by Scott77 23 Replies latest watchtower scandals
I had to go back and read that thread. Holy smokes! My brother was at the House o' God for 18 years. He never told any stories like that!
Ex-husband was a Bethelite for 3 years. He did have a few stories, but nothing that shocking. Of course, he avoided BAs and kept his nose clean.
While the thread title almost makes it seem that all this stuff was commonplace at Bethel - that was (in my opinion) not the case. Well, in retrospect, the drunkenness may have been commonplace simply from the skull crushing boredom.
However, it should be remembered that every single one of the things mentioned DID happen at Bethel - and we do have documented cases.
It occurs to me (and has occurred to many others) that a truly Christian organization should have been able to manage to get their literature printed without creating a virtual prison camp.
| It occurs to me (and has occurred to many others) that a truly Christian organization should have been able to manage to get their literature printed without creating a virtual prison camp. | |
| james_woods |
I do not want to say you was refering to the Watchtower in this context. However Mr.james_woods, your reference to a 'christian organisation' is of interest. But... can we really refer the Watchtower Society of Jehovah's Witnesses as a 'christian organisaion'? Some of us will have doubts on that characterization. Most of WTS teachings if not all of the them, appears to be unchristian in many respects. I will not go into details here. Thank you for your perspective.
Scott77
Vidquin, thanks for the NET explanation!
I never saw anything that crazy except for drunkeness. A buddy of mine puked (because he was drunk) in the elevator at the Brooklyn home and was sent home 2 days later.
'As a protest, I took a poop in their toilet and didn't flush.'
Hehe. You could have dropped it BESIDE the toilet. Still, for a dub, that was pretty good.
S
I've gotta agree with James Woods on this one. This was not my experience either. Yes, there were freaks there. Yes, it was obviously not God's organization. Yes, bad things happened. But it was not to the scale that it can be blown up to. You can't think that bethel was a place were these things were commonplace. All around it was an ok place. It was not full of evilness of every kind. And I have to think that anyone that lived there would say the same.
These sorts of experiences would have been few and far between. Bethel is this: It's a place where young guys go to work and live. That's it. Nothing worse happened at Bethel than would happen in college. In fact less happened at Bethel than happens at college. Alcohol is huge there, just as it is anywhere a bunch of young guys are. Were some guys gay? I'm sure. I didn't know any. Did guys get drujnk? Yes, just like they do anywhere else. Do people have psychotic episodes? Sure, it's a high stress environment. Were there brawls? I didn't see any. Were there suicides? Sure, I heard stories. Didn't see any myself, however. Immorality? Of course.
The thing is, Bethel is not a special place. It's not the house of God. It's not directed by anything or anyone greater than the 8 men on the GB. It's exactly the same as any other place where people work where they live. Except the stress is greater because of the institution setting.
When I went to Bethel, I was a typical noob. I was naive and thought I was at the spiritual hub that Jehovah had personally chosen to represent the 'truth'. The same 'truth' that had alluded so many bible scholars before. It would be the JWs that were given the special privilege of dominating the humble. The recent Penn State debacle stirred up observations from the media that suggested that morals are learned at home, and institutions 'cover up'. The witnesses are no different. The intimacy with farm animals is true. Theft, homosexuality, drunkeness, psychotic episodes, brawls, suicide, immorality, deceit and control is all true. The sad thing is seeing young women wanting to marry a bethelite thinking that she is getting the 'cream of the crop' and they are probably worse than a so-called worldly person. I met many prominent people in that religion. Some were very cool and some were pathetic people. The cynicism was palpable. I consider it now to be one of the most emotionally unhealthy environments to be a part of. The only people that talk positively about it are socially disfunctional people if you want to be honest. (I'm thinking of a certain CO.) I saw congregations dissolved (not a common occurence to be fair), elder bodies removed, and extreme vindictiveness from some delusional Bethel elders. The whole bethel construct is pathetic but it is allowed to continue because they can blame all their failings on Satan. Belief is very powerful, too bad narrative is their real truth. What do you call any institution that holds others accountable and yet excuses themselves whenever it is convenient? I have to end with this thought: If the witnesses are bible scholars then so am I; except for the part about false predictions. They did that, I didn't. | |
| wheres caleb? |
This is a full reposit of Caleb's forceful statement which I think,is one of his best todate.
Scott77
Personally, I'd never heard of anything with the farm animals. But of course I was not at the farm.
Maybe I'm just overly sensitive to sensationalism. I just don't want to lose credibility by claiming something that isn't true. But, of course, everyone experience is different.
One thing is certain, Bethel isn't the place people think it is while they are JWs.
Partying at Bethel.. Thats my Friggin Sheep!..
I made a Friend at the Bethel Party..
..............................
... OUTLAW
