Undercover: You have made so many excellent points. We can only wish that the Bethel system was different, but it wasn't and isn't.
I believe that the negatives are amply explained to those who seek out special service. I know I heard them all. However, we didn't want to believe what we heard. It was "Mecca" where we were going and nobody could tell us otherwise. Joe spent three years at Bethel in the 1950s and told me I wouldn't last, but I did, through thick and thin. I became a JW at 14 and had it drummed into my head that Witnesses were imperfect, so no matter what I saw I blamed imperfection and never questioned that it wasn't "the truth." I'm sympathetic because "there by the grace of God go I."
I understand perfectly what BonaFide is trying to get across. Joe was a servant in a congregation when he was about 18. He would have walked through fire for "Jehovah." That's the way it was. I was like Jaracz. I lived by the letter of the law, but I was not cold or distant as he is. It's probably a personality trait on this part. Maybe that's why he married an outgoing woman. As sincere and whole-souled as he is, we all agree that as unwritten "Boss" of the GB, he's responsible for so much harm that it's impossible to tally up.
If you go back and reread what I've written on this thread about Barry removing Jaracz from the Australian Branch for wrongdoing and then Knorr sent him to Calif. as DO, just think about it--You don't get removed as BO unless it's pretty obvious that you really transgressed in a big way. These men in high position in the org. stick together. They only remove a peer when they absolutely have to. I've suspected for a long time what it was that Jaracz did but have no proof. But whatever it was, it was serious. Knorr should have never sent him to California as DO. I have it on good authority and said this in another post that Knorr was so angry with the Directiors for taking away his power, Jaracz was brought in to get even. Knorr knew exactly what he was doing. They didn't want him as Boss, so he gave them Jaracz.
I'm as conflicted as the next person about all the issues that have been raised here. I don't have definitive answers. All I can do is pass along information just like the others are doing who were in special service but are now out of the organization. I'm trying to be realistic and think about everybody's point of view. The human personality is so complicated. We are who we are for lots of reasons and with Jaracz we're all trying to figure out what made him tick. But until we know more about his upbringing (raised by 3 maiden aunts) and find out more about his early life and where were his parents?, who of his relatives molded his thinking?, etc., we just go round and round about this enigma of a man who didn't want his life story published nor wanted to talk about himself at all. It was as if he was hiding from something or maybe himself.
As I wrote earlier in this thread, this man became totally different under certain circumstances that it was noticed not just by me, but by others. I bet a shrink would have found him fascinating. Maybe in his positions of authority from such a young age, he saw too much bad stuff, so gradually closed down his own personality and navigated his theocratic life happily by blocking out the human element. By concentrating only on the scriptures and the Kingdom message that made up "the work," he in effect divorced himself from reality.
Listen to the discussion Randy Watters put on his Freeminds site between Alan Feuerbacher and Ted in 2001. It's fascinating. Jaracz comes across as an extremely kind and loving person. This is the kindly man those outside of Bethel saw, those he didn't know personally. He became emotional when he spoke of the increases in the organization. This is not the man Bethelites as a whole saw except if they were being "groomed" for MTS. I thought the use of that word by Jeff very interesting. Jaracz was grooming young men for reasons not entirely clear. Certainly, the young men weren't harmed by Jaracz, yet his personal involvement with them only with regard to MTS gave him immense satisfaction. Why?
That kindness rarely extended to the general run of the mill Bethelite. He treated Bethelites like they were an annoyance except if he needed something from one of them. This was the man who lived in the "50s." It was his influence that prevents the Awake! or Watchtower to show any women in pants. Look at pictures of families going out in service: Dad in a suit; Mom in a dress; One little boy in a suit and a little girl in a pretty dress. The ideal family. If that isn't fantasy, I don't know what is.
Jaracz didn't want women in Bethel to wear blue jeans, but was overruled because the work they did required jeans. Then he had to be told to stop scolding women in the elevators if he saw they had on jeans and they weren't working. He brought many a girl to tears. Personally, I don't think he liked women very much. Just certain ones he could control. This man definitely had issues!
Okay, I've exhausted this subject and myself. Maybe you are all tired of this subject. I know I am.
Barb
