Watch Tower Society Facing Criminal Charges and Indictment in Australia

by AndersonsInfo 147 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

• 

  satinka

  Barbara Anderson posted (in part):

  The Working with Children (WWC) Check involves:

  -a national police records check

  Broadly, the criminal offences of most significance for a WWC Check are:

  -serious sexual offences

  I see what the problem might be. The JWs have been secretive about sex offenders in their congregations. If background checks were carried out, much stuff would be shaken out from under the carpet. This would not bid well for the JWs.

  Listener wrote:

  As I live in Australia I have seen this law being taken very seriously. A problem that we have here is that the Government sets a law and expects everyone to toe the line, pretty much on a self compliance basis. It does not have the resources to police many of the laws that it sets and it is not until people start jumping up and down that they take further action. It is very costly and due to this they usually hope for the majority to comply and if one or two organisations/groups don't they are pretty proud that they have caught most people into abiding.

  I suppose the JWs are counting that no one will check them out to see if they are actually compliant. They will pray and figure Jehovah will protect the child molesters. And he just might. After all, Jehovah is a child abuser himself. I have been told he had his son killed, after all. That sounds abusive to me.

  satinka
• 

  jwfacts

  People seem to have missed the underlying reason for Steven's case. He has spent years trying to have his own families personal experience (as described in the Appendix of the Submission) heard by the Watchtower leadership and an apology issued. They have flatly refused. The way he presents this document is an attempt to have the document served to the broadest range of JW's in a legal manner, so that they are forced to read it.

  A secondarymotive regards the WWC. This has become the conduit to achieve the first motive. Steven recognises he does not have the finances to take on such a huge undertaking, but hopes that the media and legal systems will recognise the importance of this situation and run with it for him.

  SATINKA - I see what the problem might be. The JWs have been secretive about sex offenders in their congregations. If background checks were carried out, much stuff would be shaken out from under the carpet. This would not bid well for the JWs.

  I agree.

  LISTENER A problem that we have here is that the Government sets a law and expects everyone to toe the line, pretty much on a self compliance basis. It does not have the resources to police many of the laws that it sets and it is not until people start jumping up and down that they take further action.

  That is also correct. It is the same with Aust tax compliance. It is a self assessment system, and a large number of people fined for tax evasion are due to other people dobbing them in to the tax office. The Australian government and police are largely reactionary.
• 

  Listener

  I came across this letter sent to the Taxation Department by the WTB&S society in Australia which was for a submission to be recognized as a tax deductivle gift recipient. Although it doesn't relate to this case it explains how they view their legal establishment. The whole letter can be viewed from

  http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:qAhsGtE4vysJ:www.cdi.gov.au/submissions/357-WatchtowerBibleandTractSocietyofAustralia.doc+jehovah's+witnesses+tax+deductible+gifts&hl=en&gl=au&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShqa1b_fSujlTKVmGFjcX1_Ba5vUp35FHuRi35cMc4nDPrw6Ny-RofDCP8LBYZwIo5Ou--0BwuRDJIvxt_5m8fnMy9vdr0qeUE-E2pxT2k6JPVzcY2Ja4d7nJakXCAQLUjYXjKf&sig=AHIEtbQgZvnsIgFUP_TrWXykjMWsiDm7Bw

  "......Jehovah’s Witnesses are individual Christians who worship Jehovah, the supreme God
  of the universe and the Creator of it.?Isaiah 43:10, 12; Psalm 83:18.

  The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Australia (the “Society”) is a not-for-profit
  religious organization registered under the New South Wales Companies Act 1961 as
  a company limited by guarantee. It is the legally registered body that acts on behalf of
  Jehovah’s Witnesses in Australia. The objects of the Society are set out in the attached
  Articles and Memorandum of Association.

  The primary attributes of the Witnesses and the Society are religious, charitable,
  educational, and community service oriented. Their activities are based on a love for
  God and their fellowman and can be divided into two main areas, the public ministry
  and the internal ministry.

  ...Issues Regarding Definitions Used in Australia Compared to Other Countries

  The Society is not an international organization having branches in other countries.
  However, Jehovah’s Witnesses are worldwide, and a different not-for-profit organization
  is registered in each country. The structures of these corporations vary according to the
  laws applying in each country. In some countries, such as the United States of America
  and New Zealand, donors to our religious organizations are exempt from gift duty and
  may claim tax deductions for donations made to the church.

  In some countries, we are limited by the fact that funds received cannot be distributed
  to another country, thus preventing an international support arrangement. Although this
  has, at times, proven to be inconvenient, it has not unduly hampered our work...."

  What I found astounding was the comment that 'the Society is not an international organization having branches in other countries'. What is important to this current case is that the Society does not recognize the office in the USA to be the head office.

  This means they have set themselves up so that each country is independant of other countries and their legal liability would be limited to each individual country.

  So much for unity but it would seem a waste of time to bring up the head office in the current legal case.
• 

  metatron

  This subject - concerning the independence of Branch Offices - has been brought up before and by some very knowledgeable people. It's something that emerged unexpectedly after they broke up the organization into separate pieces to avoid any lawsuit disaster from wrecking the whole organization.

  It does make you wonder about the motive for shutting down Branches along with endless pleas to look upon the Governing Body as the earthly equivalent of Jehovah. Perhaps they do fear some sort of internal fracture that they couldn't stop.

  On the subject of the excellent work of the Andersons, I can only say to Barb, "don't let the ba$tards get you down'! I look forward to every Andersons Info post that gets made, eagerly.

  This is a guerilla war. We will defeat the Watchtower by chipping away at them, piece by piece, day by day. We will wear them out, drain their energy, and attack them at our convenience. We will ultimately prevail.

  I can recall a conversation with a long term Bethelite, who lamented about opposers and 'apostates', "They're always watching us, looking for any mistake or weakness." He seemed genuinely discouraged by the relentlessness of it.

  So be it. Keep up the good work, Aussies.

  metatron
• 

  ldrnomo

  Is it just me, or does this seem like a really weird post. I don't understand it at all.

  ldrnomo--- Unfortunatly for this blind world, when satan leads every kingdom( govt,armies,supporters ) against God at Harmageddon, For the man made word patriotism the blind ones will be on the wrong side. Oh, did your teachers forget to mention that to you-they have only had 1750 years to see it.
• 

  skeeter1

  Perhaps it was meant for the Drunkin Gibberish thread?
• 

  MeanMrMustard

  This is an interesting thread. Let's say for a moment that this has merit and, after much stalling, the WTB&TS of Australia is forced to apply (and pay for) a licence for each "ordained minister" ... I wonder how that would affect the faders in Australia? Technically, those individuals would still be members of Jehovah's Witnesses - ordained by the WTS in a technical sense. Their names are still on the books, so-to-speak. Would the WT want to pay for these licences? Would that cause a "purge" of these faders?

  MeanMrMustard
• 

  jwfacts

  MMM - I highly doubt this would be extended to all JW Ministers, despite the Watchtower using that to its advantage when it can, such as getting out of military service. It will most likely only be applied to Elders. In the child abuse cases that the Watchtower has lost in the past, the cases have specifially been about abuse from elders.
• 

  doofdaddy

  " For doing this the Watch Tower Society threatened our family with extreme harm and detriment and then actually tried to wipe us out.".

  This is an exerpt from the letter Mr Unthank sent to the Prime Minister. He cannot be taken seriously.
• 

  jwfacts

  " For doing this the Watch Tower Society threatened our family with extreme harm and detriment and then actually tried to wipe us out.".

  This is an exerpt from the letter Mr Unthank sent to the Prime Minister. He cannot be taken seriously.

  The WWC issue seems worth pursuing, though the current format appears to be hindering the effectiveness. Lets hope that Steven's tenacity gets this picked up by the relevant governmental bodies so that they can present it in a format that will produce results.