by WatchTower87 53 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse
Elders should take seriously their responsibility in this matter so that the congregations will be safeguarded from any valid accusation of neglect in protecting children from sexual abuse.-GB
Yes by phoning the police.
Ok I have had my rant. It's so infuriating. WMF, have you witnessed my fury on this topic Kate xx
ISN'T A VIRUS. IS A PDF FILE. http://adf.ly/aUxbu
How many faithful JWs really believe that a child molester can NEVER have privileges or serve as an MS or Elder? 99%??? I know my wife believes that. This makes them feel safe in "God's Organization."
Oh, the letter does specify foreign areas. That makes sense. If you are out of the US, then there would be no State Laws to worry about. So nothing has really changed in the US. The policy is still the same, woefully inadequate. I should have read that more carefully, my apologies to all.
DD
I've been debating for a while about whether to post this or not, but here goes.
Over the decades I've been serving as an elder I was fortunate enough not to have to deal with a child abuse case in the congregations I've served in. Until now (within the last year). Situation came up and I'm not going into detail about it but I will explain what the branch office did. We called as per the instructions in this letter and the response from the branch office with immediate: contact the authorities. The only issue they had with us calling was that we had not called the branch office soon enough and had not reported the issue to the authorities quickly enough. It was made clear that we should immediately (like when we hung up with the branch) report this (along with advice about the best way to report it) and that we should cooperate with authorities in their followup investigation and we could do so in the clear identifying ourselves as elders in the congregation. No cloak and dagger stuff. I had always worried that if a situation like this came up that I would have to choose whether to continue to serve as an elder or report the matter to the authorities and I had already decided that I would resign as an elder and report to and cooperate with the authorities, so this was a welcome relief.
I'm sure this comment will whip up a firestorm of other comments. I'm not saying that what the organization does is perfect; some things have been quite broken in the past. However, it appears that in this case what is happening is correct.
Data-Dog: "The flock could be told," Obey the FDS, even when it makes no sense."
I seem to remember reading the flock was told something along those lines recently. Was it at the convention or the annual meeting maybe?
A minor cannot be a willing participant. I read that and the rage increased. The legal department could be advising them to report to the authorities. If the law says to report, I don't see why the Legal Department is invovled. This type of micromanagement negates their court position that they are not part of the decision by elders. The interests of the elders, the victims, the abuser, and the WT can all be adverse. This is creepy.
How do we know this is a genuine letter?
committeechairman - thanks for that insight. It's good to know that the right steps were taken. I can imagine what a relief that must have been to you.
I wonder if this is new direction, since there was a very public case recently where it appears the opposite advice was given to the elders:
Splash
CC, thanks for the info. If the right thing was done, great! It would be awesome if the GB were cleaning things up, but I won't hold my breath.
DD
Committeechairman said: ...(along with advice about the best way to report it)
....However, it appears that in this case what is happening is correct.
The point is that they don't want anyone calling the authorities FIRST. They want to know first what damages may occur to Watchtower and what their legal obligation is. If their legal obligation allows them to stay silent, then screw the victims and protect the corporation first.
Even in the case you site, where the correct thing may have been done, THEY ARE CALLED FIRST, and said you should have called sooner.
I will grant that where local laws do a better job than WTS, that the branch will tell you to do what is right. In another area where they can report anonymously and offer no further cooperation to authorities, you bet they tell them to do no more than that.
OTWO, good point. Just doing what is legally required is not good enough for God's one true Organization.
DD
