So, is everybody saying that you can't trust your fellow bro & sis?
Imagine that!!
Bethel: Pathway to Apostasy
by Black Man 72 Replies latest jw friends
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tonyend
I remember,shortly after I was baptised, a bethelite visited our congregation. I went in service with some elders and him. He asked me if I'd ever considered going to Bethel since I was single. I told him in front of everyone that "I'm not Bethel material. I just finished 4 years in the Navy on a ship living with a bunch of guys and didn't want to do that again." There was a silent pause from the van group, afterwhich the Bethelite said "Thanks for being honest". I wondered why the elders were looking at me funny? At that time I wasn't totally in tune with JW thoughtcrime and newspeak. I was a bit naive then. ;-)
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Black Man
upping this..........
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Black Man
bttt............
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VM44
The Watchtower simply wants to use people for its own purposes!
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LisaAnn
We visited my husband's cousin at Bethel on our honeymoon. Bumped into Fred Franz in the elevator- like meeting a movie star, I was excited to be there. Till I went into cousin's room and the sadness overwhelmed me. It looked indeed like a prison cell. I had never met him before, but I got the feeling that his spirit was broken. He only lasted another month there, then back home to Hawaii and the big fade. He's still inactive, for the past 30 years now. As far as I know, he's never told anybody why.
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undercover
This is a thread I missed first time around but this point connects with what I observed:
At the 'Big House' you go either one of two ways, company man or apostate. I think for many that went, it demystified the whole organization and you saw firsthand that there wasn't holy spirit influencing anything
I didn't serve time at Bethel, but I knew several people who did. And out of those people, they seemed to go in two directions after coming back home: they either became super pioneers and elders or they dropped off the radar and never were active or zealous.
One friend didn't make it a full year...he came back early. And something happened that I've never learned. He was not the same person when came home. It was almost like knowing a soldier who came back from the war with post traumatic stress syndrome. This brother was never quite right again. I lost touch with him after awhile...I think he wanted it that way...
A couple of other brothers I knew did their stint and left but when they came home, they weren't zealous or anything. They partied, had girlfriends, got married, got construction jobs and stayed just active enough to keep parents and elders off their backs.
But those that were assimilated into the bOrg came back gungho and ready to serve as asked. They pioneered, became elders and gave assembly parts and are full on company men.
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Diest
This is a Gem of a thread.
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SadElder
Oh the days of Bethell "the house of god". While doing a special assignent stint, I got told not to leave my typewriter in our room out on the desk during the day. I told the stuffed shirt who was giving me this news to basically "get stuffed". I said we were just in Jack Barr's room last night and he had a typewriter. Get him down here and tell him the same thing right here and now in front of me. After his sputtering a few minutes, I asked him to ask the powers to be if they really wanted to tick me off, as we would be happy to get on the next plane out. I received a personal apology from George Couch that afternoon. What a bunch of idiots, can't believe we donated even one minute of our time.