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CajunRick
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Posted: Tue May 15th, 2007 01:49 am |
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Friday May 11, 2007 4:16 AM
By ROSE FRENCH
Associated Press Writer
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.
``Our loving heavenly Father makes it clear in his Word, the Bible, that he abhors child abuse,'' a statement from the denomination said.
``As an organization, we will continually strive to educate families and congregations with sound Scriptural teachings that they can use to protect their children from child molesters. And we will continue to do our utmost to protect children from this horrible crime and sin.''
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.''
The above article is reposted from Guardian Unlimited.
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Ali
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| First Name: | Ali | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | JW, finally fully Catholic |
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Posted: Tue May 15th, 2007 09:19 am |
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Since establishing silentlambs in 2001, Bowen says about 7,000 people who claim they were abused have contacted his group.
I didn't know it was so bad. How does this compare, number wise, to the priestly abuse stories?
Ali
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BodRod
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| Joined: | Mon Oct 2nd, 2006 |
| Location: | Apple Valley, California USA |
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| First Name: | Cliff | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Raised an SDA, then Generic Christian, finally at home with ... |
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Posted: Tue May 15th, 2007 10:05 am |
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Ali wrote: Since establishing silentlambs in 2001, Bowen says about 7,000 people who claim they were abused have contacted his group.
I didn't know it was so bad. How does this compare, number wise, to the priestly abuse stories?
Ali
May I toss in a word of caution? Claiming and actually happening are to different things. Unfortunately, claiming has become an effective act of vengeance and has been used by both children and adults. BTW, such actions are not limited to or against members of the clergy.
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Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro.
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Annie
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| Joined: | Wed Feb 14th, 2007 |
| Location: | Columbus, Ohio USA |
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| First Name: | Annie | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | nothing, Quaker, Mennonite, Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican, Catholic |
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Posted: Tue May 15th, 2007 10:46 am |
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BodRod wrote: Claiming and actually happening are to different things.
BodRod, you are wise. When the "highway shooter" was on the loose around here someone from my workplace called the anonymous tip line and said I was the shooter because they were angry that I had been promoted rather quickly. The police were required to follow up every tip so the two detectives that came to my place were extremely apologetic as they said I was clearly diametrically opposed to the profile. We ended up having a fun conversation about hunting and firearms in general!
There were hundreds of false tips like that against co-workers and teachers who gave bad grades. Many thousands of man hours were wasted.
____________________
Annie
Ora et labora
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CajunRick
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Posted: Tue May 15th, 2007 11:21 am |
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Ali wrote: Since establishing silentlambs in 2001, Bowen says about 7,000 people who claim they were abused have contacted his group.
I didn't know it was so bad. How does this compare, number wise, to the priestly abuse stories?
It's hard to say since many of the abuse cases in the Catholic and other churches are decades old, and since there is apparently a culture of silence among the Jehovah's Witnesses that does not exist in other faiths.
This is the first crack in the dam. Silentlambs claims they have been contacted by 7000 people, but there is no way to judge how many of these claims are false, and how many more have not contacted them. Should you assume 10 victims for each contact, or 100, or 1000? There are also many millions more Catholics than Jehovah's Witnesses.
One thing is certain, though. The problem of clergy abuse does not belong exclusively to any one faith, in spite of the headlines being made by Catholic clergy.
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