Blame God
It's surprising how often the Governing Body slides responsibility to their God rather than make a decision themselves. Take a look at this Watchtower 1996 Mar 15 p.15;
"Loyalty to Jehovah God will also keep us from doing anything that would bring reproach upon his name and Kingdom. For example, two Christians once got into such difficulty with each other that they improperly resorted to a worldly law court. Certainly, the course of loyalty to Jehovah God is to suffer personal loss rather than bring reproach upon Jehovah and his organisation."
So let's set the scene; 'Brother A' rents his house out to another 'brother' in the congregation (brother B). Brother A relies on the income from the rent to survive. He is disabled, unable to work and has no other source of income. At first everything is fine until after a few months brother B stops paying the rent. Brother B informs Brother A that he cannot pay any more rent but he has no intention to vacate the premises.
The elders will not intervene because this is a private dispute between two members of the congregation and nobody else in the Kingdom Hall is aware of the issue. Brother A is now in a situation where he has no income and he is not even allowed to get rid of his errant tenant through legal means. Who gets the blame for this situation? Apparently Brother A has to suffer personal loss because he will bring reproach on Jehovah if he tries to get back what is rightly his.
As Brother A gets further and further into debt I am sure he consoles himself with the knowledge that at least Jehovah has not suffered any negative publicity!
Take a look at this excerpt from the Elders handbook on the subject of child abuse allegations;
So, if there are not two or more witnesses to his crime, all a child abuser has to do is deny the accusations made against him and the elders will 'leave the matter in Jehovah's hands'. That must be a great comfort to the child being abused! What exactly is Jehovah going to do to protect that child and any others that are in danger of being messed up for the rest of their lives?
Judging the abuser at Armageddon does nothing to stop the damage being inflicted on the victims right now. This is the Governing Body throwing a hot potato into Gods lap and washing their hands of any responsibility for the child sexual abuse within their organisation. Yet the religion is happy to point the finger at other faiths who face the same situation;
Awake! 1990 November 8 p.31
"First accused of gross indecency in 1979, one priest was recently sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to 36 charges!
Usually these cases are hushed up, and no significant disciplinary action is taken. Perhaps a priest is transferred to another parish or duty, where the depravity might start again. On this occasion the archbishop was moved to resign after stating: We are a sinful church. We are naked. Our anger, our pain, our anguish, our shame are clear to the whole world. And even worse, the church hierarchy failed to act decisively. They were accused of being more concerned about the offending priests than about the victims."
Pots and kettles come to mind. However, despite all the over-riding evidence to the contrary the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses still deny there is a serious problem within their organisation;
Usually these cases are hushed up, and no significant disciplinary action is taken. Perhaps a priest is transferred to another parish or duty, where the depravity might start again. On this occasion the archbishop was moved to resign after stating: We are a sinful church. We are naked. Our anger, our pain, our anguish, our shame are clear to the whole world. And even worse, the church hierarchy failed to act decisively. They were accused of being more concerned about the offending priests than about the victims."
Pots and kettles come to mind. However, despite all the over-riding evidence to the contrary the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses still deny there is a serious problem within their organisation;
“...rejecting false stories that are designed to separate us from Jehovah’s organisation. As an example, think about the apostate-driven lies and dishonesty that Jehovah’s organisation is permissive toward paedophiles. I mean, that is ridiculous, isn’t it! If anybody takes action against someone who would threaten our young ones, and takes action to protect our young ones, it is Jehovah’s organisation. We reject outright such lies.”
It appears that presenting evidence based facts that are unpalatable to the organisation now constitutes apostasy. Is that a scriptural standard?
Mr Lett's comments fly in the face of all the evidence. The Organisations policy of requiring two or more witnesses to an accusation has allowed child abuse to go unpunished for decades. Their insistence on dealing with abusers within the religion, using untrained and unqualified men, has enabled the abusers to avoid legal punishment and given them further opportunities to carry out their crimes. The lack of professional help for the victims has caused additional, unnecessary suffering.
The organisation of Jehovah's Witnesses have unquestionably been proven to be permissive to paedophiles and they have demonstrated a greater desire to 'protect their image' than to protect their children. They may wish to 'reject outright such lies' but that is hardly surprising from an organisation that has refused to hand over documentation they hold on child abuse cases to the courts and who have deliberately destroyed documents relating to judicial hearings of abuse cases.
In 2007, the Watchtower settled 16 child abuse cases, with a total payout estimated to have been $13 million dollars. Nearly ten years later they are facing accusations that thousands of abuse cases have occurred within their congregations - the Royal Commission Australia 2015 reported over 1000 abusers in their country alone - I mean, that is ridiculous, isn’t it!
The organisation of Jehovah's Witnesses have unquestionably been proven to be permissive to paedophiles and they have demonstrated a greater desire to 'protect their image' than to protect their children. They may wish to 'reject outright such lies' but that is hardly surprising from an organisation that has refused to hand over documentation they hold on child abuse cases to the courts and who have deliberately destroyed documents relating to judicial hearings of abuse cases.
In 2007, the Watchtower settled 16 child abuse cases, with a total payout estimated to have been $13 million dollars. Nearly ten years later they are facing accusations that thousands of abuse cases have occurred within their congregations - the Royal Commission Australia 2015 reported over 1000 abusers in their country alone - I mean, that is ridiculous, isn’t it!
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