New rules for child sexual abuse?

by formerministerial 24 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

  • Half banana
    Half banana

    The Watchtower has historically never been interested in the welfare and well-being of its members as long as they are fit enough to serve their interests. Genuine care for individuals would long ago have made the JW organisation find proper help for those individuals who suffer psychologically from sexual abuse -- and for that matter they would not practise shunning.

    The WT method has always insisted that all you need is obedience to the Bible. This delusion is now being proved to be flawed and harmful but the selling point of JW org is that the Bible has all the answers and that you are in safe hands with governing body interpretation of it. No longer can they sustain this fiction and the two witness rule exemplifies the delusion that Biblical precedents are the course of wisdom.

    Back in the 1980s, they made a grab for the ownership of all the KHs worldwide thus becoming an "organised religion" or as the law recognises it, a "hierarchical religion" (after generations of condemning the practice!) This centralised their organisation and gave the GB financial and ideological control, and also prevented individual congregations from taking decisions separately from the governing body.

    A consequence of this was the collective responsibility at HQ for all misdemeanours of all elders in every congregation when acting in line with official policy. This has surfaced in cases where the law is holding the GB responsible for their in-house "Bible based" policy of two witnesses and not informing the police at the earliest opportunity when sexual abuse of minors has occurred.

    Already there are complaints by the GB for bros not wanting to be elders. To give back autonomy to the congregations for the sake of unloading the legal burden from the GB will backfire because what elder will want to take the financial liability? And tell me which elders are trained in law, psychology and human welfare?

    Fewer elders in an already depleted pool of struggling elders will only reinforce the crises of leadership, finance and credibility in the religion.

    New rules in the one area of child abuse will not fix the fundamental flaws of the JW system of belief. Genuine, humane, considerate individual care for the abused, which the situation cries out for, is beyond the imagination and also the financial stretch of the JW org.

  • Vidiot
    Vidiot
    Half banana - "...Fewer elders in an already depleted pool of struggling elders will only reinforce the crises of leadership, finance and credibility in the religion..."

    Not to mention intelligence, accountability, and actual genuine moral fiber.

    It's pretty much inevitable when you reach the point where you're scraping the bottom of the barrel for qualified guys.

  • James Jack
    James Jack

    One of the last KM Schools that I attended as an Elder, we were told that "Each Elder has a million dollar liability insurance cap provided by the Branch, as long as you follow direction correctly".

  • Half banana
    Half banana

    JJ......... and then the elder will say to himself: Ah! but I'll also need another million dollar liability insurance in case I don't interpret GB rules correctly. Thinks........ Nah! I just won't become an elder.

  • LoyalLeon
    LoyalLeon

    Let's wait two, three weeks until the May Watchtower is out and we will read what changes they intend to make...

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