My school was a couple weeks back, and it was interesting to a degree. To be honest with you, it reminded me of a police crime scene investigation with yellow tape. What I mean is, in one respect it was business as usual. Kind of like when passerbys to a crime scene get too nosy, and the surrounding officers say, "move along sir, there's nothing to see here." In that respect, its true, this school was like any other meeting, assembly, or convention. Prior to going, my father who's older and cantankerous told me that this school will be like all the other schools he's attended, and per his words, "the same ol crap!" Me being younger, and recently appointed, this was a new experience for me. I was somewhat excited, especially since developing apostate leanings within the past year. Going back to police crime investigation scenes, for some its true, there's nothing to see. However, for those of a more inquisitive nature, especially those with invested interests, there was plenty to gather.
The first thing I noticed upon entering the KH where it was held, was the diversity of brothers attending. It was about 60% white, and about 39% black. The reason I left out the other 1% was because there was a couple Indian brothers there of the 7-11 type, no disrespect by the way. Its hard for me to imagine JWs of Indian descent. Just goes to show how I ignorant I am I guess. The other noticeable thing about those attending was the age discrepancies. Less than half of the attendees were older, I'm talking in their 50's to possibly 90's, with the majority of those considered Medicare aged. I found it humorous that most of the older white brothers had haircuts from years gone by. They reminded me of The Outsiders. I pictured those older brothers in their younger years living double lives and wearing leather jackets with nicknames like Pony Boy. These are men who have been waiting for the end of this system of things to come for quite a long time. Too long, if you ask me, and lately I don't think I'm prepared to wait as long as them. Considering the tone of the school at certain times, many other brothers around my age might not be planning on waiting that long either.
At the beginning the school, a visiting heavyweight(in both definitions) from Bethel who was the chairman, and grand puba if you will, made my day. I'm not gonna say what his name is, lets just say his last name rhymes with "ante." No WT sponsered meeting is without self adulation, and this school was no exception. He started off patting the organization on the back regarding the new Flock Book. Now this is what made my day. After praising the book, especiallly praising how easy it is to navigate the book, he goes on to say, "brothers, do you know that someone posted the contents of the book on the internet!" All the brothers in attendance with gray hair simultaneously gasped. It was hilarious! I heard brothers go, "what!!" I looked to my right, and saw two older brothers who reminded me of Statler and Waldorf from Sesame Street, look at each other in astonishment. The contrast was evident between the older brothers and those my age. Those my age, didn't even bat an eye. In this day and age, nothing is private. Nothing is confidential.
The fact that the powers that be in Bethel, and the older brothers in this organization where shocked about the Flock book leaking online tells ya a couple things. One, there's a tremendous lack of awareness on the part of seriously indoctrinated JWs regarding the real world. I mean seriously, in this day and age of Wikileaks, leaked music albums, leaked movies, did the GB and Writing Department really think their precious handbook wouldn't end up online? Another thing, the fact that the younger elders didn't bat an eye, tells me this organization is getting ready to, or may already be in the midst of a civil war of sorts. "One" of the causes of the civil war in this country was due to the disconnect regarding federal goverment vs. state's rights. The same conflict is brewing between leadership at Bethel, and those taking the lead in your average congregation, particularly younger elders. There's a serious disconnect between Walkhill and the average publisher in your average congregation. With the shortage of company men to take the lead, its inevitable that men who aren't as indoctrinated as the GB and Writing Department would like, are getting appointed. These appointed men don't exactly see eye to eye with the chosen few in NY. Hence, you have elders lurking and posting on forums such as this. You have Bethelites playing the role of moles on behalf of websites such as Free Minds. Time will tell how much this disconnect will alter the course and direction of this organization.
The most infamous part of the school, at least in my opinion was regarding education. I say in my opinion, because for many of you the blood doctrine, and the new document which also leaked online, may be what burns you the most. Or maybe the parts on trusting the faithful and discreet slave burns you. Maybe another brother who attended can speak on those subjects. Going back to education, as a man I don't do well with threats. I'm not the kind of guy that backs down easy. If you're confident enought to threaten me physically, you better know what your're doing. I'm not trying to come off like a tough guy, I'm just saying. Anyways, we were threatened at this school. I kid you not, threatened. When it came to education, the grand puba made the statement that if any elder, or anyone in his immediate family was attending a university, his qualications were to be reviewed. Here's the real kicker. If the other elders on that body did not review his qualifications, they were all culpable. That was the exact word he used, and in that context. Culpable. During that part, you could have heard a pin drop even on a carpeted floor. It was shocking. I'm sitting there thinking to myself, "did he just threaten us?"
The most offensive part about it was this guy is criticizing us for our choices in education, when his entire livelihood is based off of our employment and paychecks! On top of that, the guy is overweight. He's fat! I'm thinking to myself this fat greasy mother f#$# who's getting the best of it all, has the nerve to threaten us for our secular education choices. That's when it hit me. This grand puba has a tremendous stake in the rank in file. He makes his living by traveling to various congregations giving talks, and by doing whatever it is that he does at Bethel. If its true what they say that those recieving college educations are leaving this organization, it goes without saying that his and others like him are having their way of life threatened. They respond by threatening us. Another thing he stated was that if one chooses to pursue higher education, it shows they don't have loyalty to the faithful and discreet slave. The grand puba stated, "if you have loyalty to the faithful slave, then where's your son?" He also encouraged parents to financially support their adult children when they choose to pioneer.
There's a lot more I'd love to share, but I gotta get my thoughts together. Plus I'd love to hear from others who attended. I've got more notes I'll share later on. Plus I'm dealing with a virus. I've been in the fetal position in my bed most of the day. I'm just now starting to recover. I'll share more later.