Absolutely weird. Minding my own business while pumping gas - this 60 year old short JW lady with fluffed bun styled 60's hair and her 30 year old attractive 5 ' 10 inch JW lady partner came straight up to me as I'm pumping. They picked the wrong Hombre . I was tired from working all night early Friday morning so I was in the mood to assist them to think about things. Wink.Wink.
The 60 year old asked me ( with no introduction ) " Sir, we were just asking people a question, who do you think controls the world ? " I said, " First of all, who are you affiliated with ? " she said, " We're Jehovah's Witnesses ! " Then before they could get a scripture in edgewise I stated, " Well, I have some differences and issues with your organization. " I continued, presenting myself as a non-Witness with relatives still in the organization " I have a 37 year old niece who is shunned by my JW older sister because she went to college and got her education . And I've been told by my JW relatives the WT Society discourages going to college. " The 30 year old lady said, " Well, that's not true. I was a single mother and I went to college and got my degree ! " So I asked her, " So you went against the WT Society's directions to get your education ? " She said, " I think the WT Society is just concerned about young people going to colleges and living there because they could commit immorality or use drugs or have a wild lifestyle. College is O.K. if the young people still live at home though. " Then I said, " Well, my sister shuns her own daughter because her daughter just stopped attending your church. She didn't get ex-communicated or anything- just stopped attending and received negative treatment. " I continued, " I have heard of others who have experienced this too. There is NO acceptable way for a Jehovah's Witness to just leave your church and NOT receive negative treatment in some manner. " The 2 Witnesses said nothing, speechless.
Then I broached the subject of child abuse. I stated that I" have another JW relative who is an elder and in discussing JW child abuse with him ; he stated that the elders when getting reports of child abuse first call the WT legal department to see how to proceed , instead of calling the police first. " I asked them, " Are you aware of that ? " The 30 year old lady said that her uncle is an elder and he told her that the elders "always call the police in child abuse cases. " I explained that I had heard differently as some news media reports indicated JW victims of child abuse were continually abused because elders had NOT reported the molesters to police and had delayed. " This caused the 60 year old lady to get flustered at me and she asked me, " what is your motive for telling us this ? Are you trying to turn us against the elders ? " I satated, " No, I'm just giving you access to information that you may not be aware of so that children can be protected in your church. " The 60 year old continued, " Well, we let the ELDERS handle those stuations, it's not for us to be involved with. " I said, " Oh really ? What happens then if a child molester is on the loose in your church , yet elders know and won't tell anybody ? How are JW parents supposed to protect their children and know who is and who is not a child molester ? " Then the 30 year old lady bailed her older partner out. She stated, " If a molester is found out they are removed as an elder or ministerial servant or else disfellowshipped. " I then added, " But how does that keep them from attending inside your church and still gaining access to children ? " Then the 60 year old lady said, " Well, we need to leave now as we have others waiting for us to get to. " I called her on it. I said, " Why are you wanting to leave ? Are you feeling uncomfortable with what I'm telling you about the child abuse policies in your organization ? I'm just trying to inform you to make you aware of it. I've done research. "
So I continued, " One last thing before you leave. You are saying you trust your elders so much . Did either of you read in the newspaper last summer about Candace Conti in the San Fransisco area winning a verdict of 26 million $$$$ against the WT Society for being abused as a child sexually ? In this story the elders were aware of her molester YEARS before he molested candace. He molested his own stepdaughter and was removed as a Ministerial Servant like you state happens ( as I looked at the 30 year old lady ) - however- the elders while knowing his past continued letting him go out in your ministry work with Candace Conti alone when she was 8 or 9 years old. And youknow what happened ? Instead of going out in the ministry- he took her to his own house and molested her, then later took her back to meet others to give her back to her parents. " I asked, " what's wrong with this picture ? " I cntinued, " It shows that more stringent child protection programs need to be in place, doesn't it " ?
Then the 60 year old JW lady was totally emotional and flustered. She re-stated, " We really need to go now as we have folks waiting for us. " The 30 year old said, " Thanks for your time, we enjoyed talking with you, take care. " It felt so good to give these JW's access to information that most of us know they either haven't heard of or are restricted from knowing about. So who knows ? Perhaps one of the lady's down the line will think about what I've said or at least spread the word that they had a challenging experience yesterday and in turn it will get other JW's to think or at least spread it around and talk. In retrospect- I'm glad they picked on me to chat. It lasted about 30 minutes or so and they now have a fuller view of how this universe REALLY operates ! LOL ! Anyway- thanks for listenng. Look forward to any takes or observations you may have. Take care, Peace out, Mr. Flipper
...OUTLAW