Those who WERE or ARE Elders (Re: Molestation Coverup) (page 4)

Kensho

Fortunately when I "served" never had a case other than one single brother that I suspected might appear to others to have to mutch interest in young ones and spending alone time with them ( taking to sporting events etc.) and we counseled him about it. (just to let him know we were watching)

The bottom line is there is NO EXCUSE for elders not to take action to protect children, they are supposed to protect the flock! These monsters are everywhere.The stats are clear pediphiles to not change and given time and an opportunity will abuse again.

The elders are in a "Kobiashi Maroo" situation (for you star trek fans) put there by the borg. and shame on any elder who does not immediately take the correct action to report anyone who abuses children when there is sufficient evidence.

How would you feel as a trusting witness find out the "brother" your son or daughter was spending service time with was a registered sex offender and the elders knew about it?

The really big question though, if this was really God's org. and Jesus is the head of the congr. how could even one abuser slip through?

It's a fairytale is the only reasonable conclusion.

Kensho

NewYork44M

I was an elder for a 3 year period in the 1990s. Within that short time period I became aware of several child molestation issues in our small congregation.

The events did not necessarily occur during the time I was an elder, but the body of elders had to deal with these events.

I was totally unprepared and could not comprehend what I could or should do. Report or not report was not even considered as an option.

We had one case where we received a hand written letter from another congregation's elder body about a family that moved in. The letter stated that the father molested the step daughter and requested that we check up on him every three months to make sure he had his situation under control.

That being said, our situation with several active molestation issues was probably typical for a congregation. So, I can imagine that there are hundreds, if not thousands of cases that have the potential of being multi million dollar awards.

life is to short

mythreesons

I have seen that happen in the congregaton I went to, it made me sick.

LITS

XBEHERE

The Dateline program exposing the abuse problem in the WT was what caused me to start questioning the org. I did research since I was(am) an elder back then and I feel that the WT tries to punish the pedophiles in their own system. They do not want it going outside of the judicial setting. The problem with this is that the elders are told not to inform anyone of the potential danger. In fact I am privy to a real situation in which a friend of mine was almost removed as an elder in his congregation because he informed an MS that a certain brother was indeed a pedophile and to watch him around kids. Yes that really happened.

The WT org is wrong, horribly wrong about this issue because as we all know the recidivism rates for pedophilia are pretty much 100%. To add to that is the fact that pedophilia is a crime. Crime should always be reported period. If the elders knew that someone confessed to murder I am fairly certain that they would be calling the police. Yes Barbara Anderson was right the whole time as was Bill Bowen and now the WT will have to pay. Let the lawsuits commence. The wtbs is repugnant for allowing this situation to develop. Terrible.

Lurker555

The WatchTower picks and chooses when to follow the Bible.

The 2 or 3 witness rule is in the Bible yes, but I have never

read anywhere about a secret tribunal in the Bible. All cases (legitimate)

were handled in the public eye.

If they followed the Bible everyone would know about what was

going on.

So the claim that the rest of the congregation is not entitled to know

is bologne.

00DAD

daringhart13: it was all about protecting the Society

Yep, that's what it's all about!

mythreesons, that account is chilling and just proves how empty-headed the WT policy is on this matter. All they care about is protecting their own ass(ets).

Fuckers!

cofty

If you don't have the 2 witnesses, you can still stand by the victim for support without judging the perpetrator. - OTWO

This!

Reporting the person who is accused doesn't mean you have taken sides. Both victim and the alleged attacker can be supported while the authorities do their work.

The example MyThreeSons shared illustrates what happens when amateurs make decisions that are beyond their pay-gradee

mythreesons

It's a ridiculous situation!

Tell me this, what happens if a certain family decides they want to be nice to brother 'x' (whom the elders know is a pedophile) and invite him to their house and become close friends with him? They are after all...trying to show love to 'widows, orphans...fatherless boys' in the hall. The family notices that he is very good with their kids and seems to be very affectionate with them. But, because the organization encourages complete trust with only other JWs, the family passes it off that he is simply a great friend and trusts this person to even watch their kids on occasion. This family doesn't know anything about his past and it doesn't even cross their mind that something is amiss.

But, the elders know....and haven't protected anyone but the pedophile....letting him move around the congregation freely without anyone but them knowing. Sure he can't say prayers at the hall, he can't be a M.S. or an Elder, he can never pioneer or run mics...but no one outside the elder circle will ever know his past. He can go out in service freely (90 hours a month if he wants) where he will be with 'sisters' and their kids and be going to peoples homes where kids answer the door. He will comment all the time and look like the perfect example of a single 'brother'. Looks good on the outside, and because of the nature of JWs they don't even bother to check the sex offender list before allowing their kids to be with this person. If they ever thought of it, they would probably talk themselves out of checking, feeling guilty that they even thought to check.

They must trust that everything is ok...after all the shepherds have not warned anyone of anything dangerous.

This situation happens and can only end badly! All because of a policy to NOT bring a bad name on the organization and seemingly to protect the pedophile and NOT the kids...It makes me sick!

Most people (Not JWs) think for themselves and can decide who is good for them and their children...but when there is a situation where the people trust completely and are not used to using their own minds (which is JWs to a tee)...bad things can happen!

Quendi

@ Lurker555: You hit the nail on the head when you said that elders have no business judging cases. The entire judicial committee arrangement is unscriptural. Neither Jesus Christ nor the apostle Paul ever indicated or outlined this procedure. Instead, they indicated that the whole congregation was to be involved in hearing about wrongdoing and that all--including women--were to have a say about the disposal of any case. Reinstatement was to be handled the same way.

I mean no offense to those posters to this thread who are or have been elders and have served on these star chambers. You did so because you thought you were doing the right thing, but you should have nothing to do with this from now on. Refuse to serve on any judicial committee no matter what the problem being looked into is. This arrangement has harmed tens of thousands since its inception and that alone is evidence enough that holy spirit was never, is not now, nor ever will be involved with it. In fact, only one-third of those who are disfellowshipped ever return to the organization. What does that fruitage say about whether this arrangement has Jehovah's blessing and sanction? Your support of it, even tacitly, is condoning evil, not good.

Quendi

jam

So ridiculous, what molester is going to commit

this crime in the presence of two witnesses. A no

win situation for the victim.

Those who WERE or ARE Elders (Re: Molestation Coverup)

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