Ironic hypocrisy of Bethel "service"

by MinisterAmos 27 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  MinisterAmos

  I normally let people make their own decisions with a very hands off approach, but after reading the "Living Together in Bethel" (or whatever the name of the piece of crap book is) I need to vent a bit.

  Anyone here is very familiar with the "quit your job or at least cut way back" talks that we were subjected to seemingly every other week. After all, good Dubz need time to prepare, attend, pioneer etc. A good friend of mine left her job at an insurance Co. to pioneer. She is selling food in the streets in her country to make ends meet and currently lives in a house with no floors. Well floors of dirt. This is a 30 ish beautiful, charming and (I used to think) intelligent woman who is now literally living in squalor because of the Dubz. She tried to cut back her hours was fired and now because of the economy in her country and the fact that she neither qualifies for unemployment or Dub-Aid she's almost in the street. A$$HOLES!

  Imagine my surprise when I just tonight found out that Bethel slavery service, requires the Dubz to spend a minimum of 50 hours per week working? Actually it's a 47 hour mandated work week but they are "encouraged" (in writing) to work more hours.

  I'm just at a friggin' loss how working in a factory is a spiritual experience and why it's OK with the Dubz to work like a dog at Bethel but everyone else is VERY STRONGLY URGED to cut back on work hours. In the case of my friend to the point that she is now in dire trouble. Makes no sense to me.

  On the other hand have you all seen the picture of their lead Attorney's house on 123 Brimstone in Patterson? I would bet it asesses at $1.5-$2Million. Anyone know what he nails down a year in salary and bennies?
• 

  SickofLies

  The "Ethics" Trap

  
  

  On the surface the Church of Scientology seems reasonable. The insane content of it is only revealed to a person when the early stuff has done its work and made them more susceptible. After a short while a person "believes" that Scientology is doing them good. They are then persuaded to help their new-found group further by donating money and/or working for the organisation for almost no money. Many people do exactly that.
  

  "Ethics" is used to good effect to trap a person. A person’s natural tendency to do good is worked upon. Yes - they want to be more ethical, but what is ethical? This is where a clever trick is pulled! "Ethics" is redefined by Scientology in such a way that to be ethical is to be a better Scientologist and obey the "church". Young people, not yet made cynical through the machinations of life and politics, are very keen to contribute to the world and to be ethical. So the "ethics" trick works easily into persuading them to join the "church". Many of them join an elite group called the "Sea Org" where they become brainwashed slaves. There they work a hundred hour week for almost no pay. There they are subject to every cruel whim of their masters. It is a living hell that they endure because of the conditioning they have received and this now perverted sense of ethics that they have accepted. The "Sea Org" is the ultimate in brainwashed slavery. They are expected to work harder and harder to achieve ever higher targets of production. If they fail to meet their targets there are various penalties. One of them is to be put onto a diet of beans and rice and to miss sleep. Another is to be sentenced to a period on the RPF (Rehabilitation Project Force). This is the equivalent to "hard labour". Such is the extent of their brainwashing that they actually write "success stories" when they complete their sentences.

  http://www.xenu.net/roland-intro.html
• 

  lighthouse1956

  Anyone know what Bethel salary is now.Fo4r years it was $14 a month (1950's).

  What about the GB,
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  theinfamousone

  they make something like 40 cents an hour or something like that at bethel here in canada... and then they have to pay for like pens and stuff... its absolutely ridiculous... i spent a weekend there when i was a kid, our room had cable tv, a fridge with beer stocked in it, chocolate all over the plce, the most amazing bed i have ever slept in, and its all for visitors... but they pay the pplwho work there 40 freakin cents an hour...

  i guess the nice room was for recruiting purposes...

  the infamous one
• 

  jwfacts

  A lot of people collapse spiritually at bethel due to the lack of spiritual service. On top of the 5 1/5 days work there is rotating weekend cooking duty, telephone duty or night watch. This causes a lot to miss meetings and struggle to meet the congregation average of hours. As an affect 'spirituality' suffers.
  
  Of course, without the 5 meetings a week and field service it is not spirituality but the indocrination that suffers.
  
  GB gets the same as everyone else, except as a person gets older they have less weekend duty to do. In the 1990's the pay was about $21 week, plus a yearly personal allowance bonus of around $300. Car running expenses were 18 cents per kilometre up to about $1500 per year. The longer you are there the poorer you get, till you are totally dependant on the free food and shelter they provide.
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  rmt1

  http://www.nathanielturner.com/slaveryandtheamericaneconomy.htm It would be nice to see some figure for the value of branch slave labor adjusted for inflation, growth and shrinkage. And then pay it out to apostates..?
• 

  Justitia Themis

  I want to see the pictures of the lead attorney...123 Brimstone (as in fire and???). Are they online? If so, where?
• 

  LDH

  In the case of my friend to the point that she is now in dire trouble.

  This could be her lucky break. No joke. See what you can do to remind her of everyone who got rid of their posessions prior to 1975 and then got blamed for it.
• 

  Mary

  Imagine my surprise when I just tonight found out that Bethel slavery service, requires the Dubz to spend a minimum of 50 hours per week working? Actually it's a 47 hour mandated work week but they are "encouraged" (in writing) to work more hours.

  I indeed find this hypocritical, given what I posted in another thread about a quote from the April 15th WT rag and their view on securlar employment:

  Page 16: "...Suppose you were thinking of accepting a job. Perhaps there is nothing immoral or inappropriate about the nature of the work. You will be able to attend Christian meetings and conventions. They paycheck will be more than you ever expected. The employer values your skill very highly and wants to use you to the fullest......Should anything hold you back from accepting the offer? Well, what if you foresee the possibility of your falling in love with the work. (yes, you read that right). You are told that you would not be forced to work overtime. But to finish a project, would you be willing to push yourself more than you should? Might such overtime become frequent? Could that take you away from your family and eventually from spiritual activities that you definitely should not miss?
• 

  snarf

  Too bad church and State are sperate in these matters, can you imagine all the labor laws the org. is breaking?! It is truly sad to see all these people struggling. I know of a single sister in my old congregation who is struggling, she cleans houses for a living. I came across an apartment cleaning job that would have paid her $1000 a mont, and she could work it whenevr she wanted so she could still meet her "society requirments". I have a soft spot for struggling single parents, so I told her about it, but told her she needed to jump on it if she wanted it. I have worked with the manager of the complex for 2 years and have a really good reputation with her, she had the job all she had to do was show up and put in a bid. But, she drug her feet and had to "meet with the elders" for advice, and lost out on the job. A week later she went to Louisiana to rebuild houses for witnesses that were displaced and she is still there, working for free while she digs herself farther into debt.