I attended the meeting tonight.....

by silentlambs 76 Replies latest watchtower scandals

• 

  Mommie Dark

  Whatszamatta, Danny, did I hit close to home? Why are you jealous of some little kids getting 'all' from some social workers?

  Save the stiff lip stuff. Your refusal to reply pretty much proves you didn't know what you were talking about.
• 

  ros

  Hello, SilentLambs:

  Unless you object, I would like to post this on Beacon website ( http://www.xjw.com) under the shunning topics.

  Blessings,
  Ros
• 

  teejay

  Silentlambs,

  You started this thread just after 1:00 am. This morning, before leaving for
  work (6:30 a.m.), there were 12 replies. When I logged on this afternoon
  (around 4:30 p.m.) there were 59 replies. WOW. I didn't read them all
  since they all said basically the same thing, but DannyBear's stuck
  out. He asked :

  What motive could possibly move you to even want to attend another meeting?

  and

  Although your revelations of hidden child abuse are commendable,
  will you further your cause by 'burning tire rubber' in the parking lot at
  your local KM?

  DannyBear's post stuck out because I wondered those two very things after
  reading your initial post. Like you, Bill, I was raised a JW. Unlike you, I
  spent six months as a disfellowshipped JW. Although I was df'd for a reason
  and under circumstances far less noble than those accompanying your
  current situation, I knew how I would be treated. It came as no surprise. I
  was hurt, and, if I were to be blatantly honest, I'd have to admit that some
  of the injuries I endured will probably never heal, but none of what I
  experienced stood out as unusual.

  For example, once while df'd I was headed into the Hall for a Sunday
  meeting. A reg. pioneer I'd worked with many times in service (usually in
  my car since he was nearly destitute) went in just ahead of me. He saw
  me. Instead of holding the door for me as you would for a common stranger,
  he let it close in front of me. A small wound, but one of many I could tell.
  There was no Internet board where I could post my experience on at that
  time. I guess I'm doing it now.

  My point Number One is:
  You knew and should have fully expected how you would be viewed and
  treated by your local JW community. Your mistreatment, as ugly, as
  unchristian, as ungodly, as unscriptural and inhumane… AS WRONG as it
  is, should not shock anyone, least of all you. If your past experience is
  anything like mine, you have probably mistreated others at the Kingdom
  Hall as you were last night. It is only part of the game that decent JWs are
  forced to play almost against their will. We all know that.

  Which leads to point Number Two:
  I've never been to your hall -- never even set foot in your lovely state of
  Kentucky -- but I'd be willing to bet all the money I have in the bank (well,
  it's not that much) that most, if not every single one of the JWs that attend
  are decent people, including even the elders. They have families and
  children they love and would be willing to go to jail for if the need arose.
  They barbecue on the weekend, shop at Wal-Mart. They are not monsters. I
  wonder what they were told that allows them to treat a decent man the way
  they do.

  digderidoo leads me to point Number Three when s/he wondered,
  "how you manage to sit through a meeting without standing up and shouting
  out, knowing what those certain individuals have done???" Standing up and
  causing a scene probably would not have the result I wanted, but I doubt
  that I could have just sat there while that farce went on in front of me. I
  wonder how you were able.

  My last point I direct toward the lurking JWs, wherever and whoever you
  are:
  Take Silentlambs current situation in life as a warning. You think you are
  loved? You think you have a spiritual paradise? You think the governing
  body, the local elders, the "friends" at the Hall care about you?

  Think again. Think long and hard.

  If you EVER see something so wrong, so hideous in Watchtower procedure
  or teaching that the conscience Jehovah gave you moves you to speak, do
  this: keep your freakin' mouth shut, or expect the same treatment Bill
  (and many others before him) has gotten. You may be the lowliest, meekest,
  mildest elderly sister in Podunk, Mississippi or you may be a governing
  body member flying all over the world first class -- it doesn't matter. If you
  want to continue to enjoy the sham of a United Brotherhood, shut the hell
  up. Period.

  Have a nice day.
• 

  jurs

  silentlambs,
  i admire your guts. good for you!! i know a sister who was shunned and was neither DA'd or DF'd too. i also witnessed a sister raising her hand repeatedly and not called on to answer. i wondered why and was annoyed at the elder who was so rude. also after my judicial meeting with elders, i was put on restriction from being on the school and from auxillry pioneering yet i was being tailed in my hall. i would come home from the meetings feeling insulted because this one elder would follow me and listen to my conversations. when i read what happened to you, i totally beleived it because i had it happen to me. one question though, did you inform the police? why isn't he in jail?? jurs
• 

  DB

  This is my first post. Greetings. I am currently a Witness, and have been for well over two decades (guess I'm not supposed to be vivting such sites, wink, wink). I have been following this matter for the last couple of months, the matter being the incident involving SL. If his message about what went on at that meeting is true, then it seems to me that either the local body of elders or the Society (by means of some special instructions sent to that congregation) has decided to "put the screws" to SL, perhaps hoping that the matter will resolve itself by prompting SL to stop attending meetings or perhpas even Disassociate himself.
• 

  Prisca

  I have to address some points raised by DannyBear. I feel he is missing the reasons why Silentlambs is doing what he is doing.

  DannyBear said:

  Children are children only for a very short time. They have an inate ability to withstand tremendous traumas and physical abuse and then recover. ...their plight as potential victims of pedophilia, are no where's near the damage being wrought by the 'towers' teaching on shunning ..... its effect on millions of people world wide.

  Suicides, depression, broken families, and ripple effects that go on for generations.

  You seem to have forgotten that child victims grow up into adults. Even though they may be older, the pain doesn't go away. As much as they may try to get over it, often the trauma stays with them. The memories don't go away. They have to live with the memories and trauma, and still try to function as "normal" adults.

  As for the "suicides, depression, broken families, and ripple effects" - I'd dare say that the effects of child abuse cause far more instances of these sad outcomes, than anyone's involvement in the WTS. I've got personal friends that were abused. I've seen their pain. But the pain of an ex-witness is nothing compared to the pain of child abuse.

  As for the squealing of the tires in the car park, who HASN'T secretly fantasied about doing that? I know I have many times, LOL
• 

  DannyBear

  Hello Prisca,

  Abuse of any form is dispicable whether perpetrated on young or old.

  What makes child abuse so repulsive, is the inability of the victim to defend him/herself from the attacker. Pure child-like innocence lost at the hands of such, is almost on a par with murder. Killing someones spirit, can last a lifetime. Believe me Prisca I in no way, by any of my comments, meant or mean to infer, that pedophilia is somehow less important than other cirmes.

  My comments were directed toward, what appears to be a 'mob mentality' developing among some poster's.

  Let me explain what I mean. I have daughter's, sister's, nephew's, niece's, who are still very active as JW's. When SL (for a very good cause) promotes his website information (excellent info) by mass distribution of 'one liner' snipits in newspapers all over the country, intimating CHILD MOLESTORS AT YOUR DOOR, painting with a broad stroke...(a false premise by the way), that there is a strong possiblity that when a Jehovah's Witness knocks on your door he/she may well be such a criminal...it is going to far. It is not fair by any standards.

  If he wants to promote an actual case, or direct attention to a specific crime, so be it. But to do what he is doing is not, imo, an honest campaign. It smacks of sensationalism, putting in jeopardy those majority of jw's innocent of any such crime.

  All of the above coupled with attending a meeting, just to stir things up, caused me to voice my concerns. It is the organization that is responsible for any bad attitudes, displayed by the rank&file, I simply think we should not be to hasty about sicking the dogs on those whose only sin, maybe they happen to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

  And as Teejay commented on.... SL's abuse encountered at the meeting, is no different than what thousands upon thousands of df'd, trying to get reinstated go through, on a daily basis. No secrets here.

  Prisa, I hope my explanation makes sense. This subject is not a very pleasant one...but I know that many feel deeply about it.

  Thanks for letting me know your thoughts.

  Danny
• 

  esther

  silentlambs, I have a deep admiration for what you are doing.
  DannyBear, from what I have read, silentlambs is officially a member of good standing in the congregation. He is therefore as entitled both to attend any meeting and make comments at the meeting as anyone else in the congregation. Who knows, his still being a member of the congregation may help to get the situation better exposed.
  You made a comment about children having the innate ability to withstand enormous trauma and abuse. While this has a limited amount of truth, I know adults who have been admitted to mental hospitals because they were sexually abused as children. Sexual abuse of children is evil. It is not something they can just forget.

  esther
• 

  DannyBear

  esther,

  I hope my response to Prisca helps you understand my comments.

  I have intimate knowledge of what childhood abuse can do to one's adulthood. It does seem to be a hidden crime, that has it's effects on all of us. No one is immune.

  Danny
• 

  silentlambs

  jurs,
  in answer to your question, i was ordered by wt legal to not report the matter, four weeks to the day after my resignation i turned him in the the local sheriff. the victim who is now an adult had to sign a complaint in order to put him in jail. she was pounced on by elders and jw family to not reproach god and other threats. she refused to sign the complaint and lives to this day as a deeply troubled silentlamb. in the process he lost custody of his daughter to his first wife, he hates me of course, but at least now she is safe. that is all i have to say about this.