"Ex-Jehovah's Witnesses speak out"
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/
Under National News, Thursday, September 26, scroll down to article.
The Andersons Make National News
by Kenneson 5 Replies latest jw friends
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Gopher
Ex-Jehovah's Witnesses Speak Out
Associated Press Writer
September 26, 2002, 1:32 AM EDT
TULLAHOMA, Tenn. -- 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."
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On The Net:
Silentlambs: http://www.silentlambs.org
Watchtower Bible and Tract Society: http://www.watchtower.orgCopyright 2002, The Associated Press
Edited by - Gopher on 26 September 2002 8:9:36
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minimus
I didn't know Barbara Anderson co-founded Silentlambs.....What a shame to live your life and ignore your parents!
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hawkaw
Thanks Ken. Here are my comments that I made on another thread.
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 RuleTo 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 AdvocatesAs 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 RiskIt 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 RiskPedophiles 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 DoctrineExpelled (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 DatabaseThe 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.
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By the way - Barb and Joe - good story and I know that some day your son "wakes up". Have patience .... lots of patience.
hawk
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Nanoprobe
I would like to suggest that we all email our local press and ask the to carry the Associated Press story.
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cruzanheart
I did that this morning and suggested it might be nice to show the other side of the "love and unity" of Jehovah's Witnesses that they highlighted last Saturday in a little blurb about a Quick-Build KH in Terrell. No reply yet.
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