JFJ had a guideline that I recall went like this:
DO NOT SHIFT BLAME.
Doesn't it seem like JFJ did nothing BUT shift blame?
When something did not go right, it seemed like the only way to get out of being blamed was to blame someone else, or to find a scapegoat. Once someone was blamed, the person who shifted the blame could feel free and clear; the person that was to blame had to live forever in shame and never was forgiven.
JFJ did and keeps doing some very horrible things. Instead of looking at themselves, the blame for these wrongs has to be shifted to those who have been hurt. JFJ is never sorry really because JFJ just continues to shift the blame for the wrongs they've committed to the people who JFJ has hurt.
JFJ hurt so, so many people. JFJ has somehow been able to get many of the people who have been hurt to be silent. Those who speak out are evaluated and blamed for causing the wrongs that JFJ committed.
And the mindset most of us experienced with JFJ has not changed. It is easy to blame ourselves instead of our abusers. It is easy to criticize one another rather than support one another.
Yes, JFJ does shift blame. On this blog, we need to not be afraid to blame JFJ.
http://www.exjewsforjesus.org/
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In the military there is a saying: "S__t rolls downhill", meaning that blame for any mistake is assigned to the lowest possible ranking military person. JFJ seems to have adopted the same philosophy.
Being Accused of Bitterness.
That is the one thing that erks me the most about Jews for Jesus. Rather than fussing up to their copability, they shift the blame to the person making the case against them by saying "they are bitter."
Well, if the person is bitter, maybe there's a reason? Maybe the reason is because Jews for Jesus keeps blame shifting by saying "they are bitter"?
It's a Catch 22 either way: Jews for Jesus sits in the estimed position that every physical, emotional, spiritual wife beater has sat in through all of history. They are the abuser who continues to abuse long after the victim has left, who always shifts the blame by stating some form of what Hitler said about invading what is now the Checkoslovakia:
"They deserved to be invaded because they claimed their land as their own, when it really belongs to us."
In other words, they shift the blame. Brickner is the ultimate one that needs to be held accountable, because shifts the blame to some other leader by saying someone else has to apologize, "I can only apologize for harm I caused myself. I can't apologize for someone else, you have to go to them."
There is such a thing as corporate accountability. There are plenty of examples in the Bible even, where one person stood in the gap for the entire nation of Israel, even asking God's forgiveness for stuff their ANCESTORS did. Stuff they didn't do themselves (Nehemiah and Daniel come to mind).
When Brickner has been forced into Biblical confrontation with former staff, like myself, his tried and true response if more Blame Shifting, just like a true Wife Beater. He says, "Oh, that's not fair. This situation is completely different. We are an organization that has individuals who are each responsible for their actions. I can't apologize for something someone else did. You have to go to them."
Well, you know what? That's a bunch of bunk.
As long as abuse continues and as long as blame shifting continues and as long as true accountabity for abusive behaviour continues to remain evasive, that traditional Jews for Jesus response, "they're just bitter" keeps being repeated, the more people will keep speaking out about what happened to them during their time with Jews for Jesus.
May God have mercy on those in Jews for Jesus who continue to show no mercy to those they harmed!
Brickner keeps saying he can't apologize for something someone else did. But that is not true at all. The Jews for Jesus Worker's Covenant, that EVERY vocational staff member in the organization signs, including Brickner, specifically states that "All authority resides in the Executive Director."
Well, you can't get around that! If "All Authority" rests in the Executive Director, then so does ALL RESPONSIBILITY.
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