Does the new Catholic scandal help or hurt in exposing the WT abuse scandals?

by undercover 27 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

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  undercover

  With all the attention being paid to new allegations of abuse cover-up in the Catholic church I wonder:

  1. Does this take the heat off the WTS and are they hoping to slide through less scrutinized while the Pope gets skewered by the media? Will the WTS be stupid enough to try to capitalize on the Catholics problems by printing articles critical of them?

  2. Or does this heighten the awareness of abuse scandals in all religions, and maybe particularly those that have had issues in the past, such as the WTS/JWs? Could some people, whether the media or watchdog groups or victims' groups, be looking to use this as a means to inform the public of the sins of the WT church?

  3. Or is the WTS/JWs just so insignificant that no one really gives a shit, except those who have suffered at their hands?
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  undercover

  2 hours and not one reply...

  That would indicate that the answer is:

  Number 3 - no one really gives a shit
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  JWoods

  I really think the JWs are so isolated from the rest of the world that the Catholic thing will not have much of any effect.

  so, #3
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  keyser soze

  I suspect number three is the case.

  Will the WTS be stupid enough to try to capitalize on the Catholics problems by printing articles critical of them?

  I don't know if I'd call it stupid. Hypocritical, for sure. But being insignificant to anyone outside the JW world affords them the luxury of being hypocritical. The only ones who care enough to expose their hypocrisy to active JWs are people they won't listen to.
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  undercover

  Ah...thank you for that sympathy post...
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  blondie

  I don't think people are aware of abuse in other religions as much as with the RC. But I do think that people are more likely to believe the cases that do make the news as being credible. It also makes people aware of the flaws in the reporting laws in their area and how to strengthen them. My experience is that true believers in any religion are reluctant to believe such things happen in their church.

  http://www.bishop-accountability.org/AbuseTracker/

  http://www.bishop-accountability.org/context/
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  littlebird

  I think #1 will be the case. There are many Jw's who still don't know about the settlements. Why? Because The Watch Tower places all the attention on other groups, condemning them, pointing fingers, all the while they have their own problems that they just don't bring up, unless, of course, it ends up on TV.
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  blondie

  Don't think that all lay Catholics are believing this about the church either, SNAP has been working on this for 18 years and just started having any success in 2002. The vast majority of Catholics think this is a minor thing that the media is blowing out of proportion.
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  blondie

  Maybe if more ex-jws got involved in publicizing it, it could help.

  http://www.votf.org/whoweare/who-we-are/100

  Who We Are

  Voice of the Faithful is a lay organization of faithful Catholics, who organized in 2002 as a response to the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church. We started in the basement of a church in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and have since expanded worldwide with more than 30,000 members.

  Our Mission is to provide a prayerful voice, attentive to the Spirit, through which the faithful can actively participate in the governance and guidance of the Catholic Church.

  We work towards achieving our mission by pursuing three goals:

  • Support survivors of clergy sexual abuse
  • Support priests of integrity
  • Shape structural change within the Catholic Church

  Our Beginnings

  Carrying Out Our Mission and Goals

  Rights of the Laity

  VOTF FAQs

  Statement of Identity

  VOTF Structure

  Bylaws

  Board of Trustees

  National Officers

  National Representative Council

  National Working Groups

  Parish Voice Affiliates

  National Staff
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  undercover

  Don't think that all lay Catholics are believing this about the church either, SNAP has been working on this for 18 years and just started having any success in 2002. The vast majority of Catholics think this is a minor thing that the media is blowing out of proportion.

  That's a good point, Blondie. It seems that a "good" Catholic doesn't question the Vatican too much.

  Imagine, if a Catholic is hard to get through to about the Church's liability, imagine how hard it is to try to get through to a JW about their shortcomings in the WT's handling of child abuse.