by deaconbluez 5 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse
One of the big faults that is credited to the Watchtower is that if a person comes forward and says that they were molested, the elders require an eyewitness to the event. Obviously molesters don't do it where they can be seen, so the victim doesn't get justice.
But if the elders took action immediately on anyone accused of molestation, then false accusations with no evidence to support them could be made, forcing innocent people to be disciplined for something they didn't do.
Your thoughts?
DEACONBLUEZ- Ask many psychologist, psychiatrist or people dealing with the subject of child molestation. 95 to 99% of the time a child is telling the truth about being molested. They don't make this $hit up as a general rule . Now adults who are less innocent make up fabricated stories at times of being harassed sexually trying to get someone in trouble at times, although most "sane " people don't make this stuff up.
Children are a different type though. Generally they are honest, caring, and straightforward because they have not learned dishonesty yet, if they are fortunate to be in an honest environment. If children hedge on coming forward about molestation it is usually due to threats of repurcussion from adults. Ask any psychiatrist, children most all the time are saying the truth about being molested. So the @$6#4 elders should listen when a child reports it and not question their motives ! Peace out, Mr. Flipper
It's a crime - they handle it as a sin. I am fine with holding off discipline until there is a police investigation.
The elders are not counselors or detectives. It is enough that they are judge and jury.
Bottom Line : It is a police matter because, true or not, it is an accusation of a crime being committed against a child.
Not really. If they tried to 'handle' the matter internally then perhaps. If they bought ALL accusations to the authorities and let THEM handle the matter with investigation and child psychologists, then the mater would be taken care of in the appropriate way. If everyone were worried about there not being a witness, then child molesters would NEVER get caught!
jelcat
Ditto above. Sexual molestation of a child is a felony.
Well and good, handle the "sin" aspect according to Biblical standards of 2 witnesses, but let the authorities, who are trained to do so, investigate the crime.
If there were a murderer loose in the congregation, would the advice be to "wait on Jehovah"?
This issue has surfaced in divorce/custody cases. False accusations of molestation are used
to win a victory over a spouse (usually the man).
The WTS can turn the matter over to experts who are actually trained to counsel and hear
the testimony of the child, instead of letting elders try to process the matter. They can weigh
the evidence of the matter after the courts have dealt with the matter, usually just following the
decisions of the courts.
If the case is not clearcut, where the member was found guilty, but not to the satisfaction of
the congregation elders because of some lack of evidence, they should still feel duty-bound to
protect the children under their care, but they can refrain from disfellowshipping the person.
If it is not clearcut and he was found not guilty of anything, they can give talks on being responsible
for your children and never leaving them in the care of another adult member of the congregation
unless you know the person well, which includes isolating them with elders or MS's briefly in
field service.
The JW's complicated this matter before the Catholic Church problem came to light. They protect
the organization above all else. Sure, they can't warn the flock about every false alligation, but
they can do a much better job of allowing experts to weed out the alligations. Even now, they say
they report the alligation when the law requires it. If they are still just trying to avoid lawsuits, then
encourage the parent to take the case forward- have a blanket statement in these cases:
"We are not experts in this field. We have the names of contacts who are experts and can help
you proceed with the best interests of the child in mind. We would appreciate it if you could inform
us of the progress of this as a legal case and as a matter of helping the child. While we would prefer
not to be the main counselors of the child, we would be glad to be of assistance to him/her and would
like to help the adults in this matter."
That would release their precious organization from responsibility. Instead, they continue to try to keep
the matter covered up so the WTS doesn't look bad. I hope the 12 million dollars is just a tip of an
iceberg of settlements.
