Author Topic: JW's in the news again  (Read 933 times)

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Offline Goddess

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Re: JW's in the news again
« Reply #15 on: July 23, 2018, 11:17:59 am »
https://www.delaware1059.com/news/sussex-county-jehovah-s-witnesses-congregation-sued-over-child-abuse/article_601f0296-93ac-11e7-a25c-0f66b6d11284.html

http://jwsurvey.org/child-abuse-2/jehovahs-witness-elders-fined-for-failure-to-report-child-abuse-watchtower-settles-with-delaware


JW's in Delaware fined over $19,000 for failure to report child abuse.

Quote
This case is unique, profound, and will likely set a precedent for other States.

According to the terms of the settlement, Jehovah’s Witnesses paid a total of $19,500 to the Delaware Department of Justice, and the body of elders from the Laurel Delaware congregation was required to attend the Stewards of Children training program and pay associated costs.

A third requirement mandated by Delaware included the signing of an affidavit stipulating that Jehovah’s Witness elders must comply with all Delaware statutes involving the reporting of child abuse. Among the itemized requirements, the Coordinator of the Body of Elders, William Perkins, agreed that communications with minors related to matters of abuse would not be treated as “penitential confessions.” This is significant, since attorneys for Jehovah’s Witnesses attempted to claim clergy privilege as their defense for failure to report.

As my friend, Ooompa used to say, "Well, it's a start."
"A religion without a Goddess is half-way to atheism."

Offline Goddess

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Re: JW's in the news again
« Reply #16 on: July 23, 2018, 11:23:44 am »
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/jehovahs-witnesses-child-sexual-abuse-records-destroy-satan-video-20180709.html?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar


It's not that JW's are doing anything wrong - it's just Satan persecuting them because they have "The Truth".   ::)
"A religion without a Goddess is half-way to atheism."

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Re: JW's in the news again
« Reply #17 on: July 23, 2018, 11:42:15 am »

Offline Goddess

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Re: JW's in the news again
« Reply #18 on: July 23, 2018, 12:32:09 pm »
Seems a paltry start.  Jail time and/or million dollar fines is what I would like to see.

I expect we'll see bigger fines and more jail time once prosecutors, the legal community and the public give up the idea of religious "freedoms" being all-encompassing and the clergy-parishioner privelege being absolute.

It's a start.  :)

"A religion without a Goddess is half-way to atheism."

Offline Squidward von Squidderson

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Re: JW's in the news again
« Reply #19 on: July 23, 2018, 12:43:19 pm »
Any organization that covers up child abuse should be labelled as a criminal organization and stripped of all its tax-exempt bullshit.

The Catholic Church should have been barred from operating in Canada. 
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Offline Goddess

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Re: JW's in the news again
« Reply #20 on: July 23, 2018, 12:51:13 pm »
Any organization that covers up child abuse should be labelled as a criminal organization and stripped of all its tax-exempt bullshit.

JW's have gotten the tax-exempt status in spite of providing zero community services - no soup kitchens, no charity work, no donations to charities (it's actually frowned upon when you're a JW).

They claim that their door-to-door work distributing magazines and pamphlets that inform of God's laws (their interpretation of them, anyways) and promote godly qualities is their community service work, so they deserve tax-exempt status.
"A religion without a Goddess is half-way to atheism."

Offline Michael Hardner

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Re: JW's in the news again
« Reply #21 on: July 23, 2018, 05:02:48 pm »
FWIW I have never heard of the confessional being used as some legal shield against child abuse.  The church managed (or mismanaged) the issue outside of religious bounds.

I don't see any reason why religions should be held to a higher standard than other organizations legally.  Morally, however, they exist to spread 'good' so the hypocrisy they have shown is damning.
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Offline SirJohn

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Re: JW's in the news again
« Reply #22 on: July 23, 2018, 06:06:16 pm »
Any organization that covers up child abuse should be labelled as a criminal organization and stripped of all its tax-exempt bullshit.

The Catholic Church should have been barred from operating in Canada.

Should we also bar the police from operating in Canada? School boards? Hospitals? The court system? Every other religion? Because all of them ignored and brushed off information about child molestation, as did parents, unless there was overwhelming evidence. Kids that reported incidents were punished. Police ignored the complaints. Parents got angry - at the kid. Nobody took this seriously.

I've mentioned it before, but back in the day, Saturday Night Live had a regular child molester character called "Uncle Roy" played by Buck Henry. Other cast members would pretend to be children, and Henry would salivate over them and invite them to reach into his pockets for candy, and then make moaning, eye rolling noises when they did.

And the audience would laugh.

This wasn't even back in the 1950s or even the 1960s. This was as late as 1980. So people singling out the Catholic Church are really just showing their own bigotry.
"When liberals insist that only fascists will defend borders then voters will hire fascists to do the job liberals won't do." David Frum

Offline Michael Hardner

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Re: JW's in the news again
« Reply #23 on: July 23, 2018, 06:28:25 pm »
I think you can single out any organization that perpetuated the problem, knew about it and didn't fix it.  The suffering is unimaginable, the scale of it.

guest4

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Re: JW's in the news again
« Reply #24 on: July 23, 2018, 07:08:37 pm »
I think you can single out any organization that perpetuated the problem, knew about it and didn't fix it.  The suffering is unimaginable, the scale of it.

Exactly,  Why should a religious organization be permitted special status when they have clearly demonstrated a pattern of shielding abusers and lawbreakers?   

Offline Michael Hardner

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Re: JW's in the news again
« Reply #25 on: July 23, 2018, 08:12:25 pm »
Exactly,  Why should a religious organization be permitted special status when they have clearly demonstrated a pattern of shielding abusers and lawbreakers?

That status is a right, is why.  There's no reason to dismantle the idea of pluralism, which has worked well for centuries, because of crimes even horrible ones.

Offline SirJohn

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Re: JW's in the news again
« Reply #26 on: July 23, 2018, 08:38:52 pm »
Exactly,  Why should a religious organization be permitted special status when they have clearly demonstrated a pattern of shielding abusers and lawbreakers?

Every religious organization did that. None, so far as I'm aware, did it more often than the general public (ie, doctors, lawyers, teachers, coaches), although the evidence from Muslims is scant since they're very unlikely to ever report such things.
"When liberals insist that only fascists will defend borders then voters will hire fascists to do the job liberals won't do." David Frum

guest4

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Re: JW's in the news again
« Reply #27 on: July 23, 2018, 09:37:15 pm »
That status is a right, is why.  There's no reason to dismantle the idea of pluralism, which has worked well for centuries, because of crimes even horrible ones.

 Guess I don't agree that religious organizations are entitled to special status merely because they are *religions* - but even less so if they are helping people carry out crimes.  The governing body of the JW organization aided abusers and tried to defend their actions in court.  That's not the same as an isolated pastor who is revealed as a **** and the Church also condemns him.  It's a corrupt organization from the top down and that should eliminate it from any special status, imo.
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Offline Michael Hardner

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Re: JW's in the news again
« Reply #28 on: July 23, 2018, 09:41:52 pm »
1. Guess I don't agree that religious organizations are entitled to special status merely because they are *religions* - but even less so if they are helping people carry out crimes. 
2. The governing body of the JW organization aided abusers and tried to defend their actions in court.  That's not the same as an isolated pastor who is revealed as a **** and the Church also condemns him.  It's a corrupt organization from the top down and that should eliminate it from any special status, imo.
1. Special rights for religion pretty much defines the west, and pluralism.  Their special right is that they can't be legislated. 
2. The Church hid ****.  I don't know what the JW did but there are mechanisms for prosecuting people just the same as anyone.  There are probably lots of good people in the church too, but I don't know.

Offline Squidward von Squidderson

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Re: JW's in the news again
« Reply #29 on: July 23, 2018, 10:19:55 pm »
That status is a right, is why.  There's no reason to dismantle the idea of pluralism, which has worked well for centuries, because of crimes even horrible ones.

Totally incorrect.  Religious institutions do not have rights, individuals do. 
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