I was just thinking this morning about the court cases Wt is facing and although I do think there are enough of them is there just enough in them to pin it to Wt. I sort of get the feeling a lot of these cases are revolving around the definition of terms and also an attitude of could-a, should-a, would-a. Even with the latest example it raised more questions than solutions and I'm guessing that's why it was settled out of court. If it was so black and white why didn't they proceed through the court system to the end. I guess the irony of it all was her father was an elder so he was just as accountable for reporting as any other elder.
It just seems that there isn't enough in it to pin it to them
by joe134cd 12 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse
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OnTheWayOut
Watchtower doesn't promote pedophilia so it wouldn't always be clear cut that they are guilty of something. We understand that what they are guilty of is trying to avoid looking bad, trying to cover up that they have pedophiles among them. Their "Call Headquarters first" order is clearly designed to minimize damage when untrained elders get involved. It should be designed to protect children first.
Add in lawyers and it's tough to win cases. I don't blame victims for settling cases and moving on with their lives.
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OrphanCrow
OnTheWayOut: Their "Call Headquarters first" order is clearly designed to minimize damage when untrained elders get involved. It should be designed to protect children first.
That "call to headquarters" is simply a legal maneuver that establishes a "client-lawyer" relationship between the elders and the WT Society. That way, if the clergy-penitent defense fails, they always have that client-lawyer privilege to fall back on to claim confidentiality.
The elders aren't calling for legal advice per se - they are calling for protection from disclosure.
Add in lawyers and it's tough to win cases. I don't blame victims for settling cases and moving on with their lives.
Of course the victims should settle. A settlement is a win for the victims.
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blondie
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102009288?q=clergy&p=par
“IN THE New Testament and during the early apostolic times there is no mention of clergy or laity,” wrote professor of theology Cletus Wessels. The Encyclopedia of Christianity states: “There gradually arose a differentiation into clergy as the officeholders and the laity as the rest . . . ‘Ordinary’ church members now came to be seen as an unqualified mass.” That differentiation became prominent during the third century C.E.—more than two hundred years after Jesus Christ!
If, then, the clergy-laity distinction is not based on the model set by Jesus’ apostles and other early Christians, does that make it wrong? According to the Bible, yes. Consider why.......................
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DesirousOfChange
Plus, typically their settlements include a "gag order" to minimize notoriety and publicity. So, the "victim" gets a cash settlement and WTS gets to keep down the publicity.
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OnTheWayOut
Plus, typically their settlements include a "gag order" to minimize notoriety and publicity. So, the "victim" gets a cash settlement and WTS gets to keep down the publicity.
Gag orders also mean that new court cases wind up starting from scratch. No previous precedents pave the way for a new case to be successful quicker than the settled cases.
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waton
The Catholic church admitted that 1in 7 priest abused minors. often multiple times in multiple locations,(and that does not include the rank & file). By comparison wt runs a clean maschine. Evolution has primed males to mate with ideal, young females. look at the mags centerfolds, the haute couture gangways to get the picture. Modern laws have removed this prime younger market segment from the 18-68 competition. The reptile in us is not tamed, and. wt is caught in the squeeze.
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OnTheWayOut
Waton, while much of what you say can be part of a discussion of the male sex drive, the main discussion here is not how WT is "caught in the squeeze" like it's gunna happen and there's nothing they can do about it. There's stuff they can do about it.
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waton
There's stuff they can do about it.
As you might know from my posts I am no fan of wt leading. but we hear so much of the occasions in failings of the elders/ branches. but
there might also be far more vigilance (not vigilanti ) in the local congregations, that are not in the limelight. After all, I have not seen any group of people where mores are more defined, watched, controlled than in lapland .
lapland the wt since 1914, particularly since the overlapping after the demise of that bachelor, , Fr.Franz.
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berrygerry
Great link, blondie.
This paragraph should be sent to the appropriate lawyers:
"In order to adhere closely to the pattern set down in the Bible, Jehovah’s Witnesses have, not a clergy class, but unpaid spiritual shepherds and teachers who willingly minister to God’s flock."