Sadly, sexual abuse isn't the only form of abuse inflicted by Jehovah's Witnesses upon their children.   Religious conventions are a hellish memory for me. I grew up as a Jehovah's Witness from the age of 9 until I fought my way to freedom at age 18. I recall children as young as a year old being beaten repeatedly for not sitting still during the talks, quite an unrealistic and torturous expectation when you consider that these assemblies, were about 6 hours long and lasted for 3-5 days in succession. (Children aren't allowed to amuse themselves with food, coloring books, toys, etc., but are expected to remain focused and pay attention to the sermons just like the adults.)

My nephews were two of many who felt the literal sting of the Watchtower's stance of "spare the rod, spoil the child." I still remember the sick, accepting smiles on the faces of other Jehovah's Witnesses when my nephews were being literally dragged off to the bathroom by their father to feel the lash of a leather belt on their bare bottoms.

Is this 'religion' loving? Is it humane? Is it Christian? Does it follow Christ?  Would I ever become a Jehovah's Witness clone again and raise my child in this abusive, dysfunctional environment? Hell no!
_________________
Brenda Lee, "Out of the Cocoon: A Young Woman's Courageous Flight from the Grip of a Religious Cult" www.outofthecocoon.net

The spiritual 'rush' of the Jehovah's Witnesses watchtower conventions was all a deluded false high.

I can remember the packed out auditoriums with handicapped,wheelchair disabled all laid out on the arena floor.

What a sight to behold in the early 1960's,yes a testimony to their faith that the watchtower's promised "new system" would miraculously cure them anyday.....

Except.......It was all a LIE!

 

 

Jehovah's Witnesses settle abuse cases

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A victims' rights group released documents Thursday that showed the Jehovah's Witnesses recently settled civil suits with 16 people who claimed they were sexually abused by church elders or that church officials failed to act on abuse allegations.     The group, called silentlambs, held a news conference in Nashville to demand that the denomination change its policy for responding to sex abuse reports. Settlements were reached in late February and early March, according to court records obtained by silentlambs and posted to the group's Web site. Fourteen of the cases were filed in California; the other two were in Oregon and Texas.     Details about the settlement terms could not be disclosed under confidentiality agreements negotiated between the parties, said Stephen Owens, a plaintiffs' attorney involved in the California cases. Other cases are still pending, according to silentlambs, which couldn't say how many. The Jehovah's Witnesses, whose headquarters are in Brooklyn, N.Y., said Thursday that they were pleased to see the lawsuits resolved, declining further comment.     William Bowen, silentlambs' founder, was a Jehovah's Witnesses elder from Kentucky who quit the denomination after he said it took no action against a molester. Bowen said the settlements were bittersweet. "On one hand, we're glad a few victims are finally getting some financial help," he said. "On the other hand, we're sad and worried because they've essentially been forced to give up their right to protect others by speaking out about their abuse to the public."     Bowen's group has criticized the Jehovah's Witnesses' policy that if an accused abuser denies the charge, two credible witnesses are required to establish guilt — due to literal application of such Bible verses as Deuteronomy 19:15 ("only on the evidence of two witnesses, or of three witnesses, shall a charge be sustained").     If two witnesses are lacking, the accused is deemed innocent, charges remain confidential and — silentlambs says — parents who warn others are subject to disfellowshipping for slander. Disfellowshipping is an extreme penalty that means a total cutoff of relationships by family members, friends and business associates who are Witnesses. There are about 1 million Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States, and followers are known for distributing Awake! and Watchtower magazines door-to-door.     Bowen also said Jehovah's Witnesses have a long-standing policy of not reporting molesters to police. He claims that the denomination has a secret database of accused abusers that they have not shared with law enforcement officials.     "They keep putting innocent kids and unsuspecting families at risk of horrible crimes because they value their secrecy and reputations more than they value children's safety," Bowen said.     Since establishing silentlambs in 2001, Bowen says about 7,000 people who claim they were abused have contacted his group. Angelique Taylor, 42, a silentlambs member from St. Louis, said she was molested by a Jehovah's Witnesses elder when she was about 12. Taylor said she told her father, who was also an elder, and he said she was making a big deal out of nothing.   "I want every elder, every Jehovah's Witness, whenever they suspect any abuse, they go to the police and tell them about the problems," Taylor said. "The devastation of sex abuse is unbelievable." ___ Associated Press reporter Allison Hoffman in San Diego contributed to this report. ___ On the Net: silentlambs: http://www.silentlambs.org

I address the following to both the Public and the affected Jehovah's Witness readers.  On the middle of the homepage http://ajwrb.org/ are shown kids who appeared on page 2 of the Watchtower Society's publication called the Awake! magazine on May 22, 1994.  They all died after refusing emergency whole blood transfusions in line with the Watchtower Society's top Governing Body men mis-telling them that Acts 15:20 in saying "abstain" from blood means to also do so when it will cost their lives.  

Since 1 Samuel 14:32 says Saul's whole army ate meat with blood to stay alive and were not punished as it was an emergency, the misteaching is not only dangerous but wholly unscriptural.  It too is certainly another form of abuse against children including in light of Christ saying at Matthew 12:7 that God wants "mercy" and "not sacrifice."  Some of JW readers will be angry that these two counter-balancing scriptures are pointed out but it is the truth as seen in their own Bibles and there are actually many JWs who do wish the Watchtower heads over JWs worldwide would reform this as deaths from JWs bleeding to death is so reproachful it makes vain the using of God's good name while they preach door-to-door.

Two reasons the abuse hasn't stopped and a few more JWs die every day somewhere internationally is (1) those JWs who openly dissent are declared no longer JWs and subjected to shunning from those still their JW family members and other JWs who comply or themselves get shunned; and (2) Ted Jaracz who is most highly influential Governing Body member and called the real "boss" at headquarters opposes reforms and his main writer Gene Smalley helps write articles extolling the virtues of bloodless surgery that is good in some cases but not all as with many severe car wreck victims, new mothers, premature babies etc.

JW friends please note that Christ himself not these Governing Body men is the most Faithful and Discreet Slave to be obeying.  Thanks to those of you who have already cut donations to the Watchtower Society.  Those sexually abused by Elders and Ministerial Servants need to contact silentlambs.org for an attorney referral to work toward compensation.   Gag orders prevent knowing the amounts but some estimate victims have been paid $3 to 4.5 millions.  Associated Press reports of May 10, 2007 say 16 victims mostly in California got settlements already.    Watchtower Society attorneys previously claimed Ecclesiastical Privilege to keep JW Elders' Judicial Committee records confidential but that's been overturned in California, making successful litigation much easier.  Also the Watchtower Society has been shown culpable for misdoings of Elders and Ministerial Servants. 

Please get word of these things among other JWs so that JW kids will not be molested or bled to death so readily, and so that silentlambs.org etc can do more to force headquarters' to stop insisting that pedophiles among JWs that Elders claim are "repentant" will not keep being sent preaching at the public's doors along with unsuspecting JW women and kids.

Why have Jehovah's Witnesses put up with the way their religious leaders have mishandled sex-abuse cases?  Former Governing Body member Raymond Franz explained the underlying factor that  controls how they think and therefore act without them realizing it. 

It is their belief that the Watchtower Society  is the organization that God is using as his sole "channel of communication" to all the rest of mankind.  And so they view everything that "God's organization" does as the way God wants them to do it.  If somehow they are doing something wrong (such as when they used to not report sex abuse cases to the authorities), Witnesses are told that they must "wait on God to correct His organization." 

Those who conscientiously are unable to wait t are labeled "apostates" and are then to be shunned. Those who do not shun them lay themselves open to being disfellowshipped and shunned. 

 In a very real sense Jehovah's Witnesses are captives of the Watchtower's organizational concept way of worshipping God.  In order to stop being controlled by that concept they need  to discover that the Watchtower Society is not God's organization.

Don Cameron at  www.CaptivesOfaConcept.com

I honestly tried to resist making a comment on this subject; but I can't so here it goes....
I admire the way you have tactfully presented your views and I have to wonder how this "organization"
has Ever been taken seriously.    When I was 11 years old, some people came to the door of my home,
and as soon as my step father saw them, he got his gun and chased them out of the driveway screaming obscenities.
He explained to me that "they" were the reason his mother left his father after 50 years of marriage.
Apparently she had joined the church, and when he refused to join, she left him.   The children
and grandkids got a phone call on two occasions,(but never holidays or birthdays as J.W. do not
acknowledge or celebrate them) and then she wasn't heard from again.  It's been thirty years...

A few months back I was out in the front yard mowing the lawn when a lady came driving up in her little
compact car.  She walked into the yard as if she knew me and began talking to me about visiting
her church.  I told her that I already  attended a church.   She handed me one of those little
pamphlets, and at that point I knew she was a Jehovah Witness.   Now, usually when I receive
these little booklets I just throw it in the trash but I decided I was going to read it.
I would be "open minded"  to whatever it said, and it went something like this:
You have been chosen to join our church and if you don't  join you'll lose your place because
Jehovah is only taking about 500 more people, then heaven closes the gates and then
you know what happens next...don't you?  
Some of the rules are:
No gambling
No drinking
No Watching Pro Football...(sports)
and if your husband doesn't like it, you can leave him because we said so.
Well, you get the picture, and all I could do was giggle and think, "there is no way my husband is
going to stop watching football".  I wish I could remember what else was on the list, but
I threw the booklet away.

Organized religion?  I don't think so.  I like to call it organized manipulation and "brainwashing"
if you will.  Remember several years back when they found all of those people dead who
were members of  "The Heavens Gate?".  They mutilated their bodies and committed suicide
because "the mother ship"  was coming for them.  This is no joke, innocent people who are reaching
out for help get wrapped up in bad situations and will  do anything  that  the leaders tell them
to do.  Now,  let me clarify that I do not believe that the watchtower society practices strange rituals
such as these.  However, I do believe that the leaders of this organization have the same degree of
control and manipulation over their members.

In conclusion ,it does not surprise me that the children are being hurt when you have pedophiles in
the church who are predators.  It is clear to me that these children are not being protected; and by now
it is obvious that I completely agree; God would never build an organization like this.

A key difference between a real "mainstream" religion, like Catholicism, and a cult like Jehovah's Witnesses is that cults don't tolerate dissent.   Jehovah's Witnesses are silent when asked to prove their bogus CORE doctrine:That JESUS HAS ALREADY HAD HIS SECOND COMING IN 1914 and is ONLY working through their organization. 1914 (from Adventist William Miller) is to a JW what Mary and/or the Trinity is to Catholics or what Joseph Smith and the golden plates are to Mormons.   1914 is the Watchtower's #1 foundation dogma and it is false,and so is all the rest of it,that only 144,000 go to heaven,the blood transfusion ban and the "commandment" to go door to door.     Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs and who are they?     The Watchtower is big money,being one of the top 40 New York City Corporations making nearly one billion dollars a year. That's just from one of their many corporations.   If you have been witnessed to by Jehovah's Witnesses and you reject their message, you will likely die shortly at Armageddon with all the other non-Witnesses, since theirs is the only true religion, and (if they can live up to all the rules) they are the only ones to inhabit this new earth. If you believe Witnesses seem rigid now, any non-conformist during the future cleansed earth will be directly destroyed by Jehovah.    Even now a Witness will be disfellowshipped for any one of many gaffs, such as smoking, taking a blood transfusion, or even voting. To even vocally question the teachings of the Watchtower will result in complete cutting off, with family and friends usually being forbidden to talk to them. The Watchtower is a truly Orwellian world.     My hope is that there will be a day in each of their lives when the Watchtower magazine is no longer needed, and they can go to college, vote for office, and contribute money and time to other, more vital causes in their community. More than likely they will then cease to be persecuted, except in a few societies more authoritarian than their own.   Sincerely,
Danny Haszard
www.freeminds.org (Watchtower watchers dissident site)

The JW mother ship is its "governing body" that tells the the rank and file members that they need to follow them to the letter if they want the benefits of Christ's ransom "applied" to them. 

It's a new layer of hierarchy that keeps them marching to the beat of a determined drummer -- the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. 

As Danny points out, it's huge business.  And the little people who approach you are the free -- and tax-free -- distribution for a printing company that spawned its own religion.

YO!

Every cloud has a silver lining.

Very few Jehovah's Witnesses died in earthquakes!

They were already standing in doorways!  *S*

Larry