The Sick And Aged: Watchtower Approves of "Corban"

by metatron 11 Replies latest jw friends

  • metatron
    metatron

    Why does the Watchtower Society approve of 'corban' in relation to sick or aged relatives or spiritual brothers and sisters?

    Example: The April 15 Watchtower article "Isolated but not Forgotten" talks about the need to visit "our dear" brothers and sisters in

    nursing homes. This is a good and noble cause. However, we all know that elders and publishers can get out of any responsibility

    for these suffering people by simply saying "Well, I can't because I have to get my field service time in". Pioneers can do much the

    same. Too bad about Dad's Alzheimers. We can't help because of our "ministry".

    And why does the Watchtower keep printing these empty reminders? Because it makes them look righteous - while the problem

    goes on and on.

    Does the excuse above remind you of anything? Jesus condemned the Jews of his day because they would declare any wealth they

    had to be "corban" - a gift supposedly dedicated to God - and thereby neglect their indigent parents.

    And what is "field service" but a "gift dedicated to God" or attempt at appreciative obedience that, in this case, is widely used

    to avoid charity, compassion, or kindness practised in regard to the elderly or sick? Does time have value? Can you dedicate

    it to the door to door work and thereby avoid any charitable duty? As a former elder, I KNOW you can!

    Keep one thing in mind about these hypocritical articles: The monthly field service report has no space on it for time spent in

    visiting or caring for the sick: Literally, it "doesn't count".

    metatron

  • Gopher
    Gopher

    An article like this works for the WT Society in a couple ways.

    - It makes the elderly feel like the printing corporation / organization cares about them (as if that really matters).

    - It puts the responsibility for the elderly squarely onto the shoulders of congregation members, because the WTS has no special ministry or program to care for the elderly.

    The congregation members are already overburdened from the demands of the organization and the local and circuit Pharisees, and now they have something else about which to feel inadequate.

  • 2112
    2112

    Which issue is this article in - the one for the public on the one for the dubs only? That should tell you if they really maen it or are just trying to look good. Then again if it is in the private issue it is just something else for the f/r to do if they should happe to find some free time.

  • RULES & REGULATIONS
    RULES & REGULATIONS

    The WTS are the modern day Pharisees. The outer appearance is more important. They always make sure everyone knows how many new members they have,how many got baptized,how many new congregations were built,how many hours were spent in field service,and all the other useless information.

    What they don't practice is helping the sick and needy,the elderly,depressed,out-of-luck ,homeless,unemployed, and every other hassles of every day life.

    Go ahead WTS.............. keep selling all your real estate holdings because that's all your're good for!

    Jesus Christ defined pharisees in the following passage;

    “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

    “Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries
    a wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.’

    “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

    “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

    “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.

    “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.

    “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices–mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law–justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

    “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and selfindulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

    “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

    “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!

    “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation. (Matthew 23:1-36)

  • jaguarbass
    jaguarbass

    The WTS are the modern day Pharisees. The outer appearance is more important.

    Its frustrating that they cant see that.

  • Bonnie_Clyde
    Bonnie_Clyde
    The April 15 Watchtower article "Isolated but not Forgotten" talks about the need to visit "our dear" brothers and sisters in nursing homes. This is a good and noble cause. However, we all know that elders and publishers can get out of any responsibilityfor these suffering people by simply saying "Well, I can't because I have to get my field service time in". Pioneers can do much the same. Too bad about Dad's Alzheimers. We can't help because of our "ministry". And why does the Watchtower keep printing these empty reminders? Because it makes them look righteous - while the problem goes on and on.

    This is the very thing that got me out of the organization. My parents were considered pillars in the congregation. My father was instrumental in getting their local Kingdom Hall built. Because he was retired, he was always being called on to help with maintaining the building. Then my mother's health began to deteriorate and she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's which steadily got worse. It was a very very difficult time. My father and I almost single-handedly took care of her needs for more than seven years during which time she suffered two broken legs. Almost all their "friends" disappeared during this time. I remember countless times asking different witnesses if they would be so kind to visit my parents. I would often get something like, "Well I would, but I am pioneering next month." Or they would say they would stop in, but rarely did. In fact, there was one 6-month period when absolutely no one, including relatives, came by even though my parents lived less than a mile from the KH. On at least two occasions we saw a carload of witnesses go down their road, stop at the neightbors homes but ignore my parent's home.

    I think the catalyst for me was when my father told me that his book study conductor was asking about service arrangements, and my father raised his hand and said, "I'd be a special pioneer two times over if I could count the time taking care of my wife." I asked my father, How many people volunteered to come to your house to watch her so YOU could go in service?" He said, "None."

    I became acutely aware that, even thought the WT would occasionally print a few words encouraging the publishers to give attention to the needs of the elderly, it was quickly forgotten. The only thing that was really important was field service.

    After my mother's death, some of my relatives went to my father to let him no that I was no longer attending meetings or reporting field service. (I was too worn out working full time and spending most of the rest of my time at their house). Incredibly, my father turned on me, and I gave most of his estate to my daughter because she was still a faithful witness.

    I'm still numb....

    Bonnie

  • Hope4Others
    Hope4Others
    talks about the need to visit "our dear" brothers and sisters in nursing homes. This is a good and noble cause

    Perhaps it is fear and they face their own mortality and that's why many do not go. In any case it is sad !

    Hope4Others

  • jamiebowers
    jamiebowers

    When my step-father's father was diagnosed with prostate cancer he begged not to be put in a nursing home. My pioneer mother was thinking about taking care of him. A MS cornered me on time and told me that I should take her out of it, because caring for an aged parent wasn't as important as the door to door work. He died, miserably in that nursing home.

  • parakeet
    parakeet

    Except for the blood issue, this is the WTS's "loving" policy that makes me feel most nauseated.

    My elderly dub parents, despite severe health problems, are still able to live independently, but it won't last. And when that unhappy day comes, who will have to deal with it? Will it be my older dub sister, who has her field service quota to meet, holds down a full-time job, and has a sickly dub husband to take care of? Will it be the loving brothers and sisters at the KH?

    No, I know exactly who will have to deal with it all -- me and my other exdub sibs, who, by the by, have our own problems, not the least being that our dub parents cut us out of their lives because we turned out to be such "disappointments."

    The hypocrisy literally sickens me. Excuse me, I have to vomit now. Not kidding.

  • Barbie Doll
    Barbie Doll
    Perhaps it is fear and they face their own mortality and that's why many do not go. In any case it is sad !

    I agree with you.

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