FEENX- A great thread ! It truly is amazing how the organization has hidden many cases of child abuse, and the elders have dropped the ball, based on their instructions from the governing body !
SSPO- I agree that we can't blame all elders for this- true they were only doing as instructed . But so were Hitlers men in Germany in World War 2 . Somewhere along the line an elders conscience of being a human being has to kick in and say, " I'm not going to commit an injustice to these children by following orders put out by the governing body , if it continues endangering their welfare . " I tend to respectfully disagree with your assertion that 99.9 % of elders never dealt with child abuse issues ! That's a pretty minimal amount, don't you think ?
Yes, I do have relatives still in the witnesses. My dad has been an elder for 50 plus years . My mom said she asked him how him and his fellow elders deal with pedophiles in his congregation ? My dad told her, " We personally call the families with children in the congregation and inform them , brother so and so was a child abuser in his past , and we have told him he is not allowed to work with minors in the field service at all . " My dad said a lot of the congregation members with children appreciate this proactive action by the elders in my dad's congregation. But, unfortunately this is the exception as opposed to the rule in the way it is handled in other congregations . With all the child abuse scandals I have personally heard elders deal with, I'm quite sure more than .001 of 1 % have dealt with child abuse cases. Just my humble opinion