they also attempted to propagate and support absurd ideas such as the belief in a Flat Earth and the Two-Seed Theory.
Ephesians 5:11
"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them."
Titus 1:13
"Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith."
By reacting violently with others, gathering a small group of brothers and sisters, although the reality was that the majority agreed that discipline was necessary despite the pain the situation caused.
It should be remembered that Jonas’ suicide occurred about five months after he and Lily left our meetings, forming and encouraging a small group of people who accompanied them, creating disturbances in groups and continuing their defamation. However, the majority remained faithful. This activity led Jonas to an irreversible state of depression, culminating in a personal meeting with his adulterous lover, which eventually led to conflict and separation from her. Later, his mental health deteriorated further, involving police complaints and trials for domestic violence against his wife. He ultimately confided that his only remaining option was suicide. Attempts were made to help him from a distance. Brother Stefan from our group even spoke to him frequently and invited him to live in Spain shortly before the tragic event.
Ruth has taken actions contrary to Scripture, defaming several of us. She now reiterates these actions more than two years later, exacerbating the situation by using YouTube, a platform capable of reaching thousands of people now and in the future.
Implications of Ruth's Actions:
Her defamatory behavior severs her relationship with the Los Bereanos group and precludes her from participating in any of its meetings. This principle should also apply to other gatherings led by responsible Christians who are regular attendees of the other Beroean language groups.
From a legal and ethical perspective, association with our groups implies shared goals and mutual respect. Open defamation contradicts these values, effectively breaking the bond. Hostile actions, such as defamation, can be considered a unilateral breach of the agreement.
If Ruth were to attempt entry into any of the three Spanish meetings announced on the Beroeans.net website for Saturday, Sunday, or Wednesday, she should be prevented from joining. This is due to the risk of her spreading falsehoods and causing pain and confusion in a matter of seconds. A joint decision should be made and implemented to address this. Ruth’s actions have been ongoing for years and are public, witnessed by hundreds. No further evidence is needed to take action against her.
Psalm 101:5
"Whoever slanders their neighbor in secret, I will silence forever; I will not tolerate the haughty and arrogant."
A Call for Mercy:
Even so, imitating the mercy of our Lord, if there are mature brothers or sisters, an effort could be made to "win" Ruth by following the steps outlined in Matthew 18:15-17, hoping for genuine repentance. This repentance should include withdrawing the interview and publicly asking for forgiveness using the same powerful platform, YouTube, and whatever other social media platforms she has employed to spread her defamation.
Matthew 18:15
"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother."
Jude 1:22-23
"Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire. Show mercy to others with fear, hating even the garment stained by corrupted flesh."
In summary of these points: Jonas was the abuser. He beat his wife. The police were involved. The abuse was photographed. Ruth’s claim that Jonas’ wife was psychotic and abusive is false and constitutes slanderous defamation of his wife. The claim that the Spanish Group is responsible for his suicide is also an unjust and wicked lie. Given this, I would expect both Karen and Ruth to do the right thing and make a public apology and to take down this video.
Now, on to the next slanderous video that Karen has published, that of Vicky and Mike Hobbs from the UK, which merits a response from us.
They attended the Sunday English zoom meetings for months. We have over 100 regular attendees to that Sunday meeting, so there are many witnesses to Vicky’s behavior. Vicky and Mike are Socinians who believe that Jesus has no pre-human existence, and that his life only began in Mary’s womb. This is an unscriptural teaching that our group considers offensive and blasphemous. However, despite knowing this, Vicky continued to force her views on the group to the point of being contentious. Many in the group voiced their discontent with her soapbox style of preaching which interrupted our weekly Bible reading. But to no avail. She would not stop and became increasingly aggressive. In the end, we saw no choice but to write an email to her on November 23, 2023. Here’s the relevant extract:
“We should also clarify that these gatherings are held in our home, so to speak, as it is our zoom platform that we have been maintaining and nurturing for years. Naturally, anyone who attends does so based on an implicit invitation from us, meaning that they are expected to conduct themselves civilly, respectful of the sensibilities of everyone in the gathering. This is something you have failed to grasp though many expressed it to you quite clearly at last Sunday's study.
In view of the fact that you are now demanding apologies and making threats if you don't get them…It is with regret that we are forced to say that you are no longer welcome.”
As things turned out, she did not respect our wishes for her not to return. She came uninvited with no apology and so we had to remove her.
Now on to Susanne’s slander-fest. Hers was an unending stream of invectiveness which seems so out of character with the Susanne we called our friend. I could pick apart each point she’s made, but our concern is not to demean her, but to protect the character of those she’s slandered. This involves four dear friends and fellow Christians.
The catalyst for all of Susanne’s anger hinged on the fact that Wendy tried to help her friend, Sabine, make peace with two fellow Christians that she had removed from her zoom group and hadn’t talked to in over a year. In an effort to apply the Bible’s counsel at Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, since they will be called children of God”, Wendy urged our brother and friend to write an apology to Sabine, which he did and sent by email.
Sadly, Sabine refused to accept the apology claiming that he was not repentant. Wendy tried to reason with her by asking her to at least be open to a dialogue, but Sabine was adamantly opposed to any attempt at reconciliation. In fact, she and others in a group meeting we had a few days later called this brother “a son of Satan.” We were mortified.
The argument that Susanne criticized Wendy for was actually a vocal exchange between Wendy and Sabine. Voices were raised. People overheard. That was what Susanne referred to in her interview. However, she failed to mention the public apology that Wendy made to Sabine, an apology witness by others in the group, but there was no reciprocal apology from Sabine. So, from that point forward, Sabine’s anger toward Wendy caused a division in the group and ended their friendship. She just couldn’t accept that Wendy would not take sides with her. All of this animosity could have been avoided if only a little bit of Christian love could have been shown toward this brother and his wife so that a dialogue could have been opened.
Even now, they are willing to make peace. In fact, he posted his apology email to Sabine as a comment around November 24, weeks before Susanne’s video came out. However, it was immediately removed, so I’ll post it here in the comments section of this video.
There are two more innocent Christians who have been slandered by Susanne. I’m referring to a dear couple who I had the privilege of marrying in Germany. Susanne’s slander is that it is morally wrong for a Christian to have a spiritual marriage. To her, only a legal marriage is valid before God. A solemn promise before God is not enough for the Almighty in her eyes. He wants to see the paperwork. In this, she is parroting the rules of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. We have left those rules behind, have we not? There is nothing in the Bible that demands we have a legal document from the ruling governments of Satan’s world. What matters is our commitment before God to honor our vows and promises. The Jews married but did not require paperwork from Roman authorities to consider that their marriages were approved of by God. Susanne is hurting others in her attempt to assassinate our characters which is why we are now speaking up.
This sister, in defense of her decision to marry our brother, posted a comment under Susanne’s video, but it was immediately deleted. Again, if this were about establishing the truth, there would be no reason for the channel owner to delete it.
One last thing, and here we get to the second reason for my response to Susanne’s slander. How can you, dear viewer, use your power of reason to see through a slanderer’s lies? You simply have to test out the logic of what is being said. For instance, Susanne alleges that Wendy and I are business people who are only interested in money. Yet, she starts off telling about all the money she gave us to support our work and travel expenses. So, if money were truly our interest, then why would we not cater to her?
Her entire claim is ludicrous.
Before closing, I want to clarify one more thing involving an item of slander that has been circulating for some time. We are not starting a religion, and I am not seeking followers. Again, use your mentality. When Jesus was being falsely accused by the Jewish religious leaders of being a glutton and a drunkard, associating with sinners, he gave us a rule to go by to determine for ourselves who was actually doing the lying. He said, “Wisdom is proved righteous by its works.” (Matthew 11:19) In other words, do the facts before your eyes match with what is being said?
It is true that I severed the links between the Beroean Pickets web site and the meetings being held by the French group, the German group, and the Italian group. If I were trying to build a religion, this would be a stupid thing to do, wouldn’t it?
There is no membership in our groups. People come and go as they please. As for the three foreign language groups I’ve just referred to, they can still hold their meetings. All I’ve done is remove the link to their meetings from the Beroean Pickets web site.
You see, I cannot endorse them anymore because in the case of the Italian and French groups, they now believe that Jesus is God and pray to Jesus. I don’t believe this, so it would be wrong for me to endorse them by offering our viewers a link to attend those meetings.
As for the German-language group, we’ve had a number of former attendees tell us that they spent time after their meetings promoting conspiracy theories. Again, that is their right, but I cannot endorse that by proving a link to their meetings.
Now, considering all the information we’ve just provided to you, what do you think should be done? What would a true Christian do? Would it not be consistent with the principles Jesus taught for all these individuals to come clean, offer public apologies, and take down these hurtful videos.
I’ll leave it at that. Thank you for your patience. Remember, “A fool will believe anything; smart people watch their step.” (Proverbs 14:15 Good News Translation)
Don’t let anyone play you for a fool. Don’t be a victim of gaslighting. Don’t be like Eve. You have the means to check out everything that is said and verify what is true and what is false. This is very serious stuff. We’re not dealing with cookie recipes here. We’re dealing with matters that affect our eternal salvation.
“Outside are the dogs…and the murderers [character assassins]…and everyone liking and carrying on a lie.” (Revelation 22:15)
Thank you for watching.