Jehovah’s Witnesses: Do you think most EX-JWs who claim to have been sexually abused are making this up?

Greetings,

We cannot tell if someone’s claims on the Internet of being a victim of abuse are true or untrue. The best course of action is to accept what they say is true and treat them with all due empathy and respect.

However, when someone presents false or inconsistent information it detracts from their story.

For example, when someone claims that an individual has continued for years to molest others while being accepted as a Witness or even continues to be an Elder then at the very least we must conclude that they are misrepresenting the facts. And unless they are willing to provide specifics we must reject such exaggerated claims while not rejecting their basic claims.

Since Witnesses have the best record of removing child molesters and not covering up *any* sexual sins such an accusation against the Witnesses is highly unlikely. World wide, there have been only a couple of cases where some individual elder body WENT AGAINST the instructions from the WTS and did not take proper action against a child molester. And in these cases the courts agreed that the WTS was not at fault because their historical policy was manifestly to remove such individuals from any fellowship and to shield all children from molesters.

The evidence is that it would be next to impossible for someone to remain an elder and be accused of being a child molester. If someone is accused of molesting *different* children then there are two witnesses and they would be disfellowshipped. Now, it doesn’t even take more than one witness for someone to be reported to the authorities for molestation and even before the current government laws on reporting molestations were passed Witnesses still investigated all accusations and Dfed many without requiring two witnesses. In actuality, I’ve seen the courts often dismiss charges against child molesters who have been DF by Witnesses. But, the courts have repeatedly determined that Witnesses have NEVER hidden child molesters nor have they ever just transferred Elders accused of molestation to another congregation. So historically and legally Witnesses have the BEST record of any religion.

Yours,

BAR-ANERGES

EDIT:

*Everything* about "Ki-utopia's" answer is untrue. We just had a case in our congregation where there was only one witness. The victim was told to go to the police and the perpetrator was disfellowshipped. Then the courts let him off due to a "lack of evidence."

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that everyone who does not survive Armageddon will not be resurrected to get "another chance" during the 1,000 years when earth will become a paradise. Ex-JW's who speak out against them are considered to be "apostates" and are therefore worse than mere unbelievers. They think an "apostate" has rejected Jehovah, but an apostate is a person who has rejected Christ Jesus. Trouble is, they seem incapable of understanding a person can leave their organisation yet become a true Christian - a person who has only abandoned a man-made organisation. They are careful to say they don't know who will be saved - that it's up to Jehovah to decide. But they also say they're the only true Christians, and only they have the truth and they are God's sole chanel of communication. All other Christian denominations are part of false religion and they're going to be destroyed at Armageddon. JW's are told that they have to be baptised and be part of Jehovah's organisation in order to survive the coming battle of Armageddon that will bring an end to false religion. But don't worry because the Bible teaches no such thing. The Bible says it is for man to die once and then face judgment and if you have undergone the "new birth" and Christ Jesus is your Lord and Saviour, you have nothing to fear. That leaves most JW's in a difficult position, because they deny who Christ Jesus really is. EDIT: Just check out the quotations given by Danman - now why has he got so many t/d's from quoting what Jehovah's Witnesses are taught from their own publications?

Anyone can claim on an Internet website to have been sexually abused by a religion/cult, and there's no doubt in my mind that there are liars out there.

However, you would have to be a PRETTY sick puppy to make up something like that if it wasn't true, simply for making a religion look bad.

Whilst you should take most things that people say or claim on an anonymous internet website with a pinch of salt,(you would be naive to do otherwise) it is highly offensive to immediately call people "liars" if they claim to have been abused. I would never call someone a liar if they told me something like that. For all you know, they're telling the truth and it would be highly offensive to call someone a liar. Abuse does happen, and abuse IS covered up.

The JWs have a dubious and downright dangerous policy of requiring "two witnesses" to any child abuse cases and allegations. Common sense should tell them that 99.9% of the time, this is impossible.

And yes, it is a crime, and yes in an ideal world would be reported to the police. But if they actually thought outside their black and white box, they would realise that many victims of sex abuse are just too terrified, too embarassed, too scared, too unsure, too brainwashed, and too cowed to come forward straight away. It can take a victim years to work up the courage to alert the authorities.

It happened to my own father in law, he was abused by an elder when he was a kid. It took him 3 years to even have the courage to sort out his own pain and confusion and tell his parents.

It disgusts me the amount of JWs who automatically assume that an ex JW who claims to have been abused is a liar or an apostate.

Sexual abuse is a serious issue and should be reported whether it is your opinion that it's a legitimate claim or not.It can take someone years to work up the courage to say something to anyone about the abuse, and the last thing you want is for them to go back into hiding for another couple of years because someone accused them of lying.

A lot of the signs of child abuse or sexual abuse are ridiculously obvious and are overlooked or blown off as simply an indication of a shy child.

I think that it would be extremely embarrassing for anyone to admit to being abused. I cannot imagine anyone making such a claim if it was not true. What would the motivation be to go public with such a accusation and admission? The Catholic situation is quite different. For those that can prove abuse and even some that could not there is a monetary motive for making the accusation as the Church gives restitution to victims but the Jehovah Witnesses do not and there is nothing to gain but justice from the law. God bless!

In Christ

Fr. Joseph

Well, that is an excellent question and I’m glad you asked it. Let me see if I can help set the record straight.

In the last 100 years, only nine individual Jehovah's Witnesses elders have been accused of child abuse in the United States. Jehovah's witnesses do not have "Sunday schools, "confessionals," "choir practice," "Witness kids’ camps," or any other structure where parents send their child away to be supervised by a church official. If a child is victimized, then it would happen at home and most likely a (non-Jehovah’s Witness) family member would be the perpetrator. If allegations surface of child sex abuse, the elders take them very seriously and will excommunicate any guilty party. They also cooperate fully with law enforcement.

All throughout society, there are cases of child abuse. But the absolute safest place to be for a child is within the loving arms of his chosen church. He/she has way more chances of being victimized at school, at summer camp, or elsewhere. So why single out Jehovah’s Witnesses, when we are the safest of all religions?

Also, people attack our two-witness policy for dis-fellowship on molestation charges. But didn't you know that most molesters have MANY victims. If even two step forward, the perpetrator is automatically kicked out. Generally, we're stricter than courts of law.

Now do people make things up? We do not know for sure. However, we can judge their claims. And all claims of abuse I’ve read make no sense. So I strongly suspect that people who have a grudge against the truth are fabricating these stories for some kind of sick “pity party.” As members of the truth, Jesus warned us that we would face all sorts of persecution. This issue is no different. I am just happy that we have bold defenders of the truth will step up and call a spade a spade. We need more of those people.

Edit: UL has never been a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses. Because she has no personal knowledge or experiences, her comment on this question may be ignored.

It sounds like the typical attitude of the JWs to put down the person that had the courage to actually leave the Cult. It takes a lot of inner strength to leave a cult like the JWs because of all the brainwashing they do on you while you are there and then to know that all you good friends from the Cult will never speak to you again.

It could happen that someone may make up a story to hurt someone else, but I doubt that it would be on sexual abuse. Thats is something people just don't joke about, it is too rife and too nasty to be a subject of a lie.

Dot has made so many other stupid statements on here, I would not worry about him/them, he has multiple identities as well.

It is well known that there has been a lot of sexual abuse involving elders of the JWs and a lot of covering it up by other elders. but I do believe that it is under control to some degree now.

A person that is inclined to molest children will try to get themselves in a position to do just that. I know that in some countries, it is next to impossible to get a position of trust with children unless you have undergone some sort of testing and you are monitored along the way. That is why child molesters have been so rife within the church as government authority has, in the past, been lacking somewhat in that regard.

That said, a child could go to school, church or even the police station and still be molested, they are not totally safe anywhere. Still most molestations happen at home or close by and are by a close relative.

Long story... Don't pay heed to fools....

"...like catholics, who have been more forthright..."

Hahahaha. That's funny. Yeah, the catholics were so forthright that they transferred priests around and hid the hundreds of thousands of cases of child abuse for literally hundreds of years. SO forthcoming...

One determines the accuracy of a claim by evidence, same as anything else. It's quite possible some people make claims up to get "sympathy" or attention. However, when there are significant numbers of claims, the chances that they're *all* made up are pretty darn slim...

Peace.

Nobody knows if they were really abused or not. It is not up to us to judge whether or not they are telling the truth.

But if they really were abused by an elder or ministerial servant, I want to encourage them to IMMEDIATELY speak to government authorities if they wish and DEFINITELY speak to the elders in the congregation (or a congregation you feel comfortable in).

These people will continue doing these bad things if someone doesn't say something. Jehovah's Witnesses want a clean congregation and saying something to the authorities can help all of us.

If you are sexually abused... you go to the police.

Some Facts of Jehovah's Witnesses:

At their meetings, children sit with their parents.

Children do not have meetings or classes apart from their parents

Young ones usually preach with their parents or friends.

Sex abuse is a crime... for crimes you go to the police.