I am totally disgusted about what I have learned over this past year. We all have been betrayed and lied to. I am particularly disturbed that the elders and others in authority felt that it was their right to keep the rank and file in ignorance over the molestation issue. The GB and the elders were only concerned about not dirtying Jehovah's name. In other words, they wanted to cover their own behinds to avoid exposure.
A few years ago an elder from our congregation gave a special needs talk. I don't remember what the theme of the talk was, but what he said was very interesting. He said that parents should use caution and common sense when allowing their children to sleep over their friends houses. After the meeting my wife and I were talking to a young mother who said that she would never let her children sleep over anyones house. My wife and I thought that that was unduly strict and rigid. We had frequently allowed our children to sleep over their friends houses. All of our friends at the time were Jehovah's Witnesses.
Go forward a couple of years. We found out that a high ranking JW had molested a teenager staying over his house on a sleep over. This same person had also molested his children. This happened in a congregation some distance from our own. My wife had attended a function at their house at one time. This molester was disfellowshipped, but I don't believe that the authorities were ever involved. We found this information out through the grapevine, not through the elders.
So, my wife and I could now understand why this mother, the wife of an elder, would not let her children sleep over other kids houses. The elder that gave the talk, all the elder body, and all the elder's wives knew why this warning was given. The rank and file nobodies, like me and my wife, had no right to be made aware of this information, according to WT tenets and dictates. What right did these morons have to keep this information from us. Everyone in the congregation had a right to know that there was a child molester in our midst. Everyone had a right to know why this elder would give such a dire warning. All it did was keep people guessing and confused over why the warning was given.
Did anyone here ever have a similar special needs talk? Was the warning as cryptic and confusing? Were you able to read between the lines? Have you heard of a molester in your area striking again because the congregation wasn't properly informed? This whole situation infuriates me. For the lame excuse of protecting Jehovah's name, we were all kept in the dark about something that we all had the right to know.
Mr. Shakita