There are experiences that are difficult to put into words. Sometimes a circumstance is so out of the ordinary, it becomes
difficult to articulate to others, to give them an accurate mental image and set of feelings corresponding with a dramatic past
reality.
Such is the experience a few of us had in surviving Bethel, between the '60's and '80's. I just cannot express to you accurately
what a totalitarian institution that place was - and the depth of cold, unreasoning fanaticism that dominated it.
The situation was that, the Society demanded that brothers come to Bethel for 4 years, signing a promise to do so. Since the
Vietnam war and the draft was raging, the Society had the power, in effect, to impel brothers into prison because they could
inform any draft board that 'such and such' a brother was NOT a "minister" any longer. This fact, together with the repellantly
negative personality of N.H. Knorr, created a subclass of Bethelites who were embittered and cynical about the 'sweatshop'
conditions in the factory, as well as being driven like slaves by taskmasters who held their draft deferment in jeopardy.
I cannot tell you the depth of anger and disaffiliation I witnessed towards the Society. Theft within Bethel increased,
along with hidden alcoholism and endless tirades about sexual matters morning after morning by Brother Knorr.
The average stay dropped from 4 years down to a little over a year as brothers couldn't take it anymore. Morale was
abysmal as Knorr fulminated about the reputation of Bethelites generally, being wild, sex-crazed and greedy.
He even organized a sudden mass meeting to denounce Bethelites who wore jeans and had "bad-attitudes".
Some brothers simply 'disappeared' - they didn't come back from lunch and apparently left Bethel forever.
It was obvious to many older brothers that a number of Bethelites probably didn't believe in anything,
but just got stuck there, unable to leave for various reasons. Some were party boys and gigolos - and a few were gay.
None of this mattered to Nathan H. Knorr. Not One Bit......
He lambasted, he vilified, he ranted. He Was Right, Everyone Else Was Wrong. Letters sent by concerned brothers
about the harshness and lack of spirituality in Bethel enraged him. He demanded ( in a private letter to the servants)
that the King's County congregation ( in the 107 building, 90% Bethelites) would be a "model congregation" - even though
the emotional context of the hall was simply - dead. I cannot express to you how unbending this sick old man was
in the face of obvious and growing problems. No one's opinion mattered - except his own Stalin- like will.
In the end, Bethel changed for the better - because it had to do so. They gave up calling in pioneers of long standing
and started calling in brothers who had been baptised for 6 months, together with all that inferred ( this was the era of
LSD and free love, remember?). They were forced to ease up because they needed workers - and increasingly trained
and capable workers, at that. The emergence of a Governing Body, with more moderate men like Ray Franz, drained
some of Knorr's dictatorial authority - and the Bethel application began to ask probative questions about past drug use.
The lesson here?
Sue them
Hit them
Make as much trouble as you can for them, everyway you can because nothing else will bring about change.
Take note of how quickly they respond to a legal threat --- while a letter from Sister Poor n' Oppressed gets a
formulaic reply and gets circular-filed.
The brothers who became cynical were fully justified in thinking things so
because the Theocrats view the friends as sheep who can be sacrificed in a pinch, whenever the Holy Watchtower gets into trouble.
Don't doubt for a minute that these men eagerly disparage the molested victims of their concealment - out of public earshot.
Don't doubt for a minute that these old men wonder what the fuss is all about when they can just get more converts
to replace those lost to their own lies and errors. Think any of them grieve over a few hundred Blacks lost in Malawi?
or few kids with leukemia? or tens of thousands who lost their families in shunning? How can I assert that they now feel
a tender emotion I never witnessed in the halls of Theocratic power? Have any of you ever read a quote from Crisis of Conscience
from Jarasz himself - that resembles Caiaphas proclaiming his rulership on the backs of sacrificed individuals?
Never expect them to change -- because of pity, mercy, compassion or honesty.
Knorr is dead, but don't make the mistake of thinking that his spirit is gone, too.
metatron ( and remember that Rutherford was even WORSE!)