Posted on 08/14/2015 3:31:08 PM PDT by Jyotishi
SYDNEY -- The abuse was meticulously catalogued. From 1950 to 2014, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society amassed some 5,000 files detailing sexual abuse of Australian children by 1,006 of its members, who believe only they -- the Jehovah's Witnesses -- proclaim the truth about God.
Young girls were assaulted by neighbors. Teenagers were raped by their fathers. Victims were forced to pray with their abusers.
When the children reached out for help, the church's obsession with secrecy and hostility to outsiders kicked in. Victims, ordered to keep quiet, were forced to confront their abusers in person. All complaints -- which averaged one a month for six and a half decades -- were carefully recorded in sealed files, along with the church's by-the-Bible responses.
One hundred and twenty-seven church officials were demoted. No one was reported to the authorities. Child abuse was recorded and hidden away.
Now, sordid details from the closed world of the Jehovah's Witnesses are being exposed that could severely tarnish the image of a powerful organization that has 8.2 million members around the world and has mostly avoided scrutiny.
Two years ago, the Australian government established a royal commission -- similar to a presidential commission in the United States -- to investigate institutionalized child sexual abuse.
The inquiry's primary target was the Catholic Church, whose record of protecting pedophiles was almost as bad in Australia as in the United States. To avoid singling out one religion, government officials gave the inquiry wide legal powers to examine any organization that may have covered up abuse. The commission doesn't have the power to find guilt or issue punishment. But a spokesman said it has referred over 700 matters to authorities and will make recommendations to the government in a final report in 2017.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Yeah... as if they care about being hypocrites. Hey we’re religious in this thing and that makes us just fine and dandy to God, so who cares if we’re irreligious in another thing.
God won’t be mocked, however. There has to be skin in the game.
My principled reaction is to meet them fully and visibly armed -- wherever the dog has them cornered. Then I inform that they are trespassing on my land, and that I want nothing to do with their Satanic sect.
The second time I inform them that they are trespassing, and should leave immediately, I warn them that -- if I have to tell them a third time -- they will spend however long it takes the Sheriff to arrive ...face down on the ground.
Fire ants? Not my problem... They better chose their "prone-out" spot with care...
We stood outside of the mega JW rally in Madison Wis. for many years with signs confronting the JWs as they came and went until they finally moved the rally.
Later my new Pastor said he knew of one of them, who was a friend, that was born again from the rallies. He told him that the Scriptures on the signs of the people picketing outside of the huge rally changed his mind. The Scriptures we used were about Jesus being the great I AM. A really wonderful thing is that he started a group in his town helping people escape the JWs. That was really cool to hear because up until that time we didn’t know our efforts had fruit. The LORD is faithful!
Then he really wasn’t a true JW, just a jerk posing as one for his own benefit..............................
Just a jerk ;-)
Sounds like a guy I know that would go around to all the Food Banks at the various churches and orgs around town and get free groceries so he could use his own money for beer and cigs..........................
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