Not a Jehovah's Witness, but studying.

by scoobie 153 Replies latest members private

• 

  amac

  Shadow -

  I appreciate different viewpoints and welcome any comments from you.

  This is the JW policy of reporting child molestation:

  1. Call the Society.

  2. The society will verify it is a real elder and that the accusation is direct and not hear say.

  3.They will ask what state they are in.

  3.1 If they are in one of the MANY states that DO NOT require reporting by all adults including clergy, they will be told to approach the accused and ask if it is true. If he confesses, they take judicial action. If he denies and there is only one accusation and/or one witness, they do nothing. If he denies and there are two witnesses or two seperate victims they take judicial action

  3.2 If they are in one of the few states that require reporting by all adults including clergy, they will tell them to report the accusation to the authorities to comply with the law. For the internal judicial matter, they will be told to approach the accused and ask if it is true. If he confesses, they take judicial action. If he denies and there is only one accusation and/or one witness, they do nothing. If he denies and there are two witnesses or two seperate victims they take judicial action
• 

  shamus

  I really doubt that there would be much benefit to anyone to debate a topic such as 1914.

  Because it is, for lack of a better term, horseshit. Some 'hidden secret' in the bible. The witnesses response? You need Jehovahs blessing and spirit to understand it. Utter nonsense. Jesus taught with 'spirit and truth'. People in his crowds did not need to know about secret dates, agenda's and complicated arithmatic.
• 

  undercover

  You may be dissatisfied as I am no 'scholar'.

  Actually, that would be a breath of fresh air.
• 

  shadow

  amac:

  Yes, that is the policy for elders, however the parent is free to do whatever they choose to do as far as reporting it.
• 

  amac

  I should highlight that for point 3.1...if they are in a state that does not require reporting, the elders DO NOT report it to the authorities, unless one acts on their own volition.

  That is very sad.
• 

  shadow

  amac:

  I tend to agree with you, however do you think that all victims should be compelled to testify?
• 

  Sunspot

  **Nearly everyone here already has their mind made up. Scoobie was an exception to that.

  Hmmm......I could swear I just read that she HAD "made up her mind" not to continue with her indoctrination sessions.

  **You may be dissatisfied as I am no 'scholar'.

  And SHE might be dissatisfied realizing that the Governing Body isn't either!
• 

  amac

  Yes, that is the policy for elders, however the parent is free to do whatever they choose to do as far as reporting it.

  You are right Shadow. But for one, you know as well as I do, that there are many, many JW's who hang on every word the elders say and would leave this matter completely in the control of the elders. I believe in personal responsibility but both the society and the elders would be responsible for creating a religous culture that fosters this type of mentality.

  Also, until recent exposure of this problem...elders usually passed on the same advice to the families they dealt with. In other words, if they were told not to report it, they told the family not to report it. It is only because of the recent exposure that they have been instructed to not influence the family either way.

  How loving and caring is that?

  Why not have elders report to the authorities in all states and let the authorities handle it? The only possible deduction is to save face in media exposure, they would rather keep this out of the "world's" hands as much as possible.
• 

  kls

  Poor Scoobie, your head must be about to explode by now. Try this, stop your studies with the jws, look up some of the questions for youself or ask people on this forum. As you know they will back what they say up with proof, that way you can decide what you want to do with out being pressured .
• 

  undercover

  Yes, that is the policy for elders, however the parent is free to do whatever they choose to do as far as reporting it.

  Here's where the water starts getting muddy. Yep, the WTS has actually said that it is up to parents whether to report to police or not. That's in print. Now. But, in times past, parents were "told" by elders to NOT call. Even now, even though in print, it says let the parents decide, there will be repurcussions for people who call the police. The water is muddy because this is one of those "say one thing, do another" deals.

  What's really sad is that people have become so dependant on the WTS to make these kind of decisions for them. If my child told me something terrible like that, hell with the elders, I'm calling the cops. But the JW atttitude is "let's seek help from the elders". Why? Because the WTS tells you to. Too bad these elders have absolutely no idea what to do in these situation. They have no training. They have no business getting involved in something like that.