by AshleyCollins 25 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse
Hi,
I am totally lost. Can someone explain what is happening with this issue, please?
I read online that GB is trying to coverup or defend themselves and their organization... Like what happened? Isn't this horrible thing happening in all of the religions over the world...for example Catholic church has got multiple scandals...
But I just don't get it. those people who do it are not people and shouldn't even be considered jws because no normal jw does this!
Ashley Collins could you please advise what a normal JW is?
You seem very confused. On the one hand you say child abuse is a problem in every religion and on my he other hand you say child abusers are not JWs. So which on is it, the first or the second?
Ashley for your information the WTS/JWS have been covering up situations of pedophilia within the organization for decades, its just that recently some have taken the matter to court and the WTS in most cases has to pay huge fines toward the victims. Unfortunately even elders have been accused of sexual abuse of minors.
It would appear that some JWs have been exploiting the two witness rule to get away with this terrible behavior toward children or young teenagers.
The difference between the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses and the rest of the world is that they won't raise their hand and say "yes we have a horrible problem, we admit that our policies even propelled this problem, and we will do everything in our power to stop it".
It will take many more lawsuits to bring them to their knees. They are stacked up to infinity and beyond. Matter of time.
There is a misconception among members of the JW cult that any other "JW" that does something horrific is not "really a JW" or not a "normal JW". Of course they are. It works its way all up the ladder to the Governing Body.
While you can disfellowship and shun "wrongdoers" and pretend like they were never a JW, thousands are getting away with egregious crimes and serving as "shepherds", pioneers, and regular rank and file members who would never claim any other religious affiliation. They know they have all the protections of being "a real JW".
The information sighted at JWFacts is excellent. GB has dealt with pedophilia as a sin and not a crime. Can't lose members to the jail cells may bring reproach on Jw's. I say, Lock-em-up! We see where 50 years of covering up pedophilia have led them. As mentioned the cases are stacked up in a holding pattern like planes waiting for the runway to get cleared of the snow.
The Boy Scouts of America have had a problem since their inception. However, Kenneth Lannings, the FBI agent who helped develop the BSA's Youth Protection Plan, wrote that "A skilled pedophile who can get children into a situation where they must change clothing or stay with him overnight will almost always succeed in seducing them."[11]
The GB will never seek someone like Kenneth Lannings, a "worldly person" to help them solve this problem, therefore, they will continue to pay for it. I know that when my child was young and we were still active, my wife and I had a law that he/she would always have one of us go to the bathroom, no sleepovers, Period!
I went to the elder's school that JWFacts mentions where they started to instruct the elders the necessity of two witnesses, and the speaker must have said "call the legal department" 50 times. I sat there and said to myself, who is running this organization the lawyers or the GB? From the first time I heard of the two witness rule I was vocal about it not being the morally right thing to do and that they were essentially covering it up. I was counseled.
Welcome Ashley,
While true that child sexual abuse has become a problem for many religions and groups, how it is handled when reported to JW elders compounds the problem
In the JW's, this is typically considered a sin, not a crime. While the elders will contact WT legal department for direction, the matter is rarely reported to secular authorities but treated as a JW Judicial Committee matter, including in areas where mandatory reporting is law. Since it would be very strange for anyone to be present to witness sexual abuse when it occurs, if the accused does not admit to the accusation, the matter will usually be dropped and the accuser told to not further discuss it with anyone.
Although JW elders will know who in the congregation has been accused and will take steps to protect their own children, regular JWs in their congregation will likely remain unaware, thereby leaving their children potentially vulnerable to abuse by the same perpetrator involved in the initial incident.
While WT maintains a database of those accused, that database is kept secret by WT even as legal courts have ordered it as evidence in numerous related legal proceedings involving Watchtower.
Suggest searching for information regarding the 2015 Australia Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. JWs were not the only group reviewed. Much of the proceedings pertaining to JWs, including testimony by Australia Branch elders and Governing Body member Geoffery Jackson, is retained on YouT so you may view those videos for yourself.
@Listener
haha you are right. normal jw doesn't exist. maybe yeah i am confused... But I meant it in a good way. Like a genuine person who tries to follow biblical guidance about doing good for other people and do not harm anyone etc.
Of course child abusers are not true jws, because I think those would never do this
@Finkelstein
Thank you! Oh damn, so I guess it makes sense why GB was lately and still is encouraging people to contribute a monetary gift to "Jehovah" ..(printing books is expensive lol)... they need these money for the courts and fines.
But they are "true" JW's. The Governing Body defends them in court with that contribution box money.
