by cha ching 116 Replies latest watchtower scandals
Has Bethel ever sent debt collectors after former members of Bethel who have repeatedly ignored requests to pay?
Does anyone actually have a scanned copy (names blanked out) of such a bill from Bethel. I've heard so much about them it would help to see what they look like - especially the claimed meticulous itemization of charges)?
Oubliette
It was for shipping our stuff out west. We did't have a lot but since we had so long of a drive it was easier to have it shipped than stuffed in our car for a week. We had it sent to the assembly hall in Oregon on one of there semi trucks. It was that and a few other things we had gotten right when we left. Nothing that big and the bills were not that much but still it was just that they tracked us down that amazed me even back than because they knew we were jobless.
LITS
I can vouch for LITS account.
When I left Bethel, they shipped my couches and other stuff to an assembly hall in my area and billed me for it.
It wasn't a huge bill. It would be considered cheap.
But it was petty too, considering that I slaved my ass off for them and the whole reason I ended up leaving is because I had a nervous breakdown from being overworked.
WT is so petty, they regularly ship things.... they were driving to Oregon ANYway, right?
So sad.... What about all those flights to other countries that the GB take? They are "just like the rest of us", right? How about in the good ol' days when the colporteur’s rode bicycles, and Rutherford drove around in Cadillacs and partied in Mansions?
( col·por·teur ˈkälˌpôrtər,ˌkälpôrˈ noun a peddler of books, newspapers, and similar literature. Someone employed by a religious society to distribute Bibles and other religious tracts.) (Learn something new every day, hmm? They were just people "hired" to distribute things the WT published!)
Audacious is the best word I can think of!
The behavior of the "Loving Shepherds" at "God's House", as related by former workers in this thread is absolutely shocking and disgraceful. To not even be able to obtain freakin' cold medicine while volunteering your time without having to pay a quarter (.25 cents US) is a sick joke, and an absolute symptom of the bean counters running amok and partially running the show at HQ instead of the Holy Spirit and Christ's Love. If I had been that sick volunteer, I would have told them that the pills WERE already paid for by 1.) my previous generous donations and 2.) Christ's ransom sacrifice. I would have LOVED to have seen them deny me medicine then. How sad is it that a JW could go to the Red Cross or Salvation Army and get medicine or free meal, but at JW HQ you are charged for medicine, food/meals, A/C, phone calls, and whatever else they can use to suck every last nickel back out of your pitiful "allowance" that they generously "allow" you to have every month. What parasitic leeches, what vipers!!!!!!!
Truly, by your fruits you shall know them.......by the love they show one another. That isn't something we hear about coming out of JW HQ's.
I like many others on here, am appalled and disgusted at this treatment and behaviour. What I also find appalling is the tidbit I've heard about in some of the stories about 1.) rampant drinking and 2.) playing sports. These were strictly forbidden in our area (only 3 hours from Brooklyn mind you) Especially sports. NO ONE is allowed to play sports in school, NO ONE. Yet here, the freakin' Bethelites are playing sports in teams between departments? Double standards much?
Something else that really has me seething. Finding out in the plans submitted to the City of Warwick that the new HQ is going to have tennis courts, basketball courts, swimming pools, gyms, and various other recreational facilities all on the dime of worldwide donations. Again, normal JW's can't even join a local "Y" to use the gym (for fear of being DF'd) and are basically forbidden (or at the very least strongly marked) for joining gyms to exercise, but here Worldwide HQ gets the very things the rest of the rank and file have been denied our entire lives. Hypocritical douchebags!!!!!! That really pisses me off.
There was something else that really bothered me at them time we were at Bethel. There was a natural disaster somewhere in the world and during morning worship the GB who conducted tried to guilt all of us Bethelites into giving just one dollar each to the disaster out of our small amount of money that we had just received.
I remember just being shocked and very hurt. My husband and i were not privileged to get green hand shakes and we had no family to help us. The small stipend that we received was all we had and it truly did not go far. A dollar to the GB I am sure meant nothing but to those of us who had to make 90 dollars last all month with driving to meetings, buying toiletries, etc it was hard to make it. We never bought cloths it was the hopper for us. I remember one sister, when I was in the 50 building going through the hopper looking down on me like I was scum and telling the bother who was walking next to her that she would never stoop so low as to go into the hopper.
This was coming from a sister who's family had MONEY and she dressed in designer cloths that cost a fortune. She also had an office job, no working in construction for her in 90 degrees and no AC with all the widows closed and paint fumes installing closets like I had to.
I remember feeling so hurt and so belittled that day as she walked by looking at me with pure disdain.
We just never had any money but I never made a big deal about it, I never talked about money. So many were always talking about how poor they were and then they put me down for living like I did. I was just amazed at how rude they could be. Like that sister really, what was I doing that could make her that mad at me? I was not in her way or telling her she had to use donated cloths but she knew I heard every word she said and she just glared at me. Why? I remember a brother who spent money like water one time put me down because I said I could not afford to do something that they were, usally it was buying a ton of junk food for breaks. I just could not waste my money on the stupid junk food that most of the pioneers sucked down. A lot of them were fat and then they got mad at me for not being heavy like they were. I never asked anyone to pay for me, or tell them that they should not do it, I just told them I could not afford it or I was not hungry. But many of them would just berate me for being cheep. Why is it cheep to admit that I could not afford something instead of going into credit card debt like so many pioneering JW's were doing. Then they file bankruptcy and feel its OK. I think that is rude and uncaring to expect the stories and society to pay for their bankruptcy. I know of a couple of elders who have filed bankruptcy and its like its no big deal.
Anyway I am getting off the point of how stupid and hateful this religion can be and how money truly is a big deal to most JW's and to ask bethelites to give up a dollar is just so wrong on so many levels.
LITS
Just one more point a couple of years ago, I had just recovered from surgery and my husband and I went out for breakfast, it was my first time out of the house in a week and I was really enjoying just being out and my breakfast and in walks this JW elder and his wife who preceded to sit the next table over from us and loudly complain how expensive it was to eat out and how unfair it was that they could not do it more often. I mean they just went on and on and on. I was so frustrated and just upset. It totally ruined my meal.
I wish I had been listening to Dave Ramey back than because I would have thrown out what Dave says back to him as loudly as he was talking. I just sat there totally embarrassed hoping no one was listening, I was to polite back than I now realize.
LITS
Grrrrr..... So true, LTS! It just reminds me that you cannot squeeze blood out of a turnip, right? Well you can't squeeze compassion out of the GB either! I really hated hearing all their pleas for money before we left too! "Can you all give one dollar so the missionaries can come home?" There goes 8 million bucks right there!... and then they'd probably make the missionaries take a row boat, then charge them for the oars! Right?! Sounds like it to me... no wonder ex-b's call it Beth Hell! And to think, my son applied, but never got accepted! YAY! Little did we know what a “blessing” we had!
Yay! You're OUT! Congratulations to us all!!!
