I don't now whether anyone else read that article, but several of the photos , and the comments under the subtitle "Happy Marriages" wherein the happy quartet suggested that they acceded to marriage only when uber-zealot females who took priority over physically attractive girls could be found.... made me wonder... hmmmm...
October 15 Study WT, Page 17 Story: "Richard, Lowell, Ramon, Bill:" A Gay Subtext?
by Room 215 9 Replies latest watchtower bible
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blondie
That passed my mind as I looked over the article while doing the 9th and the 16th study articles.
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Room 215
I can't help but sense that these Bethel "lifers" succumbed to peer pressure to "Straigthen up and Fly Right" ... at least one of those photos is a little too touchy-feely for comfort, IMHO
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Borges
I read the article once again and can't find anything that speaks for a gay subtext. I personally know Richard (been in the same cong for several years and he is still a good friend of my parents), Lowell (he was the branch overseer in Luxembourg when I spend there a year at the construction of the meanwhile closed branch office), and also Raymond (from my time in german bethel). Sure at least in Raymonds behavoir you could find something that could be labeled as "gay" (but more a certain "softness" of gesture and the way he spoke).
By the way, Richard Kelsey, who was Branch Overseer when I was at Bethel, was one of the most humble and friendliest person, I've ever met while I was a Witness. Very often I think about him and how it is possible that he is unaware of the fraud he and his wonderfull wife (Peggy) are part of.
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Hoffnung
I can also confirm that Lowell has a son, Larry, definitely his son, and Lowell is indeed still married. the wife's name is Margareth by the way.
There are no rumours about them being gay around here.
Hoffnung
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designs
Same ol group meets in the Steam Room eh
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BizzyBee
One of my best friends was married and a mother of two teen-age daughters. Finally came out of the closet as a lesbo.
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Room 215
I intended no reproach; for all I know they're fine people... I've come to believe that being gay is a genetic predisposition more than a lifestyle choice. At the same time, for anyone who has spent some time at Bethel, where homophobia is pervasive, the suspicion that some, if not many, celibate gays are present in the family, is not new.
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konceptual99
I'd was far more worried about the old school dogmatic statements such as...
"But their subsequent joys in their assignments fully convinced them that Jehovah always knows best. How wise then to rely on his leading rather than on one's personal desire! He who has learned this lesson will be happy serving Jehovah anywhere and in whatever assignment he is given."
(italics theirs - take that all you Bethalites dumped on the streets to pioneer with no job...)
or....
"personal desires must be rightfully be given lower priority than Kingdom interests"
or...
"How fine it was that Lowell, Ramon, Bill and Richard at the respective ages of 18, 12, 11 and 10 dedicated themselves to Jehovah and that between 17 and 21 years of age, they all took up full time service"
(better get baptised young so you can door knock full time as early as possible)
The next paragraph just goes on about the opportunities open to males in the org - sickening stuff really.
The whole article has the feel of it having been written in the 60s. The language is slightly old fashioned and the statements are very black and white.
Made me cringe.
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cantleave
I am so glad that no longer read this crap anymore!