Rubyvixen

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Posts by Rubyvixen

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  33

  The GB as JW celebrities

  by Rubyvixen in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i am really,really curious as to how other people back while in the org viewed the gb.

  because my oldest brother (older than me by 14 years!

  ) was first at the watchtower farms and then brooklyn bethel and my uncle is a member of the gb, my mother tended to flaunt these facts and look for every opportunity to go to either place with her bible studies (these terms are so weird to use after all these years lol).

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  Rubyvixen

  Undercover, that is exactly how I viewed the GB. I just figured they were nothing more than annointed people who also happened to have to run the Org. My view on the annointed though was pretty skewed from an early age though, since most of the annointed in my Hall were certifiably pretty short of a full deck :P
  
  It wasn't until I was in my pre-teens and then early teens that I realized how people revered them and when I started putting the pieces together of how insidiously ridiculous the whole thing is.
  
  Panic, your experience makes me so mad. I can so imagine that very thing happening. How utterly disgusting. How people in the Org can sit there and see that and not feel just as disgusted is further proof of how brainwashed so many of them truly are =(
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  33

  The GB as JW celebrities

  by Rubyvixen in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i am really,really curious as to how other people back while in the org viewed the gb.

  because my oldest brother (older than me by 14 years!

  ) was first at the watchtower farms and then brooklyn bethel and my uncle is a member of the gb, my mother tended to flaunt these facts and look for every opportunity to go to either place with her bible studies (these terms are so weird to use after all these years lol).

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  Rubyvixen

  Undercover, that is exactly how I viewed the GB. I just figured they were nothing more than annointed people who also happened to have to run the Org. My view on the annointed though was pretty skewed from an early age though, since most of the annointed in my Hall were certifiably pretty short of a full deck :P
  
  It wasn't until I was in my pre-teens and then early teens that I realized how people revered them and when I started putting the pieces together of how insidiously ridiculous the whole thing is.
  
  Panic, your experience makes me so mad. I can so imagine that very thing happening. How utterly disgusting. How people in the Org can sit there and see that and not feel just as disgusted is further proof of how brainwashed so many of them truly are =(
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  51

  It's 98 degrees, put on your suit and go to Yankee Stadium

  by IronGland in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  anyone go to that convention in ny back in the 50's?

  remember when they lasted until 8pm?

  in the summer?

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  Rubyvixen

  yes!!!!
  
  I remember the umbrellas! The stupid umbrellas and battery powered fans that were supposed to give us some relief...yeah right :D
  
  For the people who asked about my reference to Yankee Stadium in the late 80's and early 90's, no they were not 8 days , they were the 3 and 4 day conventions and absolute torture even then in the NYC heat and humidity...yuck!
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  33

  The GB as JW celebrities

  by Rubyvixen in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i am really,really curious as to how other people back while in the org viewed the gb.

  because my oldest brother (older than me by 14 years!

  ) was first at the watchtower farms and then brooklyn bethel and my uncle is a member of the gb, my mother tended to flaunt these facts and look for every opportunity to go to either place with her bible studies (these terms are so weird to use after all these years lol).

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  Rubyvixen

  Wow.
  
  The celeb thing is far more rampant than I even experienced then. I mean, I got dunked when I was 12 (again, to keep my parents from pressuring me) and my Uncle came to our assembly for that and I remember people crowding around and being really excited to talk with him and me in typical pre-teen fashion was suitably weirded out and rolling my eyes the whole time.
  
  My Uncle, while having megalomaniacal facets to his personality (who doesn't there? haha) is probably far more charismatic (or was, haven't seen him in about 10 years) than the rest and to some extent relished human contact as opposed to others I have met throughout the years who seemed like they tolerated contact as if the people fawning over them were silly fans. Ugh.
  
  I did meet Franz on 4 separate occasions and he was quite feeble at the time and I was quite young and I was not very impressed ;)
• 
  33

  The GB as JW celebrities

  by Rubyvixen in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i am really,really curious as to how other people back while in the org viewed the gb.

  because my oldest brother (older than me by 14 years!

  ) was first at the watchtower farms and then brooklyn bethel and my uncle is a member of the gb, my mother tended to flaunt these facts and look for every opportunity to go to either place with her bible studies (these terms are so weird to use after all these years lol).

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  Rubyvixen

  Wow!! You even have pictures of the Stanley! I really assumed that by now, it was no longer used...interesting.
  
  Those pictures take me back!
• 
  33

  The GB as JW celebrities

  by Rubyvixen in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i am really,really curious as to how other people back while in the org viewed the gb.

  because my oldest brother (older than me by 14 years!

  ) was first at the watchtower farms and then brooklyn bethel and my uncle is a member of the gb, my mother tended to flaunt these facts and look for every opportunity to go to either place with her bible studies (these terms are so weird to use after all these years lol).

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  Rubyvixen

  I know the voice thing gives it away.
  
  I am refraining from listing his name here totally due to Google.
  
  I am pretty sure that some of the things I said here though probably made it quite obvious ;)
• 
  33

  The GB as JW celebrities

  by Rubyvixen in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i am really,really curious as to how other people back while in the org viewed the gb.

  because my oldest brother (older than me by 14 years!

  ) was first at the watchtower farms and then brooklyn bethel and my uncle is a member of the gb, my mother tended to flaunt these facts and look for every opportunity to go to either place with her bible studies (these terms are so weird to use after all these years lol).

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• 

  Rubyvixen

  I am really,really curious as to how other people back while in the Org viewed the GB. Even more curious as to if anyone got to meet any of them and what the impressions were.
  
  Because my oldest brother (older than me by 14 years!) was first at the Watchtower Farms and then Brooklyn Bethel and my uncle is a member of the GB, my mother tended to flaunt these facts and look for every opportunity to go to either place with her Bible Studies (these terms are so weird to use after all these years lol).
  
  Watchtower Farms always struck me as a really bizarre trip. Sometimes we would stay in the 'cottages' that WT Farms had on their property which was just...odd. It was a two hour drive from Queens (where we lived) and since my brother knew people there, he would arrange to have different people in different departments show us around. It was largely to impress my mother's Bible Studies and I always in a way found it impressive as well to see the level of organization and the upkeep of the place. Everyone seemed so devoid of real personality and over-the-top fresh faced and happy.
  
  Whether going to Brooklyn Bethel or the Farms, we always got in for lunch there which was always signaled by a bell, enough food for an army (an army of JWs) and they always seemed to be serving chipped beef and mashed potatoes >. and milk. We would eat our food and then hob-knob with some of the pseudo-bethel celebs, everyone with super fake smiles often acting like they had such pressing things to get back to.
  
  I think the art department was always my favorite.
  
  Our Brooklyn Bethel tours were always a study in how much we could walk between the buildings and exclamations of how 'clean'! and 'orderly'! everything was. Every department down to the Printing Room seemed to have someone willing to talk about the fascinating work they were doing and sometimes even had little displays showing the history of the area (example : the Printing area always had that display with the colored see through pages showing the multi-color print machines...*rolls eyes*).
  
  One thing I remember vidily was their own computer system which I would love more info on since it seemed odd then and seems even stranger now to recall. It was call MEPS or something like that. My brother worked in that department and was always quick to point out how it was unique to the WT.
  
  We would often meet with my Uncle before or right after lunch.
  
  I think I was always struck with the extreme disparity in the 'accomodations' of my Uncle as opposed to the small-bland hotel-esque rooms of the rest of the bethelites.
  
  Not only was my Uncle's office quite large with a very swanky view of the Brooklyn Bridge but he had quite a large number of trinkets and sculptures from his 'travels' around the world (all on very important WT business of course I am sure :P...funny how everytime he got sent overseas , it was in the poshest of accomodations and funnier how he somehow had all this expensive memorabilia to show from it!). He also had paintings of his (he loved to replicate paintings of the old impressionists)...nice hobby which I am sure he had tons of time to devote to while everyone else in Bethel seemed on a strict work regimen.
  
  His office was not the only thing swanky. He shared an enormous 'apartment' with my Aunt (a very eccentric lady much younger than him who spent some of her time doing watercolor painting...again, nice hobby making time). I was always slightly embarassed that we would see this and take my mother's Bible Studies with us RIGHT AFTER seeing how the other Bethelites lived in small studios with drab decorating and a housekeeper to come and pick through their stuff while they went off to their departments to work. It was such a GLARING difference. There was my Uncle's apartment with gorgeous carpet, nice paintings, painted a nice hue, with lush furniture and tons of space (they would even sometimes get food brought to them! so they didn't have to go down to the cafeteria). How the hell did that represent the whole vow of poverty motto?
  
  He also was the voice of Jehovah for many convention dramas throughout the years which somehow added to his whole aura of 'importance' (he has quite a voice).
  
  Whenever we would go to an Annual Meeting (at the Stanley Theater back then in NJ, talk about a swanky place to have your Annual Meeting!) and my Uncle was there, people seemed to talk to him with such reverence. It always made me so disgusted. Even at assemblies and conventions, there would be groups around him, almost like they were about to ask for his photograph.
  
  Anyway, there is so much more, but I am drinking my morning cup of coffee here at work and my brain needs to catch up.
  
  Anyone here ever go on tours of any of the Bethel facilities? or meet the GB? Share! So curious as to other's views who may not have been as 'connected' :P
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  51

  It's 98 degrees, put on your suit and go to Yankee Stadium

  by IronGland in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  anyone go to that convention in ny back in the 50's?

  remember when they lasted until 8pm?

  in the summer?

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  Rubyvixen

  1950's?
  
  I remember that vividly from the late 1980's, early 1990's!
  
  I remember those stupid little battery powered fans everyone had, warm shastas and those infernal breaded chicken sandwiches and danishes! ugh. I hear they did away with the food service though in recent times? Funny how the food and the battery powered fans and terrible feedback from the microphones in Yankee Stadium and awful sundresses and dramas are what I remember most.
  
  Sometimes my family went away for the convention, Connecticut, Rhode Island and the only thing I remember about that was that I was so happy the convention centers were indoors and I could go swimming afterwards in the hotel pool (modestly and quietly of course so as to show everyone how fabulous we were...haha).
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  59

  Ok...so then here is my 'proper' intro ;)

  by Rubyvixen in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i actually have been reading these forums for about two years now and just decided to finally register.

  where does one go to make a proper intro post?

  edit: alrighty then, i guess i will do my little intro here.

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  Rubyvixen

  Why would I take it personally Honesty? From a young age, being exposed to my uncle and seeing how corrupt and ridiculous the Governing Body was (is) in its operations, that was part of the multitude of things that sent my on the path to question everything and ultimately realize what a cult it truly is and get myself out of there for good. If anything, I love reading those types of posts. It is not only interesting to read what other people who were once in the organization thought about the inner workings of the GB but great to read that people are finally exposing them. Bring it on :)
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  59

  Ok...so then here is my 'proper' intro ;)

  by Rubyvixen in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i actually have been reading these forums for about two years now and just decided to finally register.

  where does one go to make a proper intro post?

  edit: alrighty then, i guess i will do my little intro here.

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  Rubyvixen

  I don't even think the fish would fall for it!! :P