![]() Mark, 51, is the owner of an exercise-equipment repair business and a longtime Jehovah’s Witness who quietly left the religion in late 2013. That effort has been remarkably successful-until recently.Ī white Priority Mail box filled with manila envelopes sits on the floor of Mark O’Donnell’s wood-paneled home office, on the outskirts of Baltimore, Maryland. Yet all this time, Watchtower has refused to comply with multiple court orders to release the information contained in its database and has paid millions of dollars over the years to keep it secret, even from the survivors whose stories are contained within. Less notice has been paid to the abuse among the Jehovah’s Witnesses, a Christian sect with more than 8.5 million members. In recent decades, much of the world’s attention to allegations of abuse has focused on the Catholic Church and other religious groups. Thus did the Jehovah’s Witnesses build what might be the world’s largest database of undocumented child molesters: at least two decades’ worth of names and addresses-likely numbering in the tens of thousands-and detailed acts of alleged abuse, most of which have never been shared with law enforcement, all scanned and searchable in a Microsoft SharePoint file. ![]() Keep a copy of the report in your congregation’s confidential file, the instructions continued, and do not share it with anyone. The letter laid out instructions on how to deal with a known predator: Write a detailed report answering 12 questions-Was this a onetime occurrence, or did the accused have a history of child molestation? How is the accused viewed within the community? Does anyone else know about the abuse?-and mail it to Watchtower’s headquarters in a special blue envelope. The organization was concerned about the legal risk posed by possible child molesters within its ranks. congregations, and to many more congregations worldwide. In March 1997, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the nonprofit organization that oversees the Jehovah’s Witnesses, sent a letter to each of its 10,883 U.S. They further teach that the Holy Spirit is a force of Jehovah.Updated at 12:25 p.m. Witnesses hold that only Jehovah is God, that Jesus was created by Jehovah and is inferior to him. Trinity - Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs reject the doctrine of the Trinity.Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs include works such as learning about Jehovah, living a moral life, regular witnessing to others and obeying God's commandments as part of the requirements for salvation. The rest of saved humanity will live forever on a restored earth. Salvation - Only 144,000 people will go to heaven, as cited in Revelation 7:14.Christ's death was sufficient payment for sin, and he rose as an immortal spirit being, not as the God-man. Jesus Christ - Jesus Christ is God's son and is "inferior" to him.The religion denies the Trinity concept of three Persons in one God. Holy Spirit - The Holy Spirit, when mentioned in the Bible, is a force of Jehovah, and not a separate Person in the Godhead, according to Witness teachings.All the condemned will be annihilated. Annihilationism is the belief that all unbelievers will be destroyed after death, instead of spending an eternity of punishment in hell. Hell - Hell is humankind's "common grave," not a place of torment.Heaven - Heaven is an other-worldly kingdom, the dwelling place of Jehovah.God - God's name is Jehovah, and he is the only " true God.".Witnesses are best known for going door to door, but they also publish and distribute millions of copies of printed material every year. Evangelism - Evangelism, or carrying their religion to others, plays a major role in Jehovah Witness beliefs.The religion does not discriminate based on race however, Witnesses believe homosexuality is wrong. Equality - All Witnesses are ministers.Witnesses believe Jesus died on a Crux Simplex, or a single upright punishment stake, not a t-shaped cross (Crux Immissa) as we know today. Cross - Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs state that the cross is a pagan symbol and should not be displayed or used in worship.Offering boxes are placed near the door so people can give if they wish. Contributions - No collections are taken up at services at Kingdom Halls or Jehovah's Witnesses conventions.Communion - Jehovah's Witnesses (also known as the Watchtower Society) observe the "Lord's Evening Meal" as a memorial to Jehovah's love and to Christ's redemptive sacrifice.Jehovah's Witnesses use their own Bible, the New World Translation of the Scriptures. Bible - The Bible is God's Word and is a truth more reliable than tradition.Baptism - Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs teach that baptism by total immersion in water is a symbol of dedicating one's life to God.
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