One of the Governing Body had a stroke yesterday

by AndersonsInfo 426 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  Jamie: "Billy, do you mean to bury her as soon as Ted dies?...instead of kicking her to the curb as would happen to the wife of a non-gb member?...bury her alive?...oooh, that's mean!"

  Okay, I take it back. I'm not so brutal as to wish Melita to be buried alive. Instead, I think perhaps the rest of the GB should be buried alive with Ted. Really, if they're going to go straight to heaven and become Mrs. Jesus Michael Christ, they would embrace the idea of an early dispatch.

  Barbara: As you related, I agree that the widows and innocent wives have been treated well. Many who had health problems after 5 or 10 years in Bethel were taken good care of, too. However, in the last 6 months or so that I was in Bethel, I knew of several that were "encouraged to leave", because they had health problems that the Corporation didn't want to be bothered with. The irony was that if it was a "secular corporation" in Satan's world, WT would condemn the selfish, dehumanization of people for the greedy companies to save a buck. However, since they are "Jehovah's theocratic organization" it is God's will that they save donated funds by kicking believers to the curb. I wonder how many sisters were "encouraged to leave" during the past years of "simplifying".

  B the X
• 

  slimboyfat

  No, slimboyfat, I'm not working on a book about my experiences at Bethel. I'm trying to piece my life together in parts and put it on Freeminds in the form of blogs. I've posted 3 parts and #4 is due any day now. In the future when I get up to the years I was in Bethel, I'll include some of the info I've been posting here yesterday and today so I won't have to reinvent the wheel and that's when I'll talk about events that I've never publicly talked about before.

  What I've been working on for the past few years is about the organization's old history and finding it fascinating. Some of it is making its way to the blog and more is on the way, but the majority will come out in another medium. Also, I'm working on some speeches that I will be giving in Europe in the future. I'll post more about that later when all the plans are in place.

  I look forward to reading your blog. It's your first hand accounts that are the most valuable. Why write secondary material when you can produce primary source material from your own experiences? You are in a unique position to update the inside perspectives of Barbara Harrison, Ray Franz and Randy Watters on what goes on at the headquarters. It would make a great book.
• 

  AndersonsInfo

  Yes, AllTimeJeff, you and I are in complete harmony about the responsibility of the GB. I agree with Ray Franz when he pointed out somewhere in one of his excellent books that the leaders believe the lies that were passed on to them and also believe their own lies (I don't have the quote at hand, hence, my words. If I've got the quote wrong, then I agree with my own words.) However, that is no excuse. When you accept a GB position and become part of a group of men that enforce harmful policies (whether you know they are harmful or not), you become responsible for that harm. We all know that. It's been discussed many times on this board especially with regard to Hitler and associates.

  As much as I enjoyed being around Lloyd Barry, Jack Barr and Dan Sidlik, I had occasion to see complete change in their demeanor if they thought that I or others had overstepped a rule. I can only imagine what would have happened if I had occasion to be critical of a doctrine, etc. or sounded a bit "apostate." From what I was told, the only GB member who had real empathy for Ray Franz was Swingle and he tried, to no avail, to stop the steam roller that was about to run over Ray. Lloyd Barry was hard as nails and turned on Ray; and, of course, Ted Jaracz was in full control of the drving of the steam roller. Dan Sidlik ran for cover because he had skeletons in his closet. Jack Barr just went along with Lloyd.

  Harry Peloyan and I talked just about everything and I heard from his own lips what he didn't agree with, but I saw twice what happened to his disposition when I crossed a boundary that he thought I shouldn't have. For example: I saw that the number of publishers, peak publishers and baptized in each KM just didn't make sense if you added the numbers up month by month. I brought this to his attention and it was like I had unleashed a small volcano. His face turned red; his fists clenched till the fingers became purple. He told me angrily, in essence, to forget about it; it was not my affair.

  Another time we had a disagreement about contraception. In this case he was right and I was wrong. I wanted the sisters to know that taking a certain type of birth control pill caused abortion. Please don't ask me any questions because I can't remember much about this ( I know I was reading a medical article that enlightened me on the subject), just that he became angry at me. Wow, did I cross the line. He said the poor sisters had enough to worry about in this organization than for us to put another burden on them. Of course he was right. I was looking at it from the angle of a very dedicated Christian woman who did not want to break God's law on taking a life. To me, back then, there were few gray areas--JWs were against abortion and God would get me if I didn't get the message out.

  I knew that if I continued on to press for anything he was not in agreement with, I would have been transferred into the laundry area to count hangers.

  Harry was always very complimentary about my contributions to the organization, but when I went public about child abuse, he was very angry, calling me a Judas. I bet if he could have gotten a hold of me, I would have been dog food!

  What I'm trying to say is this and hope I'm being clear: No matter how nice or sincere JW leaders are, they would do harm (if they could get away with it) to anybody who crosses a certain line, a line outlined and imposed by them, to a member who questions "mother's" right to rule!

  Familiar, huh? Catholic Church, Calvin, Puritans, etc.

  We all know the saying about how power corrupts...

  Barb
• 

  mrsjones5

  "What I'm trying to say is this and hope I'm being clear: No matter how nice or sincere JW leaders are, they would do harm (if they could get away with it) to anybody who crosses a certain line, a line outlined and imposed by them, to a member who questions "mother's" right to rule!"

  crystal
• 

  yknot

  Just because you have a stroke doesn't mean you die.

  It all depends on how bad the stroke was, how fast was aid rendered, what kind of rehab therapy is done, and the sheer will of the individual.

  Kirk Douglas had a stroke back in 1996, he did rehab and has recovered significantly, all save an injured foot, he is doing well at 92 and blogging on his myspace account about his next 4 weeks in a cast.
• 

  AndersonsInfo

  Billy, your experiences are valuable because they are recent. Mine aren't. All of us are very interested in what is happening now.

  It's a shame that there is little kindness shown because the "business" end of the WT is beginning to suffer or they are changing their mode of operation and are asking people, who might have nowhere to go, to leave. Look at all the people losing their jobs outside of this organization.

  Technology is changing so many things at Bethel and everywhere. And the bad economy is to blame for other changes at Bethel. WT is being forced to deal with forces beyond their control and we see them stream-lining the business. In many ways, it's a good thing. JWs are led to think that WT is a good caretaker of their donations. If I was still giving them money, I'd be happy to see them acting in a more responsible way with money and people. I understand that they are listening to outside expertise (worldly knowledge) and running their operation like it should have been run when I was there. Bravo! If this is true, then having a business plan and putting it into effect could put in jeopardy many jobs, but if you're not needed anymore or if you can't work, what's the reason to be there?

  Barb
• 

  AllTimeJeff

  A friend of mine discussed this with me, it was partly why I started what the value of being a WT Insider meant.....

  That isn't to minimize WT Insiders.... Because frankly, there is such a caste system within the JW hiearchy, and we all were victims to it in our own way. That is why, after exiting, we are curious personally. But that caste system also hurts in some way, all who used to be a part of it, whether one thinks of themselves as an insider or not.

  Having insiders like Barbara, Billy, Randy, Ray Franz, or others, has one very useful purpose for us all: It validates all of us not being JW's. They were not right, there is life after, and even more profound, the GB really does lie a lot. They cover up a lot. And they use people... a lot!

  After this validation though, who we are, what we are, is still a blank piece of paper for future use, a use that we can handwrite in ourselves.

  In the meantime though, seeing a pillar of Theocratic stupidity near his end stirs up strong emotions. It does with me, because of all it represents.
• 

  Dagney

  I agree, I don't really think about wishing anyone harm. But as was pointed out, this organization and its leaders do not blink an eye about kicking somebody to the curb...for just having different thoughts. They don't think twice about breaking up families, abandoning children or dividing spouses on their orders. They are despicable (sp?) to me. And almost anybody else that defends those actions.

  So there is no sympathy. He led the life he wanted, and it was good in his eyes, and it is about to end. That's about it.

  See ya Teddy. Or...maybe not.
• 

  winstonchurchill

  but I personally feel that the leadership of the organization is what is reprehensible.

  Jeff, you captured what is my stongest feeling. But I come a bit closer to the field. GB -as reprehensible as they are- live in a bubble, disconected from everyday life. I can see (not that I agree) how they become oblivious to the realities that R&F JW's face, and the practical effects and implications of the decisions they make from their towers.

  To me the most reprehensible buch has to be the traveling O's. Maybe I'm biased because i was one. But these guys and their wives are on the streets, they see brothers and sisters everyday. They should know how it is; they should be a bit (just a bit at least) more reasonable, more compassionate. But all I see is ego trips, stupid rules left and right, total lack of personal interest in people. In our congregation we have widows, orphans, people battling cancer, old folks in homes, but everytime the CO comes is seems like he's here just to give us a hard time, insisting in the minutiea (e.g. Elders and MS should not sit on the same seats all the time, the microphones, kids running, the lenght of sister x skirt -and forget about who sister x is and what problems she may be facing-, the cards and the paperwork and a very long etc.), while totally overlooking the needs of the congregation. Their 'comfort words' are so hollow, pre-fabricated and un-sincere that it's sickening.
• 

  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  winston,

  Yep, the COs have been trained that it's ALL about the numbers. Make some friend$ along the way. Any problems are somebody else's problems. Unless they have some convention-worthy experience, don't bother too much with ordinary R&F since you'll be moving on in a couple of years anyway.

  That sounds like Ted.

  B the X