jgnat, how did he die? You made it sound like he took his own life...
Christ Alone
JoinedPosts by Christ Alone
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95
What was it about Bethel that woke you up?
by cognisonance inone the how many exbethelites thread it was mentioned that some think one either leaves down the path towards apostasy or as a 100% true believer.
i'm curious what experiences did you face at bethel that woke you up (or started to at least)?.
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95
What was it about Bethel that woke you up?
by cognisonance inone the how many exbethelites thread it was mentioned that some think one either leaves down the path towards apostasy or as a 100% true believer.
i'm curious what experiences did you face at bethel that woke you up (or started to at least)?.
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Christ Alone
Nevermind, I found it. There are 17 parts!!! Here are the links:
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95
What was it about Bethel that woke you up?
by cognisonance inone the how many exbethelites thread it was mentioned that some think one either leaves down the path towards apostasy or as a 100% true believer.
i'm curious what experiences did you face at bethel that woke you up (or started to at least)?.
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Christ Alone
jgnat, the link takes you to a non existant page 20 of his previous posts. Do you know the correct page to read his story?
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Is The Book of Revelation All About Me & My Generation?
by ClubSandwich injws believe the book of revelation offers an account of what is to come in their lifetime.
but the problem is that every generation for the last 1900 years has thought the same thing.
and, every generation has been wrong, even though each new one thinks it will be about me and my generation this time.. most reputable bible scholars believe that revelation, also called the apocalypse of john, was not written to describe the future for people living today.
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Christ Alone
Can "Do some research" "wiki" be in the same sentence?
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JWpedia.org - a new transparent, unbiased, neutral wiki
by pickledparsnip inhi all.. as requested by many membeers of the exjw reddit community a jw wiki was created, in an effort to centralise easy-to-read info on everything from doctrines, to past lawsuits, to literature.
we aim to stay as npov as possible, hoping to not look outright 'apostate' (i.e.
bitter exjws flaming) but rather a professional collection of information.. we would appreciate any contribution, at the moment there are very few of us doing all the work when we have free time.
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Christ Alone
pickledparsnip, you have a PM
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95
What was it about Bethel that woke you up?
by cognisonance inone the how many exbethelites thread it was mentioned that some think one either leaves down the path towards apostasy or as a 100% true believer.
i'm curious what experiences did you face at bethel that woke you up (or started to at least)?.
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Christ Alone
They're simply Bethel rules. (Example: We were forbidden to wear Bermuda shorts anywhere in Brooklyn Heights, for any reason, at any time.)
Or shirts with any type of logo. Big no no.
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95
What was it about Bethel that woke you up?
by cognisonance inone the how many exbethelites thread it was mentioned that some think one either leaves down the path towards apostasy or as a 100% true believer.
i'm curious what experiences did you face at bethel that woke you up (or started to at least)?.
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Christ Alone
LWT, were you at bethel when some bethelites went to a swing dance club and were scouted for GQ? It was a huge thing when I was there, but I think maybe you left right before I got there. They were at a swing dance club (sin 1), were scouted and talked to their overseer about the opportunity for a photo shoot, and they were (supposedly) told that it was a-ok. They went to the photo shoot and appeared in GQ. The GB got wind of it and they were asked to leave. Interestingly their overseer was given a tongue lashing but allowed to stay. How does that make any sense?
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95
What was it about Bethel that woke you up?
by cognisonance inone the how many exbethelites thread it was mentioned that some think one either leaves down the path towards apostasy or as a 100% true believer.
i'm curious what experiences did you face at bethel that woke you up (or started to at least)?.
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Christ Alone
LWT, remember how you could subscribe to sports illustrated, but you were not allowed to get the swimsuit edition? When my swimsuit edition arrived, I had to go to my home overseer and sign a statement that they could dispose of the magazine. Women with bikinis or scantily dressed in magazines were considered "softcore porn" at bethel. No joke. They actually called the swimsuit addition "softcore porn".
As a joke one of my roomates signed me up for a free issue of FHM without telling me. I got pulled to my overseers office to "talk" about it. He had made photo copies of some of the images in the magazine and asked me if I still wanted it. He said, "Understand that if you decide to keep the magazine, you will be asked to leave bethel immediately." I obviously told him that I did not subscribe to it and it must have been a mistake. What's funny is I remember that the photocopies were marked up with a marker to cover up the bikinis in the mag...
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95
What was it about Bethel that woke you up?
by cognisonance inone the how many exbethelites thread it was mentioned that some think one either leaves down the path towards apostasy or as a 100% true believer.
i'm curious what experiences did you face at bethel that woke you up (or started to at least)?.
.
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Christ Alone
Examples?
There were many. We commonly heard about many negative things about the organization at bethel. For example DF'ing is VERY regular at bethel. They announce the df'ings to everyone, and they happen almost weekly. Monday - Wednesday Brooklyn, Walkill, and Patterson were tied in to listen to the GB do morning worship. So if you are df'd, then it is announced to around 3000 people. Sort of like your df'ing being announced at a Circuit Assembly!
We were also told about many problems at bethel. I recall Bro Couch speaking about homosexuality at bethel once. This would've been around 2000. He said that many of the young brothers were getting involved with it. He said, "First you decide to wrestle around with your roomate in your underwear and then...WAM BAM you're a homo!!!" Everyone thought it was cute. But I was disgusted. Anything negative at bethel is NOT to be shared. If we heard about suicides or others sins at bethel, we were not to talk about it. The IMAGE of Bethel is very important. Actually Bethel is ALL about image. When we gave our tours we were to keep that "fantasy" strong in the brothers mind. This was God's organization. It should look, smell, taste, and feel like it. When the brothers came to lunch, they should taste Jehovah.
I recall one morning worship where we were told about the rampant problem of pornography. The speaker said that men at the top were the worst offenders. CO's and DO's were commonly removed because of it. They were the number one offenders. Then elders. Then MS's. Interestingly publishers were at the bottom. Although that makes sense since they would not commonly go to the elders about this problem. I remember that we were specifically told not to share the info.
Confidentiality is very important at bethel. Nothing is to be shared. Your 'Dwelling' book was destroyed when you left. You had to turn it in and sign that you turned all confidential info into them. BTW, did anyone keep theirs? Can it be downloaded anywhere? I think that many of you guys would be fascinated by the thousands of rules and structure that one must follow at bethel. There are even rules for how many items you may place on a surface. I believe it was 3 items per surface. So if you had an end table, you could place a lamp, a clock, and one other item on it. No more!
What got me to wake up was seeing that it was all a big illusion. It was a total fantasy. Some loved the fantasy and fell for it. Hence LWT's statement that some leave bethel 100% in for good. But those that saw that the reality was that it was a fantasy left very disheartened. I think most leave thinking that THEY were the problem, not God's organization. For me it took another 8 years before I officially left. But my heart was out the moment I left. I remember crying all the way to the airport when I left. I wasn't good enough for God's organization.
Once you see the man behind the curtain, the magic of bethel is gone. Some of the GB were rude. I personally didn't care for Losche specifically. I tried talking to him a few times, and his response felt like it was a chore to talk to me. I had only been there for 2 years. I must not have "earned" the priviledge.
Another eye opener was the near constant tongue lashings I got from the older members. I remember cleaning a locker room once and I got ripped to shreds by a brother for using hot water. His near exact words were, "You new boys make me sick. You waste Bethel's water. You waste money that belongs to God. And you don't even care!" I tried to explain to him that hot water helps to kill dangerous bacteria. But he would have none of it. So I finally told him, "Go to your computer and look up the necessity of hot water while cleaning and then talk to me tomorrow." With what looked like murderous venom in his eyes he said, "See? You new boys have a BA!!!" (Bad Attitude in bethel speak).
So to make a long story short, what caused me to wake up was seeing that image not reality was most important at bethel. It doesn't matter what you do or don't do as long as the image of bethel is not stained. It's all about the outside. All about what you look like. All about what you say. All about who you hang with. There is no faith. It's not about what you believe, but what you look like. When I went back to the congregation I saw that this was the same. They look at the exterior person, and couldn't care less about the interior. Bethel was the same, just worse.
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'Our Friend Sparlock' DVD is about to get the AX
by dropoffyourkeylee inletter was read yesterday that the 'listen, obey' dvd (featuring sparlock) will no longer be produced starting in january, 2013 (midwest us).
the content will be available only on line at jw.org.
future releases of video or songs in the same series will also be available only online.
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Christ Alone
I wonder if some of this is supposed to help curb the illegal copying of the materials. It won't work of course. Technology has surpassed their ability to do this. They could try to enforce some kind of login system like Netflix to view their materials and restrict downloads. However, logins can be shared and rips of their materials will still happen.
i think this is just another example of the wt cutting costs further making us question their financial stability.