Jehovah’s Witness Sadism
Blaming all Jehovah’s Witnesses for the actions of devout church member Eunice Spry, who systematically tortured her 3 foster children over a period of 19 years, would be like blaming all atheists for the actions of Stalin. But since one of the prime claims of religion is to be the source for morality, we have to stop and ask some tough questions.
First, the sickening story, via the Evening Standard.
Eunice Spry, 62, routinely beat, abused and starved the youngsters in her care over a 19 year period. The devout Jehovah’s Witness forced sticks down their throats and made them eat their own vomit and rat excrement. As punishment for misbehaving, she would beat them on the soles of their feet and force them to drink washing up liquid and bleach. Spry, a pillar of her local community in Gloucestershire, staunchly denied all the claims…
“If they were sick (she) would make them eat the vomit and they were made to eat rat excrement.” He said that…they would be “punched kicked and strangled”, [beat with sticks] and if they cried the sticks would be forced down their throats.
It gets worse. The kids had their hands and faces rubbed with sandpaper, hands held on hot electric stove burners. They had their heads held underwater. It’s a wonder none of them died. When the oldest girl got into a car accident, Spry forced her into a wheelchair, trying to collect additional money for the disability. Though she had serious injuries, the girl could walk fine, and eventually went to the police.
This horror went on for 19 years with three different children. The children were not monitored because they were being ‘home schooled.’ One can only imagine this woman cynically collecting her money from the state (for keeping the foster children) then sanctimoniously putting some of it in the collection plate at her church.
The mind reels.
- Exactly how did religious morality help these children?
- How did other church members miss what must have been obvious signs?
- How did Ms. Spry manage the unbelievable cognitive dissonance between her ‘worship’ and her horrific actions at home?
- What is the use of a belief system which does not have as its focus the reduction of human suffering?
Now Jehovah’s Witnesses are the same people who refuse to celebrate holidays and birthdays, and reject all blood transfusions. They split hairs with other Christians about things like the ‘trinity’ and want to see a theocracy established on earth. From Wikipedia:
It is also taught that 144,000 people will receive immortal life in heaven with Jesus Christ as co-rulers guiding the rest of humankind to perfection on a paradise earth during the 1000 year reign. More specifically, Witnesses believe that in the war of Armageddon, which they believe to be imminent, the wicked will be destroyed. The survivors of this event, along with individuals deemed worthy of resurrection, will form a new society ruled by a heavenly government and have the possibility of living forever in an earthly paradise.
Never mind the elitism in their doctrine, the similarities to Islam and other forms of fundamentalist Christianity include apocalyptic final judgments and some form of theocratic ‘paradise.’ For Jehovah’s Witnesses, the “governing body” are referred to as the “faithful and discreet slave class.”
But back to the ‘wicked’ woman herself: Clearly she is mentally ill–a monster. You can just see her showing up at church in her pastel clothing, repeating prayers and religious platitudes. Her veneer of piety avoided any kind of deeper psychological examination. I’m not going to discuss here the obvious failings of a government and social system which allows kids to be in foster homes without inspections. But religions make claims of holding people to higher standards of trust and “decency.” No doubt this woman’s religion was used to reinforce the notion that the kids were going to a “good Christian home.”
If a church community could have this kind of mayhem going on under their noses, what does this say about their usefulness to society? Religions make all sorts of noises about creating “standards” and norms to “protect the children.” Such a spectacular failure of a “pillar” of a church community should make us question these false mandates.
Unfortunately, this kind of story is becoming predictable as a consequence of religious repression. I placed it under “religion inspired murders” because these kids have been murdered in spirit. What chance do they have to ever have normal lives? I am also giving a Black Sun Shadow Award to Eunice Spry, “the pious sadist.”
[UPDATE: Here are some comments from former Jehovah's Witnesses (from the original article)]
The is a very dangerous cult that teaches that children should be seen and not heard. This woman got away with this for twenty years. I am sure the congregation of Jehovah’s Witnessess that she was in would know the abuse these poor dear children were suffering. I was in this cult and I know that each of us knew what was going on with each others children each week at our five meetings a week. I hope that she will be punished to the full extent of the law.
- Trudi Mcaskill, Stratford, Prince Edward Island Canada
“The devout Jehovah’s Witness forced sticks down their throats and made them eat their own vomit and rat excrement”.
I was raised in an abusive Jehovah’s Witnesses home and although nothing this extreme it is telling that she got away for so long, under the nose of the Kingdom hall elders.
- Danielle, London
