Posts by The Bethelite

12

My Grandmothers Funeral

by Enrique Tomlinson 1 in

my beloved grandmother has passed away and her funeral is next week at a kingdom hall.

she was a loyal jw, and unfortunately i am not understanding of the funeral procedures.

please could you kindly explain what what will happen in the funeral?

The Bethelite

Yes it's true...they will talk about your dead Grandmother for about 5 minutes 10 if you are lucky, the rest will be a plug for Jehover.

People are not important in the religion.....only the organization matters.

24

Oh How Far I've Come

by pale.emperor in

so this weekend my girlfriend and i will move into our own place together.

it turns out that “a cord of three strands is stronger” is bullshit and two people in a relationship are perfectly capable of being happy without outside influence.

what a journey i’ve had since leaving 3 and a half years ago!

The Bethelite

You have come a long way my young Jedi master!

23

Happy Alcoholic Jehovah's Witnesses

by The Bethelite in

jw
friends

for many years since the witness organization, after i have told people that i'm no longer a jehovah's witness, people would say "oh the religion were people are not allowed to drink!".

"no they drink alright.....they can't do much of anything else but they do drink!".

in fact the first place i ever got drunk was bethel.

"at noon we had a bottle of wine at the noon-table. Most of the time I had a “aperitief” before that at one of the return-visits. And at night a couple of wines. So I can’t agree with the opinions to be frankly."

Of course there was no drinking problem "wine for lunch" a shot out in service and a couple of bottles at night you got all the booze you wanted and needed!

23

Happy Alcoholic Jehovah's Witnesses

by The Bethelite in

jw
friends

for many years since the witness organization, after i have told people that i'm no longer a jehovah's witness, people would say "oh the religion were people are not allowed to drink!".

"no they drink alright.....they can't do much of anything else but they do drink!".

in fact the first place i ever got drunk was bethel.

The Bethelite

For many years since the Witness organization, after I have told people that I'm no longer a Jehovah's Witness, people would say "Oh the religion were people are not allowed to drink!"

"No they drink alright.....they can't do much of anything else but they do drink!"

Yes they do for sure. In fact the first place I ever got drunk was Bethel. Most people know here that at Bethel the booze flows like water. From the top of the organization to the toilet bowl cleaner, most there did some serious self medicating.

After over 50 years in the organization and and 15 congregations I knew many alcoholic "brothers and sisters"

Where as the Witnesses don't cut each other much slack for the slightest infractions for some odd reason when it comes to over drinking most the time the powers that be will look the other way.

And why? Because the powers that be are pounding it down just like everyone else!

I know I was way over drinking when I was "in"

Could you blame us? We were stuck in a very restrictive 1800s religion that believed the end of the world was coming any day!

In fact I only knew of only 2 people ever to get disfellowshipped for over drinking in the 50 years I was in. Was this a coincidence? I think not.

I'm sure there are millions of happy alcoholic Jehovah's Witness who know they could get Disfellowshipped for all kinds of reasons but drunkenness will probably not be one of them!

So leaving the Witnesses was good for my mind and my liver too!

17

What Books Have You Read That Been Critical Of The Jehovah's Witnesses?

by The Bethelite in

jw
friends

please rate your top choices .

1. crises of conscience.

ray franz.

The Bethelite

Please rate your top choices

1. Crises of Conscience. Ray Franz

2. Journey to God's house. Brock Talon

3. Leaving the Witness. Amber Scorah

Your picks?

60

Rec'd a letter from my Dad - need some advice...

by Fadeaway3pointer in

fader here - last meeting was in autumn 2005. lurker on this site and others.

not one to get all controversial.. typical situation, pretty much a born in and left the church at age 38 and never looked back.. i'm 53 now, parents getting older - late 70s but very active, dad is still an elder.. parents, in laws, brother and brother-in-law still uber active jws.. my family (wife and 2 adult children) out since 2005.. we have stayed close to our parents - we have treaded religion lightly and have had a pretty good relationship and have kept our personal lives and beliefs/opinions separated from them.

this was intentional - as we love them and do not want anything to cause shunning since they are getting older and want to be there for them and we respect their beliefs.. got this letter today.

The Bethelite

Two options

1. "the famous Indian Navajo trick" (must read my book New Boy to find out what it is)

2. Reverse shunn. Ask them is there any reason the can't have a relationship with their grandchildren since the haven't got baptized yet. If they say "no reason" say well they believe just like me and my wife and other "worldly people" you know they associate with so whats the big deal!

40

Double Standards of the Watchtower

by Vanderhoven7 in

are you aware of any double standards promoted by the organization of jehovah's witnesses?

here a a few i am aware of:.

1. the wts equated joining the ymca with apostasy but felt free to join the un for 10 years (1991-2001).

The Bethelite

Yes the Catch 22 on education.

If you listened to them and didn't go to college and went to Bethel they gave you the shitest jobs there.

However,

if you didn't listen to them and went against their stand on "higher education" they rewarded you with a great job at Bethel.

24

My BPD Sister Passed Away

by babygirl30 in

jw
friends

i have started this, then restarted it, and it still sucks to even write this out - but my younger sister passed away unexpectedly last saturday (on my birthday).

i am going through all the grieving emotions, but there is more to the story that i could never and would never talk about to anyone that didn't understand the jw rhetoric.

so...here i am.. my sister has had borderline personality disorder (bpd) for as long as i can remember.

The Bethelite

I only have one suggestion.

You wrote a letter to all of us here....You should write a letter to your sister, even though she is gone.

You should write another letter to your niece and your parents also.

Pour your heart out to them all...Tell them how you feel.

Will it do any good? Maybe.... I think so. Plus there is something powerful about putting it all on paper.

Plus they will never be able to say. "They didn't know how you felt about your sister passing."

Namaste my friend

48

2019 service report is out

by slimboyfat in

the 2019 report is out:.

https://download-a.akamaihd.net/files/media_publication/29/syr19_e.pdf.

the “average publisher” figure for individual countries has made a comeback!

The Bethelite

A decrease of 3.2% in kingdom halls is good! If they maintain this same rate of 3.2% decrease over the next 35...... years there wont be be any Kingdom halls left!!!

15

How can a building dedicated to God, be sold?

by krismalone in

i was just wondering this morning about all the kingdom halls and branches being sold to "babylon the great" and other businesses.

every single kingdom hall and bethel branch that has been sold was "dedicated to jehovah" by the watchtower corporation.

a special meeting with a guest speaker gives a talk and then offers a prayer dedicating the building to yhwh.

The Bethelite

Since Jehovah is as real as Baal.....what difference does it make?