When the WTS saw Catholic Church abuse being exposed

by Simon 19 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

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  Simon

  There was a time when the abuse issues in the Catholic Church were first starting to be exposed.

  Now, they were fully aware that they had the exact same issues that they too were covering up.

  What did they choose to do?

  They could have "learnt" and said "man, that looks bad and we know we have the same problem - but at least we can learn something and put processes in place to make sure we clean up our act".

  They could have done nothing themselves but refrained from criticized the Catholic Church knowing that they had the same skeletons in their own closet.

  What did they actually do?

  They wen't full guns criticizing the Catholics for something they knew they were completely guilty of as well, painting themselves as 'the good guys where this sort of thing would never happen' but the only processes they put in place were to tighten up how cover-ups were managed and to make sure the local elders knew how to silence any incidents. They treated the Catholic abuse issue as a sales and marketing opportunity, nothing more.

  Governing Body - you are WORSE than the Catholic Church. You could have learnt but refused to. You could have protected kids but only endangered them instead. You could have done the right thing and admitted your own issues but were only concerned with your own PR image and growth prospects.

  I guess the secret's out now ...

  Here's a FACT: you can never claim to be a spiritual paradise or God's representatives. The first has been proven false - the only paradise you provide is a pedophile paradise and I'm pretty sure any real god wouldn't want you.
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  life is to short

  Thank you Simon for saying it so well. I totally agree that there is no way if there is a God that he would ever want them.

  LITS
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  freemindfade

  Very nice summary
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  sir82

  They thought they'd never be caught.

  It was either mind-numbingly stupid arrogance, or maybe a stunningly naive belief in their own hype, that somehow "Jehovah" would protect them. Maybe they thought "Armageddon" would come within a few months and thus rescue them.

  But whatever the explanation, they clearly never planned to be exposed.
  
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  LoveUniHateExams

  Good OP, Simon.

  They wen't full guns criticizing the Catholics for something they knew they were completely guilty of as well

  This seems to be consistent with the WT society's apparent belief that Armageddon could come at any moment, i.e. they weren't at that time really thinking ahead too much about living in 'this system' (aka reality!).

  From their POV, perhaps they were thinking along the lines of: let's put the boot in the Catholics just before Armageddon?

  I hate going back to WT thinking - I need to take a shower.
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  DATA-DOG

  They were haughty. According to the bible ( and WT interpretation ), being haughty is the worst quality a human can have.

  DD
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  SecretSlaveClass

  Simon I was saying this very thing to my wife just yesterday. They had years of RCC sex scandal they could well have learned from. Just like the RCC, it's always been more important to protect the title of "God's Earthly Representatives " than the welfare of their flock.

  I have a notion that the fundamental difference which held the GB to their guns was the fear factor it holds over it's congregations is far more destructive than merely the Catholic threat of "hell fire".
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  Simon

  From their POV, perhaps they were thinking along the lines of: let's put the boot in the Catholics just before Armageddon?

  I think it's damning that the only thing they saw was a sales and marketing opportunity - a chance to recruit some disillusioned Catholics.

  The fact is that all the time they were criticizing other religions, they were fully aware that they had the same if not worse issues and were actively covering it up and preparing policies to silence victims to keep the lid on things.

  I wish there was a Catholic hell-fire for the GB to burn in.
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  John Aquila

  sir82

  They thought they'd never be caught.

  Just like they think they can keep all the other skeletons in the closet locked away. There are so many skeletons that the doors to the closets are busting and they are being exposed to the whole world and to a great number of JWs, This is just the beginning.
  
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  Oubliette

  Good points in the OP.

  I remember back in the '80s when the Catholic Church thing was just coming out, all of us JWs would point at what was happening as "proof" that the RCC was "false religion" and weren't we glad to be part of a "clean organization" without such problems.

  Well now we all know better.