Mephis

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Posts by Mephis

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  104

  Do you feel vindicated by the exposure of the WT Society in Australia? It seems like a feeding frenzy on here! I love it. You?

  by Wasanelder Once in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  are you pleased with the exposure of the society in australia?

  do you feel personally vindicated by it?

  do you think it gives you credibility with others now that all the things you said were going on, actually are documented?

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  Mephis

  They'll shift to meet legislation. That may be the option for some countries, and it may even be something you guys in the States can do too. Mandated reporting, no ifs, no buts, do not pass Go, contact the Police or go directly to jail.

  But the whole process and procedure of their internal judicial structure... they're still hauling people in front of judicial committees to face their abusers in spite of said abusers just being out of prison for those very offences. They need to broaden their evidence requirements. They can do this easily. Their internal letters show that they can re-write the meaning of a word when it suits their needs.

  I mean really you'd expect them to introduce training around child safeguarding issues for elders, you'd expect a clear policy for how someone could report, you'd expect some basic organisational 101 stuff to be going on. But they have to accept first that they have a responsibility. That they have a duty. That saying 'but we warn parents...' is not sufficient on its own.
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  17

  RC on CNN - Damn this is Damning!!!

  by jw07 in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  even cnn has picked up the ongoing royal commission hearings.

  i'm sitting back and eating popcorn for this one, it's like a dream come through.. http://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2015/07/28/australia-jehovah-witness-sex-abuse-hannigan-lklv.cnn.

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  Mephis

  Call it for what it is. 1 Peter 2. Accountability in line with scripture. Why are they fighting it?
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  19

  WT Financial strategy to reduce liability - Create artificial debt!!!!!!

  by Viva la Vida in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  see this letter from the royal commission: .

  letter from watchtower australia to governing body regarding transfer of funds between branches.

  http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/downloadfile.ashx?guid=61967dc3-2203-4cca-8dc7-cd612c66645e&type=exhibit&filename=wat.0012.001.0023&fileextension=pdf.

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  Mephis

  Interesting sidenote, but in Britain, I can't find WBTS registered for privacy law purposes. Instead, they've got IBSA registered which I'd imagine wouldn't be an acronym familiar to too many, or at least not readily come to mind without knowing history of org in Britain. Under British law, one can make a subject access request and see what information is held about you by an organisation. Why is IBSA registered but not WBTS? Hmm.
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  104

  Do you feel vindicated by the exposure of the WT Society in Australia? It seems like a feeding frenzy on here! I love it. You?

  by Wasanelder Once in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  are you pleased with the exposure of the society in australia?

  do you feel personally vindicated by it?

  do you think it gives you credibility with others now that all the things you said were going on, actually are documented?

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  Mephis

  There's a part of me glad that things are being pulled out into the press across the world. Really showing that this isn't just 'one bad apple' or a 'rogue body of elders'. Perhaps even helping to stop this ever happening again, or at least alerting people to the dangers. But the cost to those who have suffered, those who have been standing up for years, for those who step forward to speak of what they went through... it shouldn't need them to have to do this. And I really do wish it had never happened to have to be revealed, and that something without the trauma and suffering inflicted upon children was opening people up to why culty stuff like JWs is so dangerous.
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  67

  Branch Service Department Manual approves appointing Child molestors as Elders

  by stuckinamovement in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/downloadfile.ashx?guid=7ba22716-556c-43c2-9fc6-76697afad440&type=exhibit&filename=wat.0001.004.0076&fileextension=pdf

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  Mephis

  27 August 2013 is date given in exhibit list I believe BoC.
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  19

  WT Financial strategy to reduce liability - Create artificial debt!!!!!!

  by Viva la Vida in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  see this letter from the royal commission: .

  letter from watchtower australia to governing body regarding transfer of funds between branches.

  http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/downloadfile.ashx?guid=61967dc3-2203-4cca-8dc7-cd612c66645e&type=exhibit&filename=wat.0012.001.0023&fileextension=pdf.

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  Mephis

  Oh that letter is fun! It's a deliberate attempt to massage their accounts to evade their legal obligations under Australian privacy law on the records they could hold about individuals. Obviously the commission is concerned about the records of those alleged to be abusers, because it shows how far they go to avoid letting those records be known about. And also it implicates Brooklyn directly. Nice find. Saw passing reference to it in the opening statement by counsel. (edit: or I may be mistaken, and that was something about a new corporation being formed for presumably 'financial' purposes)
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  34

  FMF Rant on Abuse and JW Apologists: The Single Root of the Whole Issue(s)

  by freemindfade in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  for the jw apologists, they debate certain factors to down play all the recent sex abuse information in the jehovah's witness organization.

  and there is so much focus on "two witness rule" and "parents can report" the "elders aren't legal authorities" and many other smoke screen issues.

  a lot of these issues and discussion are down stream from what i believe to be the root of the issue.

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  Mephis

  I don't think that aspect is unwitting Bonsai. It's the end point for this chain of evidence.

  It will be an absolute vindication of those who've been speaking out for so long and for those who took their cases to the commission. The organisation is being backed into a corner where they either are negligent or culpable. And in either case absolutely morally bankrupt.
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  24

  Another Shocking clip From JW Australia Royal investigation Elder would not report MURDER

  by Watchtower-Free in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfj1ecde5fy.

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  Mephis

  Yeah, that's what they try to claim and where it seems to stem from with reporting. Problem is, even their interpretation of that is a very American one so in other countries it just looks deranged to try to claim an absolute right when it may exist only in a very limited form at the discretion of a court, let alone apply to them.
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  40

  Is the two-witness rule really unreasonable?

  by stillin in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i'm picturing a situation in which a savvy 12 year old doesn't like the house rules that mom's new husband has put into place.

  or something along that line.

  i can certainly agree that protection of children is paramount, but who protects the real victim in those cases?

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  Mephis

  My point is that the OP is about children making false accusations. Your own post begins with your fears about children making false accusations. But you want to use the example of a group of adults trying to blackmail a man. Yes, false allegations happen generally. That's why we have the police and the courts to try and determine guilt or innocence. As they did in the case you were using as an example.
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  45

  Governing Body, painted in a corner, now what?

  by Wasanelder Once in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  the governing body have painted themselves in a corner, so to speak.

  if they acknowledge their response to abuse claims was insensitive, unloving and inadequate they are denying the belief that "god's way" is best and risk losing abuse cases.

  if they stick with it and say it is "god's way according to the bible" they will be seen as cult leaders and risk losing abuse cases.

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  Mephis

  So someone who has been failed by their parents goes to men she trusts, and that excuses them for failing her too? Excuses them for inflicting even more trauma upon her with their judicial process? Excuses them for absolute inaction knowing that they were sending her home to a violent man who was sexually abusing her and her sisters? Excuses them for ignoring her sisters? Excuses them for ignoring the man's own confession? Excuses them for not even having the basic common sense to report this to the police?

  Remember that this is a religion where the elders are your first place to go to when in need. That you have an obligation to report 'serious sin' to them. That to 'drag Jehovah's name through the mud' is frowned upon in the extreme and so presents a major obstacle to reporting to the police.

  Yes, things should go to the police. That's the point. One failure does not excuse another. It is not good enough to try and shirk the responsibility which is taken on when you become an authority in someone's life.