Jehovah's Witnesses and Bethelites and Social Security

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Texasmoneyman300
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07 Jan 2025, 8:16 am

Hi yall,
I was watching a youtube video a while back and it was talking about the the Bethelite Religious Order in the Jehovah Witnesses. It said that earlier in JW history they were more about the "priesthood of all believers." However they decided to start a religious order for tax reasons because they realized that starting a religious order would help them tax-wise. These Bethelites live together at JW headquarters. I think the JW Governing Body may have done this because it would allow them to get out of paying social security because the JW's would take care of their Bethelites in their golden years.

However this apparently might not of happened. I heard that they kicked out some of the Bethelites when they were old and senior age. Some of them wound up homeless on the streets. They could not get social security benefits even though they were of age because they did not have their 40 quarters in the workforce. I just read that some of those people applied for SSI because they did not qualify for regular social security. I think this may amount to tax evasion on the part of the Governing Body because one of the only reasons why the feds have allowed them to opt out of social security is because they assumed the Governing Body would take care of their elderly in a similar way to how the Amish take care of their own elderly instead of being on social security. Some of these people are sent to their family back home if they have any.Also some of these people have given their home to the church so they dont have that asset to provide for them in their old age.



TwilightPrincess
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07 Jan 2025, 10:51 am

Bethel is where they make their publications and productions. Young JWs, especially young men, are urged to have going to Bethel as a life goal. When and if you’re accepted, you work and live there. It amounts to slave labor because they give you an allowance, not actual pay for work. They often kick people out when their position is made redundant, like if it’s replaced by technology. Sometimes they decide to replace older people with younger people. When they go back home, people in their home congregation are supposed to help them, but given the issue of poverty among JWs that often doesn’t happen. It’s a really sad situation.

I knew a very bright young man who went to Bethel. Everyone was extremely proud of him for it. When I asked what he was doing there, it turns out that he was serving food. People were gushing about him as one would expect people to gush about someone working for Doctors Without Borders. Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with serving food, but he had a lot of promise and could’ve had a career in whatever field interested him if college wasn’t so frowned upon.

Here’s what the Watchtower says about Bethel:

Quote:
Bethel, a Hebrew name, means “House of God.” (Genesis 28:17, 19, footnote) It is a fitting designation for the complexes that Jehovah’s Witnesses have established around the world from which the preaching work is directed and supported. The Governing Body serves at the world headquarters in New York State, U.S.A., and from there it supervises the activity of the branch offices in scores of countries. As a group, those who serve at these facilities are known as the Bethel family. Like a family, they live and work together, enjoy meals together, and study the Bible together in unity.​—Psalm 133:1.

A unique place where family members give of themselves. At every Bethel facility, there are Christian men and women who are devoted to doing God’s will and serving Kingdom interests full-time. (Matthew 6:33) Not one of them receives a wage or salary, but all are furnished with room and board and an allowance to assist with personal expenses. Everyone at Bethel has an assignment, whether in an office, a kitchen, or a dining room. Some serve in a printery or a bindery, or do housekeeping, laundry, maintenance, or other things.

A busy place that supports Kingdom preaching. The main objective of every Bethel is to make Bible truth available to as many people as possible. This brochure is one example of that. It was written under the oversight of the Governing Body, transmitted electronically to hundreds of translation teams around the world, printed on high-speed presses at several Bethel printeries, and shipped out to over 110,000 congregations. Every step of the way, Bethel families provide essential support to the most urgent of all tasks​—preaching the good news.​—Mark 13:10.

https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/jeh ... is-bethel/

It’s pretty damn culty. In apostate circles, we call it the “cult compound.” :lol:


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Honey69
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Today, 10:53 am

I suppose that they could marry someone who has social security benefits, and at least get the spousal benefits. I've heard of marriage fraud for immigration, but maybe nobody thought about it for social security.


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TwilightPrincess
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Today, 12:38 pm

^ It could happen, especially since the vast majority of Bethelites are male. Women don’t typically go there unless they are married to a man who’s been accepted. Women aren’t allowed to take on any leadership roles unless there’s exceptional circumstances and a penis is unavailable. They mostly do stuff like housekeeping, haircutting, and nursing.

In the organization as a whole, there’s fewer men, so a lot of women stay single.

Quote:
Most Jehovah’s Witnesses – roughly two-thirds (65%) – are women, while only 35% are men. Christians worldwide are more likely to be women than men, but this gender gap is particularly large in the context of U.S. Christian groups. For instance, 54% of U.S. Catholics are women.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads ... n-the-u-s/

It’s against their religious beliefs to marry outside of the faith. It’s a really sad situation. My cousin is 32 and will likely remain unhappily single at this point even though she’s one of the kindest and sweetest people I know. Given their stance on sex outside of marriage and masturbation, JWs tend to marry young. It’s really hard to find someone when you’re in your mid-twenties or older if you are a JW woman.

I suspect more women stick with it because they are raised to be submissive.


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Honey69
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Today, 1:42 pm

Well, if there are any old JW women who had regular jobs and who are collecting social security, then they could marry an old Bethelite man, and the Bethelite man could get spousal benefits. I think. There might be some catches, like having to have been married a minimum number of years.

EDIT: They would only have to have been married for one year to qualify for the spousal benefit.

https://www.ncoa.org/article/what-is-th ... l-benefit/


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TwilightPrincess
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Today, 1:50 pm

I think a Bethelite could often (but not always) find a middle-aged woman with a job to marry, too. Such a relationship wouldn’t be frowned upon at all because Bethelites/former Bethelites have high status unless they get kicked out for misbehavior. To get accepted into Bethel, you have to appear to be a model JW. It’s all very strange. I know someone who briefly served in Bethel and then went on to have other high ranking positions in the church. People gush about him to no end. It’s a bit difficult to hear seeing as how he sent me an unsolicited dick pic and complained about blue balls when I wouldn’t sext with him. Yeah, that happened years ago, but I don’t think that’s how decent men behave even if they are horny 24 year olds.


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