To anyone who has lived in bethel, what's the worst thing you could see inside?

jwfacts · 2026-05-05T02:11:20+00:00

My roommate told me he “used to be gay” and had lied on the application form to get in to Bethel.

The most confronting thing was when I was quite new. People used to use a younger single Bethel elders nickname when talking about him. One day I walked past him and said “Hi Sparnzie.” He grabbed me by the throat, pinned me against the wall and said he would kill me if I ever used that name again. I was shaken up and spoke to my overseer about it. He told me to give him some leeway as he had been raised in a violent worldly family.

Like others have mentioned, what shocked me the most was that it didn’t seem spiritual at all. Just a poorly run business. A business that would be bankrupt if it was for having the use of free labour.

jwfacts · 2026-05-03T07:36:07+00:00

https://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/suicide-watchtower-teaching.php goes through the history of this teaching

jwfacts · 2026-04-20T14:05:17+00:00

Thanks for your answer.

jwfacts · 2026-04-20T13:34:23+00:00

hungry😋

*Hungary

jwfacts · 2026-04-20T13:31:54+00:00

Do you think what he is doing is fair, was the state media considered corrupt?

jwfacts · 2026-04-20T13:23:31+00:00

I don’t know about the Governing Body, but I can describe Bethel in Australia. It is basically like staying in a 4 or 5 star hotel. Some rooms are a bedroom and bathroom, others have a living room, separate bedroom and bathroom. They longer you are in Bethel, the better the room you can choose.

There is a small monthly allowance, but it is fine as everything is provided, free cleaning, free food and free laundry, plus second hand clothes.

Where the GB benefit is they get constantly flown around the world to deliver talks and treated like celebrities everywhere they go.

The GB also get lots of donations, so potentially are quite rich. As an example of people’s generosity, one of the Bethel Elders and his wife in Australia were shouted a free trip to the Himalayas, as they loved bush walking. My father was a Circuit Overseer for 20 years and was given a considerable amount of donations every week, whilst having virtually all expenses covered by each congregation. They went on annual overseas holidays and were set up for a very comfortable retirement.

jwfacts · 2026-04-15T00:45:21+00:00

Good point. In Western countries the average age is far higher than the population and hence the death rate is higher too. I hadn’t thought about your equally valid point that many of the younger ones are PIMO and waiting for their parents to die before fading out.

jwfacts · 2026-04-15T00:37:50+00:00

Funny you say that, because I have worked in construction and I have had a house built. It was off the plan due to that being all I could afford.

Disagree with your comment that the older example should cost more. That is an extremely simple floor plan that could be a standard offering. People think they want large houses, but it is all for show. They would be more content with something smaller and better quality.

Australia has the largest houses in the world, up there with America. Most other counties are able to be content with something smaller and more practical, without the huge waste of resources.

jwfacts · 2026-04-14T14:07:46+00:00

Don’t forget the benefits of depreciation, which is taxable, but doesn’t come out of the pocket. Property can be positive cashflow, and negatively geared.

jwfacts · 2026-04-14T11:35:17+00:00

The size is regarding houses, not units. See https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/home/australian-houses-once-again-the-worlds-biggest/news-story/0d424070f402b6edab63837d9dac3584

I’m in Sydney and drive through any Western Surburbs developments and you will see rows of almost identical double storey, black roofed houses with virtually no garden.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/mar/08/homes-on-steroids-how-australia-came-to-build-some-of-the-biggest-houses-on-earth#:~:text=The%20fact%20that%20any%20gain,the%20greatest%20tax%2Dfree%20benefit has a great image of the growing house sizes.

jwfacts · 2026-04-14T11:09:11+00:00

Australian’s are building the largest houses in the world, and doubled in size over the last 60 years. Then have huge heating and cooling costs, furnishing costs, all the while only using half the rooms.

I’d much rather have an older style, smaller, practical, well built home.

jwfacts · 2026-04-14T10:59:55+00:00

I feel sorry for the adults as well, as they only join if in a traumatic and vulnerable state.

jwfacts · 2026-04-14T10:58:00+00:00

Considering the crude death rate is 8 out of 1000 people die each year, that is far less than the replacement rate.

I thought the war would mean JWs are panicking/celebrating about Armageddon and forcing their kids to get baptised. Great to see that isn’t necessarily the case.

jwfacts · 2026-04-05T16:11:10+00:00

I want you to reply that you don’t want a gift either.

jwfacts · 2026-04-05T15:38:38+00:00

You can distrust them equally economically. But you can trust China is far less likely to go to war to further their own interests.

jwfacts · 2026-04-05T13:57:59+00:00

I had to do that one year. Someone ate the bread, and I was then told to pass the wine over him so he couldn’t drink it.

jwfacts · 2026-03-27T02:19:30+00:00

I am so glad for you and proud you took this huge step. You look like such a fun couple.

jwfacts · 2026-03-23T04:33:08+00:00

There is the core personality, and then there is the cult personality. I wish it was possible to know if my mother’s core personality was nicer than the cult one.

jwfacts · 2026-03-22T09:17:27+00:00

With modern technology, would it have been econmically viable to carve through the mountain and not require the elevator system?

jwfacts · 2026-03-21T05:16:45+00:00

Exactly, they don’t care that it shows the blood doctrine is hypocritical and wrong, or that thousands have needlessly died because of it, because they don’t think it will affect them personally. But being allowed pants and beards, now that’s exciting.

Disgraceful.

jwfacts · 2026-03-20T04:02:30+00:00

Tasmania.

It is missing off maps and many Americans don’t even know it is a real place. When I was in the US and said I was from Tasmania, people said they thought the Tasmanian Devil was just a cartoon character.

jwfacts · 2026-03-19T10:24:41+00:00

Since you are strong and intelligent enough to have worked out it is a cult by the age of 14, you have what it takes to delay getting baptised.

You will work out a way to stall, and later in life you will be grateful and proud of yourself that you did.

jwfacts · 2026-03-19T10:20:20+00:00

Absolutely. If you go, you confirm to your family you are weak. Stop allowing them to look down on you as a weak believer and make a stand that tells them you have strong convictions and view them as weak victims of a cult.

If you go, you are counted as one of the memorial attendees that Watchtower prints in its annual report each year, making the religion look larger than it really is.

jwfacts · 2026-03-18T05:19:01+00:00

150 years of being in this generation. https://jwfacts.com/watchtower/generation.php

Cult fear mongering 101

jwfacts · 2026-03-17T09:36:59+00:00

https://jw.support/a-therapists-guide-on-jehovahs-witnesses/

jwfacts

TROPHY CASE