What do you think of the following line of reasoning for helping a JW start to think about what they are admitting.. (Essentially, the organisations way of handling child abuse has been wrong, harm has been caused, God is now putting it right.)
Reply:
"I appreciate your honesty, in admitting that child abuse has not been handled in the right way in the past. In some cases terrible and lasting damage has been done by abuse cases being handled in the wrong way, as you know.
I was just thinking about the scriptural way that we show repentance ..
In the Bible, when things were done in the wrong way, rather than Jehovah's way, the person (or people) responsible would not receive God's blessing until they had taken certain steps..
1) Admit that they were in the wrong, and acknowledge that they had not followed Jehovah's direction.. rather than try to defend, minimise or justify their actions.
2) Demonstrate repentance by apologising to the wounded party, taking steps to put right the wrong and try to make up for it in any way possible.
3) Finally, they would need to be determined to change, and show that by action.. not just offering words of sorrow or repentance. They had to show they were truly sorry for any harm that had been caused.
Do you believe the Faithful Slave will do all these things, in line with those Bible-based guidelines?
The organisations' policies and procedures have been shown to be in need of correction, and harm has been caused to innocent victims.
If Jehovah is moving the Slave to make changes, it's because they are needed, and have been needed for some time now. Will the Faithful Slave accept the correction and show repentance in the above ways?
[ Wait for reply, basically no they don't have to do all those things]
Reply:
" Why not? If some correction is coming from Jehovah, it is only because the former ways were not the correct way to act. The correction must be needed, and this is not a small matter that can be put aside and forgotten by the victims.
Which means that repentance (turning around from a former course of action) and apologising for your past mistakes is required, wouldn't you agree?
A public apology would go a long way to help victims of abuse whose cases were not handled as well as they could have been, sometimes because of inadequate policies or procedures.
Many of these victims have suffered very badly in the past because matters were not dealt with properly.. because the instructions from the organisation were, at the least, not very well formed.
Mistakes have been made, horrible abuse covered over when it should have been reported, and even pedophiles being reappointed to positions of trust.
At least some of these child abuse victims have a valid 'cause for complaint'.
Don't you agree?..
Please read Matthew 5:23, 24.
What course of action do you feel that the organisation, and those carrying the burden of it's oversight, should take?
The way to show repentance for past wrongs, and how to make peace with those who were hurt, is clearly set out in both the scriptures and Watchtower publications.
Please think about what I have said.
If the Governing Body do not take these steps, what would that mean? "
Feedback very much welcomed, particularly clarification or suggestions of how to be more clear/to the point.
I think we need a strong counter response to this soon-to-be common reply.
Please bump if/when this issue arises again, I'll be away for a while.
