Does this reek of CULT to you?

by Blind_Of_Lies 20 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Blind_Of_Lies

  http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/16/big-deal-jehovahs-witnesses-list-prime-properties/

  So this story was discussed earlier in another thread. A line from the story has really been bugging me since reading it:

  "The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the legal and publishing entity of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, has bought a 250-acre forested plot in Warwick, N.Y., a small town on the New Jersey border, and is moving ahead with plans to build a self-contained campus there."

  Does this reek of a isolationist doomsday cult? Why are the selling all of Brooklyn and moving into an isolated small forrest town to build a self contained campus?

  Why not call it what it is? An Armageddon Compound... Beth Sarim reborn. Jonestown 2013, the new Waco, Ground Zero for Heaven's Gate....

  Desperate times for desperate people call for desperate measures.
• 

  factfinder

  I agree it sounds very secretive and cultish.

  The new GB has been making more and more things secret over the years.

  The complex looks like it will be nice, but it is secluded in a forested area not visable to the public, quite the opposite of the Brooklyn Bethel buildings which are visible to thousands of people every day.

  I expect the Gb will continue making things more secretive and cultish as time goes on and I agree the GB seem desperate.
• 

  Blind_Of_Lies

  I just find it amazing that HQ is going to be hidden in a forrest when its open policy to put Kingdom Halls in the most visible spots in a town... along a highway... on a hill... with a big sign paved driveway. Very scary indeed.
• 

  WTWizard

  This compound is to the witlesses what Guantanamo Bay is supposed to be to the United Tyranny of Stupidity government. Rubbish goes on within the compound that the public doesn't know about.

  At least at Guantanamo, you are not being extorted to join or stay in a religion.
• 

  Black Sheep

  Not until they provide schools and require women and children to live there.

  There are plenty of really good reasons to identify them as a high control group, but this isn't one of them.
• 

  Bubblegum Apotheosis

  Looks like they are able to build in this "Wicked System" and plan for their future too. The average JW is told to be happy with their mobile home or trailer park home. The average JW is told to "not hunker down now" stay agile, don't put roots down, be flexible and ready to move at the General's command.
• 

  dm6

  lol has anyone here seen the village?! I reckon they'll go ahead with it, and it will all go tits up.
• 

  DesirousOfChange

  I suspect they are paranoid about another terrorist attack in NYC. Time to move to an isolated, safe location where the fallout won't be as bad.

  Doc
• 

  blondie

  Did anyone look where Warwick is in relation to Wallkill and Patterson? The WTS already owns extensive properties away from NYC since 1963, 1967, 1973, 1975, 1984, 2009, 2010, 2011.

  They are all out in the boonies compared to NYC.

  Two properties known as Watchtower Farms, at Wallkill, 160 km north of Brooklyn and totalling 1200 hectares, were bought in 1963 and 1967 and factories erected in 1973 and 1975. [ 64 ] In 1984 the society paid $2.1 million for a 270 hectare farm at Patterson, New York [ 70 ] for a development that would include 624 apartments, garages for 800 cars and a 149-room hotel. [ 71 ] Other rural purchases included a 220 hectare farm near South Lansing, New York and a 60 hectare farm near Port Murray, New Jersey. [ 70 ]

  In February 2009 the society paid $11.5 million for 100 hectares of land in Ramapo, Rockland County, New York for an administration and residential complex. [ 72 ] The site was reported to be planned as a base for about 850 Watch Tower workers, creating a compound combining residential and publishing facilities currently located in Brooklyn. A Witness spokesman said the land was currently zoned for residential uses, but an application would be made to rezone it, adding that "Construction is several years in the future." [ 73 ]

  A year later, the Society announced it planned to move its world headquarters from Brooklyn to a proposed eight-building complex, in addition to the current four-building complex on a 100-hectare Watch Tower property in Warwick, New York, 1.5 km from its Ramapo site. [ 74 ] [ 75 ] A Watch Tower presentation to Warwick planning authorities said the complex would house up to 850 people. [ 76 ] [ 77 ] In August 2011, a 50-acre property was bought in Tuxedo, NY, with 184,000 square foot building, for $3.2 million, six miles from the Warwick site. [ 78 ] [ 79 ]

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watch_Tower_Bible_and_Tract_Society_of_Pennsylvania

  http://www.distancebetweencities.net/warwick_ny_and_wallkill_ny/route

  http://www.distancebetweencities.net/wallkill_ny_and_patterson_ny/route
• 

  blond-moment

  Yup they are building their compound, and putting up metal fences around the KHs. JWs themselves have always had invisible fences around them, put up by the WT, it's just now becoming more obvious!