Organization

The Discoveries of Barbara Anderson

2009-01-15T21:32:00Z

Barbara Anderson was a member of Jehovah's Witnesses from 1954 to 1997. She worked at Watchtower's headquarters in Brooklyn, NY, from 1982 to 1992 where during her last three years there, she researched the movement's official history (published in 1993) and did research as well as wrote a number of articles for their Awake! magazine. She has done extensive research on issues related to child sexual abuse in the religion leading to interviews on major TV and radio programs as an outspoken critic of Jehovah's Witnesses sexual abuse policies.

Charles T. Russell Gravesite - Rosemont United Cemetery

2009-02-22T22:13:00Z

Charles Taze Russell's instructions for his funeral:

I desire to be buried in the plot of ground owned by our Society, in the Rosemont United Cemetery, and all the details of arrangements respecting the funeral service I leave in the care of my sister, Mrs. M. M. Land, and her daughters, Alice and May, or such of them as may survive me, with the assistance and advice and cooperation of the brethren, as they may request the same. Instead of an ordinary funeral discourse, I request that they arrange to have a number of the brethren, accustomed to public speaking, make a few remarks each, that the service be very simple and inexpensive and that it be conducted in the Bible House Chapel or any other place that may be considered equally appropriate or more so.

For those wishing to visit the gravesite:

All About The Watchtower Governing Body

2009-01-16T22:38:00Z

Who are the Governing Body members? Can the average JW name even one or more members of that body? And for those JWs who do know one or more members, what do they really know about them? More importantly, how did these men get to be the absolute rulers over seven million Jehovah's Witnesses?

Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses Grows Old

2008-12-01T23:50:00Z

Having worked at Watchtower headquarters in Brooklyn from 1974 to 1980, I just happened to be at the "right place at the right time," so-to-speak, when it comes to getting a good glimpse at the inner workings of the Watch Tower Society. A new Governing Body arrangement had just been put into effect, replacing the former arrangement where almost all decisions were made by the president and vice-president, who at that time were N. H. Knorr and Frederick W. Franz, respectively.

Bethelites Guest Book

2009-03-26T14:37:00Z

This is an archive or our guest book for former Bethelites, in any part of the world.

Please send use our Contact Form if you would like to be added to this list.

We'd like to hear from former workers from the Watchtower headquarters in Brooklyn NY and elsewhere around the globe. A warm welcome to my brothers around the world! -- Randy Watters

Homosexuality at Bethel and among members of the Watchtower's Governing Body

2008-12-02T00:01:00Z

The Watchtower is - as every other fundamentalist religious sect - strongly against homosexuality. Let us look into a few cases from their own ranks.

{loadposition toprightstoread}

This page is a compilation of observations and experiences culled from numerous former members of the Watchtower's New York and Canadian Bethel families, as well as outside sources and other current or ex-Jehovah's Witnesses.

Take from the Watchtower Observer website:

The Watchtower Way of Laundering Money

2009-03-11T17:28:00Z

Previous to a major policy change in 1990, Watchtower literature was distributed at what was termed a "specified contribution" price for each item. Witness canvassers (called "publishers") bought their literature supplies from the congregation and then resold these from door-to-door. All monies were then remitted to the Society's headquarters in Brooklyn, New York. The new policy announced in 1990 detailed a complete donation basis for literature. It was now to be supplied without charge to congregations, but contribution boxes are placed by the counter for donations from the publishers, supposedly to cover the cost of printing and distribution. In the field, donations for the items are solicited, but are supposedly not necessary in order to obtain books and magazines. Such donations received from the public are then to be brought back to the Kingdom Hall and sent to the Society.

What was the motivation for these changes?

What Happened at the World Headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Spring of 1980?

1981-02-10T08:00:00Z

(Note: the following was printed in 10,000 copies and sent out to remote locations around the world in 1981. Special thanks to Pastor Ralph Moore of Hope Chapel, the "surfer" church of Hermosa Beach, CA for printing them free of charge. READ MORE

Though my tone and approach has changed in the years since then, this essay represents what was truly one of the most fascinating stories I could have witnessed. Because my disassociating letter took them by surprise, I was never treated badly by the Witnesses personally, and I still love them individually. This lack of anger on my part has helped me to be more objective than most, who are often not so lucky in the treatment they receive from the "mother" organization.)

Great disturbances had been in the works for years in the organization known as the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society. These disturbances surfaced in the spring of 1980 and efforts were quickly made to conceal these difficulties. Can even the Witnesses themselves tell you what really happened?

The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society: The Critical Years 1975-1997

1997-05-08T08:00:00Z

Several unrelated discoveries of the faulty 607 BC-1914 AD chronology that forms the very foundation of much Watchtower teaching concerning their own authority were squelched by the Governing Body in the late 70s. When all the information came to the attention of many Bethel family members in 1979-1980, and some talked to others about it, a major witchhunt began in order to silence those who talked of the cover-up.

Charles Taze Russell would have been in for quite a shock were he able to see the modern-day organization he founded in 1879. From small beginnings, the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society has grown rapidly, especially since the early 70s. From a pre-1900 circulation of 6000 copies, The Watchtower magazine is now printed in the millions.

Freddy, Klein and the Apostate Books

2008-12-01T21:52:00Z

[In memory of Warren Schroeder, who passed away May 18, 2010]

Warren Schroeder says,

[I was in] Bethel: 5/79 to 10/82. Over the years I lost touch with some common friends and was looking for a couple of names which I found through the ex-JW sites. I live in the East Village with my dearest wife, who teaches at NYU. We sometimes think we're the oldest people in the neighborhood... I just turned 53. We can't imagine living anywhere else.... well, we can imagine, but not any time in the near future.

Jehovah’s Witnesses, Higher Education and Misrepresentation

2009-01-17T16:06:00Z

It is my assertion that the publishers of the October 1, 2005 Watchtower, a Jehovah’s Witness journal, blatantly misrepresented statements from at least five well-known secular sources in an attempt to discourage their readers from pursuing higher education.

While a religious journal may choose not to use secular sources for instructional purposes, if the journal’s editor allows its writers to do so, readers naturally assume that much care has been taken so that a quotation is not taken out of context in order to unfairly sway them to a certain conclusion not intended by the author.

Usually authors develop their thesis in two ways: 1) by using various statements of facts; 2) by quoting statements of other writers. These statements could be likened to bricks that the author uses to build a logical structure resulting in a conclusion. It has been observed that many Watchtower writers take one or more of these “bricks” and then use them to build an alternate structure with a different conclusion than intended by the original source. Furthermore, to provide authority for these “bricks,” the references are cited not in just any of the massive amounts of literature produced by this religion, but in The Watchtower, the Witnesses’ number one policy journal, which would give the reader even more confidence in the validity of the statement.

My Two Week Consulting Trip to Bethel

2008-12-01T23:21:00Z

It was the Absolut beginning of the end for me and at the end of it I made the biggest decision of my life. I have only one regret about this whole story. My mom.

This story's main portion spans the time over a the week and a half I spent at Bethel, but over all it has effected my whole life. I am going to break it down into several parts, two now, the rest when I have time to write it. For those who care to take the time to read it, and if you get a little something out of it, then it makes the experience as well as what came out of it a little more worth it.

Watchtower Presidential Era Summaries

2004-01-15T08:00:00Z

the following is an excerpt from the book, Thus Saith Jehovah's Witnesses by Randall Watters

Charles T. Russell Era (1879-1916)

Date: late 1800's. Okay, July 1879 if you want to be picky.

Current Religious Views: many apocalyptic leanings, prompting the origin of several major eclectic religious groups claiming that God had rejected the mainstream Christian Churches for their apostasy in the fourth century, and that He has now chosen a new prophet, a spokesman, a faithful messenger to re-educate the world as to the truths of the Bible, long-lost and unattainable by any normal human being. To gain eternal life, man must listen to the new gospel of this messenger(s).

Barbara Anderson's Visit to Beth Sarim

2009-01-01T03:43:00Z

includes commentary on Rutherford's secret grave"new things learned"

7 minute audio tour of Beth-Sarim with Barbara Anderson (mp3 format)

Real Media format

Current List of Watch Tower Society's Governing Body

2009-03-25T16:29:00Z

As of June 2010 the Governing Body profile is as follows. The numbers next to the names are their year born and year of entry to the Governing Body, followed by current age and years of service on the GB:

Gangstas r Us - A Satirical Comparison Of Judge Rutherford and Al Capone

2009-02-22T23:49:00Z

Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith alone...For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" - James 2: 24, 26

Al Capone gained his power by exploiting the weaknesses of people.

Judge Rutherford gained his power by exploiting the weaknesses of people.

Al Capone lived and acted like a King using his own money.

The Governing Body's Famous Sayings of the 80s

2009-03-14T23:16:00Z

(The following are sample quotes taken from the book by Randall Watters of the same name as above) Everything quoted directly from Watchtower publications. Famous Sayings of The Governing Body in book form.

This is an excerpt from the book with the same title. These are the statements that, due to their irony and manipulative nature, will be most remembered in future generations. These are a collection of psychologically abusive statements intended to correct and mold the thoughts of Jehovah's Witnesses en masse, as dictated by the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Fred Franz Discredited the Concept of a "Governing Body"

2009-03-19T05:47:00Z

The last page of the February 1, 1976, Watchtower was devoted to a notification entitled "Governing Body Adjustments." The article advised that the Governing Body had, as of January 1, 1976, formed six supervisory committees: Service Committee, Writing Committee, Publishing Committee, Teaching Committee, Personnel Committee, and Chairman's Committee. This was, of course, big news in the world of Jehovah's Witnesses.

The Mystery Years of "The Judge" Joseph Franklin Rutherford in Missouri

2009-03-23T15:42:00Z

To begin, many people know of Jehovah's Witnesses who entrust their doctrinal interpretations to the Governing Body of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, but few know a great deal about the Watchtower Society's second President, Joseph Franklin Rutherford, and, until now, very few have known about can be termed the Mystery Years of Joseph F Rutherford in Missouri, which came prior to his becoming the Watchtower President.

Most Wanted Watchtower Leaders - For Crimes Against Humanity

2009-04-26T16:54:00Z

UPDATE: Theodore ("Ted") Jaracz died Tuesday, June 9, 2010

These men are desired alive and to be subject to an international court of judgment for their gross negligence in the leadership of over 7 million human souls, under the guise of being "faithful and discreet slaves" and corporate lackies of the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society. As yet there is no indication of any form of outright dissent within Bethel or the current leadership, but rumors are that GB member Ted Jaracz was the hard-line boss squelching all positive reform. He was in charge of the organization's "storm troopers," the Service Dept.

Photos of the Governing Body

2009-04-13T05:32:00Z

The Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses

private photo taken of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses in 1975:

Jehovah's Witnesses : A Brief History of A Century of Religious-State Conflicts

2009-03-25T18:28:00Z

A review of the history of the movement now known as Jehovah's Witnesses finds that the sect has long been characterized by antagonism from most secular governments, primarily because of their stand on other religions, saluting the flag, war involvement, voting, and other patriotic activities. Opposition against them has been at times extremely violent, both in the Western nations as well as in the communist and totalitarian societies. In the United States of America and several other countries, the Jehovah's Witness cases have been among the most important modern religion, press and speech cases. Their relatively high level of success in the courts was also briefly reviewed. The blame for this problem lies both with the Watchtower and government intransigence.

Jehovah's Witnesses Obstruct Truth-Seeking

2009-01-12T21:03:00Z

Jehovah's Witnesses are discouraged from doing extensive personal research into their modern-day history. Such action can cause a truth-seeking Witness to be labeled "apostate" and be shunned by family and friends.

Service With Michael Jackson

2009-01-01T02:24:00Z

The following is a true story. I'm sharing it without commentary. It was part of many adventures I had while living and working at Brooklyn Bethel where I made my home from 1982 until 1993.

In the mid 1980s, Michael Jackson was touring the United States doing "Thriller" concerts in major cities in conjunction with the release of his "Thriller" album. I found out about Michael's visit to the metropolitan New York City area from Tim, who also was a Bethel staff member, when he called me at work to ask if my husband, Joe, and I would like to accompany Michael Jackson in field service on Saturday.

Defending and Legally Establishing the Truth

2008-12-31T02:48:00Z

I spoke October 23, 2004 at Wenatchee WA at a Bible Conference, and this is the transcript. I also wrote the article on p. 24 of the Dec. 8, 1991 Awake! article, "Students Participate in National History Day" which went along with the Bill of Rights article mentioned in my talk.

Our pictures are in the following magazines: