by dustyb 15 Replies latest jw friends
my g/f today asked me if I wanted to go to NY and tour bethel and wahkill (sp?) and all the other buildings today. should i go, or should we just save our money?
just for a hint of the situation, i am going with a bunch of cheapskates, we are staying in cheap motels, and i can't go to a yankee's game because we have a packed schedule of JW tourism. worth going to see bethel and ask them a few questions?
(edited)
It is a group trip, i forgot to add that in there.
Well, I gotta tell ya, bethel was a real eye opener for me. It was one of the main reasons I left. People all looked like robots, tehy were rude. I was raised being told that going to bethel was equivalent to a 4 year college or trade school education. Then I met people who had worked in the laundry room for 4 years. I say go, & point these things out to her subtly.
I think if you can handle it that the experience could be worthwhile. It may well be the most boring thing you've ever done, but as Avishai says, it will be eye-opening and should help to show you exactly what it is you're rejecting; after all, Bethel IS the WBTS. See if you can extend your stay by opting out of the ride home at the end and staying for a few days to see the sights.
Bethel was the beginning of the end for me as well. I volunteered for 2 weeks at the farm to help on construction/remodeling and what I saw was enough to make me never go back and question why I was a pioneer. Of course, that month I got to count the time at Bethel for volunteering. Funny, I don't remember placing any magazines but what really sucked was that for the whole 2 weeks, I could only count like 50 hours. I still had to get another 20 hours in that month, plus make up for the fact that I didn't make any money for 2 weeks and also for the cost of driving up there to Walkhill. The whole time I was there I felt very uncomfortable and like I was always watching everything I did from how I dressed to what I said. Plus, the hours really sucked, waking up 6 in the morning was not fun, going to breakfast to eat, but I could hardly eat because of all that "spiritual food." Then you had to work over 8 hours and then I went to some local hall in the evening that took an hour to get to meaning that I didn't get home to like 11 at night only to do the same thing the next day. No time to think really with that kind of schedule. Mostly everyone I ran into seemed kind of fake or too preoccupied with how they would pay for gas or luxuries like clothes. I was planning to hand in my full time application when I was there but this 2 week experience so turned me off that by the next year I was no longer pioneering and after that no longer going to meetings. I did meet some sincere people when I was there including my other 2 week volunteer roomate who was from Oregon and a young kid around my age who was originally from Maine. This kid, who worked in the automotive section at Walkhill was the most revealing about how life went down at Walkhill and in some cases just how pathetic it was to live there. Looking for something to do on the weekend: me, my volunteer roomate, and the bethelite kid decided to drive to NYC to go to Little China to pick up a car stereo for his really old VW Golf that was like two colors but had huge speakers in the back. By the way, he was always getting in trouble for playing his car radio too loud or getting speeding tickets. The kid basically had no money but did manage to get some from his family, and friends in his local hall in upstate New York. Odds are that if you live near Walkhill or relatively close, your hall will have some Bethelites attending and from what I heard, those members in the hall would often try to help out those Bethelites either financially or in some other means. Another Bethelite in my work crew who was a little older got an old Chrysler MiniVan from someone in his hall. Anyways, this kid from Maine who was a Bethelite said he had enough. He was moving out-no future he said. He was always being harassed by the powers that be, he had no social life-he had a girl friend but it was almost impossible to see her and of course he had no money. He told me that his roomate was a real tool-i.e.-complete Bethel Nerd. His roomate, who was his age and mine, around 20, but would call it a night around 8 on non-meeting nights and before that would spend his time reading the Bible and other publications methodically along with religiously listening to the kingdom melodies. Fun indeed. The kid from Maine also told me that he was behind in his Bible reading and was sort of in trouble for it-had to go to some special meeting(the first year at Bethel you have to read the whole Bible among other things)-I don't know why he just didn't say, "yeah, I did my reading"-who would know-God?, the governing body? The whole experience was a complete nightmare-and of course I never did hand in that full time application, thank goodness. Instead, after the two week stint, I took a mini road trip up to Boston and then back home to think about the whole affair.
I've read lots of testimonies about Bethel trips..... it has been a real eye-opener for many But you really should've scheduled tour stuff around the Yankee game, 'cause, think about it ----- you'll remember that day at Yankee Stadium the rest of your life! The memory of the Bethel tour will fade in time, like all bad memories ought to do......---....... Love from peacebaby
I dunno, save your money I would say. But if you are truly curious and want to see it for yourself, then well...go4it.
I don't think I could stomach it.
Atilla, thanks for posting what you did. From an insiders perspective, even if only for 2 weeks, can you imagine: 2 years?
Be glad you are on 'this' side of it all.
I have read some interesting things on Randy's Freeminds site. His story about being at Bethel was an eye-opener that's for sure.
dustyb: it's ultimately up to you to go/not to go.
Save your money for when you can go see a Yankees game.
Personally, I found Bethel to be just as dull as I had expected. The only thing that hacked me off a bit was how flashy some parts were (the Stanely and the Bossart) at a time when my congregation was mortgaged to the hilt.
But it really is dullsville.
I went with some friends on a tour to the 25 Columbia Heights building and the factory tour on Adams street about two months ago when they came to NY to visit. We even had the "privilege" to eat with the Bethel family. Because the factory buildings are practically empty, the tour takes about 10 minutes. The 25 Columbia Heights tour takes another 10 minutes. They walk you around the halls and explain what takes place behind some of the closed doors. You can get through both tours in a morning. Thus, you have some quality time to see the real sites of NYC.
However, be warned. Most of these bus tours keep you in a hotel in NJ, which severely limits your opportunity to see the city.
was raised being told that going to bethel was equivalent to a 4 year college or trade school education.
ROFLMAO !!!!!
...........Roaring laughter........
If you've never been, and can spare the $$$, then just go for the experience. It can be a nice one indeed. Just go with an open mind, enjoy the pretty sights and fake happy attitudes.
DY
