Sheila Bowen's Letter To the GB!

by Ranchette 68 Replies latest jw friends

  • Europe
    Europe

    Well done Sheila!!

    You have more guts than the whole GB!!!!

    Take care, may God bless you!

    Europe

  • Ranchette
    Ranchette

    By the time I got half way through the first page The emotion of it all started hitting me but I was determined to get through it. It is overwhelming to sit alone before six men! It wasn't planned that way but Bill didn't know I was going in when I did or he would have been in there. Anyway, I heard sighs and squirming around at some points when I read something they didn't like. I was really afraid they were going to stop me and kick me out but they didn't.

    By the time I came to the end of it I was shaking and I was fighting the tears with all my might. I just didn't want to fall apart in front of them. I only show my emotions to those who are closest to me because it's like giving a piece of my heart and I wasn't willing to give it to them. I just said something like "that' really all I have to say. Thank you for listening.I got up and walked out.

    Very shortly the door opened and one of them asked me to come back in. I walked in and they pointed out a chair they wanted me in and said they had some questions for me. I was just about to go get Bill to sit with me when he knocked and said he wanted to be there too.

    They said they didn't know what I meant about my last sentence and the cairman read it to me. I said I ment exactly what I had written. They were wanting me to explain exactly what that meant.

    I said, I did not completly "disconnect" myself from the organization in that letter.I wasn't even going to say the word they were looking for!!

    I said "believe me I would use your lingo if that's what I meant. I'm just not going to run around claiming to be a Witness."

    They said okay , thats all they wanted to know. The chairman said he could tell I had put alot of thought into the letter and I told him he was correct and that I had worked on it over a three day period. He said that this must all be very emotionall for me. I agreed and said that I have to protect myself emotionally and so I disconnect from it all when I can't take it anymore, just temporaraly.There is no escape because I have a child abuse hotline in my home and just I can't ignore the victims!

    I also said that I felt my children and I had treated as if we didn't even exist over the last year and a half. I told them that's just how I feel and I had nothing else to say. They thanked us and let us go.

  • AjaxMan
    AjaxMan

    Great Letter, Sheila!!!

    Great Job! Now everyone will all see the True Colors of the WTS.

    regards,

    Ajax

  • seawolf
    seawolf

    Sheila and Bill,

    I'm really sorry for all what you've gone through when them.

    That's one of the best-worded letters that I've ever seen. Hopefully it made at least one of the kangaroos think.

  • Nanoprobe
    Nanoprobe

    Sheila

    You & Bill are both good and courageous people. I hope at least a few of your family will realize that to claim you as "kin" is an honor.

    I would think that you did affect those men just a little (even if they pretended otherwise in the group setting)

  • RedhorseWoman
    RedhorseWoman

    Sheila, you showed much courage and forthrightness by writing that letter. I find it disheartening to hear, however, that the elders were more concerned with the exact meaning of your last sentence rather than the truths presented in the body of your letter.

    Are they so tied up in rules and regulations that their only concern was whether or not you wished to formally disassociate yourself? I cannot understand how these people can continue to be so blind to what this corrupt organization is doing to its members.

    You are Bill are truly beacons on a dark sea.

  • BugParadise
    BugParadise

    Excellent Letter!!

    ~Bugs

  • ARoarer
    ARoarer

    Dearest Sheila,

    Your letter to those elders was eloquent and powerful. The GB and thier henchmen lawyers and elders speaking for them are guilty of idolatry and falsehood. Thier actions prove them to be so, and not representative of God. They have twisted the scriptures to satisfy thier own desires. I hope that your letter makes the Associated Press so that all will see this and beware of those who claim to be in association with them as being nothing more than wolves in sheeps clothing. Your journey so far has been painful and yet God has blessed you in ways that will open doors to new joys because you have taken a stand and closed the door to untruth. Pity those who cling to such "truth" and act so falsely in it's way. God bless you. You and your husband have give many many victims of child sexual abuse the courage to speak out and tell what these men forced them to keep secret. These are mere men, and cruel in their "oversight" of their members. They want silence and seek to impose it at all cost. Their actions are desparate. They are nothing more than adults supporting pedophiles. They are already considered by some to be no different than any pedophile ring we hear about on the news. They are being exposed and stripped of their piety and holy image the want to portray to he world. Their unscriptural shunning laws can't even keep their sex secrets anymore. They are experiencing the same justice that they claim the Catholic Church was deserving of. The New York Times Article pointed out what I have been telling people for years regarding Jehovah's Witnesses problems with sexual abuse is far more reaching and unique because it is perpetuated within families through incest because of the fact that these sexual predators are finding haven in the "closed community" that exists within this religous community. It results in the spread of ramant sexual abuse intercongregationally and is perpetrated by incestuous fathers, uncles, grandfathers who interact with the children, and especially, if they are elders, have misused their positions of trust. They are betrayers of trust. Sheila, your husband has exposed their criminal behavior and they are running scared. It is thier turn now. At least our sacrifice we have endured is not in vain. God bless you.

    Love, Barbara Pandelo

    Edited by - ARoarer on 12 August 2002 13:44:21

  • lauralisa
    lauralisa

    It is very good to "see" you again, Sheila.... I've missed you

    Your letter is concise, and obviously from your heart as well as your brain. There is no one more qualified than you to speak to this issue. I hope you get some relief for all of the turmoil you and your family has endured. I hope that even ONE of those gnat-strainers lets your letter sink into his heart. I hope you get some strength and encouragement in knowing that you are the desperately needed voice for thousands of lambs, and that you are a Godsend to them.

    love, lauralisa

    "All considered, of how much more worth is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do a fine thing on the Sabbath." Matthew 12:12

  • Billygoat
    Billygoat

    ((((Sheila))))

    You are WAAAY more courageous than I'm sure you feel. You and Bill are in my prayers! You have been for a very long time, but even more so now. I cannot begin to understand the pain you're going through. Although I too am a victim of the Watchtower, your situation is quite a bit different from mine. Please take comfort in knowing there are thousands of people out here that love and support and are proud of you! You ARE doing the right thing in God's eyes. I have no doubt about that!

    Your letter was excellent. There is a freedom in taking control of this situation by writing it. There is so much more healing to be done. And I'm not talking about the silent lambs. Please make sure you and Bill take the necessary steps for your own hearts to heal. You two are an amazing couple!

    Andi

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