by the mole 78 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse
He's done good work exposing the truth of the matter. He's just a guy, what did you think, Bill was the Second Coming? He told the truth, which is all you can reasonably expect.
Your healing is, in the long run, up to you. There is no way that replacing the WT with Bill Bowen is going to make your life better.
He's a brave man for what he did, but he's just a guy. He's not the Messiah and he can't fix all your problems.
CZAR
Just my 2 Cents:
Having just finished helping out with the Candle Light Vigil in SC, I can honestly say that it was totally draining, emotionally. Bill Bowen was great here, and I didn't see an ego problem at all. I did see someone who seems emotionally and physically tired. Some of the social workers that I talked with say that there are times that they feel that they just can't hear or cope with another abuse case. Bill hears it all the time. Maybe he needs a well deserved vacation/break from it all....
Sincerely,
Swalker
I have no problem with bill, he's one of my personal hero's, and i've stuck up for him many times. I do however have a big problem with the constant editing of posts on the SL guestbook, many seemingly arbitrary.
what i've noticed over there with the guest book is no one can say anything good about the religion. so it seems the intent is to dis the religion not help those who may need help due to molestation. in my opinion (which i know means naught) if they wanted to help individuals they'd allow posts about the religion pro and con and let the focus be on those who've been hurt ..some may recover wanting to stay jw's its their choice. seeking help shouldnt mean your told not to worship god however you want to and may hinder some from seeking help. as time has gone by its guest book has deteriorated to a hate filled ugly tirade that i wouldnt think does much good to anyone.
(just my personal observation, i really am not one to pass any kind of judgement.i read there maybe once a month or so)
Guest book logs are had to manage period.
I had to password enable mine to keep dubs from trashing it.
Now i just post messages over from emails.
: I did see someone who seems emotionally and physically tired. Some of the social workers that I talked with say that there are times that they feel that they just can't hear or cope with another abuse case. Bill hears it all the time. Maybe he needs a well deserved vacation/break from it all....
Bill called me about a year ago and even then, he sounded emotionally exhausted. I told him I thought he should take a well-deserved break and let someone else carry on the torch. Three years of constantly swimming in the emotional cesspool of child abuse would drain anyone.
Isn't it ironic that the WTS is so evil that not only do they drain most of the life out of their faithful members, they drain the life out of ex-members whose only goal is to get the WTS to quit ruining and destroying lives.
Bill has provided a forum for people who've suffered from child abuse to talk about it with others who've had the safe fate. The theraputic value of that alone would be enough to justify its existence. The thousands of letters from WT victims was a big motivating factor for at least one law firm to spend over a million dollars of its own money to gather evidence for a huge lawsuit against the WTS.
To call silentlambs a "failure" is just plain wrong.
Farkel
Thanks Farkel...you summed it up nicely!
Swalker
How has Silentlambs failed? Has it not brought to the attention of the world the WT policy on child abuse.
I notice "the mole" has not posted since raising the question and trying to insinuate that Bill Bowen has "lost" his way. That Silentlambs is somehow falling apart.
Makes me wonder who "the mole" is really a mole for??
I'm just glad to see that this thread hasn't trashed Bill at all; I see only nice comments now.
Silent Lambs has not failed.
I'm with shamus, sunspot, brummie, and others... SL has NOT failed by a LONG SHOT. Good grief, gimme a break already. I guess nobody gets the SL newsletter. If everyone did, you'd receive email often enough outlining numerous ongoing lawcases (which take TIME, people!) and other frequent ongoing events which bring awareness to the subject of abuse. I guess some are wishing for a Superman/Super-Abuse-Org? How much, really, can just a few people do? There are only so many hours in a day.
If everyone was signed up for the SL newsletter, you'd know about the divorce at least a month ago. The purpose of that very PUBLIC EMAIL was to share the news straight 'from the horse's mouth' so everyone would know what was going on and minimize 'gossip.' I was going to post it in full but I see someone already put up the link to it. I say Congrats to both of them, they look great!
And mole, we used to swap posts frequently on the board, but to say SL has failed is, as Farkel said, Just Plain Wrong. What a discouraging, defeatist thing to say. The guestbook was always a 'hotbed' from day one, circa summer 2002. Remember? What can one expect from a 'hot' subject (abuse) and a 'hot' religion (WT)?
Whoever is in charge of it now I do not know, as I haven't visited the guestbook lately. But BB asked for help with the website recently via that same divorce email (I think it was that one). One thing BB has made clear from early on was he wanted SL's official position to be Neutral as far as 'religion' goes, so that those still on the 'inside' would feel comfortable coming to SL re: their abuse.
He has also asked for help financially in recent SL emails, and as always, asks for as many to attend abuse-awareness events as possible.
Starting at a grassroots level and moving up the public-awareness ladder takes a LONG time. Only 15-20 years ago, MS was considered a 'hysterical women' disease.' That's no joke. And CFIDS is STILL considered the same thing by an uneducated public/media/medical, even though several nationwide CFIDS orgs are running full speed ahead, one in existence for 17 years already.
So if anyone doesn't currently have an 'SL job" (me included), I would hope everyone would keep a more positive outlook about SL and the work it has done and is STILL doing. And volunteer time and/or $$ if you can, no matter how small.
Thumbs UP for Silentlambs.org.
/ag
