these excerpts i'm sharing with you are from the july 1st, 1989 letter from the wt society to the elders and it gives outsiders a good idea of the attitude of the wt society leaders towards child abuse victims and even towards their own appointed elders.
and it shows wt society is first, foremost, and mainly concerned about financial fallout from potential lawsuits.
one short quote was used from this letter on the abc news nightline report about candace conti - but what i'm going to share with you will be other excerpts from that same letter that are just as, or even more revealing.
Flipper wrote:
"WT leaders won't even SNIFF at an admission of a child abuse problem"
Actually Richard Ashe admitted it, but he said that that was not the WT problem, they (WT) only responsibility is to protect spirituality. Physical protection is the responsibility of secular authorities. The chutzpah!!
these excerpts i'm sharing with you are from the july 1st, 1989 letter from the wt society to the elders and it gives outsiders a good idea of the attitude of the wt society leaders towards child abuse victims and even towards their own appointed elders.
and it shows wt society is first, foremost, and mainly concerned about financial fallout from potential lawsuits.
one short quote was used from this letter on the abc news nightline report about candace conti - but what i'm going to share with you will be other excerpts from that same letter that are just as, or even more revealing.
For 2 years (2012-2014) I researched the WT magazines, and from the beginning I thought they were arrogant, delusional and manipulative liars, but it took me a while to accept the existence of the pedophile protection program (PPP) and the ulterior motives of the WT, namely $$$$$$. What awakened me to this reality was the discovery of the following article few months ago. The whole thing spells "money matters more than children".
This is how the Watchtower proposes to solve child abuse problems.
“ *** w95 11/1 28 Comfort for Those With a
"Stricken Spirit" ***
If there is some valid reason to suspect
that the alleged perpetrator is still abusing children, a warning may have to be given. The
congregation elders can help in such a case. Otherwise, take your time. Eventually, you may be content to let the
matter drop. If, though, you want to confront the alleged perpetrator (after first assessing how you would
feel about the possible responses), you have a right to do so.”
What if the sufferer decides that he wants to make an accusation? Then the two elders can advise him that, in line with the principle at Matthew 18:15, he should personally approach the accused about the matter. If the accuser is not emotionally able to do this face-to-face, it can be done by telephone or perhaps by writing a letter. In this way the one accused is given the opportunity to go on record before Jehovah with his answer to the accusation. He may even be able to present evidence that he could not have committed the abuse. Or perhaps the one accused will confess, and a reconciliation may be achieved. What a blessing that would be!”
several times over the past few months i have had conversations, both here and in real life, with religious people making all sorts of interesting and conflicting claims.
i like to know how things work, so generally i will ask questions to net out what i am being told and see if it can be explained and make sense.. for instance, if someone said 2+2=4 and i asked how, there are a variety of ways that could be shown to me, a number line, physical objects being put together, counting on fingers and toes, etc.
indeed, in my personal life, i often have to explain how certain technologies work, sometimes planned, sometimes off the cuff, from a variety of group sizes to a varying degree of technical expertise.
I am not exaggerating when I say that the most astounding thing that I have seen in my life is how fundamentalist religious people, especially those with a good secular education, defend their untenable beliefs. I know few of those. I have directly asked them questions, in person and by e-mail, regarding the WT false and ridiculous teachings, and their responses are clearly evasive, quite often resorting to responses like "I am spiritual, you are not. That's why you don't understand"
Theirs is a world without logic. I guess my having been a skeptic and a lover of science all of my adult life, makes my reaction to their responses even more frustrating.
the below image comes from the following web site page: commons wikimedia.
the author of the work has granted licence to use his work providing he is properly credited or attributed as the author.. .
[credit: daniel meyar, licensed for use under creative commons].
several times over the past few months i have had conversations, both here and in real life, with religious people making all sorts of interesting and conflicting claims.
i like to know how things work, so generally i will ask questions to net out what i am being told and see if it can be explained and make sense.. for instance, if someone said 2+2=4 and i asked how, there are a variety of ways that could be shown to me, a number line, physical objects being put together, counting on fingers and toes, etc.
indeed, in my personal life, i often have to explain how certain technologies work, sometimes planned, sometimes off the cuff, from a variety of group sizes to a varying degree of technical expertise.
True story. Regarding defending the indefensible I have sent multiple e-mails to an educated, smart, born-in elder, in which I presented evidence (usually scans from WT magazines or books) demonstrating the Watchtower's deceptions, errors, questionable doctrines and outright ridiculous past beliefs and statements. His responses in so many words were:
"Dear non JW, your evidence is tainted" or "the organization is the truth, but you are not spiritual enough to understand it".
It all boils down to: rational arguments are not satisfactory and rational individuals are not spiritual and can't have access to God's mysterious ways.
when i was young we were taught to refer to other adult jws as aunt or uncle.. was this also the case in other countries and does it still happen?.
was it just a custom or has the literature ever commented on it?.
thanks.
several times over the past few months i have had conversations, both here and in real life, with religious people making all sorts of interesting and conflicting claims.
i like to know how things work, so generally i will ask questions to net out what i am being told and see if it can be explained and make sense.. for instance, if someone said 2+2=4 and i asked how, there are a variety of ways that could be shown to me, a number line, physical objects being put together, counting on fingers and toes, etc.
indeed, in my personal life, i often have to explain how certain technologies work, sometimes planned, sometimes off the cuff, from a variety of group sizes to a varying degree of technical expertise.
i was at a criminal trial all day in murfreesboro, tn, involving the notorious jw who i call "mommy molester," angela montgomery.
this is the reason i didn't know until this evening that the nightline program with the segment on jws was changed until tomorrow night.
(i forgot my phone.
i know of several examples of ones that "left the truth" for up to 20 years, only to suffer through the reinstatement process and feel like they are finally back on track.. how does this happen?.
i personally know of one example where a father of three, leaves jws, abandons wife and family, lives as a gay man then comes back 20 years later as a partaking member of the anointed..
