AndersonsInfo

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  7

  Notice: Hughes v. Brady, Gnam, WTBTS-Alberta Court of Appeal handing down decision on...

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  on monday, may 25th at 9:30 am.

  (10:00 a.m. online www.albertacourts.ab.ca) appeal number 0801-0239ac; q.b.

  number 0401-13156.

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  AndersonsInfo

  On Monday, May 25th at 9:30 AM. (10:00 A.M. online www.albertacourts.ab.ca) Appeal Number 0801-0239AC; Q.B. Number 0401-13156
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  Watchtower is kicking people out again, in the name of LOVE?

  by Bethelite Elder in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  right now at bethel, they are laying off and reassigning again.

  if you have cancer or some other illness, you are a liability and it's time to pack.

  i remember the night when we had the special talk about there being a great need in the field and some would be sent out.

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  AndersonsInfo

  Bethelite Elder: Joe and I grieve for you and others in your shoes. Our son was transferred to Patterson from Brooklyn. He was in Bethel a total of 16 years. I'm so glad they left Bethel when they did otherwise they would be in your shoes. Even though they shun us, we only want the best for them. Now he's been out long enough to have a home, an established business, and a 9 year old son.

  We had so many good friends in Patterson who have been in Bethel around 20-25 years. We worry. What will become of them if they are asked to leave? Personal Message us or some of the folks who post on this board if you need personal advice. You know who they are by the comments they post.

  Barbara and Joe
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  426

  One of the Governing Body had a stroke yesterday

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  on may 19th, theodore jaracz had a stroke.

  he's in very serious condition in the hospital.. that's all the information i have for now.. barb.

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  AndersonsInfo

  Joe said I should stop hijacking this thread by putting other things on it like the class-action lawsuit statement. I told him that it's my thread and I can do anything I want to do. So there!

  Here's something about Sydlik. This is what I was told. Dan was a writer in the Writing Dept. when it was called Editorial Dept. He wrote an article about baseball that went into the Awake! Later it was found out that he plagiarized the article from Reader's Digest. He was transferred to the Factory, the Bindary maybe. I could be wrong about that. This was quite a while before the directors thought of taking over the org. from Knorr and Franz. How he made it from the Factory to the GB is probably an interesting story, but one we'll never know. All that info. died with him.

  I heard the rumor about Dan and boys, but that's all it was, a rumor. Yes, he had young men in his office often. Yes, he talked to young men when walking home, but Dan was in Bethel for years before he married. Running around with guys was what he did. I've been with Dan and Marina in their room and at social occasions and they seemed to enjoy each other's companionship very much. They were a neat couple together. He was very concerned about her well-being. He said being a GB's wife was difficult for her. She would get a tension headache when she had to stand with him greeting people after he gave a special talk. He told me that she had often been hurt by people who used her to get to him. She was very cautious about making friends because of this. She seemed to many to be unfriendly, but it wasn't that at all. She was on guard in public to protect herself and her husband from crafty people in "Jehovah's wonderful organization" (my words).

  One time, we took them out to Long Island to Alan Feuerbacher's parent's home on Long Island Sound. We had a really good time. There was, however, one episode that occurred that we'll never forget.

  There were only three couples there. Three elders two of which were Bethel elders and their wives and the conversation was about organizational stuff. Dan began to talk about how he knew Jehovahhhhh Godddd through his Holy Spirit was with elders in judicial hearings. He was sharing a story of how well a certain "sister's" problems were handled by the elders even though her life was in turmoil and she was in and out of judicial hearings. It was, he said, because Holy Spirit was there to help the brothers and as he continued to extol the virtues of judicial hearings, he began to change. It was while he was saying he could actually feel the presence of the Holy Spirit at this woman's hearing, he seemed to slip off into an outer-worldly thingy experience or something. His voice became different. Hard to describe what we saw and heard. At the time, I thought of the Apostle Paul and the 7th heaven experience.

  All five of us sat there listening and staring at him for what seemed to be an eternity, but really only minutes, when his wife Marina said (I kid you not): "God damn it, Sydlik, stop that; get off your high horse and come back down to earth." He blinked a few times and returned back to normal. If that wasn't the strangest thing for the five of us to observe. Then we all mentally shook ourselves and continued on with conversation like nothing happened.

  I have no commentary to offer about this experience. I'm still at a loss for words over it, and for me that's saying something.

  Barb
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  426

  One of the Governing Body had a stroke yesterday

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  on may 19th, theodore jaracz had a stroke.

  he's in very serious condition in the hospital.. that's all the information i have for now.. barb.

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  AndersonsInfo

  Thanks Mary for your comments. I'm going to pass them on. Also, thank you and also everyone else who have expressed appreciation for my "insider" information. I'm happy to share it because you say it's helpful.

  Just a few minutes ago, I learned from a friend that he called Watchtower to find out how Jaracz is. The operator put him through to some guy who said that "Brother Jaracz is doing fine." The caller than said, "I want to pass the information along to others who will be out in service this morning." The reply: "Oh that's very good. Tell as many people as possible that Bro. Jaracz is doing fine so that they won't call. We are getting so many phone calls asking about Bro. Jaracz that we can't get any work done. If anybody wants to send flowers or a card, send them to the regular Watchtower address in Brooklyn."

  How about it, anybody want to send a card? How about flowers?
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  426

  One of the Governing Body had a stroke yesterday

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  on may 19th, theodore jaracz had a stroke.

  he's in very serious condition in the hospital.. that's all the information i have for now.. barb.

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  AndersonsInfo

  I just received an email from someone who wants to start a class action law suit against the Society for pain, suffering and outright discrimination. Any suggestions or comments?

  Barb
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  426

  One of the Governing Body had a stroke yesterday

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  on may 19th, theodore jaracz had a stroke.

  he's in very serious condition in the hospital.. that's all the information i have for now.. barb.

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  AndersonsInfo

  BonaFide, you said: Then a few weeks later came the announcement, that the Branch Bethel Family was going to be reduced from 45 to 28. Many Bethelites were reassigned as special pioneers, some as circuit overseers. This was way before the US Bethel reductions. So that was a major shock.

  Your account rings so true of the man. Calculating is a good description. At the branch during his visit you saw one side, the kindly Jaracz. The results of his visit exemplify the other more sinister person. He used you all. He gained your confidence by appearing so spiritual, but he was not what he appeared to be. He came to your branch for a totally different reason than the staff thought.

  Certainly, corporate leaders have a right to reduce staff. After all, WT is nothing but a huge business corporation masquerading as a religion. But to do it in such a devious way tells us lots about his character. And to hear that the work load increased for the remaining workers was downright chilling because we know the decision to do this came from him. He cared nothing for the well-being of the staff, only saving money or for whatever other reasons they are downsizing. Ted Jaracz fits the profile and description of a sociopath/psychopath. Your story validates my observations and experiences. Thank you.

  Yada Yada 2, you asked,
  1. Does this mean those men did not want the 'two-witness' rule to apply to child abuse allegations?
  2. Were they opposed to the legalistic, harsh policy on child abuse? 3. Do you know of any current GB members who would like changes to certain policies?

  1. I can't answer that question because the topic never came up. I didn't even know they were applying the 'two-witness' rule in child abuse accusations. As a woman who had no insight into what took place in a judicial hearing or read the "Flock" book at that time, how would I even suspect such a thing? The topic of conversation between Harry and me was about molesters holding positions of authority and how can this be stopped. He was in contact with Sydlik and Swingle about the child abuse situation, not me. I had one conversation about it with Sydlik a few days befor I left Bethel and we had a bit of an argument, but I won. I figured since I was leaving, I'd say what I had on my mind and get away with it because he couldn't dismiss me from Bethel at that point. Dan and I were both Polish and our limited friendship originally came about from this commonality. (I'm ashamed to say Jaracz is Polish too.) During that last conversation we had together, we talked about molesters holding positions of authority. Nothing came up about the two-witness policy. I wonder now if any of these sympathetic men even knew how big a deal this was in a judicial setting in child abuse cases. Of course they read the "Flock" book, and Sydlic was an active elder in a congregation, but unless your involved in a situation, instructions are just words.

  2. I don't think that any of the men thought the policies were legalistic or harsh. I never heard Harry critical of the policies already in place. If there were problems, he blamed the elders for not handling child abuse situations correctly or for not doing what they were told by the Society. That's why he told me, "The Society is going to let them dangle in the wind" if elders don't follow their instructions. And those instructions came from the Legal Dept. and that's why elders were told to call that department as soon as an accusation of molestation was made. Apparently many of them were not doing that back then.

  I do know Harry believed they needed to do something to keep molesters from holding supervisory positions. That's why he was so happy with the January 1, 1997 Watchtower policy statement that said no known molester would hold a position in the cong., and he took credit for that achievement in a letter to me. We never discussed mandated reporting laws either. Back then I was way over my head when talking with him about this topic. I didn't know much about legality issues. I just knew men in authority were molesting children and the Society had to do something about it. After I left Bethel, I started to deeply research the subject and send into the Writing Dept. what I found. Still I didn't know about the two-witness rule. Not until I talked to former elders and victims who enlightened me how it was applied in a judicial setting and after I read Joe's "Flock" book. Then I was stunned and determined to do something about it.

  3. No, I don't know much of anything about the current GB members other than about Jaracz and Barr. I do know they all are company men, the newer guys hand-picked by Jaracz. Most likely these men believe if the company says we have the best child abuse policies, that's the way it is, unless they read the court records we made public.Greetings WAC and Big Tex. Glad you joined the discussion.

  One thing I want to make clear is this: What made this situation so unique was the sympathy for the victims that Harry and others in the department were showing. No one that I can remember expressed unhappiness about policies. The big thing to those in Writing, who were involved, was that elders were mistreating victims when they came forward with their accusations. In addition, that some elders were molesters. These men on the Writing staff were upset about it. The Oct. 8, 1991 Awake! expressed sympathy for victims and was such an encouragement to them.

  No one expected what happened after the publishing of that magazine. Jaracz hated it and his Service Dept. hated it. I didn't know why; only could speculate at the time. But it became obvious to me later that Service didn't want to acknowledge that there were molesters who were leaders because they were responsible for carrying out all organizational procedure and it looked bad for them to have put in supervisary positions molesters. It looked like they were asleep at the wheel; that they weren't protecting children. Men in Service blamed the victims. Said they were lying; that this was just a passing fad.

  Writing had nothing to do with running the organization. This was Service's domain. Can you imagine the war that was erupting between the two departments? Also, Writing Correspondence was involved too. That was J.R. Brown's department, but under Lloyd's control. They were receiving many, many letters from victims after the publishing of that Awake!. So Lloyd Barry had to get involved with Service about the situation. Service was run by Jaracz. Jaracz and Barry were not friends, more like 'friendly' enemies. What a mess! That Awake! opened a Pandora's Box and all kinds of evils flew out that had been hidden under the lid or below the surface for years. The court records reveal those evils.

  From my point of view, it was JW victims of child sexual abuse who were responsible for getting Harry and others so involved and the organization in deep dodo. Harry Peloyan went into battle because of them. One time Harry had tears in his eyes when he gave me a letter to read from someone who was very close to him and his wife. They had no idea what her father had done to her as a child until she sent him a copy of the letter she wrote to her father when he was going to marry a woman with two young daughters.

  For too many years the Service Dept. had not been listening to victims' complaining calls and letters. Society’s lawyers were hushing up victims with secret payoffs in settlements authorized by the GB, spearheaded by the "Boss" who the others acquiesced to because of his argument that we can't allow these things to bring reproach upon God's organization.

  After many secret settlements were made, as I know they were, why no one suggested opening an investigation to look into what was going on in the congregations, is beyond me. This tells us a lot about how the "slave" does not provide food (or direction) at the proper time!
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  426

  One of the Governing Body had a stroke yesterday

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  on may 19th, theodore jaracz had a stroke.

  he's in very serious condition in the hospital.. that's all the information i have for now.. barb.

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  AndersonsInfo

  I gotta say Yknot, your points are well-taken. Yep, Ted was a service geek. You are so right. We knew that of all the GB, he was the only one that went out in service as often as he could, with his wife, of course. He was extremely comfortable talking about field service and the organization. Interacting with humans on other issues was another story. So sad that of all people in this organization, he was the one that ruled the roost for too many years. If he only had supported Harry, Lloyd, Swingle and Sidlik in the child abuse issue, the outcome of this horrible chapter in their history would have been so different.

  Jaracz was into the spiritual end of the org. He was on the Teaching Committee. Harry recd his District Assembly writing assignments from him. I have a copy of the short letter he sent to Harry assigning him to write the main Sunday talk for a DC. Without me looking it up, I believe it was something like, The Light Of The World. Jaracz gave directions to Harry about the theme to follow along with a few suggestions. I did all the research and practically made up the entire outline. Joe gave that talk at a dist. convention in Virginia and it was almost identical to what I submitted to Harry. It could be said that the faithful and discreet served up food in this instance because the Teaching Committee sent out the writing assignment with the title of the talk along with suggestions. If only the flock knew how it really works! Well, I bet they wouldn't even care; just explain it away with some sort of specious argument.

  Barb
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  426

  One of the Governing Body had a stroke yesterday

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  on may 19th, theodore jaracz had a stroke.

  he's in very serious condition in the hospital.. that's all the information i have for now.. barb.

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  AndersonsInfo

  Undercover: You have made so many excellent points. We can only wish that the Bethel system was different, but it wasn't and isn't.

  I believe that the negatives are amply explained to those who seek out special service. I know I heard them all. However, we didn't want to believe what we heard. It was "Mecca" where we were going and nobody could tell us otherwise. Joe spent three years at Bethel in the 1950s and told me I wouldn't last, but I did, through thick and thin. I became a JW at 14 and had it drummed into my head that Witnesses were imperfect, so no matter what I saw I blamed imperfection and never questioned that it wasn't "the truth." I'm sympathetic because "there by the grace of God go I."

  I understand perfectly what BonaFide is trying to get across. Joe was a servant in a congregation when he was about 18. He would have walked through fire for "Jehovah." That's the way it was. I was like Jaracz. I lived by the letter of the law, but I was not cold or distant as he is. It's probably a personality trait on this part. Maybe that's why he married an outgoing woman. As sincere and whole-souled as he is, we all agree that as unwritten "Boss" of the GB, he's responsible for so much harm that it's impossible to tally up.

  If you go back and reread what I've written on this thread about Barry removing Jaracz from the Australian Branch for wrongdoing and then Knorr sent him to Calif. as DO, just think about it--You don't get removed as BO unless it's pretty obvious that you really transgressed in a big way. These men in high position in the org. stick together. They only remove a peer when they absolutely have to. I've suspected for a long time what it was that Jaracz did but have no proof. But whatever it was, it was serious. Knorr should have never sent him to California as DO. I have it on good authority and said this in another post that Knorr was so angry with the Directiors for taking away his power, Jaracz was brought in to get even. Knorr knew exactly what he was doing. They didn't want him as Boss, so he gave them Jaracz.

  I'm as conflicted as the next person about all the issues that have been raised here. I don't have definitive answers. All I can do is pass along information just like the others are doing who were in special service but are now out of the organization. I'm trying to be realistic and think about everybody's point of view. The human personality is so complicated. We are who we are for lots of reasons and with Jaracz we're all trying to figure out what made him tick. But until we know more about his upbringing (raised by 3 maiden aunts) and find out more about his early life and where were his parents?, who of his relatives molded his thinking?, etc., we just go round and round about this enigma of a man who didn't want his life story published nor wanted to talk about himself at all. It was as if he was hiding from something or maybe himself.

  As I wrote earlier in this thread, this man became totally different under certain circumstances that it was noticed not just by me, but by others. I bet a shrink would have found him fascinating. Maybe in his positions of authority from such a young age, he saw too much bad stuff, so gradually closed down his own personality and navigated his theocratic life happily by blocking out the human element. By concentrating only on the scriptures and the Kingdom message that made up "the work," he in effect divorced himself from reality.

  Listen to the discussion Randy Watters put on his Freeminds site between Alan Feuerbacher and Ted in 2001. It's fascinating. Jaracz comes across as an extremely kind and loving person. This is the kindly man those outside of Bethel saw, those he didn't know personally. He became emotional when he spoke of the increases in the organization. This is not the man Bethelites as a whole saw except if they were being "groomed" for MTS. I thought the use of that word by Jeff very interesting. Jaracz was grooming young men for reasons not entirely clear. Certainly, the young men weren't harmed by Jaracz, yet his personal involvement with them only with regard to MTS gave him immense satisfaction. Why?

  That kindness rarely extended to the general run of the mill Bethelite. He treated Bethelites like they were an annoyance except if he needed something from one of them. This was the man who lived in the "50s." It was his influence that prevents the Awake! or Watchtower to show any women in pants. Look at pictures of families going out in service: Dad in a suit; Mom in a dress; One little boy in a suit and a little girl in a pretty dress. The ideal family. If that isn't fantasy, I don't know what is.

  Jaracz didn't want women in Bethel to wear blue jeans, but was overruled because the work they did required jeans. Then he had to be told to stop scolding women in the elevators if he saw they had on jeans and they weren't working. He brought many a girl to tears. Personally, I don't think he liked women very much. Just certain ones he could control. This man definitely had issues!

  Okay, I've exhausted this subject and myself. Maybe you are all tired of this subject. I know I am.

  Barb
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  426

  One of the Governing Body had a stroke yesterday

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  on may 19th, theodore jaracz had a stroke.

  he's in very serious condition in the hospital.. that's all the information i have for now.. barb.

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  AndersonsInfo

  I keep checking my emails and PMs and I've yet to receive any other information about Jaracz's condition. As pointed out, he could very well live for years more. But we'll patiently wait for his demise. He's been ill for a long time. Probably hasn't been able to contribute much for quite a while and what is going on in the org. today is the work of the new boys in the GB. Yikes!

  It appears to me what the organization lost were people who loved "Jehovah." Now, the people taking their place are in it for all the wrong reasons. I remember wonderful COs and DOs. (I also remember the other kind but they seemed to be in a minority.) When I was leaving the org. in the late 90s, I saw what winstonchurchill is talking about and it was very discouraging. After Joe left some four years after me, he told me how the elders argued like children in their elder meetings. He was so disappointed in what he was seeing but tried to hang on.

  Their 'comfort words' are so hollow, pre-fabricated and un-sincere that it's sickening. This is what I hear from those who are reaching out and speaking to me in private. If anything, this org. is in the process of destroying itself from within, but as it goes down, guess who is getting the blame? Yep, the "apostates." I have it on good authority, disgusted observers inside are saying that it will implode. And it's okay with me. It's the system that has to go, but the misled people will eventually (once they get their heads on straight) be happy it's gone once they taste freedom from the power and control. Who knows, maybe a rebellion will make it a kinder and more gentle organiztion.

  It's difficult but I try to look at the bright side because our son and his family are still in although I just found out recently that our son resigned as an elder. We don't know the reason. He's one of those martyr-types and will probably hang on until he dies or the WT dies, which ever comes first. (Sorry to say, we trained him to be like that.) I do know that he believes that everything is happening just like Jehovah wants it to. Jehovah has everything under control and the end is coming soon. He has said he loves Jehovah, not an organization, so it doesn't bother him enough to leave when he sees all the things winstonchurchill says are happening.

  Barb
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  426

  One of the Governing Body had a stroke yesterday

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  on may 19th, theodore jaracz had a stroke.

  he's in very serious condition in the hospital.. that's all the information i have for now.. barb.

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  AndersonsInfo

  Billy, your experiences are valuable because they are recent. Mine aren't. All of us are very interested in what is happening now.

  It's a shame that there is little kindness shown because the "business" end of the WT is beginning to suffer or they are changing their mode of operation and are asking people, who might have nowhere to go, to leave. Look at all the people losing their jobs outside of this organization.

  Technology is changing so many things at Bethel and everywhere. And the bad economy is to blame for other changes at Bethel. WT is being forced to deal with forces beyond their control and we see them stream-lining the business. In many ways, it's a good thing. JWs are led to think that WT is a good caretaker of their donations. If I was still giving them money, I'd be happy to see them acting in a more responsible way with money and people. I understand that they are listening to outside expertise (worldly knowledge) and running their operation like it should have been run when I was there. Bravo! If this is true, then having a business plan and putting it into effect could put in jeopardy many jobs, but if you're not needed anymore or if you can't work, what's the reason to be there?

  Barb