steve2 - Very helpful overview Saename. Makes the changes - or lack of them - stand out.
Thank you for your kind words.
steve2 - Regarding your above quote, my understanding is that this aspect changed some time back. It is not new. In other words, for some years now, the victim has not had to be confront the alleged abuser or be present when elders question him.
I wasn't aware of that. This means that there are practically no changes in the policies. Why did they bother to write the letter at all...?
steve2 - For me the big change is allowing a member of the congregation to be present when the elders meet with the victim, preferably a parent. Sure, if one of the parents is not a JW that excludes them - but at least it's a start. I note too that it does not state that the victim chooses who her support person will be - but I'd like to think the elders will take that into account - no guarantees.
Yeah, at least it is a start. Still, they should be despised by everyone and anyone because of excluding non-JW parents—especially disfellowshipped ones.
Thank you for your note, too. I didn't notice the fact that the victim does not choose her support person. The decision is entirely made by the elders, so... yeah... probably they would exclude non-JW parents—especially disfellowshipped ones.
steve2 - In essence, whilst a change here and there, it does not go far enough - especially around informing the authorites regardless of what the state law is.
Yeah, informing the authorities is the big part. The letter does not say whether the elders should even encourage the parents to inform the authorities—meaning, the elders will probably not encourage the parents to do so.
stillin - I recommend caution in this. It's fun but I had an elder go into bulldog mode when I tipped my hand about something that only the elite elders were supposed to know. I acted dumb and another elder came to my rescue.
But then, I'm doing a painfully slow fade. Maybe you're looking for excitement.
Yeah, I'm not really looking for a slow fade. I'm all for excitement. Besides, I'm an unbaptised publisher who just finished high school and is going to university after summer. That means that I do have friends outside the congregation. It wouldn't matter to me if they decided to shun me. Additionally, I'm a very confident person. Very confident. I don't let others have authority over me. I don't believe the elders have any real power. It's all fake. I realise this, so I really don't think they'd be capable of dealing with me if they pursued the case.