Congregation Letter 5-24-02

by silentlambs 43 Replies latest jw friends

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  Pathofthorns

  Hey Dana

  I just read your account of what happened to you and I'm sorry you had to go through that. Personally, I find the whole Christianity/repentance/forgiveness concept difficult to apply regarding serious crimes such as these.

  It is hard to say there is a place in any Christian congregation for persons who have these tendancies to commit such crimes. It is very troublesome that these sorts of persons who may not even have committed a crime, or who have served their sentences for their crimes can be permitted in the presence of children in any environment.

  Since JWs are claiming to be a Christian religion and would thereby have to follow doctrine such as all sins can be forgiven on the basis of faith in Christ's ransom sacrifice, I think it makes for a very difficult situation. What does a congregation do with repentant molesters?

  To be honest, I see no way to reconcile the scriptural doctrines in a way that would satisfy the reasonable concerns of any parent. Allowing these men to resume service with the congregation when they claim to be repentant is a disaster waiting to happen and is unfair to current victims that might be required to attend 5 weekly meetings with their molester.

  In addition to this organization's desire to protect it's reputation, I see the principles of Christianity itself making this bad issue in society even worse.

  Path
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  WildTurkey

  Oh this makes me sick to watch them always say they do, and have done the right thing all along. I was an elder for 10 years, and I saw first hand how they cover over child abuse. They would rather let a little girl or boy, not even in their teens raped then for them to look bad to the public. Ok, so you can’t do anything from a congregation stand point cause you don’t have two witness, but for the love of god you can tell the parents they need to protect their children anyway they can, tell them to go to the police, their family doctor, go to someone who is trained to know if a child is sexually abused. My heart goes out to all you dear ones who have been hurt because the WT org. wants to look good.
  Oh by the way this:

  We have long instructed elders to report allegations of child abuse to the authorities where required by Law to do so, even where there is only one witness. (Romans 13:1) in any case, the elders know that if the victim wishes to make a report, it is his or her absolute right to do so.----Galatians 6:5.
  Is bulls*** Elders are instructed to tell the parents how if this gets out it will be a bad witness, and we don’t want to bring any reproach on Jah’s name. Damn Im mad.
• 

  raven101

  Excellent point there about DNA, Devon! My thoughts exactly, I mean, isn't that what its about . . . EVIDENCE? Isn't that how a wrong is PROVEN?

  Back in biblical days they had only TESTIMONY, and the 2 witness thing (besides the obvious patriarchal overtones I won't go into) was to protect someone against FALSE testimony.

  Only idiocy or something worse would prevent someone from using a fail-safe form of evidence.

  On the WT websight I believe it says witnesses to two separate crimes MAY be allowed to fill the two witness criteria, wording is everything (ask any lawyer). MAY is even weaker than CAN, both leave the possibility of action or inaction, the wording would be WILL if they had any intention of making a real change.

  I would be the first to be happy if I thought the new statement meant any real change in policy, whatever I might think of their motivation, I would be glad that the rights and safety of children was being considered, at least to something approaching a decent standard.

  RAVEN101
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  William Penwell

  Typical WT BS. Blame the rank and file on mistakes. Protect the corporation at any cost. First of all they say that the "worldly" reports are all lies.

  What a contrast to those of the world who lack true spiritual guidance and a solid hope for the future! --Isaiah 65:13.

  They never take any responsibility that maybe their policies are wrong. Again they are putting the blame on the rank and file elder.

  We have long instructed elders to report allegations of child abuse to the authorities where required by Law to do so, even where there is only one witness. (Romans 13:1) in any case, the elders know that if the victim wishes to make a report, it is his or her absolute right to do so.----Galatians 6:5.

  At Kingdom Ministry Schools the elders receive ongoing reminders regarding this policy and related matters. And we continue to urge the elders to follow closely the procedures that we have established.

  Any elder with any sense after reading this would turn in the resignation or face personal lawsuits. Looks like the borg is leaving you elders out to dry on this one.

  Will

  "I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning religion and politics a man's reasoning powers are not above the monkey's."
  Mark Twain
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  SloBoy

  Jesus said 'by your own words you will be judged'. For all the rhetoric spewed by the WBTS about Jah hating child abuse, they better take heed. Let's remember, and as previous posts have noted, according to the scriptures, the mess mankind finds itself in is because the devil molested Jah's original children. Does He have an interest in child molestation? You better believe it. And He doesn't need some yo-yo policy to help Him figure out what to do about it.
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  SloBoy

  So many thanks to Bill, Barbara, the Pandelos and all the others that have been of service to Jah in this regard.
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  silentlambs

  Dana,
  This is the article to which you refer and it was used with me in November of 2000. So that makes it very current.

  silentlambs

  *** km 10/72 8 Question Box ***
  Question Box
   What is meant by “some years ago” on page 170, paragraph two, in the “Organization” book?
  This indicates more than a year or two. It may be noted that it did not say “many years ago.” So it is not an exact number of years, but more like two or three years. It was not intended to have a brother go back into the distant past to bring up wrongs of which he repented years ago and that have evidently been forgiven by Jehovah and are not being practiced now. In many cases the wrongs occurred prior to the time when the “Watchtower” drew attention to what the Scriptures say on such misconduct.
  If a brother has been serving faithfully for some years and has seen evidence of Jehovah’s blessings upon him, why should he now step down from office? If he has the right viewpoint now on conduct and will give good counsel he should be able to continue to serve. If the local body of elders see that he has the respect of the congregation and has shown the proper qualifications over the last two or three years, he may remain in his position of service.
  Must wrongdoing be brought to public attention after many years? The book (page 168) under “Public Reproof” quotes 1 Timothy 5:20 and mentions reproof of those who confess to committing more than one offense. But it really has to do with recent events. The “Interlinear” refers to those “sinning,” something going on at the time. So if repentance occurred some years ago, three years ago or more, and sinning ceased, and he is respected by the congregation, it is not necessary now to publicly reprove one who committed more than one offense “some years ago.”
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  Tanalyst

  It'll be interesting if new lite comes regarding the" new lite from 1972 KM".

  Some states are (slowly) in the process of removing the statue of limitations on child abuse.When that happens be prepared to hear announcements from the platform such as:

  Dear Brothers in lite of Jesus commands to visit his brothers in prison, the Following Elders are in prison and are lonely, please visit them, Bro.NoZipper, Bro.NoPants, and Bro.NoNuthin.
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  safe4kids

  Thanks Bill, my memory isn't what it used to be.

  It's still as disgusting as ever, at least that part I *DO* remember.

  Dana
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  Grunt

  Dana,

  I am sorry that you were denied justice and hope that this man is not allowed to harm others. It has been my experience that you do reap what you sow and this person has a bitter harvest coming.
  In regards to the letter, despite all their post-Dateline protests of innocence which only the brainwashed dubs will buy, I keep hearing the voice on the tape from Cult Central in Bethel, "Just walk away. Don't put yourself in a jam." There is your real Watch Tower policy.
  If this has forced the hypocrites to actually WATCH the children in addition to claiming never to have done anything wrong, then it is still a victory. If one mother keeps one child away from an abuser as a result of suspicions raised by this show then it was a resounding success in my eyes. I hope the obvious lies, the pictures of the perverts going door to door with the blessing of the Society and the local congregation, causes the few still left in the Witnesses with objective thinking abilities to smell the stench and get out of this dungheap they call a Watchtower.