by BizzyBee 77 Replies latest social current
Cognizant
I am sorry your family members were affected by this sickness, too. The fact that "all" of the other families you knew of "were JW's" is disturbing. Remember when we as JW's...thought 'we', as JW's, were 'special' and protected as a group apart from the world ? *sigh*
But, hey ! I'm glad you're here, I remember how proud I was when I finally made "Senior Member". How does it feel to give your opinion freely hundreds of times ? Good, eh ? Keep it up !
Rabbit
Thanks Rabbit and bem.
Well, I was raised as a witness since birth, so the only people I knew closely were other witness families. I'm not saying child abuse is any more rampant amoung witnesses than in the "world". However, I certainly don't think it is any less so. Probably the same, I would guess. Although, the "world" is definitely ahead of the witnesses in their ability to speak out about such things and not re-victimize the victim.
When I first heard about the case on Date Line and the Silents Lambs Website, most of the witnesses I knew were in total denial. Just some evil apostates making up lies. I, on the other hand, did not doubt it was the truth for a minute. This is because of personal knowlege of cases amoung some of my closest friends, as well as blow by blow descriptions from them as to how the elder's were handling it. I read the letters they wrote to the elder's and to the society and I saw the responses they got.
Anyway, yes you are right. It is great to have a voice and be able to speak your mind freely and even to be able to disagree sometimes and still be friends at the end of the day.
Cog
Bem
I am so sorry. But, I'm glad you are not a victim anymore. You, like my wife, does not dwell on her experiences. I admire that from you, her and anyone who has finds the inner strength to go on. If only half of the things that happened to my wife had happened to me...I would be in a straight jacket in a rubber room.
Your experience, empathy & compassion is of utmost value to victims...I'm glad you're there to help them.
And I appreciate the real life experiences. JW apologists come here all the time claiming Silent Lambs & others are just "apostate lies". I've never seen them care to pick that argument against a real victim here. That is one reason why my wife, whose family were never dubs, does not mind putting her true life story out here. Far too many people are still embarrassed, as tho' they somehow are guilty of something, so they keep it quiet. The best thing to do IS to publicize what happened, getting it out of the closet, exposing the true guilty to the world and empowering other to have the courage to speak.
The subject of this thread is so sad, but, learning more about each other here...is the 'silver lining' on that dark cloud.
Rabbit
Rabbit, the girl who disappeared in Uruba, Natalie Holloway, this got so much attentention because it was Uruba and it was spring break. If she had been black or hispanic, she would still have gotten coverage because of the circumstances and the international aspect. Her mother also fought feverishly, as do many families to make sure the case doesn't go cold. I recall the families of a couple who were murdered in Cartersville, Ga. having constant fund raisers and rallies to raise dollars to up the reward for the murderer(s). They also wanted the case to stay fresh in people's memories.
There are many white children who go missing, are raped and/or murdered that don't get national media attention. It's the cases that have shock value and will draw ratings that get attention. Like Elizabeth Smart whose parents were wealthy Mormons. Or the little girl in California whose parents were swingers, that was kidnapped from her own home, raped and murdered by a neighbor. In both those cases there was an element that could be easily sensationalized.
In Shannon Melendi's case, she was an Emory University student. The Atlanta child murders? The sensationalistic element there was the serial killer aspect and the fact that the victims were young and most of them black boys.
The unfortunate thing about this case is that the girl was "out there" for the world to see - unlike the average toddler who stays pretty much home. This put her in the visible celebrity category where somebody could fantasize and stalk her. This is not to say that the same could not happen to the average child, it is just less likely.
I'm pretty sure the vast majority of children JonBenet's age who are murdered in their homes or taken from their homes and murdered are NOT child pageant contestants. When I was in school plays or dance recitals, all of us kids were put in stage makeup and no one ever complained.They make you up because your features will fade out under stage lights, not to make you look like a sex kitten.
Polly Klass and the little girl who was abducted from her home in Florida and then buried alive, they were not rich children, nor were they pageant contestants.They were carrying on life as normal children do, but were spotted and stalked by sick people. They were doing mundane things when they were spotted. Pedophiles tend to like children who look like children. They are attracted to children, not mini adults.
Rabbit and Cognizant dissident
One of the things that has saved me and my sanity was being able to talk about what has happened in my life , making a conscious choice that it would stop being destruction in my lifetime to me personally and I made a conscious choice when I was young that I would turn it into something positive, the only thing so far I can see possibly making it positive is by helping kids, I don't think I would be able to help offenders, because I wouldn't be biased enough. So People are needed that can help pedophiles also,
Rabbit What your wife has gone through is very much what others go through, family and friends do not want to believe their loved one could be such a monster and they will deny , deny ,deny. sometimes just so they can survive the insanity of believeing there loved could do such a thing. My heart goes out to her and to you it takes a special partner to be able to understand and offer support when needed.
I don't have the statistics on children murdered, I do know the stats all too well on rape and sexual crimes cause I have had to deal with them so much. But with all the murders we hear about there are scores more we do not hear about.
FHN You are exactly right! pedophiles get off the undeveloped bodies and innocent looks of kids,
And as far as seeing JoBonet we never seen her as the beauty queen until she was murdered.
I have relatives that have been in beauty reviewes and pagents to compete for money.scholorships etc. and cameras are not allowed in them except by the pagent it self and parents can buy a recording of that after ward. They didn't parade the child around in the fancy duds. just for the competions.
bem, RevMalk sent me this stat regarding child murders:
near as I can tell, the U.S. averages just over 7,000 child murders within the ages of 15-19
so my guess is that you're right in your statement; if you throw in all other age groups and even measured from 0-17
http://www.childtrendsdatabank.org/indicat...iolentDeath.cfm
I don't know about this creep. There are holes in his story, and his ex-wife says he was in Alabama when the murder happened, but I still keep wondering why he was arrested. There's got to be something more than his confession. Seems to me that a prudent police department would interview him in Thailand first, and then see the holes in his story and determine whether or not he's worth bringing back to the U.S. That doesn't seem to have happened here.
I read an article (CNN.com? newspaper? can't remember now) that said this creep gave police details of the murder that have not been released. I don't know. Very curious case.
I know everybody must be sick of hearing about all this throughout the weekend, but one thing occurred to me that made me go look up a reference...
Did anybody but me notice how positively loony the Thai police looked in those photo-ops?
It reminded me of a quote from Ian Fleming (not in a James Bond, but in his factual travel book Thrilling Cities) from about 1959 about Bangkok:
"In spite of the mosquitoes as large as Messerschmitts and the wringing humidity, everyone seems to agree that Bangkook is a dream city, and I blamed myself for hurrying on to Hong Kong. In only one hour one still got the impression of the topsy-turvy, childlike quality of the country, and an old Siamese hand, a chance acquaintance, summed it up with a recent cutting from a Bangkok newspaper. This was a plaintive article by a high police official remonstrating with tourists for accosting girls in the streets. These street-walkers were unworthy representatives of Siamese womanhood. A tourist had only to call at the nearest police station to be given names and addresses and prices of not only the most beautiful, but the most respectable, girls in the city!"
Maybe not so much has changed there, after all.
Speaks well to why a nut case like Karr was hanging out there, doesn't it?
Apparently there is now suspicion that Karr was seeking a sex change! Seems there is a little girl inside of Karr trying to get out. This doesn't fit with the circmstances of the murder or the motive. I'm afraid as a viable suspect, this guy is going sour faster than week-old milk. He's just a garden-variety lunatic. But we shall see.
