FLIPPER:
I don’t think it’s a bad idea at all to send that video to your daughter.. I certainly would.
If she’s already shunning you, what difference would it make? You have a right to be concerned about your grandchildren!
Secret memo to Circuit Overseers "former child abuser" who was elder\MS moved to another congregation
by BottleGate_ 27 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse
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smiddy3
Its amazing that they never thought of sexual child abuse as a crime and only a sin that could be covered by confessing to an Elder .?
Unbelievable.
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BluesBrother
I am in no way defending them when I point out that this instruction is over 20 years old and may well be different now. This is from "Sheperding Book " 2019...
"When an individual who has been accused of child sexual abuse
(established or not) moves to another congregation, two elders
from the congregation the individual moves from should imme-
diately call the Legal Department. The elders should be prepared
to provide the name of the new congregation, if known. This
should be done even if the individual is disfellowshipped or is in
prison and is transferred to another facility or is released. The
Congregation Service Committee should not send any informa-
tion to the new congregation until after receiving legal advice
from the Legal Department and direction from the Service De-
partment.
27. When the elders are informed that an individual who has been
accused of child sexual abuse (established or not) has moved
into the congregation, two elders should immediately call the Le-
gal Department"
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Vidiot
smiddy - "Its amazing that they never thought of sexual child abuse as a crime and only a sin that could be covered by confessing to an Elder?"
Ten bucks says they were aware, on an unspoken level, that it was - first and foremost - a crime...
...but...
...they also realized that if they actually acknowledged it as such, then they'd be also acknowledging that...
a) ...they'd been complicit in covering up crimes (and particularly egregious ones, at that)...
b) ...correctly labeling them as crimes - even in confidential internal correspondence - would make it far harder for local conscience-driven elder bodies to keep quiet...
c) ...they had gleefully and hypocritically pointed accusatory fingers at other dominant religious groups for the exact same offenses, and...
d) ...despite (or maybe even because of) their attempts to deal with it internally using their so-called "Biblical" methods, the problem had still become prolific, institutionalized, and hopelessly endemic...
...all conditions which - from the WT leadership's point of view - simply could not be acknowledged... and more importantly, prevented from becoming more widely known to the rank-and-file...
...because they far too deeply - and correctly - undermined the WTS's claim of being "God's Earthly Organization" (especially the last one)*.
...
The Org will do damn near anything to keep the rank-and-file from losing confidence in their claims of divine exclusivity, because without it, there's virtually no incentive to even be a Jehovah's Witness...
...and without an active, loyal, obedient, and above all, financially supportive membership, the Org cannot truly survive.
...
*Particularly in the wake of the apostate witch-hunts of the late 70s and early 80s, which - at their core - were all about that, and had dialed up the Org leadership's paranoia level to eleven.
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Vidiot
In addition, even a decline or collapse would - in and of themselves - undermine the Org's exclusivity claims and legitimacy...
...simply because if it truly were "God's Earthly Organization", it couldn't possibly experience that.
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Finkelstein
Oh they knew back for decades that it was crime, particularly in North America, its just they didn't want to make it public that one their members committed such a deed.
Bad PR
Of course they would apply the two witness rule available in each situation.
The JWS cult is a closeted organization where there is an enforced and exploited social environment where people are to not talk openly about their brother and sisters in a demeaning way, as doing so would bring reproach onto Jehovah's organization.
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Finkelstein
One other thing to consider is that for a long time the JWS saw pedophilia as sexaul misconduct or pornea, in the same view as adultery and fornication, being intentionally dismissive that those social activities are not an unlawful crimes in most countries.
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DATA-DOG
Agreed, everyone knows it’s a crime.
It could be that in their delusional state, each “generation” believed the end was close, so there would be strong motivation to “wait on Jehovah” to weed out the few false Xian’s that were surely at the root of the problem.
Then again, it could be that the leaders have always known that pedophiles operate in the Org. It’s been revealed that Ted Jaracz might be one, and his name could be on the data-base. If that’s true and he was never removed and even shared in shaping the policies of the Org, then the Org has much more to answer for than ignorant neglect.
DD
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minimus
Flipper, do it! You have nothing to lose.