the watch tower society, the christian congregation of jehovah's witnesses, the faithful and discreet slave, and the governing body of jehovah's witnesses, last week issued a "special" letter to all bodies of elders in the state of victoria instructing them to immediately apply for their working with children licenses and to comply with child protection laws.
the letter includes instructions that the contents are not to be made public or shared with members of the congregation.. .
this means an investigation authorized by the governing body of jehovah's witnesses and initiated by lawyers representing the watch tower bible and tract society of pennsylvania, inc. have concluded that the victorian working with children act 2005 and the associated child protection laws do indeed apply to all elders serving in congregations throughout the state of victoria both in the public ministry and in their internal ministry, which includes the theocratic ministry school.. .
The OP said, "Each of the 35 charges carries a fine of up to Au$144,000 and a criminal conviction."
If that fine was assessed on all 35 charges, that's over 5 million Au dollars in fines! ($5,040,000)
Would be nice to see the WTS have to explain that expenditure to the followers. But 35 criminal convictions would be would be nice too.
the watch tower society, the christian congregation of jehovah's witnesses, the faithful and discreet slave, and the governing body of jehovah's witnesses, last week issued a "special" letter to all bodies of elders in the state of victoria instructing them to immediately apply for their working with children licenses and to comply with child protection laws.
the letter includes instructions that the contents are not to be made public or shared with members of the congregation.. .
this means an investigation authorized by the governing body of jehovah's witnesses and initiated by lawyers representing the watch tower bible and tract society of pennsylvania, inc. have concluded that the victorian working with children act 2005 and the associated child protection laws do indeed apply to all elders serving in congregations throughout the state of victoria both in the public ministry and in their internal ministry, which includes the theocratic ministry school.. .
@Band on the Run, who said, "This indicates a heirarchal religion....The Church felt ignorant people needed all the wisdom of the accumulated Church Fathers to interpret scripture. Another group believes that only through their literature can one understand their Bible."
So many similarities between the WTS and a religion it strongly condemns.
the watch tower society, the christian congregation of jehovah's witnesses, the faithful and discreet slave, and the governing body of jehovah's witnesses, last week issued a "special" letter to all bodies of elders in the state of victoria instructing them to immediately apply for their working with children licenses and to comply with child protection laws.
the letter includes instructions that the contents are not to be made public or shared with members of the congregation.. .
this means an investigation authorized by the governing body of jehovah's witnesses and initiated by lawyers representing the watch tower bible and tract society of pennsylvania, inc. have concluded that the victorian working with children act 2005 and the associated child protection laws do indeed apply to all elders serving in congregations throughout the state of victoria both in the public ministry and in their internal ministry, which includes the theocratic ministry school.. .
@ Barbara Anderson..."Perhaps I should have waited on posting..."
No! This is such a hot topic, any information you can get, we want it. Some of the details can wait.
@ Mad Sweeney..."My guess is they have been removing known pedophiles either from their position as elders in Victoria or physically moving them out of the state..."
Wasn't a higher up (director?) recently moved from the Australian branch to Poland? I seem to remember reading it here a week or two ago. I wondered at the time if the background check might be the reason. I guess it could have been for a lot of reasons, but it seems very coincidental.
"we can't smoke pot with him... he's disfellowshipped!".
please keep 'em coming!
i wanna see more.
Contribute, please. (Re credit card machines)
i've never read any, so i'd like to know everyone's opinion..
Crisis of Conscience. It's a favorite of many because it was written by former a Governing Body member, Ray Franz, who had inside information not available anywhere else. I've not read it myself, but I have heard you just gobble it up when you start it. I'm looking forward to it.
the watch tower society, the christian congregation of jehovah's witnesses, the faithful and discreet slave, and the governing body of jehovah's witnesses, last week issued a "special" letter to all bodies of elders in the state of victoria instructing them to immediately apply for their working with children licenses and to comply with child protection laws.
the letter includes instructions that the contents are not to be made public or shared with members of the congregation.. .
this means an investigation authorized by the governing body of jehovah's witnesses and initiated by lawyers representing the watch tower bible and tract society of pennsylvania, inc. have concluded that the victorian working with children act 2005 and the associated child protection laws do indeed apply to all elders serving in congregations throughout the state of victoria both in the public ministry and in their internal ministry, which includes the theocratic ministry school.. .
A question for Barbara or others.
I'm probably being a little dense but there is something here that I haven't yet heard of.
If I'm following this correctly, the 35 charges result from five Watchtower entities (4 corporations + the Faithful and Discreet Slave) being charged with 7 counts each.
Then it says,
"All charges are in relation to allegations of unlawful activities carried out within the Tarragon Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses by the entire Body of Tarragon Congregation Elders. In addition, there are approximately between 100-150 other sets of charges pending in relation to every single congregation in the State of Victoria."
My Q is, what does one single congregation, Tarragon, and it's body of elders, have to do with this? Since this is a state wide issue in all of Victoria, why are all the charges related to that KH/Congrregation/BOE? Were there other "unlawful activities" besides failing to comply with the WWCA2005 law that involved only that congretation?
(I hope I'm making the question clear)
Regardless of my confusion on that point, this is GREAT news. I was afraid the Society would find some way to skirt the law, but this is satisfying. Thumbs up to Steven Unthank! And many thanks to Barbara Anderson and her contacts for all the updates.
the watch tower society, the christian congregation of jehovah's witnesses, the faithful and discreet slave, and the governing body of jehovah's witnesses, last week issued a "special" letter to all bodies of elders in the state of victoria instructing them to immediately apply for their working with children licenses and to comply with child protection laws.
the letter includes instructions that the contents are not to be made public or shared with members of the congregation.. .
this means an investigation authorized by the governing body of jehovah's witnesses and initiated by lawyers representing the watch tower bible and tract society of pennsylvania, inc. have concluded that the victorian working with children act 2005 and the associated child protection laws do indeed apply to all elders serving in congregations throughout the state of victoria both in the public ministry and in their internal ministry, which includes the theocratic ministry school.. .
I second MeanMrMustard's notion of posting the letter. Would love to read that one.
i never heard of a jw city overseer and that makes me wonder about what else i haven't heard of.
i would like to know more about other positions titles etc such as what their titles are and what they do for the wtbs.
please and thanks.
There were also 'zone overseers.' Do they still exist?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-gilmour/jehovahs-witnesses-and-ac_b_987545.html.
excerpt (bold added):.
intrigued by this gap in the scholarly conversation about contemporary uses of the bible, i recently proposed an sbl session examining the watch tower bible and tract society's use of scripture.
djeggnog is quite the scholarfly type, and posts here from time to time. His posts are long winded, but he's pretty good at presenting the Watchtower point of view. Would be very interesting to see him and the scholars exchange ideas.
*Still Wondering*, you have written a tremendous essay. The points you made about the Society's ever changing policies on the blood issue while claiming to have been consistent, reminded me of a remark an elder made from the platform a short time before I decided to stop attending meetings. He said...
"The Society's position on blood has never changed."
And he said it in the most innocent and sweetest sounding voice you can imagine. At the time I heard it, I thought it wasn't quite right, but as I have learned more about the blood issue, and the dozens of changes that have taken place, I now realize it was an outright lie, and that the Society is extremely dishonest about it's history on blood.
Your observations about wrongful disfellowshippings, then those who were disfellowshipped never being apologized to or invited back, are very powerful. To me this shows that the true nature of the Society is to be heavy-handed, legalistic, controlling, manipulative. It sets itself up to be worshipped and obeyed regardless of the outcome to innocent followers. The Watchtower attitude is completely contrary to that of Jesus Christ, who showed love, mercy, tenderness, and a caring attitued toward people.
The cover on the 5-22-94 Awake magazine that you referenced, which was comprised of photographs of young people who had died over the blood issue, amounts to the Society proudly advertising the death of it's own people, including children, over it's man made rules on blood. While blood itself becomes idolized as the symbol of life when these artificial rules are followed, as you so carefully pointed out, the thing that really becomes the object of worship, and idolized in a big way, is the Society itself. It has elevated itself to the position of a false god, and it dictates life and death in areas where no humans should ever go.
It's sad that your sister has been lost. You can be assured that the words you posted here, making complete sense and exposing the Society's contradictory thinking on this issue, will have the positive effect of saving lives in the future. People will read this post, and be educated and enlightened by it.
I offer you a heart felt 'Thank You' for what you have written, and I hope you realize that the loss of your sister, while tragic and hurtful, will have a positive outcome for others. Best wishes to you, and you have my deepest sympathies.
