Why doesn't All-Powerful Jehovah Protect Young Witness Girls from Pedophiles in the Congregation?

[Jack Ryan]

But he sends angels to protect women at a door preaching from a potential bad householder? Wouldn't we often here of this experience?

Does anyone have a copy of the illustrations of angels protecting JW's during the preaching work?

[Evacuated]

Protect Young Witness Girls

You probably need to expand this a bit as it has a rather narrow focus which I am sure you don't intend.

[Space Merchant]

On 7/29/2018 at 1:20 PM, Jack Ryan said:

But he sends angels to protect women at a door preaching from a potential bad householder? Wouldn't we often here of this experience?

Does anyone have a copy of the illustrations of angels protecting JW's during the preaching work?

Pedophilia is a serious thing, so be very wise in word choice to not include mockery. That being said, the Jehovah's Witnesses are not immune to pedophilia, for such has been around for a very, very long time and it is known that pedophiles target educational and religious institutions of all kinds for a reason, but it would seem you and others are trying it as if it is a JW only thing. What you also fail to realize is that this faith adheres to the 1st church, therefore, it is not easy for them to deal with such things when you have secular and religious laws you try not to conflict and or mess around with, therefore, not as easy for them to handle such things, in some cases, some are well in-tuned on the matter of abuse as well as stranger danger than others, some even contribute experience and the like to help others, be it a child who can teach another, or an adult.

What you and JW opponents do not realize is prompting JWs as an easy target, this goes for pedophiles, who are mostly women in educational institutions, to set their eyes on areas that they believe they can get away with said crime.

The root of the problem is to gun for the change in the system itself, to add more strictness to and against pedophiles as well as contain such ones before they can even act. But sadly, such ones like you allow them to win, as we speak, pedophilia is on the massive increase, even to the point children are forced to marry said abuser by secular law.

So if you really want to help people out, as said before, there are better ways to fight pedophilia, but such ones like you dwell on not doing anything and expecting it to end, news flash Jack, pedophilia is global and everywhere and anywhere.

That being said, I myself speak to a lot of children, some who are now older, some I even grew up with who are now my age, and they say the same thing too, you do not fight against a school, a church, a club, you fight the source itself at the same time do not be among those who prompt abusers to target a person and or group, you only make the matter worse for a potential victim and or those who are in the victim's circle of friends and family.It is one of those things I hate, and the fact people are ridiculously blind to fighting the root of the problem itself baffles me. Just know this, pedophilia and those who support it is slowly making such a thing legal even in parts of the US, therefore, you have give the rifles and the ammo to the enemy at this point, how does that help anyone?

Other than that, there is a reason why there is talk about Civil War in the US, read on up on such and know what is being talked about.

[JW Insider]

17 hours ago, Space Merchant said:

but it would seem you and others are trying it as if it is a JW only thing. What you also fail to realize is ?that this faith adheres to the 1st church

@Jack Ryan might have a lot of issues, or these might not even be his own issues. At any rate, this particular question is a good one, in my opinion.

(And @Gone Away it doesn't really matter if he should expand it to include all persons who get hurt from all types of crimes and injustices. He has started with a specific, narrow example and this should help us to focus on the point of the question.)

Back to what you were saying that I requoted, @Space Merchant: In this case, J.Ryan is not treating pedophilia and child sexual abuse as if it were just a JW-only thing. In fact, the nature of the question very clearly shows that he is questioning why we are quick to imply that angels have often run interference for JWs who are in the midst of the preaching work. He is right that we have shown images of angels in protective mode and guiding mode as they watch over the preaching work. I know of several of the images he is referring to. There have been dozens of examples of experiences printed in yearbooks, Watchtowers, and from the convention platform that thank Jehovah for specific cases of angelic protection in the face of all kinds of dangers.

Most of these more recent articles about angels, with one exception, no longer depict a ghostly angel hovering over the door-to-door work, although one recent one, below, indicates that they are "over" the cart-witnessing work. Most of the more recent articles show several examples of angels in Biblical times then show the preaching work, but without the depiction of the angel in modern times. Still, the wording that goes along with the pictures is telling:

Watchtower, 5/15/2009 p.23 and 24

 

When viewed alongside the recent pictures that try to give us a sense of the hundreds of millions of such angels standing at the ready it really does, and really should, make us wonder about specific activities that angels are handling in modern times. Did those angels in the Yearbook experiences really make a person miss when they shot bullets at point blank range during times of war and persecution in modern times? Did angels make a person of the right heart condition glance over at a cart? Or was it the receptive heart condition that caused them to glance? Did an angel send a Witness to the door exactly when the householder finished praying for guidance in their search? Other religions have told of the same experiences. What makes our claims different?

These questions will also touch on why Jehovah permits wickedness, and why someone's prayer might be answered when another one's is not. It may also touch on human nature. When almost everyone except an especially photogenic young child is saved from an explosion, a burning building or a crashed train or airplane, we will often hear the media interviewing people who say that God must have had a special purpose for that child. We will hear about how wonderful God is in sending an angel to swoop down and save this one or that one. We will not hear about the injustice and loss to the others who died.

At any rate, not that anyone has a complete answer, but this is still a good question.

Angels help declare the good news throughout the earth

-- Watchtower's caption, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2017169

[JW Insider]

[Evacuated]

1 hour ago, JW Insider said:

Did those angels in the Yearbook experiences really make a person miss when they shot bullets at point blank range during times of war and persecution in modern times? Did angels make a person of the right heart condition glance over at a cart? Or was it the receptive heart condition that caused them to glance? Did an angel send a Witness to the door exactly when the householder finished praying for guidance in their search?

No one has a definitive answer to these type of questions. It is best really to follow the scriptural statements such as those at James 1:17, Matt.5:45, Ps.34:7, Ecc.9:11.

We know the angels are involved in the preaching activity, but only the most naive would draw a conclusion that the trolleys have guardian angels when we respectfully point out that on a personal basis this is not the case with humans.

It is tempting to try and read into our work today the kind of events described in the early days as recorded in the book of Acts but sadly for some, such visible manifestations of Jehovah's angels working on behalf of humans have gone the same way as the gift of tongues.

1 hour ago, JW Insider said:

doesn't really matter if he should expand it to include all persons who get hurt from all types of crimes and injustices.

Very generous of you. But not an opinion I share at all.

 

[Space Merchant]

@JW Insider Indeed, but it seems silly for people to just paint such to a single person or group, to justify that the actions of one define all and it is not the first time this was done. It is similar to how those treat individuals of another race and or nation due to the actions of someone who is not of relations to sole person who has done the crime. Other than that, such ones need to be awake and realize stuff like pedophilia is all over, it is like a virus that gets some people and such people go about infecting others.

 

Other than that, what is spoken of about the angels of God, this I believe as do others.

[Witness]

On 7/29/2018 at 10:20 AM, Jack Ryan said:

But he sends angels to protect women at a door preaching from a potential bad householder? Wouldn't we often here of this experience?

Does anyone have a copy of the illustrations of angels protecting JW's during the preaching work?

Well there is this one, from 2/1/1983

My son pointed out the picture of Zeus in the woman’s skirt when he was just 10 years old.  It was later that I saw the angelÂ’s right twisted leg and “hoof” that really raised an eyebrow.

No angel of God there, protecting those women in their preaching work!

Sure.  There are subliminal images all through the history of the Watchtower.  And sure, JWs will always figure out an excuse for them, which is just what Satan wants them to do.

Jesus answered them, “Be careful that no one leads you astray. ^ For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will lead many astray.”  Matt 24:4,5

Yes, fully accomplished by those “ambassadors substituting for Christ. NWT 2 Cor 5:20

Substituting:  “If you substitute one thing for another, or if one thing substitutes for another, it takes the place or performs the function of the other thing.”

This is how the GB gets away with expecting the obedience of all anointed and all JWs.  They are “performing” as if they are Christ. 

“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.”  KJV 2 Cor 5:20

Ambassadors are messengers, coming as representatives of someone.  The anointed priesthood are to bear Christ’s message, not replace him.  Mal 2:7; 1 Pet 2:5,9  Any anointed one who wants to “substitute” for Christ has an ulterior motive – power over others. I wonder how many times the magazines refer to the corrupted form of 2 Cor 5:20.  THAT is the “subliminal” message being taken to the door.  God would not bless such a message or the messengers who present it.

 

 

 

[JW Insider]

40 minutes ago, Space Merchant said:

it seems silly for people to just paint such to a single person or group, to justify that the actions of one define all and it is not the first time this was done.

I agree, and I also agree that a few of the poster's other comments have given me the impression that JWs are being selectively chosen as if they are uniquely afflicted with certain problems. But for this particular question, it struck me as one that took a completely different tack:

It was almost like saying, hey we know that all kinds of groups are troubled by such crimes, but there is one group that has claimed a lot of examples of angelic protection, especially while engaged in the ministry to outsiders. So why is it that individuals are almost certainly NOT being protected from a problem that can occur right within the congregation itself.

I don't think anyone is arguing for an Ananias and Sapphira style judgment. (Although I'd like to see at least certain parts of such criminals deadened by the holy spirit.)

To me, the question reminded me of the claims by some snake-handling sects who might be protected from venomous snakes and scorpions (Luke 10:19; Mark 16:18, NWT 1984):

• (Mark 16:18)  ¹⁸  and with their hands they will pick up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly it will not hurt them at all.

Persons from these sects, will often proudly show off their snake-handling skills, but they will not be nearly so likely to show off their ability to digest arsenic. If persons from these sects were loudly proclaiming the protection (from snakes) by angelic forces or holy spirit, then It would be a perfectly legitimate question to point out the number of persons from these sects who might have died by poison or even alcohol abuse.  

The question would have nothing whatsoever to do with how many other sects were afflicted by deaths from poison or alcohol abuse.

[TrueTomHarley]

54 minutes ago, JW Insider said:

It was almost like saying, hey we know that all kinds of groups are troubled by such crimes, but there is one group that has claimed a lot of examples of angelic protection,

Any group of any fundamentalist leaning claims this. It is not just Witnesses.

Agreed, 'liberal' churches are less likely to claim this, but that is because they are less likely to claim anything. Some of them have been found to have pastors who shed their belief in God.

[Evacuated]

1 hour ago, JW Insider said:

If persons from these sects were loudly proclaiming the protection (from snakes) by angelic forces or holy spirit, then It would be a perfectly legitimate question to point out the number of persons from these sects who might have died by poison or even alcohol abuse.  

Valid point. They might also find the following hard to defend:

• The first report of a death from a serpent bite occurred in 1922 at the Church of God Evangel.
• In 1955, George Went Hensley, the founder of modern snake handling in the Appalachian Mountains, died after being bitten by a rattlesnake during a service in Altha, Florida.
• In 1961, Columbia Chafin Hagerman died after being bitten by a timber rattlesnake during a service at the Church of the Lord Jesus, Jolo, West Virginia.
• In 1967, Jean Saylor, wife of a snake-handling preacher, died after being bitten by a rattlesnake in Bell County, Kentucky.
• In 1982, Rev John Holbrook died after being bitten by a rattlesnake during a service at the Lord Jesus Church in Jesus' Name in Mullensville, West Virginia.
• In 1983, Mack Ray Wolford died after being bitten by a timber rattlesnake during a service at the Lord Jesus Temple in Mile Branch, near Iaeger, West Virginia.
• In 1995, Melinda Brown from Parrottsville, Tennessee died after being bitten by a timber rattlesnake during a service at the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name in Middlesboro, Kentucky.
• In 1995, Kale Saylor (husband of Jean), a Pentecostal preacher, died after being bitten by a rattlesnake during a service at a church in Crockett, Kentucky.
• In 1997, Daril Colins died after being bitten by a snake during a service in Bell County, Kentucky.[60]
• In 1998, John Wayne "Punkin" Brown (husband of Melinda), a snake-handling evangelist, died after being bitten by a timber rattlesnake during a service at the Rock House Holiness Church in rural northeastern Alabama.
• In 2004, Dwayne Long, a Pentecostal pastor, died after being bitten by a rattlesnake during a service in Jonesville, Virgininia.
• In 2006, Linda Long died after being bitten by a timber rattlesnake during a service at East London Holiness Church, London, Kentucky.
• In 2012, Mark Randall "Mack" Wolford (son of Mack), a Pentecostal pastor, died after being bitten by a timber rattlesnake while officiating at an outdoor service at Panther Wildlife Management Area, West Virginia.
• In 2014, Jamie Coots died after being bitten by a timber rattlesnake during a service at the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name in Middlesboro, Kentucky Coots starred in the TV series Snake Salvation and his death was widely reported.
• In 2015, John Brock died after being bitten by a rattlesnake during a service at Mossie Simpson Pentecostal Church in Jenson, Kentucky.

(Courtesy Wikipedia)

[JW Insider]

17 minutes ago, Gone Away said:

They might also find the following hard to defend:

[over a dozen examples]

Oh yes . . . that, too.