Former Longtime Elder- Met up with a Former CO,DO

by James Jackson 47 Replies latest jw friends

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  confusedandalone

  My parents both baptized for 50 years are flat broke living on S.S. They have not been on vacation in years and will never go again. They can't go out to eat, they never buy new clothes and are always upset about what they cant do. However growing up on there 20k a year jobs donated regularly and made sure every god damn convention they put in 100 bucks to help to "offset a deficit".

  They won't take money from me because I am "inactive" and they don't want me to think that I am helping them. My brother is a leech who still utilizes them for his own gain. All the while this slimeball encourages them to live this way but in the back of his mind is laughing like a freaking hyenna.

  I bet you he wont let any of the friends in the hall he moved to come live with him when they hit hard times. What is worse is that 600 bux of our money is going toward financing him now - that stinks. The real dinger is how many green handshakes and how many acts of tax fraud did it take for him to accumulate enough money to buy a house cash and still live a comfy life?
• 

  AndDontCallMeShirley

  I personally know a CO couple that "retired" with a nice six figure nest egg they accumulated from "green handshakes" while serving. While active they emjoyed expensive vacations, expensive dining, etc. from wealthy JWs interested in greasing the wheels for their own benefit. Additionally, when they went off the road the local brothers and sisters bought them a home and remodeled it for them, all at the expense of the JWs doing the work. Then all the maintenance was also taken care of by local JWs, at their own expense, of course. The CO's new car was also paid for by the local JWs.

  When CO/DO are active, they get free health insurance, a free car, etc. How many publishers have that?

  The word "servant" means no such thing when they are living better than the hard working JWs supporting them. WT may as well have a paid clergy class and make it official.
• 

  LongHairGal

  AND DON'TCALLMESHIRLEY:

  Of course the religion has a clergy, but it is a plain clothes-clergy. They even claim "ecclesiastical privilege" in courts of law. But, of course, they lied to all the new recruits like I was. "We have no clergy class." Yeah, sure.

  I agree with the sentiments of the poster above named PARTISAN. Right on, buddy!

  They can go to hell as far as I'm concerned.
• 

  James Jackson

  1) He is not a Special Pioneer. He told me that him and his wife is on the "Pioneer Infirm List". You have to be in the fulltime service for 25 years to qualify for this. There is no hour requirement, just "do what you can.

  2) His retirement pay, he told me was for his 40 years of being in the "Traveling Work."

  3) I only mentioned his name to, to show he is a real person, this is a real experience and to me, that matters!
• 

  breakfast of champions

  Evidently, he didn't really trust in Jehovah.
• 

  Marvin Shilmer

  -

  I thought Don Wallace would be deceased by now. He was an easy enough guy to get along with. I’m glad he planned ahead.

  I don’t know if it’s still regular practice, but it used to be the case that when COs and DOs were initially set up by Watchtower staffers one thing they explained was some sort of opt-out provision related to social security in the US. Some would take the option because it could potentially put a little more money into their pocket at the near term. I remember one who responded to the inquiry by saying “Can you guarantee I’ll never need social security benefits?” The Watchtower staffer was a little taken aback. Then proceeded on the assumption the answer was an emphatic “No!”.

  So many of these guys and their wives end up living very frugally after they're unable to do the Watchtower work. Generally, Watchtower’s a little better toward them than a person might think, or at least that’s the case for those who don’t expect much and are beyond being able to work.

  I recall one special pioneer whose husband had died. The two of them had been special pioneers for more than 50 years together. They never had a dime to their name, but were generally happy. After he died the local congregation did what they could to help take care of this lovely lady. Then she got sick and medical bills piled up. Local elders contacted Watchtower and they responded by saying to send them all the medical bills, and any other bills that she had. They didn’t question a thing. Every bill sent was promptly taken care of. Watchtower told local elders and the special pioneer gal that she should no longer feel obligated to any ministerial time quotas. She kept up the 140 hours per month for another couple years and then slowly did less and less until she died about 10 years later. I’m pretty sure her last name was Adams. Neither her nor her husband ever worked at Bethel. They always had a field assignment. Everyone they met and got to know loved them. They worked hard their whole life. Never had children. But they sure seemed happy.

  Marvin Shilmer
• 

  blondie

  Credits are the "building blocks" we use to find out whether you have the minimum amount of covered work to qualify for each type of Social Security benefits. If you stop working before you have enough credits to qualify for benefits, your credits will stay on your record. If you return to work later on, you can add more credits so that you can qualify. No benefits can be paid if you do not have enough credits.

  NO

  You are not currently entitled to a retirement benefit, but you may become entitled with additional work. Read our publication, "How You Earn Credits," for more information. The number of work credits you need to get retirement benefits depends on your date of birth. If you were born in 1929 or later, you need 40 credits (10 years of work). People born before 1929 need fewer than 40 credits (39 credits if born in 1928; 38 credits if born in 1927; etc.) When you work and pay Social Security taxes, you earn up to a maximum of four "credits" for each year. The way you earn a credit has changed over the years. Before 1978, employers reported your earnings every 3 months and we called credits "quarters of coverage," or QCs. Back then, you got a QC or credit if you earned at least $50 in a 3-month calendar quarter. In 1978, employers started reporting your earnings just once a year. Credits are now based on your total wages and self-employment income during the year, no matter when you did the actual work. You might work all year to earn four credits, or you might earn enough for all four in a much shorter length of time. The amount of earnings it takes to earn a credit has changed since 1978. In the year 2013, you must earn $1,160 in covered earnings to get one Social Security or Medicare work credit and $4,640 to get the maximum four credits for the year. http://www.socialsecurity.gov/retire2/credits2.htm ----So did he fulfill the above to qualify...was he paid a salary to be a CO...does the US government interpret it that way (let alone the WTS)
• 

  Partisan

  Blondie, I've often found myself debating with Jehovahs Witnesses regarding their "clergy". Many JWs proclaim that they don't have a clergy and that is one of many things that seperate them from "false religion." But the textbook definition of clergy is the administrative branch of any church or religion. So technically the elders and ministerial servant body would constitute a "clergy". However, and I apologize for forgetting where I saw it, in a Watchtower article I saw once it was listed that the JWs do not have a paid clergy like those in Christendom.

  So my question is this: If this yokel is receiving a stipend from the Watchtower Society, regardless of whether it's $6 or $6,000 a month, wouldn't that be compensation? Wouldn't that then make them a PAID clergy?
• 

  Oubliette

  hyp·o·crite

  noun \'hi-p?-?krit\

  1 : a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion

  2 : a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings

  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hypocrite?show=0&t=1375283496
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  DesirousOfChange

  He could have done some work (even part time) through the years to qualify for the SS credits -- before going on the Circuit road or after doing so. He could have even had a small business that he worked prior to the circuit work, and if someone else ran it for him all those years (as did one CO I know), but he still received some SE profit that would have been subject to SSTax, all this would have added to his SS credits.

  With all that cash coming in, it would be a wise move to report some as self-employed income, pay (SS) SE Tax on it to make sure you qualify for SS in the years ahead. Sounds like he might be that shrewd of a planner.

  Doc