Jehovahs Witnesses speak out
SILENCE: Members want changes in the way the sect handles molestation claims.
KEVIN P ORTER THE NEWS HERALD
http://olive.flacoast.com/Repository/getFiles.asp?Style=OliveXLib:ArticleToMail&Type=text/html&Path=NHerald/2002/09/07&ID=Ar01704
A Bay County Jehovah's Witness has joined a growing number of the religious groups members across the nation who are speaking out against the way it handles allegations of child molestation.
By doing so, Steve Imhof , 54, most likely will be disfellowshipped , which means he won't be able to talk to family members and friends again. If Imhof violates that, church policies call for excommunication, too.
"We have a great love for the organization of Jehovahs Witnesses. We are saddened that we are forced to stand here due to the stubborn actions of prideful men who lead this church," Imhof said on Friday after being kicked off the premises of the Kingdom Hall on
in Panama City
. "The Jehovahs Witness leadership must change their policy and must apologize to the victims whose lives their policies have destroyed."
A 38-year member of the tight knit group, Imhof says he is concerned because child-sex allegations are generally not reported to the police. Furthermore, he said victims are not allowed to seek counseling.
Rather, he said, they are dealt with internally. Imhof said its because of the beliefs closed nature and its insistence on handling problems internally.
"I have had seven children cry on my shoulder," he said.
However, a spokesman for the Jehovahs Witnesses home base in
said leaders, called elders, are not encouraged to condone molestation.
"People have absolutely every right to go to the authorities," said J.R. Brown, director of public information. "We are sorry about people feeling overlooked and certainly for the victims."
Jehovahs Witnesses are a religious sect that shuns the outside world in many respects. They refuse to bear arms, salute the flag or participate in secular government.
Imhof said church elders hear sex-abuse allegations. He said if the accuser denies the allegations, little more can be done in a judicial way. Congregations will continue to view the one accused as innocent.
For the allegations to be heard, he said, it takes two eyewitnesses.
"How often do children being raped have people standing by watching?" Imhof asked.
He said there are many similarities between the crisis in the Catholic Church and the one he sees amongst Jehovah's Witnesses. However, Imhof says there is one major difference: Catholics are seeking to correct their mistakes.
On Sept. 27, Imhof and other angry Jehovahs Witnesses will partake in a march through
that will end at the front door of the home office of the Jehovahs Witnesses in Brooklyn
. The purpose is to put pressure on the organization to change its policies. Many of the marchers belong to a group called the Silent Lamb Organization and have been leaving symbolic lambs at Kingdom Halls across the country, representing victims who they believe were unfairly silenced.
Steve Imhof had a white lamb doll in his pocket Friday, and tried to leave it at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovahs Witness on
. The Silent Lamb Organization uses the symbol to represent victims they believe are unfairly silenced.
News Herald Photos: Terry Barner
Steve Imhof has spo
out against what he says is a cover-up of sexual abuse of children by Jehovahs Witnesses. Imhof says he will be cast out of the group for speaking out.
Edited by - silentlambs on 7 September 2002 13:10:39