Excellent point Brighid.
I share your optimism.
Let's see how we can use this..
www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/422980002/jehovah-using-royal-commission-ok-lets-work-that
here is a quick breakdown of our conversation (by text message).
me: "have you read about the royal commission?
the org has been covering up child abuse.
Excellent point Brighid.
I share your optimism.
Let's see how we can use this..
www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/422980002/jehovah-using-royal-commission-ok-lets-work-that
what do you think of the following line of reasoning for helping a jw start to think about what they are admitting.. (essentially, the organisations way of handling child abuse has been wrong, harm has been caused, god is now putting it right.).
reply:.
"i appreciate your honesty, in admitting that child abuse has not been handled in the right way in the past.
What do you think of the following line of reasoning for helping a JW start to think about what they are admitting.. (Essentially, the organisations way of handling child abuse has been wrong, harm has been caused, God is now putting it right.)
Reply:
"I appreciate your honesty, in admitting that child abuse has not been handled in the right way in the past. In some cases terrible and lasting damage has been done by abuse cases being handled in the wrong way, as you know.
I was just thinking about the scriptural way that we show repentance ..
In the Bible, when things were done in the wrong way, rather than Jehovah's way, the person (or people) responsible would not receive God's blessing until they had taken certain steps..
1) Admit that they were in the wrong, and acknowledge that they had not followed Jehovah's direction.. rather than try to defend, minimise or justify their actions.
2) Demonstrate repentance by apologising to the wounded party, taking steps to put right the wrong and try to make up for it in any way possible.
3) Finally, they would need to be determined to change, and show that by action.. not just offering words of sorrow or repentance. They had to show they were truly sorry for any harm that had been caused.
Do you believe the Faithful Slave will do all these things, in line with those Bible-based guidelines?
The organisations' policies and procedures have been shown to be in need of correction, and harm has been caused to innocent victims.
If Jehovah is moving the Slave to make changes, it's because they are needed, and have been needed for some time now. Will the Faithful Slave accept the correction and show repentance in the above ways?
[ Wait for reply, basically no they don't have to do all those things]
Reply:
" Why not? If some correction is coming from Jehovah, it is only because the former ways were not the correct way to act. The correction must be needed, and this is not a small matter that can be put aside and forgotten by the victims.
Which means that repentance (turning around from a former course of action) and apologising for your past mistakes is required, wouldn't you agree?
A public apology would go a long way to help victims of abuse whose cases were not handled as well as they could have been, sometimes because of inadequate policies or procedures.
Many of these victims have suffered very badly in the past because matters were not dealt with properly.. because the instructions from the organisation were, at the least, not very well formed.
Mistakes have been made, horrible abuse covered over when it should have been reported, and even pedophiles being reappointed to positions of trust.
At least some of these child abuse victims have a valid 'cause for complaint'.
Don't you agree?..
Please read Matthew 5:23, 24.
What course of action do you feel that the organisation, and those carrying the burden of it's oversight, should take?
The way to show repentance for past wrongs, and how to make peace with those who were hurt, is clearly set out in both the scriptures and Watchtower publications.
Please think about what I have said.
If the Governing Body do not take these steps, what would that mean? "
Feedback very much welcomed, particularly clarification or suggestions of how to be more clear/to the point.
I think we need a strong counter response to this soon-to-be common reply.
Please bump if/when this issue arises again, I'll be away for a while.
the royal commissions public hearing into the jehovahs witnesses will recommence in sydney on friday 14 august 2015 at 11:00am.. it is anticipated that the hearing will hear from one witness, mr geoffrey jackson, a member of the governing body of jehovahs witnesses.. .
.
www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/2015-08/public-hearing-into-the-jehovah%e2%80%99s-witnesses-to-rec.
Bluesbrother, why not just turn it on, load it up on Roku YouTube once it's posted.
It's not apostate, it's a court case.
the royal commissions public hearing into the jehovahs witnesses will recommence in sydney on friday 14 august 2015 at 11:00am.. it is anticipated that the hearing will hear from one witness, mr geoffrey jackson, a member of the governing body of jehovahs witnesses.. .
.
www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/2015-08/public-hearing-into-the-jehovah%e2%80%99s-witnesses-to-rec.
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:.
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:.
Excellent Mickey, thank you.
Can anybody else share the Independent Inquiry contact link via social media / other forums?
Please?..
tell our jw family members, door knockers, and stand sitters that you were very impressed.
by the branch overseer and other elders in australia, they gave a fine witness.. so what will happen, they will tell their friends the brothers in australia gave a fine.
witness.
tell our jw family members, door knockers, and stand sitters that you were very impressed.
by the branch overseer and other elders in australia, they gave a fine witness.. so what will happen, they will tell their friends the brothers in australia gave a fine.
witness.
I have sent the following email to [email protected] , [email protected], and [email protected] :
Subject line- Story to follow up on - Jehovahs Witness leader to defend child abuse policies LIVE on Friday
"I sincerely hope that this will be of interest to you.
Sources are here:
www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/08/10/jehovahs-boss-appear-abuse-inquiry
Watch here:
http://childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/public-hearings/webcast
Full transcript will appear here:
Does anyone else want to send a similar email to a news outlet?
Feel free to use this as a rough template.
We need to get this story to as many media outlets in different countries as possible.
Only 2 days left to do it!!
the royal commissions public hearing into the jehovahs witnesses will recommence in sydney on friday 14 august 2015 at 11:00am.. it is anticipated that the hearing will hear from one witness, mr geoffrey jackson, a member of the governing body of jehovahs witnesses.. .
.
www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/2015-08/public-hearing-into-the-jehovah%e2%80%99s-witnesses-to-rec.
.. Jackson may feel that he HAS to testify just for appearance sake to save face in front of WT attorneys, Australian coordinators, and elders, and C.O.'s who have already testified. If he backs out NOW- it looks REALLY bad. And remember- JW's are all about appearance in front of one another..
Flipper, I completely agree. The folks at that pro JW forum are aware he is going to court on Friday, and plenty of Aussie JW's too.. He will be there.
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:.
General questionsIf you wish to ask a question about the Inquiry or if you have information to support our investigations please get in touch:Call our helpline on 0800 917 1000Email us:contact@csa-inquiry.independent.gov.ukWrite to us:Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, PO Box 72289, London, SW1P 9LF
I sent them the following email, if anyone's interested..
Your Contact Us page says:"if you have information to support our investigations please get in touch:Call our helpline on 0800 917 1000Email us:contact@csa-inquiry.independent.gov.ukWrite to us:Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, PO Box 72289, London, SW1P 9LF "Can you please explain exactly what that means?What type of information could support your investigations?
Does this mean only personal experiences about whoever you are looking into at the time, or does it mean if someone knew of internal policies within an organisation that helped to facilitate the covering-up of child sexual abuse?
Please can you state clearly whether you are referring to just experiences we have had ourselves, or do you also want information about policies or procedures (when dealing with perpetrators of child sexual abuse) that can leave children open to further abuse, such as people remaining in a position of trust and responsibility within a religious organisation even after having admitted to abusing a child in the past?
Or perhaps a offender repeatedly sexually abusing children and yet not being reported to the authorities by overseers within a religious organisation that knew of their crimes?
Here are a couple of examples of what I am talking about, so that I can make it clear what I am asking:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/02/jehovahs-witnesses-silencing-techniques-child-abusewww.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33201010I am sorry if I have missed the point of your contact page and wasted your time. Thank you for listening.
May take a while for them to reply..