Hi y'all...
For Gingerbread and SoSo:
I am not talking about the ones with weak or old minds. re the real leaders - not necessarily the real old ones - many on the list are in fine states of mind. This is the generation AFTER Knorr mostly. We are not talking about men in diapers. They don't have to DO anything anyways - just to be there and make decisions, which they can do from a chair. They don't care about the beliefs, the prophecies, or the future of trhe world. They don't go door to door or attend many meetings. Just think of it like an Italian family with patriarchs. I doubt they even care if you drink blood or go to a church. You get jaded at Bethel, couldn't give a damn about doctrine, and rarely go to meetings... but you are a family head and are respected and obeyed. Many are jaded at Bethel - it is isolation. Few elders that had been there over 10-15 years cared about ANY of the things you think they do. All they care about is the mighty ORGANIZATION - SECURITY in their old age! But they are pretty cranky, you don't cross them or they will punish you, and you damn well better respect them!!
Don't treat me like I'm some 40 year removed relic. I'm in relatively good health, my mind is good, and I keep in touch with certain key people - as do many other "apostates" like Alan Feuerbacher. We're not talking sports and track meets!
Sure they're too old to work for many, but many ARE ALSO MY AGE. 61 IS NOT OLD. I just have some inherited physical problems but I can do much of what I did 20-30 years ago.
They are simply grooming the new GB. It happened with Rutherford, Knorr, and now with them... exactly the same scenario. They just covet SENIORITY and power. They got the new boys (GB) on a leash for 3-5 years then they drop out once they are trained. But these new guys are pretty dumb if you ask me. Plus it's obvious they have not been handed the mantle of power yet. (A perpetual scenario that they have written extensively on).
These are things you cannot know unless you have lived there quite a while, so I don't expect you to understand. There is absolutely NO MYSTERY to it!!
They train then let the current GB make most of the decisions, make asses of themselves, make policy, doctrine, etc.... most of which are made by the non-anointed anyway and have been for years! The older ones have no interest in most things like that.
A lot of the men on the boards of Directors (look at the long list) are not THAT old. I am 61 and they aren't much older. I go scuba diving, hiking and dirt biking, ride dirt bikes, listen to 60s rock music, use herbs, only need 3 hours sleep a night and never take naps, and am pretty strong. My dad died at 85 from a car-hitting-deer accident, but would have been fine until 90 or so. My mom is 85 and not too bad... no big incapacitating issues. Her mind is sharp but Alzheimers affects her memory. All those on both sides of my family lived until 80-90 or more and were sharp and funny. No one ever gets sick! (Genetic issues are another thing.)
I'm going to drop it because you really have to be there, or be raised in a several generation old-school family to understand... trying to explain it to outsiders is almost a waste of time.
I could start a new business once I get my health together and work for another 20 years... but my skeletal issues would hate it.
Also, as a rule, the older Bethelites are in much better health than their worldly counterparts. They are isolated from the sick world.
That's all I'm going to say. You want more, ask another old-time Bethelite who was in the know (worked in the home and knew these guys) and they will COMPLETELY understand, and you never will.
NOW LET'S GO RUN THAT 5K FOLKS!!
Randy
? 1:11 ? 1:11
? 15:12 ? 15:12
