for those who have left and are still in contact with jw family, how do you usually respond when they bring up jw stuff, i.e.
start talking about the nearness of armageddon or things like that.. i usually say nothing and just let it pass but i'm considering changing tact to something more confrontational, less because i want to change their mind and more because i find it tiresome.
thoughts?
Yup, depends on what relative I'm talking to. With certain ones we cannot talk anything JW or it will not end peacefully, with others I can bring up some of the issues without any of us getting offended.
One thing I've learned in the past few years is nothing I show them or prove to them will change the way they feel about being a JW, they may agree how some things have to change but in the end they are happy in their ignorance. It's the only way of life they know or want to know.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2976095/married-woman-36-sex-15-year-old-schoolboy-breaks-tears-told-faces-jail.html.
married woman, 36, who had sex with 15-year-old schoolboy breaks down in tears as she is told she faces jail .
married mother of two broke down in tears at merthyr tydfil crown court.
So elders sat in the back of the courtroom and offered support to the offender huh?? Big surprise!!!
Too bad the victims get no support at all....especially in a courtroom! Makes me sick!
zalkin law firm .
Well that explains it. Thanks.
zalkin law firm .
Zalkin Law Firm
i just read about this on the ex-jw subreddit.
link to the video (10m06s).. skip to 7:35 where he says: "another way we can contribute to the oneness - rejecting false stories that are designed to separate us from jehovah's organization.
as an example, think about the apostate-driven lies and 'dishonesties' that jehovah's organization is permissive toward pedophiles.
Can't begin to tell you how much this angers me!!
I clearly remember the last Circuit Assembly my husband and I attended before leaving. We both could have fell out of our seat when the speaker was up there saying that the media lies. This of course was in reference to the media coverage of a local ex elder being tried in court for molesting multiple victims.( one being ours ) We left that day and knew we could never go back.
What they are doing is Willful!! They are abusing victims over and over again by refusing to acknowledge the truth but instead call them liars. I truly can't even tell you what I feel they deserve, but it's not good.
Really good piece, I hope more networks pick this up and run similar stories.
I have so much respect for Candace Conti and what she is doing to help change the insane policy's of the WT. I especially loved when she mentioned at the end how important it is to give the parents the information so they can protect their children. I couldn't agree more!!
simons critcal fact = defendants assigned candace to perform field service with kendrick.
martinez testified that she saw candace and kendrick in field service together.
was candace ever assigned to anyone else?
So right on Ding!
I have personally been effected by this and every time I hear the apologists protect the organization against the victims it feels like a personal attack.
I just wish they could embrace the victims and support them and their families openly with the support of their leaders like you see in other religions. Unfortunately I don't see that happening anytime soon. Instead I see them vilify anyone who stands up for themselves and push them away. It's really sad and completely willful.
on monday evening, feb. 16th, on the pbs newshour, there will be a segment discussing jehovah's witnesses.
generally, the newshour airs at 6 p.m. in different time zones across the united states..
please don't miss it.
the borg has left out in the cold the victims of child molesters all to save their reputation and have used the elders to do their bidding in these evil works.
they have even made changes to their policies to put more of the responsibility on the elders.
so if the lawyers of these molestation victims which normally go after the money ie the borg were to also aggressively go after these elders in these cases could this not start a ripple effect where by elders find out and start resigning en mass to protect themselves knowing the borg not going to help them?.
I totally agree with Magnum there are some elders that will completely embrace the idea of being a martyr. I've seen it.
http://www.loughboroughecho.net/news/local-news/woman-sues-jehovahs-witness-elders-8579862.
a woman who claims jehovahs witness elders failed to protect her from a predatory sex attacker who repeatedly abused her as a child is now battling for 500,000 compensation.. the woman, in her 20s, was molested by ministerial servant peter stewart over a five-year period in loughborough, leicestershire, in the 1980s and 90s, londons high court heard.. the trauma she suffered derailed her education and career, and led to harrowing nightmares and recurring thoughts of suicide, her barrister, james counsell, said.. matters came to a head after she passed out on her bed next to a pile of paracetamol while on holiday with her husband, having left him a suicide note, he added.. soon afterwards, she had a bad panic attack - triggered by seeing a collection of jehovahs witness literature.. that led to tense discussions with her husband, and her final decision to take legal action, mr counsell told the court.. the woman - who cannot be identified - is suing the trustees of the watchtower bible and tract society, alleging they are vicariously liable for stewarts crimes.. stewart was convicted of entirely separate offences of sexually abusing a schoolgirl and a young boy in 1995, said mr counsell.. he died in june 2001, aged 72, shortly before police arrived at his home to arrest him for sexually abusing the claimant.. stewart was an apparently respected and devout member of the congregation in loughborough, the court heard.. however, he repeatedly preyed on the girl between the ages of four and nine, using his position as a ministerial servant to commit these acts.. he molested her in a variety of situations - including both before and after and sometimes during watchtower study sessions, mr counsell claimed.. his attacks took a catastrophic toll, leaving his victim prone to vomiting at the memory, and with complex feelings of guilt and shame.. stewart forced her to keep silent by telling her that what she was doing was fornication and that she was sinning, the barrister explained.. he warned her that when armageddon came - a regular topic for general discussion at group and congregation meetings - she would not be saved because of what she was doing.. it was precisely because much of the abuse took place at public - and at jehovahs witness events - that she could not always avoid him, added mr counsell.. the woman first mustered the courage to disclose her abuse in 2000 - after hearing of stewarts imminent release from jail for his offences against the two school children.. stewarts former jehovahs witness congregation began an investigation but failed to contact the police, said the barrister, adding that the inquiry appeared to go nowhere.. that alleged inaction intensified her feelings of anger and the woman finally went to the police in may 2001.. but when the police went to stewarts home to arrest him they discovered from neighbours that he had died, added mr counsell.. the barrister alleged that jehovahs witness elders had known about stewarts activities with young girls since the very early days of the claimants abuse and had failed to prevent it continuing.. it was stewarts authority as a ministerial servant which allowed him to gain contact and befriend his victim, said mr counsell.. the abuse was committed while he was performing tasks to further the interests of jehovahs witnesses.. lawyers for the trustees are defending the case, insisting that proper steps were taken to protect its members and that stewart was not performing a pastoral role.. their counsel, adam weitzman, said he disputed that the elders were negligent and denied that the trustees could be held legally responsible.. he pointed out that, from 1991, stewart and the woman ceased to be members of the same congregation.. stewart was never an employee of the jehovahs witness congregation and the trustees owed the woman no legal duty of care, he argued.. mr weitzman said: while it is accepted that, from august 1990, the elders knew (stewart) had sexually assaulted another child, there was not sufficient proximity between them and the claimant to impose such a duty.
nor would it be fair, just and reasonable to do so.. the high court hearing continues.. .
Is it any surprise why they refuse to turn over the files they have? Could you just imagine how many names and how many crimes against children that were never reported to the authorities?
