NEW Barbara Anderson News Story!

by UnDisfellowshipped 15 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

• 

  UnDisfellowshipped

  Here is a NEW Story in The Guardian which was just put up on their Website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-2043749,00.html

  Ex-Jehovah's Witnesses Speak Out

  Thursday September 26, 2002 6:40 AM

  TULLAHOMA, Tenn. (AP) - Joe and Barbara Anderson have been abandoned by their peers. Their son won't talk to them, and won't let them see their 3-year-old grandson.

  For more than 40 years, Joe and Barbara Anderson were faithful Jehovah's Witnesses, preaching door to door and winning more than 80 converts to the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.

  But now the Andersons are outcasts, excommunicated from the religion they served.

  The couple's transgression: Sowing discord in the faith by alleging that the denomination has protected pedophiles and concealed hundreds of child molestation cases.

  ``Our son and daughter-in-law think what we've done is so horrible,'' Barbara Anderson, 62, said at her sycamore-shaded rural cottage about 65 miles southeast of Nashville.

  Like the Roman Catholic Church, Jehovah's Witnesses are dealing with their own sex scandal that involves both rank-and-file and leaders of the faith.

  The Jehovah's Witnesses shun the outside world in many respects and refuse to participate in secular government. Critics fear that child-sex allegations are generally not reported to police because of the church's insistence on handling problems internally.

  Four Witnesses, including Barbara Anderson, were excommunicated after NBC's ``Dateline'' aired their concerns in May. Joe Anderson, 67, was disfellowshipped, as the church calls it, in July over a letter to headquarters questioning his wife's treatment.

  Barbara Anderson worked as a researcher at Watchtower headquarters in the early 1990s and a church official asked her to look into the handling of sexual abuse cases. She said she found hundreds of allegations on record, but kept secret, in church files.

  She said church elders used Scripture to argue ``you're not to make an accusation against an older man unless there are two or three witnesses,'' she said. ``No molester is going to have any witnesses, that's for sure.''

  Watchtower spokesman J.R. Brown defended Jehovah's Witnesses' policies.

  ``Clearly, with us having 95,000 congregations around the world and three to five to six elders in each, mistakes may have been made,'' he said. ``But that does not mean that we don't have a strong and aggressive policy that shows we abhor child molestation.''

  Brown said that anyone found guilty of molestation by a church judicial committee is removed from all positions of responsibility and cannot evangelize door-to-door without being accompanied by a fellow Jehovah's Witness.

  Undeterred, Barbara Anderson co-founded Silentlambs, a support group for church victims. She expects to lead a rally outside Watchtower headquarters in New York City on Friday. Protesters plan to carry stuffed lambs to symbolize the children who have been hurt.

  Silentlambs, headed by former Kentucky church elder Bill Bowen, claims the denomination keeps molestations secret, won't let victims warn other members about abusers, and shuns those who speak out.

  The church puts its membership at 6 million worldwide, including 1 million U.S. residents. Silentlambs has received calls and e-mails from 5,000 Witnesses reporting mishandled molestation cases, Bowen said.

  In the closed society, anyone who is a Witness must cut off contact with disfellowshipped members, even relatives.

  ``They will not speak to you,'' Joe Anderson said. ``I mean, if you are lying on the road, they will drive right past you.''

  Their son, Lance Anderson, 41, a church elder in Mishawaka, Ind., said the intention isn't to punish his parents but to lead them to repentance.

  ``I have never seen a situation come up in which we have not handled it legally and biblically the best way possible,'' he said.

  The son said pedophilia is a global problem but that only God - not man or government - can stop it.

  ``I love my parents dearly, but the message they have chosen to accomplish this is harming good people,'' he said. ``They are putting themselves, really, in harm's way.''

  For the first time, Joe and Barbara Anderson say they're reading religious books and trying to draw their own conclusions.

  ``It's not that we don't believe the Bible or don't believe religion or don't believe God,'' Barbara Anderson said. ``But we're having fun ... having the freedom to look around and to think about it.''

  ^---

  On The Net:

  Silentlambs: http://www.silentlambs.org

  Watchtower Bible and Tract Society: http://www.watchtower.org

  Guardian Unlimited Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002

  Edited by - UnDisfellowshipped on 26 September 2002 2:47:33

  Edited by - UnDisfellowshipped on 26 September 2002 6:8:50
• 

  hawkaw

  Brown said ...

  ``Clearly, with us having 95,000 congregations around the world and three to five to six elders in each, mistakes may have been made,'' he said. ``But that does not mean that we don't have a strong and aggressive policy that shows we abhor child molestation.''

  Brown said that anyone found guilty of molestation by a church judicial committee is removed from all positions of responsibility and cannot evangelize door-to-door without being accompanied by a fellow Jehovah's Witness.

  Sure .... Blame the elders and not the corporation's policy. Like who sets up the "confrontations" that re-rapes victims Mr. Brown??? ... eh?? Who sets them up you little lying b_ats_rd?

  Here let me remind you Mr. Brown of the Press release for Vicki Boer's Trial. I think it covers most of the points!!!!

  What is Silentlambs and What Has It Uncovered?

  Silentlambs Inc., an advocacy group for Jehovah's Witnesses child sexual abuse victims founded by former JW Elder William H. Bowen in 2001, disputes the Church's claims for the following reasons:

  1 - Elders Required Interrogation of Children

  As correctly shown in the September 1, 2002 edition of The Toronto Sun (page 29), child rape victims must provide repugnant and embarrassing details about the abuse in interrogation sessions conducted by untrained Church elders. Sessions occur in the presence of the alleged abuser and elders refuse to permit the presence of any support persons for the victim. Church doctrine strongly discourages the professional mental help victims need. The results can scar little children for life and cause difficulty for legitimate police investigations.

  2 - Failure to Report Sexual Abuse to Authorities without delay

  Church Policy does not require baptized Jehovah's Witnesses, who are considered by the Church to be "ordained ministers", to forthwith report suspected abuse even though the law (s. 72 of Ontario's Child and Family Act) says to. Church policy dictates that only elders report abuse.

  Church Policy does not explain that JW parents must forthwith report abuse to the authorities as required under the law. Instead parents are taught to report the abuse to Church elders. Before February 2002, parents could have been subject to severe church discipline for going to the authorities with an abuse case ("The Watchtower", November 15, 1973, page 703).

  Church policy suggests in many cases that elders NOT report the abuse in jurisdictions where there are NO mandatory clergy reporting laws. There are presently 34 such states in the USA.

  Delay or not properly reporting abuse apparently violates the "forthwith" intent found in Ontario law. The result could allow further abuse and the destruction of valuable evidence.

  3 - Failure of Church's Two Witness Rule

  To be sanctioned by the Church, policy requires two witnesses to confirm that a sexual assault occurred. A pedophile does not usually have witnesses watching him while he commits his obscene act. If a child makes an accusation of molestation against an adult member of the Church, the alleged molester can deny the charges and Church officials will almost always drop the matter, even if there are other victims with corroborating incidents against the same individual. Unless convicted by the Church, the Watchtower supports the abuser even if he is convicted in Court, forces victims into silence and will not alert other members of the congregation of the danger. Any discussion with other members of a matter not established by Church elders can be considered slander with a possible penalty of expulsion and shunning by family/friends.

  4 - Excommunication of Advocates

  As documented in the August 11, 2002 New York Times, numerous advocates have recently been expelled by the Church and shunned by family/friends for discussing the issues in public. Barbara Anderson and Bill Bowen are the most recent JWs advocates feeling the wrath of the Church. By contrast, during scandals within the Catholic system, victim advocates remained valid members.

  5 - Public at Risk

  It is a requirement of the Church that convicted/accused JW child rapists evangelize to an unsuspecting public at their front doors and in their homes without the public's knowledge. The Watchtower suggests that another member will accompany a rapist in public. But, they will not disclose that the member is not trained to deal with such a sick person or be informed as to why the person must be accompanied at all times in the field. Nor will they disclose that the accompaniment policy is only for pedophiles convicted by the Church not those convicted by a Court. There is nothing in the policy that prevents an abuser from going door to door alone. The goal of the leadership is to make sure that all 110,000 Canadian Jehovah's Witnesses knock on all Canadian homes and evangelize to all 30 million Canadians once or twice a year. Wouldn't you want to know if a child rapist is using his freedom of religion to come knocking on your front door?

  6 - Congregations at Risk

  Pedophiles who have been convicted by the Church are supposedly not allowed to have positions of authority until twenty years have passed. But those not convicted by the Church itself (even though the Court may have convicted them) are allowed privilege in the congregation and trust with children. Only pedophiles convicted internally by the Church are monitored as they move from congregation to congregation. However, in these cases untrained Church elders do the monitoring, without informing members of the danger these individuals - whom the Watchtower Society acknowledges may be notorious repeat offenders - pose to their innocent children. Church elders will know of an alleged child molester's history and can take steps to protect their own children, but will not extend that same protection to other children in their congregation by informing parents of the dangerous presence of a child rapist.

  7 - Church's Shunning Doctrine

  Expelled (disfellowshiped) members are labeled "apostates", must be shunned by family/friends and will die at the upcoming Armageddon according to Church doctrine ("Our Kingdom Ministry", August 2002, pages 3 and 4). Any other corporation/government except for a voluntary religious group would be in apparent violation of the Human Rights Code for creed discrimination. The leadership teaches this tactic and suggests it is a "loving" tool to keep the congregation clean. Instead the tactic rips families apart and instills fear in members to stay silent about sexual abuse and other issues.

  8 - Private Database

  The leadership maintains a child rapist database. The Silentlambs Internet site states that 23,720 names are on the list from Canada, USA and Europe. The Watchtower admits to the list but suggests the number is lower without giving exact numbers. How many of these cases have been reported to law enforcement in Ontario and other jurisdictions? How many are walking Ontario's streets and knocking on our doors? This database should be shared with the authorities in the USA, Canada and Europe.

  Who are the Jehovah's Witnesses?

  The JWs are a "closed" Christian group with 6 million members (110,000 in Canada). Founded in the 1870s by Charles Russell, Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate birthdays. They believe Armageddon is imminent and only they will survive. They will not swear allegiance to any organization or nation.

  Based in its New York headquarters, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc. is the Jehovah's Witnesses main corporation. Doctrine created by its Governing Body is published in magazines called "The Watchtower", "Awake!" and "Our Kingdom Ministry". Jehovah's Witnesses make it a goal to contact every citizen of Canada at least once a year. Unlike the Catholic Church's 2002 mea culpa, the Watchtower refuses even to acknowledge that there are problems with its sexual abuse policies.

  --------------------------------------------------------

  By the way - Barb and Joe - good story and I know that some day your son "wakes up". Have patience .... lots of patience.

  hawk

  Edited by - hawkaw on 26 September 2002 8:16:0
• 

  expatbrit

  Brown said that anyone found guilty of molestation by a church judicial committee is removed from all positions of responsibility and cannot evangelize door-to-door without being accompanied by a fellow Jehovah's Witness.

  They just don't get it do they?

  Not only is the witness accompanying them untrained and unaware that the person is a paedophile, the very fact that this person is there gives the paedophile a perfect cover for lining up more victims.

  Consider: the paedophile can easily take note of where the children are on field service. The Watchtower's policy of sending them out in field service gives them that opportunity. Then, the next day or the day after, this paedophile can return to those same houses under the guise of "following up on yesterday's call...are your parents home...oh?...when do they work etc etc". Surely no-one is stupid enough to think that the paedophile is monitored 24/7 by the elders!

  Thus, the Watchtower policy gives paedophiles opportunity, and it gives them a cover story to use in getting at more victims.

  The only way of trying to combat this is to stop paedophiles going in field service. Period.

  But of course that goes against Watchtower's power and control mechanisms.

  Expatbrit

  p.s. great article...again!
• 

  Dia

  They could both be pedophiles. And neither of them aware of it.
• 

  ChristianObserver

  Hello :o)

  Guardian coverage in the UK at last!

  *Their son, Lance Anderson, 41, a church elder in Mishawaka, Ind., said the intention isn't to punish his parents but to lead them to repentance.*

  J R Brown said something similar in a public statement.

  If this is a statement by the son which has been reported verbatim, I would love to ask him:

  *Why do you think that your parents should repent of privately asking the WTBTS questions about their discoveries of organisational mis-handling of cases of paedophilia, and when these questions had been ignored, making the issue public in order to stop other children suffering at the hands of a policy which is a *non-policy* in terms of safeguarding children?

  Why do you think your parents should repent of their belief (upheld by research) that victims of paedophilia will not have a second witness to the activity?

  Why do you think your parents should repent of their support for traumatised victims of child abuse and their desire to see these children protected in the future?*

  I think that Mr Lance Anderson is mistaken in his view of who should be the ones in need of repentance. It is the paedophiles who carry out the initial abuse and those who then *re-abuse* the children by

  encouraging a face to face encounter with the perpetrator in accordance with HQ instructions;

  requiring the abused to re-live the abuse and recount it in detail in accordance with HQ instructions;

  being a male only enquiry team;

  having no expertise in the area of child abuse, and therefore being unable to offer any real counsel to the victims;

  hiding behind the various state laws on mandatory reporting rather than insituting the most rigorous of them;

  claiming clergy/penitent privilege;

  having (according to their recent claims) jurisdiction over *spiritual issues* only and yet patently disregarding the victims' spiritual well-being;

  disfellowshipping and ostracising those who are abused, have spoken out about abuse or on occasion those who have sought professional help.

  The public attitude of the WTBTS and its adherents speaks volumes here and by their fruits, they shall be known.

  I feel desperately sad for the situation that Barbara and Joe Anderson find themselves in and my heart goes out to all.
• 

  jack2

  Thank you for posting this Undisfellowshipped, and good post by hawkhaw too....ChristianObserver, good points made too.

  I discussed this with a Catholic guy that I work with, and he felt it was certainly wrong for victims and their advocates to be disfellowshipped. We discussed the fact that, though the Catholic Church has also done wrong in the area of abuse, at least they do not excommunicate those who were victimized or who speak out.
• 

  JT

  ChristianObserver

  YOU HIGHLIGHT A VERY important point - they are being asked to REPENT while most religious folks have no problem with repenting the question of course any nonjw will ask is WHAT DID THEY DO

  steal , rob, kill, murder

  o no they questioned the wt procedure on handling child molestation

  DAMNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

  and when i point this out to NONJW they can't believe it they flip out

  great point and that is the heart of the matter in my view
• 

  hawkaw

  You are so right JT. Some of my friend phoned me from Toronto when they saw Vicki's case on CBC and City TV. That is one of the things I mentioned to them. It defintely leaves a mark. Of course the thought of a sicko knocking on their door tends to leave a "bigger" mark.

  hawk
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  detective

  I'm an outsider. Do they not understand that I, as an outsider, do not think that their handling of abuse cases is sufficient? Do they not understand that I do not acknowledge their judicial process as the end of the story? I don't get it! How can they miss the fact that I DON'T want a pedophile at my door whether he or she is with another witness or five other witnesses? Don't they get the fact that I'm not interested in hearing "bible truths" from someone who behaves as a moral degenerate and a criminal?? Is this who they want representing them? It's absolutely insane of them to think that their procedures are evenly remotely sufficient!

  Perhaps if they don't mind a Mormon missionary with a history of pedophilia coming to their door to talk god with them then maybe it makes some weird degree of sense. But if a JW doesn't want a Mormon pedophile roaming freely and coming to their door to preach to them, how can they expect an outsider like me to feel when it's the JWs who are sending out these people? So I guess I'd like to ask JR Brown how he would feel if he knew the Mormons were sending pedophiles to his home?

  This is ridculous. They are so incredibly self-absorbed. I think the press coverage would be even more effective if they played up this angle! After all, it's the publics door that this high and mighty group is sending it's organizationally known and acknowledged criminals to. I think it's easy for the public to distance themselves from the issue a bit by thinking that they won't be in the witness congregation and therefore this issue won't touch them. However, when you really sit down and think about the unknowing householder who opens their door to a pedophile that the organization knowingly sent to them- it's disgusting. I do wish this end of things would be emphasized more. I think it would gain even greater support and empathy for the cause.

  Edited by - detective on 26 September 2002 10:31:44
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  hawkaw

  Detective .... I have said the optics are with the door to door issue more than once.

  I hit the NY Times hard with this when Laurie was doing her story but she went with the explusion angle.

  I fully agree and believe this is one part of the story the press needs to hit on - espeically in the interets of "public safety".

  It tough - there are so many angles to the story that the press looks at what they think will sell and then they go with it.

  I say have some patience. You need the press in a frenzy looking for angles that have not been reported yet and then go from there.

  hawk