A thread that was posted recently was talking about the audiocassette and it brought back memories of how I became a Company Man or as we used to say ?A Society Man? DUE TO THOSE CASSETTES
O yes-- the reading of the mags- well when i was at bethel there was a reading test given to all MS who wanted to sign up for the opportunity to be a audiocassette reader/ dramas
well it had to have been 400-500 guys NO SISTERS- WERE INVITED-- they would just been hand picked- but we the bro had to audition
and that is where i first met RP Johnson- the Man who would be one of my most important mentors? I will have to tell you about JR Brown another day- smile
JUST A LITTLE BACKGROUND INFO ON THIS MAN we ALL CALL RP JOHNSON
RP Johnson is a short light skinned black bro with a very shy wife who is just as nice as she can be- but don?t mess with her though-
he used to be a CO and DO in most of the black inner city areas, he was called to bethel and has gained a reputation as a Society Trouble Shooter- He will be sent by the society to CLEAN THINGS UP and clean things up he does
I recall one exp he shared of it was either Detroit or Cleveland ? anyway-- he went out to delete some elders and when he got to the hall this one Big Black bro as he put it---walked up to him before the meeting and told him
?YOU BETTER NOT DELETE ME?
my man told him--YOU ARE DELETED RIGHT NOW- -
no meeting , no letter back to bethel JUST TOOK HOMEBOY STRIPS RIGHT THERE ON THE SPOT-
then during the meeting he made a decision that you, you, you and you are deleted and this MS and this MS are appointed as elders
so asked him
How could you do that without sending in a recommendation to bethel like the CO HAS TO DO-
he pulled out his bible and flipped to Titus I think where Paul gave timothy the authority to APPOINT OLDER MEN
and he told me that that authority was given to him by the GB when he left bethel-- as it is with all bethel elders sent out on SOCIETY BUSINESS such as this
I said to myself : Damn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY BOY BOY IS DEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!
SO THIS is just to set the background on who and what this man does
So now to the reading test----
It?s kinda funny looking back cause what happened was we were all lined up in this long hallway over in the 25 building and when you came out of the testing room and there had to have been maybe 20 testers (service dept , writing dept guys) doing the testing
So after I started reading about 3 line he stopped me and asked
ARE YOU FROM DOWN SOUTH
YES SIR
I thought so he said
He explained that the wt was looking for a certain type of reader (Sound more white) so ?WE? need to improve ?OUR? reading abilities so that the Society can use ?US? like they use ?Others? WINK WINK WINK
Now blacks folks will know what I?m talking about- I will explain no further -smile-
Anyway AFTER THIS LONG A$$ SPEECH MY BOY FLUNKS ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
so when you walked out all Your Boys were still in the hall waiting thier turn and you could tell WHO [PASSED AND WHO FLUNKED- BY THE LOOK ON THEIR FACES
so when i came out --yes my boys dogged me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
well hell i thought i could read-
DAMN i knew i couldn't spell-- but not read- WELL HE TOLD ME i sounded TOO Country since i was from NC--
you were allowed to read anything you wanted DURING THE TEST SUCH AS the wt or year book about a paragraph or two
anyway --a couple days latter george gangas a GB-- made a comment about all those who tried out and-- it put my flunking into prospective
he told us at breakfast that "BACK HOME" you all were the Cream of the Crop of young men, the shining stars in your local congo and local circuit and for that reason we have called you to bethel
We ONLY WANT THE BEST OF THE BEST OF YOUNG MEN-
SO NOW -- you no longer stand out among others who too were the cream of the crop- so don't feel bad if you got CUT!!!!!!
3 OR 4 DAYS LATER I WAS working in the factory-- the phone rung ? ?HEY JT telephone!!!!?
I said hello
Hi this is bro RP Johnson- I just wanted to follow up with you on the reading issues-
Would you like to improve in your reading-
Yes sir
Well meet me in the Towers conference room after the Monday night wt study
So I was like ? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?
why would this bethel heavy take an interest in me as a newboy-
So I told a very dear friend-a guy whom everyone thought we were brothers
he had 6yrs at bethel and I had 1 yr of bethel,
and we sorta did look alike ? both had little neat afros, always clean cut and dress down with Penny loafers and argiles socks ? smile
I told him that RP called me man, what up-
He explained that RP had taken about a dozen black bro under his wings to groom them to be SOCIETY MEN and now I was being included]
I could not believe it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So when I got to the conference room he was sitting there with a legal pad, tape recorder, school guide book and wt mag
And that night is the night I started on my journey to become a SOCIETY MAN!!!!!!!!!!!
We would get together twice a month at first and he would have me read and record it , play it back and listen to how I sounded,
then we took the school guide book apart chapter by chapter on the qualities of being a good speaker, - after my first Public talk assigment from my elders----he told me he would help me put it together
?Love the ID Mark Of True Christain? talk #10 I think=
he taught me how to make a talk live , how to move folks to take actions, how to tell exp whether they were old or new one, how to MAKE THEM LIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!-
yes how move the friends to TEARS!!!!!!!!!!111
AND I STArted putting into practice what he had taught me- after a while we moved on to the next level of HOW to become a Society man,
he started me as a MS putting together a Sheparding Manual, clipping articles, exp, and subjects
Marriage, youth, depression, encouragement, field service tips , organizing my KM in order of subject, etc-
He always told me--- as black man there are two things you must always do in order to be successful in the organization
1. Love the Friends
2. KNOW ORGANIZATIONAL PROCEDURE LIKE THE BACK OF YOUR HAND!!!!!!!!!!!
Being a former DO he had the big suit case often called a CO BAG or captain case full of 3 ring binders- and he gave me copies of as many things as he could that he could let me have not being an elder
and told me-- once appointed as an elder I could get the rest from the congo files as an elder-
he explained that the organization had a policy that if you could QUOTE OR REF the organization on an issue the other elders had to CONCEDE TO YOUR VIEW POINT
so as he put it --YOU MAY NOT ALWAYS BE LIKE-- BUT YOU WILL ALWAYS BE RIGHT--
so I made it may goal to know the page and paragraph- so when the friends would ask some bro for advice I could see them REACHING for an answer off the top of their head-
I would merely say ? You may want to take a look at the june 15 83 wt QFR-
In fact the group of young black bro that I used to hang with we would challenge each other on organizational and scriptural issues so that we could--- as we used to saY-- SHARPEN IRON WITH IRON-
SO WHEN I left bethel I had a Sheparding ref manual that would probably challenge ones that some CO even carried-
Then I moved into a congo here in DC with 4 former Bethelites, one was a former missionary, branch committee member and IS STILL A VOTING MEMBER goes up each Oct to vote on the President of the wt society
I was in heaven ? cause I had friends who left bethel moved to Kentucky and got stuck in some DOWN HOME CONGO where organizational procedures didn?t mean JACK!!!!!!!!!!1
?WE HAVE BEEN DOING THIS WAY FOR YEARS , BEFORE YOU CAME HERE Bro AND WE WILL BE DOING THIS WAY WHEN YOU LEAVE0 in fact you can leave and go on back to bethel?-- mindset----------- is what many of my buddies ran into when they moved out to the BACKWOODS congos
I WAS SO THANKFUL to be in a very progressive hall, so I viewed all of this as BLESSING FROM JAH-
WE ran that congo like a Ltttle bethel, everything was done like CLOCK WORK- all demo had to be rehearsed on Sunday before tues service meeting
We used to have folks in the DC area come just to see how we did the school and service meetng- so at that point I was riding high-
I WAS APPOINTED AT 27 AS AN ELDER-----was on the District program at 29 and started working in the Chairman's office at 30
I was one of the youngest guys up in the "SKYBOX" While all the friends sat on hard seats in Richmond and the Capital Center in MD for the convention
my wife and I were up in the Skyboxes with AC chilling out
While other friends could not get a cool drink of water at their seats We had a MS who would run down to the food stands and bring us up our food and drink,
which we enjoyed thruout the ENTIRE program
My wife never stood in line to use the bathroom we had one in our skybox
As they say at bethel --I was on the FAST TRACK.?
FOR MANY on the net I see their exp. and they felt they were cut short or dealt with unkindly by the elders AND FRIENDS, yes they felt that they got DOGGED, yep THE SHAFT
Or they were just the outcast of their Congo- So when they come to the net they are mad as Hell
That was not the case for me?
I was loved and well respected --Almost ALL of our CO's were former bethelites and they always made sure that any former bethelite got parts on the Circuit and District program
Not much was the result of "God gave him that assignment" MORE LIKE ---"Who you know" The CO's just like giving parts to all the former bethelites--- as one CO told us
"I know you guys are trained" So for me I was happy as a lark, fine wife, ok job, well respected elder who was on the fast track So why in the world would I as one of my bethel buddies put it: "Bite the hand that feeds you"
Being a good Society man I did what I was told without question---
Well it all started back in 95 when The Boys in Writing Dropped the Generation doctrine One night 3 couples all former bethelites we were sitting around talking about it and it's implications on what we teach
You see bethelites have always to some degree questioned the org more than most Local bro do Then The Writing Dept dropped the Separating of the sheep and Goats Then They dropped the "Alternative Service" rule?
WHICH USED TO STATE that you could not take any substitute job in place of going to the army - if so you would be DFed) (I had a very good friend an older Elder when I was in New York who went to Prison for 3yrs instead of working at the hospital due to that rule. He has had some problems since being in prison,
now I have NEVER ASKED HIM AND I NEVER WILL but from everyone I know who should be in the know - Tells me that this bro was raped repeatedly while he was in prison as a 19 yrs old kid and I will never ask him directly about it. I stated that to say this: When they changed the alternative service rule he called me up and he broke down and cried
The Society has tried to present this as "their CONSCIENCES WERE JUST VERY STRICT IS WHY THEY WENT TO PRISON" WHILE THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS that IS A LIE As he put it ---during the Vietnam War all the young bro were getting draft letters Him and his mama went to the elders to get advice and they shared with him the Current position in the wt---- where basically it stated if you are Loyal you will not take the alternative job--GO TO JAIL OR BE DFED---POINT BLANK?
So as he put it ---IT was not a conscience matter ---he thought he was being loyal to god To this very day he has slowed down and step aside as an elder He still wants to hold on to WT world, but he is a crushed man So after the last elders school I told my wife I can't take it anymore The school mainly focused on DO MORE DO MORE, BEAT THE FRIENDS, BEAT THE FRIENDS And judicial matters is mainly what we talked about
IF YOU COULD SEE the elders flock book and you look up in the back of the index the word "LOVE" YOU WILL NOT FIND IT THERE Just think the most important book elder carries and it does not have one subject line on LOVE Then I bought me a computer and went up on the Net I felt that if I have the truth it will stand the test Well after trying to defend the Boys in the Writing Dept I realized how little I knew about wt history. So I stop going into chartrooms and forum
--I just found sites where there was no commentary just wt history- and READ AND READ AND READ I ordered Rays' book and I read both in 10days Then I cried for 10 more DAYS--smile ALL THE hopes and dreams I had as a result of the wt begin to crumble right before my eyes You see I personally know almost every bro Ray mentions in his 2 books I used to laugh and talk with all of those guys at bethel
I looked up to them as being used by Jah in a mighty way due to the heavy responsibility they had at bethel We used to call them "Bethel Heavies and
we called ourselves BetheLITES"
IT'S AND INSIDE JOKE AT BETHEL, BASED ON WHERE YOU WORK--HOPE YOU GOT IT?cleaning, laundry, painting dept , etc = bethelite
Writing dept, Convention office, Executive office = bethel "heavy"
WELL at that point I knew what I had to do - being an elder and esp a Society Man at the time I knew how the Program works for apostates/anyone questioning the boys in writing.
So I started giving up my assignments one at a time HVC, Circuit acct overseer, SEC in my hall, STOP Giving public talks outside of my hall and finally I stepped down as an elder I told the body of elders I was so busy with work that I could not do a good job as an elder and it's not fair to my bookstudy , Congo etc. for me to continue to serve at this time
The night I turned in my Flockbook in April of 1998 was the last time I stepped in a Hall- And we used to get a lot of phone calls from jw we knew In fact folks all over the country esp former bethelites called when they heard I stepped aside
Then we just recently built a home in another state and moved A completely new area and we love it
My wife and I are now back in college and we run an IT biz So we are busy and we are making all new friends and it's hard at times my father-in-law has decided to leave as well as my mom is on her way out My mother in-law refuses to even talk about it at first, but is starting to warm up a little mainly due to the fact that she read reads and reads as a result she has come to see and understand a lot of the issues that we raised. My mother in law is sorta like what James Brown said
?Poppa don?t take no Mess? 0 well Momma don?t take no mess-
she tells it like it is and calls a spade a spade and that is why I love her- I have been very fortunate to have inlaws withwhom I have gotten along with for over 18yrs- we laugh and cut the fool oftentimes late into the night when they come here-
and this is why I tell folks to hold up on DA yourself, you never know who you will be able to help see what we see about wt.
my dad was never a jw , but my My mom told me that 10 yrs ago she knew something was wrong and she was afraid to say anything to me because I was an elder: a "SOCIETY MAN"
She said I knew you would tell my elders and they would df me So she never said anything to me or my wife about her views on the org all those yrs
DAMN!!!!! I could have gotten out sooner --Smile
So I have a very rounded view of the Org and how it operates that the Avg. jw will never see And how sad ?
At this point for us we have decided to take a break from the bible and religion after over 60yrs of wt world arguing with folks over whether
Jesus died on a "Telephone Pole or Light Pole"
We feel we need a break I didn't mean to ramble on and on But I felt that sometimes when you put a life exp behind a handle it makes all the difference in the world
For me I had the support of my wife --Due to wt dogma we have no kids Along with all the former bethelites in my old Congo 3 of them are shooting for the traveling work since they are out of bethel
So I HAVE BEEN THERE-- DONE THAT -BOUGHT THE TEE SHIRT SMILE
Yes the words of a FORMER SOCIETY MAN
James