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Silentlambs Response to Inquires about Watchtower Misinformation
Mr. Brown-Child abuse is an evil. It’s an evil of our time; it’s an evil in our society. And so we abhor it. The Bible says you should “hate what is bad” and that certainly would include child abuse.
Mr. Bowen-Misrepresenting the truth is an evil. It’s an evil of our time; it’s an evil in our society. And so we abhor it. The Bible says you should “hate what is bad” and that certainly would include PR men who misrepresent the facts about what WT policy does to children.
Mr. Brown-We have a number of initiatives we’ve taken to make sure children are protected. And one is to make sure the parents are educated. And over the past 10-15 years, we’ve published numerous articles and other materials, especially for the elders, telling them what needs to be done to help those who have been victimized in this way.
Mr. Bowen-Yet not one initiative has discovered the basic need to call the police, not one initiative has educated parents on the primary need to report the matter to authorities, in 10-15 years of articles devoted to the subject. In seven body of elder letters written over a 13 year period no initiative is mentioned regarding the need to ENCOURAGE reporting, with no certified clinical training on how to help abuse victims.
Mr. Brumley-Our top priority is to protect the victims. And we want to make sure that whatever steps need to be taken, both by the elders, by the relatives, and by the congregations in general. Our second priority has to do with the perpetrators. We are concerned about their receiving the help they need. Our third priority is to see to it that the secular authorities are indeed informed of the accusation.
Mr. Bowen-Actually the top priority is to protect Watchtower money. And we want to make sure whatever steps need to be taken, both by Legal, Service and the elders, protect us from getting sued by child molesters. Our second priority has to do with confidentiality and making sure victims or their families warn no one in the congregation about the molester. Our third priority is to silence any other member of the congregation from saying there is any problem with child molestation by disfellowshipping.
Mr. Brown-We have no objection to the laws of the land that come into play to be enforced on whatever has taken place there. Crime is crime. And we recognize there are penalties for crime committed.
When we speak of child abuse, we have to look at society as a whole. This has become a burning issue in the last 20 or 30 years. And so society in general has been, more or less, plagued with this problem. And all sorts of organizations and agencies are grappling with how to best handle this.
Mr. Bowen-We have no objection to obeying only the laws that put us in jail for not reporting child molestation. Crime is not crime if we do not have to report it. We would prefer to hurt children rather than hurt pedophiles as it keeps us with a tidy image.
While we have bragged for years of having a higher standard than the world, now we need the world as a comparison to say we are not all that bad. We have been caught with our pants down with an antiquated policy that is 20-30 years old. Now society is plaguing us to protect children. While others may admit fault we admit to nothing and disfellowship those who say otherwise
