I had an experience with one but it wasn't in the cong but through my mom's work; he had nothing to do with the Jws akaik. Real creep. And then the next week my mom asked me if he did anything and I denied it and asked why, and she said that he just killed himself.
Pedophiles in your congregation??
by ziddina 56 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse
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Quillsky
Not all sex offenders are pedophiles. Actually, some of them may simply be some poor slob who drank some beer and then chose the wrong place to urinate, only to find himself on the sex-offender look-up for indecent exposure.
So Stillin, did that happen to you? Seems you're justifying, can't quite put my finger on why but your post seems a bit off somehow.
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stillin
yes, I'm a bit "off." I realize that some people are victims of circumstances and that justice does not prevail in all the land...especially on a JW apostate website when the subject is JW's. Sure, there are pedophiles in among Jw's, as there are in most any church group, and there likely IS a higher percentage per capita, than many other groups. I'm just saying that not all "sex offenders" are created equal. I was a hormone-charged adolescent, not a JW at the time, and my female conquests were many and in a variety of situations. No children involved, but the "action" began when I was 12 or 13, with girls my own age. Nowadays, that will buy you a nice record for everybody to rant about. It didn't in my case, but if some pissed-off father had chosen to press statutory rape charges, I would be one of the horrible people you hate so much.
So, you all waited until you were 18, right?
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jordan12
check out EVERY name in your congregation, STARTING with the elders!!!
Well, a month's gone by. Did anyone find any pedophile elders? I didn't notice anyone posting any names.
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jordan12
The Jehovah's Witnesses, on the other hand, declare this new technology to be "of the Devil", and refuse to allow such technology to be "imposed" upon their right to "religious freedom"...
Really, when and where did they make that declaration?
In fact, they surreptitiously donated huge sums of money to the loosely-consolidated group opposed to the enactment of said law and emplacement of such technology...
I find it utterly bizarre that a statement like this can be left unchallenged. And people say that Witnesses can't think for themselves!
If you have evidence for such a ridiculous assertion, then present it.
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jordan12
Sure, there are pedophiles in among Jw's, as there are in most any church group, and there likely IS a higher percentage per capita, than many other groups.
What evidence do you have for saying that there is a likely a higher percentage of pedophiles among JW's than other groups?
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dissed
A CO disscussing a child molestation case with me in my congregation mentioned that every congregation has at least one and some two in our circuit. Of these, he was relieved, none had been made public. That's 18-20 in our circuit alone.
Following this average, how many exist in the USA alone? Hard to say, but it would be signifigant and would probably destroy the WTS as we know it, if it ever became public.
What's really bad about keeping this quiet, so as not to bring about 'reproach on JG's organization' a convenient euphanism, is that many of these child molesters are going unchecked and probably are abusing others.
As an example, in the congregation next to mine, an Elder woke up one day with a visualization that he was molested as a child. He feared his sister, a Special Pioneer was molested by their father, a long time Elder. He called her and she confirmed she was as well.
They decided to bring this to the Elders attention who inturn admonished them to go to the father and confront him. They didn't want to, but at the insistance of the Elders, they went with two Elders. He at first denied the charges vehemently, but the mother confessed she had witnessed it.
The result? He was removed and DF'd. No one in the congregation knew why he was DF'd. But it was also decided not to go to the authorities, because they felt that was all there was. But how do they know he didn't molest others? How could you trust him? And how were they protecting others in the future? They didn't
The one in my congregation was completely unkown to everyone except the Elders.
That is not a confidential matter, that is a cover up. If all of these became public, on a registered list, the JW Kingdom Halls would be lit up like a Billboard. No one would attend, no one would study with them, no one would contribute, and everyone who was 'encouraged to keep quiet' would sue the WTS.
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daniel-p
The "reproach" is that it exists in the first place, not that others know about it!
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stillin
my statement regarding the probability of a higher percentage og pedophiles in among JW's than other church groups is only conjecture. I base it on the trust that used to exist among the witnesses before all of this hit the fan. Now there is near-hysteria. And I'll stand by my earlier statement that there is a big difference between sex offenders and pedophiles.
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jordan12
A CO disscussing a child molestation case with me in my congregation mentioned that every congregation has at least one and some two in our circuit. Of these, he was relieved, none had been made public. That's 18-20 in our circuit alone.
Following this average, how many exist in the USA alone? Hard to say, but it would be signifigant and would probably destroy the WTS as we know it, if it ever became public.Assuming for the sake of argument that this is true, which I have no way of knowing, I'm not at all sure that that would be a representative sample. I think the true figure is likely to be much less. Of course, even if it is true and a representative sample (about 12,000 names) it would be an incidence of about 0.8% - a fraction of the figure of 4% of Catholic Priests that have apparently been accused of child abuse. (http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/PriestAbuseScandal.htm)
In any case, not everyone on the list is a child molester. A number of other categories are included on the list. Not all of the allegations are substantiated. It looks as though the frequency of pedophilia is actually way lower among JW's than in the population in general.
There are apparently 700,000 registered sex offenders in the US. Statistically, you'd expect about 2,700 to be active Witnesses, maybe about 3,500 if you include inactive/disfellowshipped. I doubt the true figure is anywhere near that. That's corroborated by the extreme scarcity of reports of Witnesses' committing these crimes, even in places where reporting is mandatory. And, let's face it, groups like Silent Lambs would be more than willing to publicize these cases if they existed.
What's really bad about keeping this quiet, so as not to bring about 'reproach on JG's organization' a convenient euphanism, is that many of these child molesters are going unchecked and probably are abusing others.
You're assuming too much. First, it's pretty well established that we scrupulously observe the reporting laws. I understand that pretty much every state in the US has mandatory reporting laws now ( http://www.smith-lawfirm.com/mandatory_reporting.htm ). I don't believe there's a single case of a congregation or an elder being found guilty of failure to report.
When there is no mandatory reporting, there are still other legal considerations (confidentiality, possibility of false accusations, law on fiduciary relationships, etc.) It's not about 'bringing reproach on the organization'. No publication or letter has ever said that crime shouldn't be reported to the authorities. And of course, the victim or the victim's parents can report. Or anyone else who knows about it for that matter.
As an example, in the congregation next to mine, an Elder woke up one day with a visualization that he was molested as a child. He feared his sister, a Special Pioneer was molested by their father, a long time Elder. He called her and she confirmed she was as well.
They decided to bring this to the Elders attention who inturn admonished them to go to the father and confront him. They didn't want to, but at the insistance of the Elders, they went with two Elders. He at first denied the charges vehemently, but the mother confessed she had witnessed it.The result? He was removed and DF'd. No one in the congregation knew why he was DF'd.I agree that it's sickening that people do these things, particularly people who lead a double life and pretend to be exemplary Witnesses. I'm glad the man in question was disfellowshipped, as that's a very powerful protection for the congregation's children. I wish other religious organizations would do the same.
But it was also decided not to go to the authorities, because they felt that was all there was. But how do they know he didn't molest others? How could you trust him? And how were they protecting others in the future? They didn't
The one in my congregation was completely unkown to everyone except the Elders.I'm not sure how you could really know all this. How do you know what they decided or what they felt? Did they tell you? And how could it be unknown to everyone if you knew about it? And how do you know it wasn't reported to the police? Didn't the victims report it? Didn't you?
That is not a confidential matter, that is a cover up.
But surely you can't say that other people are covering it up if you know about it and you haven't told the authorities. That would make you part of the cover-up too.
The elders will always comply with the law on reporting abuse. Where elders aren't required by law to report, then it's better if the victim or their parents make the report. They are the ones who are most directly involved.
If all of these became public, on a registered list, the JW Kingdom Halls would be lit up like a Billboard. No one would attend, no one would study with them, no one would contribute, and everyone who was 'encouraged to keep quiet' would sue the WTS.
But isn't the whole point of this thread that they are already public? I thought that was what the first poster was saying. Maybe I misunderstood. As I've already pointed out, the expected discovery of numerous pedophile elders hasn't materialized.
Some have tried to sue the WTS. I don't think any of them have won their cases though. Yes, I know a handful of plaintiffs settled out of court - a tiny number considering the total number of Witnesses in the US.