Since all members of JWs are considered ministers, they should all be mandatory reporters. And I'd like to see anyone with a title (men and women) screened through background checks just like is done at schools or any other volunteer organization that works with vulnerable populations.
Della Street
JoinedPosts by Della Street
-
11
Article: D.C. Attorney general proposes making clergy ‘mandated reporters’ of abuse
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-attorney-general-proposes-making-clergy-mandated-reporters-of-abuse/2019/01/23/2a8f8f72-1f35-11e9-9145-3f74070bbdb9_story.html?utm_term=.1c7f810d688b.
d.c. attorney general proposes making clergy ‘mandated reporters’ of abuse.
by fenit nirappil and.
-
-
-
11
Article: D.C. Attorney general proposes making clergy ‘mandated reporters’ of abuse
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-attorney-general-proposes-making-clergy-mandated-reporters-of-abuse/2019/01/23/2a8f8f72-1f35-11e9-9145-3f74070bbdb9_story.html?utm_term=.1c7f810d688b.
d.c. attorney general proposes making clergy ‘mandated reporters’ of abuse.
by fenit nirappil and.
-
-
Della Street
JWs flip flop about being clergy or not. They claim the confidentiality when it is serves them, and they distance themselves from it when it is in their best interest.
How can that be dealt with? Do JW elders in states where they are mandatory reporters realize that is the category they fall into and that is their responsibility?
-
-
-
Della Street
I am part of a secular buddhist group and I love it.
-
49
Anti vaccines
by blisterfeet ini personally feel that vaccinations are beneficial.
there has been a modern movement that vaccinations are more harmful than beneficial to which i disagree.
what is your stance as an ex jw on vaccinating your children?
-
-
Della Street
Given I live in Portland Oregon, across the river from Vancouver WA which is at present in a public health crisis with a measles outbreak, I believe in vaccinations. It's proven they work. We need 93% of the population to be vaccinated for it to work. So those who can't vaccinate for legitimate reasons are no problem.
Those who don't do it because they don't believe science, should be forced to do it or isolated in some way.
Putting everyone at risk is ridiculous.
-
37
Mind Numbing Meetings
by minimus inwithout a doubt, jw life is boring.
and those meetings!
5 congregation meetings, meetings for field service, elders meetings, judicial meetings, meetings to figure out who was qualified to clean the toilets....🤔.
-
-
Della Street
Over time you are trained to cut yourself off from yourself - suppress anything you feel, think or want in service to the organization. If you are born-in, you don't even know you've done it and to what extent until you leave (if you ever do).
It is sort of like the illustration of the fish not seeing the water it swims in...or even the experience of a lobster in a pot of water that slowly warms to a boil....the level of control exerted is undetectable if you are convinced it is for a higher good.
And, most people want to be and do good. So that was the motivation for enduring things that were mind-numbing and sucked the life out of us.
-
224
How to sue the WT over shunning policy. It CAN happen!
by Bad_Wolf inthis is a very good document from a law school exploring religious freedom vs an individuals right to religious freedom without blackmail, pressure, etc, and also explores why certain lawsuits did not win and what it would take to win them.
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=3827&context=penn_law_review.
a person born in, and whose parents or family pressured to shun because they simply left the religion, who has evidence of damages, etc, would likely have a good case if they find a good lawyer.
-
-
Della Street
I have not yet read the posted article...
I could see this becoming legal from the stance of promoting hate. The protected class that could pursue this would be the LGBTQ community. From those foundational arguments, it isn't a stretch to say that ALL shunning is religious persecution since people are either choosing another religion, or choosing to believe something else entirely. It is also true that the JWs could be seen as interfering with an individual's right of freedom of assembly and association since individuals are not free to join or leave a group without social consequence.
-
34
New JW phrase: bouquet of truth
by ohnightdivine ini heard it from someone who attended the latest wt study, and quickly posted it with - you guessed it - a picture of a lovely flower bouquet.
.
"how big is your bouquet of truth?".
-
-
Della Street
It should be "How big is your pile of bullshit?"
-
22
Emotional Moment...
by babygirl30 inyesterday i was looking to share a pic with a friend of mine, and i swore it was in my photo albums (i have 3).
so i start going through them, and i see so many jw pics!
i had a huge group of friends when i was 'in', and so there is just pic after pic of assemblies, dinners, game nights, rbc projects, my family and the house i grew up in, people from the hall, etc.
-
-
Della Street
I have a lot of empathy for you.
I realized a couple of days ago, that as a 4th Generation JW, I grieve the life I left behind - I grieve all the negative things that happened to me, and I grieve losing all the good things - for me, it was not all good or bad. In this last year, I've just started to fully see the damage done by being a JW. At the same time, there is a lot I miss about my family ...
It's very complicated.
Be gentle with yourself, and proud of your progress.
-
24
New rules for child sexual abuse?
by formerministerial ina european jehovah's witness, who served in an important branch, has sent me the following rumor.. some serious sources are mentioned.
it clearly shake my perspective of what is going to happen in the coming months.. i'm totally shocked !.
the law firm managing all the interests of the wt has studied the problem in europe on data protection and actions on files and protocols of child abuse.
-
-
Della Street
@TheFallGuy in the States, board members of non-profits usually elect for the organization to carry "Board Insurance" due to the fact that board members are individually liable for the decisions and actions of the non-profit corporation.
There is so much WT could do that would not compromise their Two Witness Rule:
- require background checks for all MS, Elders, Pioneers, Bethelites, etc...
- report all sexual abuse reports to the police
- start sending elders to classes on trauma informed care, and Psychological First Aid
Their inability to think out of the box, or to do what is best for the people in their care is becoming increasingly blatant. That is not to say that there are not good men there who sincerely care, but they are so ignorant and uneducated that they have been causing real damage for decades. It is time to put a stop to it.
-
25
Want to read the Montana Nunez v. Watchtower Trial Transcript? It's now available to read
by AndersonsInfo inthe trial transcript of nunez v. watchtower (426 pages) has been made available from scaars which is the acronym for a new a 501(c)(4) lobbying corporation, sexual child abuse - advocates for reform and safety (scaars).. .
the scaars corporation was formed october 3, 2018 by barbara anderson and former elder, roger bentley and his wife, karin.
on the home page of the scaars website, scaars.org, you will find information that explains the goal of the movement - scaars: "changing laws - changing lives.".
-
-
Della Street
They don't have to give up their 2 witness rule in order to report child abuse to the police. If a parent or child comes to them with that information, that is not a confession and should not fall under the cloak of clergy privilege... they need to act like mandatory reporters and call the police. The. End.
Let the police notify the congregation that an investigation is being conducted so people are warned...and put on notice....
it is not that hard to NOT protect child molesters.....