Amazing responses from a pioneer/missionary/elder re Child Abuse (page 2)

Gill

If it is the parent's responsibility and the child's responsibility to go to the authorities, WHEN DID IT BECOME THE RESONSIBILITY OF THE WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY TO PAY GOOD MONEY, DONATED BY THEIR FOOLISH MEMBERS, TO PAY THE LEGAL COSTS AND PROTECT CHILD MOLESTERS FROM FURTHUR JUSTICE - case in point 'Paul Berry' I believe his name was?

flipper

Pioneers response : " It doesn't make our religion wrong. " Well, yes it does if the religion , Jehovah's Witnesses governing body is giving out bad advice to elders on how to handle child abuse and child molesters . The governing bodies hiding of pedophilia for years makes them even more accountable to God for their putting children at risk. A religion such as this that scorns the Catholics for their abuse problems , but can't see past their own elongated lying nose to see their own problems

moshe

I told a JW yesterday- Saddam couldn't prove he Didn't have any WMD's and the JW who is at my door can't prove his KH isn't hiding pedophiles from the police. They can never live this scandal down.

poppers

But I also think the parents of the kids were stupid for not going to the authorities

What do you suppose suppresses the natural inclination of a parent to report it to the authorities? It doesn't take a genius to figure out why - the influence of the WTS is so strong that it overrides that inclination. If that isn't the hallmark of cultish behavior then nothing is.

WTWizard

There is one problem with the parents reporting. If they do, they will be disfellowshipped for "slander". It takes two witnesses, which is never available, to establish a judicial case for this event. No matter how much they claim to abhor the crime, they do nothing about it because there never is a second witness.

Making matters worse is the fact that the hounders have so much authority on the children. Whether they live or die depends on their following the hounders' instructions. And, this sets the stage for coercion of consent. That, to me, is the bigger problem than any age difference (coercion basically makes consent meaningless). Then they have the nerve to tell the victims to shut up. If the Catholic church has the problem, they lambaste that church. What hypocrites.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

I'm still serving as an elder and this whole thing has put me over the edge. I can't even begin to start to defend this crap (oh, darn I just said "crap", oh #@$% I just said "darn"). My de-programming is in full forward. Try on these issues:

DOES THE LAW SAY THAT THE ELDERS SHOULD NOT GO TO THE POLICE ????? NO NO NO !!! Some state laws say that clergy members are not required to report child abuse. Since when does that mean that elders should NEVER report abuse unless required. And, why would elders not report it if a JW committed the crime, but we would if a non-JW committed the crime? And...

SINCE WHEN IS THERE A JW "CLERGY"???? The clergy is the man of lawlessness that the articles insult! I am not a clergyman and will not pretend to claim any hush-hush rights as such. And...

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE HOUSEHOLDERS WILL SAY??? The rank-and-file may have to swallow this BS, but what about all the people in the neighborhood. I could find how to overcome these conversation stoppers, "Excuse me sir, but are you a child molester that the JWs are hiding within their perverse organization?" "This donation to your 'Worldwide Work', is it money that you're collecting to pay off the massive child sex abuse lawsuits?"

WHAT ABOUT THE NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENTS??? The Catholic Church agreed to stop that several years ago. If WT has nothing to hide, why aren't they allowing the victims to come forward and tell their story?

What's next? If the entire elder body saw Sister Super Fine murder Sister Righteous Overmuch, would they have a hearing and determine that Sister Super Fine was repentant, privately reprove her, and decide that the Congregation has sufficiently handled the matter and decide not to call the police? I don't recall any letters to BOE requiring us to report murder to the Legal Dept. Hmmm, maybe they'll need a Cold Blooded Murder Telememo and new database. I'll watch for any letters that come in about how to hide a corpse...

Sister Whitehead: "Hey, why's there a big lump in the Kingdom Hall carpet?"

Pioneer: "I wouldn't call it 'big'".

Missionary: "What lump?"

Elder: "What carpet?"

Amazing responses from a pioneer/missionary/elder re Child Abuse