any elder has never asked me that question so far but i want to be prepared to answer that question if any of them ask me that question in the future.
i hope that they will never ask me that question.
any suggestions on how to answer that question would be very much appreciated.
Did Jehovah direct the policies on vaccinations and organ transplants? Did he want all those brothers to go to prison for refusing alternative military service? Did he want the publishers to spend years preaching the end will come in 1925/1975/before the 1914 generation is gone?
What was the question again?
right now, there are a lot of talks on this topic in quebec and, at the mid week meeting, they are reading the letter sent in 2002 where it states that the elders will call the authorities if the law forces them to.
the strange thing is, it looks like even when there are laws to that effect, jws seem to believe that it does not apply to them.
for instance, i know that they do not report anything in quebec, even if it is the law!
Continued from above post -
The fact he told me exactly the same thing twice tells me it is probably the organization's official statement to elders who ring about child abuse incidents.
When I heard Jackson tell the A.R.C. elders will always encourage the victim or the victim's family to report I just couldn't believe my ears, I've since encouraged the victim to report the abuse and I am going to write my experience to the UK enquiry.
Sure individual elders sometimes encourage reporting because there are some good guys in the org, but I'm still certain the inner policy is to try to hide any scandal so that the org can point their finger at other religions while brainwashing their own followers, it makes me sick.
right now, there are a lot of talks on this topic in quebec and, at the mid week meeting, they are reading the letter sent in 2002 where it states that the elders will call the authorities if the law forces them to.
the strange thing is, it looks like even when there are laws to that effect, jws seem to believe that it does not apply to them.
for instance, i know that they do not report anything in quebec, even if it is the law!
When I was an elder I had to ring London bethel on two occasions about a child abuse incident, this was in 2010 and 2011 and the victim was an adult by then and was thinking of reporting the abuse herself.
The voice on the phone was undoubtedly Bevan Vigo and the instruction he gave me both times was exactly the same 'don't give the victim any advice either way, it is her absolute right to report the abuse to the police if she wished to but we would never encourage it'
new documentary on pedophilia that aired december 1st, 2016 on radio-canada(cbc) in quebec in french now with english subtitles.
note : activate subtitles on youtube.. enquête : les «sales» du royaume (translation).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk2uc5u8eis&index=1&list=plrdybk064vz82j5ysa5qkajwnf3szrnpi.
Thanks for the post, very helpful, I'll watch them later today.
If you have to ask, it can't be a very good prophecy!
been lurking since early this year.
there are many of us out there (at least in this area, central u.s.) who are waking up and crossing the line to talk to each other about it.
in our area, several elders, ministerial servants and pioneers are actively and openly sharing info with each other daily.
Welcome and thanks for the encouraging experiences, so glad you're wife has woke up too as that makes the process sooo much easier.
We have a similar situation where I live in the UK with many waking up including a number of elders, the c.o. has even said to a number of people that there is a big apostasy problem on this circuit and he is going to 'stamp it out'. Personally I don't think his shoes are big enough! This kind of stuff fills me with joy.
i'm always interested to hear what a 'spokesman' for the organization has to say when newspapers report on child abuse issues.. for example the following statement was made in a recent guardian article.
a spokesman for the jehovah’s witnesses said: “we are in no position to, and neither would we wish to, force any victim of abuse to confront their attacker.”.
and this is straight from the shepherd the flock book -.
I'm always interested to hear what a 'spokesman' for the organization has to say when newspapers report on child abuse issues.
For example the following statement was made in a recent Guardian article.
A spokesman for the Jehovah’s Witnesses said: “We are in no position to, and neither would we wish to, force any victim of abuse to confront their attacker.”
And this is straight from the shepherd the flock book -
(Note: If the accusation involves child sexual abuse and the victim is currently a minor, the elders should contact the branch office before arranging a meeting with the child and the alleged abuser.)
Here's a link to the article
Comments anyone?
'in order to extend mercy, the committee must be convinced that the wrongdoer has a changed heart condition and that he has a zeal to right the wrong and is absolutely determined to avoid it in the future.'.
shepherd the flock page 91. i remember this is one of the first things that concerned me as an elder because it seemed to sound like a person is guilty until proven innocent rather than 'love believes all things', especially given the word 'convinced' appears in bold.. then in a training video one elder said something like 'unless we are convinced of repentance the shepherd the flock book says we must disfellowship'.
that was the begining of the end for me as i thought surely true christians would reason the other way round and show mercy wherever possible.. any thoughts?.
Thanks for the quotes berrygerry, once again we see more WT hypocrisy.
To the sheep
At times, elders are obliged to judge cases of serious wrongdoing. When doing so, they remember that divine justice seeks to extend mercy if at all possible.
To the elders
'In order to extend mercy, the committee must be convinced that the wrongdoer has a changed heart condition and that he has a zeal to right the wrong and is absolutely determined to avoid it in the future.'
1 Tim 3:8 "....not double tongued...."
'in order to extend mercy, the committee must be convinced that the wrongdoer has a changed heart condition and that he has a zeal to right the wrong and is absolutely determined to avoid it in the future.'.
shepherd the flock page 91. i remember this is one of the first things that concerned me as an elder because it seemed to sound like a person is guilty until proven innocent rather than 'love believes all things', especially given the word 'convinced' appears in bold.. then in a training video one elder said something like 'unless we are convinced of repentance the shepherd the flock book says we must disfellowship'.
that was the begining of the end for me as i thought surely true christians would reason the other way round and show mercy wherever possible.. any thoughts?.
I think despite what the elders book says most elders have a 'if in doubt lean on the side of mercy' mindset, but only according to incredibly harsh rules that have been set out for them.
For example suppose someone is on a judicial for the 2nd time, most elders will probably reason that the reproof failed last time so to them doubt is removed and they will likely df no matter how sorry the individual is.
A prominent elder on our circuit who has sat on many appeal committees once told me that in sexual matters (most jc's) the most important question was whether contraception was used and if so the outcome was very likely to be df.
Once again the org's rules don't leave much room for mercy.
'in order to extend mercy, the committee must be convinced that the wrongdoer has a changed heart condition and that he has a zeal to right the wrong and is absolutely determined to avoid it in the future.'.
shepherd the flock page 91. i remember this is one of the first things that concerned me as an elder because it seemed to sound like a person is guilty until proven innocent rather than 'love believes all things', especially given the word 'convinced' appears in bold.. then in a training video one elder said something like 'unless we are convinced of repentance the shepherd the flock book says we must disfellowship'.
that was the begining of the end for me as i thought surely true christians would reason the other way round and show mercy wherever possible.. any thoughts?.
"You may not like this but in the JW org, sins are defined by the Bible as interpreted by the wt."
So where does the bible define smoking, gambling or talking to a df'd person as a sin?
Let's have a look at punishment as defined by the bible -
Prodical son - squandered a fortune living a debauched life, came home when the money ran out - thrown a banquet.
David - had an innocent man killed to cover adultery - kept his position as king but had his baby killed.
Achan - theft - fessed up and was stoned and burned along with his entire family.
So basically pick an example and be as forgiving or harsh as you want.
