With all these new lawsuits coming against the watchtower, I wonder what would have happened if the watchtower had revised their policies instead of disfellowshipping whistleblowers. I wonder if the GB regrets it. what if they had accepted that child abuse was a real issue and abolished the 2 witness rule? Would they need to enact theit current liquidation of assets? Would they be selling their property? In the end I'm glad they arrogantly stuck to their guns and have been thoroughly exposed. I'm proud to say that none of my money is being used to pay these settlements.
What if...Barbara Anderson was never disfellowshipped.
by kneehighmiah 7 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
Crazyguy
They showed their true colors back in 1980 when they started sacking desenters that new some of their doctrines were wrong. Their arrogant and that aragance is their undoing..They thought they could just socially kill all who oppose and that would be that.. We should of all woke up to something being wrong when we found out the Borg was once run by an attorney that made everyone call him Judge..She Barbara had some real qualities to not keep quiet and expose the Borg. If the bible was true and so was the god and his son of the bible a person like her would be considered a righteous one.
-
3rdgen
Knee, many many were helped but Barbara lost her child and grandchild in the process. A HUGE sacrifice.
-
Awake at last
Kneehighmiah made a good point when he/she said that "I am proud that none of my money is being used to pay these settlements." I agree, I feel the same. It makes me sad sometimes when I think of all the money my now deceased parents donated. At least they are deceased and cannot see what the organisation that they gave their lives to has been reduced to. I am glad these victims are bleeding, hopefully every last cent from the borg.
Barbara Anderson does not seem to have been personally affected by child abuse, and in my opinion, that makes her speaking out even more poignant. She is doing it for others and not for her own selfish purposes. I only wish her son Lance could think a bit harder about his decision to shun her and his father. What they have done could contribute to protecting his children one day. I have not been affected by sexual abuse either but have been affected by emotional abuse. I would prefer that to sexual abuse. I feel terribly sorry for those affected by this horrible crime, including my husband's sister. It is even worse when it takes place in a place where love of Jehovah should be the number one priority for all.
In my personal opinion, the unrealistic attempts to protect Jehovah's name at all costs has resulted in just the opposite. The worldly authorities are reasonable enough to appreciate when reporting of abuse takes place. They would respect the organisation if the concealing of crimes had not happened. Also, so called brothers who committed these crimes would have thought twice if they knew that they would be handed over to the worldly authorities, instead of being protected. It would have of course still happened, but in my opinion, not on the same scale and the victims would have had no grounds to sue for large sums of money as the organisation would have done nothing wrong. The organisation cannot be held responsible for the actions of individuals, but can be and should be held responsible for their policies on how to deal with CRIMES that take place within their ranks that are reported to them.
Because of the stand that the FDS has taken, innocent witnesses are having their donations, given for Kingdom work, used for a purpose that they were not intended for.
-
fiddler
I think the point was that many could have been helped and futher abuse might have been prevented AND the JW's wouldn't BE in this predicament over pedophelia if they had only LISTENED to what Barbara was trying to tell them. Their two witness policy was a disaster waiting to happen and it's happening now. The money drain that may be coming to the JW organization due to pedophile lawsuits may be their final end.
But, on the other side, Barbara and her husband were able to wake up and see much more than just the errors of the JW's; they were able to do research into many other things that they wouldn't have been able to do before and come out with far more knowlege. The same is true for so many of us and we have also lost family due to the df'ing policy. Maybe if the JW religion gets swallowed up in littigation more of our family members will wake up....we can hope.
-
rip van winkle
If concealing of crimes is to " protect Jehovah's name" that in itself shows their complete lack of faith in their God.
-
bobld
Remember Bill Bowen he was disfellowshipped for speaking out on the issue.Maybe he will sue for them calling him a liar.
-
happy@last
People like Barbara and Bill have done immense work exposing what was already a problem. The publicly known cases are from the 1980's and 1990's so could not have been prevented. However the fact they have strived to make them public has hopefully given others courage to go to court and testify against their abusers including WTBTS.
It would have been inevitable that these ones be DF'd as their consciences were opposed to the rules laid down by WTBTS. It may be a few years before we see how prolific paedophilia still is in JW land, the so called spiritual paradise.