by rickroll 49 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
If you look on YouTube there’s loads of counts of personal stories of older bethalites treatment.
Some not cared for properly, some asked to leave, some moved around.
you give your whole life to service of a loving god but when you are in need of this unconditional love, the people that are meant to love you show it by discarding of you without a second thought. Not a very loving move is it? Even “worldly people wouldn’t do this”.
You can check this video out, made by a former bethelite.
TIKI:
At least the young men who spent four years at bethel and came out disillusioned were still YOUNG.
What about the older bethelites who were terminated in recent years after decades of service to the JW religion?? They don’t have the same options open to them as the younger guys. Maybe the luckiest of them came from well-off families and/or got jobs from brothers with businesses. Maybe some were able to do well and got settled in the world.
But others are struggling. Congregations they are dumped in will have people regularly hit up for money to support them. I was criticized for my full time job and called “unspiritual”, so I would have refused....Sadly, this begging is the new normal in the JW religion.
The irony:..those who criticized ME for having the full time job would be criticizing me for not giving money to people who never wanted to work!!!
With all these halls being sold off, this may pose a problem for ‘needy’ types looking for handouts, IMO.. They are going to have to get to these new far-away halls and be VISIBLE or else they aren’t going to get that envelope of cash!
Truly I do not think many pubs know there is a Vow of Poverty signed off by a bethelite, unless their child is going into a bethel. When they entered they were probably in their late teens, having a minimum course in something.
In the past several years, as high as 2200 were let go in just one year- back to congregations, to find jobs, ask congregations for furniture, support, jobs, etc. and go on medical programs (in Canada, free)- most had been in the "compound" for 35-40 years, were up in age. many needing some sort of medical care that the society will not supply - even while raking in millions per year in donations. If the child marries and they are to go into an area, they are given a monthly stipend as Special Pioneers or Missionaries. However, this stops when the pair has to stop for any reason. They then -maybe- become regular pioneers or publishers - making their own way and working at something they are not trained for due to age.
This lesson today is to soothe consciences and cover the society's rear-end. Loving,kind, considerate - nope... they used these brothers and sisters then when the going got bad, threw them out... to a world they had to sink or swim in but then the publishers - who looked at them as holy- are willing to give all to make them comfortable.
Yet all the comments today fell in line with society's thinking....
What happens to Bethelites? In general nothing good.....unless they have some really good contacts out in the world. The problem with Bethel is it doesn't teach you how to think for yourself. So it's going to be an uphill battle to gain a place in the real world.
When Raymond Franz exposed the mystery of the Governing Body....that they were ignorant people and self serving a lot of soon to leave JW's took note.
The interesting thing about Raymond was when he left Bethel he rejected the paying position offered to him as a special pioneer.
Of course his 40 years as a loyal and effective worker at the Branch level and as a GB member was tossed out when he was seen having lunch with the EX JW brother who employed him and who housed him and his wife. Ray was DA and shunned.
R. Franz found out that his life long service to the WTBTS counted for nothing financially or spiritually. He reclaimed his spirituality and helped free..... probably thousands..... from the grasp of the Society.
Unfortunately Ray learned that he and his wife were not covered by Social Security or Medicare. It would take him ten years of full time work to qualify for those programs.
Russell and Rutherford's Books are out of print and nothing his uncle Freddy Franz ever dreamed up is presented as the Truth.
In poor health Ray managed to write two major books that live on in the hearts and minds of the ex JW community.
You give your whole life to service of a loving god but when you are in need of this unconditional love, the people that are meant to love you show it by discarding of you without a second thought. Not a very loving move is it? Even “worldly people wouldn’t do this”.
Yet all the comments today fell in line with society's thinking....
Some comments I heard today: "Always think positive about any changes you have to make." "Do not draw undue attention to yourself by talking about any negative feelings. People will feel your negativity and not want to be your friend."
Can't you just feel the "love"?
A family member and his wife in their late 40's just left after 20+ years. While they were still there at Bethel, she gave her husband all of her vacation time so he could combine it with his own vacation time. He took time off using their combined vacation time and did handyman work locally and saved what he earned so they'd have a small nest egg to get a rental and to live on while they were getting jobs on the outside. Bethel allowed them to keep their medical coverage for a few months while they got themselves set up in another state.
That's it...they're on their own. Once they got where they were going, the local JW's paid them to do chores and pulled strings to get them low level jobs. Jehovah always provides.
Volunteers being promised they would have a home forever if they wanted to work at Bethel their entire life - kicked to the curb as old age arrives.
Technically known as a LIE.
I've heard from several different people, both JWs, and former JWs both say the same thing, they don't even give them a plane or bus ticket home.
Seems like one of two main options:
1. They show some enterprise, work hard, and build up something to fall back on (often with the afinity-work provided by local JWs). They are always going to be playing catch-up in life, but then many other people never plan or contribute properly for their own future.
OR
2. They rely on "Satans system" to provide welfare on the backs of tax payers (that satan really isn't smart, is he?). Again, they join the masses who manage to do this to themselves without any WTS help.
The society providing for them doesn't appear to be an option does it.
Ultimately, they made the choice to live that life. They didn't have the stress of working for a living or paying taxes, they got to live the life they wanted when they wanted to live it. It's their choice, I don't feel sorry for them to be honest.
