Bethel experiences sound like a prison sentence.Why even go?

by goingthruthemotions 24 Replies latest jw experiences

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  goingthruthemotions

  When I read about Bethel experiences my mind go to the show LOCKED UP RAW!. why would someone subject themselves to this without commeting a crime.

  The wife and I went to see Bethel in Broklyn a few years ago and it was unlike anything I expected. Very cold.

  Went the Bosert Hotel and was talking to a Brother there and asked how long he had been there, he said 25 years...i asked how old he was. he was my age at the time which was early to mid 40's.

  Keep in mind I have been in the work force for 25 years since getting my engineering degree. have been saving very hard for a retirement and i thought to myself.

  Poor guy has wasted his life here and has nothing to show for it. I am pretty sure when his time is up...he will get dispatched with nothing but his shirt on his back.

  And this is the love of a christian?

  Shalom

  GTTM
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  snakeface

  You're right! When someone leaves there they have nothing...no 401K, nothing. Just the clothing on their backs.
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  maninthemiddle

  I never concidered going, but it only took one tour for me to tell it wasn't right.
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  Mum

  "Way back when, there was a Bethel couple that moved to our congregation in Tennessee. The brother had learned a skilled trade at Bethel and was able to earn a decent living. I'm sure that not everyone has this advantage.

  If you can't go to college, it's at least a way to learn some job skills, at least for the guys. I think the women get to clean and do laundry.
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  Phaedra

  It's amazing how JWs frame "Going to Bethel" as some grand privilege ... when in reality it's not much different than someone selling their possessions and joining a cult while living at the compound giving away their time, energy, and youth in return for poverty, highly-structured activities, and living in a closed-group environment.

  The number of Bethelites who've burned out and left and their harrowing accounts while there pretty much affirm this. Others who hang in there for years (I know of a particular couple who have been there since the late-80s) hoping for the end to come are in for a rude awakening when they will eventually be downsized out with the best years of their lives gone and nothing to show for it.

  If all JWs had to leave their lives and live in a closed community like Bethel, there'd be no denying they are a cult. Problem is, they need the working class funds to feed the machine... which is why congregations are convenient means of support.

  Phae
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  Phaedra

  Oh, and forget any aspirations of going to Bethel of you're a pat lowly sister, unless you marry a man with a highly-sought skill for recruitment.

  .... and then if a baby comes, zapp! you're both out.

  Phae
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  AndersonsInfo

  Yikes, I don't know how I stayed in Bethel for 11 years if it was as bad as some of you say it is.

  Actually, for the most part, we enjoyed our life at Bethel; it is a nice life if you're happily married and have a job you love and I had both, plus our son was there too. And the longer a person is at Bethel, the more they fit in because they've learned the ways of how it all operates. We didn't find the people cold because we were part of a community and were accepted as such. Of course, like in all communities, we had our share of troubles with people who we "had to continue to put up with" because they were difficult-natured and had on their agenda to seek power, etc. although some of the most difficult situations I encountered eventually were resolved, some in the most unusual ways. Of course, when I learned about the WT's child abuse cover-up, my whole world changed in how I viewed the organization.

  On my website, I'll be posting stories from Bethel that I've never told before, some good, some secret, some ugly. See announcement on www.watchtowerdocuments.org

  Barbara
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  Londo111

  What?!? Bethel is as close to paradise you can get on this side of Armageddon--which incidentally is coming any day now, so why save for retirement? Bethel is exactly where you want to be when the Big A breaks out.
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  sd-7

  why save for retirement?

  Exactly. Why even have a job, since we know we'll never fulfill any career in the short time left in this system of things?

  Only experience I had was the couple of times I visited--it was obsessively clean. Nice-looking place, really, but who wants to get up at exactly the same time every day? Not me. I had thoughts of wanting to go, but I didn't want to give up my individuality for a rigid schedule. So...I couldn't judge it one way or the other, really.

  --sd-7
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  jgnat

  I've been at the conventions where the announcement is given to sign up for Bethel. It's presented as a privelege, so for those who swallow the announcements with a further thought, it must be a privelege.

  Just like Pioneering is presented as a privelege/status symbol.