anybody believe these places are just modern day monasteries with all their inherent problems of cooping up a bunch of folks who aint supposed to think about sex
Bethell-monastery
by martinwellborne 2 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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daniel-p
Yes, I would liken them to monestaries, although I've never been in a monestary. Bethelites are submerged in "spiritual" activities that serve for little else than to distract them from their dreams and personal desires. Young men who are forbidden to fornicate act irrationally. Drinking is important, in order to dull these desires. Masturbation is just taken for granted--because no self-respecting Bethel elder would even think of admonishing a younger Bethelite for this, since its absurd to assume a young person could survive for years without any kind of sexual satisfaction. The old farts will bring it up now and a gain, but they're so old, they've probably forgotten how strong those urges are. I remember brother Swingle sort of reassuring us that occasional masturbation wasn't going to make us permanently unclean, and that he remembered being a young man and so on. I this is one of the reasons he was the most endearing GB member--because he was reasonable.
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martinwellborne
i agree, i have read of this before, and i would heartily recommend the book "who on earth is tom baker" for an insiders view on leaving a religious house. it made me laugh, almost die laughing.