Guilt by Association. . . .

by DCs Ghost 2 Replies latest jw friends

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  DCs Ghost

  with all the hype going on about tonites dateline, suzi and i had a few thoughts and now i am wondering if anyone else has thought this too:

  here in the states, a person can be considered an accomplice to a crime, if he keeps information pertinent to a crime from or if he simply knows of a crime and does nothing to help the authorities,

  in the borg we were taught that if a brother sinned and we did not, either turn him in or at the very least give him time to confess, we were just as guilty as the sinner in the eyes of god and could be punished just the same,

  so with this in mind,

  why is it that the elders feel exempt from turning in pedophiles to the authorities and must go through brooklyn first in order to see what THEY have to say first . . .this is rhetorical

  after all they preach:
  1. to give to ceaser what belongs to ceaser
  (obey the laws of the land)
  and
  2. they also teach honesty and truthfulness

  so i find a contradiction here as most of you will also,
  how can an elder be honest and at the same time obey the laws, yet continue to hide a criminal in his congregation who not only has broken a conduct rule but has also broken the law?

  personally i feel such elders need to be held responsible AND be prosecuted as accomplices. . .

  my 2 cents for the day

  "we do not see the world as it is,
  we see the world as we are. . ." Anais Nin
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  Gopher

  DC,

  Is your reaction to this coming on a moral/spiritual level, or on a legal level? Your last comment "I feel the elders ought to be prosecuted" indicates the latter, but I don't want to assume to read your mind.

  That having been said, there are currently only 16 American states where the law makes it compulsory to report suspicions of child molestation. In the other 34 states, the language is not that clear. So then the Society can take a legalistic approach in those other 34 states and say "We are following the letter of the law by treating this as a spiritual concern" and then can get about their business of slapping the pedophile perverts on their collective wrists while the victims suffer. [Not that they always follow the laws in states like Washington where the law says reporting is compulsory, see the case of Erica Rodriguez vs. Manuel Beliz and the Othello Spanish Congregation of JW's.]

  But if we're approaching the subject on a moral/spiritual level, then of course the JW's are supposed to be morally superior to all other worldly religions, after all they have a "spiritual paradise" where the fruitage of the spirit reigns supreme (gag, gag). So then yes you would think that the moral thing to do would be to turn the sickos over to the appropriate authorities and be done with it.

  But, oh well. (Who knows, maybe Dateline NBC can help get the ball rolling in a few cases that are currently stuck in "elder confidentiality", or maybe that's wishful thinking.)

  -J.R.

  Don't let yesterday use up too much of today.--Will Rogers, 1879-1935
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  Guest 77

  The scripture at Romans 13:1-4 " ....the existing authorities stand placed in their relative positions by God.....Therefore he who opposes the authority has taken a stand against the arrangement of God.....for it is God's minister to you for your good,...... avenger to express wrath upon the one practicing what is bad."

  How clearer can it get? Is not the organization guilty of 'taken a stand against the arrangement of God' by not reporting it to the States that require reporting such conduct? Are they not digging a deeper hole for themselves by not being up front with every one? This is going to be one big mess. Yes, the finger will be pointing at me in the days to come.

  Guest 77