AndersonsInfo
JoinedPosts by AndersonsInfo
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Letter to Upstate NY newspaper mentions JWs and taxes -
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.dailyfreeman.com/opinion/20150817/letter-the-reason-newspapers-in-america-are-suffering-declining-readership
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Article- Child checks for all religious leaders, inquiry recommends
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/child-checks-for-all-religious-leaders-inquiry-recommends/story-fngburq5-1227486717033.
by: rick morton .
from: the australian .
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AndersonsInfo
- by: Rick Morton
- From: The Australian
- August 17, 2015 11:33AM
Every religious leader in the country and their officers would be required to undergo working with children checks under proposed sweeping reforms to the system recommended by the child abuse royal commission.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse authored a report on state and territory working with children checks which was tabled in parliament today.
“A person must apply for a Working With Children Check (WWCC) in each state or territory in which they intend to engage in child-related work,” the report says.
“Organisations and people working across borders report substantial challenges in working with the varied schemes, including extra costs and difficulty understanding and complying with the various laws.
“These problems are not new and have been recognised by governments for some time. We believe that the absence of any action to fix these problems is a significant and inexcusable failure on the part of governments — these problems cannot continue to be ignored.”
In the next 12 to 18 months the commission expects state and territory governments to adopt uniform WWCC standards which would be portable across jurisdictions and which would remove myriad “conditions”.
Instead of having conditions the report proposes a two-speed approval only: either people are granted working approval or they are not.
Also, some people convicted of serious offences against children — like murder, sexual abuse or child pornography offences — would lose the right to any appeal against a refusal to grant access to children.
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Reveal News: One Thing Leads to Another
by ABibleStudent inaccording to reveal news' website at https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/one-thing-leads-to-another/, "in august, we're is picking up the threads from three major investigations to see whats happened since they aired.
these are stories that moved people, made them angry and sparked change.".
peace be with you and everyone, who you love,.
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AndersonsInfo
Here's another link to a Reveal story that was just posted today, August 11th:
https://www.revealnews.org/article/5-hardships-faced-by-victims-of-jehovahs-witnesses-sexual-abuse/
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Link to all of Rachel Browne's excellent articles (10) in the Sydney Morning Herald about JWs and the Royal Commission
by AndersonsInfo infrom the sydney morning herald - new south wales (10 articles).
rachel browne is a social affairs reporter for fairfax media.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/by/rachel-browne .
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AndersonsInfo
From the Sydney Morning Herald - New South Wales (10 articles)
Rachel Browne is a Social Affairs Reporter for Fairfax Media
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Jwfacts tv appearance
by sparrowdown inshout out to jwfacts.. just saw the drum.
excellent job !
!.
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AndersonsInfo
JWfacts.org Paul Grundy is interviewed by Australian reporters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd6B4xAmFfk&feature=youtu.be -
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The Australian: Jehovah Lawyer Vague on Abuse Report Laws
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/jehovah-lawyer-vague-on-abuse-report-laws/story-fn3dxiwe-1227471163192.
by peter trute august 5, 2015 .
abuse victims 'face cruel choice': inquiry.
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AndersonsInfo
By Peter Trute August 5, 2015
Abuse victims 'face cruel choice': inquiry
A VICTIM of sexual abuse within the Jehovah's Witnesses would face an "impossible choice" between staying in the church and being cut off from friends and family, the child abuse royal commission has heard.
ONE of the most senior members of the Jehovah's Witnesses in Australia, Terrence O'Brien, told the commission on Wednesday that a victim would know that by "disassociating" or leaving the church, they would be shunned by other Jehovah's Witnesses.
Counsel assisting the commission, Angus Stewart SC, said in a scenario where a survivor of abuse could not bear remaining in the same organisation as her abuser, the fate she faced was "cruel".
"No one, is it not right, should be put to the choice of remaining in an organisation which she feels is protective of her abuser, and losing her family and social network?" Mr Stewart asked Mr O'Brien.
Mr O'Brien replied that he could only be guided by what the scriptures say.
The treatment of those who leave or are forced out of the church - a practice called "disfellowshipping" - was "to help the person see the benefits of associating", Mr O'Brien said.
The Jehovah's Witnesses' handling of abuse complaints has been under intense scrutiny at the commission, which has heard that not one of 1006 cases of child abuse allegations recorded in Jehovah's Witness Australia documents since 1950 was reported to police.
Also in focus has been its strict adherence to Bible teachings that forbid women from holding positions of authority over men - including on its three-man judicial panel charged with handling abuse cases.
Mr O'Brien said the church would review its procedures following the commission appearance.
Women may be able to be involved in dealing with abuse complaints but not in a decision-making position, he said. Church rules also require abuse allegations to be substantiated by two witnesses.
A solicitor and overseer of the legal department for the Jehovah's Witnesses, Vincent Toole, told the commission that he "may well have been wrong" about laws dictating liability to report allegations of child abuse to authorities.
Mr Toole told the commission he has received three to four calls a month from church elders about child abuse allegations.
The Jehovah's Witness church has 68,000 members in Australia across 821 congregations.
Mr Toole told the commission the Jehovah's Witness church had "no qualms at all about mandatory reporting".
But he was quizzed by Commissioner Peter McClellan on whether he understood that while mandatory reporting required certain individuals to report abuse complaints, there was also a general obligation on every citizen to report criminal offences to police.
"I have become much more aware of it in the last few days," Mr Toole replied.
Joanne Gallagher, a barrister representing a survivor of child abuse, told Mr Toole the law had required such reporting since 1990.
The commission was due to conclude its hearings into the Jehovah's Witnesses on Wednesday but Justice McClellan said he will now call Geoffrey Jackson, a senior member of the church's governing body in New York who is currently in Australia, to appear next week.
The commission has also announced it will start public hearings in September into allegations of abuse at prestigious Victorian private school, Geelong Grammar in Melbourne.
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The Australian: Women to 'Never Rule' in Jehovah's church
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/women-to-never-rule-in-jehovahs-church/story-fn3dxiwe-1227470092202.
august 4, 2015 annette blackwell.
a jehovah's witness official says the church's stance to never let women hold decision-making roles compares to muslim and aboriginal people adhering to their own ancient beliefs.
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AndersonsInfo
August 4, 2015 Annette Blackwell
A JEHOVAH'S Witness official says the church's stance to never let women hold decision-making roles compares to Muslim and Aboriginal people adhering to their own ancient beliefs.
RODNEY Spinks, who advises church elders on how to handle child sex abuse cases, told the sex abuse royal commission on Tuesday women would never make decisions in the Jehovah's Witnesses because it would mean changing a "clear scriptural arrangement".
Commission chair Peter McClellan said the practice did not fit with current understandings of responses to child sex abuse and asked if women could become decision makers because victims often preferred to tell their intimate stories to women.
Mr Spinks said there was no possibility that would happen because the church would not adjust what it saw as "clear instructions" in the Bible.
When Justice McClellan pointed out social and political contexts had changed since the Bible was written, Mr Spinks asked: "Will Muslim people change what they believe is in the Koran, will Aboriginal people change what they believed is in their culture?"
"I think there are just some things that are so deeply a part of their faith and belief system" that they cannot be changed, he said.
Mr Spinks, who runs the service desk at Watchtower Australia - the church's legal entity, was giving evidence on the sixth day of a hearing into how the theocracy deals with sexual abuse allegations.
He and other church witnesses have faced detailed questioning on the internal practice of expecting abuse victims to confront abusers in front of a judicial panel of three elders - all men.
Mr Spinks also said where there was a conflict between the Bible and science, the Bible would prevail, because all scripture is "inspired by God".
Justice McClellan asked what would happen if the law of the country was to prescribe a mode of behaviour which conflicted with the Jehovah's Witness understanding of the Bible.
Mr Spinks: "We would apply the words in the Book of Acts, (fifth book of the New Testament) 529 to obey God as we did in the Second World War (against the Nazis)".
Justice McClellan asked if Witnesses applied St Paul's injunction to Corinthians that women should be kept silent in congregations and not permitted to speak.
Mr Spinks said the verse was being quoted out of context and women in the Jehovah's Witnesses were very outspoken at congregational meetings, but they could not teach.
Church witnesses have repeatedly referred to Watchtower publications as the source of detailed and sensitive advice to congregations on how to deal with child sex abuse victims.
Counsel for the commission, Angus Stewart SC, said the problem for the commission was trying to pin down the source of the policies was like trying to "put your finger on a ball of mercury".
The hearing continues on Wednesday with more witnesses from the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Australia - the church's legal entity.
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The Guardian: JWs Church says it will comply with mandatory reporting of child abuse
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/aug/04/jehovahs-witness-church-says-it-will-comply-with-mandatory-reporting-of-child-abuse.
august 4, 2015. australian associated press .
the jehovahs witness church says it will comply with mandatory reporting obligations when they learn about sexual abuse crimes against children in their congregation.. a royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse has heard that the theocratic church records more than one child abuse allegation every month yet in 60 years has never reported them to police.. in the second week of a hearing into the churchs handling of abuse incidents, the head of the communitys service desk, rodney spinks, acknowledged they dealt with matters internally and did not encourage reporting to police.. the service desk under the auspices of the churchs legal entity, the watchtower bible and tract society australia, is the first point of contact for elders looking for advice on how to deal with child abuse reports.. spinks said the first issue addressed is the safety of the child, and elders are referred to watchtower publications on the matter.. they are also given generic advice based on a handbook that says they should never suggest not reporting the allegation to police.. spinks acknowledged they had not had a practice, against the wishes of the victim or otherwise, to directly report to police.. the commission chair, peter mcclellan, pointed out there were mandatory reporting obligations when a crime had been committed.. spinks said he had been made aware of this in these hearings and the church would accept and comply with mandatory reporting, regardless of our strongly held religious belief that individuals should have the right to decide what is done with that information.. he said when there were mandatory reporting requirements with some sort of uniformity across the country we will happily and willingly comply.. mcclellan pointed out that uniform laws were not yet in place and they would differ from state to state but they would impose a criminal sanction on a person who knows [about an abuse crime] and does not report.. spinks said he understood that.. mcclellan said the church needed to have a very good look maybe with the help of the churchs lawyers at what the law provides.. the commissioner also pointed out that what the jehovahs witnesses were doing was different to what other churches might be doing because you might be taking allegations and resolving, as you see it, the truth of the allegation by reason of your process.. the commission has heard that the jehovahs witness process is based on a biblical rule that the wrongdoing is only proven when there are two witnesses, and expect the abuse victim to confront the abuser..
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AndersonsInfo
August 4, 2015
Australian Associated Press
The Jehovah’s Witness church says it will comply with mandatory reporting obligations when they learn about sexual abuse crimes against children in their congregation.
A royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse has heard that the theocratic church records more than one child abuse allegation every month yet in 60 years has never reported them to police.
In the second week of a hearing into the church’s handling of abuse incidents, the head of the community’s service desk, Rodney Spinks, acknowledged they dealt with matters internally and did not encourage reporting to police.
The service desk under the auspices of the church’s legal entity, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society Australia, is the first point of contact for elders looking for advice on how to deal with child abuse reports.
Spinks said the first issue addressed is the safety of the child, and elders are referred to Watchtower publications on the matter.
They are also given generic advice based on a handbook that says they should never suggest not reporting the allegation to police.
Spinks acknowledged they had not had a practice, “against the wishes of the victim or otherwise, to directly report to police”.
The commission chair, Peter McClellan, pointed out there were mandatory reporting obligations when a crime had been committed.
Spinks said he had been made aware of this in these hearings and the church would accept and comply with mandatory reporting, “regardless of our strongly held religious belief that individuals should have the right to decide what is done with that information”.
He said when there were mandatory reporting requirements with some sort of uniformity across the country “we will happily and willingly comply”.
McClellan pointed out that uniform laws were not yet in place and they would differ from state to state but they would impose “a criminal sanction on a person who knows [about an abuse crime] and does not report”.
Spinks said he understood that.
McClellan said the church needed to have a very good look maybe with the help of the church’s lawyers at what the law provides.
The commissioner also pointed out that what the Jehovah’s Witnesses were doing was different to what other churches might be doing “because you might be taking allegations and resolving, as you see it, the truth of the allegation by reason of your process”.
The commission has heard that the Jehovah’s Witness process is based on a biblical rule that the wrongdoing is only proven when there are two witnesses, and expect the abuse victim to confront the abuser.
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REMINDER: Monday, Aug. 3rd. 9 P.M. EST, ID DISCOVERY - New story about JW Robert Bryant
by AndersonsInfo inid discovery series deadly devotion
read about it at: .
http://www.investigationdiscovery.com/tv-shows/deadly-devotion/tv-schedule/ .
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AndersonsInfo
ID Discovery Series “Deadly Devotion”
Read about it at:http://www.investigationdiscovery.com/tv-shows/deadly-devotion/tv-schedule/
Title: Witness to Murder – First in the Deadly Devotion series
Janet Bryant is a loving mother of four and a dedicated Jehovah's Witness. With her husband Robert by her side, she's raising her children to be devoted members, as well. No one would suspect her family to be in the middle of a modern day tragedy.
August 3, 2015
Monday, 9 P. M. ESTAugust, 4, 2015
Tuesday, 12 A.M. ESTAugust 8, 2015
Saturday, 1 P.M. ESTPlease check your local listings for the Investigation Discovery Channel
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9news.com 2015/08/03 Jehovahs Witness Church Inquiry Resumes
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.9news.com.au/national/2015/08/03/03/35/jehovah-s-witness-church-inquiry-resumes
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