Elders are Complicit with WT Society in Child Abuse Scandals- Gonzalo Campos Case

by flipper 40 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

• 

  OnTheWayOut

  Mind controlled or not.

  Oh, yeah. For sure.

  I never had to deal with such a situation, but I did have to deal with some things where the welfare of others was concerned and I, along with others, decided to inform people of the danger to their welfare. This was despite a C.O. saying not to do so. I simply told the people involved that I was not allowed to tell them the following words that I was about to say.

  I am pretty confident that if I thought a situation was dangerous to some, I would do the right thing. And courts typically rule that people should have done the right thing.

  Like yourself - I agree that the WT Society should make it MANDATORY for elders to first report child abuse to the police - THEN report it to WT legal.

  Treat it as seriously as an accusation of murder. If Johnny comes running up to the elders and says that Brother Chester killed someone, you bet your ass they would call the law first. If they thought Johnny was lying, you bet your ass they would have to get help for Johnny.

  Stand by an alleged victim. It is not saying you believe him to aid him to go to authorities and get the psychological help he needs. It is not taking a side in a judicial matter against the accused. Elders get it wrong and think the first thing is to decide who to form a judicial committee against in these situations.
• 

  LisaRose

  Elders do not get a pass on this. They do have some lattitude in judicial committee meeting, and as people have said, you can be disfellowshipped for anything three elders agree on, so why can't they agree when innocent children are in danger?

  There is a famous quote that is quite pertinent here:

  The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.’
• 

  jhine

  To be honest Flipper I'm not sure if this is to do with the law or just church policy now . I started asking my vicar about child protection when I became aware of the major problems in the WT .

  I did not want to be criticising the WT without knowing about my own church policy , which to be honest I hadn't given much thought to before . Mike said that if someone came to him to report being abused he would have to stop them at the beginning to warn them that according to what was said he probably would have to inform the police .

  This is because ,of course , some victims may not be ready to take such a step . So they proceed with the conversation knowing the consequences.

  Also each Deanery , or diocese , I cannot remember which , has a Trained person designated to look after and counsel victims .

  Jan
• 

  DesirousOfChange

  Also each Deanery , or diocese , I cannot remember which , has a Trained person designated to look after and counsel victims .

  Unlike the WT, which instead chooses to shoot the victim.

  Doc
  
• 

  flipper

  VIDIOT- Very good point. NON-JW authorities have a much better track record in dealing with child molestation than the WT Society. At least they consider it a more serious offense for crying out loud
• 

  flipper

  ON THE WAY OUT- I'm glad that the JW's had you as an elder to assist victims of child abuse and an elder like you who did the right thing in protecting the safety of others in your congregations. There needed to be more elders like you ! Good job. Like you mention it's interesting that the elders would go straight to the police if someone reported a murder in the congregation - but not child abuse. Of course, probably the x-factor is the legal liability which freaks out WT legal so they request elders to contact them FIRST before the police. But as you mention child abuse needs to be treated just as seriously as murder in order to get JW elders to do the right thing. But getting that message into most of their heads is indeed difficult due to the WT programming and indoctrination.

  LISA ROSE- Thanks for that quote from Albert Einstein, very good quote which I totally agree with. Elders are complicit with the WT Society when even the good men among them choose to do nothing to curtail child abuse or report it to police authorities. And that is the point I'm making in the thread topic that there is liability and responsibility here.

  JHINE- It's good to hear that your church, or your diocese has trained people to assist child abuse victims and others- the only thing JW elders are trained by the WT Society for is to counsel others so as to keep WT organization interests first- JW members interests second, or not at all.

  DESIROUS of CHANGE- Exactly. Either shoot the victim or throw them under the proverbial bus. WT organization is NOT a " user friendly " organization
• 

  4thgen

  Quote from recent Time magazine: "Those who covered this up are guilty" POPE FRANCIS, vowing at the close of his US trip at American bishops who concealed sexual abuse by clergy members would be held accountable."

  Who would have predicted that the pope would be more forthright than the GB?
• 

  LevelThePlayingField

  I hope the Royal Commission's work in Australia makes for a precedent the world over. I know the UK is taking a good look at it now. The GB has some real issues to deal with. If they don't wake up fast, the fox will eat the chickens.
• 

  Vidiot

  4thgen - "Who would have predicted that the pope would be more forthright than the GB?"

  I still find myself wondering just how the f**k the guy got himself elected...
• 

  Tornintwo

  When I first heard reports of child abuse in the org. I though they were probably sensationalized, I was still in. But now they are popping up everywhere and again and again we hear the same thing, the elders discouraged victims from going to the authorities and wouldn't go themselves so as not to bring reproach...... Never mind what any official party line is, these are the facts repeated in many different cases.

  we also hear that it's perceived as a 'sin' not a crime, that abusers are reinstated, even reappointed

  we hear that at one point the society said something along the lines that anyone previously a child abuser can NEVER have privileges in the congregation again, but then the October 2012 letter clarifies that is not necessarily the case, making loopholes so that these perverts can serve as elders again.

  So all this coming together you have to ask yourself why? Why wouldn't they just boot any former child abuser out to obscurity, why not report to the authorities, why not support the victims??? Then an answer comes to you, one you don't want to believe but could well explain everything. Do you know what the answer could be? there are too damn many of them in this organization, this organization could well be riddled with pedophiles, so much so that to remove all their privileges and positions could cause serious upheaval. That would explain the sympathy towards the perpetrator, the cover ups, the abuse of the victim. It may sound sensational but I would not be surprised at all if a great many in the hierarchy of this org are guilty of or sympathetic towards this perversion and/or abuse.