court denies summary judgement for laurel jehovah's witnesses congregation.
a motion for summary judgement is denied in a case against the laurel congregation of jehovah's witnesses and some individuals over child abuse reporting issues.a lawyer for the congregation maintained that elders were exempted from reporting requirements under a state law because of clergy privilege and confidentiality.the case resulted from allegations that elders did not report an unlawful sexual relationship between a woman and a 14-year-old boy, both of whom were members of the jehovah's witnesses congregation.. download the court opinion here.
http://courts.delaware.gov/opinions/download.aspx?id=235880.
Why would the WTS hide behind a religious doctrine, the confessional, that they don't believe in?
Can you imagine if a publisher in the congregation asked an elder to sit down and listen to their confessions like a priest and then that elder wasn't to tell the body of elders and they weren't to institute judicial proceedings if they felt a sin of sufficient gravity was committed? Hah! Ridiculous!
warning of a long boring post ahead.
i feel like i need to vent my story out, as i feel quite helpless at the moment.. i'm 31 year old, married, father of toddler with another one on the way, due later this month.
i've been serving as elder for about 4 years now in a south florida congregation.
Stop the tangents MoC!! No one wants to see that here!
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MoK, all kidding aside I know exactly what you mean about discussions with your wife. When I would show my wife something she would tell me it was damaging her faith - I would ask 'faith in the bible or faith in the organization'? She wouldn't answer that which told me what I needed to know. Keep up the good work.
"the non-christian cross" by john denham parsons, is a work that is still used by the watchtower society as a "proof" that the greek word stauros does not mean cross.
here a portion of this work:.
now the greek word which in latin versions of the new testament is translated as crux, and in english versions is rendered as cross, i.e., the word stauros, seems to have, at the beginning of our era, no more meant a cross than the english word stick means a crutch.
i was always fascinated by it.
as a kid, i used to go to the local library and secretly read books by so called apostates.
later, i would sneak into christian book stores and quickly buy a book or two.
Yes. Once as a kid and I spent weeks justifying why it was wrong and stupid.
Then sick, sweaty, dizzy and freaked out as an adult who realized I may have been duped my entire adult life (up to that moment) I cautiously, so so nervous googled jehovah witness 607 and BOOM the floodgates opened and I didn't stop reading, studying and making notes until my life was changed forever.
I'm so glad to be free and have free kids.
odds are in my favor but i been so heart broken i don't even want to be optimistic about it.. so a few weeks ago my sister has opened up our relationship.
she hasn't had much contact with me for 5 years because of my disfellowshipment.
i did post in the past on this site a few points that showed we had bad breaking because of my disfellowshipment.
in the last few weeks it seems that instead of one or two new posters a week we seem to be getting several every day.
many seem to be long time jw's who are troubled by the path of the organisation.
this is really encouraging to those of us who have been here sometime.. welcome!
warning of a long boring post ahead.
i feel like i need to vent my story out, as i feel quite helpless at the moment.. i'm 31 year old, married, father of toddler with another one on the way, due later this month.
i've been serving as elder for about 4 years now in a south florida congregation.
Sanchy and Patkim,
So much good advice here. All I can add is that when I gave up my "privileges" (ugh) I also did it in such a way that they gave me a reduced workload with minimal activity, but enough to show the congregation I was still a witness in good standing but just burned out. I did those activities well at first and then got slowly, very slowly, worse at them. Eventually, say 6-8 months, I told the brothers that I just couldn't handle even the minimal responsibility they gave me right now. Let me focus on my health, my family and my spirituality and I can serve again in the future. Hah, I never intended to serve again!! It worked, it was slow and painful but I maintained my marriage and I am not shunned. In fact just the other day someone from the hall saw me at a restaurant and said "Hi Brother XXX". I was floored.
warning of a long boring post ahead.
i feel like i need to vent my story out, as i feel quite helpless at the moment.. i'm 31 year old, married, father of toddler with another one on the way, due later this month.
i've been serving as elder for about 4 years now in a south florida congregation.
warning of a long boring post ahead.
i feel like i need to vent my story out, as i feel quite helpless at the moment.. i'm 31 year old, married, father of toddler with another one on the way, due later this month.
i've been serving as elder for about 4 years now in a south florida congregation.
Sanchy welcome! Your situation is so similar to mine a few years ago, especially this part:
I know my wife will cut off "spiritual conversations" with me and so also will be gone my chances at trying to open her eyes. With my second child on the way, my wife has told me that if I am to leave the truth, she will teach it to them, regardless of my spiritual position. She also told me that I've made her life so much more difficult now, as she married me, knowing that I was a spiritual man; she never thought she would have to deal with this. Needless to say, this breaks my heart. I love her very much, and do not want to cause her, or anyone else pain.
My wife and I are still together and mostly doing well, we have the same problems other married couples have, but I know she's very unhappy I'm not the spiritual man she married; all my kids are out of the witnesses. My wife took them to meetings for years without me and taught them to be witnesses. I worked my tail off to teach them to be good, honesty and kind people who are not witnesses. My effort and the goofy doctrine of the witnesses and what my kids consider "weird and creepy" videos turned them off the witnesses.
Good luck Sanchy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ay5of0nxm44.
