Catholics 660 million - Jehovah’s Witnesses 0

Catholics child abuse settlements July 2007

Report all allegations of abuse to authorities

Reveal internal church records about abusers

Compensate victims

Allow settlement victims to speak about their abuse

Apologize to victims for church mistakes

Jehovah’s Witnesses child abuse settlements May 2007

Report all allegations of abuse to Watchtower Legal Department

Destroy or prevent church records about abusers from being revealed

Only compensate victims after spending millions in attorney fees to exhaust all possibilities otherwise

Make compensated victims sign gag orders to prevent them from speaking

Leadership makes no acknowledgement of wrongdoing or apology

As thousands attend the ‘Follow the Christ’ District Convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses, thousands of sexual abuse survivors from the same religion are learning something new. Leadership (Governing Body) authorized payment in May 2007, of the largest settlement in church history to sixteen victims of the church child abuse policy. This is certainly good news as it will allow thousands of JW victims to understand that they too might be able to be compensated for their abuse as well. As you can see above the Catholic Church has made adjustments force/funded by lawsuits to require adjustments in their child abuse policy. Now Jehovah’s Witnesses are starting the billion dollar process of discovering how to change policy or get sued out of existence. Thankfully Jehovah’s Witnesses are one of the wealthiest religions on earth and even though they continue to spend the bulk of their ‘Worldwide Work Donations’ protecting the religious rights of child molesters they are learning the hard way. Please do not give Jehovah’s Witnesses money until they start following the example set by the Catholic Church, otherwise you will be funding the freedom of pedophiles.

So as Jehovah’s Witnesses at the ‘Follow the Christ’ District Conventions are taught to sing loudly, only look at the speaker, and clap every time the speaker pauses: victims and advocates hope Jehovah’s Witnesses learn even more quickly about changing their policy on child abuse thus leaving more money for victims’ compensation instead of attorney pockets.

Other religion guilty of abuse

(Created: Wednesday, July 25, 2007 9:55 AM EDT)

To the editor:
http://www.kpcnews.com/articles/2007/07/25/features/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/news_sun/doc46a7562c717ab982889619.txt
In recent days, as was reported in this newspaper, the Catholic Church paid out a record $660 million to compensate victims of sexual abuse.

Not many months back, a lesser known evangelical group, Jehovah’s Witnesses, also paid a settlement to 16 unnamed alleged victims of sexual abuse within the religion.

The longtime alleged coverup of these sins within that church make it, at least in some ways, even more heinous than that of the Catholic Church. Dateline broke the news on television with a program called “ Witness for the Prosecution” in May 2002. That program is still available to doubters via the Internet.

Several alleged victims of child-rape within the religion exposed the coverup. They were quickly silenced by being excommunicated from the faith. Their only sin was pain and anguish from sins left covered and hidden. The director of a non-religious organization devoted to giving these children (or adults later in life) a voice, Bill Bowen, also a Jehovah Witness at the time, was quickly expelled also. His sin? Protecting the children. His organization, Silentlambs, is prominent in the fight against these horrific attacks and rape of children within religion, particularly within Jehovah’s Witnesses, which he is intimately familiar as a long time elder.

Not long ago, Jehovah’s Witnesses distributed a major flyer to the public in which they decried the hypocrisy of religions that hide pedophilia within the church. It’s likely you got that little flyer in your door. In it, they picture a Catholic priest, intimating a disgust with religion that would tolerate such hidden practices within. Interestingly, they are now found to be precisely like the church they condemn and have condemned for decades. Yet, among the rank and file of this group, most continue to be unaware of the hypocrisy that has ended in hundreds of its members being expelled and “shunned.” The sin for which they have been expelled was a desire to protect others from monsters hiding in the shadows of this religion.

The panoramic depth of this problem has been well documented. It is just a mouse click away on any desktop computer from within the privacy of your own home. Please make yourself aware. Protect your family, some of whom may someday think that they might join one of these insular groups. While no one wants to imply that all churches have the same level of problem in this regard (there is likely some of it in all of them), the uneducated are always the victims of the pseudo-religious groups that cover up such crime.

By the way, in the case of the Catholic settlements, there was no restriction placed on the compensated victims. In the case of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the recipients of the settlements, were “gagged” to make sure they did not write books, or place simple letters in the local papers like this one. In so doing, I hope to be at least a small part of a large voice for those who must remain silent. These isolationist evangelical groups, many of whom believe that God is using them exclusively as the “TRUTH,” are unfortunately covering the sins of their leaders with the tears of their children.

Jeffrey A. Kline

Kendallville

Prince Donates to Charity Excludes Jehovah's Witnesses

23,720 Reasons Why You Might Be Careful of Donations to Prince’s Religion

In a recent press release (1 ) Prince released a new fragrance called “3121”. The purple one stated that one of the reasons for selecting the small company was they had previously manufactured a perfume with the name “Truth”. This is a common word used by Jehovah’s Witnesses to describe their religion. In a press article that was entitled, “3121 reasons to pick up Prince’s scent” ( 2 ) a portion of the money spent on the first 24 hour purchases of the new fragrance will donate to charity. Seven charities, including City of Hope, Urban Farming and Sheila E's Elevate Hope Foundation, will receive 7% of sales made that day at 3121perfume.com. You can read about the charities at this link,
( 3 )

It is estimated that around a half million dollars will be raised for these various organizations. Each charity listed has a philanthropic purpose that helps individuals in need. Is Prince obeying the mandates of his newfound “truth” in this regard? It is interesting to note that for over sixty years Jehovah’s Witnesses have discouraged charity donations suggesting that they enriched the employees of foundations with little going to actually benefit the poor. Note the following quotes from the 1951, 1973, and 2003 Watchtower and Awake respectively.

***Watchtower 1951 11/1 p. 644 Charity in Christendom ***
“In Jesus’ time it was customary for prominent Jews to be announced by the blast of a trumpet as they made public donations at the temple in Jerusalem. Without equivocation it can be seen how Jesus condemned this. Today’s givers in charity do not stop with a little trumpet. Their beneficent works must be boomed to the skies in the press, over the radio, on the newsreels and now by television…”
“Jesus advocated using one’s substance for preaching the good news of God’s kingdom. (Matt. 19:21, NW)...Today Christians carry on the most charitable work of all history. Their preaching of ‘this good news of the Kingdom in all the inhabited earth for a witness’ brings spiritual healing to new praisers of God.—Matt. 24:14, NW.”

*** Awake 1973 11/22 p. 26 Is It Always Wise to Give to Charity? ***
A Balanced View
No question about it, as Jesus said, “You always have the poor with you.” (Matt. 26:11)… So the time-worn saying, “Let the buyer beware,” might well be rephrased, “Let the giver beware.”
And, of course, those who are Christian ministers are in position to give something far better than silver and gold. And what is that? The truth of God’s Word, which brings comfort, hope, peace of mind and which can even result in life eternal. (Matt. 10:8; compare Acts 3:1-8.)

***Watchtower 2003 6/1 p. 7 Giving That Pleases God ***
When it comes to organized charity, though, we need to be cautious as we evaluate the many appeals we receive.
Giving That Does the Most Good
“There is a kind of giving that is even more important than charity…. Jesus’ chief interest was in helping others spiritually....In fact, among his final instructions to them was the command: “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations.”—Matthew 28:19, 20.”
So according to the directives above Prince would be better suited to “preaching the good news” as opposed to donating funds to assist those in need. This policy has long been practiced by Jehovah’s Witnesses. Members believe the world is passing away so why give money to support a world that is ruled by Satan. Charitable giving is clearly directed to go to the home office to support the “preaching work” as the best way to spend estates and inheritances. Each year millions and millions of dollars are directed to “Watchtower” the corporate entity of Jehovah’s Witnesses to be used or spent however the “Governing Body” chooses. Jehovah’s Witnesses are directed each year with specific articles on how they can give their Life Insurance, Annuities, Estates, and whatever else they can squeeze of value from members to the corporation to accomplish the “preaching work”. What is the “preaching work?” Basically the annual distribution of about one billion pieces of Watchtower printed literature that keeps to a simple message, unless you agree to immediately join Jehovah’s Witnesses and also become a distributor of their literature, God is going to kill you. When a Jehovah’s Witness calls at your door and asks for a donation for “free” literature, your money is used not only to make more literature but is spent on some things you might not wish to donate toward. In May of 2007 the Associated Press revealed that sixteen victims of abuse were paid the largest settlement in the history of the organization to sign gage orders and cover up the sexual abuse they experienced as children.( 4 )
This was the result of a five year legal battle that involved millions of dollars in attorney fees to protect the rights of child molesters within the religion. Victims were ostracized and even disfellowshipped for trying to reveal the identity of their molesters while Watchtower lawyers went to court to defend the “religious right” of convicted child molesters to prevent information from being revealed that would have convicted them of further crimes against children. Is this a charity fund that any rational person would be proud to donate to? In addition to protecting child molesters in the courts, donations to Jehovah’s Witnesses also maintain a database of 23,720 alleged molesters within the religion’s home office in New York. This database was first reported in 2002 ( 5 ) and may now contain well over 25,000 child molesters that have been discovered and hidden within the administrative files of Watchtower. These abusers remain unknown to the public or even church members as an administrative policy of Watchtower to protect the “religious right” of their member/child molesters. When law enforcement seeks to find information on the in church confessions of these pedophiles Watchtower donation funded attorneys declare “ecclesial privilege” and demand that this information is confidential thus guaranteeing the continued freedom of child molesting members. These same protected molesters are required by mandates of the church to participate in the “preaching work”. Yes JW pedophiles continue to call at your door to give you some literature, offer a home bible study and suggest that you make a donation to support their work. Could this be the reason that Prince omitted Watchtower as a deserving charity to donate to for the release of his new fragrance?
So as the newspaper article suggests you might find 3121 reasons to purchase Prince’s new fragrance and see a portion of your $40-$70 go to a worthy cause. Yet as Prince struggles for balance between worthy charity donations and his new found “truth”, we hope the public can see 23,720 reasons to not make a donation to Jehovah’s Witnesses until they open their pedophile database to law enforcement and allow the criminal prosecution of their child molesters. Please make Jehovah’s Witnesses aware that while you might accept a free piece of literature you will not be donating to their “Worldwide Work” as you do not wish your money to assist the protection of pedophiles.