Memorial Bragging Rights: We Had a "Bethel Speaker"...Ooooooo..

by Open mind 47 Replies latest jw friends

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  Open mind

  Room 215: "... more often then not, a massive letdown..."

  Absolutely. What's really sad is that I think it's that way by design. A few years back we had a very talented Bethel speaker come out and the only redeeming bit about his whole visit was that he also gave the Sunday talk. He followed the outline pretty well, but had enough latitude to make it fairly interesting. But the Memorial talk was STRICTLY by the outline and boring as hell. You could tell that the Branch had sent him out with a straight jacket for the Memorial.

  usualusername: "I think some Bethel speakers clean toilets for a living."

  I've never known one. Have you? Most approved Bethel speakers have been there quite a while and have moved up the ranks by then. Actually a new boy toilet scrubber would probably be more interesting than those who have had most of life's spark removed by years at the Big House.

  OTWO: "Free trip, pocket money. Great deal for a starving couple and they credit the people who overwork them and underpay them for sending them out."

  Agreed. From the Bethelite's perspective, it's a nice little perk to look forward to. I was thinking though that these days with the economy in the toilet, I'm surprised the Borg hasn't eliminated outgoing Bethel speakers, particularly to the West Coast. Round trip airfare alone for the speaker and his wife runs around $1000 - $1200. For a congo of 100 that's $10-12 per person. Fairly spendy by JW standards. Most of the time I've seen the elders twist the congo's arm into paying for it. It would be different if a deep pocket elder or two wanted to foot the bill themselves.

  (Hope to reply to others later on break, but I'm at work now.)

  om
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  Open mind

  Just saw Barbara's post. Thanks for your perspective. Gotta go just now.

  om
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  Stealth

  When I used the word Hypocrite, I was refering to those who were responsible for the policy that I could not collect baseball cards because it was idol worship. I doublt the average bethelite was responsible for that policy. I was speaking of those at the very top, the policy makers, the members of the governing body who happened to be the last bethel speaker that I heard. It is those who seek all of the worship for themselves, not the average bethelite.
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  Londo111

  Barbara,

  Thank you for that perspective. That was truly food for thought. I guess in our pain sometimes, we forget that those at Bethel are as much under mind control as we were. However, these were sincere folks who thought they were pleasing God and made many sacrifices out of devotion.
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  tresdecu

  We also had a bethel speaker, from Patterson...a 30ish nerdy guy who smiled alot. He did a decent job with what he had to work with.

  Also thank-you Barbara for what you wrote. That was an interesting perspective, and a very real account of how it is. The cat hair part grossed me out a bit though. :-) I also like what you said re JWs "...made up of mostly very sincere people with all the usual assets and deficits" I always try to remember that as my angst continues to grow post J-Dubdom.
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  AndersonsInfo

  When I think back now, some of the things we went through are funny, but at the time not so. About the cat hair: I was so upset that I remade the bed so that a considerable amount of top sheet was under our necks and covered a lot of the black, cat-hairy blanket. I could hardly sleep thinking that maybe the cat left more than hair on the bed. In the morning, when we closed the sofa, we found cat turd under the bed. But we pressed on, martyrs that we were. Barb
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  Eiben Scrood

  Barbara, thanks for the perspective. Some of my family "served" in Bethel and I always thought it an apt term as I would sometimes tell others they were in prison. I can't even imagine what a living hell my life would have been there with the even greater amount of rules.

  There are good and bad people everywhere including Bethel. I found many to be nice and also others, including family members, to be absolutely unsufferable with their arrogance and displays of "piety".
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  cofty

  Thanks Barbara, its important to keep things in perspective.
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  wha happened?

  Barb's providing us with the flip side is interesting because the dubs view is really just fantasy. I remember talking about it with other dubs what the work is like for Bethelites. We considered it a spiritual paradise surrounded with like minded people. We never thought that the disregard for a person went up this far. Apparently anyone outside of the GB is subject to slave-like labor
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  Open mind

  Thanks again Barbara for your very funny/painful account. It sounds like the speaking trips made by car on the East Coast could be a real crap shoot. And, even if you were treated very well, given the Bethel schedule, it's still exhausting. I think a lot of times it would depend on just how much of a pressure cooker your Bethel job was. I knew a few Bethelites who kind of treated it like "JW Club Med". They traveled the globe, got treated great and had jobs they actually liked. But I think they were probably more the exception than the rule.
  
  The bragging rights and "idolizing" are done among the local JWs. I can guarantee you that if Joe and Barbara were still Bethelites and came to our area, the usual handfull of name-dropping status seekers would be casually mentioning to members of surrounding congos: "So did you hear? Brother Anderson from Bethel is giving our Memorial Talk. How about your hall?" Knowing full well that the person they're talking to is just having Joe Local give their talk.
  
  Very petty. Very sad.
  
  One last thing, most Bethel couples I've seen have been very corporate and professional. They actually do a pretty good job of PR for Bethel, IMO. It's a strange mix of friendliness, polish and careful discretion.
  
  om