http://www.bit.ly/jwleaks-anonymous.
hello citizens of the world.
we are anonymous.. dear brothers and sisters,.
"I don't think witnesses in positions of authority should be removed if accused."
This list in question involves cases where there are at least two witnesses. I think this is sufficient cause to remove someone from a position of authority. It doesn't mean that the person is always guilty, but there is enough evidence that it is too risky to let him continue.
this recent video has already appeared on a few threads, but i thought it deserved it's own.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob7vynx8evg.
Sometimes, the victim is regarded as an unreliable witness, especially when there are supressed memories, so in this cases it would require three witnesses to establish guilt in Watchtowerland.
http://www.bit.ly/jwleaks-anonymous.
hello citizens of the world.
we are anonymous.. dear brothers and sisters,.
Jamesmahon is bringing up some important concerns. We should be concerned about the effects of public disclosure, especially on victims and those wrongly accused. The extreme emotions surrounding issues of child abuse makes it difficult to discuss policies. In some cases, these emotions make matters worse, as when an organization covers up abuse because it is aware of the how even allegations can destroy reputations.
If the Watchtower Society handled abuse allegations appropriately, I wouldn't be in favor of releasing this list. However, there are Witnesses in positions of authority that should be removed and allegations that should be reported to the police. I think releasing the list would help with that.
this recent video has already appeared on a few threads, but i thought it deserved it's own.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob7vynx8evg.
I think the Anonymous video could use some more comments to convince people that this is a real problem. Here is the link. (I don't know how to make it clickable without turning it into a video player.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob7vynx8eVg&feature=player_embedded
http://www.bit.ly/jwleaks-anonymous.
hello citizens of the world.
we are anonymous.. dear brothers and sisters,.
jameshahon,
I appreciate your perspective, even if I disagree with much of it. Child abuse issues have aspects that are counterintuitve and can be be difficult to discuss without making people upset. Releasing a list like that would cause some problems and unintended consequences.
They way I see it, the Watchtower Society has a list of people who should not be elders or ministerial servents (even if they are innocent, they have had at least two accusations so they shouldn't have positions of authority). Yet some on that list are elders or ministerial servents. Some should have been reported to the police but haven't been. I think it is justified to release that list so that obvious problems can be resolved. However, it pays to keep a cool head and remember that the Watchtower Society's incompetence insures that at least a few of those people are innocent.
http://www.bit.ly/jwleaks-anonymous.
hello citizens of the world.
we are anonymous.. dear brothers and sisters,.
Anonymous must know that getting this list could be pretty difficult if the Watchtower Society simply disconnects any computer with the data on it from the Internet. This makes me wonder if they might already have the list and are just waiting for a good time to announce it.
http://www.bit.ly/jwleaks-anonymous.
hello citizens of the world.
we are anonymous.. dear brothers and sisters,.
The Watchtower Society has a policy of removing elders and pedophiles from their positions if they are known by the community or congregation as being pedophiles. If only the elders and headquarters know about it, the pedophiles are sometimes allowed to remain in the position. If this list is made public, it would result in certain pedophiles being removed from positions of authority. I see that as a big win for victims. Sure they might move somewhere else, but not as elders. If they change their names, they would have to start over and it could years to rebuild the level of trust that they had before. Releasing the list could also result in police investigations for cases that the Watchtower Society has managed to keep concealed.
The Watchtower Society has made a situation where innocent people have been harmed and will continue to be harmed (both victims of abuse and those wrongly accused), but I think publicizing the list is necessary to remove pedophiles as elders and ministerial servants and to alert parents of potential dangers in their own congregations.
this recent video has already appeared on a few threads, but i thought it deserved it's own.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob7vynx8evg.
I remember when Anonymous went after Scientology a few years ago. It generated a lot of discussion here and comments that it would be nice if they went after Jehovah's Witnesses. Now that it has happened, it curious that we aren't talking about it more. Anyways, here's a bump for those who haven't seen it yet.
i find it incredible that the public doesn't know this.
the watchtower society is showing callous disregard for the rights and safety of the public.. i really think we need to make an effort to get the word out.
the watchtower society and child abuse are in the news now, especially with the candace conti case and the recent actions of anonymous.. do you think we can get a newspaper interested in covering this story?
LITS,
I found your comments interesting and appreciate what you have done to let people know about this problem.
It's hard to believe that people don't care more about this. It sometimes takes a strange set of circumstances to get the public to care about something. I'm encouraged that Anonymous sees this as an important problem. It's always possible that increasing coverage of the child abuse problem within Jehovah's Witnesses will reach a tipping point.
this recent video has already appeared on a few threads, but i thought it deserved it's own.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob7vynx8evg.
This recent video has already appeared on a few threads, but I thought it deserved it's own.
