The Abuse - and Cover Up - of Children, With No Support from the Elders...

by passwordprotected 7 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

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  passwordprotected

  ...isn't unique to the Watch Tower Society.

  The trial took place in March 2008. Prior to the trial, not knowing how the young man would plead, we asked pastor DH to come with pastor SW ready to give testimony on our child’s behalf if needed. Pastor DH made it known to us they were not coming to the courthouse. I explained to him if the young man pleaded not guilty, our child would then have to get up in front of the court and reveal the entire ordeal along with answering questions from the attorneys. It didn’t matter, they still weren’t coming. His response to us was, “I have my church’s reputation to consider.”….[the pastors ultimately showed up after the threat of a subpoena].

  This article explores the cover up of child abuse within the fairly large "reformed" (i.e. Calvinist) Sovereign Grace Ministries (link to Wikipedia article) church network. Watch for the similarities to how the Watch Tower Society deals with victims of abuse, especially the unco-operative attitude from the leaders.

  In my experience of Christianity, "reformed" evangelical Christians (who often refer to themselves as Calvinists) are probably more arrogant than the Witnesses when it comes to believing they have "the truth". The disturbing part is that there's a heck of a lot more of them (65-70 million), and their influence is spreading. They make me sick.
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  Mad Sweeney

  Religion, the bane of man's existence.
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  Farkel

  Calvinists, eh? They are a piece of work. They believe that everyone is born with their destinies already decided: they will either be saved or not.

  That being the case, child molesters are created by their God. So God is to blame, not them. God made them that way.

  Yeah. They are totally fucked up, just like dubs are totally fucked up.

  : Religion, the bane of man's existence.

  Amen to that.

  Farkel
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  Pahpa

  Frontline had an interesting program this week on the priestly abuse

  of Native children in St. Michael, Alaska. It was a familiar pattern. The

  priest and his layworker took advantage of their positions and threatened

  the children if they revealed the abuse. In some cases, the parents refused

  to believe their own children. The layworker was finally transferred to

  another assignment. But the priest remained to continue his abuse for

  years. The church praised his work and set him as an example for others.

  Part of the settlement of the abused was a demand that the Bishop come

  to St. Michael to apologize for the church and its leaders. But the damage

  has left a generation of suffering individuals. And the church is now

  deserted.
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  passwordprotected

  I'm realising that the WTBTS and its problems with child abuse isn't unique. That could be why the mainstream media and governments don't make too much of a fuss about it.
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  wobble

  The WT is not actually unique in hardly anything, apart from the odd twisted doctrine, as painful as a twisted testicle.

  They certainly are not unique as to having evil in their midst, or in dealing with it in atotally inappropriate way.

  But for that reason, we need to give exposure to their problems as widely as possible, yes the media is not going to react to every little story, but the cumulative effect may in time make for a big splash that will alert the public.
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  Band on the Run

  The PBS show about the situation in Native American villages in Alaska was better than the average pedophile documentary. The abuse happened decades ago. The isolation of these villages and the cultural divide between Native American beliefs and Catholcisim must have been damning for the victims. The church showed no contrition. In fact, it even denied responsibility for a nonpriest assistant on the payroll. A massive lawsuit and the resulting publicity led the present bishop to travel to each village affected and offered an apology for the role of the church to each individual. They remain good CAtholics.

  This contrition should be the goal of any settlement. The way they cried when he offered them holy oil and communion with the apology, it may have been more important than the monetary settlement. So much about Roman Catholicism bothers me more than it should. I grew up in a very dictatorail Roman Catholic neighborhood. They never noticed the Protestant elite of this country. I think it is the empahsis on authority rather than scripture that sickens me in the Witnesses and carries over to Catholics.
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  Lady Lee

  They aren't unique in their claims to be the only true religion serving God or in the their doctrines or in their practices. So there is no reason why thye should be different in their problems.