EVIL OR NAIVE?

by bay64me 5 Replies latest jw friends

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  bay64me

  During my former days of pioneering, there was a particular gentleman that used to take the magazines regularly. On one of our visits to him, he produced a cutting from a national newspaper that had a story of a jw elder that had been found guilty of some sexual assault on minor children.

  The "sister" I was with, gave what I imagine would be the usual response, ie. comparisons to the catholic church and how they cover it up and move the priests on, whereas jws deal with the matter and disfellowship such a person.

  I, on the other hand, said that the story could not possibly be true, believing at that time, that no person that was a shepherd in gods loving organisation could possibly be guilty of such a crime! Also, I had never heard of such a thing before.

  It is only NOW, with hindsight and much more awareness that I realise how stupid and naive my comments were, also how ridiculous and bigoted I must have came across to this man.

  So, is it fair to tar all jws with the same brush?
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  Gopher

  Could you re-state that last question? Are you asking is it wrong to view all JW's as possible sexual perverts? Or are you asking, is it wrong to view all JW's as blindly loyal, "bigoted" as you put it?

  If you mean the latter question, JW's are loyal because of the pressure from above and from their peers. Any questioning of the wholesomeness or truthfulness of the organization, and you could find yourself outside the favor of your peers and your congregation.

  So your gut-level response to the man's report is very understandable. But now you can see the reality.
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  bay64me

  What I was alluding to in my last question is that the general opinion of exjws seems to be that all jws shit in the same pot (so to speak). And I was simply raising the question as to whether that was a correct viewpoint.
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  bitter mango

  evil or naive? it really depends on the INDIVIDUAL. some JWs (like you in the past) are simply blinded to the real truth and reality! like you said, some don't believe that a person dedicated to god could do something as horrible as molesting a child. that's naivety.

  then there are some who are well aware of these kinds of issues, know they occur (*inside* and outside of the org) but simply shrug it off. i don't think that this is necessarily evil, because some might avoid these issues simply because they are afraid to face the fact that maybe (just maybe) they really aren't part of an organization that is as loving and perfect as they might believe.

  ANYONE who knows of some kind of abuse (or other shitty situation) and hides it or covers it up is evil to me.

  it isn't fair to tag ANY entire group/org/religion/etc. with a bad label.
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  LB

  bay I'd say very few JW's are evil but almost all of them are naive. In the beginning I too would have felt just as you did, that it was all lies.

  I was too darn old to be that stupid, but, I certainly was. Oh I mean naive.
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  joannadandy

  Saying "That could never happen here" is a very common reaction for LOTS of people when they hear about horrific things like child abuse, drug abuse, spousal abuse, etc. We like to think we live in a perfect bubble and the people we know and associate with are not capable of such behavior. I think this is a pretty typical human response at first.

  I think a lot of JW's are outragged. I know my parents watched the Dateline episode with me in horror, and before they watched it said "no way! The organization would never let that happen." They changed their tune afterward. So no, I don't believe all witnesses are blindly saying "no way" but I am sure there are some. Just as I am sure there are some staunch catholics out there who don't believe the sex scandals within their church. People get awfully touchy about religion and it's no surprise that if they are willing to go to war for it, they are willing to protect it's scandals at all costs. It's sad.