When their actions spill outside of the congregation and get in the newspapers, there is no hushing it up. The stories I am about to tell are factual, but the names have been changed to protect the guilty.
Many years ago in a small neighboring town, there was a small Mexican restaurant that was owned by a non JW who employed JW relatives and nonrelatives. It was a popular place. Everyone was surprised when they heard on the news that the restaurant had been robbed, and by a girl and her boyfriend, no less! Eyes really opened wide when the two were arrested and it was revealed that she was a JW who had this non JW boyfriend tucked away on the side. No one suspected. Nice family.
Fast forward several years. The restuarant owner has opened a second one in the bigger town where I lived. It was managed by a JW MS and his wife. Nice young family. We will call him Fred. Second family in the same congregation-she an ass kisser elder wife wanna be whose husband studies but no progress, husband does just enough to stay involved in what the family is involved in without getting sucked in. Daughter has just graduated from high school and announces that she wants her own apartment. Mom thinks it is great, will help daughter learn independence. We will call daughter- Jenny. Mom seems to forget that when she was that age, she had an apartment and that is how she ended up pregnant by her now non JW husband. Little Jenny is a good little actress. She already has the boyfriend tucked away- Mom is completely fooled. A few months later we hear about the upcoming wedding and Mom is just sick about it. Wedding takes place without Mom and Dad. Are you ready for this??? A few months later, on a Thursday night, during the meeting, the police come to the KH to fetch Fred because there has been an attempted robbery in his restaurant, which is only a short distance from the KH. When they get back to the restaurant, Fred sees the robber and lo and behold! It is Jenny! According to the police, she entered the restaurant while her husband stayed in the car with his burglary record. She had a gun and went up to the girl at the cash register and demanded money. She was focussed on what she was doing and did not notice that in the booth nearby sat a disfellowshipped guy from the congregation. He snuck up from behind and tackled her. Police were there in minutes! Husband in the car took off. Jenny is being handcuffed and crying that she is pregnant. This was for sympathy and the hope that they would not jail a pregnant young lady. The pregnancy was a lie and they did not feel sorry for her. Her husband turned himself in and says it was all Jenny's idea- the robbery and the restaurant. In a town that size, stuff like this is headline news . It was all over the newspaper for days as the story unfolded. Field service was difficult with everyone talking about the JW robber. Jenny's parents and lawyer reason with her and she decides she does not want to spend a few years in jail so she agrees to testify against her husband. With his record, it was not hard to convince the judge that she was his victim. He, of course, divorced her. She was disfellowshipped and ordered to not be anywhere near Fred, his family or the restaurant. She gets off with time served and moves back home with her parents. She shows up at all the meetings-the same meetings Fred and family attend. Only one congregation in town so what is Fred to do? And what is Fred's uncle to think? He hires JWs because he has been told about how honest they are such good workers. He has been robbed twice-both times by JWs. And what causes these nice young women to go bad? Is it repressed hatred for the religion they were raised in? They didn't just rob any old business- it had to be one run by a JW.
Not a rug big enough to sweep all that under.
Oh, and the disfellowshipped guy hanging out in the restuarant, he abused his wife and kids for years and she finally bailed and got a court order to keep him from the kids. The elders did nothing when he beat up his first wife and put her in the hospital. Don't know why they took action this time. So he was the hero.
I wonder how you explain all that to a person who is studying and is buying the crap about what perfect Christians the JWs are.
One thing I did get out of 30 years in the cult- a lot of stories! Maybe I should write a book. I think I will call it "What Is That Really Big Lump Under The Rug?"
Right On Target