Memorial Bragging Rights: We Had a "Bethel Speaker"...Ooooooo..

by Open mind 47 Replies latest jw friends

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  AndersonsInfo

  I'd like to talk a bit about J. R. Brown, the WT's spokesman for over twenty-five years. Yes, he had an entourage whenever he traveled. He reminds me of that very, very wealthy black minister in Virginia, I don't remember his name, but whose huge congregation supplies him with the best this world has to offer, including his own jet because they feel he's worth it for all he does for them. J. R. Brown is sort of like that. He is one of very few black members of Bethel that reached very important positions at Bethel. This includes Ralph Walls. So consequently, they are just about worshipped by black JWs everywhere. These men had new expensive automobiles and high quality clothes, all compliments of the JW rich black community. I worked nearby J. R. and he was always very nice to me, but that's when I was in the Writing Dept. J. R. knew how to work the system for himself and for those outside who were his close personal friends, so his Bethel career was exactly the way he wanted it to be. In time I learned that J. R. was not what he appeared to be but used his position to get what he wanted. He was quite a good liar. And pity the person who crossed him since he had the ear of some GB members. I have nothing good to say about J. R. Brown. He's the proverbial wheeler-dealer and in Bethel there were some others just like him and they weren't black.

  Barbara
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  NewYork44M

  My last memorial, and next to my last meeting was in Brooklyn Heights where everyone was a "Bethel speaker."

  I don't remember anything special about their message.
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  AndersonsInfo

  I agree NewYork 44M, there's nothing special about a Bethel speaker or their message. The only thing special is that they are from Bethel. That's the special message that the WT sends the elders. In fact, if there was something special in the delivery of the talk or the talk itself, the man wouldn't remain a Bethel speaker because the powers that be would remove him from the Speaker's List. The man in charge of that list and assigning speakers to congregations was GB member, now deceased, Carey Barber.

  If a Bethel speaker became too popular and when congregations would write in asking specifically for a certain person and this happened over and over again from all over the country, Barber wouldn't cooperate and the speaker could find himself not getting a regular assignment at all or be removed from the speaking list because only the GB and their message were to be considered important, not the underlings. Bethel speakers knew this and with such knowledge why would any man put himself out to deliver an outstanding talk and surely he would not talk about anything different or he would be on the chopping block.

  In the past, Ciro Aulicino and Colin Quackenbush came to be known all over the country as lively and interesting speakers who wrote their own talks and delivered them in a spectacular manner, especially Ciro. After a few years of popularity, the GB put a stop to their speaking at congregations that didn't go through the Speaking Desk. And if the congregation did go through the Speaking Desk and asked for one of these men, Barber would send someone else until both Ciro and Colin learned their lesson and stuck to one of the Society's outlines and stopped giving dramatic talks. This then put the fear in other Bethel speakers to tow the line.

  In addition, Carey Barber was a strange man. If he didn't personally like someone on the Speaking List or didn't know him at all, he would assign that person to give a talk in a terrible area, etc. Carey had his favorites and these men would get plum assignments to wealthy congregations or where he knew the elders and wanted to please them by sending out one of his favorite men. Before we knew Carey on a personal basis, Joe didn't get assignments to a more important congregation, but later on, things changed. (Oh the games these men would play!)
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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  I used to be one of those official bethel speakers. I found it rather exhausting and stressful. I found that the bethelites that accepted every invitation and lapped up the attention... were also some of the very worst speakers.

  One of the reasons I never married while I was in Bethel was because it all was really hard on the sisters. I wouldn't want my wife to have to put up with the endless rules, demands, lack of privacy, and pathetically cramped living conditions.
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  PaintedToeNail

  Aulicino once gave a talk at my parents KH. He said 'If there are any here that are pedophiles, get up and get out, we don't want you'. He was the only Bethel speaker I've ever heard of who came down hard on child molesters.
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  sabastious

  I used to be one of those official bethel speakers. I found it rather exhausting and stressful. I found that the bethelites that accepted every invitation and lapped up the attention... were also some of the very worst speakers.

  Isn't it interesting that the ability to speak well was considered a bethelites most defining attribute? Being convincing was paramount.

  -Sab
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  Open mind

  Thank you very much Barbara for calling it like you see it and in great detail.

  FWIW, the picture you paint is exactly what I've heard from Bethelites over the years. The details change, but the broad strokes are the same.

  om
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  Bubblegum Apotheosis

  @barbara: I believe you and your husband were part of the humble ones, you took a stance like "John The Bapitist" did, as he told King Herod the truth about his ways, Herod at least tried to protect "John T. Bapitist", you were thrown under a bus, and backed up with it. On the front-lines, we have had to cater to "special diets (Sushi, Fresh Blue Fin Tuna), special provisions for C.O.s and D.O.s (A nice double apartment from a rich brother, seen this)" who do enjoy being treated like they are above a "slave of Christ". We have groupies here in California, who believe individuals like you and your hubby, were closer to Jehovah and Jesus Christ, than the average jane pub. I can't believe the majority of the Bethelites want to be treated like gods. Thank you for an honest perspective how life was like, your courage is unbelieveable. I wish there were more men and women like you in the Organization, who faced evil headon, knowing Jesus Christ will repay your sacrifice either in this life, or the next one.

  On the local rank and file, people do hold Bethelites higher on the ladder, thinking Jehovah is closer, than a Regular Pioneer, Aux, Fathers or Mothers who are trying to do the best they can. Nice post Barbara! If the GB came clean (repented for their betrayl), asked for your forgiveness, is it possible you could reconcile if they cleaned up their act? On the local level (Just read another one of your great posts) we have conmen, multi-level ponzi selling crooks, using their position as elder (Nothing compared to Brown's position) to generate money. Has the persecution you have endured with your husband, altered you and your husband's belief in God? You have touched many lives of those who have been victimized, you helped me expose a few parasites, thank you, thank you and thank you so much!
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  AndersonsInfo

  Ciro Aulicino came down hard on pedophiles at a time when the mess was unfolding at Bethel during the 1990s and he personally knew what was going on. He had old friends in the Service Dept. and the Legal Dept. that were filling him in and he knew elders all over the US who also were telling him what they knew when he called them and asked. He was in the Writing Dept. and was sort of a pet of Lloyd Barry, the GB overseer of the department. Ciro was at Bethel long enough to know where the skeletons were closeted which gave him protection of sorts from reprisal when he was publicly running off at the mouth, a frequent habit of his that was usually overlooked because of his 40 or more years at Bethel. He had been punished years before with demotion to the Factory for an infraction, but when Lloyd Barry became the overseer after the Ray Franz mess, he rescued Ciro and brought him back to Writing. Ciro was very useful to the Writing Dept. as one who could provide the writers with any research material they needed. He knew the City well and was dependable to do his job well. He also was and still is very loyal to the organization although he frequently voiced his complaints and dissatisfaction to me and others about many of the people running it.

  As an aside, when Ray Franz was in Writing, Karl Adams managed the department under the direction of GB member, Lyman Swingle, but both were removed for losing control of the dept. after the Franz debacle. That's when Lloyd took over. Swingle was a close friend of Ray's and it was felt he protected Ray, which he actually did for as long as he could. Swingle was transferred to Treasury. Karl stayed in Writing but no longer had any real power. He was not liked by the majority of other senior writers because as manager it was said that over the years he had dealt unfairly with many men in the deparment. I worked with Karl for four years and have to say he was a very unusual character, but we became friends. He had suffered many hurts at Bethel. I guess he started out too idealistic, like many of us, but didn't understand how to deal with people, like his two brothers did (Don and Joel) often expecting too much of them and could not forgive. I could write pages about this extraordinary man who exacted his type of loyalty out of others because he was so loyal to the organization. He was a close personal friend of Knorr and was loyal to him in every way. When Knorr lost his power, this event didn't help Karl Adams any.

  I worked closely with Ciro in Writing and would often encounter men in his office,so-called Bethel "heavies." They came seeking the latest information and gossip about some current problem which news of was spreading in our Bethel world. At that time, there were 4,000 Bethelites in Brooklyn alone - a small city - that never slept! With that many people confined to such a small area it was a wonder that there weren't more problems than there actually were.

  The reason long-time Bethelites protect Bethel in word and deed is because it is their home and the people are like family. Families protect family members, both the good and bad because of the image of the family in the community. In the JW community, the Bethel family protects an image that has been carefully crafted over decades.
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  jookbeard

  Andersoninfo; did you know Worth Thornton?