A fine example of this lunacy: WAC.
Warlock
bethelites and lunacy
by Tired of the Hypocrisy 15 Replies latest jw friends
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Layla33
I am still stuck on the being allowed to marry a 15 year old. Isn't that against the law in some states. I can't imagine a mother, even a JW mother allowing her "still in high school" child to marry a man.
I have heard so many stories about men from Bethel, the reoccuring being gay, heavy into pornography, have hypersexual issues (all steeming from repression, I believe), having mutiple affairs and the wife abuse.
The one story I remember was the daughter of a family I befriended in a KH I attended. The daughter was a special pioneer and she had met her husband at Bethel, they had went to Brazil I believe, where "the need was great", and everyone just believed they were the perfect JW couple. Well, he met, fell in love with a Brazilian beauty and left his wife without even a goodbye. She had to come back home, humiliated and live with her family for about two years...
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OnTheWayOut
People are people. Bethelites have had harder experiences than many others,
but it isn't their Bethel life that always causes these strange outcomes.Study number 1)
I can recall a guy who was engaged to a young girl in the old country. She was away until she could
get her visitor's visa in order, then she would get married to the guy and somehow manage to stay
in the U.S.A.- all on the up and up.The problem was that this guy hung out with a family that had a son his age (young 20's) and younger
sisters. Two of the sisters were over 18, but not the third. The guy got into trouble and had a JC because
he had relations with the underage one (15). The family didn't want to pursue statutory rape charges
because they wanted nobody to know about the things their daughter did. They both managed to get
private reproof.Well, now the fiancee from the old country shows up. Beautiful, lively lady. She discovers what a low-life
he is, but doesn't want to go back to the old country. If she doesn't marry him, she needs an American
to marry her. She might could find one with her looks and personality and all, but time is a factor. Also,
family tradition is to marry people from the old country. He was a citizen, but he is from the old country.
So were the other family that he messed with. If she hooks up with her fiancee, then all the families can
simply sweep this under the rug.Now, in my case- the guy was not a mental case but there's more. So the young lady decides to go ahead
with the marriage. They are dating. He is still hanging out with the other family, but never with the young
girl alone. He buys some fancy shmancy sports car and is showing off to them all by drag racing. Well,
he runs over one of the older girls by accident. He has a new JC along the lines of dangerous activity and
ignoring counsel. (I don't remember exactly how the first charge was phrased, but he was supposed to
stop hanging with these girls, isolated or not. Remember, JW's tell you how to live your life.)
Now the family of the injured girl have had enough of him. He threatens to make public what happened to
the first girl (aledgedly- no proof, but it happened). So they just drop the matter again, as long as he pays
for her injuries. So they lie about the whole thing to the insurance company, not involving the elders in the
lie part because they want the girl to get her money.He goes ahead and marries the girl from the old country. Of course it is not a Kingdom Hall wedding because
he is on reproof. She stays with him so she can live in the USA, but he has been a dog ever since after the
honeymoon. It has never been discovered, but it is certain that he still sees the youngest one in that family,
but she's over 18 now.NOTHING TO DO WITH BETHELITES.
I have seen plenty of bully husbands too. Nothing to do with Bethel. I am not defending Bethel. It doesn't
make them better or worse on it's own. There could be Salt Peter in the fruit juice or the lifestyle could
trigger some strange reactions. My point is that your anecdotal evidence is not enough. It happens outside
of Bethelites. It happens outside of JW's, too.They are not better than the world, as we all know.
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Layla33
They are not better than the world, as we all know.
I think that's the point, is that they are no better. I do believe that because they are secluded and forced to live a very saccharin ideology of "holier than" that to see the acts of things that have been mentioned is an interesting study. They same as if we were studying monks and nuns and such.
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Dogpatch
A lot of it is your personal experience and how you interpret it.
I was a JW for 8 years, 6 at Bethel, 3 as a Bethel elder, gave my own made-up slide talks around New England every 2 weeks for 3 years, acted as a subs. circuit overseer as such in essence, etc. Was A floor overseer, in charge of printing ALL the bibles (NWT and others) from 1977 to 1980. and yet... BELIEVE IT OR NOT!
I never met a homosexual at Bethel that I knew he was (I was somewhat naive on that subject, I'll give you that one!)
never got chewed out harshly
never sat in to df somebody
never shunned anyone
never manipulated by others unduly
WHY?
I was lucky...
I was AWARE of this stuff going on at Bethel before I got there (overkill warnings from former Bethelites with BAs)
I didn't expect a lot from others (prob. the MOST common)
I was optimistic.
maybe the last is worth more than the others
Randy
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FireNBandits
I think your attitude toward Bethel stinks. Stinks! Bethel is the best god-damned beer I've ever had, and don't you forget it!Seriously though, I met a married couple in my Jay Dub daze that were visiting from Beth-Hell, and they were extremely resrerved to the point of being secretive and...paranoid. They were creepy. I had had plans of "living" in Beth-Hell until I met them and my inner alarm bells went off. I settled for being a vacation pioneer. This was many many moons ago when the dinosaurs ruled the earth.
Saint Martin the Sparkling Clean