SEE NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL, SPEAK NO EVIL
Some see this expression as a positive exhortation to not look at bad things, don't listen to evil, and don't gossip. Other's see it more like three foolish monkeys who would not look, listen, or speak out against injustice.
I knew a wonderful brother (Love) and his family. He is still a friend though he continues with the JW organization. We have a lot in common, including our last names, and we look alike. He and his wife are among the most kind and hospitable and loving people I have ever known. They are always generous, share all they have, and trust people, and see good in people.
Bro. Love for some reason never served beyond a MS. He was raised in the organization as was his wife. In addition to life's normal burdens, their children were shall we say, very innocent for their age group [Somewhat mentally challenged].
Bro. Love always spoke well of people and took joy in their successes in life. He spoke highly of a Bro. (Z) whom he knew for many years. Brother Love invited Bro. Z and his family to spend the weekend with them [this was not uncommon for them to do].
During that weekend, we got a call to have our children stay the night as well. They had a large home, and Bro. Love wanted all the kids to have lots of fun. His kids were not always accepted among other JWs, so he especially liked my family because my children befriended his children.
We had been out late and missed the call, but late that night Bro. Love invited us over for dinner for the next night to meet the Z family. We agreed and went. Bro. Z and his family seemed real nice and I could see why Bro. Love liked him, but for me it was mostly a good time because Bro. Love was my friend.
Confidential talk:A week or two later, I got a call from Bro. Love. He said that he needed to speak in confidence. So we arranged a visit. He would not let on what the problem was, and required the utmost confidence.
When we met, he told me that he was concerned for my children. I of course asked why. He said that one of his kids was molested and wanted to know if I could see if any of my four children were in anyway knowledgeable or even affected by a molester. I agreed, but got him to agree to tell me who he thought the perpetrator was.
I talked with my children in-depth and determined that they had not seen anything nor had they any negative experiences, nor were molested. I encouraged them to tell only me or their mother anything that they learn because I needed to act with caution.
I learned that Bro. Z was arrested for child molestation. The weekend they visited he molested one of Bro. Loves four children, and [possibly] one other of his kids, but it was not determined absolutely for sure if the second child was molested. The second child was too young to be able to say what happened.
How did Bro.Z get caught? He had been an MS himself on and off, and for some reason once in a while he would get removed as an MS. After some period of time he would get appointed again. At first, I did not know what he was removed for, but I later learned it was for sexual offenses.
Anyway, Bro. Z's two daughters were having trouble in school. Their grades dropped and they were withdrawn. For some reason Sister Z, after some time, broke from congregation counsel not to trust "worldly" advice and counselors. She decided to take her children to counseling. She feared for her daughters, now in their mid-teens, may have a drinking or drug problem, though she had no evidence.
Sometime into their counseling sessions, one of the daughters said she had a question. She said that she needed to talk because this 'other' issue, which had nothing to do with drinking, was bothering her. Her sister tried to get her to let it go, but she just needed to ask.
As she started to talk about her dad, Bro. Z, she started crying and broke down and said that he was having sex with her. Her sister started crying and broke out in tears and said that she too was being molested by her dad, and this had been going on for years.
Needless to say, child services were contacted, and Bro. Z was now arrested. During the investigation process it was learned that this had been going on for years and years. The 'official' charges included 15 children, but it was believe by the authorities that closer to 50 children had been molested. Why such a difference in total numbers?
The authorities stated that JWs are among the worst group to talk about these issues especially where one of their own could get convicted. They said that few other groups were as bad, but JWs were among the worst.
I encouraged Bro. Love to cooperate with the authorities. He agreed, but said he was so disappointed that this man, Bro. Z, would take advantage of his son. He wondered why the Elders in seven or more different congregations did not report this to the authorities. He wondered why they did not clean this out before so many kids were affected.
But more than all else, Bro. Love felt especially harmed and hurt, not just because a friend (Bro. Z) took advantage of him and his son, because, you see, his son is mildly retarded. His son did not know what to do or how to deal with it.
The JW gossip concerned itself far more with claims that Bro. Z was a member of the Church of Satan or a member of a secret cult group of sex offenders. But the real issue that is established in the criminal judicial system, in the courts, is that Bro. Z was a long time sex offender who had molested many children, and even his own two daughters.
Why the connection to the expression to “See No Evil, Hear No Evil and Speak No Evil? It seems that for many years, according to Bro. Love, many knew of Bro. Z, but felt that it was not appropriate to say anything against a brother. Many Elders knew, but felt that each time the matter was properly handled under Jehovah's arrangements according to the Society's procedures.
It took a 'worldly' counselor to bring the issue to the authorities ... a counselor who was willing to Hear the Evil, See the Evil, and Speak about the Evil.
Tomorrow or Saturday, I will post Justice #4c. It will show what happened when I went to the civil authorities and the present state of a situation. – Amazing