How many "ascended the mountain", and didn't see "the light"?

by upside/down 20 Replies latest jw experiences

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  upside/down

  I'm talking about the JW dream of visiting Mecca Bethel! I had heard the stories of "the friends" who came back from Bethel ("ascended the mountain") and they came back with their faces beaming. It was SO GREAT, that they could talk almost endlessly about it and the entire experience seemed to be so "spiritual". Everyone it seemed got to see "super secret" stuff that no one else got to see, because they knew that special someone that snuck them in to the inner sanctum.

  Well I saved (while reg.pio) and drove (about 1300 miles) the family out to "ascend the mountain"- I was SO STOKED! Finally. And on top of that the bro that studied with me and his wife were at "the Farm". We arranged to see them and have a meal or two and do the whole "Bethel" experience.

  When we got there our friends didn't spend hardly any time with us. We didn't get to eat ANY meals with "the family". Our tour didn't include any "secret stuff". No one wanted to hang with us and show us around. I had blisters on my feet from carrying kids on my shoulders. We were lost much of the time (given poor directions). We saw the Stanley(what was all the hype?) Wallkill, Patterson (then still partially under construction) and finally the holiest of holies Brooklyn! Again nothing. We went to see a "hotel" (Bosert?) and no one would give us the time of day. That's when I "lost it" and I started raising my voice in the lobby with my family of how much this SUCKED. It was getting late. Some scruffy looking college age kid in a camoflauged jacket sees us and inquires as to our sitch. Turns out he is a bro and a Bethelite (works in the kitchen). It's after 8:00pm. He takes us up to his room and says he doesn't have anything going so he'll show us around. When he hears our story he takes us to the kitchen (in a basement and dark) and pulls an old pizza out of the oven for us and we share it and he talks to us about him and his brothers "stint" at Bethel. Very depressing story and he is not happy. And his family is struggling financially back home ta boot. Then he takes us on a midnight subway ride to the Twin Towers, we go up to the top do the tourist thing and go back to drop him off. Than we abandon "ascending the mountain" and decide to just check out NYC and the countryside (it was peak fall color time and BEAUTIFUL). We went for a hayride and picked pumpkins ate clam chowder etc.

  The people we were staying with in Newburg were in the middle of a family crisis (reg pio's with a teen son "going off the deep end", the Pendergraphs I believe was their name). Great people but hurting.

  Anyway on the drive home I was so drained and disappointed. This was a Dub version of the movie "Vacation"- I swear.Fast forward to to 2000...

  Back in Cali, Co visit and we're "priveleged" with feeding the "clergy" bastard and he wants to know if we've ever been to Bethel. I tell the story and he is appalled that I would paint such an untrue picture of "ascending the mountain". I'm counseled for being negative. I smiled and thought, you F'n bastard. You want me to lie and perpetuate the urban legend of "ascending the mountain". No way.

  My next vacation was hedonistic- Cozumel, dive/sex, dive/sex, dive/sex, drink/sex, dive/sex, lobster dinner on the beach at sunset/sex/sex- God that was a great vacation.

  Never Again a slave to men (I'm a poet and didn't know it) lol

  u/d (please share any similar exp.)
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  chrissee

  I had visited Brooklyn Bethel about 1996 or 1997. I went with 2 pioneer sisters and we toured the facility and did have the lunchtime meal with some bethelites. Don't remember much about the tour & stuff. But something that still sticks in my mind is we visited a brother from our local cong. that was at bethel. He showed us were he lived. A small apartment with only a bathroom, a living room & a kitchenette. No bedrooms! and he lived with a roommate. They had cushions stuffed in the closet that they brought out at nighttime to sleep on! I guess they are not there to sleep comfortably.

  And many years earlier I had visited the "farm' with a large group. It was winter time and a new sister had worn pants. She was dressed nice, but the brothers wouldn't allow her to tour, because she was wearing pants!! No one thought they wouldn't allow her in, otherwise I'm sure someone would have told her before we drove the 3 hours to get there in a snow stom, no less.
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  AK - Jeff

  It was winter time and a new sister had worn pants. She was dressed nice, but the brothers wouldn't allow her to tour, because she was wearing pants!! No one thought they wouldn't allow her in, otherwise I'm sure someone would have told her before we drove the 3 hours to get there in a snow stom, no less.

  What do they do when 'worldly people' show up and want a tour? Do they require that they go home and change into proper witness uniform to look at the place? I knew they had a 'dress code' that they expect witness visitors to use - but I figured they would still let you go thru - just consider you 'weak'.

  What will these people do when Jesus taps them on the shoulder and tells them that He is the judge? Tell him to go home and get that beard shaved off before we could talk about it???

  Just My Opinion

  Jeff
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  Wolfgirl

  I went there twice, and was disappointed both times. I think I saw about 2 people who looked happy. Everyone else looked mechanical. They lived in tiny little crappy apartments, crammed in like sardines. I didn't feel any "spirit" or love. The best part of my trips to NY was going to the museums. :)
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  LittleToe

  I've been several times and just prior to DA'ing I stayed in the London Bethel for a few nights, having meals there, etc. I also got to shake hands with the man who kicked my dad out of Bethel, many, many moons ago - LOL. You should have seen his face when the penny dropped as to who I was!

  I was saddened by the latest experience. I predominantly saw a bunch of young kids getting institutionalised, and old guys in penthouse offices!

  I did manage to stir up a good discussion on the meaning of Revelation, one evening, though - LOL.
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  Narkissos

  Bethel is an excellent place to see some light, but it usually takes more than a one-day tour. I crossed the threshold of the Holy place as a shivering pioneer, and went out through the rear gate as a hopeless apostate 5 years later.
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  Sunspot

  I visited Brooklyn twice and the farm twice, many years apart. The highlight of one trip was being shown the AWAKE! mag in full color, in stacks as they were getting ready for shipping. We all got one to bring home. Actually, I was pretty psyched about that at the time!

  I've done the complete tour all four times from the gigantic presses to seeing the laundry facilities and marveled at the cleanliness from book binding to animal barns. I. of course, was still in my "WOW-THIS is Jehovah's Org at work" phase, so I still had the rose-colored glasses firmly glued to my head, LOL!

  We did the dreaded "tail-gate" thing, now frowned on by the WTS Police. We were SO carefree back then (grin) and didn't know any better back in the 70's when we first visited! I *was* a bit upset at having to wear "meeting" clothes on one visit when it was 95 degrees and humid---yuk. My feet were full of blisters and hurt unbearably for more than half of (what seemed like an all-day) tour.

  Oh well.....live and learn!

  hugs,

  Annie
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  SeeSee

  HA! I was once a member of the Columbia Heights Congregation, which at least in those days, was the "home" congregation of all new "Bethel Boys". My mother moved us to Brooklyn Heights from California while I was still in high school, just so she?/we? could be near "the holy of holies".

  Although my experiences in the three or four years I attended there predated yours by decades, I can affirm everything you said.

  Many Bethelites were totally disillusioned after coming there. Some wanted to go home, but were told "you made a vow to come here for four years" inferring that if they left, they'd be breaking a vow to God. More than one told me he didn't know anything about having made a vow, he'd just made an agreement to come and work for them for (in the '60's) the appaling sum of $14 a month, and eventually, once they were trusted enough to be sent to other congregations in NYC's five boroughs, they were allowed subway tokens (15 cents each back then) as well. (So you'll get the picture the bond slavery these poor guys were under, I, at 16, and with zero skills, I got a summer job paying $80 a week.) The lucky ones had families sending them money.

  The boys worked so hard. They were required to work 50-60 hours a week - including every Saturday morning. Because they weren't "employees" Bethelites had no protection under New York State labor laws. No benefits. No Social Security. No retirement. No savings. If they got sick, were disfellowshipped, or for some other reason had to go home before their time was up, they had to repay the Society for air fare they could never afford. (Figure it out: even with room, board and laundry, they got less than $3.25 a week for all their personal expenses!)

  When you add to that from first bell till they were expected to be in bed each night, every moment was accounted for. If you didn't get a pleasant greeting, it didn't mean they wouldn't have under other circumstances. Don't take it personally. They may get paid more now, but they live in a pressure cooker. The factory (The Old Squibb building) and their short lunch period (a half-hour then) at the Bethel Home meant having to run/race/sprint both directions if they were to eat, and maybe make a phone call. (Phone calls were strictly forbidden on work hours.)

  The New York congregations with Bethelites always had a source of cheap labor available on Saturday afternoon, and these tired guys tried to earn some more money. When they came on the subway Sunday morning for a meeting, and then field service, they had to be fed or they went without eating. (They could count on being very well fed by families with daughters, as Bethelites were prime catches.)

  NOW, THIS WILL GIVE YOU CHILLS: We were taught that Bethel means "House of God" (which it does) but - because JW's don't read the Bible - they miss the incredible evidence that Beth-El was also the seat of false worship, a deliberately selected site to keep the people of Israel from going to God's Temple in Jerusalem for worship! Get you concordence out and look it up. Think about it.

  On one hand I'm glad you found out the reality. On the other, you're in for a world of hurt if you try to live the lie. You'll probably never look at what the Society says the same way again. Paul admired the Boreans for their willingness to search and verify the scriptures - but JW's prefer to silence them with disfellowshipping. (They'd burn us at the state if they could get away with it.)

  Perhaps you've been called on to pray for those in bondage there and elsewhere?

  PS: I sure hope you gave something to the guy who was so kind to you, and who risked punishment for feeding you from their refrigerator - even if it was only an old pizza.
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  codeblue
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  Honesty

  SeeSee you hit it right on the head.

  Just one more little tidbit to add... the + $940 million a year profit at Brooklyn alone and the 30+ Brooklyn Heights property the Society owns free and claer with $0.00 taxes paid to the 'superior authorities' on any of this.