Why do you suppose the accused adulterer is treated differently.....even if he denies that he commited adultry?
I often wondered about this. For a long time I believed I just drew the black bean, and I was just 'unlucky' in that Eyore-way of life in that I was treated so badly and adulterers (and my father) got off scot free.
Now with some distance and time that fades it all, I come to a different conclusion. I tend to think there are a couple of issues in play here.
One is the natural resistance and repugnance of the average person to the horror that is the rape of a child. It is a subject that is horrific, and embarassing to the average person. For many years I never realized how someone from a "normal" family, one who is used to receiving good touch, hearing "I love you" and so forth receives such a cold-as-ice-water shock to the insanely dysfunctional world of incest and child abuse. They are overwhelmed, with little or no experience or knowledge in knowing how to respond or feel or handle such a traumatic story. Casting about for some sense of normalcy (for them) they will seek to grab on the first, and easiest, answer which is generally a superficial by-the-rote one ('you must wait on Jehovah'; 'in the New System everything will be better', etc.). They are not trying to be uncaring, but the subject is far beyond their ken, they cannot fathom an appropriate response.
The second, and somewhat more insidious issue, is that Jehovah's Witnesses, as an organization, offer simple solutions to complex problems. Unhappy with your life? Frustrated with life/career/family? Worried about the future? Don't worry! One day, magically, Jehovah (God's "real" name) will erase all your problems overnight, with no effort on your part, and you will live happily ever after. All you have to do is join this special sect, who have all the answers (don't worry about their accuracy) and you too will be "special". You will be on the inside, and therefore that makes youspecial.
Now then ... combine those two issues, mix in average intelligence and perception, dollop in average education, and now present a group of men (read: body of elders) who are presented with the complexity, and multi-faceted dysfunction that is incest. On one hand there is a "respectable" man and the other is a child.
Is it any wonder, is anyone truly suprised that the vast majority of men would side with the abuser/pedophile/incestuous father over the child? The abuser/pedophile/incestuous father looks good, presents a good image, has a plausible excuse for every accusation. But more importantly, it would take time, effort and a lot of courage to wade into that situation. To do so goes contrary to what I've posted above, as well as it would detract from selling the literature. God forbid! We can't have that.
What we have here is a 'perfect storm' -- a confluence of issues that obfuscate and wipe out the very real needs of a child who only wanted a mother and father who would care and protect them.
THAT is why pedophiles are coddled and protected.
BTW I made this post listening to Gary Jules singing "Mad World" (from Donnie Darko). Kinda fit I thought.
