Elders

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Jehovah’s Witnesses Telling Women to Only Marry Those With Authority in the Congregation?

Recently Jehovah’s Witnesses conducted a special meeting of sorts that included sermons from members of their governing body, the ones in authority over the religion. One presentation was given by Anthony Morris, whom many like to tease and ridicule because of his fixation on tight pants and the “many, many homosexuals” in the fashion industry who are supposedly designing those clothes for men. While Morris certainly provides hours of rousing entertainment with his ramblings, there were other words of his that I saw as being horrifically dangerous to those within the religion.

Somewhere in his presentation, Morris started in on the women in the organization and their choice of men to marry. He related how women who marry a man who is older than 23 and not yet a ministerial servant will regret that “bad decision.” These words may seem innocent enough, but in truth they can really put women in outright danger and they’re also obscenely insulting and abusive to the men in the religion as well.

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If Child Molestation is Not a Problem With Jehovah’s Witnesses, Why Do They Need to Ask About It?

Jehovah’s Witnesses keep many of their policies and procedures secret from their rank-and-file members, including the procedure they follow when selecting men to be elders. These procedures are found in a book called “Shepherd the Flock of God,” a super-secret handbook meant for the eyes of elders only, a copy of which I have. Before appointing men to be elders, they ask them three questions, as shown below:

new elders

Note these are the only questions they ask before making this appointment and announcing it to the congregation.

Just How Common Is This?

I find it interesting that they need to ask this question about child sexual molestation of any man who is an active, faithful member of the congregation in good standing. To me, this speaks volumes as to how common this type of behavior is, or else they wouldn’t need to ask about it in the first place!

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Jehovah’s Witness Elders Ask Child Rape Victim How Far Apart Her Legs Were During Her Attack

Just when I think I’ve heard it all when it comes to how Jehovah’s Witnesses have been handling accusations of child rape in their organization, another story comes out that turns my stomach and causes the rage to bubble over. This latest story is from the Barry congregation in the U.K., where elder Mark Sewell was recently convicted of a string of sexual crimes including rape. In court it was revealed that Sewell consistently uses his position as an elder to force young women into lurid behavior, including giving them topless massages, rubbing his groin against them, and forcing them to kiss him. He also outright raped one woman who became pregnant with, and later miscarried, his child.

As the women finally came forward as adults, the other elders in the Barry congregation shredded documents about the abuse and did not speak to police about the incident.

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Blatant Age Discrimination in New Secret Instructions From the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses

For those who have never associated with a congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, all responsibilities in the congregation, from giving sermons on the platform to making “encouraging” calls on others to handling congregation funds and overseeing judicial matters, are carried out by men. The elders shoulder much of this work; they typically give the Sunday discourse, lead their public speaking school, make those “encouraging” calls on congregation members and decide on disciplinary measures for others. Ministerial servants are like elders in training and they may handle a few minor matters such as distributing literature or overseeing certain activities, but the bulk of this work goes to those who make it to the position of elder.

The elders of each congregation have a “Coordinator” who takes the lead somewhat in their work. He may assign certain duties to other elders, ensure the funds are audited, and so on. In all fairness to Jehovah’s Witnesses, this job is no doubt very difficult for any man and can be very taxing.

As difficult as it may be, I found it shocking when I recently read about some secret instructions given to all bodies of elders worldwide, telling them that men over the age of 80 are no longer allowed to serve as this Coordinator, irregardless of their abilities and mental state. There was no instruction about asking the man if he felt he was still able to serve, or having some type of meeting where the other elders decide if he was still capable of being the Coordinator. The same letter also stated that “a coordinator of the body of elders who is not yet 80 years of age might also modestly decide that it would now be best to have another brother take on this role.”

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Why Jehovah’s Witnesses Have No Business Going Door-to-Door Preaching to Others

In most countries Jehovah’s Witnesses have the legal right to go door-to-door for their preaching work. It’s not trespassing as you are allowed to approach someone’s front door if you have valid business, and they are not soliciting because they are not technically selling anything.

Legal rights aside, I’d like to discuss some personal reasons why I think Jehovah’s Witnesses have no business going in their preaching work, having public sermons from their podium, printing their literature, or even speaking to others about their religious beliefs.

Talking Without Listening

In my own home, there are actually very few rules to remember as a guest. Eat dinner in the living room, put your feet on the furniture; it’s pretty casual under my roof. However, one thing I insist on is that if you’re not going to listen to other people, you don’t get to talk.

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Blinding Ignorance About Conception Used to Accuse Someone of Lying

Not long ago some super-secret “training videos” meant for the elders of Jehovah’s Witnesses were leaked to a blogger online, and I’ve already commented on how one such video shows gross negligence in their instructions on counseling suicidal congregation members. I’ve also already commented on this next subject in particular, but I find it so vulgar and obscene that it deserves its own blog post.

Confession of Fornication

This video in particular deals with a young man, “Robbie,” who has confessed to committing fornication with a girl and getting her pregnant. Robbie presents the matter as a one-night stand, but the elders counseling Robbie ask him when the girl told him that she was pregnant. Robbie says it was “a couple of weeks later.”

At that point, one elder says that this “doesn’t quite add up,” because “a woman would not know she is pregnant in that short of a time. [The girl] would have had to have told you possibly a month and a half after the incident, at least.” He presses the issue later in the video, saying that it would be more likely two months after having had sex before she could know she was pregnant.

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Secret Videos Reveal Shameful Example of Jehovah’s Witness Elders “Helping” Suicidal Woman

Recently some secret “training videos” for the elders of Jehovah’s Witnesses were leaked online. I’d like to talk about one in particular, which was meant to be used for suicidal members of their congregations. This video shows elders counseling a woman, Mary, whose husband died a year ago.

Let the Insults Begin

Right from the start I notice how the elders who are counseling Mary actually insult her. She is so overwhelmed with grief that she is considering turning the car on in the garage and “just going to sleep,” and one elder says that grief can cause “irrational thoughts.” He then talks about how Satan takes advantage of tragic events to “cause one to falter spiritually.”

Within the first minute, she has already been called irrational and is told that she has “faltered spiritually.” How do these words help her fragile emotional state? When someone is suicidal they need an immediate reason to keep living, to keep moving forward. Telling them that they’re irrational and faltering spiritually will only make them feel worse about themselves! Not only do they feel bad about whatever is causing them to be suicidal, now they’ll also feel bad about not being strong spiritually. Mary here is being told that she’s failing at every turn.

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