Originally posted by twhitehead
Well then your judgement is based on a flawed methodology. You are wrongly assuming that all incidences of child molestation end up in court. This thread is about precisely the point that many of them do not because they are not reported to the authorities. All you would have demonstrated (if you hadn't made other glaring errors) is that JWs are far less ...[text shortened]... JW community and your earlier claim of lower incidences did not specify 'child abuse by elders'.
No, its not flawed because these are the only reliable figures to go upon otherwise we shall be compelled to simply assume figures. These are the facts concerning convicted child molesters.
Anyone is free to report any criminal activity to the courts, the fact of the matter is as i have admirably shown, despite this freedom there have been a relatively few convictions. What is in fact flawed is to assume and lets be clear thats what it amounts to is that this relativity small percentage exists because there has been either a cover up or a lack of compliance with secular authorities.
So let us be clear as far as convicted acts of child molestation go Jehovah's witnesses as an organization have a relatively small incidence in comparison to other denominations and society as a whole. Now this begs the question therefore why are they now being singled out? The answer of course is that they are hated by people like divesgeester.
That we are a small denomination? let us take therefore take a denomination of the same size. There are roughly eight million Catholics in Ireland, there are roughly eight million witnesses, What are the statistical comparison?
A lengthy report detailing cases of emotional, physical and sexual
abuse of thousands of children over 70 years was published on 20 May 2009. The report drew on the testimony of nearly 2,000 witnesses, men and women who attended more than 200 Catholic-run schools from the 1930s until the 1990s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_sexual_abuse_scandal_in_Ireland
The assertion therefore that the numbers are small because we are a relatively small denomination is now demonstrably false, by comparison with another denomination, in this case Catholicism which has shown a much higher incidence rate.
'Free to', is a vain semantic argument and unworthy of my comments.
I am not confused about anything, we must work with what facts we have and those facts concern the elder arrangement of Jehovahs Witnesses for those are the ones that deal with instances like child molestation and apart from the perpetrator may also be held liable for reporting or lack of as the case may be.