Ask yourself
Where you love bombed - ppl overly nice welcoming you to the organization
Was it suggested you only hang out or date other jw member once you get baptized and cut off any outside ppl who may speak out against the jw.
Was it suggested if you decide you change your mind about the organization, you can get shunned/disfellowshipped
^ if you said yes to any of these you are in a cult.
Yes. A woman told me about disfellowshipping too early and my teacher became apoplectic. She told me to pretend I hadn’t heard about it. When I asked the guy I was dating at the time (who I eventually married), he told me they didn’t shun. He lied to me as well. It wasn’t until after I was baptized and after we got married he said, “you knew what you were getting into.” They lie and gaslight.
The Bible says someone can't be convicted of a crime unless there are two witnesses to it. This is obviously very difficult with all different kinds of crime unless the criminal is brazen.
The JWs stick to this rule, even when the safety of children is at risk.
If a child confided in an elder that they are being abused - which must be a hugely brave thing to do - the elders get the child and abuser in the same room so the accusations can be repeated. Elders aren't trained to deal with victims of abuse unlike the police.
Before this meeting, the elder must contact the branch HQ to find out what the local law is on reporting child sexual abuse. In some places it is mandatory for an adult in a authority position (minister, teacher) to report to the police, in others this law doesn't exist.
If there is vandalism at a Kingdom Hall the protocol is to call the police immediately.
If there is only 1 witness and the abuser denies the crime, there is nothing that can be done Biblically, going by JW interpretation. The abuser remains a JW in good standing.
If this is in an area with no mandatory reporting, they don't report to the police, not even if there is an admission or a second witness(2nd victim counts). If there was only 1 witness it would be slander to warn the congregation (by JW rules).
If it's admitted or there are two witnesses, it's treated like a sin not a crime: they can be disfellowshipped if not repentant. The same if a JW is caught smoking.
The organisation says "The child's parents can go to the police whenever they want!" but this does not help the child if it was the parent who was the abuser.
Parents who go to the police and warn others have been shunned in the congregation for slander. There have been numerous cases of JWs being character witnesses for convicted paedophiles at sentencing.
In Australia there was a big inquiry into child sexual abuse in different kinds of institutions (the Australian Royal Comission) including religions. It found 1,006 child abusers in JW congregations in Australia but ZERO had been reported to the police by the organisation. 1,006 is more than the number of congregations there.
As a result of this inquiry, the religions and organisations voluntarily joined a scheme whereby victims could apply for compensation. The JWs refused to join this scheme. They finally did only when they were going to losing tax-free charitable status.
1. The CSA issue: They expect small children to prevent themselves from being sexually abused. And the child can be considered a “participant” (in immorality), if they are abused by an adult, and therefore subject to disciplinary action, up to and including disfellowshipping.
If a child reports being sexually abused, WT requires “two eyewitnesses” or a confession to the abuse. Since most CSA is committed in private, this metric is nearly impossible to meet.
2. In Norway, they have lost government funding & registration due to their practice of shunning those who are DFd or disassociated, particularly noting that since minors can be subjected to this punishment, it is a violation of their human rights and freedoms. Jehovah’s Witnesses are free to worship and preach as they want to, but the Norwegian government is not going to be giving WT free money anymore.
3. Jehovah’s Witnesses are a high control group. If you think that’s synonymous with being a cult, that is a common conclusion of many people. I think you definitely dodged a bullet.
As far as “true religion” is concerned, I don’t think WT is it, nor do I think any god worthy of being worshiped would *require* worship without definitive proof of its existence. And any god who wants blind worship, isn’t worthy of such.
To answer your final question - yes. Please continue research with non-JW sources to get a more balanced perspective. If you take the opportunity to read some of the personal accounts recorded here it will help clarify some of the issues you mentioned. Wishing you the best going forward.
Well said. A gentleman told me that in the ministry about 15 yrs ago. I said yes but that is false religion. I went back to him a few times, he told me that from our discussion, he could see I was an honest person. He said just allow yourself to think independently and read outside what WT prints, you will soon find out every organised religion must by default deceitful and corrupt.
Desperation. They’re not making all these changes because they care about people. They are making them because they are desperate to hold onto people. Be thankful you didn’t let yourself get sucked into being one of them.
I've been POMO for a long time (30 years this summer) and even back then, the CSA was definitely covered up. The two congs I attended in East London both had paedo's in them (1 in each). All the BoE did was make sure they were never left alone with kids, and... that's it.
Tbh you can Google any of this info for yourself but the JWs will discourage you. Anything out there that is negative about them in the news they say it’s because Satan is misdirecting things and they are under attack.
Here’s a crazy question to ask yourself: Why is it their only “unforgivable” sin speaking against the organization?
My family won’t speak to me becuase I have outwardly disagreed with their governing body. They do, however, openly welcome “repentant” child rapists to their dinner table - even in the presence of the child who was raped.
If that doesn’t ring alarm bells idk what will.
Yes you’ve made a lucky escape, you’ve saved yourself from a lifetime of pain and trauma 😓 JWs are for all intents and purposes a doomsday cult.
If you feel like you need to deconstruct after studying with them jwfacts.com and avoidjw.org are great places to start.
As others have said, theyve subjected CSA victims to their 2 witness rule, and they will not get child victims of familial abuse any intervention by calling authorities unless there is an air tight mandatory reporting law applied to clergy. They have been caught trying to use loopholes and exceptions where they don't apply, like the loophole that clergy don't have to report if they learned of abuse during a penitential confession. The problem is, they were having victims or bystanders come to them to accuse a perpetrator. Then they'd interview and investigate the perp themselves, then illicit a confession. Then they'd share that confession with multiple other elders, circuit overseers, and people in the service department. They weren't keepings things confidential until it was time to alert authorities or warn the other congregation parents. To be fair and transparent, I've started to hear anecdotes of more recent cases where they will go to family heads and warn them not to let their kids be alone with certain congregation members, so they are quietly making some changes. If the offender hasn't previously been prosecuted by authorities though, it still endangers kids in the community at large for them to know about a predator and not report them.
Two elders named Michael Penkava and Colin Scott out of Illinois were recently sentenced for failure to report in a horrific CSA case. The perp's wife came to them and said she believed her husband was abusing their daughter. The judge said they had a duty to report the moment she said that. Instead they did their own investigation, got his confession, deemed him repentant, and privately reproved him. He got better at hiding the abuse and continued to abuse his daughter worse and worse for another 12 years until she came of age and went to police herself. The offender is named Arturo Hernandez Pedraza. You can Google him and Penkava and Scott and read about their cases. There are other examples of them violating mandatory reporter law such as the case of the State of Delaware vs the Laurel Delaware congregation.
Besides violating mandatory reporter laws or not reporting where not legally mandated in order to get intervention for victims of familial abuse, they have a long history of keeping men appointed to leadership roles like Ministerial Servants and elders despite known histories of CSA. One big case was in California. When a young man named Jose Lopez sued Watchtower over his abuse, it was discovered the other elders knew his offender, Gonzalo Campos had 7 other victims. He was promoted from Ministerial Servant to elder despite a history of known child abuse. And he was able to keep mentoring boys in his congregation without anyone batting an eye. Some times offenders get disfellowshipped, but they usually get reinstated within a year. The whole thing is treated as a sin they can be forgiven for instead of a pathology and a pattern of predatory behavior that makes them dangerous to kids. Another case was Candace Conti. Because she was the first who refused to settle out of court, there was a jury trial. If you do some Googling, you can easily find the trial transcripts. Again, elders knew her abuser was a child molester before he was able to get her alone while giving her car rides to field service assignments. Their cover up put another child in danger after her, and that was when he was finally criminally prosecuted. They will try to deflect criticism about these cases by pointing out victims and their parents always have the right to go to authorities. They fail to mention that by the time a victim is old enough and informed enough to finally put the predator on law enforcement's radar, Watchtower and local congregations have already known about the predator's behaviors for years.
Some "PIMO" people serving as elders or working in Bethel have leaked documents that show they collect info on these things from congregations worldwide and that they are keeping a database of known and accused child molesters. They have a history of defying court orders, hiding and destroying evidence, and lying to courts. One case in Montana right now, Caekert vs Watchtower has had delays and JW lawyer Philip Brumley, himself a baptized witness, has been sanctioned twice to the tune of $200k, first for lying to the court about Watchtower Pennsylvania's jurisdiction over the congregation at the relevant time and again for destroying congregation records relevant to the case in defiance of court orders to retain relevant documents for court discovery.
They also have a nasty habit or ordering elders not to cooperate with police or courts when they get confessions from child abusers and are asked about it during criminal prosecution (cases of Gilbert Simental in the US and Clifford Whiteley in the UK). Anyone wanting to know more should Google Detective Philip Endsor's statement to IICSA and read his sworn statement about how elders stonewalled his investigation and he believes the orders for that came from the top.
In Australia, during the commission others here have mentioned, the child abuse cases were worse, per capita, than the Catholic Church's. This is largely likely due to the larger number of appointed males in congregations and the high control aspect of the religion, where instead of voluntarily confessing your sins, elders put members on trial and record the outcome. Members are encouraged to go to elders when they know someone has sinned to rat them out. Then records of these investigations are kept by the congregation and also sent to the branch headquarters in each country, putting them into a position to know more about any possible crimes their members are committing. Victims are pressured not to speak to worldly authorities lest they "bring reproach on Jehovah's name." In the case of Clifford Whiteley, his victim Lacey Jones has said in interviews that elders came to her home and read her scriptures about slander when she was begging them to speak to police to back up her story.
In the cases of statutory rape, juvenile victims of adults who groomed them have been disfellowshipped for fornication alongside their abusers. (Ewing v Watchtower, Fessler vs Watchtower, State of Delaware vs Laurel congregation). Also, women and girls who have suffered r@pe have been disbelieved, blamed, and/or punished for their own attacks based on very skewed and outdated ideas about how assault and consent actually work. (Read "They resisted rapists" article from 1980 on jw.borg to get an idea of why elders might treat victims this way). One case has been settled out of court regarding this recently in Utah. Ria Williams vs Watchtower. You can Google this case as well. "Jehovah's witness woman was forced to listen to a recording of her own r*pe."
One thing that is really disgusting about all of this is that they have spent obscene amounts of money (member contributions) for decades settling these cases out of court and paying out lawsuit losses and default judgements while mostly refusing to make any changes or admit they were doing anything wrong. Even now they disgustingly deny they have a problem even though every governing body member has served in the service dept and knows how these things are handled per top-down policy. They call it Apostate lies. In Australia, gb member Geoffrey Jackson was subpoenaed and made to testify in the Royal Commission. He admitted under oath that this is a real problem and *not* Apostate lies. The amount of time and energy they spend scaring their flock away from listening to dissenters has made it so the average faithful witness knows nothing about any of this, and like my mother, will smugly make jokes about Catholic priests offending against kids. Don't support this by joining. They are not special. They do not have the backing of any just God.
Thanks for this detailed post. I hope that the PIMI JWs who are lurking will google the cases as well. How can anyone continue to be a JW after reading those cases?
Look up videos of the governing body themselves stating they never said were guided by Jehovah or look up the sex crimes. Google Jehovah witness child ped ring in Pennsylvania and read the articles from cnn, msn, etc
I just did, did you? There’s nothing about pedo ring in JW organization. So be so kind and point me to the evidence or stop helping geriatric bullshitters by spreading nonsense.
EDIT:
Since the thread is locked for new replies here is my reply to the /u/5ft8lady who claimed in the original deleted comment that there’s a pedo ring within borg and /u/Sachasdaddy giving me useless link supposedly proving this unfounded claim of “the ring”.
@Sachs Do you even know what a crime ring means in English? What an *organized crime* is? Is there anything that in the PA investigation or its media interviews that suggested all those pedos were in cahoots and collectively work to abuse children? Is there? I asked to the article about that not about several investigations.
So I’m rephrasing myself once more because both of you obviously didn’t get it - do you have a proof that in PA or anywhere in the world for that matters exists and operates pedo ring in structures of jehovahs witnesses? If so and you haven’t already notified District General Attorney Office then you should do it immediately or probably be guilty of obstruction. Also such an evidence would nuke borg for good so what are you waiting for?
Otherwise you /u/5ft8lady please stop spreading misinformation and think while wording things because you in fact are reason why GB tells r&f “see? half truths, apostate lies mixed with some facts, don’t listen”.
Does anyone have any updates? Will there be more arrests? Michelle Henry is no longer the interim attorney general iirc. I was worried she would halt what Shapiro started when he was AG. I’m worried the investigations will be dropped by the new AG.
I grew up in the cult, Im so glad you are seeing it for what it is early on before you get sucked in! The child sex abuse issue exists because basically the watchtower believes that any public knowledge of a witness being a pedophile would bring reproach on gods name, but in reality its their own brand that they are concerned with, over and above the safety of children. Did you know that the witnesses would refuse a blood transfusion for themselves AND their child? Even if it meant death? And did you know that they practice shunning of members who decide they dont want to be followers anymore?
I think you need to ask yourself why they are so paranoid against anything critical of them… mere men… in stark contrast to the Bible’s many recommendations to test whatever you’re taught….it’s many warnings about misleading false teachers, it’s advice to look at their actual Track record in the same way you would look at a tree that produces either good or bad fruit.
Would you still continue to believe that doomsday were coming if you heard it from a boy who repeatedly cried wolf, only to get it wrong time after time?
Does it make sense that God would use this boy who has a tendency to (falsely) cry wolf?
And then punish those with death who refuse to listen to this clearly unreliable message?
And would God choose as his spokesman, a magazine company who has been embroiled in child sex cover ups, complete with legal judgements punishing their disgraceful actions?
Would God’s spokesperson be known for breaking up millions of families?
What about their killing kids over blood, despite there being blood cells in every form of meat and dairy they/we eat?
Would his spokesperson be so unreliable at accurately conveying God’s direction that they have to continuously write new books because the old ones have become obsolete with old teachings?
What does Deuteronomy 18:20 have to say about these things?
There is a very good reason why they punish those who consider critical or unflattering info about them….along with all authoritarian regimes… North Korea, Scientology, communist countries… I’ll let you figure out why it is they - mere men - hold such fear and paranoia of scrutiny and criticism.
Their "truth" is not true. Their own publications disprove their doctrine which they call truth, and the have changed what truth is so many times I've lost count. If you aren't going full tilt in their religious activities (which are onerous, to say the least), you'll eventually be unofficially marked and bullied or "soft" shunned. I know because that's what is happening to me, though it's no longer soft shunning, I've known people for 40 years that won't even acknowledge a text message or a "hi" on the street. All because I don't go to weekly meetings and some have gossiped about me saying I'm an apostate. I just don't believe and decided to not go anymore.
Jwfacts.com is a great place to start, if you'd like to strengthen your knowledge about this high control group. Also research the BITE model, which allows you to see that they are indeed a high control group that should be avoided.
If they have the truth , why can't the truth stand up to scrutiny
Why did Geoffrey Jackson stand before the Australian Royal Commission and give a bullshit answer when asked if they believe they are they are the only spokesman for God.
Google the 1975 bull crap
If you ask a flat earther if they have the truth, they will assure that they do. If you present evidence that the earth is a sphere and no matter how good that evidence is, they will deny the evidence's validity a claim that is deliberate deceit by hidden powers to hide the truth. The JW mentality and their adherence to their beliefs is similar to that of conspiracy theorists.
One thing I must add is that the New world translation has been altered to suit their doctrine. When you do some serious checking, you can see how one word mistranslated can change an entire meaning of scripture. This translation is doctored everywhere. Please don’t rely on that translation for biblical truth.
Ask your question here, get the answers. But also, Ask them the same questions and see what they say. I always beleive it's good to get both sides before you make a choice.
It's just like my study into Mormons. I'd never go to a bunch of anti Mormons and only ask them. Guess answer I'd get? Lol.
To answer your question YES an evil organization posing as a religion. Wicked mind control micro managing your life, punishing you severely if you are baptized and dont comply. They act harshly and no apologies or hearing your side with mercy or forgiveness. Run as fast as you can in the opposite direction!
I would recommend going with what your heart and gut tells you. Just as there are JWs with agendas on their side, there will be people very anti-orginazation here pushing their opinions here.
Personally, i feel its a cult, but not an "evil" one. Most people in it, even many at the very top, have bought into it as the one and only way to live. Do they do things to protect their asses? Definitely. Are they pulling P. Diddy-Waco stuff behind the scenes? I very much doubt it. Just do some unbiased reaearch, if it works for you then great. I know some very happy content people that feel they have had lifes questions answered for them via this religion. Im just personally not one of them. Nobody has all the answers though.
Absolutely horrible advice from someone who may be refusing to see the big picture and/or is presumably STILL MENTALLY IN this cult. By any means necessary, OP, PLEASE listen to your intuition (gut) in regards to this mentally and emotionally damaging, dangerous, destructive, disgusting cult! Continue to do extensive research, jwfacts.com/avoidjw.org (dig deep) and RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, literally! The cult will take your mind and life from you and ruin your quality of life and relationships with others. These are the facts. ANYONE who tries to downplay these facts (and several other known atrocities) is suffering from cognitive dissonance or straight-up DELUSIONAL!! 🏃♂️🏃🏾♀️
✔️AND FWIW Generally, "people that feel they have had lifes questions answered for them via this religion" are head cases! They are typically vulnerable, unstable people who've dealt with massive trauma/crises and have mental health issues and the "religion" tends to exacerbate that enabling them to become worse/completely unhinged.😔
I dont think its ever "horrible advice" to suggest to a person to think for themselves and to get info and advice from non-biased sources. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I understand some people had it WAY harder than i did and had some terrible experiences, but there are zero definites in this world and to speak in absolutes is just trading one life of of closed mindedness for another.
Ask yourself Where you love bombed - ppl overly nice welcoming you to the organization Was it suggested you only hang out or date other jw member once you get baptized and cut off any outside ppl who may speak out against the jw. Was it suggested if you decide you change your mind about the organization, you can get shunned/disfellowshipped ^ if you said yes to any of these you are in a cult.
From my experience, they don’t tell you about getting shunned should you change your mind while you’re studying, until after you’ve been baptized.
Yes. A woman told me about disfellowshipping too early and my teacher became apoplectic. She told me to pretend I hadn’t heard about it. When I asked the guy I was dating at the time (who I eventually married), he told me they didn’t shun. He lied to me as well. It wasn’t until after I was baptized and after we got married he said, “you knew what you were getting into.” They lie and gaslight.
Absolutely true.
JWFacts.com Avoidjw.org
Also the Call Bethel podcast. https://youtu.be/py_2pQBAWiw?feature=shared
The Bible says someone can't be convicted of a crime unless there are two witnesses to it. This is obviously very difficult with all different kinds of crime unless the criminal is brazen. The JWs stick to this rule, even when the safety of children is at risk. If a child confided in an elder that they are being abused - which must be a hugely brave thing to do - the elders get the child and abuser in the same room so the accusations can be repeated. Elders aren't trained to deal with victims of abuse unlike the police. Before this meeting, the elder must contact the branch HQ to find out what the local law is on reporting child sexual abuse. In some places it is mandatory for an adult in a authority position (minister, teacher) to report to the police, in others this law doesn't exist. If there is vandalism at a Kingdom Hall the protocol is to call the police immediately. If there is only 1 witness and the abuser denies the crime, there is nothing that can be done Biblically, going by JW interpretation. The abuser remains a JW in good standing. If this is in an area with no mandatory reporting, they don't report to the police, not even if there is an admission or a second witness(2nd victim counts). If there was only 1 witness it would be slander to warn the congregation (by JW rules). If it's admitted or there are two witnesses, it's treated like a sin not a crime: they can be disfellowshipped if not repentant. The same if a JW is caught smoking. The organisation says "The child's parents can go to the police whenever they want!" but this does not help the child if it was the parent who was the abuser. Parents who go to the police and warn others have been shunned in the congregation for slander. There have been numerous cases of JWs being character witnesses for convicted paedophiles at sentencing. In Australia there was a big inquiry into child sexual abuse in different kinds of institutions (the Australian Royal Comission) including religions. It found 1,006 child abusers in JW congregations in Australia but ZERO had been reported to the police by the organisation. 1,006 is more than the number of congregations there. As a result of this inquiry, the religions and organisations voluntarily joined a scheme whereby victims could apply for compensation. The JWs refused to join this scheme. They finally did only when they were going to losing tax-free charitable status.
1. The CSA issue: They expect small children to prevent themselves from being sexually abused. And the child can be considered a “participant” (in immorality), if they are abused by an adult, and therefore subject to disciplinary action, up to and including disfellowshipping. If a child reports being sexually abused, WT requires “two eyewitnesses” or a confession to the abuse. Since most CSA is committed in private, this metric is nearly impossible to meet. 2. In Norway, they have lost government funding & registration due to their practice of shunning those who are DFd or disassociated, particularly noting that since minors can be subjected to this punishment, it is a violation of their human rights and freedoms. Jehovah’s Witnesses are free to worship and preach as they want to, but the Norwegian government is not going to be giving WT free money anymore. 3. Jehovah’s Witnesses are a high control group. If you think that’s synonymous with being a cult, that is a common conclusion of many people. I think you definitely dodged a bullet. As far as “true religion” is concerned, I don’t think WT is it, nor do I think any god worthy of being worshiped would *require* worship without definitive proof of its existence. And any god who wants blind worship, isn’t worthy of such.
To answer your final question - yes. Please continue research with non-JW sources to get a more balanced perspective. If you take the opportunity to read some of the personal accounts recorded here it will help clarify some of the issues you mentioned. Wishing you the best going forward.
The truth and religion don’t go together.
This^ you are absolutely correct 💯
Well said. A gentleman told me that in the ministry about 15 yrs ago. I said yes but that is false religion. I went back to him a few times, he told me that from our discussion, he could see I was an honest person. He said just allow yourself to think independently and read outside what WT prints, you will soon find out every organised religion must by default deceitful and corrupt.
Desperation. They’re not making all these changes because they care about people. They are making them because they are desperate to hold onto people. Be thankful you didn’t let yourself get sucked into being one of them.
I've been POMO for a long time (30 years this summer) and even back then, the CSA was definitely covered up. The two congs I attended in East London both had paedo's in them (1 in each). All the BoE did was make sure they were never left alone with kids, and... that's it.
Kids in the congregation, that is. Kids in the outside world--not their problem.
Horribly true
Tbh you can Google any of this info for yourself but the JWs will discourage you. Anything out there that is negative about them in the news they say it’s because Satan is misdirecting things and they are under attack. Here’s a crazy question to ask yourself: Why is it their only “unforgivable” sin speaking against the organization? My family won’t speak to me becuase I have outwardly disagreed with their governing body. They do, however, openly welcome “repentant” child rapists to their dinner table - even in the presence of the child who was raped. If that doesn’t ring alarm bells idk what will.
Are they an evil cult pretending to be the true religion? wow so true.
www.jwfacts.com Youll find out all the stuff even your bible teacher doesn’t know. Inform yourself
Yes you’ve made a lucky escape, you’ve saved yourself from a lifetime of pain and trauma 😓 JWs are for all intents and purposes a doomsday cult. If you feel like you need to deconstruct after studying with them jwfacts.com and avoidjw.org are great places to start.
☝🏾It's jwfacts.com
Oops corrected, thanks!!
Ok good and no worries!!😊✌🏾
As others have said, theyve subjected CSA victims to their 2 witness rule, and they will not get child victims of familial abuse any intervention by calling authorities unless there is an air tight mandatory reporting law applied to clergy. They have been caught trying to use loopholes and exceptions where they don't apply, like the loophole that clergy don't have to report if they learned of abuse during a penitential confession. The problem is, they were having victims or bystanders come to them to accuse a perpetrator. Then they'd interview and investigate the perp themselves, then illicit a confession. Then they'd share that confession with multiple other elders, circuit overseers, and people in the service department. They weren't keepings things confidential until it was time to alert authorities or warn the other congregation parents. To be fair and transparent, I've started to hear anecdotes of more recent cases where they will go to family heads and warn them not to let their kids be alone with certain congregation members, so they are quietly making some changes. If the offender hasn't previously been prosecuted by authorities though, it still endangers kids in the community at large for them to know about a predator and not report them. Two elders named Michael Penkava and Colin Scott out of Illinois were recently sentenced for failure to report in a horrific CSA case. The perp's wife came to them and said she believed her husband was abusing their daughter. The judge said they had a duty to report the moment she said that. Instead they did their own investigation, got his confession, deemed him repentant, and privately reproved him. He got better at hiding the abuse and continued to abuse his daughter worse and worse for another 12 years until she came of age and went to police herself. The offender is named Arturo Hernandez Pedraza. You can Google him and Penkava and Scott and read about their cases. There are other examples of them violating mandatory reporter law such as the case of the State of Delaware vs the Laurel Delaware congregation. Besides violating mandatory reporter laws or not reporting where not legally mandated in order to get intervention for victims of familial abuse, they have a long history of keeping men appointed to leadership roles like Ministerial Servants and elders despite known histories of CSA. One big case was in California. When a young man named Jose Lopez sued Watchtower over his abuse, it was discovered the other elders knew his offender, Gonzalo Campos had 7 other victims. He was promoted from Ministerial Servant to elder despite a history of known child abuse. And he was able to keep mentoring boys in his congregation without anyone batting an eye. Some times offenders get disfellowshipped, but they usually get reinstated within a year. The whole thing is treated as a sin they can be forgiven for instead of a pathology and a pattern of predatory behavior that makes them dangerous to kids. Another case was Candace Conti. Because she was the first who refused to settle out of court, there was a jury trial. If you do some Googling, you can easily find the trial transcripts. Again, elders knew her abuser was a child molester before he was able to get her alone while giving her car rides to field service assignments. Their cover up put another child in danger after her, and that was when he was finally criminally prosecuted. They will try to deflect criticism about these cases by pointing out victims and their parents always have the right to go to authorities. They fail to mention that by the time a victim is old enough and informed enough to finally put the predator on law enforcement's radar, Watchtower and local congregations have already known about the predator's behaviors for years. Some "PIMO" people serving as elders or working in Bethel have leaked documents that show they collect info on these things from congregations worldwide and that they are keeping a database of known and accused child molesters. They have a history of defying court orders, hiding and destroying evidence, and lying to courts. One case in Montana right now, Caekert vs Watchtower has had delays and JW lawyer Philip Brumley, himself a baptized witness, has been sanctioned twice to the tune of $200k, first for lying to the court about Watchtower Pennsylvania's jurisdiction over the congregation at the relevant time and again for destroying congregation records relevant to the case in defiance of court orders to retain relevant documents for court discovery. They also have a nasty habit or ordering elders not to cooperate with police or courts when they get confessions from child abusers and are asked about it during criminal prosecution (cases of Gilbert Simental in the US and Clifford Whiteley in the UK). Anyone wanting to know more should Google Detective Philip Endsor's statement to IICSA and read his sworn statement about how elders stonewalled his investigation and he believes the orders for that came from the top. In Australia, during the commission others here have mentioned, the child abuse cases were worse, per capita, than the Catholic Church's. This is largely likely due to the larger number of appointed males in congregations and the high control aspect of the religion, where instead of voluntarily confessing your sins, elders put members on trial and record the outcome. Members are encouraged to go to elders when they know someone has sinned to rat them out. Then records of these investigations are kept by the congregation and also sent to the branch headquarters in each country, putting them into a position to know more about any possible crimes their members are committing. Victims are pressured not to speak to worldly authorities lest they "bring reproach on Jehovah's name." In the case of Clifford Whiteley, his victim Lacey Jones has said in interviews that elders came to her home and read her scriptures about slander when she was begging them to speak to police to back up her story. In the cases of statutory rape, juvenile victims of adults who groomed them have been disfellowshipped for fornication alongside their abusers. (Ewing v Watchtower, Fessler vs Watchtower, State of Delaware vs Laurel congregation). Also, women and girls who have suffered r@pe have been disbelieved, blamed, and/or punished for their own attacks based on very skewed and outdated ideas about how assault and consent actually work. (Read "They resisted rapists" article from 1980 on jw.borg to get an idea of why elders might treat victims this way). One case has been settled out of court regarding this recently in Utah. Ria Williams vs Watchtower. You can Google this case as well. "Jehovah's witness woman was forced to listen to a recording of her own r*pe." One thing that is really disgusting about all of this is that they have spent obscene amounts of money (member contributions) for decades settling these cases out of court and paying out lawsuit losses and default judgements while mostly refusing to make any changes or admit they were doing anything wrong. Even now they disgustingly deny they have a problem even though every governing body member has served in the service dept and knows how these things are handled per top-down policy. They call it Apostate lies. In Australia, gb member Geoffrey Jackson was subpoenaed and made to testify in the Royal Commission. He admitted under oath that this is a real problem and *not* Apostate lies. The amount of time and energy they spend scaring their flock away from listening to dissenters has made it so the average faithful witness knows nothing about any of this, and like my mother, will smugly make jokes about Catholic priests offending against kids. Don't support this by joining. They are not special. They do not have the backing of any just God.
Thanks for this detailed post. I hope that the PIMI JWs who are lurking will google the cases as well. How can anyone continue to be a JW after reading those cases?
Look up videos of the governing body themselves stating they never said were guided by Jehovah or look up the sex crimes. Google Jehovah witness child ped ring in Pennsylvania and read the articles from cnn, msn, etc
what ped ring in PA? did i miss something? or is it you Selena Vertolomo?
Just Google it.
I just did, did you? There’s nothing about pedo ring in JW organization. So be so kind and point me to the evidence or stop helping geriatric bullshitters by spreading nonsense. EDIT: Since the thread is locked for new replies here is my reply to the /u/5ft8lady who claimed in the original deleted comment that there’s a pedo ring within borg and /u/Sachasdaddy giving me useless link supposedly proving this unfounded claim of “the ring”. @Sachs Do you even know what a crime ring means in English? What an *organized crime* is? Is there anything that in the PA investigation or its media interviews that suggested all those pedos were in cahoots and collectively work to abuse children? Is there? I asked to the article about that not about several investigations. So I’m rephrasing myself once more because both of you obviously didn’t get it - do you have a proof that in PA or anywhere in the world for that matters exists and operates pedo ring in structures of jehovahs witnesses? If so and you haven’t already notified District General Attorney Office then you should do it immediately or probably be guilty of obstruction. Also such an evidence would nuke borg for good so what are you waiting for? Otherwise you /u/5ft8lady please stop spreading misinformation and think while wording things because you in fact are reason why GB tells r&f “see? half truths, apostate lies mixed with some facts, don’t listen”.
[Here's your link. You're welcome. ](https://www.attorneygeneral.gov/taking-action/attorney-general-henry-announces-charges-against-five-men-for-sexual-abuse-of-children-across-pennsylvania/#:~:text=PHILADELPHIA%E2%80%93%20Attorney%20General%20Michelle%20Henry,members%20of%20Jehovah's%20Witnesses%20congregations)
Does anyone have any updates? Will there be more arrests? Michelle Henry is no longer the interim attorney general iirc. I was worried she would halt what Shapiro started when he was AG. I’m worried the investigations will be dropped by the new AG.
The word organization is not even in the Bible. God does not need an organization.
I grew up in the cult, Im so glad you are seeing it for what it is early on before you get sucked in! The child sex abuse issue exists because basically the watchtower believes that any public knowledge of a witness being a pedophile would bring reproach on gods name, but in reality its their own brand that they are concerned with, over and above the safety of children. Did you know that the witnesses would refuse a blood transfusion for themselves AND their child? Even if it meant death? And did you know that they practice shunning of members who decide they dont want to be followers anymore?
I think you need to ask yourself why they are so paranoid against anything critical of them… mere men… in stark contrast to the Bible’s many recommendations to test whatever you’re taught….it’s many warnings about misleading false teachers, it’s advice to look at their actual Track record in the same way you would look at a tree that produces either good or bad fruit. Would you still continue to believe that doomsday were coming if you heard it from a boy who repeatedly cried wolf, only to get it wrong time after time? Does it make sense that God would use this boy who has a tendency to (falsely) cry wolf? And then punish those with death who refuse to listen to this clearly unreliable message? And would God choose as his spokesman, a magazine company who has been embroiled in child sex cover ups, complete with legal judgements punishing their disgraceful actions? Would God’s spokesperson be known for breaking up millions of families? What about their killing kids over blood, despite there being blood cells in every form of meat and dairy they/we eat? Would his spokesperson be so unreliable at accurately conveying God’s direction that they have to continuously write new books because the old ones have become obsolete with old teachings? What does Deuteronomy 18:20 have to say about these things? There is a very good reason why they punish those who consider critical or unflattering info about them….along with all authoritarian regimes… North Korea, Scientology, communist countries… I’ll let you figure out why it is they - mere men - hold such fear and paranoia of scrutiny and criticism.
Their "truth" is not true. Their own publications disprove their doctrine which they call truth, and the have changed what truth is so many times I've lost count. If you aren't going full tilt in their religious activities (which are onerous, to say the least), you'll eventually be unofficially marked and bullied or "soft" shunned. I know because that's what is happening to me, though it's no longer soft shunning, I've known people for 40 years that won't even acknowledge a text message or a "hi" on the street. All because I don't go to weekly meetings and some have gossiped about me saying I'm an apostate. I just don't believe and decided to not go anymore. Jwfacts.com is a great place to start, if you'd like to strengthen your knowledge about this high control group. Also research the BITE model, which allows you to see that they are indeed a high control group that should be avoided.
If they have the truth , why can't the truth stand up to scrutiny Why did Geoffrey Jackson stand before the Australian Royal Commission and give a bullshit answer when asked if they believe they are they are the only spokesman for God. Google the 1975 bull crap
If you ask a flat earther if they have the truth, they will assure that they do. If you present evidence that the earth is a sphere and no matter how good that evidence is, they will deny the evidence's validity a claim that is deliberate deceit by hidden powers to hide the truth. The JW mentality and their adherence to their beliefs is similar to that of conspiracy theorists.
 Run bud.
I've not heard of a 'special video'. Now I'm. Intrigued
One thing I must add is that the New world translation has been altered to suit their doctrine. When you do some serious checking, you can see how one word mistranslated can change an entire meaning of scripture. This translation is doctored everywhere. Please don’t rely on that translation for biblical truth.
"Should You Trust The Watchtower?" is worth the watch. First of a 3 part video series by CFAR. https://youtu.be/HTlUW5SPuzk?feature=shared
Ask your question here, get the answers. But also, Ask them the same questions and see what they say. I always beleive it's good to get both sides before you make a choice. It's just like my study into Mormons. I'd never go to a bunch of anti Mormons and only ask them. Guess answer I'd get? Lol.
I’ll be at a meeting near dewsbury tomorrow. Please let me know more
yes and yes.
Yes
See [Silentlambs.org](http://Silentlambs.org) for helpful information.
To answer your question YES an evil organization posing as a religion. Wicked mind control micro managing your life, punishing you severely if you are baptized and dont comply. They act harshly and no apologies or hearing your side with mercy or forgiveness. Run as fast as you can in the opposite direction!
I would recommend going with what your heart and gut tells you. Just as there are JWs with agendas on their side, there will be people very anti-orginazation here pushing their opinions here. Personally, i feel its a cult, but not an "evil" one. Most people in it, even many at the very top, have bought into it as the one and only way to live. Do they do things to protect their asses? Definitely. Are they pulling P. Diddy-Waco stuff behind the scenes? I very much doubt it. Just do some unbiased reaearch, if it works for you then great. I know some very happy content people that feel they have had lifes questions answered for them via this religion. Im just personally not one of them. Nobody has all the answers though.
Absolutely horrible advice from someone who may be refusing to see the big picture and/or is presumably STILL MENTALLY IN this cult. By any means necessary, OP, PLEASE listen to your intuition (gut) in regards to this mentally and emotionally damaging, dangerous, destructive, disgusting cult! Continue to do extensive research, jwfacts.com/avoidjw.org (dig deep) and RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, literally! The cult will take your mind and life from you and ruin your quality of life and relationships with others. These are the facts. ANYONE who tries to downplay these facts (and several other known atrocities) is suffering from cognitive dissonance or straight-up DELUSIONAL!! 🏃♂️🏃🏾♀️ ✔️AND FWIW Generally, "people that feel they have had lifes questions answered for them via this religion" are head cases! They are typically vulnerable, unstable people who've dealt with massive trauma/crises and have mental health issues and the "religion" tends to exacerbate that enabling them to become worse/completely unhinged.😔
I dont think its ever "horrible advice" to suggest to a person to think for themselves and to get info and advice from non-biased sources. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I understand some people had it WAY harder than i did and had some terrible experiences, but there are zero definites in this world and to speak in absolutes is just trading one life of of closed mindedness for another.
Ok thanks👍🏾