by startingover 32 Replies latest jw friends
Once Albert Schroeder dies, which let's face it will be pretty soon given his age and health, I don't believe Judah Ben will have anymore clout than anyone else with the GB. I can't imagine that Ted J. will be handing the reigns over to Judah Ben anytime in the near future.
I thought, from reading through this thread, that it was his FIL not the WTS sending him to law school. Perhaps his law school degree will be used to private practice and not for the WTS.
I had a talk last night with someone who was at Bethel during the R.Franz scandal (who shall remain nameless). They say that J.Ben was married with children (as she recalls best) even before Ray got kicked out. Now that timeline, if true and remembered right, would put some pretty interesting thoughts up on the reason for leaving and the law degree, etc.
I still say that special privileges for the rich and famous suck it pretty bad. Especially if you look at the ordinary life of a Bethel guy.
James
Per the 1988 WT he didn't get married until 1986. He was born in 1958.
Also, in the 1988 WT it says he left Bethel with his wife to pioneer in Michigan. But, I noticed when googling his name he was one of the WT reps. in 1998,1999 dealing with the Russian court cases. He must have went back to bethel after pioneering in MI.
Perhaps he is future royalty.
J.Ben was married with children (as she recalls best) even before Ray got kicked out
IMHO she has Albert and Judah mixed up.
If Judah is about 48 years old now and Ray Franz was booted in about 1980, Judah would have been awfully young to be married and have children at that point. Not impossible, of course, but highly doubtful given his upbringing.
Nina
Well, I doubted it too (on the age thing), but I am just reporting what I was told. She also did not recall the fairy boat reception story. I think that the point here is those special privileges - the only way to get them revoked is to challenge the teachings. Certainly not for being pretty worldly, etc.
James
PS - yes, I know how to spell ferry.
This whole thread was started because someone wondered what Judah's life must have been like while he was growing up.
I see a pretty good picture here! An educated dad who decided on a course of life, a mother who had a career before settling into marriage, a stable home environment, thinking parents who gave the best of what they had to their child, an obedient boy who chose to make good use of what was provided, a fine worker, a compatible marriage, a sense of direction.
WT didn't underwrite those things, they were all personal choices made by the persons involved.
Jehovah's blessings, Judah (and family)!!!
Nina
I feel the same way Nina. Indeed, congratulations to them. I hope Ben may be reading this. Maybe you don't know me too well from this site but I have actually met both father and son way back when in elder school and liked them both. Perhaps we are missing the point, though. Are you saying it was OK for Albert and wife to have an education and a Bethel provided car and a private apartment and also have a kid? And it was OK for said kid to go marry into money and quit bethel to go get a law degree himself? What about the regular bethel guys?
I say all of the above actions are completely OK. My own stepdaughter just got her law degree and passed the bar in southern California. My problem with all of this is that the WT Society says these things are <NOT OK> and they deny them to the rank and file.
Kind of a "fairness thing". Care to comment?
Respectfully, YF James
"I am Judah Ben"
"No, I am Judah Ben"
"No, I am Judah Ben"
Will the real Judah Ben Schroeder please stand up!
-ok I can't turn the red off now.
This post may not fit in with this thread completely, but when I thought the above it made me laugh to myself.
Nina,
I agree with you (except the last sentence about the blessings, I'm not much into Jehovah these days). I think he was born into a situation that for me personally would have been very hard to deal with growing up. But it worked for him.
I tend to think this international law thing is for use by the WT, not him going into private practice. I find his FIL's connection with the cars interesting. Sound like he's an influential guy in the org. Anyone know how J.Ben and his wife met?
My problem with all of this is that the WT Society says these things are and they deny them to the rank and file.
This is a problem for me as well. I have conflicting thoughts on the topic:
If you are a parent then you know that at one point in time you may say it's ok for your child to do something and at another point say it's not, ad infinitum. In the 60's WT said it wasn't a good idea to go to college. In the 60's there were quite a lot of "new" problems on campus and, if you view the matter from WT perspective, it made sense to direct JW's away from the problems until they either disappeared, calmed down, or reliable safeguards were put in place. After Viet Nam, LSD, free love, etc., life on campus became somewhat more manageable and the restrictions began to be lifted; not entirely, even in the '70's there were statements in the WT regarding good use of the remaining time in this system! Progress appears slow but by the early 90's WT statements allowed higher education under certain conditions, i.e., living at home, taking only practical courses, maintaining spirituality, etc. Consider, during those years colleges and universities were changing as well; branch campuses were opened, course offerings were redefined, the student population "aged" as more people returned for part-time, night and weekend classes. Looking at it from a parental perspective it all makes sense; gauge the situation and act accordingly, safeguard your people.
Story: In the early 90's I took my 5 children (all baptized) on a trip to "Bethel". We made a couple of stops along the way, one to Gallaudet University because my oldest daughter signed; she was taught by a sister who came to serve where the need was great in a rural area, we happened to be living there, and we took advantage of the opportunity to acquire a new skill for use in Kingdom Service. At the time a brother named Bill Adams (his story has been in the publications at least twice) was working there and he personally toured us around. At the end of the tour we sat and chatted with him and my daughter asked about additional training. He recommended college. We were floored. All of us knew the WT viewpoint so we (not just me, the kids too!) asked him how he could make a statement like that especially when in a very recent WT the opposite view was expressed! His response was, "well, they're changing on that." Huh??????? We were very, very, troubled! We wanted to do "right" AND to have "privileges"! How to do both??? So often it seemed that the ones with privileges were the ones who disregarded counsel!
I don't have a completely satisfactory answer. What I've settled on for now is this: I don't have enough information to authoritatively comment on the situation! All I can do is my personal best; after that it's a matter of attitude. I don't have any "proof" that this or that person's "success" came about as a result of breaking rules or denial of opportunity to others. I'm in waiting mode and I'm content to let time tell the story; it seems the fairest way.
Nina
