I'm Lillian Gobitas-Klose. I really enjoyed being a part of KNOCKING, and whoever thought I'd be blogging at age 83! The DVD version of the film shows how my brother and I were expelled from school in the 1930s for refusing to say the pledge of allegiance and how our case Minersville School District v. Gobitis (the court clerk misspelled our name) went all the way to the Supreme Court. My brother Billy wrote the school board a letter: "I do not salute the flag because I have promised to do the will of God. This means that I must not worship anything out of harmony with God's law. In the twentieth chapter of Exodus, it is stated 'Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image nor bow down to them nor serve them.' I do not salute the flag not because I do not love my country. I love my country. I love God more and I must obey his commandments. Signed, Your pupil, Billy Gobitas." [Ed. note: Original letter in the Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trr006.html ]

When the Supreme Court decided that the school could force us to say the pledge, it was like open season on Jehovah's Witnesses. We saw so much done against the Witnesses, and we had our share too. But when the Barnette case reversed the decision, everything seemed to calm down. It happened a long time ago, but I still get requests at least once a month, from writers and professors who are writing about the case and what it means for freedom of speech and religion.

At the same time my brother and I were in court (I was12), my future husband Erwin at age 22 was in a Nazi concentration camp, Esterwegen, because of his neutrality. One of the guards put a gun to his head and said, "Now are you ready to heil Hitler?" Erwin said, "I can't. 'Heil' means salvation. My salvation comes from Jesus Christ." So he refused to heil Hitler. The Nazi put the gun down and said, "Go back to your barrack!" Jehovah's Witnesses don't have a death wish. We love life. We also love God, and we're going to be faithful to him no matter what.

Life is precious. I felt so sad when I saw the news about the shootings in Virginia . My heart goes out to the families.

JUDY: I'm Judy Klose, Lillian's daughter. I was most impressed and moved by the interview with Joel on the DVD. During the whole project, I guess I didn't realize how motivated and committed Joel was to telling a fair story. It made me truly appreciate him as a person and all the time and effort he put into making the film. (Joel interviewed me for the film, but it ended up on the cutting-room floor, which was fine with me! There was so much to tell in the film.) I love that KNOCKING is like a dialog with the two families within the timeframe of their lives, past, present, and future. By telling the story of a young Witness and an older Witness, it shows that no matter our age or at what point we are in our lives, we are tested every day to live up to our faith.

My parents had gone through big tests as young people. Dad always taught us to make sure of what we're doing before we made our decisions. I knew that becoming a Witness was my own decision. We have free will. I remember thinking to myself as a little girl that I had decided I wanted to be a Witness. I told my mom, and she just said, "OK, honey." That was it. But it made the rest of my life easier because I had decided for myself, not just because Mom and Dad told me to. I remember telling Mom that like it was yesterday.