Video of admitted child molester in Jehovah’s Witnesses has gone viral!

by disfellowshipped1 106 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

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  Doubting Bro

  Another former elder chiming in here:

  I do know that the congregation is the major factor in the appointment or removal of an elder.

  The local congregtion does have input but I've personally witnessed situations where a brother was recommended by the local BOE and local CO only to be shot down by the branch for reasons that were arbitrary. I've also seen situations where someone who had connections with the local branch had been recommended to be deleted but the branch wouldn't do it.

  Elders and MS are appointed by the branch and to say otherwise is to be dishonest. The recommendations are reviewed by a direct agent of the branch, the CO. As has been previously shown with quotes from the Shepherd book, that's not only the written procedure but that's everyone's practical experience from several countries.

  Defend them all you like, it doesn't change the fact that they were morally obligated to do more and as some of these lawsuits are showing, are LEGALLY obligated to do more.

  I'm just glad I never had to deal with a pedophile case as an elder.
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  AndDontCallMeShirley

  Prime: Check the case files. You'll see a systematic policy referred to where a person with any kind of history of child abuse is not to be appointed.

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  I noticed Prime conveniently avoided commenting on what "Shepherd The Flock" book said Re: appointing pedophiles as Elders/MS:

  For example, the sin may involve past child abuse, and this would likely disqualify him for years. -w971/1 pp. 26-29; w77 pp. 697-698.

  words like "likely" and "disqualify for years" hardly indicate a "systematic policy" banning a JW from ever being appointed, does it Prime?
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  AndDontCallMeShirley

  The media did a hatchet job on James Mccabe's interview, cheery picked certain statements and correlated his statements with their own dialogue. The media often crafts and distorts stories to sensationalize certain things to satisfy the appetite of voyeurs. Their objective is for the segment to go “viral.” Ratings is how they stay in business.

  ---

  How about some evidence to back these accusations up, Prime.

  I suppose you've done some work for this tv station too, in the editing room no doubt, so you have proof that they falsified their report?
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  MrFreeze

  23,000 separate accusations of child molestation and you are trying to say only a "few" are ruining it?
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  Violia

  Prime, it happened to me and mine probably isn't on the list due to when it happened. It is a fantasy belief that it is God's org, it is not. They are men and subject to sin and covering over things . they will punish women but save their elders. They use the trust of Innocent people who believe the org speaks for God and we must obey the elders. I'd never trust another elder as long as live b/c during my long time in the org i saw and knew about many horrible things. things you'd say could not happen, but you'd be wrong. Very wrong.
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  The Quiet One

  Prime said: "..Does anyone outside the perimeters of a local congregation recommend a person for appointment as an elder or a ministerial servant? If you used to be a Witness, you know I'm right. You're the liar. Most people like you are." He later said: "When a circuit overseer visits a congregation, he spends time with various ones, so not only does he make a recommendation based on the recommendations of others, he makes a recommendation based on personal experience."
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  AndDontCallMeShirley

  Prime speaks out of both sides of his mouth. In one sentence he claims the WT is not a "hierarchal" religion and the WT does not get involved in the affairs of a local congregation. 'It doesn't work that way'. And he says that local Elders, not the WTS, both appoint and delete fellow Elders.

  Then, when this child abuse case got publicized, Prime says this:

  Had the two elders that knew about this man done the right thing and notified the parents and the Watchtower Society, they would have spared others unnecessary suffering

  So, apparently WT does no governing of the local congregations....until there's a pedophile in their midst. Then suddenly those autonomous, self-governed, independent contractor Elders first call is supposed to be to the Branch so WT can handle it. Why would they do that if they are empowered to make their own decisions, as Prime claims?

  Prime likes theories that allow him to escape whenever he makes untenable claims.
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  JW GoneBad

  A recommendation is like an indian of a tribe offering some input into a matter or making a suggestion. It's the Chief or Big Cheese (Watchtower Society) of the tribe not the indian who has the final say or last word.

  So if there are appointed men in a congregation who are later identified as pedophiles and who have molested innocent children, it stands to reason that the Chief or Big Cheese (Watchtower Society) should be held accountable as well because the Watchtower Society made the final appointment of the individual/pedophile!
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  problemaddict

  Prime. You can't have it both ways. I am leaning in your direction stating I am sure there are various times where the branch really could not have done anything at all. JW's s a group are very trusting of their own, and very distructfull of the "world", even those entrusted in the public sector for carrying out justice secularly, ie: cops.

  I just had a conversation with an active current elder who is a good friend of mine about this yesterday. He does not believe allegations of child abuse should be reported to the police straight away. His quote was, "the brothers need to get the facts first and decide what to do with it, that is why we call the legal department". He was unaware of the "duty to report" laws in his own state. He put the elders investigation above that of the police being notified. He said "kids lie all the time, and it could ruin someones reputation". While that is possible. more lives have been ruined through molestation, than that of false accusations i am sure. My point was to him, that elders are NOT QUALIFIED to investigate a crime.

  The policy should be 2 lines. if someone tells you they were molested.....call the police and report it. Then investigate on your own within the congregation, and console and encourage the person who came to you.

  DONE! Very simple. The right thing to do in these cases are not complicated. They are very simple. If this was the policy of the organization, then there would not be this issue now. Reasonable people know molestation and sexual crimes are rampant in society as a whole. JW's are not immune and even though they would like to think they are betterthan others and have higher standards, they have the same problems percentage wise as the rest of the population. Divorce, suicide, and yes molestation.

  Doing the right thing here is simple. it doesn't open them up to litigation, and it would show them putting the children first. The database, our policies, and the exclusion of secular help unless where legally dictated is shameful.
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  problemaddict

  One more thing. I know Jim McCabe ona personal level, and I believe him to be a good person. I can agree that his interview was edited in favor of the conclusion the interviewer was drawing. I don't care for that. It sensationalizes a story, and makes it easy for people such as yourself to pull the "persecution" card. I wonder if the same sympathy is extended to the Catholic Church when there is a story about them.

  My barber told me his wife was studying with a JW woman. They watched this and asked her about it inoccently. The woman became irrate with them, went off about the media and apostates, and acted so strangely that she decided not to study anymore. She did think this woman was her friend (they work together), so she still had her on FB and asked her out for lunch. My barber was confused by why this woman cut off their friendship, just because she decided not to talk about the bible with her anymore.

  It was an interesting conversation.