Folks older than I am (not many of those around!) have always told me it's been like this from the beginning. I suppose corruption is corruption. But is it just me who never noticed before?
As an ExJW my interest in keeping up with things political at arm's length is conditioned. We were always instructed to see things a a set-pattern, like water running down hill, fulfilling prophecy.
Instead, it's human nature.
The Governing Body is a separate set of corrupt people who (possibly) believe they are instruments of greatness.
Self-delusion or simple dishonesty? The results are the same - aren't they?
Posts by Terry
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22What is REALLY behind the destruction of the Postal Service? I decided to research it ...
by Terry ini don't know about you - but i never know when i'm being lied to or told the truth any longer.
partisans are tribes warring on truth.
i decided to see what i could find out historically and this is what i've come up with.
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Terry
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What if the Christian version of the End of the World came an hour from now?
by Terry inthe next thing i knew, i was knee deep in conversation with a seminary student covering two thousand years of religious history.
damn, how did that happen?i won’t bore you with lavish details.
in fact, i only mention the incident for one reason.i'm no smarter than anybody - but i've had way too much practice chatting with eager christian seminary students.i posed a couple of questions i’d never done before which seemed to stop this fella dead in his tracks.
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Terry
The next thing I knew, I was knee deep in conversation with a Seminary Student covering two thousand years of religious history. Damn, how did that happen?
I won’t bore you with lavish details. In fact, I only mention the incident for one reason.
I'm no smarter than anybody - but I've had way too much practice chatting with eager Christian Seminary students.
I posed a couple of questions I’d never done before which seemed to stop this fella dead in his tracks.
Never has this occurred previously.
Bullets bounce off Seminary students!
Here is how it went down.
Me: “Half the world population (4 billion people) have never made a phone call, have never seen a television set, or heard a single word about a fella named Jesus. Let that sink in a minute. Now listen to me. I PROPOSE A THOUGHT EXPERIMENT. This is a WHAT IF. What if the Christian version of the End of the World came an hour from now--the Lord God Almighty takes you, John, aside and tells you the following . . . “
GOD: “John, I’m going to have to destroy 4 billion men, women, children, and infants. Is that okay with you?”
Me: “So, what do you answer, John?”
At this point, my young bearded Master of Divinity student begins to squirm. He deflects, he dodges and rebuts and pivots to the point I step in again and say firmly:
Me: “John, please accept the premise and simply respond honestly. God has asked a question and He expects an answer.”
After more squirming and another intervention on my part, finally, John answers.
John: “Yes. God is righteous and Just and Sovereign and can do no wrong. I have to accept that no matter what He does--it is always the right thing.”
Me: “Thank you, John. One last question--a variation on the first one. Are you ready?”
John (not ready at all) : “Okay.”
Me: “God now says to you. . . “
God: “ John, I’m going to leave the matter of LIFE or DEATH for those 4 billion persons entirely up to you. You are now able to save all of them by simply asking me to spare them. But, John---you have to die in place of them. Okay? What is your answer?”
Do I have to tell you, there followed another five minutes of wiggly, squirmy, pivoting? I waited for him to wind down making excuses. I cornered him and repeated ‘God’s’ question one more time until John answered wearily:
John: “Yes, I would have to do what Jesus did--as a Christian, I’d have to sacrifice myself to save others.”
My only purpose in setting up this artificial dilemma was to get him to realize something he had never considered at all.
Me: “John, do you realize what you’ve just done?”
Almost terrified (I kid you not) John’s eyes widened.
John: “What?”
Me: “You’ve demonstrated that YOU are more merciful than God Almighty! You would rather die than see 4 billion sinners destroyed even though you acknowledge they DESERVE to die because they aren’t believers in Jesus. How can you explain that?”
Now, I won’t repeat all of his subsequent dialogue. It was special pleading, diversionary rhetoric, and pure bombast.
I waited till it died down before proceeding. We have all heard this sort of thing a thousand times, haven't we?
Me: “The meaning of “Good” and the meaning of “Bad” are opposite meanings--except when God acts--suddenly Justice, Mercy, Love--all disappear in a puff of whimsical smoke! How can you believe God is Just and Loving no matter whether He kills 4 billion people or lets them live? When left to your own sense of Justice, Mercy, and Love you do the OPPOSITE of what you believe God would do on His own. John--that makes you a BETTER PERSON than God Almighty!”
John went into rhetorical meltdown mode for a good (bad) fifteen solid minutes of self-exculpation and disavowal.
Me: “ When you say God is Sovereign--you allow into your mind a Leader capable of any atrocity or miracle simultaneously. I submit to you--what is the difference between such a God and Kim Jong Un or Joseph Stalin, or Saddam Hussein? YOU are willing to give him a blank check and will sign off on both atrocity and miracles. If it were up to you (and trust me, it really IS) you wouldn’t approve of His outcome-based morality. So, I just wanted you to face that situation squarely. It is not a MORAL position for you. It is an IMMORAL one.”
John didn’t like what I was saying.
It wasn’t important, I fully expected him to bristle.
simply wanted to crack open the vault he’d sealed himself in whereby he detaches himself from humanity.
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What I didn’t tell you was the previous fifteen minutes conversation. That conversation was John going on about Homosexual sins, abortion, transgender bathrooms and such!
I listened with my stomach tightening. This was so clearly a person with a mind locked tight against his fellow human beings SOLELY because he thought God knew best--at least his version of God.
I left John after that long conversation with the following sentence. You judge for yourself if I was a big bully or not.
Me: “Your half of America sees the other half as THEM. Their half sees your half as THEM. Are you really willing to see them dead--or are you willing to die for them? Which is it really--and based on what? Christianity is many, many different ideas at odds--not a monolithic set of tablets with Do’s and Don’ts. When you earn your Master's Degree, what is it you’ve really “mastered” except a formula for condemning people who disagree?” -
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What is REALLY behind the destruction of the Postal Service? I decided to research it ...
by Terry ini don't know about you - but i never know when i'm being lied to or told the truth any longer.
partisans are tribes warring on truth.
i decided to see what i could find out historically and this is what i've come up with.
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22
What is REALLY behind the destruction of the Postal Service? I decided to research it ...
by Terry ini don't know about you - but i never know when i'm being lied to or told the truth any longer.
partisans are tribes warring on truth.
i decided to see what i could find out historically and this is what i've come up with.
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Terry
Finding a "neutral" point of view on Democrat and Republican corruption isn't all that easy to find.
The Socialist website has its own ax to grind, of course, but sticking with the flow of legislation and getting the head count of ACTUAL support for laws and changes gutting our Postal Service was available there all alone.
To understand something you have to know not just the truth, but the whole truth and nothing but. Please correct any wrongly stated facts.
Cheers -
22
What is REALLY behind the destruction of the Postal Service? I decided to research it ...
by Terry ini don't know about you - but i never know when i'm being lied to or told the truth any longer.
partisans are tribes warring on truth.
i decided to see what i could find out historically and this is what i've come up with.
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Terry
I don't know about you - but I never know when I'm being lied to or told the truth any longer. Partisans are tribes warring on truth. I decided to see what I could find out historically and this is what I've come up with. My points of reference are at the bottom. I would appreciate if you point out any errors I've made inadvertently. GOING POSTAL on the POSTAL SERVICE - “What really happened?”
1. Back in 1967 Democrat President Lydon Johnson CHANGED the Postal Service from a Cabinet-level Agency of the Federal Government into a Public-Owned CORPORATION.
WHY?
It prevented the Workers Union from striking for better working conditions. Johnson outlawed strikes and forced binding Arbitration instead.
2. Fast forward to 1980. By the 1980s, the USPS was cut off from all federal funding, forcing it to rely solely on revenue from its own products and services.
THE WORST was yet to come.
3. A crippling blow struck with a Senate Bill : H.R.6407 - Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act in 12/20/2006. It’s ulterior purpose was to dry up any access to money.
Who sponsored this bill?
One Republican and Two Democrats.
Who passed the bill?
It was passed almost unanimously in the House of Representatives with 201 Democrats voting Yes and one abstaining. Bernie Sanders voted “Yes.”
Among Republicans, 208 voted Yes, 20 No, and two abstained.
-----LET’S PAUSE right here__
The Postal Service’s budget crisis started in 2006, with the landmark Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act passed by the George W. Bush administration with almost UNANIMOUS consent by the Democrats.
How did this “Accountability and Enhancement” cripple the Postal Service???
First, know this: NO OTHER existing entity has ever been required by law to LOSE $5.6 Billion dollars of operating funds thus forcing cutbacks, loss of employees creating a chokehold under the pretense of future funding for retirement.
What is going on here?
The POSTAL SERVICE WAS REQUIRED TO PRE-FUND for 80 years ahead it’s retirement benefits. That’s right, all the money available had to get locked away and inaccessible.
The act required the pre-funding of the health benefits of retirees, a requirement no other entity, public or private, has to make.
This required putting away an extra $5.6 billion per year, strongly contributing to the USPS’ loss of over $62.4 billion between 2007 and 2016.
A direct consequence of this action was the reduction of the USPS workforce by over 65,000 postal workers in 2009 and the start of yearly budget deficits. And so?
Put a cat in a bag, tie off the opening, throw the bag in the river. The cat will drown - right?
Well this cat has been holding its breath for over a decade!
4. As if this was not deadly enough - Democratic President Barack Obama continued and accelerated the assault on USPS workers. In 2011, under the pretext of reducing the federal budget deficit, the Obama administration outlined a plan to restructure the Retiree Health Benefit Fund and “refund” $6.8 Billion from the fund to the federal government.
Obama nominated a Republican board of governors, and the management pushed through severe restructuring. During his term, over 3,700 post offices were shut down and over 150,000 career employee positions were cut.
Now get this:
Richard Blum, the husband of California Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein, won the contract to sell off the post offices.
Corruption? Cronyism?
Notice carefully the clever wording of this official pronouncement:
On July 27, newly appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy declared: “The Postal Service is in a financially unsustainable position, stemming from substantial declines in mail volume, and a broken business model.”DeJoy continued: “We are currently unable to balance our costs with available funding sources to fulfill both our universal service mission and other legal obligations. Because of this, the Postal Service has experienced over a decade of financial losses, with no end in sight, and we face an impending liquidity crisis.”
Did you catch the wording: “We are currently unable to balance our costs with available funding sources…”??
Now you know why the funding sources are UNavailable.
The current outrage against the USPS is only brought to light as SOLELY the work of the Trump Administration.
Everything Trump is trying to do has ...wait for it ...wait for it...BIPARTISAN SUPPORT.
The so-called opposition is smoke and mirrors.
The USPS Board of Directors has been PACKED with --ready? UPS cronies! (United Parcel Service). This took place by appointments by the President APPROVED by the Senate.
Big Donors showering the Republican Party with lavish cash donations resulted in these appointments. No doubt about it.
MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT: USPS is headed by former Wall Street and corporate executives, whose collective millions are derived from decades of corporate raiding and financial speculation, ramping up corporate profits at the expense of the working class.
Every single one of these predatory Banker Vampires and all of the current members received overwhelming BIPARTISAN support in the Senate which demonstrates that regardless of their pretensions, BOTH Democrats and Republicans are united in their assault against postal workers and the social rights of the working class.
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Culled from:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/109th-congress/house-bill/6407/actions
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/15/demo-a15.html
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/04/usps-a04.html -
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Don't Sweat the Petty things (and Don't Pet the Sweaty things)!
by Terry inchanging a diaper is a lot like getting a present from your grandmother - you're not sure what you've got but you're pretty sure you're not going to like it.____egotists have one really great trait.
they don't talk about other people._____it is impossible to know what a truly deserted area looks like.____words to live by: don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.____strange but true: most people work just hard enough not to get fired and get paid just enough money not to quit.____what does 'subjective' mean?
have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?____you have to stay in shape.
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Terry
Career-wise - who do you think was the funnier of the two:
Dangerfield or Carlin?
Who has the wittiest one-liners TODAY? -
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Beth Sarim and Beth Shan - other boondoggles
by Terry inif you were a religious organization publicly identified with predictingarmageddon soon, would you be motivated to build large and expensive edifices or hideaways in foreign lands?such as:a $ 1,425,400 property in which a welsh translation center could be maintained?.
this looks like a pleasant location for doomsday, doesn’t it?.
maybe just a fortunate location for.
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Terry
Younger JW's (the most recent generation) do not have a clue about the trail of broken promises, bad calls, revised policies, cover-ups, scandals, and outright denials which go unpunished from start to finish.
J.F. Rutherford died a pain in the ass WITH a pain in the ass. That's as close as you can get to Karma. -
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STUPID is the LEAST of our problems ...
by Terry inrefusing to social distance?
declining to wear a mask?stupid people wallowing in a giant puddle of stupidity?
maybe / maybe not.i’ll tell you what i think …it may be fundamental defiance instead.how does that work??
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Terry
Refusing to Social Distance?
Declining to wear a mask?
Stupid people wallowing in a giant puddle of Stupidity?
Maybe / maybe not.
I’ll tell you what I think …
It may be fundamental DEFIANCE instead.
How does THAT work?? You may well ask.
Let’s look at the beginning of distrust back in May..
STRIKE 2
the executive director of the health emergency programme at the World Health Organization, Dr Michael Ryan, said during a briefing: “There are limits to how a mask can protect you from being infected. The most important thing everyone can do is wash your hands, keep your hands away from your face and observe very precise hygiene.”He added: “Not having a mask does not necessarily put you at any increased risk of contracting this disease.”
STRIKE 3
An infection prevention specialist, Dr Eli Perencevich, has said that healthy people should not wear masks at all — whether surgical masks, N95 masks, or respirator masks.Dr Perencevich said: “The average healthy person does not need to have a mask, and they shouldn’t be wearing masks. There’s no evidence that wearing masks on healthy people will protect them. They wear them incorrectly, and they can increase the risk of infection because
they’re touching their face more often.”
A husband who has an affair, lies about and then claims the moral high ground by saying,
“Well, I came out and confessed - didn’t I?”
Can’t expect ever to be trusted again - can he?
Experts owe honesty before trust can be conferred.
A “confused” Expert is not an Expert to be trusted.
A lying Expert (who lies for “good reasons) can’t expect to have his advice followed. Does that justify NOT wearing a mask? No - but it helps EXPLAIN the defiance.
SECOND PROBLEM
RICH vs POOR
Rich People can afford a shutdown - Poor People cannot.The lecturing tone of rich persons wagging their self-righteous, well-manicured fingers in the face of people who can't pay their mortgage or afford health care are triggering defiance, resentment, and anger.
Shutting down low-income people who've lost their jobs has snapped the thin thread of a connection with self-respect.
Political Leaders who are filthy rich love to virtue signal how compliant they are.
"Stay inside" (if you're Nancy Pelosi standing in front of two stainless steel freezers with fabulously expensive ice cream on display), is a message to trigger contrast of class disparity.
"Let them eat cake" is the message in the ears of penniless wage-earners.
People with F.U.money; corrupt political leaders,the hectoring elites -
PUSH the button of DEFIANCE in the underclass.
Both Republicans AND Democrats have only come to the rescue of BIG MONEY, Banks, Wall Street and Corporations to the tune of Millions, Billions, and Trillions of $$
And what do they do for the poor?
“Here’s $1200 bucks. Shut up and be grateful.”I can't read Trump's mind but his "man of the people" brand won the last election and I'd risk a guess he's posturing a Mask-free attitude to remain in the public eye as insubordinate to the end.
Just to be clear about it - wearing a mask is to protect the OTHERS from your own droplets. Most of the chatter I hear is just the opposite.
I WEAR A MASK. It can’t hurt. It might help. End of story for me.
However, more is going on than social distancing ...and masks ...The pandemic of 1918 Spanish Influenza created a 2nd wave after a subsidence period.
When that tide goes out...way way out ...and all those fish are flopping in the sand ....just....before...the Tsunami ...
Well THAT'S WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW.
A revolution is coming. Maybe 3 different revolutions simultaneously
1. Rich vs Poor
2. Black vs White
3. Political Correctness vs Go F-yourselfEverybody is in the mood to lecture everybody else - but NOT to LISTEN..
Defiance is not stupidity - it is much, much worse - it is the last stand on the last hill in the last battle of the last war civilization will ever fight. DEFIANCE is to be condemned - but shouldn’t be unexpected.
Stupidity is the least of the problems we face.
WE FACE REVOLUTION destroying everything in the misguided guise of improving everything.
And nobody can stop it from happening. Not with a mask. Not with 10 feet of distance.
Not with a vote for the “right” candidate.
We are broken and barbarians are at our gate…
WE ARE THE BARBARIANS at each others’ gates. -
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Beth Sarim and Beth Shan - other boondoggles
by Terry inif you were a religious organization publicly identified with predictingarmageddon soon, would you be motivated to build large and expensive edifices or hideaways in foreign lands?such as:a $ 1,425,400 property in which a welsh translation center could be maintained?.
this looks like a pleasant location for doomsday, doesn’t it?.
maybe just a fortunate location for.
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Terry
What a rich history this religion has; probably - maybe - allegedly - more colorful than EVEN the Mormon church.
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Beth Sarim and Beth Shan - other boondoggles
by Terry inif you were a religious organization publicly identified with predictingarmageddon soon, would you be motivated to build large and expensive edifices or hideaways in foreign lands?such as:a $ 1,425,400 property in which a welsh translation center could be maintained?.
this looks like a pleasant location for doomsday, doesn’t it?.
maybe just a fortunate location for.
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Terry
If you were a religious Organization publicly identified with predicting
ARMAGEDDON SOON, would you be motivated to build large and expensive edifices or hideaways in foreign lands?
Such as:
a $ 1,425,400 property in which a Welsh translation center could be maintained?This looks like a pleasant location for Doomsday, doesn’t it?
Or
Maybe just a fortunate location for. . .um. . .translating boring religious writing into WELSH.
The Watchtower Organization in 2014 made the purchase for $ 1,425,400.00
Entrance Hallway Hardwood door with double glazed side panel, high pitched ceiling with double glazed Velux window, three wall light points, meter cupboard, cloaks cupboard, oak doors, Travertine flooring with underfloor heating and glazed doors leading to:
Reception Hallway 13'9" (4.2m) x 24'7" (7.5m) max (9'2" (2.8m) min). Open spindled staircase to the first and second floors and oak glazed doors leading to lounge.
Lounge 18'4" x 20'4" (5.59m x 6.2m). Cast iron multi fuel burner on a raised slate hearth, six wall light points, television aerial point, engineered oak flooring, radiator, vaulted ceiling, double glazed patio doors and double glazed windows to the rear and side from which there are views across the extensive rear garden and Menai Straits to the Isle of Anglesey.
Superbly positioned above The Menai Strait with direct water access, the property comprises of entrance hallway, reception hallway, impressive open plan 'live in kitchen/family room', lounge, sitting room, games room, 2 studies, utility, cloakroom, shower room, 5 double bedrooms, four en-suites and a family bathroom. The property benefits from having gas central heating, double glazing, garage, established landscaped gardens with decked areas and pond. The property enjoys fantastic sea view of The Menai Strait, The Menai Suspension Bridge and across to Anglesey. (See Menai Suspension Bridge below)
Does it represent value for the people whose contributions paid for it? Will they even be told about it? Isn’t the Watchtower supposed to be a charitable organization? Hmmmm...
Why are they closing buildings in other (often poorer) parts of the world, evicting long-established workers and at the same time investing in luxury property like this that will 'benefit' a select few?
Who chooses who the select few are?
If you want to give your children a useful tool for the modern world then have them speak English, Spanish, maybe French or even Chinese. Being able to speak Welsh is a wasted opportunity better spent on other more useful things that could be taught.
Unless. . .This property is for Watchtower Elite to enjoy under pretense of business going about the Lord’s work. Or maybe for the Governing Body to wait out the Great Tribulation while the rank and file are in their Bunkers eating Pork n’ Bean rations?
A cynical Ex-JW (mentally diseased Apostate) might well ask if this doesn’t represent another Watchtower boondoggle from 1929, better known as the House of Princes.
This was built in 1929 to house the newly resurrected “Ancient Worthies” such as Abraham, David, and other Old Testament men of faith which were supposed to have been already resurrected in the year 1925. (Note: it didn’t happen.)__________________________
While WatchTower President, "Judge" Joseph F. Rutherford was enjoying the paradise like conditions of San Diego at Beth-Sarim, a secret property was also purchased near Beth-Sarim in 1939 with similar expectations but NEVER discussed in WatchTower literature.This secret 75 acre prime real estate property was also expected to house the resurrected Moses and other heroes of the faith. The added benefit was since they were expected to return shortly, just prior to Armageddon and world wide wars, they would have 2 hidden underground bomb shelters protected with 3 feet of concrete overhead and storage provisions for months.
They would be totally self sufficient at Beth-Shan with their own 425 foot well and 10,000 gallon storage tank. Electricity would be provided by a state of the art diesel powered generator and a 4,000 gallon underground tank for diesel fuel. Water was piped to the house and 2 fire hydrants would protect them from fires. The real beauty of such a secure compound is there was plenty of room for the safety of the WatchTower leadership as well. Perhaps they could bring Abraham and his friends up to speed on the marvels of the 20th century and assist in the preparation of the Kingdom of God.
Beth-Shan is mentioned only ONCE by name in the Watch Tower publication, Consolation, predecessor to the "Awake!" magazine. The context is an article concerning the requested 1 man cemetery plot for Judge Rutherford since the original burial request at Beth-Sarim was denied.
"The judge decided to continue the case so that the new site could be brought before the Planning Commission... the second plot was a proper place for burial.... The Planning Commission, who deliberated for more than two weeks, investigating the site, was haled before the court, and denied the second application for a cemetery.... New location for interment was almost in the center of the property known as Beth-Shan, which is roughly 75 acres of canyon and mesa land, adjoining Beth-Sarim but separated by a half-mile width of canyon."(May 27, 1942 Consolation, p. 9)
The immediate personal use of this home and facilities in mild weather San Diego would be immediately available to Rutherford. However, the deed to the property makes it appear this was for the noble reason of providing a haven for the arrival of faithful men and women of old as Abraham, Moses, Rahab, and Sarah. A portion of the deed of trust reads as follows:
NOW THEREFORE this trust is created and the said trustee shall hold the title to said property in trust for the use and benefit of the following named persons, whose names appear in the Bible at the Book of Hebrews, chapter eleven, verses one to forty, to wit: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthae, David, Samuel. Until such time as the aforementioned persons return and identify themselves to the legal representatives of the said WATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY and by the consent of said Society take possession and control of said premises, the President of the WATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY shall have the right and be duty bound to direct the management and use of said premises…"
Unlike Beth-Sarim, this facility would be far more secure from the predicted coming of Armageddon. 2 bomb shelters, a diesel powered generator with a 4,000 gallon underground tank for diesel fuel, and 10,000 gallons of water storage with 2 fire hydrants.
It wasn't long before rumors among witnesses began to be spread about this haven of security, which apparently prompted a rather vague response from the WatchTower leadership:
"Some unreliable person is responsible for the circulation of a report that Beth-Sarim is being enlarged as a place of security and that this is being built by the Society.
There is absolutely not one word of truth in the report. Those who are interested in the Theocracy would better be circulating the kingdom message rather than false imaginations of others."(The Watchtower, June 1, 1940, p. 162)
Perhaps the leadership felt justified in stating "Beth-Sarim" was not being enlarged as a place of security, but the fact is the nearby Watch Tower property Beth-Shan certainly was.
No doubt Rutherford believed his wild speculation about the nearness of Armageddon and was preparing this haven of safety from the soon to be experienced explosions and poison he predicted years earlier:
… the next war will be…an annihilation! There will be poison and explosion everywhere, beneath the whole canopy of the heavens…(Golden Age, June 2, 1926, p. 55)
Author and researcher, Edward Gruss, interviewed Fred Eason, a eye witness to the goat barn bomb shelter. Fred Eason said he saw the underground shelter shortly after it's sale in 1945. He described the underground shelter with its secret entrance as a:
"...building that was called the 'goat barn' which was used to stable their goats. To enter the shelter one would go to the small bathroom area at the rear of the building, open the medicine cabinet, and pull a concealed lever inside.
A section of the wall would swing open, revealing a stairway down into what can only be identified as a bomb shelter--a room about 30 feet x 15 feet, with a 10 foot high ceiling. The walls were lined with storage shelves.
The cement ceiling of the room was 3 feet thick!" (interview with Fred Eason as documented in "Jehovah's Witnesses Their Monuments to False Prophecy, Edmond Gruss, p. 75)
The building at upper right is the main Beth-Shan residence. The arrow points to the “goat barn” which had the secret bomb shelter (as did the main residence). Photo taken after the sale of Beth-Shan 1945.
(photo courtesy of Edmund Gruss)
1963 Aerial photo of Beth-Shan. Extensive grading on the property
revealed the hidden “goat barn” bomb shelter (arrow).
(photo courtesy of Edmond Gruss)
Not only did the princes NOT return to claim the estate at Beth Sarim as prophesied by Rutherford, but the Society simply ignored the promised trust to the princes and quietly sold the property soon after Rutherford's death.
1945 black and white photo of Beth-Shan (now hand colored):
Beth-Shan house built in 1939, ten years after Beth-Sarim on adjacent property. Beth-Shan, which means "House of Security" in Hebrew, was literally a house of security -(cult compound)*-
it was accessed by a single dirt road that was guarded and gated. It also had two secret bomb shelters to protect the Beth-Shan/Beth-Sarim residents (such as the Society's second president, J.F. Rutherford).
The Society apparently wanted to keep the residence secret and covered up its very existence. The Society only mentioned Beth-Shan once in its literature: May 27, 1942 Consolation magazine (now called Awake!)
The Society began building a burial crypt for Rutherford just below Beth-Sarim shortly before his death. After this site was denied by local authorities, the Society proposed a second site which was located on the Beth-Shan property which was adjacent to Beth-Sarim. This second burial spot was also denied.
Here is an aerial photo taken in 1945:
(Note: the airstrip at the left was built shortly after the sale of this property in 1945)
The long building to the left of the cul-de-sac is the "goat barn" which had a secret bomb shelter (as did the main residence).
The remote inaccessibility is better seen from the following angle:
The deed to the Beth-Shan house and property were, like Beth-Sarim, made out to Abraham, David, and the other Old Testament "princes." In reading the deed to Beth-Shan, one could get the impression that it is simply Beth-Sarim, part II --the two deeds are very similar. Both of the residences and property were held in "trust" by the Watchtower Society's leaders for the Old Testament "princes" awaiting their return.
According to Fred Eason, who was later to purchase some of the Beth-Shan property and residence (discussed below), the dirt road which was accessible through a gate, was also guarded by JWs, so unauthorized individuals couldn't enter. He first stumbled onto the Society's building of the Beth-Shan residence while he was looking for "Young's Cave," a series of manmade caves or tunnels in the area. He was "rebuffed" by "several men on horseback" and watched the building of Beth-Shan from a different side of the mesa canyon.
Telephone interviews between Edmond Gruss and Fred Eason, Dec. 3, 1996 and letter dated Dec. 12, 1996 from Eason to Gruss. Gruss, p. 70.Monuments, p. 70.
Another building, a "goat barn" had a secret bomb shelter as well. It was a long building apparently used to house goats. At the rear of the building was a bathroom. Fred Eason bought 30 acres of the Beth-Shan property including the goat barn. In a letter to Ed Gruss he wrote of its bomb shelter:
To enter the shelter one would go to the small bathroom area at the rear of the building, open the medicine cabinet, and pull a concealed lever inside. A section of the wall would spring open, revealing a stairway down into what can only be identified as a bomb shelter--a room about about 30 feet x 15 feet, with a ten foot high ceiling. The walls were lined with storage shelves. The cement ceiling of the room was 3 feet thick!"
Gruss noted in his Monuments book:
“A person could go into the bathroom and would never know that the shelter was there. When a house was built on the property in 1967 it was placed on the lot so as to keep the shelter intact, and it still exists today.”
Doomsday PREPPERS?
Watchtower Society in the 1920's and 1930's believed that the "next war"would lead to Armageddon and result in the Theocracy or Kingdom of God on Earth. They believed it would be a war fought primarily or exclusively in the air with poison gas and bacterial (germ) bombs which would obliterate most life on earth. For example, they said:
*... the next war will be a completion [of the First World War] and therewith an annihilation! There will be poison and explosion everywhere, beneath the whole canopy of the heavens.... Poison will be mechanically wafted forward and backward by unmanned airplanes, going up into the atmosphere and descending to the earth.”
The compact, thickly-populated, highly -industrialized centers of civilization will be drenched with gases, bathed in a liquid-fire and sown with bacteria. Unquenchable conflagrations will overspread the sky with a blanket of smoke.... Perhaps some previous preparation will have been made of elaborate subterranean tunnels and chambers in anticipation of this awful time.
When the totalitarian Catholic combine gains control of the British Isles, which it is certain to do, then all the liberties of the people will be at an end.... What will be the condition when all nations become totalitarian?.... The totalitarian combine is going to get control of England and America. You cannot prevent it. Do not try.
Rutherford, J.F., Face the Facts, 1938, pp. 20, 21, p. 27.
Apparently, the Watchtower Society did its own preparing for this future calamity in building Beth-Shan (House of Security) with two bomb shelters. Perhaps "Young's Cave" with its series of underground tunnels on the property was an appealing feature in their decision to buy the property!
The reason for the storage shelves in the bomb shelters is they believed that great famines would soon occur world-wide, including the United States. This was also brought out in the "Demon Rule Ending" articles:
A great famine is certain to afflict the many nations of the earth in the very near future. The United States is also in line for much suffering.... the United States is faced with world disaster now impending and about to fall...
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One thing for certain. Boondoggles never end in this religion!Apparently the fear mongering of old is alive and well as reflected in the Bunker videos
Released for download at the J-Dub Org website. You have to admit, it’s slightly more comforting to know the leaders themselves believe their own baloney and are just as afraid of the Great Tribulation as the rank and file. So afraid, they sacrifice all this money for doom and luxury!
READ ABOUT BETH SARIM HERE:
https://www.equip.org/article/beth-sarim/
