New boy posted information about an event at Bethel that occured
many years ago - that you won't read about in any publication -
an internal reform movement led by three ex-circuit overseers
to improve harsh conditions at Bethel.
What's important about this incident is how the leadership
reacted and what this teaches us about the operation of the
Watchtower Society.
Back in the 70's, conditions in Bethel were becoming intolerable.
Knorr ruled with a firm and harsh hand. Brothers were getting ulcers
and having nervous breakdowns and thinking about suicide.
Fewer and fewer men were volunteering for four years of Bethel
service and there was a growing exodus at headquarters, draft or
no draft.
Three brave men were asked to investigate the lack of Bethel
applications - they assembled a large body of evidence that
conditions in Bethel were awful - and that word was getting out
to the congregations.
How would you feel if you were ordered to work with other brothers
who "will die at Armageddon" (laundry, overseers training of 'newboys'). How would you react to a brother, in charge of sisters,
who wanted to know their PERIODS so he could put them on a
calendar and schedule production accordingly? Suppose a bindery
machine chopped off a brother's finger and the first words from
the overseer were "is the machine still running OK? are we losing
production?"
The Society's reaction?
The investigating committee were rebels.
They misused their authority to try to stir up revolt.
Whatever the congregations knew about was just gossip.
Thereafter, in primary school (for training new Bethelites)
instructions were given about not cooperating with disruptive
brothers who wanted to organize petitions, etc.
Also, brothers like Fred Franz, who APPEARED TO BE SYMPATHETIC,
'shafted' the brothers involved, accusing them of rebellion,
in more secretive moments.
Everything in Bethel got worse - which forced the Society
to get rid of the 4 year requirement (Knorr was pissed!).
Thereafter, the Society had no choice but to treat the brothers
better - because they would leave - or not volunteer in the
first place. Paterson is a monument to this better treatment -
they can't survive by beating down brothers in a sweatshop
environment.
Moral: You can't morally reform an organization whose only
real value is greedy control of other humans. Appeals to
honesty, mercy, compassion, or anything else the Bible extols
are a waste of time, if they don't serve the corporate interests
of the WBTS of Pennsylvania/NY.
On the other hand, they can be forced to compromise or even
give up in defeat - if enough pressure is brought to bear
on their enterprise or collective wallet.
So, keep chipping away, my brethern (and ladies),
Keep suing them, keep up the bad press,
There's nothing else that will stop these gnarled old tyrants
metatron