This rule is really flawed. If the child goes to the elder and tell them that bro. so and so raped him. The elders won't take action unless the molestor confess or there is witness there. Who would stand there and watch someone rape a child and report it? Thats against the law to even watch that. unless you try to stop it from happening in the first place and then report it...
two witness rule
by rnicole76 6 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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jamiebowers
Yes, and that's why the two witness rule should be abolished, and elders everywhere should immediately report any accusations to the police. The Watchtower needs to stop confusing sin with crime.
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freydo
This is such a travesty. In Deuteronomy 18 and elsewhere, judges were required to investigate thoroughly matters that had been brought to their attention and provide justice. In the case of children bringing charges and where no witnesses can be found, the very least they should do, imo, in pray that the truth be exposed instead of throwing up their hands and threatening the injured with gag orders.
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alice.in.wonderland
If a young child tells an elder he/she was raped it gets reported.
"If the accused denies the charge, the two elders may arrange for him and the victim to restate their position in each other’s presence, with elders also there. If during that meeting the accused still denies the charges and there are no others who can substantiate them, the elders cannot take action within the congregation at that time."
If a young child tells something like that to an elder they don't let that go. I damn sure wouldn't.
If you really think about it, when would a young child tell an elder he/she was raped? Take him back in the Kingdom Hall library and explain the matter, that Mom or Dad is raping me? A young child is generally coerced into silence by the abuser and they often don't understand what is going on. If anything like you discussed really went on CPS would know about it and they would expose it. If you review the media from: http://www.silentlambs.org/education/chung.wmv
The first girl interviewed said she told the elders about abuse when she was 15 that took place when she was 13. She said it was a friend of the family. You would think at the age of 13 she would have told her parents. She said she told the elders in hopes they would take care of this person. What would you do if a 15 year old told you she was raped by someone you know when she was 13 so you could “take care of the person?”
I would say you need to contact the authorities. If the truth of the matter is, there's no other witnesses and the accused abuser denies... after two years, there's no physical evidence: it wouldn't hold up in a court of law.
It's adults and older teens that tell the elders things and that's where the two witness rule applies. The witness that told an elder can inform CPS because the elders can't legally apprehend the abuser.The second person said she was 12 when her friend's older brother molested her. She said her and her parents went to the elders. The elders are not the police. When it comes to illegal activity you take that to the police where DNA evidence or something substantial can be gathered to make a case. The elders can't do this.
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Broken Promises
Exactly, that’s why it’s wrong for the elders to insist that if there are accusations of abuse, the parents are not to go to the police. The elders are not in the position to investigate the accusation, but the police are.
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alice.in.wonderland
The older people get, you're expected to do your own thinking. Involving others in illegal activity if they didn't witness anything represents a danger to that person.
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llbh
Alice, the two person rule is utterly insane in child protection issues
The wts child protection policies are lamentable and make them culpable, they are way behind even where the Catholic are. Serving elders are as individuals, and as a group wide open to being sued because the policies are designed to protect the wts in the first instance rather than being victim orientated.
David