Posts by ABibleStudent

25

This too Shall Pass (RC Commission vs WTS)

by undercover in

jw
friends

while i'm glad that the practices of the wts are under review and the australian commission is taking them to task, i'm not really expecting huge changes in the long run.

oh, they may have to agree to some changes in how they report crimes brought to elders' attention, but this excitement over the supposed expose of wt practices shall pass, and jws will soon be canvassing neighborhoods and rolling their carts, looking for converts.

conventions will go on.

ABibleStudent

Although I applaud and greatly admire what the Australian Royal Commission is doing, nothing will change unless the (Tax/Charity) laws are changed.

Enacting legislation like tweaking the American Tax Code as described in the draft bill and its executive summary at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lbrkte086omivtt/AADN7PQHNylsdKwbltjHxBUea?dl=0 , is the most effective and reasonable way to protect children in organizations like the Watchtower and prevent organizations like the Watchtower from victimizing its members. Too bad most JWN members would rather post on JWN than write to their members of Congress to affect real change!

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

10

The Guardian: JWs Church says it will comply with mandatory reporting of child abuse

by AndersonsInfo in

http://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..

ABibleStudent

If the Aussies changed their charitable/Tax laws to require that charities promote to their members to report child abuse and other serious felonies to the police before its legal department or risk its charity status being suspended or revoked, the WTBTS would probably rush to comply. JWs would hail it as New Light and praise Jehovah for his blessing!

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

6

SIGN PETITION PLEASE

by LONE WOLF in

https://www.change.org/p/tammy-baldwin-charles-schumer-kirsten-gillibrand-andrew-cuomo-investigate-jehovah-s-witnesses-for-sexual-abuses

ABibleStudent

@ LONE WOLF, Do you know about submitting a petition through the Whitehouse's "We the People" website at https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/ ? Instead of needing to collect 1,000,000 signatures, President Obama's administration will respond to a petition that reaches 100,000 signatures through We the People's website. According to the We the People's FAQ's, "Anyone 13 or older can create or sign a petition on WhiteHouse.gov. In order to participate in the We the People platform on WhiteHouse.gov, users must create a WhiteHouse.gov account and verify their email address."

Before submitting a petition on We the People's website, I suggest reading the step-by-step guide at https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/how-why/step-step-guide .

Best of wishes with your petition.

I wish that I could get 20,000 citizens of the USA to write to their members of Congress to ask them to sponsor/co-sponsor a bill to tweak the Tax Code to protect children from sexual abuse that is contained at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lbrkte086omivtt/AADN7PQHNylsdKwbltjHxBUea?dl=0 along with an executive summary of the bill.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

11

Urgent - ABC Aust Reporter requesting information

by Listener in

this has been posted minutes ago by an australian news reporter.

urgent urgent urgent.

i am a producer at abc television in sydney.

ABibleStudent

I would like to see a report filming Geoffrey Jackson being served with a subpoena and a reporter than asking him any of the following questions:

Has he watched any of the testimonies given to the Australian Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse, including the other 28 case studies?
Since child sexual abuse is rape and rape is a serious felony in most countries, why do Watchtower elders hold Judicial Committees instead of instructing JWs to report such cases to the police as quickly as possible?
If there was no second witness, could a JW be disfellowshipped for reporting child sexual abuse to the police before reporting it to the elders? What if the accused perpetrator is not a JW, would a JW be disfellowshipped?
If reporting sexual abuse to the elders first instead of the police compromise DNA evidence that could be used as a second witness, why doesn't the Watchtower instruct victims to go directly to the police instead of to Watchtower elders, who then must wait for instructions from the local Branch?
Does the Watchtower plan to make any changes to its current child protection policies, such as instructing JWs to report such cases to the police before reporting to Watchtower elders or the local Branch?
Does the Watchtower plan to shield its real property assets from being used to compensate survivors of sexual abuse by forming real estate trusts, or as some archdioceses of the Catholic Church did by filing for bankruptcy?
Does the Watchtower plan to provide services to JW survivors of sexual abuse better than what some archdioceses of the Catholic Church as provided to survivors of sexual abuse by priests?

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

28

One of the most important questions.

by Lemonp in

it is enthralling having everything being dragged kicking and screaming into the light of day.

however one of the most important things to ask is this:.

is the rc evidence admissable in other countries and other courts?.

ABibleStudent

@ umbertoecho, My comments were directed to individuals who haven't written to politicians. Since you did write to politicians and your efforts did result in the formation of the Royal Commission, I congratulate you and everyone who contributed to the formation of the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse. How were you able to motivate other people including ex-JWs to write to politicians? What do you feel was crucial to capture the attention of politicians?

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

28

One of the most important questions.

by Lemonp in

it is enthralling having everything being dragged kicking and screaming into the light of day.

however one of the most important things to ask is this:.

is the rc evidence admissable in other countries and other courts?.

ABibleStudent

Since this thread asks probing questions, why are ex-JW's just writing their opinions in JWN threads instead of also writing to their politicians requesting that their politicians at least review the reports, evidence, transcripts, and/or videos that the Royal Commission has so transparently provided?

The hard work done by members of the Royal Commission will not change anything, unless citizens get involved to request that their politicians revise laws. For example a comprehensive bill and executive summary to tweak the USA Tax Code to protect children from sexual abuse is available for anyone to read at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lbrkte086omivtt/AADN7PQHNylsdKwbltjHxBUea?dl=0 .

In the last year I have written to 99 senators and several Representatives, but they will not listen to one person. They might listen to 100,000 constituents.

Rant over.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

56

The Australian Royal Commission hearings on the JWs handling of child abuse begins here in the US later today. It will be streamed.

by AndersonsInfo in

the royal commission hearing starting on monday, july 27, 2015 - australian day and date - (and it could go on until august 7th depending on how many witnesses testify) regarding jehovah's witnesses handling of child abuse is supposed to be streamed.. it could be that the hearing will only be audio not video although we were informed it will be streamed.

we'll find out in a few hours.. i live in the central time zone of the us and right now here it is sunday, 3: 45 pm.

in sydney, australia, it is 15 hours ahead of us.

ABibleStudent

Too bad most JWs will never watch the hearing(s). The testimony is very damming.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

30

If you could do anything publicly to get JWs out

by cognac in

jw
friends

and money wasn't an issue, what would it be?

ABibleStudent

Vidiot -
Take it a step further.
Start up or join a lobbyist group whose primary focus is the review and investigation of groups (religious or secular) whose tax-exempt status is/may be being abused... and/or lobbying to get the standards for tax-exemption raised to something closer to decent standards.

I have been trying to interest other lobbyist groups such as First Focus, NOW, SNAP, ACLU, and gay rights organizations. I sometimes feel that those types of organizations don't want to solve the problem, because how would they exist without something to be against.

I don't feel too bad since Steven Hassan has been trying for more than 30 years to convince people, bureaucrats, politicians to revoke the tax-exempt status of organizations who victimize their members with "undue influence" without changing the Tax Code. I feel that the Tax Code must be changed before the IRS will pro-actively enforce it for non-profits.

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

30

If you could do anything publicly to get JWs out

by cognac in

jw
friends

and money wasn't an issue, what would it be?

ABibleStudent

Donate money to the political campaigns of key members of Congress to review a draft bill with members of Congress that would revise the Tax Code to protect children from sexual abuse, and prevent non-profit organizations from using 'undue influence" (e.g., shunning) on their members or promote that their members use it on each other. The draft bill and its executive summary are available at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lbrkte086omivtt/AADN7PQHNylsdKwbltjHxBUea?dl=0 .

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert

25

All quiet on the western front

by campaign of hate in

recently it seems very quiet in jw land.. jw broadcasting has been in full swing for months now, nobody bats an eye lid at that anymore.. so the question is, what is next?

the next organisation change, the next doctrine change.

it seems like this is the quiet before the storm.. the way things are going, it's almost like they try and one up their last change, things in jw land get that bit more crazy every year.. i'm hedging my bets toward a monthly public talk broadcast straight from new york.

ABibleStudent

I believe that a corporate re-organization is going to occur within the next 2 years that will cull the R&F, so that only the most "Spiritually Strong" (non-thinking) JWs will remain.

The WTBTS will praise how effective the cart work and JW broadcasting are doing, The WTBTS will some how spin (or keep silent) about selling more Assembly and KH properties. Of course, the WTBTS will brag at how money is needed to fund JW broadcasting, distributing literature on-line through JW.org or through smaller sized retail outlets in strip malls. I would not be surprised if the WTBTS's owned entire strip-malls with a JW retail store in the mall someday. Of coarse, the WTBTS will also attempt to shame JWs to do more and give more money.

JW broadcasting, the writing, and printing departments could be spun off into an independent corporation that will donate excess funds to the WTBTS and hopefully reduce liability for the WTBTS. If the NewCorp prints anything that can be litigated, WTBTS representatives will just say, "JWs abhor . . . "

Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,

Robert