I'm glad she is taking some action. An apparently weak case could turn into a very strong case if additional evidence is uncovered. Even a settlement would be a victory and provide some justice for the victim and that much more pressure for the Society to change its policies.
Posts by DT
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7More sex scandals
by Decided inmy second cousin called me and told me some things that happend in my old congregation right after i left.
she was rapped at 15 yrs old by a brother and her father got the police involved but while they were discussing what to do the wt society called and told them to drop it.
they followed their advice.
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34
Anyone Besides Me Have Difficulty Saying The Word "Jehovah"?
by Low-Key Lysmith ineven when i was a devout witless, i always winced a bit when i heard or especially had to utter "jehovah".
it's just one of those uncomfortable words to say like "colostomy", "vagina", or "erectile dysfunction"..
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DT
I preferred to say God, especially if I was talking to someone who wasn't a Witness.
I remember people saying you should call out the name Jehovah if you were attacked by demons. I fet like that would make me seem like a wimp. I was more concerned about the demons laughing at me for yelling Jehovah than I was of them actually attacking me.
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Do Jehovah's Witnesses Even Have A Child Abuse Policy?
by DT ini know that sounds like a strange question.
jehovah's witnesses have many procedures that are hidden from members and the public in a maze of letters and the elder's book with handwritten notes.
they have also made many statements about their alleged child abuse policy, but these statements are not the actual policy.. most businesses have actual policies for issues like sexual harassment and reporting abuse.
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DT
Suppose a court issued a subpeona for the Jehovah's Witnesses child abuse policy with harsh penaties for not complying. What would they send? I doubt they could provide an actual policy. They would probably have to send a large collection of letters and the elder's book. Even then they might be held in contempt of court if they leave out the handwritten guidelines that are supposed to be in the elder's book.
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NEWS-JW Wife Stabbed in Kingdom Hall
by Refriedtruth infox carolina 21deputies: wife stabbed by husband at church.
whns greenville-9 minutes agogreenville county deputies said they were called to kingdom hall of jehovah's witnesses at 1400 old spartanburg rd.
about 2:15 p.m. where they found ...http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/18848997/deputies-wife-stabbed-by-husband-at-church.
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DT
This may be a case where one person committed a crime and the Jehovah's Witnesses are not at fault. It appears they handled things well by doing something. They appear to have restrained him and they probably called 911.
However, it could be that the wife was pressured into staying in an abusive relationship by the Society's literature or the congregations elders. If so, they may be partly liable for what happened.
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Do Jehovah's Witnesses Even Have A Child Abuse Policy?
by DT ini know that sounds like a strange question.
jehovah's witnesses have many procedures that are hidden from members and the public in a maze of letters and the elder's book with handwritten notes.
they have also made many statements about their alleged child abuse policy, but these statements are not the actual policy.. most businesses have actual policies for issues like sexual harassment and reporting abuse.
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DT
I know that sounds like a strange question. Jehovah's Witnesses have many procedures that are hidden from members and the public in a maze of letters and the elder's book with handwritten notes. They have also made many statements about their alleged child abuse policy, but these statements are not the actual policy.
Most businesses have actual policies for issues like sexual harassment and reporting abuse. The employees can actually read the policy and if it changes, the new policy replaces the old one. It would be bad practice to divide the policy into dozens of memos and handbooks with handwritten notes and instruct the person to ignore it all if someone from the office tells you to do things differently.
If they actually have a policy, it appears to be something like, "call the headquarters and do what they say." They may instruct the elders to follow written instructions in a letter or elder's book or they may not.
I think it is reasonable to expect the Watchtower Society to actually write a child abuse policy and make it available to all members and the public. I realize that laws vary from place to place, but individual policies could be written for places with unusual legal requirements. However, if they just ask the elders to report allegations to the police first, that should cover most situations.
This could protect them legally. If an elder violates their policy, he would probably be on his own in the event of a lawsuit unless it could be shown that others also violated the policy.
They have lost millions in private settlements and this recent lawsuit. Maybe it's time to actually write a child abuse policy.
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For Immediate Release JW-MEDIA.org post response to child sex abuse verdict
by BlindersOff1 inhttp://www.jw-media.org/usa/20120620.htm .
just plain old corporate denial.
let the games begin.. .
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DT
I like the way they will condemn the entire nations of North Korea, Afghanistan and Somalia for what some have done because of "community responsibility", but be unwilling to take any responsibility for their member's actions.
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For Immediate Release JW-MEDIA.org post response to child sex abuse verdict
by BlindersOff1 inhttp://www.jw-media.org/usa/20120620.htm .
just plain old corporate denial.
let the games begin.. .
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DT
At least we can use this to prove that it really happened, assuming the Witness doesn't think jw-media.org is an apostate website.
Most organizations would have had a statement like this prepared ahead of time. They must have really been caught by surprize.
"The individual members of any organization must ultimately bear the responsibility for their own actions"
They seem to be backing away from the concept of community reponsibility. I guess that means they should stop criticizing Catholicism for what individual Catholics do.
"This is the first time that an organization was found responsible for the alleged misdeeds of a member who held no position of leadership or authority"
This sounds like a strange statement. Surely there must be an organization somewhere that was held to be at least partially liable for what a member or employee did. I also question that he had no authority. I remember directing groups for service of over twenty woman and children when I was eleven. I was male and baptized so I was responsible for directing others, even though I didn't have an official position.
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Awful, horrible: still no official WTBTS statement about the child abuse case
by Gorbatchov inhow awful, how un-christian beheavior, how horrible for believers with a conciense.
the wtbts, the corporations, the pr staff in brooklyn / patterson gave no official comment about the child abuse case.. only the lawyer of the "local congregation" gave some remarks.. humiliating for the victims and also for fellow believers with a conciense and good hart.
they only can questioning why the wtbts is hiding..
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DT
If they are innocent, they should say something to comfort the Witnesses. If they are guilty, they should apologize. The fact that they are saying nothing reveals how evil they are.
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Which philosophy would you personally value the highest and why?
by Qcmbr inthinking about the number of atheist v ag/tec/fhn/sab threads (hehe - i'm only yanking your chains!
) and i thought i should make an effort to look at and discuss the rest of the rainbow.
atheism does not define my influencing primary worldview though you'd be hard pressed to see that from my posts.. i'd be interested in what philosphy , idea, rule(s) most influence you and why - why do you feel they are superior, what do they make you value more or less , what would you be without your philosophy.
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DT
I have been using a basic philosophical approach that has recently been named model-dependent realism, although the ideas behind it have been around for a long time. I think of it as sort of a philosphy of philosophies or as a way of putting different world views in perspective. It primarily relates to sicientific theories, but can also relate to more general ideas and philosophies. Here is a quote from Wikipedia.
"Model-dependent realism is a controversial philosophical approach to scientific inquiry, which accepts that reality can always be interpreted in a number of different ways, and focuses on how well our models of phenomena are. It claims that it is meaningless to talk about the "true reality" of the model. The only meaningful thing is the usefulness of the model.[1] The term itself was coined by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow in their 2010 book, The Grand Design."
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Did anyone else get somewhat offended by the term "rank and file" that the WT attorney used.
by life is to short ini was just surprised by that term being used by jim mccabe when he said "jonathan kendrick was not a leader or a pastor, he was just a rank-and-file member.".
i thought that was only an apostate term and also what a put down to us lowly members.
we are just a rank-and-file person.
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DT
They call them rank and file when it suits them. At other times, they are considered ordained ministers who represent the religion from door to door. I don't know of any other religion that calls its ministers rank and file members.