"How Awful This Place Can Be!" Life at Bethel by Keith Casarona
by Dogpatch 56 Replies latest jw friends
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panhandlegirl
OMG what a story! I have two nephews that went to Bethel. Because I have been df'd for years, I have not heard any of their stories. I believe they were probably "company men" don't know. These stories should be made into a book. What a Hell hole; and to think they (the DO/CO) wanted me to go there! I would not have survived.
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Band on the Run
I vote for a book. The story telling is so good. He has a real knack for it.
I yearned to work at Bethel when I grew up. Of course, I was a woman and would not me a maid or laundress even for Jehovah. I planned my courses to best fit what I thought would be useful. Every assembly I attended the Bethel lecture--I was about six years from qualifying but I was career oriented. My hope was to be a secretary for a big wig. I even taught myself to type in fifth grade.
My mother said that my grandparents had Bethelites over every Sunday and that huge packs of food were given to them to take back. This was during the Great Depression. She was sketchy about why hospitality was such a mission in New Jersey.
The food stories bother me the most. My fantasies were so different from reality. My father remarked to her that they always thanked Jehovah for blessing the Kingdom Farm after a good year. The Kingdom Farm was never mentioned in much leaner years.
These stories are so sad. I wonder if monasteries were the same way. Thomas Merton, the famous Catholic writer and hermit, joined a very strict order. In the 1940s and 1950s, the local Catholic hospital had to take care of monks suffering severe illnesses from simple malnutrition. Jesus provided actual food. He also said that man does not live my bread alone. (indicating man needed bread). This is a very sick strain of Christianity. I prefer my Friar Tucks.
How could Jesus have travelled over Galilee on a meagre diet? The man made water into wine. Feeding of the multitudes. What do they do with their money?
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designs
My brother was there from 1969-1973, company man through and through, still is.
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transhuman68
Read this at Freeminds- and I LOL'ed.
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david_10
This is fascinating! A page-turner, for real.
David
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cobaltcupcake
My ex-husband was a Bethelite from 1974-76. He worked on the National sewers on the night shift. His stories are very similar to Keith Casarona's.
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John_Mann
I always thought life in Bethel could be like this:
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NewYork44M
The story talks about the 129 building (129 Columbia Heights). This went CoOp after the society sold the building. Evidently part of the purchase of the Towers building.
In 2000 I purchased an apartment in this building. I ended up being part of the board and the treasurer. It was fun reading through all the documents from the society to the building. The society held the mortgage for several years. Every month the building would get a watchtower letter thanking the building for their payment. I remember reviewng the deed. It was signed by several heavies including Greenless.
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Julia Orwell
Mad place. I hope the Brooklyn bethel is a lot different now.