I have a long history in this cult, at various levels. A few of you, out there in cyberspace, share a similar experience - but many do not.
I'm going to tell you how to interpret things that happen in the organization, as well as what is written in the magazines.
It's not terribly difficult because they are so reactionary. A fellow Bethelite corrected me on this point when I accused them of being fascists. "Nope, just reactionaries", he said. He was right.
So, if you hear and read a burst of coincidental appeals for contributions ( which happened right after they started the 'voluntary donation' disaster), you may fairly conclude that they need cash and want you to open your wallets. Very simple.
And college? They observe wreckage from kids going to college and never looking back at the 'truth'. So, they 'bang away', preaching against college.
If you are an elder, remember how they keep pounding away at 'not being alone with a woman/sister'? Why do you think? Too many elders whipping out their Johnsons ( or 'John Thomases', for you Brits).
If they publish articles about examining if you are really of the 'anointed', you know that they are irked by so many upstarts partaking.
All of which brings me to a critical point: Endless nagging is NOT a sign of strength, but rather of desperation. If you think otherwise, consider the disadvantaged position of parents who do so. They wring their hands and tell you 'they don't know what else to do'.
Exactly!
What some of you interpret as 'tightening up' or 'cracking down', I see as weakness. They don't know what else to do. In particular, they find that they are increasingly 'hemmed in', constrained, limited in how they can react - because the world is turning away from a Bible-related culture into one that is purely secular, as in France. Even if they are safe from court interference, they still must 'play nice' (hypocritically) for EU and UN bureaucrats, as "poor, persecuted victims" while ignoring human rights within the organization. Their naked lies about the blood transfusion issue in regard to Bulgaria may have backfired on them, pushing them away from enforcement.
They were wary of talking about homosexual relations at assemblies because they felt local gay rights groups were monitoring them. They must be careful about holidays and more because of child custody cases. They KNOW they are being watched.
Talks given at district assemblies are monitored by assigned brothers from Bethel to make sure no one says anything 'off script'.
Let them rail against the internet and college and Facebook and more. The more they nag, the weaker they are and the less they can actually do. While shunning relatives is a problem for us, it is also a big problem for them or they wouldn't keep nagging about it.
metatron