The following part of the letter has me especially concerned:
There are, however, many other situations that are connected with the abuse of a child. For example, there may be just one eyewitness, and the brother denies the allegation. (Deuteronomy 19:15; John 8:17) Or, he may be under active investigation by the secular authorities for alleged child abuse though the matter has not yet been established. Then again, a young child might be abused by someone who himself is a minor, perhaps in his pre- or early- teens. In these and similar cases no entry will be made on the Child Protection List. Rather, information should be kept in a sealed envelope in the congregation’s confidential file as described below. When such individuals move, the Congregation Service Committee should write a letter addressed to the Society’s Legal Department seeking advice as to whether to communicate the details to the new congregation.
In other words, without two witnesses, no report is made. As I have said before, I do not see how the “two witness” rule from the Mosaic Law applies to Christians, or to any sex crime, especially where children are involved. Even in the Mosaic Law, there were to be exceptions. Sex crimes are, by nature, secret. The perpetrator of course would deny the crime! How many Israelite men would have voluntarily revealed information which would get them stoned to death, not to mention in trouble with their wives? The Society’s letter quotes two scriptures in support of the “two-witness rule”. First from Deut. 19:15. But just three chapters later, we read this about the crime of rape:
*** Rbi8 Deuteronomy 22:23-27 ***
23 "In case there happened to be a virgin girl engaged to a man, and a man actually found her in the city and lay down with her, 24 YOU must also bring them both out to the gate of that city and pelt them with stones, and they must die, the girl for the reason that she did not scream in the city, and the man for the reason that he humiliated the wife of his fellowman. So you must clear away what is evil from your midst.
25 "If, however, it is in the field that the man found the girl who was engaged, and the man grabbed hold of her and lay down with her, the man who lay down with her must also die by himself, 26 and to the girl you must do nothing. The girl has no sin deserving of death, because just as when a man rises up against his fellowman and indeed murders him, even a soul, so it is with this case. 27 For it was in the field that he found her. The girl who was engaged screamed, but there was no one to rescue her.
OK, so the girl in the field did not have to cry out…why? Because no one would be able to testify as to whether she did or did not scream. Where are the two witnesses? The girl goes back to her family, no doubt an examination is performed by female relatives, she points the guy out, and everyone starts looking for big rocks.
The second scripture is this:
*** Rbi8 John 8:13-18 ***
13 Hence the Pharisees said to him: "You bear witness about yourself; your witness is not true." 14 In answer Jesus said to them: "Even if I do bear witness about myself, my witness is true, because I know where I came from and where I am going. But YOU do not know where I came from and where I am going. 15 YOU judge according to the flesh; I do not judge any man at all. 16 And yet if I do judge, my judgment is truthful, because I am not alone, but the Father who sent me is with me. 17 Also, in YOUR own Law it is written, 'The witness of two men is true.' 18 I am one that bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me."
Here, Jesus reminds the Pharisees about the “two witness rule” and tells them all the testimony needed to prove he is God’s son is: his father’s and his own. How does this apply at all to having two witnesses to a sex crime? It does not! In fact, Jesus is turning the rule back on them, saying it is not necessary for him to produce other witnesses as to who he is.
Of course, I don’t need to point out that when Jesus was later put to death, the entire Mosaic Law passed away and was replaced with, “Love God and your neighbor..” Even later additions, such as the counsil of elders in Acts 15, did not reinforce this particular part of the law.
If the Society is advocating this policy in writing and trying to use these scriptures to back them up, they are on very shakey ground.
I'm still stunned.....
