Important Reading:
After reading the article, please read the commentary:
AndersonsInfo
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Aeon: How tyrants work up crowds. [Interesting reading. Think Rutherford; Think JW Conventions]
by AndersonsInfo inimportant reading:.
https://aeon.co/essays/the-omnipotent-victim-how-tyrants-work-up-a-crowds-devotion.
after reading the article, please read the commentary: .
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NBC News: Cults are terrifying. But they're even worse for women. (JWs child abuse issue is mentioned)
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/cults-are-terrifying-they-re-even-worse-women-ncna862051 alexandra stein, ph.d. is an honorary research fellow at birkbeck, university of london.
her latest book, "terror, love and brainwashing: attachment in cults and totalitarian systems" was published in 2017cults are terrifying.
but they're even worse for women.
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https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/cults-are-terrifying-they-re-even-worse-women-ncna862051 Alexandra Stein, Ph.D. is an honorary research fellow at Birkbeck, University of London. Her latest book, "Terror, Love and Brainwashing: Attachment in Cults and Totalitarian Systems" was published in 2017Cults are terrifying. But they're even worse for women
Women’s abilities to control their own reproductive choices are often determined by cult leaders.
Apr.02.2018
In a cult, the ability to decide if and when to have a child — perhaps the most basic decision in a woman’s life — is taken over by the leader as a demonstration of the leader’s control and in an attempt to undermine the attachment between mother and child. The goal is to focus all feelings of attachment on the leader or group, and on them alone.
This is one reason why, though women and men both suffer in the iron grip of charismatic and authoritarian cult leaders, women followers face a unique set of life-altering issues — and those unique issues often become the focus of media coverage of cult cases. Women’s sexual lives, their lives as mothers and their ability to control their own reproductive choices are all upended within cultic organizations.
For instance, former members from both Scientology and the New York-based political cult the Newman Tendency have reported women being forced to terminate pregnancies so as not to interfere with their duties to the organizations. On the opposite end of the spectrum, though, cults such as the Children of God controlled reproduction by forbidding any form of birth control whatsoever. Another cult leader reportedly decided who was “developed enough” to have children and who was not as a way to individually control, punish or reward women followers. READ MORE:
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/cults-are-terrifying-they-re-even-worse-women-ncna862051
For those who don't have the time nor the inclination to read the entire article, here's what the author stated about JWs:
"And, what parental attention is available to children may have to be played out within the particular structure of the group. Mothers in the Watchtower organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses, for example, may have to take their young children out for hours every week to “witness” to the public and, when not witnessing, nearly every evening is devoted to studying of JW materials either at home or at the Kingdom Hall.
"Recently, thousands of cases are being exposed of child abuse and sexual abuse of women in the JWs, where the organization refused to take judicial action against the accused unless victims could comply with its “two witness rule” — a horrific rule that stated that abuse could not be proven unless the victim could provide two eyewitnesses to the same abusive event. Mothers in these types of closed cultic groups then end up in a position in which they are unable to protect their children."
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ISRAEL - Jewish Press - Warning: Cult Launches Countrywide Campaign
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.jewishpress.com/news/local/warning-cult-launches-countrywide-campaign/2018/03/26/.
warning: cult launches countrywide campaign.
hana levi julian-.
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AndersonsInfo
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/local/warning-cult-launches-countrywide-campaign/2018/03/26/
Warning: Cult Launches Countrywide Campaign
11 Nisan 5778 – March 26, 2018Some 70 missionaries from Canada, the United States and Britain landed in Israel early last week and began going house to house in many cities, including Beit Shemesh, Rishon LeZion, Tel Aviv, Kiryat Malachi, Rechovot, Bnei Ayyish, Petach Tikva, Kfar Sava, Bat Yam, Gedera and Karmiel.The missionaries, belonging to J’s Witnesses, set out in teams and then split up at street corners into pairs, with one being a local, who speaks Hebrew, and the other being a missionary from abroad. -
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The Guardian: Anglicanism - Justin Welby (Archbishop of Canterbury): sexual abusers can never be trusted again
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/21/justin-welby-child-sexual-abusers-never-trusted-again.
archbishop of canterbury tells inquiry even those who repent should not get a second chance.
people who sexually abuse children or vulnerable adults can never be trusted again even if they genuinely repent, the archbishop of canterbury has told the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.. “we know abusive behaviour tends to repeat.
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AndersonsInfo
Now if only JWs will follow the example of the Anglican Church in this matter.
How come this Satanic organization loves kids more than "God's people" do by putting policies in place to protect them from "repentant" child molesters?
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The Guardian: Anglicanism - Justin Welby (Archbishop of Canterbury): sexual abusers can never be trusted again
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/21/justin-welby-child-sexual-abusers-never-trusted-again.
archbishop of canterbury tells inquiry even those who repent should not get a second chance.
people who sexually abuse children or vulnerable adults can never be trusted again even if they genuinely repent, the archbishop of canterbury has told the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.. “we know abusive behaviour tends to repeat.
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/21/justin-welby-child-sexual-abusers-never-trusted-again
Archbishop of Canterbury tells inquiry even those who repent should not get a second chance
People who sexually abuse children or vulnerable adults can never be trusted again even if they genuinely repent, the archbishop of Canterbury has told the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.
“We know abusive behaviour tends to repeat. If someone has been an abuser, they can never be trusted again. You will never take a chance on them again,” Justin Welby said.
The Bible was “utterly, brutally blunt about the difference between forgiveness and the consequences of sin. Where there is something done wrong, there will be consequences,” he said.
“If you have abused and repent genuinely, you should still go to prison,” he added.
Welby was giving evidence on the last day of witness testimony in three weeks of hearings into sexual abuse in the Church of England, focusing on the diocese of Chichester in West Sussex.
Speaking on the fifth anniversary of his installation as archbishop, and amid bouts of sustained coughing due to a heavy cold, Welby said cultural change was the biggest challenge facing the church with regard to abuse.
“We have to get to the point where if anything is seen that is untoward, people say this isn’t right and I’m going to do something about it.” The church was in the process of training about 30,000 parish safeguarding officers, he said. “It’s at parish level that we will change everything.”
AdvertisementBut he also stressed it was compulsory for bishops to undergo training, and that he had said he would not consecrate anyone as a bishop who had not been trained in safeguarding issues.
Welby said he was challenging a culture of “clericalism”, in which excessive deference was shown to senior church figures, which he described as “insanity”.
Bishops and archbishops were now subject to performance reviews, he said. Welby disclosed that he was in the midst of such a review, in which 43 colleagues had been invited to comment on his performance.
He also said psychosocial or psychometric assessments should be deployed when selecting people for ordination: “If it can be demonstrated that [such tests] will be helpful in identifying pathologies that are likely to lead to behaviours, then it is worth doing.”
Abuse of power lay at the heart of sexual, emotional and spiritual abuse, “and that’s what you want to pick up on”, he said.
READ MORE: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/21/justin-welby-child-sexual-abusers-never-trusted-again
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Las Vegas REVIEW-JOURNAL: Las Vegas man charged with raping teen member of his church
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/sex-crimes/las-vegas-man-charged-with-raping-teen-member-of-his-church/.
las vegas man charged with raping teen member of his church.
by blake apgar / las vegas review-journal march 23, 2018 - 5:10 pm .
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Yes, you're correct, Incognito.
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Las Vegas REVIEW-JOURNAL: Las Vegas man charged with raping teen member of his church
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/sex-crimes/las-vegas-man-charged-with-raping-teen-member-of-his-church/.
las vegas man charged with raping teen member of his church.
by blake apgar / las vegas review-journal march 23, 2018 - 5:10 pm .
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AndersonsInfo
For Your Information:
Note in the article that the assaults on the teenager occurred "between July 2012 and July 2014." The police report stated that "she eventually reported the abuse to church officials, who had her confront Perez face to face."
The procedure of requiring a victim to confront her abuser was common for decades until the August 1, 2016 BOE letter, page 3, par. 13 instructed: "Elders should remember that during the investigation process and during the judicial committee process, a victim of child sexual abuse is not required to make her allegation in the presence of the alleged abuser."
Especially since the early years of the 21st century, JW leadership has been highly criticized for requiring a JW child abuse victim to confront an alleged JW abuser during a meeting with elders present. This procedure regularly occurred because of elders applying the scripture in Matthew 18:15.
For those abused this was a horrible experience that caused many victims to suffer from psychological damage. In Sept. 2002, Victoria Boer, in Canada, sued the Watchtower of Canada because two representatives at headquarters instructed a local elder to make her confront her molester, her father, in a 1989 meeting in obedience to Matthew 18:15.
COURT FILE NO: 9K-CV-154117 DATE: 20030626 ONTARIO SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE
BETWEEN VICTORIA BOER, Plaintiff
Charles C. Mark for the PlaintiffAND
BRIAN CAIRNS, STEVE BROWN, JOHN DIDUR, AND WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY OF CANADA, Defendants
Colin P. Stevenson and Maureen L. Whelton for the DefendantsHeard September 9,10,11,12,13,16,17,18,19,20,23, and 24,2002
INTRODUCTION"The plaintiff Victoria Boer seeks punitive damages and damages for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty against the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Canada ( the governing body of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Canada) and three elders of that church. Her claim stems from actions taken by the Jehovah’s Witnesses elders when, at the age of 19, she disclosed to them that she had been sexually molested by her father during her childhood. The plaintiff alleges that she was forced to confront her father with these allegations in the presence of two male elders of her congregation, an experience which she found to be traumatic. She said she was then required to go through essentially the same exercise of confrontation again, this time before three male elders, as part of a church disciplinary process against her father, thereby compounding the trauma. She further alleges that Watchtower failed to properly deal with the abuse by her father, failed to report it as required by law, and directed her not to seek medical and psychological treatment. The plaintiff testified that as a result of the defendant’s wrongdoing she has suffered extreme emotional harm which was for years untreated and which will require extensive therapy in the future."
PART OF THE JUDGES DECISION:
"Ms. Boer contacted Mr. Longworth in his capacity as an elder of the church. Mr. Longworth consulted throughout with more senior advisers at the Jehovah’s Witness head office and passed on their advice to the plaintiff. He acted at all times as an agent of the defendant Watch Tower. The defendant Watch Tower did not seek to distance itself from the conduct of Longworth and the other elders who provided advice to Ms. Boer in Toronto or to disclaim any responsibility for their actions. Although the statement of claim could be clearer on this point, I believe that on a fair reading of the pleading and subsequently delivered particulars, there is an allegation that Watch Tower is responsible for the harm suffered by the plaintiff as a result of the direction given to her to apply Matthew 18:15-18. Accordingly, I find the defendant Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Canada liable to the plaintiff for the harm she sustained as a result of attending the December 29, 1989 meeting."
Joe and I attended the Boer trial. We learned later that after the Boer case, a Canadian law was enacted that specified that it was illegal to force a victim of child abuse to confront their abuser. The question remains as to why did it take so long for JWs Governing Body to put a stop to this terrifying procedure that went on for as many as six decades when a JW victim of crime by a JW member reported it to the elders, as required by JW leadership. This is just one of the bizarre interpretations of scripture that has brought so much suffering to tens of thousands of JWs through the years, which, thankfully, the media is bringing to the attention of the public and law enforcement.
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Las Vegas REVIEW-JOURNAL: Las Vegas man charged with raping teen member of his church
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/sex-crimes/las-vegas-man-charged-with-raping-teen-member-of-his-church/.
las vegas man charged with raping teen member of his church.
by blake apgar / las vegas review-journal march 23, 2018 - 5:10 pm .
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Las Vegas man charged with raping teen member of his church
By Blake Apgar / Las Vegas Review-Journal March 23, 2018 - 5:10 pmA Las Vegas man was arrested last week after authorities accused him of raping a teenage member of his church, police and court records show.
Carlos Alfonso Perez, 55, was charged in January with three counts of sexual assault with a minor under 14 and two counts of sexual assault with a minor under 16, records show. He was arrested March 13 at his northeast Las Vegas home.
Perez is accused of assaulting a teenage girl multiple times between July 2012 and July 2014. He denied any wrongdoing in a December interview with police, according to records, but declined to take a polygraph examination.
The girl was 13 at the time the abuse began, according to a police report. She and Perez attended the same kingdom hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses for more than 10 years, according to the report, and the girl saw him multiple times a week at church functions.
She eventually reported the abuse to church officials, who had her confront Perez face to face, according to the police report.
“The church members decided that there was nothing they could do, since the stories were different,” the report states.
The document makes no mention of church officials attempting to contact police. A spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses in New York did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday and Friday.
According to the document, the girl reported Perez to police in August.
Contact Blake Apgar at [email protected] or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.
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NEWSWEEK: Child Sex Abuse Investigators May Probe the Jehovah’s Witnesses
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.newsweek.com/jehovahs-witnesses-child-sexual-abuse-investigators-allegations-united-kingdom-837351.
child sex abuse investigators may probe the jehovah’s witnesses.
by ryan sit on 3/8/18 at 5:11 pm .
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Child Sex Abuse Investigators May Probe the Jehovah’s Witnesses
By Ryan Sit On 3/8/18 at 5:11 PMIndependent investigators in the United Kingdom are weighing whether to launch a new investigation into the Jehovah’s Witnesses in the U.K. after receiving a “considerable number” of abuse allegations.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, or IICSA, a government-sanctioned investigative panel in England and Wales, told Newsweek that it had gotten a “considerable number” of reports from both the public and elected officials about the Jehovah’s Witnesses in the U.K. A spokesperson told the newspaper the panel would “consider calls for a Jehovah’s Witnesses–specific investigation carefully.”
It was unclear how many reports the watchdog group had received. When contacted by Newsweek, Jehovah’s Witnesses’ public information office did not immediately comment. READ MORE:
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League for Human Rights presses officials to probe Jehovah’s Witnesses, other religious groups
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/league_for_human_rights_presses_officials_to_probe_jehovahs_witnesses_other_religious_groups/10107546.
news 8.3.2018 14:14 | updated 8.3.2018 finlandleague for human rights presses officials to probe jehovah’s witnesses, other religious groups.
a number of former members of the jehovah’s witnesses have come forth saying they were prevented from reporting sexual crimes to the authorities.
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News 8.3.2018 14:14 | updated 8.3.2018
FINLANDLeague for Human Rights presses officials to probe Jehovah’s Witnesses, other religious groups
A number of former members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses have come forth saying they were prevented from reporting sexual crimes to the authorities. The Finnish League for Human Rights stresses that freedom of religion does not empower religious groups to violate human rights.
READ MORE: