defender of truth

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Posts by defender of truth

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  2

  Fascinating interview with Dr.Monica Applewhite (think about how JW organisation compares)..

  by defender of truth in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  title: change in vatican culture.

  monica applewhite is one of the foremost experts on screening, monitoring and policy development for the prevention of sexual abuse and risk management for those with histories of sexual offending.. ----------.

  is there much of a difference for how these cases are handled by religious institutes vs. dioceses?.

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  defender of truth

  www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/07/31/expert-admits-jehovahs-witnesses-flawed
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  2

  Fascinating interview with Dr.Monica Applewhite (think about how JW organisation compares)..

  by defender of truth in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  title: change in vatican culture.

  monica applewhite is one of the foremost experts on screening, monitoring and policy development for the prevention of sexual abuse and risk management for those with histories of sexual offending.. ----------.

  is there much of a difference for how these cases are handled by religious institutes vs. dioceses?.

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  defender of truth

  Title: Change in Vatican culture

  --------

  Monica Applewhite is one of the foremost experts on screening, monitoring and policy development for the prevention of sexual abuse and risk management for those with histories of sexual offending.

  ----------

  Is there much of a difference for how these cases are handled by religious institutes vs. dioceses?
  

  "Yes and no. Both the dioceses and the religious have committed themselves to reporting abuse to the civil authorities, to responding pastorally to victims and to investigating all abuse allegations.
  

  
  

  In these cases, the dioceses are meant to follow the charter, and the religious are to follow the accreditation standards. Religious are also required to follow the charter with respect to prohibiting all public ministry, but this requirement is also in the accreditation standards.

  
  

  The primary distinction is probably in terms of what happens to the individual priest or religious who is found to have sexually abused a minor. The charter clearly states that clerics who have sexually offended a minor or minors cannot be in any form of public ministry, but the document does not address standards for their supervision if they remain in the priesthood.

  
  

  Religious accreditation actually has specific standards to address the requirements for supervision, support and accountability system for these men. "

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  In the Church’s handling of this issue, can you tell me what the Church has done right?

  "The Church in the U.S. is the first large-scale organization to take two important steps toward healing and prevention of future incidents of abuse.

  We are the first to conduct a full prevalence study to determine how many incidents, how many victims and how many perpetrators of abuse there were from 1950 to 2002.

  The John Jay College [of Criminal Justice] conducted this comprehensive research, and it is published on the USCCB website. Anyone who truly wants to know “the problem” we are facing should review the findings.

  Secondly, the Roman Church is the first institution of its size to implement a full program of accountability to ensure the implementation of its reform efforts. Again, an outside team, the Gavin Group, has conducted the audits of the dioceses.

  Large-scale organizational change, deep cultural change simply does not happen without accountability."

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  Is there much of a difference between what happens when a priest is accused today and what happened prior to 2002 (when the charter and norms were adopted)?

  "In most situations, no.

  The reforms of the Church began long before 2002. As laws changed, as understanding of sexual abuse and sexual offenders developed, so did the procedures of the Church in most local dioceses and communities.

  It was 1992 when the bishops first began following the “Five Principles,” which included pastoral outreach to victims, investigations and open communication with communities.

  Published in 1992, the bishops’ five principles were:

  1) respond promptly to all allegations of abuse,

  2) relieve the alleged offender promptly of his ministerial duties and refer him for appropriate medical evaluation and intervention,

  3) comply with the obligations of civil law as regards reporting of the incident,

  4) reach out to the victims and their families, and

  5) deal as openly as possible with the members of the community.

  What changed in 2002 was a dramatic improvement in uniformity, both within and across dioceses and religious communities. The toughest situations have always been when the allegation is against an extremely talented and charismatic priest, religious or lay minister. These are the situations in any organization that are the most divisive, the most difficult and the most likely to be handled improperly.

  When the allegation seems impossible, in the absence of accountability, there is often a temptation to hope the situation will just “go away.”

  In 2002, listening to stories of victims who were abused by just this type of offender, the bishops and religious superiors made commitments that would end “the exceptions.”

  These commitments and the associated accountability also addressed the fact that some leaders had simply elected not to follow the guidance of the five principles, and that also brought greater uniformity to the handling of allegations. "

  ------

  "Since 2001, the system has become much more uniform. There is a “form” of how to write up the case so that all allegations and the outcomes of investigations are clearly documented. Many trials are held locally, and the process is much faster.

  Even more importantly, the CDF gives support and credibility to bishops and superiors who are involved in disciplinary procedures, from removal from ministry to laicization.

  I still believe the rights of priests and religious are respected and upheld, but there is a greater attention to the needs of the community to be safe from harm."

  [These are just quotes, read full interview here, from 2010 but interesting nonetheless..]

  www.ncregister.com/daily-news/change_in_vatican_culture/
  
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  13

  Jehovah's Witness Leader: There's a 'Spiritual Dilemma' in Reporting Sexual Abuse

  by defender of truth in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  the article is a good summary to show people who are too busy to read the transcript.

  the main points are covered, without jackson's waffling... this is my favourite quote:.

  jackson also testified that while there havent been any particular discussion among church leadership about apologizing to victims of sexual abuse, its perceivable that they might consider doing so.

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  defender of truth

  The article is a good summary to show people who are too busy to read the transcript. The main points are covered, without Jackson's waffling..

  This is my favourite quote:

  Jackson also testified that while there haven’t been any particular discussion among church leadership about apologizing to victims of sexual abuse, it’s “perceivable” that they might consider doing so. He was a little vaguer on the point of whether they’d pay compensation to those victims:

  
  

  "Well, let me say, there are many schemes that we’ve had with regard to humanitarian areas, like flood victims, and so on. I know this is not related, I’m just explaining.

  The Governing Body is happy for our organisation to spend money helping persons ‐ how much more so someone who has been traumatised or affected in a bad way."

  www.jezebel.com/jehovahs-witness-leader-theres-a-spiritual-dilemma-in-1724774229
  
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  69

  Could the Independent Inquiry in England and Wales expose jw.org's child abuse failures? And how can we help?

  by defender of truth in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  with all the talk about the org's policies and failures regarding child sexual abuse being publically exposed in australia, i thought that it may be a good time to highlight this... i apologise if this has already been discussed, but on the 9th of july the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse in england and wales was opened.

  here is some information regarding it's aims.. "about the inquiry.

  the inquiry offers an unprecedented opportunity to examine the extent to which institutions and organisations in england and wales have taken seriously their responsibility to protect children.. the inquiry will investigate a wide range of institutions including:.

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  defender of truth

  Thank you Phizzy and Maksutov.

  Keep the emails rolling in.. ;)
  
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  "Mediator" not Mediator, "Judge" not Judge... Watchtower word games

  by ILoveTTATT2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as much as jesus is not the mediator of mankind but the "mediator" (supposedly a legal term), the watchtower has a similar word game with the word "judge".seems like deborah judged in israel, which, for every one of you apostate or worldly scumbags who don't understand word games, does not mean debora was a judge.

  you see, deborah was a "judge".why is that?

  because she is not listed on a list of 12 judges.

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  defender of truth

  ^^ I sent the above quote to the Royal Commission. Maybe they can use it in the future ;)
• 
  11

  "Mediator" not Mediator, "Judge" not Judge... Watchtower word games

  by ILoveTTATT2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as much as jesus is not the mediator of mankind but the "mediator" (supposedly a legal term), the watchtower has a similar word game with the word "judge".seems like deborah judged in israel, which, for every one of you apostate or worldly scumbags who don't understand word games, does not mean debora was a judge.

  you see, deborah was a "judge".why is that?

  because she is not listed on a list of 12 judges.

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  defender of truth

  Debʹo·rah is a prophetess. Jehovah gives her information about the future, and then she tells the people what Jehovah says. Debʹo·rah is also a judge. She sits under a certain palm tree in the hill country, and people come to her to get help with their problems.
  

  www.jw.org/en/publications/books/bible-stories/3/brave-women/
  
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  18

  Jehovah’s Witnesses face child sexual-abuse investigation in Australia - Washington Post article

  by defender of truth in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  of the religious and nonreligious groups being investigated, the jehovahs witnesses are exceptional, experts say.. in a converted office in downtown sydney, the organizations doctrines and practices are being parsed by lawyers, victims and journalists, providing rare insight into one of the christian worlds most conservative churches.. .

  the church, which was founded in pennsylvania during the 1870s to promote a 1st-century interpretation of the bible, has emerged as the least able or willing to deal with sexual abuse within its ranks, said anne cossins, an associate law professor at the university of new south wales and an expert in sex crimes who is a consultant for the inquiry.. .

  i find their approach to the issue and victims extraordinarily bizarre almost medieval, she said in an interview.. .

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  defender of truth

  BTTT
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  25

  A word of advice clining to their persecutors ...

  by SecretSlaveClass in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  let me start off by saying i do not presume to have the answers, i am merely offering advice.. i will preface this posting with this, cutting a long story short:.

  my sister was raped by a popular jw lad wh's dad happen to be a rock star elder.

  in the attempt to fight him off his face was covered with scratches and it was reported to the police ( instead of rape he was sentenced on the lesser charges of sexual battery and assault) but he confessed to having violent, consentual sex.

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  defender of truth

  Thank you for sharing that story.

  "Advice for those clinging to their captors" may have worked as a title, too.

  We need to bear in mind, though, that not everyone has such extreme circumstances. Some people have healthy relationships with their parents, they just don't talk much about religion and deflect any attempts at guilt or emotional pleas to return. (Or they just go to occasional meetings and 1 hour in a month field circus, and then go home and live peaceful lives with friends and family they have known for many years).

  If you are under duress from abusive family members under the spell of the Org, get out from under their control ASAP. Otherwise you're going to spend your years in misery trying to placate people who don't know how to love you...
  

  Amen to that.

  On the other hand, I wonder if you would have spent your life at least partially under the mental control of the Borg, if not for your mother's abusive behaviour? If you had stayed at home, might you have got baptised at a later age due to peer pressure?

  I know it may sound strange, but if you can find some small thing to be grateful to her for, like being a part of your independence and freedom from this cult, it may help you to not hate her. She will likely go to her grave miserable, you will not. Pity her, if possible.

  At seventeen I left to join the military in order to get away from her and her toxic JW environment.
  

  Early exposure to life in the real world no doubt served you well.
  
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  64

  Geoffrey Jackson: "That would be presumptuous of us"...

  by Calebs Airplane in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  within the first few minutes, mr. stewart asked geoffrey jackson if the members of the governing body consider themselves to be god's spokesperson on earth.. his response: "that would be presumptuous of us" (implying that they don't consider themselves to be god's sole channel of communication).. to me, that was the worst lie of about 26 lies he's told during this hearing.

  however, mr. stewart missed an opportunity to call out mr. jackson on this bold-faced lie.

  he should have asked him to explain why the watchtower magazine teaches otherwise.

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  defender of truth

  This is the last time I'll say this.. The question wasn't worded specifically enough.

  All JW's believe they are acting as God's spokesmen, every time they preach.

  It wasn't a lie.

  At best we seem to have an example of a GB member giving a misleading and nonspecific answer, to a nonspecific question.

  Then again, asking:

  "Are the Governing Body God's only channel of communication on earth today?" would, now I think about it, have produced a response like: "Well, we are certainly a part of that channel."
  

  Can we move on to a more interesting topic:

  What question would have forced Jackson to admit that the Governing Body see themselves as being the ONLY people on this earth who can interpret the Bible correctly, with God backing everything they put in print?
  
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  17

  Starting to get grilled by parents

  by Anonymous17 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  so my parents had a meeting with me to talk about me not progressing spiritualy as i should be.

  i felt like i was being interrogated in a nice way.

  they want to know who i talk to and if my association at work good.

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  defender of truth

  Read this thread too (abiblestudent posted links to his summaries of the book). A real treat for any lurkers afraid to purchase it.. ;)
  

  www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/222735/steve-hassans-books?page=1