Posts by BackseatDevil

127

Anyone else an Ex Bethel "volunteer"

by BackseatDevil in

i was wondering if there were any other ex-bethelites on here.

i personally regularly went for temporary work at brooklyn then was assigned to the farm for a year and a half.

it was... one of the most bizaare experiences of my life.. so i wrote it all down (finally, after some 15 years) so i won't bore anyone on here with the details of the story - because bethel doesn't show up until chapter 15... and for you straight folks, it gets a bit gay in two places... but nothing gross.

BackseatDevil

@ Heartofaboy BUT NOT GROSS. I didn't write porn, for christ's sake. LOL.

27

We are "On the doorstep of the New World" (Awake!)

by Splash in

anyone see that quote in the latest magazine?.

in full it says:.

"since the things are happening today that jesus told us about, we know that we are right at the very doorstep of the new world, the world to come.

BackseatDevil

OMG, I really laughed at that!

Last I talked to my mother last year, the God's Kingdom was like a pregnant woman who's water has burst.

And I was like, ew. For a gay man, that is NOT the visual I need to act... unless it's to run the other direction.

127

Anyone else an Ex Bethel "volunteer"

by BackseatDevil in

i was wondering if there were any other ex-bethelites on here.

i personally regularly went for temporary work at brooklyn then was assigned to the farm for a year and a half.

it was... one of the most bizaare experiences of my life.. so i wrote it all down (finally, after some 15 years) so i won't bore anyone on here with the details of the story - because bethel doesn't show up until chapter 15... and for you straight folks, it gets a bit gay in two places... but nothing gross.

BackseatDevil

OMG Thank you so much for the nice words. I am an artist and I am SO insecure about everything anyway (LOL) so I was really scared about putting this story out there. So thank you, and please feel free to share with anyone who might be fighting with what they are feeling biologically verses what they are being told is right. And I hope the human emotion and common relatability come through... despite the gay stuff.

@Julia Orwell This is all real and happened to me. I first wrote everything down in "movie script" format about a year or so after it happened so I could remember conversations that took place and the emotions of the scenes. and then about 10 years later when I was mentally able to make a connective story through two very different parts of my life (Houston/The Farm) then I sat down and started writing. It is in 3rd person and written in real time (as if it were happening now) because that was a very VERY different James and creating the story I decided the writer should be the observer and not the participant. It also allowed me to go through a bit of JW dogma and beliefs objectively and not come across as if I personally were attacking them.

@darth frosty It is amazing how the memory worked, but THAT quote was the worst face I had ever seen on my father, and it was so confusing... and as described here the golden child is acused of... apostacy really... it was hard for him to start that conversation, and or that it was difficult to digest. Like, I'm okay now... LOL, but I forgot how heavy that conversation was. it was all so bizaare. and I BEGGED to read that letter. They wouldn't let me anywhere near it.

@jwfacts " The place was soul sapping, a cult version of Stepford Wives. Despite many nice people, there was an equal amount of weirdos and the power hungry." That is an excellent way to describe things. The people who were so used to the day to day routine and basically living their life looking at their shoes, never looking up... are best described as "weirdos". Seriously. Both those sentences hit the nail on the head. And thank you for the complement.

@ Heartofaboy If you want the REAL gayness, it's all in the first part of the book where there's a dungeon master and crack orgy (LOL). The reason why s because I had (and this is real) this idea that I was going to go out and find problems with the world... especially the gay world... and that I would be "scared straight" and for such be able to focus on Bethel with more conviction. The more I got involved, the more about humanity I was learning, from gay and straight men and women. I realized that we all have the same emotions and feelings... we are not any different in our emotional triggers and so I described them as such. things like (in chapter 13) 1 Cor. 7:9 never made sense to me for the first time... stuff like that. But seriously, first part... pretty f'n gay hahaha!

37

Nelson Mandela passes

by designs in

the man who spent 27 years in prison in his relentless effort to free south africa from apartheid has passed at 94.. he sought peace, understanding and tolerance in his efforts to reconcile the nation and the peoples of south africa.

he learned the africaaners language his captors spoke to be able to communicate and share his ideas for a better future.

when ronald reagan and margaret thatcher wanted him to remain in prison mandela forgave them.

BackseatDevil

I get all my news from twitter (who randomly kills off celebrities every once in a while).

But the AP/CNN/Reuters still have him alive.

To answer your question, that many years in prison teaches a man many things. But it is what he teaches us that I find impressive with his strong integrity and (as you mentioned) forgiveness. I don't know who the next Mandela will be. But I'm sure when he arrives, there will be a lot more for us to learn.

-James

127

Anyone else an Ex Bethel "volunteer"

by BackseatDevil in

i was wondering if there were any other ex-bethelites on here.

i personally regularly went for temporary work at brooklyn then was assigned to the farm for a year and a half.

it was... one of the most bizaare experiences of my life.. so i wrote it all down (finally, after some 15 years) so i won't bore anyone on here with the details of the story - because bethel doesn't show up until chapter 15... and for you straight folks, it gets a bit gay in two places... but nothing gross.

BackseatDevil

It is depressing... except at Patterson. Patterson was like a f'n resort. I worked on an project there and with everyone smiling I thought at some point someone was going to offer me iced tea.

But yes, the work is harsh and the routine is tenacious.

51

If ARMAGEDDON Came, Would YOU Repent?

by Cold Steel in

the day finally comes.

you get up one day with the nagging feeling that it's going to be different.

you get dressed, get in the car, then notice how dark the weather's getting.

BackseatDevil

I don't believe I have anything to repent for. So if the world was coming to an end... I'd grab the Jack Daniels and sit on the front porch.

-James

127

Anyone else an Ex Bethel "volunteer"

by BackseatDevil in

i was wondering if there were any other ex-bethelites on here.

i personally regularly went for temporary work at brooklyn then was assigned to the farm for a year and a half.

it was... one of the most bizaare experiences of my life.. so i wrote it all down (finally, after some 15 years) so i won't bore anyone on here with the details of the story - because bethel doesn't show up until chapter 15... and for you straight folks, it gets a bit gay in two places... but nothing gross.

BackseatDevil

Dagney i would LOVE to see that cartoon. lol.

darth frosty I am extremely happy to hear you're enjoying it. I really worked hard to try an harness a lot of emotion that was flying around in a completely emotionless world. so... honestly appreciate your complement. Thank you

127

Anyone else an Ex Bethel "volunteer"

by BackseatDevil in

i was wondering if there were any other ex-bethelites on here.

i personally regularly went for temporary work at brooklyn then was assigned to the farm for a year and a half.

it was... one of the most bizaare experiences of my life.. so i wrote it all down (finally, after some 15 years) so i won't bore anyone on here with the details of the story - because bethel doesn't show up until chapter 15... and for you straight folks, it gets a bit gay in two places... but nothing gross.

BackseatDevil

sosoconfused Ridiculous. BTW I just wrote all this life at the Farm stuff down, and it was exhausting. I haven't ever really met another ex-bethelite because shortly after being kicked out, I was DF'd, so there wasn't a lot of association with others that had been to Bethel. but, i hope i'm not bringing up any bad memories or causing you to upset something traumatic or anything.

7

WHO is the programmer for.........................what YOU are?

by Terry in

(if you just read that short sentence you thought about what i meant when i wrote it and its implications.).

our very lives depend on how efficiently our thinking supplies our human needs.

survival=efficient thinking.. i ask you now: is that true (what i just wrote about survival=efficient thinking)?.

BackseatDevil

Thank you for that as well. I have always found that weaving webs is something necessary if one is to stand still an survive. I don't do this. I move forward. It means I have to work a little harder for my meals, but at least i'm eating steak and not flies. :-)

127

Anyone else an Ex Bethel "volunteer"

by BackseatDevil in

i was wondering if there were any other ex-bethelites on here.

i personally regularly went for temporary work at brooklyn then was assigned to the farm for a year and a half.

it was... one of the most bizaare experiences of my life.. so i wrote it all down (finally, after some 15 years) so i won't bore anyone on here with the details of the story - because bethel doesn't show up until chapter 15... and for you straight folks, it gets a bit gay in two places... but nothing gross.

BackseatDevil

@Found Sheep what did your brother do at the farm?

@life is to short if you read above, you know how jealous I was of you guys. LOL.