CANDACE CONTI - MIXED EMOTIONS

by The Searcher 19 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  The Searcher

  Whatever the outcome of the appeal, I fear that most of us are going to be very disappointed.

  a) Obviously if the Org wins.

  b) If the Org loses, they will put their Plan 'B' into action - damage limitation - which will iinvolve confidentiality agreements being signed by pending/future victims, thereby settling the majority of cases out of court, and winning in several ways;
  

  
  There are probably other benefits, but these are the principal ones, and for these reasons I reckon the floodgates will never be allowed to be opened!!! They've seen how other establishments have responded to their pedophile cases, and have picked up some good tips on how to minimise the effects. :(
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  EdenOne

  I think if we were hoping that we would see the Watchtower's demise through pedophile lawsuits, we will be disappointed. However, if the outcome is:

  a) Bad press for the Watchtower Society

  b) Significant change in the way the Watchtower Society and the congregations handle pedophiles and cases of child molestation, in order to protect the children from molesters and act swiftly in the victim's interests;

  then I would say, regardless of the outcome of Candace Conti's case [sentence or settlement out of court], that the outcome has been positive.

  Eden
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  konceptual99

  The WTS have already moved. They have put procedures into place that manage to ensure that Legal drives the handling of cases whilst distancing elders from appearing to be in an organisationally driven hierarchy.  They have made it clear individuals can go to the authorities.  Chaff of course, but enough to make it even harder to pin responsibility on the WTS. 

  i think we will be lucky to see anything else on the scale of Conti again.  The only way this will ever be a true scandal that could rock the org is is it was clear the org systematically covered things up. The chance of that coming out is minuscule. 
• 

  EdenOne

  konceptual99

  I disagree - we can still see new cases surface, regarding molestations that happened before the organizational changes [say, pre-2000], and for those, I'm sure the WTS can still be found liable, even in the light of more recent organizational changes.

  In any case, we must remember that the Conti case isn't about "bringing the Watchtower Society down to the dust", but it's chiefly about a) the wrongdoing that was inflicted to Candace Conti;  and then b) protecting other children within the Jehovah's Witnesses community from sexual predators who may find safe haven within the congregations because of the WTS' idiotic policies.

  Eden
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  The Searcher

  @ EDENONE: 

  My fear is that the we won't even see the Org receive significant bad publicity - due to them drawing the curtains and paying off victims in secret.

  One or two open court cases will not get the media's juices flowing the way the Catholic church did. The signs are that the Org will come out of its pile of manure, smelling of roses!

  All the more reason for sites like this to share knowledge - whenever & wherever.

  Benefits the Org will receive:

  a) no impact on current/future donations

  b) no impact on new convertsc) no impact on current Witnessesd) minimal impact on lawyer's and court's costs.
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  Zoos

  With CBS's (?) request to record the proceedings, I assumed the the media's juices were already flowing.
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  The Searcher

  Perhaps in a part/s of the U.S.  but nothing here in the U.K.

  "One swallow does not a summer make" springs to mind!
  
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  breakfast of champions

  This is the way the Watchtower ends,

  Not with a bang but a whimper.
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  Vidiot

  konceptual99 - "Chaff of course, but enough to make it even harder to pin responsibility on the WTS."

  That explanation makes the most sense for the specific way the directives and policies have been "clarified".

  Deep down, though, I suspect that the knee-jerk urge to defer to the WTS's authority and follow entrenched Organizational policy will make this much more difficult for BOEs to apply in the real world.
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  Giordano

  I wouldn't minimize it, everything helps. If someone, perhaps a new bible study,  checks out the JW's online the Conti case will pop up, doctrines pro and con, the blood issue, past history, the shunning policy. The born in retention rate or lack there of. Pew surveys that show the JW's are under educated, earn far less then most every other religion (USA statistics).

  Outside interest in the Mormons, JW's,  Scientology even the Christian Scientists has been dropping. Any growth is basically inbred. People are too well informed or can access the information they need in a minute or two.

  Over all though I feel the Society is destroying itself from within.