I was in trouble and had to meet with one of the Bethel elders because I would come home to bethel sometimes after midnight. You are expected to be in bed before 11pm. I argued that I did not need that much sleep but there seems to be a concern that bad things happen after dark.
Bethel Rules
by brotherdan 194 Replies latest jw experiences
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laverite
@leavingwt - what is "open sleeping?"
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WTWizard
Well, so much for my going to Beth Hell. No licking one's fingers or touching one's face at the table sounds excessively formal--I would expect that to be the rule in formal business meals, not where you are there every damn day.
Shirts with collars at all times? And, since when is walking across a street in New York City a suit dress-up occasion? I would never require changing just to cross a street or to attend a meal. Nor would I change for frivolous reasons. The only good reason to dress up would be to attend a Kingdumb Hell meeting or go out in field circus, and I hate both. Anything else, reasonable and prudent dress codes should apply (that is, comfortable and not blatantly indecent). If I felt like wearing a shirt with a logo (as long as the logo was not blatantly offensive to most reasonable people), I would go ahead and wear it.
There is no good reason why the door has to be wide open if two people of the opposite sex are together in a room--unless they want apostates with state of the art cameras recording sensitive business material and posting it online. The chances of sexual encounters happening in these situations is pretty close to zero, and it can just as easily happen with the door wide open (though the sex would happen in another setting). Besides, what about homosexuals? Don't think two same-sex people cannot develop crushes on each other, especially in this sexually repressive setting.
Field circus--meeting or exceeding the average? How about zero, or reasonable and prudent? And I define "reasonable and prudent" as where the marginal cost of the next unit just starts to exceed the marginal benefit. And I think charging $3 to attend the Kingdumb Hell should be between the participants, not set by Beth Hell.
I will blow off any "morning worship" unless the actual benefit of attending exceeds the actual cost of going. If I heard the same crap 50 million times, and it is so stupid that a first grader already knows it, there is absolutely no point in wasting the time going.
I will listen to rap and heavy metal (and Christmas music) all I damn well feel like, and watch all the R (and X) rated movies I see fit to. And that includes the likes of 50 Cent and Eminem. The only rule should be not to blast it so it disturbs others that choose to live in peace.
The "bedroom laws" are excessive. Couples, MARRIED OR NOT, should have the right to have sex in any position they damn well feel like. And I will not even make the bed--an unmade bed actually allows dust mites and germs to be exposed to cool, dry air and light (which might actually kill a few of them). Making the bed should ideally be done just before bed, unless you have formal company showing up. And the housekeeper has no damn right going through my stuff without my permission--and destroying any swimsuit (or Playboy) magazine is grounds to get sued. I will not sign any waivers allowing them to refuse to deliver such issues and distribute them to anyone that actually wants to read them.
As for the elevator: Reasonable and prudent rules. If you are able to walk up 8 or 9 flights of stairs without undue hardship, it is actually encouraged. Often, it is quicker to walk up the stairs than to wait for an elevator, plus it is good exercise. (In fact, I did that once while attending a book study. While everyone else waited for the elevator, I took the stairs and usually beat the elevator.) However, if you have difficulty walking up the stairs, it is excessively hot and muggy, or you are carrying heavy loads, you should use the elevator regardless. If it's easier to walk up the stairs, do so--but don't impose it on everyone.
And they didn't say anything about setting up a Christmas tree, putting thousands of lights and ornaments on it, setting up tinsel garland and ornaments on every wall and surface you could find, and putting up a Christmas village (lit, of course) on your shelves. And I will do so if I feel like it.
If they want me at Beth Hell, it will be under these conditions whether they like it or not.
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Steve_C
Wow, eye-opening thread .
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serenitynow!
My cousin told me that the housekeeper checks on sick ones because a young bethelite died in his room. He told me when I asked him about a headstone for a young man @ the launching pad at Walkill. How true is #11? When I visited I did wonder what the soundproofing is like there. With all those insane rules how is it that people are not constantly going postal there? How come noone has just snapped and gone on a rampage?
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jamiebowers
Funniest answers:
Zoiks: No wrestling in your underwear.
MiseryLoves Elders: homo-erotic licking of paper towels.
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Aussie Oz
Good God!
We got accepted to bethel construction in Sydney...
It makes me glad that i knocked up the wife...
and had to withdraw.
(not from the wife but bethel service that is...)
(well i had to withdraw from the wife at some point as well...)
oz
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elderelite
oh hell yes you had to pay for the "privilege " of ac. I was in Brooklyn and worked in the laundry. Hot as HELL. And I was expected to come home, in the hot, humid summer, to no ac because I didnt get paid for the "privilege" of working. Kiss my ass. I got an extension cord and ran the HELL out of that AC. Damn if the housekeeper didn't tell on me and I got a bill. Thankfully I never paid it and ended up leaving after my year was up. They never got a dime from me. Just the sweat of my brow and a year of life.
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MissyM
What is Bethel?
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WingCommander
Oh yes...can you imagine actually trying to live this way? I mean, they aren't this strict in some prisons!! Even prisons have A/C!!!
Now imagine....many people can't hack this way of living and leave Bethel. Now imagine EVERYONE being forced to live like this in the New Order??? Yeah, uhhh...rigggght.
As another poster commented, I couldn't hack this shit. Take the "no logo on your suits" rule. Now I know EXACTLY where my parents got the idea when I was growing up not to buy me ANY clothing with logos, or anything on them. I was very "plain" until I was in 7-8th grade and had my own money from allowance and odd jobs in order to buy my own designer clothes from there on out. I wouldn't be able to wear any of my dress clothes at Bethel, as they are all Brooks Brothers, Nautica, Chaps, etc. Then again, if you're at Bethel and only making $20.00 a month, the most you can afford is plain old J.C. Penny off the rack suits. SAD.
Imagine signing away your life for a publishing company, and then being treated in such a fashion? That somehow, THEY aren't grateful to have your free slave labor, but that YOU are to be grateful for the "priviledge" of being there and offering your free slave labor. Now THAT is some fugged up shit right there!!!!
As bad as this sounds, has anyone seen the brochure they have that they give to visting JW tour groups beforehand? Here it is in ALL of it's cultish glory! Enjoy.
I'm sorry if the above are too small, if a moderator can enlarge them, I'd be grateful!! :-)
- Wing Commander
