According to the CO's outline, Elders should now quantify what 'biblically drunk' is - to avoid 'bad publicity'- get ready for a copy/paste on abuse

[Jack Ryan]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dvHUoDKCAHF6efu2XQxfk6o8AmBqE5rm/view

Here's the 2018 outline, see page 3 under 'THEOCRATIC PROCEDURES FOR INVESTIGATING WRONGDOING.

To summarize: 

'Legal blood-alcohol limits vary depending on local laws and do not necessarily establish that a person was Biblically drunk.

At times, elders may feel pressured to take judicial action due to notoriety and/or bad publicity.

Strong suspicions and negative hearsay reports do not establish wrongdoing; elders must adhere to the Scriptural requirements'.

This is quite a low-key affair with booze. I've seen it before, a gentle reminder here and there to drink less, because you've been stumbling other brothers. But it really sets the tone for how matters which reach the public eye should be handled...what it's saying is 'ignore negative publicity, as long as it doesn't disagree with the bible then the law won't affect your standing in the congregation'. Starting with booze is a sly move to recommend that this format is perfectly acceptable to be applied to more serious issues.

Now imagine this same template applied to child abuse. I am well aware this is already partly being done, but I can see the scale of it growing exponentially. The quantification of child abuse...the law may say you're guilty, but scripturally there's not enough evidence to disfellowship. Your LEVEL of abuse appears to be significantly less that what the media would have us believe. Did he really rape a child? The media says he did, but our brother wouldn't lie, would he? He's admitted he did touch the child, but he completely denied he actually raped her. We must ignore the pressure applied from the world to remove this brother from the congregation when clearly there is no evidence he did rape the child. 

Innocent until proven biblically guilty.

Very frustrating when you see the potential of this outline and how easily it can be taken advantage of.