NOW IS THE TIME TO ROAR SILENTLAMBS!

by silentlambs 26 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  outnfree

  Bowen said that members convicted of child abuse are sometimes later sent out for door-to-door proselytizing.

  "That's just what I want - a child abuser knocking on my door," he said.

  But Semonian said that anyone guilty of molestation is barred from holding positions of responsibility and that if he is sent door-to-door, he is not allowed to have any unsupervised contact with children.

  Semonian said that dismissal of a member is a last resort for those who become a danger to the church.

  "It's not that we're kicking someone out," he said. "It's an arrangement by God to keep the congregation from harmful influences."

  Copyright © 2002, The Baltimore Sun

  The bolding and italics above are mine.

  Did everyone notice that, in the quote above, David Semonian subtly refuted JR Brown's previous LIE that no child molester would be at the public's doorstep unless accompanied by another brother?

  Just wanted to make that point.

  Also,

  One of the women said in an interview yesterday that when she and the others reported abuse in the mid-1980s, the church's all-male group of elders refused to believe them and banished them from the congregation.

  AH! Those poor victims must be 'those who became a danger to the church', right?

  outnfree
• 

  bchapp

  I wrote a "letter to the editor" and sent it to our local newpapers. I'll post it here. If anybody want to use it feel free.

  I'm writing this letter as a citizen who is concerned about the welfare of our children.
  There is a religious group who goes door to door handing out cleverly designed literature, and even offers to study the bible with you in your home. If you or one of your loved ones is studying with them or considering joining them, a word of caution. On May 28th Dateline NBC is airing a program concerning child molesters within this organization. They also claim to be the only ones who have the bible "truth." Please don't take their word for it. There is lots of information about them on the internet, or if you don't have internet access, the library is a good source. For the sake of the children, please be sure you are making an informed decision.

  "If the truth hurts most of us so badly that we don't want it told,
  it hurts even more grievously those who dare to tell it." (Judge Ben Lindsey, 1869-1943)
• 

  Magog

  If there ever was a time to roar and put our foot down, it is now. Thanks Silentlambs.
• 

  BobsGirl

  Trying to work up to a roar Bill. So far all I have managed is a bleat ... but I'm working on it.

  BobsGirl

  "May the work of your hands be a sign of gratitude and reverence to the human condition." - Mahatma Gandhi
• 

  sf

  You're getting braverrrrrrrrrrrrr, bravvvvvvvvvvvvvver...I see lots of courage in your futurrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeee with each postttttttttttt....bravverrrrrrrrrrrr.

  {{hugs}}

  sKally

  
  Too many 'lambs'!
• 

  Cygnus

  How old is Dave Shumaker?
• 

  waiting

  Quote: David R. Shumaker, 39, of Felton, Pa., will be tried July 15 in Baltimore County Circuit Court on several sex offense counts and one count of attempted rape. The incidents allegedly occurred between 1974 and 1984.

  At the time, the women were children and teen-agers in the congregation and Shumaker was a ministerial servant, according to court papers.

  All three women, who now range in age from 29 to 31, have quit the church, she said, after years of being ostracized by the congregation and its members for making the allegations.

  It is the year 2002. Shumaker is 39 currently (if newspaper article is correct.) I would assume then he was born in 1963 (within a year of that anyway). This means that he started molesting at age 11 to age 21 (that is known.)

  The three women range in birth date of 1973 to 1971. Does this mean that Shumaker molested one girl either at the age of 1 or 3?

  A boy can molest at age of 11 - that's when my brother started molesting my daughter; it was serious rape and continued for years. The word "molestation" can be quite deceiving - anything from fondling, digital penetration, to rape.

  Seems David established a pattern quite young and became a dangerous man - with full knowledge, compliance, and acceptance, from the elders.

  waiting