Jws and poverty

by Julia Orwell 40 Replies latest jw friends

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  blondie

  I have found that jws tend to reflect the poverty levels where they live. I have never lived in a country with a large poor population, but they exist.

  http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/world/poorest-countries-in-the-world/

  I just think we haven't really been in the right countries or right areas of our country. We went to a congregation that had part of Appalachia in their territory. Most jws did not like working that territory and felt they would not fit into the congregation. I was surprised at what they did not have.

  I worked among street people and found 2 men in bad shape but willing to try changing. One finally did but the "brothers" felt he was not appropriate and encouraged him to go to another congregation. I watched Bethelites step over and scooch by the homeless, never offering the hope of the paradise.

  Could that be more the reason no truly destitute are in the congregations?
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  losingit

  I've known many jws who have lost their homes to foreclosure in the 2008 crisis. Many moved in other jw homes while they recovered financially. I know another jw family that is way over their heads in debt, a family of five, that is currently living in the basement of a brother's home. One room for a family of five.

  Im in ahorrible financial situation myself, and even before I left, I never would have asked another jw for help. Perhaps you don't see the poverty bc others won't let you see it. It is embarrassing beyond measure to be poor.
• 

  Julia Orwell

  I've known a lot of jws who live in cheap government housing or housing commission we call it here. A disproportionate number of jws live in housing commission houses I've noticed, compared with the general population. housing commission is hard to get into, and you usually have to be on some sort of government welfare to qualify for a house.
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  blondie

  In this area it is mostly mothers with children (and ex-husbands, ex-boyfriends that don't pay support) who qualify for this housing. My mother and her children lived in that type of housing. In one congregation (in the territory of that kind of housing) had quite a few mother and children families. They truly had little money and were not ripping off the government. Many jws viewed us as lower ones in the congregation. I learned later after I had a good job, to offer transportation, and help with the children, remembering my family's early days and how little help we got but for a few sincerely Christian people.

  But then I knew brothers who ripped off their employees, didn't pay taxes, etc. Being poor does not equal being dishonest nor does having material things make one honest. I really feel many jws in richer countries, have no idea what poverty is. There was not enough places for the homeless last winter and they camped out on land just 1 mile from us. We drove by them every day. The government stepped in finally but it looks like this winter is going to be more of the same.
• 

  likeabird

  When I was a kid we had some families in the cong who lived in very poor conditions. Looking back I don't know how they made ends meet because they didn't always have stable jobs and very poorly paid at that.

  The other thing you need to take into account are living standards in each country, and that in many industrialised countries ther are a lot of measures in place or safety nets to avoid you falling so destitute as to be living on the street. And if you had kids, the government would be sure to house you, even if that meant putting you up in subsidised hotel accommodation in the interim.

  I have lived well below what was considered the poverty line. We were pioneering, but severe health problems meant it was impossible to work and pioneer. We both stopped pioneering (though unknown to me the elders never sent in my resignation and much later when things finally started to stabilise they told me to just continue) and tried to find temporary jobs where we could work together and cover for each other. During this period, we could barely pay the rent, had to live off food stamps as we actually qualified for them. I still remember going round the store calculating the price of the food so I would have enough to pay for it. I would also travel across town, one hour each way on public transport, to go to markets where vegetables were very, very cheap and I would fill up a shopping stroller and lug it back home so we could at least eat properly for the next week. We lived in a tiny appartment (around 160 sq feet/15 sq metres) that was very very damp and run down. We couldn't afford a bed and so slept on two single mattresses on the floor. Shelves above the 'bed' would literally fall off the wall because it was so rotten. Thankfully it never happened during the night. During winter, washing took about three days to dry. After our first winter, we discovered that many of our books had black mold from the damp. Some of our clothes did too and had to be thrown out.

  We stayed clean and we stayed well fed. One time a couple from the local cong gave us some money which helped pay the rent that month. Otherwise, any help came from what work we could find and what state help we could get.
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  Joliette

  Yeah a lot of Witnesses that I knew grew up struggling. They would still manage to make it to the conventions and the assemblies. Didnt grow up with a lot, but still managed. But of course, they had to do more, cause in the JW's world, you never can be good enough. A lot of witnesses I knew (especially single mothers with children) grew up in housing projects, and a lot of single elderly sisters, or widowed or divorced sisters, are in senior bulidings. There wasnt too many who I knew that owned businesses or had college degrees. That was very discouraged.
• 

  Joliette

  2 + 2 =5, thats pretty much what I was told growing up. That Big J would take of it, lol.
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  doofdaddy

  Maybe these type of people never get the chance to be jws because they are not on a territory map (homeless) and let's face it, jws are judgemental. Who's going to "witness" to the wino in the park, people living on the fringes of society. Sure some witnesses will preach to anyone but the majority don't want to return visit to a hovel or bush camp. Jws are a very middle class attempt at religion.
• 

  Julia Orwell

  Good observation. To be a jw you have to look a certain way ie wear a suit, so if a wino or parkie is genuinely interested he will get nowhere because he can't afford a suit. Jws also need a lot of books, clothes, shoes and meeting and witnessing crap, so where would a homeless person put all that? No jw would help a homeless person access support services either because jws don't help non jws. People who don't fit the clean-cut, meeting attending mold wouldn't get help for long enough to become jws.
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  snare&racket

  We were super poor at times, being a JW was no help. If anything the goldfish bowl congregational lifestyle made us stand out even more, what we didnt have was made more evident every tues, thurs and weekend.