Regarding the young man that MiseryLovesElders met with:
"So he asked if he could speak to me privately and off the record, and not within an earshot of his mother. ... He intimated to me that he feels trapped because he's incapable of supporting himself at this time. Not only that, but he expressed some dismay at his low field service time, and lack of commenting at the meeting. At that point I offered to help him in that regard, but what he said next left me pretty much floored. He said, "Misery you don't understand. I don't believe in any of this stuff anymore. At all, but I'm not able to move out just yet." ..."
That is quintessentially the core of the difficulty that young Jehovah's Witnesses face - that I also faced, and failed to find a reasonable solution to...
Looking back, I see now that I could have sought out the assistance of my non-JW extended family; however, the years of Watchtower-Society-induced isolation made it extremely difficult to contact them, had I even realized that I could have obtained help from them...
OUTLAW mentioned the young JWs who come here, the ones seeking to leave, the ones still trapped - though I don't think that the young man that Misery spoke with is too YOUNG - I think he just hasn't had the chance to build up some savings and develop marketable skills that would help him to obtain a job, due to the insane pressures and "black-hole" demands on his time that the Watchtower Society has strong-armed him into...
Which is exactly what the Watchtower Society intends... Cripple the young so they can't escape...
I've said it before; I'll say it again - if former JWs really want to see young people exiting this religion before it destroys their life, then there needs to be some sort of "support" system for them to get out - a place to stay, financing - or at least emotional support - for further education, even if it means just going to a trade school at first. Get them into their first apartment, their first car, their first job - basically provide them with some version of the "good" parent that the Watchtower - and probably their brainwashed parents - never were...
At the very least, provide them with a plan of attack:
1. Stay undercover until you're ready to escape;
2. Get decent training for a good job;
3. After getting the job, save your money for a nest egg;
4. After getting the nest egg get some decent transportation;
5. then look around for your own place - even renting a trailer home or a garage apartment.
6. Start making friends OUTSIDE of the Watchtower Society - or maybe this should be step #1...
Zid
