by POs Son 16 Replies latest jw friends
I have been to both, Bethel (all 3 complexes: Brooklyn, Walkill, Paterson plus the Jersey City Stanley Theater) as a teenager, and to tour the LDS (Mormon) complex in Salt Lake City as an adult. I did Bethel as a "Witness" Child, and SLC as a totally non-JW adult. The LDS complex seemed more open to the public, inviting and comfortable. Their buildings are beautiful and inspirational and impecibly clean.
Thoughts?
Having not been to any LDS stuff I can't compare.
I have been to Bethel. Bethel was clean, neat, fairly modern and the people were friendly...but it was still a manufacturing plant. Just like the last auto plant I toured. Clean, neat, modern and the people were friendly.
At least they're encouraged to make money and go to college. (Not to mention the only 2 year mission thing instead of the rest of your life)
I’ve seen both and they were eerily similar. The people were all dressed up like CO’s and elders wives.
Men had suits and women wore long dresses. The buildings were more churchlike but the people were very similar.
I had business dealings with a woman in Utah. The AAA club will tell you that Utah is about 75% Mormon. That’s a crock. It’s more like 60% Mormon and 40% EX Mormon.
Ex Mormons are treated as disfellowshipped. So they basically have their own social/work system to survive in a Mormon world.
Interestingly, Utah has one of the highest suicide rates for teenagers in the country. I also saw an inordinate amount of Gothic teenagers.
There is similarity also in their culture because it is so strict and extremely conservative. They also have similarities in power hungry clergy types preying on the flock. (According to the ex Mormon I spoke with who gave her experience)
If we could have a 'meter' to measure control-freak-ism, and totally benign is 0(like a good milk-toast Methodist) and totally evil and dangerous is 10(like Jim Jones or David Koresh groups) then I would say that the LDS are a 3 and moving toward a 2 ... they used to be a7or 8 in the 1800s. The Watchtower was about a 4 in the 1960s and moving toward a 3 ... but they got stuck at 4 and seem to be moving back to a 5 ... in my opinion.
would be interesting to see both, only been to The Ridgeway,Mill Hill London, never even saw the Bittacy Hill complex
:The LDS complex seemed more open to the public, inviting and comfortable. Their buildings are beautiful and inspirational and impecibly clean.
:Thoughts?
I've been to both. Plus, I grew up in Salt Lake City. One of my great-grandparents worked on the Tabernacle. It's quite an amazing building. No metal nails were used in its construction and its accoustics are spectacular. When a pin is dropped on the stage, one can clearly hear it in the very back of the hall. I know because I witnessed that demonstration.
That being said, the most spectacular building in Temple Square is the Mormon Temple itself. Non-Mormons and even Mormons not in perfect standing in the Church are not allowed to enter it.
The other main difference is the beauty of the Mormon temple compared with the "beauty" of the Watchtower complex in Brooklyn. One looks like something befitting as an edifice dedicated to a God. The other looks befitting as an edifice dedicated to a Printing Corporation.
Farkel
I interrupt this thread for a word from our sponsors.
I did a comparison of Mormons to dubs here, in case anyone's interested. It has nothing to do with HQ, just beliefs and practices.
I now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.
Thanks for the comparison. The Bethel HQ was touted as one reason why an outsider became interested in the org. "They were so clean, neat, well-dressed, well-mannered, etc," is a paraphrase of the man. Of course, the Mormons have the same qualities at their HQ too!
Thanks for the link to your comparison of ex-Mormons and ex-JWs. Very similar except for a few areas.
I remember back in my old city, on a bank holiday there was this "open day" of all the places that were usually closed to the public - old buildings that had turned to offices , masonic lodge etc) an interesting one was mormon meeting place - i went in there, and it was freaky how much like a hall it was , down to the over eager kids in suits giving me tracts about how great life as a mormon is.
Then I went to the synagogue and chatted to the rabbi who was equally happy to chat about the rugby as his was about religion (Which we did a lot of)
