by MARTINLEYSHON 40 Replies latest jw friends
" Living off the state" and " social security" are two totally different entities
as you work , you pay social security taxes, you qualify for social security at retirement age OR in cases of temporary or permanent disability. if you have never worked, never paid the taxes you do not recieve social security.
i take offense that the two are lumped on one category. they are totally different. it is NOT welfare.
I'm with Candi on this. AND everyone else as to where you got the statistics.
I was a highschool pullout to go into the ministry and save as many as I could before 1975!
I got married at 18, and because I hated being a housewife (translated whore and a housekeeper) I got my GED (Passed with above average scores especially in math and english, the two subjects I hated), and got a job in an office. There was no way I was going to flip burgers, and I'd had enough of being a paid housekeeper and janitor.
I took a couple of adult education classes and ended up into computer software for 15 years at a variety of levels. I was a responsible citizen and was self supporting through my own contribution.
That is, until I got sick with a chronic illness and could no longer work, even a simple part-time job of 15 hours a week as a secretary was too much for me to handled for more than six months!.
I was on unemployment insurance twice. Workmans comp for 2 weeks once for having a stack of files fall on me, that I tried to catch and strained my neck and back. I've never collected welfare, foodstamps, or other types of welfare.
Social Security Disability is difficult to get. For me it has been a 2yr 9 month process of denials which feeds low self esteem and depression. Believe me, I've worked hard to get what I've paid in to the government. I am one of the lucky ones.... I have a boyfriend who makes good money and has been willing to support me because he loves me.
I have a girlfriend in Seattle that lived on the streets and couches for 3 years before she got the support she desperately needed. Shes' not an exJW. She was a hard working fisherman and laborer who contracted HepC.
edited to add: This is the 4th time I filed for SSD. I always got discouraged and tried to go back to work taking lessor and lessor jobs, until I just could no longer work. I even worked at home building a sewing business - that I paid taxes on! And I couldn't even do that after a number of months due to the pain.
"On a per capita ratio JWs ethos for claiming off the state is higher than any other religion. Does anyone have the answer?"
Yes, I know why. The governments are all run by satan. It's called financial theocratic warfare.
thinker
Sorry, Brenda, I was lumping Soc. Sec. and welfare together. Sloppy thinking in addition to just accepting the question in the topic as valid even though there were no sources cited. Ugh. My bad.
Yeah, let's all pile on here without one shred of supporting evidence. Exactly where do you find a breakdown of Social Security beneftis by religion. There's a sucker born every minute.
I think over half of the things mentioned in this forum lack any proof but its amazing how everyone jumps on it like its a known fact. Sometimes you guys can be very inightful but other times you all just get caught up in your rants and the rush of witty statements blasting WTS. I'm in college right now and i'm more or less left alone. Sure i get the occasional sarcastic comment, but they dont have the balls to look me in the eye when they say it so it really doesnt matter now does it?
The show explained that since it was illegal to practice polygamy, they would marry them, but not report it to the state, no license, no records etc. Then when they had kids, by the records the women were unwed mothers, and they filed for welfare on the orders of the man.
AllAlongTheWatchtower, I was thinking about that too --those who practice polygamy (no longer officially sanctioned by Mormonism) -- and how welfare fraud is common within their ranks.
I am open to any source information that can verify this interesting statistic.
In the meantime, if it is verified, there could be any number of plausible explanations.
* For example, JWs may be more likely to "own up" to their religion on social security forms than do members of other religions.
*JWs might be more likely to specifically align themselves with their religion ("Jehovah's Witness") whereas adherents of other religions might describe themselves more generically as "Believer" or "Christian" without specifying the exact denomination.
*Also, JWs in the USA might have relatively greater growth than other religions in lower socio economic regions or in ethnic groups such as the Spanish or Latin Americans and therefore have a greater proportion of poorer people in their ranks compared to other organised religions. Consequently, a higher number on Social Welfare.
*JWs might be in the "embarrassing" position of encouraging an attitude that is dismissive of higher education but that results in higher numbers of witnesses falling upon financial hard times and needing government assistance.
A lot of people have asked for the source of the 'statistic' for this thread. The original statement was that "more" Witnesses per capita are on welfare. A statistic by necessity involves a numerical value, so absolutely no statistics have even been offered, let alone a source for them.
Since privacy laws in many countries make it unlawful to record the religious affiliation (or ethnicity or sexuality etc) of welfare recipients, it is unlikely that meaningful statistics are actually available unless an independant voluntary survey has been done.
