LANDMARK DECISION - Vicki Boer vs Watchtower Society

by Uzzah 144 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

• 

  sf

  Vicki,

  Your honesty in this post is refreshing. I would be feeling as you do now if I were in your shoes. Yet, it DOES send a 'clue' to Jaracz. Try to keep that in the forefront of your processing this all.

  {{{{{ huge, long hug }}}}}

  Vicki, here you say this:

  "The thing that makes me most mad was when they lied on the stand the judge believed them. They said they would not have applied Matt 18 to an abuse case,(even though they did), and they never do. They lied, and the judge believed."

  Docbob and I were chatting in yahoo yesterday about who is allowed in the courtrooms as ones who can explain thoroughly 'the ways of the Watchtower and the 'religion' it heads up, Jehovah's Witnesses'; under oath. It slips my mind what that person is labeled as. Yet they are there to provide the court with vital info on why Watchtower teaches what it does and gives insight into the operations of the book publishing empire and why IT MAY BE these doctrines and policies that kill and break up family nucleus'. (Bob, if you are reading this, please add more of our convrsation yesterday...thx)

  This is what I was trying to get Alan and a few others to do so that the judges can be 'well armed (with facts) and well informed (with documents and wt literature, letters, graphics and such= ALL THINGS WATCHTOWER) of just how terroristic and dangerous they ARE, were and will be if it isn't SHUTDOWN. More loss of life and more broken families. More murder , more suicide.

  It is time now and up to 'you guys' who know all about how Watchtower operates, manipulates and kills it's 'people' and the people (INNOCENT KIDS) that will be coming into this Insanity.

  OFFER YOURSELVES UP. Give of yourselves and tell these judges and leaders of our world what you KNOW and why it must be addressed and stopped. It is your obligation! It is also these judges and leaders obligation to listen and adhere to what the facts and evidence present. No more excuse about why you 'can't' talk or be heard by these judges and leaders. We are all here on this planet together. THEY MUST HEAR IT! THEY MUST DO MORE! TO STOP IT!

  (~sigh of relief~)

  sKally
• 

  wannaexit

  THAT'S GREAT NEWS!

  I am very happy to hear it.

  The amount may be small but the VICTORY surely is not.

  Wannaexit
• 

  Scully

  Her Honour writes:

  [139] ... My starting point therefore, is that a tort committed by a person in the course of what he or she sincerely believes to be a religious duty is not automatically shielded from the scrutiny by the courts by operation of the constitutional protection for freedom of religion.

  [140] ... Having chosen a particular religion or voluntarily elected to remain a member of it, a person will not be heard to complain later that he was injured in some way as a result of the application of the principles of that faith. Likewise, matters of a purely internal nature such as membership or discipline within a congregation would rarely, if ever, be subject to review by the courts. In each case the court must consider the nature of the religious principle relied upon, the context in which it arises, the circumstances of the person harmed, and the nature of the harm in the course of determining where the rights of the Plaintiff should be recognized notwithstanding the impact on the religious freedom of the defendant.

  What I am getting from this part of the decision is that people who have been born into the JWs or raised by parents who converted to JWs - because they did not voluntarily elect to join in the first place - have grounds for complaint if they voluntarily choose to leave the religion and are marked/ disfellowshipped/disassociated and subsequently shunned by family and friends.

  This is very very interesting.

  Love, Scully
• 

  run dont walk

  It's a start, way to go Vicki for hanging in there, we are all cheering for you.

  The great thing about this is, when more cases come up, judges have the tendency to review similiar cases and to judge the same way, not saying that they will, but it sure will HELP.

  Having a drink for Vicki today !!!!!!!!!!!
• 

  neverthere

  I am so happy for Vicki, but the amount is so small. In knowing ALL that she went through with that family and how they treat their family, she deserved much more. Perhaps now the JW society might consider cracking down on its members, and perhaps more victims will sue, and hopefully bankrupt this org.

  Vicki - hold your head up high, you have nothing I repeat NOTHING to feel bad about. You did what you had too, not just for yourself, but is taking them to court you have shown your girls how to stand up for themselves, how to believe in what they can do, that you have shown them to be strong is a BIG victory in your life.

  Love Diana
• 

  gumby

  There is some language in the decision that is absolutely HUGE by way of opening the door for further lawsuits

  If it looks like it could head that direction......the society will change poilcy only to the effect of not being able to be sued. " Let a victim and others who bypass the societys policies do as they please........then tell all dubs to either mark them, view them as disaccociated ,or as rebellious bastards that we have to live with".

  They'll get by it in one way or the other.......they always do.

  Gumby
• 

  Kenneson

  A significant milestone. CONGRATULATIONS!

  W.T. TAKE NOTE! You were duly warned. MORE is sure to follow.
• 

  Pleasuredome

  [134] ... Canadian courts have not been reluctant to find a fiduciary relationship between a minister or a priest and a member of the congregation, provided the usual tests for the existence of suca relationship are met. The fact that the relationsip arises in a religious setting has not been a seen as a bar to imposing a fiduciary duty of care.

  a duty of care which the WTS claimed they didn't have for vicki, was tested(as far as i can work out) and was summerised by the judge in this sentence

  [172] The plaintiff's dependence and powerlessness developed as a direct result of the teachings of the defendant Wath Tower. She was brought up in that faith to accept the word of the elders unquestioningly. Independent thought was not permitted. She was taught not to trust anyone outside the faith and she followed that direction. Thus when her employers noticed her distress in December 1989 and asked if they could help, she rebuffed their efforts, insisting that only somebody within her religion could help her. The elders were, therefore, not only aware of her dependence and vulnerability, they were responsible for it.

  it seems to me that existence of such a relationship existed,, the judge says as much above, and so the WTS were proved to be liars.

  colin stevenson, as reported in the canadian press, said: -

  Because they're acting solely as spiritual counsellors, he continued, religious figures such as priests, rabbis or church elders have no duty of care to their congregation members.

  http://www.gospelcom.net/apologeticsindex/rnb/archives/00000912.html

  when i say they lied, i'm talking in a spiritual sense. obviously church elders DO have a SCRIPTUAL/CHRISTIAN duty of care.

  i also think that the precedent has now been set for the relationship between elders/WTS and R&F, and it will now be a nightmare for the WTS to defend any court case of a mishandled case of abuse.
• 

  Soledad

  congratulations Vicki!!!

  Bravos to the Judge. Justice has been served.

  I sincerely hope that the U S courts take into account the Canadian courts point of view and apply it here.

  many of the things said in the decision were so right on!!

  157] in the Jehovah's Witness faith, there is an even closer and more dependant relationship between members of the congregation and the clergy than is the case in most religions. For members of the Jehovah's Witnesses, religion is a pervasive and dominant influence in everyday life. Social contact with others outside the faith is discouraged and adherence to the instructions of the elders is required.

  as others have already said, this could potentially open the door for rulings against blood transfusions as well.

  I remain very hopeful and most of all very very apreciative towards courageous people like Vicki Boer!!

  Congratulations and thank you!!
• 

  waiting

  Congratulations, Vicki, for your stance as a human. You certainly won over your enemy in that arena.

  In fact, you won in every arena. You've set New Policy in Canada. May the USA & Europe follow your lead.

  As Hawkaw brought out previously - one of the problems of a court case against the WTBTS is that outsiders don't understand WT language....nor the inuendos only insiders understand. Lawyers, by the nature of the beast, think they understand everything.

  An outside lawyer is still an outsider. A paralegal assigned to a lawyer just might not hack it - because then yet another outsider is explaining jw's to an outsider.

  hey gumby.............yeah, you're probably right. But it's a start, yet another break in power.