Fortress Kingdom Halls

by Gill 19 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Gill

  A new Kingdom Hall has just been built very close to where we live. It is taking on the appearance of Fort Knox now, much like some other KHs near us. The high fences with nasty sharp bits are just going up and there are floodlights on at night. NO other building around it is as fortified including a very busy dentist, electrical store etc. In fact it stands out for the amount of security it has. Does it really need eleven foot barbed fences all the way around? Are any KHs around you as heavily fortified and what might this be saying about the JW 'them and us' persecution syndrome mentality?

  England does suffer from a vandalism problem but could this be going just a little too far?
• 

  fjtoth

  Some reasons given by the elders for "no windows":
  

  Having no windows is conducive to full concentration on the spiritual food being presented. The audience will not be distracted by such things as a bird in a tree or people passing by.
  

  JWs are not like people of other religions who put their worship on public display. The others are getting their reward in full when men applaud them, but those who worship "in secret" are storing up treasures in heaven.

  JWs don't build fancy cathedrals because God deserves the glory and not some building.

  When Armageddon begins, JWs will be together in their Kingdom Halls and won't have to observe the anguish and terrible destruction of the wicked (all outsiders).

  Real reasons:
  
  Distraught husbands and abuse survivors have been known to shoot through windows at persons on the platform and others. (Often husbands are distraught because their wives are married more to the organization than to them.)
  
  Thieves can see through windows to locate the expensive sound system and other valuable items.
  
  It's embarrassing to the elders to be seen arriving late for meetings.

  Others sing "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," but JWs have their Kingdom Halls!
• 

  cypher50

  at your list, fjtoth. I remember a friend asking why JWs have such fortress-like places of worship and all I could respond was that JWs don't build elaborately expensive edifices (I was still a JW). I never noticed until I left how incredibly stark the Kingdom Halls actually look...even the Puritans had churches that looked inviting to visit.
• 

  Wolfgirl

  We didn't have the high fences or razor wire around any of our buildings. But I do remember being told that the Witnesses got cheaper insurance on the property because there were no windows.
• 

  fjtoth

  cypher50:

  That's what I would tell people too. We had to say something, because there were some people who would ask.

  Wolfgirl:
  
  Thanks. That's the major reason, and it's related to the revenge and thievery issues.
• 

  blondie

  I can remember being at the KH when a rock came flying the window. Someone next door finally had it with the Sunday morning meeting noise. The windows were closed in after that.

  Then there was the congregation that thought they could have windows, just small ones about 36 inches wide and 5 feet from the floor...you guessed, someone broke in and stole the sound equipment. They were welded shut after that, after all they didn't need to be opened.

  Then there was the congregation in NYC that had a peephole in the door and after the meeting started only known JWs or people known JWs would vouch for would be let in. They had been robbed several times during the meeting, twice by sons and grandsons of JWs attending. But then a couple of churches and been robbed in the same fashion.

  Then there are the congos with alarm systems that make a lot of sound but do not alert the alarm company or the police.
• 

  heathen

  Wow blondie , what do you suppose the next thing they will do is? Issue library cards to members in new york ? Good God if they can't handle being robbed then why go out in service ? Hey maybe it's a sign from God saying if you have extra money you better fork it over to the publishing corporation .
• 

  iiz2cool

  Thieves can see through windows to locate the expensive sound system and other valuable items.

  I doubt that anyone would want to steal the sound systems I worked on. Some of them were quite old and worked so poorly that I wished someone would steal them or throw them out. Once I had to shut the sound down half way through a meeting because of smoke coming from the system, but they never replaced it. They just got a brother to repair it.

  Some of the halls I went to were gated, but I think that was to prevent non jws from parking there.

  Walter
• 

  franklin J

  when I was 8 years old; I remember working alongside my father ( later an elder) to build the Huntington Congregation; in Huntington, Long Island NY, USA. This was circa 1964.

  It was an elegant building in an upscale residential neighborhood. It was designed and built to fit into the surrounding community. The original building did just that.

  It had big windows for lots of light, a big full size bow window and aluminum and glass entry flooded the space with light. The main hall had peck cypress panelling; a separate library with built in seating ( also lots of big windows); the platform was backed by full size draperies which could be drawn back to reveal a chalk board and display boards or a pull down movie screen. There was an upright piano for singing accompanyment. The platform was carpeted and the other floors were a shiny linoleum. The chairs were simple but comfortable folding chairs. It had a high tray ceiling This was a pleasing public space and easily cleaned.

  By the time I left in the late 1970s; The all windows and the glass entryway had been bricked in; creating a dark depressing space. The floor was covered with orange shag carpeting throughout; the folding chairs replaced with black plastic premolded stacking chairs ( Halloween, anyone?).

  The ceiling had been lowered with a cheap drop in tile and grid system, with cheap florescent lighting ; giving the appearence that you were in someones basement. There was a general feeling of "claustropphbia". Or, maybe it was me ;reacting on a premonition; just wanting OUT.

  The draperies behind the platform were removed and replaced with a giant wall mural of some B rate artists perception of what the "new world" was to look like. I vividly remember the colors were pink, beige and green; they did not match the orange.

  The piano was traded in for a sound system and records. The traditional peck cypress paneling was painted over.

  It had become an undesireable; unwelcoming space. True to form, its appearence represented to me what was "within". How appropriate.
• 

  Room 215

  Franklin, I believe your post is a revealing chronicle of the WT's deterioration, its descent into paranoia. The fortress-like Kingdom Halls are a fitting symbol of the JW mindset. They resemble places of worship about as much as Ted Jaracz resembles a Christian minister.