Does the Policy of the Watchtower Create a Safe Haven for Child Molesters?

by listen 149 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

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  thirdwitness

  I have something to say just for the record.

  I see a lot of hatred directed toward me as if I was the child molester. I am only defending JWs because I feel their policy is the best of all, bar none.

  I am not a child molesters. I have never been a child molester and I will never be a child molester. Child molesting is sickening, abhorrent, evil, and disgusting. I cannot see how any one could engage in child molesting. Child molesters should be dealt with far less mercy than fornicators or adulterers because they are destroying innocent lives. It is not a mutual sin.

  I am also not saying that ever story out there is a false story. I am quite sure that elders have made mistakes and have disregarded the policy of JWs. I have admitted that. As long as their are imperfect humans in the organization there will be mistakes.

  And me and my family have also been effected by child molesting. Don't think I know nothing about the harm that can be done. I have stories also. In my family one family member molested another, a girl. Families were torn apart as is often the case. He was dfed but a couple of years later he was reinstated. He knows and has been told that he will never qualify as a servant. Now, she is grown but when she sees him at the KH, assemblies, or conventions, she almost goes into hysterics and gets phycally sick. Does she blame JWs for the situation. No, she rightfully blames the molester because she knows that JWs teach that child molesting is abhorrent.

  Another case involved friends. The man molested a little girl. He was reproved. It went to court and he pled guilty and received probation. He knows he will never be a servant and rightfully so. He also lost his family as a result. Were the parents angry at JWs because the molester was a JW. Of course not, because JWs teach that child molesting is abhorrent. They were mad at the molester and rightfully so. That is why they reported it to the police at the recommendation of the elders. No one has ever been DFed for talking about it or even reproved.

  So, yes, I, too have been affected by child molesting. But it is not the fault of the WTS nor is it the fault of ones who defend the child abuse policy of JWs. Put the blame where it belongs, with the molester. And handle your responsibility and report persons who are molesting or who you think or molesting and let the police take care of it if there is a case. All JWs are instructed by the WTS to do just that.
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  Odrade

  I don't think anyone thinks you are a molestor. Personally, I am quite disturbed by your continued defense of WT "policy" because it is blind, unwavering defense by people just like you that allow the kind of abuses stated here to happen. People like you turn a blind eye to the giant holes in the "policy," instead making the victims of abuse ever more vulnerable to continued assaults, or further victimization due to ostracism. The WT's "policy" of handling such matters privately, makes likely still more victims, since parents of potential victims are given no warning about the vulnerability of their children to child rapists in the congregation, unless they see it in the secular news media.

  This defense of such a deplorable policy is what makes us furious. Your continued assertion that the WT has the best policy bar none, is horribly damaging and misleading. Until JWs open their eyes, and quit believing that everything handed down from the WT is exempt from scrutiny, your children will be among the most vulnerable to assault by trusted members of the congregation... people who are trusted, that should not be... simply because the closed door policy of the Judicial Committee prevents elders from warning those who are most at risk.

  Think critically, for once.
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  stevenyc

  thirdwitness,

  So, yes, I, too have been affected by child molesting. But it is not the fault of the WTS nor is it the fault of ones who defend the child abuse policy of JWs. Put the blame where it belongs, with the molester. And handle your responsibility and report persons who are molesting or who you think or molesting and let the police take care of it if there is a case. All JWs are instructed by the WTS to do just that.

  You are absolutely correct in the ultimate blame stands with the molester. There are some here who have been personally molested, and then treated very poorly by the society which in turn leads to heated debates. And, when defenders of the child abuse policy make it to these debates, well, they do become the focal point for attack.

  I personally do not hold you responsible for any such decrepit actions, however, I think your attitude to the society is a little blinked to say the least. It is absolutely not the policy for Elders to report the accusations of a potential victim to the police. Please show me where the society directs the Elders to call the police for any molestation accusations, because if so their policy has changed. I ask this because as a victim myself, it would help me knowing that children are at least now a little safer.

  steve
• 

  fullofdoubtnow

  Thirdwitness,

  Though I doubt we will ever agree on the wts child abuse policy, or at least it's effectiveness, I do not hate you personally, nor any other witness, though I will admit I am no lover of the wts as an organisation. Throughout this debate, which has become somewhat heated at times, it has never entered my head that you would be a child molester yourself. You would have to be the biggest hypocrite the world has ever known to debate this issue the way you have if you were a child molester.

  As I have stated, the court cases involving suing the wts mean very little to me. My main concern is, and always will be, for the children affected by the abuse. It is simply not enough to have a child protection policy. It is the duty of the org to make sure it is correctly implemented and, as you have indicated, you yourself are aware that this does not always happen.

  I am genuinely sorry that your family has been affected by this curse. I would hope that, in time, your relative will achieve some kind of closure, but from what you have written it does not appear likely at present. I firmly believe that anyone who abuses a child belongs in prison, and certainly has no right to any privileges or protection from any religious organisation, and your post indicates that you and I are in agreement on this point.

  Let us both hope to see the day that child abuse policies, not just in the wts but in all other organisations, become not just words on a piece of paper, but are fully implemented so that the innocent victims of abuse can receive the protection they deserve.

  Linda
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  thirdwitness

  I will go one step further. For all those who were really truly done wrong by the elders failure to follow the policy of JWs I am truly sorry that it happened. And if it means anything I apologize on behalf of JWs. I think if we dug hard enough we would probably find where the Society said they were sorry or regreted or felt for the victim for any cases that might have been mishandled by the elders. But don't misdirect your anger to the ones who don't deserve it. JWs abhor child molesting and do not want practicing child molesters in our organization. Nor do we want former child molesters as elders. And if its not too late go report the child abuse now to the authorities.

  Surely you must admit that JWs child abuse policy really is very good and that no religion has a better one in the imperfect state that we are in.
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  ozziepost

  And handle your responsibility and report persons who are molesting or who you think or molesting and let the police take care of it if there is a case. All JWs are instructed by the WTS to do just that.

  N o, they're not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• 

  ozziepost

  thirdwitness:

  Surely you must admit that JWs child abuse policy really is very good and that no religion has a better one in the imperfect state that we are in.

  How would you know?

  For reference please see this post made yesterday: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/11/117693/2068049/post.ashx#2068049
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  Odrade

  Surely you must admit that JWs child abuse policy really is very good and that no religion has a better one in the imperfect state that we are in.

  No. The JW's "policy" is NOT A POLICY. It sucks. It bites ass, to put it in the best possible terms. It is one of the WORST "policies" in all of Christendom. In 30 seconds using google, I found multiple examples of ACTUAL policies adopted by a variety of religions.

  This is what you don't get. And until you do get it, and a lot of other JWs get it, the Kingdom Hall will continue to be an unsafe place for any parent to take their children. If the local elementary school had a "policy" like the WT's, they would lose all Federal and State aid, and rightly so. They would be a haven for any molestor to work for and have access to children. This is the state of the Organization.

  By claiming that those ridiculous two sentences and two minutes of "training" at the annual KM school constitutes a "policy," they are putting all trusting families at risk of assault by predatory opportunists by giving these families a false sense of security. After all, the WT has their best interests in mind, yes? (that was sarcasm.)

  This is disgusting and reprehensible, and by knowingly defending such a disgusting and reprehensible "policy," you become a willing participant in the victimization of families.
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  stevenyc

  thirdwitness, just out of curiosity, do you know what the offical policy has been over the last fifteen years? steve
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  thirdwitness

  Yes I know the policy over the last 15 years. I have documented it in the blog. Especially since the late 80s and early 90s it has been in writing just what the policy is.

  The 1992 letter to elders clearly states: all in the Christian congregation would want to consider their personal and moral responsibility to alert the appropriate authorities in cases where there has been committed or there exists a risk that there might be committed a serious criminal offence of this type (see ks91, page 138) In child abuse cases such authorities might include the family doctor, the Social Services, the NSPCC, or the police.

  This means everyone in the congregation. It is only in the case of unsubstantiated or uncorroborated alledged abuse that the elders are instructed to follow the law and report even those unproven allegations to the police when required. In the case of substantiated proven child molestation it is the duty of all in the congregation to report it. So my advice is if you know about child molesting or you suspect it then go report it to the police and let them take care of it according to the criminal law, even if its been years. The statute of limitations does not run out until a number of years after the person reaches 18 in most places.

  Can you imagine this conversation taking place between Bethel and an elder.

  Elder: The victim family wants to go to the police.

  Bethel: No, tell them they shouldn't.

  Elder: But your 1992 letter says all have a responsibility to report child molestation. And it says it is their absolute right to report even unsubstantiated abuse.

  Bethel: Thats just a cover up. Thats not really our policy. The lawyers think we should try to hide it. They like being sued and going to court you know.

  Do you think this conversation has ever taken place? Lets be reasonable please.