Direction the elders rarely follow.

by notoneoftheboys 9 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

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  notoneoftheboys

  Here is a quote from a W/T article a few years ago. In all the 8 KH I attended [work locations changed] not ONE body of elders followed this direction, so if they are not minding the sheep who is? It galls me that they will quickly act if you grow a beard, or voice an opinion, or ask a question, but when your family fall foul of abuse where are the elders then?

  The elders primary task is to act as shepherds. (Isaiah 32:1,2; 1Peter 5:2,3) They should be especially careful to clothe [themselves] with the tender affections of compassion, kindness, lowliness of mind, mildness, and long-suffering. (Colossians 3:12) Let them listen in a kindly way and then apply healing words from the Scriptures. (Proverbs 12:18) Some who are afflicted with painful memories have expressed appreciation for elders who make regular visits or even telephone calls to check to see how they are doing. Such contacts need not take a lot of time, but they show that Jehovah's organization cares. When the afflicted one realizes that his Christian brothers truly love him, he may be helped to recover a considerable degree of emotional balance.
  
  
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  ToesUp

  I agree. It sounds good on paper and is the way that it SHOULD be but the realization sadly is it is not.
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  StrongHaiku

  What does it say about a group of people who need to be reminded to care for people and treat others with a modicum of humanity? This seems to me to be a natural impulse of most people - i.e. to be kind, to help, to look out for others, etc. One of the problems with the JWs is that they are so concerned about obeying the rules they rarely let their natural human impulses move them to what they know to be right.

  You can see evidence of this in the RC hearings. A number of elders showed obvious embarrassment by the gap between what they thought they should have done versus what they were told to do.
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  Barrold Bonds

  Yes like the one girl that I can't remember the abbreviation for. Several elders related how much they loved and cared for her. When asked about her suicide attempt, they were all clueless.
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  smiddy

  Barrold Bonds

  Your referring to BCB at the R.C. being conducted in Australia .

  Those elders were absolutely pathetic , they went overboard about how they felt for the poor girl ,sickened ,disgusted by what she went through , yet they never did anything on a positive note to help her.As they said , they believed her , but couldn`t do a thing about it because it was her word against the word of her abuser.

  And as the commissioner rightly pointed out mandatory reporting or not , they had a moral responsibility to report it as a crime to the authourities .as stated by law.

  And Vin Toole the W.T.lawyer pleaded ignorance of that fact .(?) yeah right.

  And as you rightly point out my friend , none of them were aware of her attempted suicide , or so they say .

  Jehovah`s Witnesses are more concerned about getting the perpatrator of a crime /sin to be re-instated than actually assisting and comforting the victim of the sin/ crime.

  Jehovah`s Witnesses have always had trouble identifying or distinguishing between what is a sin and what is a crime.

  smiddy
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  Vidiot

  How the f**k has the Commission not facepalmed themselves into a coma by now?
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  Heaven

  First of all, you have to look at what education and training the elders receive regarding the responsibilities of looking after 'their flock'. From what I can tell, it's bupkiss. I certainly don't consider the Bible a legitimate or valid source. I don't this the Royal Commission does either.
  

  smiddy said: Those elders were absolutely pathetic , they went overboard about how they felt for the poor girl ,sickened ,disgusted by what she went through , yet they never did anything on a positive note to help her.

  smiddy, is bang on. This speaks volumes about the Borg. Words are hollow, useless, vacuous, meaningless unless actual actions occur to back up them up.

  During my marriage, I asked my husband (now my ex) the following question:

  "How are your actions and behaviours supportive of our marriage?" When he snarked back "Well they're not!" I knew my marriage was over.

  So ask youself the following question: "How are the actions and behaviours of the elders supportive of the congregation?"

  What is the word for when you say one thing and do another? Oh yeah, liar.
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  Vidiot

  It's similar to, "Our thoughts and prayers are with those poor starving children in Africa"...

  ...but not actual food, which is what they really need.
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  Diogenesister

  
  

  Vidiot12 minutes ago

  It's similar to, "Our thoughts and prayers are with those poor starving children in Africa"...

  ...but not actual food, which is what they really need.

  AMEN to that
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  dubstepped

  Do something "wrong" and they'll be at your doorstep to talk to you for sure, even if they have to come find you. I've known people that were stalked at work by elders who would wait outside for them to come out. It's a shame that they don't put that same effort into helping people that might actually want it. Then again, that might keep people from leaving, so maybe it isn't such a shame.