jehovah church faces flood of sex abuse cases.
"a woman who was abused from the age of four by a senior officer of the jehovahs witnesses has lodged a 500,000 claim for compensation in a test case that could open the door to hundreds more suits involving members of the religious organisation in the uk.".
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/crime/article1525363.ece.
If we help them to marry the criticism levelled by the WT against the Catholic Church and others, with the reality of the filth within the WT/JW Org, they can make a great story of Hypocrisy, Lying, Cover-up, and stupid ineptitude driven by ignorant Dogma.
Yes, but... where are the direct quotes in WT literature where they rip the Catholic Church abuse problem in the same way they ripped them from the platform? We've all HEARD their anti-Catholic rhetoric but we need it in print.
jehovah church faces flood of sex abuse cases.
"a woman who was abused from the age of four by a senior officer of the jehovahs witnesses has lodged a 500,000 claim for compensation in a test case that could open the door to hundreds more suits involving members of the religious organisation in the uk.".
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/crime/article1525363.ece.
From the newspaper:
A WOMAN who was abused from the age of four by a senior officer of the Jehovah’s Witnesses has lodged a 500,00 claim for compensation in a test case that could open the door to hundreds more suits involving members of the religious organization in the UK.
Judges sitting at the High Court in London have been told that Abigail (not her real name) was first molested after Bible-study classes in Leicestershire by Peter Stewart, a ministerial servant of the organization.
The abuse which included the alleged rape, continued for five years until Abigail was nine, and took place in her home, his home, in a shed and in cars, the court was told.
Lawyers and AO Advocates, which is representing her, have worked closely with the lawyers of an American woman, Candace Conti, to bring the case. Three years ago Conti was awarded $28m, the biggest religious sex-abuse payout for a single victim, after revealing that the Jehovah’s Witnesses had allowed one of its adult members to abuse her as a child.
“I brought the case because I wanted them to be sorry and I wanted them to change,” Abigail, now 29, told The Sunday Times last week in her first interview. She has since left the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
“They are a very insular organization. Any change to children’s lives is going to have to come from outside pressure. I tried for years to get an apology. It was degrading having to beg for an apology and I did not get one.”
The religious organization which Abigail’s lawyer, Kathleen Hallisey, describes as “male-dominated”, required girls to wear dresses, which made the abuse of Abigail easier, the court was told.
Stewart gave the little girl Quality Street chocolates and led her to believe that when Armageddon came she would not be saved because of their “fornication”. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the end of the world is immanent.
In 1995 Stewart was convicted of assaulting another child and sent to prison for five years. When he emerged, Abigail, terrified the abuse might resume, told the police about her own ordeal and Stewart was arrested and charged. He died in 2001 before the case came to trial.
Abigail said that she went to court for compensation because of the response of the senior members in the organization to whom she complained.
She claims that, following Stewart’s release, she went to the organization’s elders but was told that, “Because there was not a second witness to the abuse”, he would be reinstated as a ministerial servant. Eventually she confided in her husband, who urged her to take legal action.
“I want them to change and to change some of their practices, too. I would never have gone to court if I had had an apology,” she said.
“Victims of abuse are made to confront their perpetrators. I do not understand how this organization can organize meetings between perpetrators and victims. It is criminal that that is being done. That should stop. They also have a rule that there have to be two witnesses to abuse and they must be of good character.
“Abuse is regarded as a sin, not a crime. I want this to change to protect other children in the future.”
Lawyers suggested that the situation was reminiscent of that in the Catholic Church, with widespread abuse unreported to police.
“We expect this case to open the floodgates to dozens, if not hundreds, more cases,” said Hallisey. The firm already has six other clients who are awaiting the outcome of Abigail’s case before deciding whether to go to court.
Jehovah’s Witnesses as a Christian organization whose members are best known for preaching door-to-door and distributing religious literature such as The Watchtower and Awake! magazines. They are understood to be considering setting up high-street drop-in centers and have also recently started canvassing at Tube stations.
Abigail has found it difficult to hold down a job for long, did not complete a university education and suffers from a post-traumatic stress disorder. She has made several suicide attempts and told her lawyers she did not expect to live past the age of 30. It has affected me in every way,” she said. “It has changed who I would have been.”
A spokesman for the Jehovah’s Witnesses said: “While deeply sympathizing with any victims of abuse, we do not consider it appropriate to comment on a case where a ruling by the judge is still pending. “Jehovah’s Witness have an absolute and unequivocal abhorrence of child abuse. The care and safeguarding of children is extremely important to us. For decades we have published material to help parents and children to be protected from abuse.”
new to the site.
currently i am a ministerial servant and was told i was appointed to be an elder.
i told the brothers i was not ready for that assignment.
It's good to have a doctor in the house.
Welcome!
so.. some asshole visits another asshole but a mob erupts and wants to rape the visiting asshole.. the host asshole offers his daughter and the visiting asshole's concubine to appease the mob.. sure enough.. the concubine ends up gang raped and murdered.
in the morning the visiting asshole loads her up on his donkey, takes her home, dismembers her body into 12 pieces and sends it to all the tribes to incite war.. so an army of 22,000 is formed, some prick goes and asks jehovah if they should go and destroy the gang raping mob.. and jehovah says 'yes.. do it.
they go to fight and loose all 22,000 die.
Another comment was.. homosexuality is so bad that the host asshole would give up his daughter rather than having some dude get raped.
And the little gay boy or lesbian youth sitting quietly in the auditorium is asking, "Why am I such an abomination, God? Why won't you answer my prayers and change me? What did I do to offend you?"
Years later that young adult will have decided God's mind is made up, whatever the reason, so what's the point of trying... or in some cases, continuing.
Bravo, religion!
the "preaching work" they're so eager to brag about is just laughable.
they say their number is an indication of god's blessing.
oh, please, give me a break!
If they can bill an international award for flat floors at the Orangeburg, SC assembly hall as an indication of God's blessing, then attributing preaching work numbers to Jah ain't nuth'n.
hey guys,.
so, since my leaving i have been doing so much research on so many topics that it's been extremely enlightening.
not only have i learned a lot about the organization and what motivates it, but i have also learned a lot about the bible, god and most importantly, myself.. currently, i'm not quite sure where i stand, but i'm having some real issues with the bible and god.
"Religioned out." I like that, Bungi Bill. I think that best describes me while maintaining what I guess is a Christian foundation. I have a set of beliefs I believe are true (of course - why else would I hold them?), but now with the humility to swap them out in a heartbeat if they become unsustainable. I always lead with "In my opinion" when discussing the bible, but I have no desire to prove or debate.
I don't feel like I have a home in Religion, Inc. By far it mostly has a "God hates fags" slant to it and even the ones that don't are all caught up in this sensationalistic... emotionalism "Ohhhh JeeeeZUSS, my LORRD" with rolling eyes and emphatic gestures....
Oh Jesus, I just can't!
I'm religioned out! Thanks BB.
i got one from my mother.
when the hell did they start doing this???.
i'm guessing this is the way they're going to do it eventually.
did you see the last episode?
that nicely dressed, freshly-shaven young man that came out from behind the trees at the very end and said:.
i didn't mean to interrupt.
"lifestyle choice"...
choice....
okay.
so do you feel bad throwing away your old literature?.
what about your old song book or bible from your early days in the org?.
if so, is it because of sentimentality, monetary cost or because it might be 'sacred' ?.
I remember my own great purge and how empty and sad I felt inside while throwing it all out. I knew TTATT and I had no regrets for leaving, but somehow I was sad. That literature represented a feeling of security, albeit false.
Discussing the experience with another former JW, I was counseled to view it as leaving a once cherished but now toxic relationship. You know you're doing the right thing but the human in you still hurts.
It gets easier.
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/2015/02/16/jehovahs-witnesses-envisoin-fishkill-complex/23527469/
