Guys it was a joke . It meant that there was few publishers in the hall. less then twenty including kids, old ladies, dogs and anyone else.
new boy
JoinedPosts by new boy
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My Bethel Experienxce Part 10
by new boy inthere were guys at bethel, who had great jobs........like don brouex.....he was the receptionist at the 124 desk.
his job was checking in and "checking out" all the bethel tours and "hot" sisters on their way through the bethel home.
that my friend, is not a real bethel job.
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What are Strangest Grounds For Disfellowshiping You Have Heard Of?
by new boy inin 1961 my father was disfellowshipped for not doing to the kingdom hall he was assigned to.. if i'm lying...my dying!.
it was the glendora california congeration.
the committee was.. john smoley.
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new boy
I thought I would get this one out of the bone yard. -
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Hello, this is my first post
by noralee inhello, this is my first post, i would like to introduce myself and say thank you to every one on this forum, you have been a lifeline to me these last few years.. i had been a jw for 30 years when i walked away a few years ago disgusted by the treatment victims of child abuse, domestic abuse and rape receive from the wtbts.. at first i thought it was a local problem, elders personal opinions, the way they handled the situations, imperfect men etc., until i checked out jehovahs witnesses and child abuse/domestic abuse online.
that's when i realized they had the same modus operandi worldwide.
that led me here, tbuo this forum, and then to crisis of conscience, jw facts, watchtower documents, jw survey, old watchtower literature and cd s, reading a couple of steve hassans books, and more recently exiting the jw cult.. the feelings of shock, betrayal, anger at the wtbts, angry with myself for being so gullible, depression, reflection, loneliness, have taken their toll.
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new boy
There is a life after the witnesses and it's a great one. Don't feel bad I wasted 52 years worth. That might a record for stupidity. -
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Is the Watchtower organisation facing the biggest crisis of its history?
by slimboyfat inrecent developments make me think they might be.
the problems they are facing are not just lack of funds but also draining authority, and the two could be a heady and explosive mix.
one of the best analyses ever written of the watchtower was a book called "trumpet of prophecy" by sociologist james beckford in the 1970s.
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new boy
Sad but with the sell off of Brooklyn properties for Billions, money may not be a problem for awhile.
Personally I believe their fall will come from the fact they are losing their young people. They have an 1800's religion in a modern world. Kids are smarter today then ever before. With the technology of today kids just have to jump on their computers for 30 minutes and research their parents religion and know it's bull shit. With only 1% to 2% coming from the door to door work and most of the new witnesses coming form JWs having sex with other JWs....their time is numbered. Thank god for the next generation.
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How many visitors do we get ?
by Simon insomeone was asking me in the chatroom about the number of hits the site gets.
here is a brief summary (of what we currently get per week):.
21,000 visitors.
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new boy
Great job Simon. I hope it's become everything you hoped it to be. -
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My Bethel Experienxce Part 10
by new boy inthere were guys at bethel, who had great jobs........like don brouex.....he was the receptionist at the 124 desk.
his job was checking in and "checking out" all the bethel tours and "hot" sisters on their way through the bethel home.
that my friend, is not a real bethel job.
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new boy
There were guys at Bethel, who had GREAT jobs........Like Don Brouex.....he was the receptionist at the 124 Desk. His job was checking in and "checking out" all the bethel tours and "hot" sisters on their way through the bethel Home. That my friend, is NOT a real bethel JOB. I told Don that years later, that he never did “really” work at bethel and he laughed. Funny thing is he was the CO that took my bethel application in September 1969. God I so wanted to be like him!
There were guys at bethel that had great congregations with maybe only 2-4 bethelities in their halls. One Hall, Midtown had over 80 bethelites in it and there was Murryhill which was just as bad all bethelites plus 3 old ladies 4 kids and a dog. Odds of getting a home cook meal on Sunday 0%. Roy Baty said he got cheese and crackers at some old sister house after he was there for a year and 4 months. A good hall could make all the difference, on how long you could "gut it out" there, especially if you had a girlfriend there.
There were guys at Bethel that, for them, money was NO problem, parents sent them tons of cash every month, rain or shine.
There were guys, that had all three, they were called "Golden Boys".........Guys that for some reason, God was smiling down on them. They could fall into a bucket of shit and come up with a rose in their teeth. They had good bethel jobs, great KHs, money, a car, and more often than not a good looking "sister" on their arm. It was great just being around them. You thought that there could be a God after all.
There were the guys who struck out on all there. Guys like my roommate Roy Baty. He was in Murray Hill KM with 80 Bethelites, He worked in the Bindery (thanks to Eugene Alcorn) and he had no money sent to him. I give him credit he made his four years and he had a girlfriend before he went to bethel! Only one out of a hundred could do that.
That brings me to my next topic. Cars at Bethel.
A car at bethel was total freedom!
Why? For me the first two years there, it was Bethel and your KH, Bethel and your KH.........unless you knew someone with a car to get out of the city there was no leaving New York, you were stuck there months on end.
Your only free time was Saturday afternoon & evening. So on Saturday you would take the train down to times square and walk around looking for a good movie to go to, or walk all the way down to Flatbush Blvd. in Brooklyn. It wasn't unusual to not find one and walk all the way back home. Sunday was service in the morning, meeting in the afternoon and if you were lucky, dinner with a family in the hall that night.
A car could help change some of that. Some guys there had some nice cars too. Jim Pipkorn first had a 65 ford mustang rag top. Then a 67 GTO. Dave Borga (Mr. G Job king) had a 69 MACH 1, There was a 1968 396 rag top SS Camaro, that some guy on the waiter crew had.........anyway they all spelled...... FREEDOM.
They did have their problems......one was parking, there was NONE back then for the bethelities. Oh, the society had plenty of places for us to park after they bought the Squibb property but why make it easy on the brothers? Many years later they finally decided to give the bethelites free parking.
Anyway, you would have to drive around "the heights" looking for a spot......If you got back late....that could take up to an hour driving up and down every street up to a mile from your room. At one in the morning you would get so piss off and frustrated trying to find a parking spot. I bet Knorr never had to drive around and look for a parking spot. At that time night after you did find a parking space a mile away, the walk home was very exciting. Sometimes you have to run all the way if there were people following you. I love New York.
The other thing you could do was park illegally. You just didn’t have a choice. Many guys did......sometimes you got lucky....If not it was 10 dollars fine and 25 dollars for a fire hydrant. The Kennedy boys (Jim and Gary) had a 65 T-Bird and NEVER parked legal! They had Georgia plates.......and said the hell with it.
Well, one day they looked for their car but it was gone. The city had towed it. They went to the impound to get it. The guy said $656.00 please, they said "KEEP IT"
The other problem was break-ins.......If you had a rag top you would NEVER lock your car. The reason was if they wanted in, they would just take a knife to your roof, so you WOULD leave the door unlocked and let them get in.......But you would put a chain around the steering wheel and brake pedal. So if they hotwired the car and drive away there would be NO brakes. Some guys would put a kill switch in. You would always chain your hood and truck down. Another thing you would do is always leave your glove box OPEN, to show them there was nothing of value in your car. If you didn't your side mirror would be broken by the next morning.
We would see new cars parked on the street, in "the Heights" in 6 months they looked terrible. The reason is, mostly....... New Yorkers like to park by SOUND.......... they back in, until they hear.... a CRUCH ......then they move forward until they hear.....another.....CRUCH.......and then they back up and hear the final...............CRUCH.......now you’re parked.
After two years there, things got a little better, I had a fair job on the east freight elevator.........and I bought a car for ONE DALLOR. .....that’s right, one buck! My roommate’s girl friend's car, 1968 Fairlane, got totaled in a crash. The insurance payed her off and gave her the car. She gave it to me, for a buck. The car looked like something out of "Mad Max"......it was a complete wreck! Every quarter panel was trashed.......It had been rear ended at about 40 mph. the trunk that WAS 5 ft. long was now 3 ft. long. It looked like shit....... but she ran great........Believe it or not the 2 years I had it "They" (the worldly people) try to steal it 3 times, but she was my baby and she was my freedom.
I took Guys to the airport for $5........good money. I drove guys in my K H to the meetings, Instead of the hour plus train ride we could do it in 20 mins. They gave me their subway money......5 times .70 cents per trip good money........and last but not least she could get me..............far............ far away..........."From the wonderful House of God." On the weekends. Things were looking up!
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Slightly different approach - JW my tradition
by closed inhello everybody :) i have been visiting this forum for some time.
i noticed that many can't really free from the past in the org despite many years outside of jw.
i was awaken with a bang.
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new boy
I was in for 52 years. For most people it is tough to realize they have invested in a thought system that was faulty from the beginning. Many people stick with it for that reason only that's their life and were all their friends are at. They are there for the people. Of course combat soldiers with tell you the same thing. The cause isn't that important it's the guys standing next to you is why you are fighting. I like you said I would never want to be an elder after I left bethel, were I saw abuse of power on a massive scale. -
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My Bethel Experience Part 9
by new boy inthe worst thing, someone could call you at bethel, was a "jack.
" as in "that guy is a real jack, he doesn't work at all".
the other term not used very much anymore, was "pot licker" used basically the same way.
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new boy
The worst thing, someone could call you at bethel, was a "Jack." As in "that guy is a real Jack, he doesn't work at all". The other term not used very much anymore, was "Pot Licker" used basically the same way. There has been some bad things done at bethel. You name it, someone has done it. But the absolute worst possible thing, a bethelite could do is be a THEFT and rob from a fellow bethelite! Hey, people having sex with each other it happens every day, thats normal. But stealing from some poor bethelite making .73 cents a day. That should be a STONING offence. We had three of them, in the 4 years I was there. They would wait until we got paid (we got paid in cash) and go into your locker when you were working and ripe you off. It never happen to me but I had friends who had to borrow money to buy subway tokens because of this "brother."
One of these guys was one of the most self-righteous assholes you ever saw. He would walk around the factory with an "Aid to bible understand book" under his arm. He gave a text comment one time and said "I have walked the floors of the 124 at night and I have heard Rock n Roll music coming out of the brothers rooms." This guy was trying to out righteous even the GB. Sure enough 6 months later it was announced at breakfast "Brother LeRoy Righteous has DFed for stealing" Isn't that always the way it is, it’s always the more righteous ones you need to watch. Just like in the KHs.
When some guy got kicked out of Bethel, Knorr would "Have him/her for breakfast." Meaning a half hour to 45 min. lecture on whatever their sins were. Sometimes he would go into a rant and you would think he have a heart attack, he would get so worked up. It was getting so bad that once or twice a week this would happen, it was a real downer. It was very discouraging and it would have been nice to have had a hot meal sometimes. It was only him, leading the morning worship for the past 30 years.
So guess what? In 1973, when Knorr took one of his many trips to the south pacific islands. He and his bride always went in the winter time, for some odd reason. So while he was gone, the GB voted him off the text table! Boy was he pissed when he got back! The next week at the Gilead graduation he said "We are starting a new arrangement for the text comments the GB will now rotate, so that all members of the GB, will have a turn at leading the text comments (And I quote). "I DECIDED TO LET THEM HAVE IT!".......nice of him. Power is a tough thing to give up. The days of one guy call all the shots were coming to and end.
Old Bethel Story.
Phone rings in 5th floor bindery, new boy picks it up and says "This is Jack's mule barn......which Jack ASS do you want?" On the other end of the phone. "DO YOU KNOW WHO THIS IS?" new boy "NO"...................other end "THIS IS MAX LARSON FACTORY OVERSEER!" New boy says. "Well, do you know this is?" Max Larson says "NO" new boy says "GOOD" and hangs up. True Story.
I learned about fear of man at bethel I never had it before.
My roommate Steve H. move out of the room. I guess I wasn't friendly enough .I guess he found a roommate who was more NPG friendly. I got to keep the room, that’s how it works there. I got a new roommate in T-211 towers my old buddy Jack Sutton, one of the X Laundry guys. He was from Phoenix AZ and I was from California. So we decided decorate our room in a western motif. We had some old western posters on the wall. One of the posters was of a bull fighter. The house keepers loved our room and had many of their coffee breaks there.
Anyway one night about 8:00 p.m. we get this knock on the door. It’s is Curtis Johnson (newly appointed) home servant to the Towers. This Guy looked and talks just like the Nazis guy in the movie "Raiders of the lost Ark." the one with thick glasses and smiling all the time. He was Bald headed 5 ft. 2” a real tweeb, We said "come on in" he said "NO thanks...........brothers, I'm here to talk about your room decorations"......."OK what about them?"......."We don't like them." "Who is we?" "Well the bethel office." "really?"..............."REALLY" he said........."Like, look at that Bull fighting poster on the wall, of yours...............a tour might think we like killing animals."....."Brother Johnson, NO tours come through the towers Hotel and we never looked at that poster that anyway." "Never mind about that, we want it down".........."Alright".....we said " We ‘ll take it down"
We never said when we would take it down. So when we moved out a year later we took it down.
Yes, the sisters cleaning your room had instructions to search for anything that was wasn’t appropriate. You know rock in roll records, posters, books and magazines and report them to the home servant.
I'm afraid we haven't seen the last of our dear "brother" Johnson.
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My Bethel Experience Part 8
by new boy inwell it is 4:00 a.m. in the morning and i can't sleep, so might has well write..
everything at bethel is seniority........"how long have you been here?
you really wanted to be the man with no name a.k.a.thx-1138.
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new boy
- Well it is 4:00 a.m. in the morning and I can't sleep, so might has well write.
Everything at bethel is seniority........"How long have you been here?" If you wanted a better room you need some seniority, rooms would go up on a bid system. If you had more time in, then another guy, and a room went up for bid, you got it. If you were a new boy, and all your friends were new boys, it could be a year or two before you got a decent room and 10 years to get a room with its own bathroom, pre towers days. There were 2 man rooms, 3 man rooms, 4 man rooms, and 7 man rooms.........everything from a 7 man room in the ghetto, the 129 building, to a luxury apartment in its own building (like the good Doctor Dickson got). I don't have a problem with a system like that, a system that rewards seniority and education.
Oooppps, did I say education......Yes, I guess I said it..........Remember at the time......"higher education" was HIGHLY DISAPROVED of (you can tell from my spelling in these threads) and after high school, there was only ONE thing to do and that was to pioneer. We only had a few years left before 1975 and Armageddon and we didn't need NO stinking education, we needed to save as many people as possible! A couple of people I knew, when to college and got so much guilt and SHIT for it, you wouldn't believe it. Of course now the society will say they never discouraged higher education….bull shit!
The society made it hard on people, because "the society" knows the DEATH of any religion is education and knowledge! So that is why most of the JWs today, in their 50's and 60's and 70’s are blue collar workers. No need for a good job Armageddon is coming.
You were a real rebel if you went to college, back then. Greg Chase was my press operator on "HOE 10" after bethel he went to college to be a chiropractic physician. He told me years later, that when he was going to college, they hated him in his local KM, how dare he try and make something of himself. Why can’t you be happy like us in a janitorial business? However after he got out of school, different story, "The Brothers" called him DR. Chase..........they loved him....they wanted him to go back to bethel to be their in house chiropractor. They flew him and his wife back to New York and wined and dined them both. They offered him a very nice "comp package" and luxury apartment if he would just come back. He said "NOPE".
Sooooooooo........at bethel you were REWARDED for not listening to them about getting a "higher" education.........they treated you better and gave you more respect. You got a better room, and a better job! They actually treated you like a real person. Guys would come to bethel with a degree, (they went to school while I was pioneering) do you think they put them in the bindery? Nope, they got a great office job, no machines for them.
The light came on for me. The first glue of the "double standard" in the Lord's house and there are many! The say one thing but do something different deal. Those wonderful "unwritten rules and laws." As they say if it looks like shit and smells like shit, and taste like shit, it COULD possibly just be.......
Sorry, I got side tracked again. Back to the Bethel rooms. Working in the Laundry I got to see into all the rooms there, except Knorr's, you had to be Jesus to enter there. There are some really nice ones too, most of the rooms in the 107 and 124 buildings were dormitory style, with one women's and one man's bathroom on each floor. That’s why it took so much seniority to get a room with a bath there wasn't many of them back then. Plus they watched you like a hawk in the 124, 107 and 119. It seemed like that most of the tight asses lived in the 124 and 107, though there was plenty of cool guys mixed in too.
Then the society bought the Towers Hotel. They opened up 3 floors for bid. GREAT rooms all with their own bathrooms. If you had a year or more, you could get in. You would have thought everyone would have wanted them, but since the hotel was full of worldly people, most of the tight asses stayed were they were. I was one, of the first people in the Towers, room T 211. I didn't have the seniority to get a room, but a guy on my table did, Steve H, and he wanted a new roommate.....which brings me to my next subject, ROOM MATES.
Hey! There are all types..........and God bless them all. But some of them could make your life a living hell. It wasn't unusual for a newer guy there to bunk with and old timer, but most of the time it was someone you knew, you either worked with, or went to the same KH with. When you were new you didn't have a choice and you could get anyone.
My old pioneer partner Roy Baty come to bethel about 6 months after me. When he got there he was so self-righteous, he made me sick, he reminded me of ME when I first got there. I told him "I don't want to be around you, now Roy, come back and we'll talk again in 6 months"
Poor Roy got off to a bad start, they put him in a room in the 124 with Eugene Alcorn, a black "brother" from Detroit, with a real attitude. ROY hadn't even been there a couple of weeks and got a taste of "bethel Justice".......It seems he and his roommate Eugene got into a fight over the radio one night. Roy wanted if off at 11:00 p.m. and turn it off................. Eugene got up and turn it on...........Roy got up and turn it off............Eugene turned it on.......you get the idea. Words were said and in the brawl, that followed, the sink in the room got busted. Now most guys would cover for each other. Instead, Eugene went to the bethel office the next morning and told "the brothers" that, his white roommate didn’t like black people and wouldn't let him listen to his radio and beat him up, that is why the sink was busted. I never did like Eugene.
They hauled Roy in to the Bethel office. How it works at bethel is whoever gets there FIRST with the story, usually wins...Pretty much like the KH. The reasoning is, only the righteous one would naturally report the behavior of the unrighteous one. So by the time Roy got there, the decision was already made. Welcome to the Bindery Roy.
You really didn’t want "the Brothers" to know your name at bethel. Once your name got out there for any reason, once you got a "REP" you were screwed. "OH yes.....I've seem to have heard or your name, before brother ’Trouble maker’. We have a machine just for you.” You really wanted to be the man with no name a.k.a.THX-1138. Just do your time and get the hell out of there.
I don't know what to say about Steve H.........my first roommate in a 2 man room, except he kind of creeped me out. I wanted out of my 7 man room badly and he was my ticket out. He had all the mannerisms of an NPG (non practicing gay).....and there were plenty of those there too and there were a few that were practicing too. There were guys who loved the fact that there were 1300 19-23 year olds guys and few women at the Lord's house. Don't get me wrong! I love gays NOW, but I 'm speaking from my mind set of 1972. This guy had way too much clinginess for me and way too much famine mannerisms for me. He would say "So what are WE doing today?"........."I don't know....what ARE we doing today?"....sorry Charlie.
If you weren't Gay or and NPG at bethel, you were a homophobia...........I knew some bethelities who beat the shit out of some gay guys in "the Heights" one night just for the hell of it. AH the love.
There was this one new boy that got jumped walking to the squib building from the 124, by 2 thugs. It guess he was a black belt before coming into the borg. He kick their asses one guy was dragging the other guy back to their car and begging him to stop the beating. He went to George Couch Bethel home overseer, the next day to turn himself in, George said don't worry about it. He was our hero, we loved him.
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Introducing...ME
by Heartsafire inlong time lurker here.
i'm a fifth gen born-in baptized jw.
to say i've been struggling with doubts is an understatement.
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new boy
You will know the truth and the truth will set you free. Your road will not be and easy one, but the good news is you no longer have to live in dread. I hope your husband makes his way towards the light. For me it was my children that helped me out. Kids today can spot bull shit so much quicker than my generation. It took me 52 years to get completely out.
good luck
Keith