It seems the way Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW) deal with dissent is to “disfellowship” anyone that speaks out and/or draws attention to serious internal problems.
This was apparently the reason for the banishment of Barbara Joanna Anderson, a Tennessee Witness who spoke out about sexual abuse within JW congregations.
Anderson has now filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit in response to her banishment, reports the Tullahoma News.
The former Witness is a founder of “Silent Lambs,” an organization formed to address the issue of sexual abuse within the ranks of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Increasingly, it appears there is a pattern of JW leaders suppressing information about sexual abuse, when it involves its members. They most often don’t report such matters promptly to the police.
Jehovah’s Witnesses have historically demonized the Roman Catholic Church in the harshest terms. Ironically though, it now appears JW leaders have followed the same pattern of behavior embraced by many Catholic bishops, when dealing with sexual predators amongst its clergy.
That is, with one notable exception. The Roman Catholic Church has not used excommunication to silence its members who have recently spoken out and/or drawn attention to this issue.
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