"They didn't want to know."
I was thinking about this expression the other day. It's a phrase current in colloquial English which carries the idea of a wholly inadequate response to given situation:
"In the second half, United really needed to attack the goal, but their forwards didn't want to know..."
"I was hoping for a full refund on this faulty toaster, but the shop manager didn't want to know..."
and even:
"So, I reported the abuse to the Elders, but they really didn't want to know.."
...as I said, it coveys the idea of a totally inadequate and feeble response. But what started me thinking was, in fact, the literal meaning of those words. It really is the case that this whole paedophile problem among the congregations stems directly from the fact that elders generally and literally DO NOT WANT TO KNOW about it.
By way of illustration there is a famous story told about Queen Victoria. Back in the 1860's the laws against homosexuality in England were being framed and drafted, and being put through parliament. Those laws (replacing the previous barbaric sanctions that held homosexuality to be a capital offence) stood for over a hundred years until swept away by the reforms and legalisation of 1967.
What struck many people over the years about that 1861 enactment was that, despite its prohibition on male homosexual activity, there is absolutely no mention made anywhere about females. By this omission, lesbianism was perfectly legal the whole time. It has struck many people as odd.
The answer lies in the personality of Queen Victoria herself. Constitutionally, her Royal Assent was necessary for the measure to pass into English law, and she absolutely could not conceive that "such wickedness" - lesbianism - could exist in the world. She would not countenance such a notion, and the statesmen of the day - her timid ministers - drafted the legislation in such a way as to not offend her Royal Sensibilities. She literally did not want to know about such a thing, and the upshot was the curiously asymmetrical 1861 law. Thats the power of not wanting to know.
****
And so, today, you might have a situation in one of the congregations, where a basically decent but utterly loyal Elder gets approached by a troubled young child with a story of sexual abuse involving a brother who is apparently a fine upstanding Witness. The Elder might already know from the childs parents that s/he is " rebellious" or "worldly" or some such - so, he's already inclined to one particular point of view. Added to that is his incredulity at the things the child is alleging. He can't believe it and this is my point - he doesn't want to believe it.
The accused Brother, of course, denies the whole thing, and convincingly as far as the Elder is concerned.
How much easier to believe, how much more "fitting" it is, to dismiss the story as so much mischief, as being all malicious lies. No need to go outside his personal comfort zone, no need to address the existence of such wickedness within his very own congregation. Why, its probably all Satan-inspired opposition to Jehovah! A wicked and malicious attack designed to bring the good name of the brother - the congregation - indeed, Jehovah Himself! - into reproach.
You can see how this would work. The Elder has a huge emotional investment in believing the Brother's story, and not the childs.
And all this because the Elder quite literally doesnt want to know the truth.
So, you get such a farcical, ridiculous situation as happened at the Beliz/Garza trial last year in the U.S. Absolutely hordes of JWs streaming into court to give "character testimonials" on behalf of an already-convicted child molester. To the outside world its bizarre, surreal and unfathomable why seemingly decent people should act like that. And that man Beliz, in prison, remaining a Witness in Good Standing in his congregation!
But it's that good ole Witness mindset at work again, rationalising away anything that might undermine their fragile, carefully-held-together belief system.
They dont want to know.
Duncan
Edited by - Duncan on 1 October 2002 8:52:38