RECENT ELDER TALK INSULTS ABUSE SURVIVORS

 Do Jehovah’s Witnesses ABHOR child molestation?  Public officials of JW.org have made that comment to the media, over and over again, but what do they say to their members?  Note the following transcript, from a public talk, given by an elder to a local congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, after victims came forward, exposing how elders covered up their abuse as children.

“You saw this thing on television perhaps a year or so ago where somebody got all on television about child abuse and said Jehovah’s Witnesses do this and blah blah blah…”

“They want us to handle it like they do in the world and the world has done some god-awful things to families.  I admit that child abuse is a terrible thing, but the world in their haste and the way they handle justice, they have actually made laws against the family where they cannot come back together.” 

“I have had situations where a girl just simply said, “My father touched me.”  Because he was disciplining her you know, and she didn’t like the discipline … So she just went down there and just made up a story.  “He touched me.”  And zoom they come out there on her word and locked him up.  Well now she didn’t contemplate the consequences of all that …  And then when she realized what she had done and had lied about the whole thing she said, “Well you know I made a mistake, he really didn’t do these things.”  And they told her, “Child you better shut up or we will lock you up.””

“Okay well these apostates want us to go by the worldly system of things and granted,  [chuckle] these things they have their way of being handled, but our system works for us. See, the body of faith says that those who are wrongdoers have to have two or three witnesses.  The body of faith says that even if you don’t have the two or three witnesses, according to Matthew chapter 13, the angels are going to collect the wicked ones out who are causing stumbling …”

“So if you don’t want to accept the body of faith, these apostates, go leave us alone, go start your own religion.  Get your own publications, get your own printing press, have your own conventions, have your own congregations, have your own field service, have your own textbook, get your own Insight book, get your pioneers, get your own circuit overseers, leave us alone!”

The audience laughs and applauds at this point.