Every so often I get a phone call from JT and I thoroughly enjoy our conversations. No only do I learn a little more about the inner workings of Bethel, we also end up laughing to the level of blowing snot out of our noses. One of the topics that we discussed this time was the inability of farmers, short order cooks, and retired janitors disguised as elders that try to use their breakfast cereal box psychology to fix complex marital problems of their flock. I told him about three such elders from the small farm town congregation I use to go to that got called out of their homes to try and save a marriage.
The main problem the troubled brother had was his wife wouldn't give him a blow job. One of the elders who went to this little gathering told me about it a few weeks later and both he and I laughed as he told me how the other elders tried to deal with the situation. JT and I gave our own "pretend elder" suggestions and the snot started flying. If you think about it, it really is quite a comical situation.
The fact that the watchtower uses untrained, unqualified men to try and help people through their problems in life still makes me shutter.
JT and I got into this topic because I missed his post about what happens financially to a Bethelite after leaving the Brooklyn Mecca. He posted in this thread last month http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/62410/1.ashx
I'm sorry I missed his post because it is quite an eye opener to the fact that the watchtower uses people and pays them slave wages to do things that they end up making a large profit on. Many worked in construction at Bethel and helped the watchtower society renovate buildings they had bought and then sold for a large profit that had nothing to do with the preaching work. They can get away with this because they are a "non profit religion" that uses "volunteer" workers to help them stuff their pockets. Then they go out and buy private airplanes that they use to take a few elite Bethel big boys on secret little fishing trips to Alaska.
Slavery was abolished in the United states a long time ago but as you can see from JT's statement from the social security department, it is alive, and well, and also at this time, very legal in the good old Watchtower society of Brooklyn New York. This little trick is one of the things that keeps those who have spent most of their lives at Bethel and are fully aware if their corruption, silent.
The whole time you are there you are not building up a dime to contribute to any kind of governmental social security for the time you hit retirement age. That money goes to fishing lures and airplane maintenance as well as many other things the rank and file JW never hears about. If you make one single little statement that does not follow the exact question and answer mentality taught by the JW leaders in their watchtower and book studies, you are tossed out of the club with nothing in life and that includes nothing for your future. That is the power of slavery, that is the watchtower.
The country of France is starting to expose this kind human rights violation, hopefully that kind of government involvement will catch on here. I guess you can't really blame the elders for fumbling around on issues they have no knowledge of or professional expertise in handling. After all, they aren't paid for their work or loving counsel either.
The old saying has some merit to it, "You get what you pay for". Is this a monumental scam or what?
You'll know my people by their love for one another...but that doesn't include their leaders, you'll know them by how many free fishing lures they have on their hat!
Dave
PS: JT, it was a blast (as usual) talking to you. I'm still wiping the snot off my shirt.
PSS: I don't know if that poor brother got his blow job or not, but I heard he eventually got a divorce.