CHILD MOLESTATION: How have they been able to hide it for so long?

by Zoos 29 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  Cadellin

  i had it hammered into me at an early age - not to bring reproach on jehovahs name. everything had to be dealt with internally ..if at all.

  This is exactly true. Bringing reproach on Jehovah's name was the absolute worst thing you could do and if you were a good JW, you would tolerate ANYTHING in order to avoid that. That was the be-all and end-all of your activity and if it meant that little children got hurt in the process, well, they would be taken care of somehow, either invisibly by angels and you would not know about it but Jehovah would OR in the New Order. Now, that seems so crazy but it is honestly the way I was raised and it was accepted by everyone that I knew of in the congregation.
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  All or nothing

  Also the org had (have) fixers, brothers who would go to the family of the abused and pay them off to keep quiet. Then these assholes would talk about how low the family could be bought off for. Any lurkers reading this- does this sound like the true religion to you??? Doesn't it bother you that your donations go to this type of rediculous behavior?
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  blondie

  This letter shows that elders were not required to report members to legal authorities if they had committed murders and not been found out before they became jws. If a brother can hide his murders with the help of the BOE, why would I be surprised that the same is true of "murder"?

  http://www.silentlambs.org/education/92_murder_letter.cfm
  

  “You explained that you have received information indicating that this brother ‘committed several murders and crimes before is baptism.’ You ask if ‘Florida law obligates some action on our part. Florida law enforcement authorities have no knowledge of this matter.’

  As elders, you have no obligation to reveal information of this type to the authorities. Any information that you have obtained while fulfilling your duties as elders is strictly confidential. What he does about paying his debt to Society is largely up to him and his conscience. Since he is apparently a fugitive from the law, he obviously would not qualify for any extra privileges of service in the congregation…it is imperative that the elders maintain strict confidentiality about his past.”

  http://www.silentlambs.org/education/92_murder_letter.cfm
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  Dubfounded_12

  It’s simple really. I have had experience in more than congregation of abuse.

  One affected my sibling. I remember when I found out I wanted to do him a serious injury, but was told “if you do anything you are playing into Satan’s hands, and the reproach on Jehovah’s Name would taint the local witnesses for years” so I duly obeyed and did nothing. The matter was reported to the police but charges were not pressed, as it was sin to take another brother to court etc. He got away with it, and I have suspicions that he also abused others in the local congregation.

  so by playing on fear and trusting in Jehovah, elders, branches and ultimately the GB are able to keep a lid on things!
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  ToesUp

  "As elders, you have no obligation to reveal information of this type to the authorities."

  They will not reveal a murder but they will reveal a kid who lights up a cigarette or feels his girlfriend up in the back seat. They will take him to the back room and interrogate him and then humiliate him in front of the entire congregation with DF'ing and a talk given on the "sin" he committed.
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  stillin

  My experience is similar to Dubfounded's. My wife was a victim as a child. My daughter was a victim as a child. My wife has never shared any details of her molestation with me, only that she was reprimanded for her precociousness. When my daughter was molested, the elders never told me about it, probably because I would have gone off on my elder/father-in-law if I knew. My daughter doesn't remember it at all, she was so young.

  So, the guy is dead now. He got away with it in the sense that it never became public. and I live with the fallout from his sickness.
• 

  Vidiot

  Re. Blonde & ToesUp‘s posts...

  Jeezus, at this point you have to wonder...

  ...if the degree they’ve bent over backwards to hide child abuse is indicative of the scope of that problem...
  

  ...and the WTS actually felt compelled to specifically mention murder as something to keep quiet about...

  ...just how often - over the past however-many years - have individual JWs actually confessed to the elders that they killed someone???

  
  
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  Dubfounded_12

  It’s because they feel they are directed by a higher power. So it’s easy for them to say “Jehovah will see to it, and it may not happen until Armageddon” as far as that statement is concerned it’s a conscience salver.
• 

  LV101

  The "higher power" is the puppet masters in NY - good ole boys lock stepping along. "Jehovah" rhetoric is their cover. There's no conscience or laws followed other than what benefits the cult and that's keep it quiet and keep collecting money -- carry on.
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  Zoos

  stillin: So, the guy is dead now. He got away with it in the sense that it never became public. and I live with the fallout from his sickness.

  Damn, dude. Here's to your strength.