A Bethel Memory #20 - Seven brides for seven sorcerers

by LivingTheDream 42 Replies latest members private

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  WingCommander

  This really shows how extreme they are in "the house of God"....I mean seriously, Fantasia causing a stir? But, this certainly explains why as a child in 1986 or so why I had to sit out of Fantasia in Music Class because it had "demonic influence". I actually had to tell my music teacher this reasoning....seriously....she must have thought JW's were crazy from that moment on, and rightfully so!!!!!! Now I know the facts, it all all trickled down from Bethel...from this vary incident!! (I live in Pennsylvania, not far at all geographically speaking) Imagine, I know now from reading this board, why I was forbidden from watching Fantasia 25 years ago. I never did get around to watching it since. Just another part of my childhood that was taken from me by the Lord and Masters in this religion. Sick!!!!!

  Hey GB, you promised me in May 1984 WT that the Generation of 1914 would never die off.....that I'd never grow up in this "System of things", never grow old, never get to graduate HS, never have to get a job.....I'm still here.....my JW parents are dead....I'm 31....I have a wife and son, a good job, a mortgage....and the New Order is still "just around the corner, imminent...any moment now" and you bastards are living as high off the hog as you ever were....... you fucking liars!!! You wolves in sheeps clothing....you talking serpants!!!! False Prophets!!!

  - Wing Commander
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  LivingTheDream

  WingCommander,

  Your sentiment is shared by many of us on this board and I don't want to minimize it. I also don't want to be in the business of defending the GB because as I've stated before, you cannot have the glory without the blame too; everything started with them.

  That said, I do want to point out that this issue is more complex than just simply putting the blame all on GB alone. In this particular incident, it was the GB that wanted us to watch Fantasia. As Belbab, the ex-Gileadite said in an earlier post on this thread, they probably were trying to "lighten up" the somberness of that place. So, there never was an official edict from the GB that said we shouldn't watch Fantasia.

  I liked what DagothUr pointed out: that the real "power" of oligarchies come from just below the top. THESE are the people that often carry out the more draconian restrictions and take things to a level that was never intended. Watching what happened over Fantasia taught me that the GB were not really all that in control of the "Jehovah's Witness faith" as I had imagined. It was these "other people", often referred to as "Bethel Heavies" that really moved the religion along.

  This strict interpretations and pharisaical approaches as to how we should live our lives were then passed on down the line through Bethel to the zone, district and circuit overseers who each added their own two cents to it. Finally, our own congregation elders and ministerial servants passed it on to us. If we were children, then our own parents further passed it down some more, again, each with their own twist on how we should interpret what the GB were saying.

  Again, I'm not claiming here that the GB didn't predict 1975 and so on. MUCH fault rests with them in many of these often discussed issues. No argument there. But the interpretation of what we should do about these things the GB was trying to teach from the Bible and how it affected our daily lives, well, it sometimes was much more complicated than that.

  LivingTheDream
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  WingCommander

  LivingtheDream:

  Well, it's hard to argue with that WatchTower cover from May 1984!!! I mean hell, there were some GB Members and their wives in the group photo!!!!!

  They have a detailed outline for everything; so I'm pretty sure I'm right to put the blame where it squarely belongs - on THEM. Anything less than that is putting the blame on the victims, which is what THEY are masters of.

  - Wing Commander
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  LivingTheDream

  WingCommander,

  Yes, it is hard to argue with the '84 WT. You're 100% correct there.

  But letting the other "Bethel Heavies" as well as the rest of them, like the district and circuit overseers who lorded over us, off the hook for their part in making our youth miserable is something I personally don't do. So while you put the blame squarely on the GBs shoulders, I see it as more encompassing and more complicated than that. Everybody who abused us as JWs were not just victims. Many were perpetrators too, using the religion to get their own personal jollies in bossing us around and trying to feel important. For example, do you really want to let the elders in a congregation off the hook that knowingly harbor pedophiles? I don't. These elders are not victims; they are perpetrators.

  I know people often misuse the example of the holocaust, but I can't help but think of it this way: The holocaust was NOT a product of Hitler and a few top ranking Nazis alone. Sure he was the main reason for it, but without the cooperation of hundreds of German "Heavies" and even thousands of lower ranking Germans, it couldn't have happened. Many Germans from the SS down to even low ranking officers and jailers were later convicted and condemned for "their part" in that situation. The world didn't just see a few top guys and put the blame only on them. The world saw that many in the ranks abused the situation to their own benefit and were condemned as war criminals in their own right.

  I personally think the JW religion has a similar echo.

  LivingTheDream
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  Medina

  Is this a real story, or just BS?
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  LivingTheDream

  Medina,

  ALL my stories are real dear.

  LivingTheDream
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  meangirl

  Thanks for sharing. Amusing indeed!
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  Millions

  What a great story, I always love hearing stories from Bethel. Somehow I always find them reassuring, like lifting the lid of the shiny tin to find the contents have actually gone off.
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  LivingTheDream

  Millions,

  I don't know if you already know this or not, but if you click on my name LivingTheDream anywhere you find it in this thread, it will hyperlink you to my member home page. From there click on "Topics Started".

  You can read ALL my Bethel stories from that point if you are so inclined.

  LivingTheDream
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  Violia

  I love your stories as I am from that era too. I can recall as a child being told that " I dream of Jeanie" was demonic and dear gawd, Twilight Zone was not even talked about( although many of the jws secretly loved it).