by EndofMysteries 50 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
The thread topic says it all.
The new thoughts and rules arre pretty well summed up in these words...those back home may help those in the full-time ministry
That seems to be the new current touchstone for ANY help. Full-time door knocker! If you are not a full-time drone you will be forgotten, spoken against, and basically shunned as weak, disloyal, and undesireable!
End of Mysteries:
You mentioned in a post above that "..when elderly parents asked the congregation for help...they will reply with an article saying it is the blood relatives responsibility". Well, I would expect that it should be... Does anybody actually believe that somebody should support people who are not their parents???
This is the unreality and fantasy in the Jehovah's Witness religion. They knock education and careers and have a significant portion of people underemployed or even unemployed. Meanwhile, that dwinding number of responsible individuals who worked - like me - (and criticized for doing so) are going to be targeted to give money to everybody with their hand out!!! Are you kidding me??? This is one reason I am glad I'm out.
NOBODY ever had any business believing this fallacy [lurkers, pay attention].
So glad this nonsense is all behind me.
I never once, in all the time I was there, expected that anybody was going to give me anything of significance.
It is the corban principle:
(Mark 7:9-13) 9 Further, he went on to say to them: “Adroitly YOU set aside the commandment of God in order to retain YOUR tradition. 10 For example, Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Let him that reviles father or mother end up in death.’ 11 But YOU men say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother: “Whatever I have by which you may get benefit from me is corban, (that is, a gift dedicated to God,)”’— 12 YOU men no longer let him do a single thing for his father or his mother, 13 and thus YOU make the word of God invalid by YOUR tradition which YOU handed down. And many things similar to this YOU do.”
*** fy chap. 15 pp. 174-175 par. 4 Honoring Our Elderly Parents ***
4 Might honoring one’s parents also involve caring for their material needs? Yes. It often does. In Jesus’ day the Jewish religious leaders upheld the tradition that if a person declared that his money or property was “a gift dedicated to God,” he was freed from the responsibility to use it to care for his parents. (Matthew 15:3-6) How callous! In effect, those religious leaders were encouraging people not to honor their parents but to treat them with contempt by selfishly denying their needs. Never do we want to do that!—Deuteronomy 27:16.
*** w88 12/1 pp. 4-5 Religious Traditions and the Bible ***
To illustrate: God’s Word specifically commanded that children honor their parents. (Exodus 20:12) This obviously included assisting parents who fell into dire financial straits. However, a Jewish tradition developed that provided a convenient way to evade this Biblical obligation. A selfish individual merely had to pledge that his personal property was later to be donated to the temple, setting the property aside by declaring it “corban.” This word meant “a gift dedicated to God.” Although the Jewish worshiper was evidently free to continue to use this corban for his own personal gain, he could piously deny it to his parents.—Mark 7:9-12.
EndofMysteries, I knew one JW sister that didn't leave a cent to her children but left it all to the society. None of the children now have anything to do with the relgion. Some good witness.
Thanks blondie for reminding us of the corban principle , lurkers and newbies take note.
The jehovahs witnesses/WTB&TS are guilty of doing the same thing .
smiddy
It was only 6 months ago that this issue was dealt with in a study article
Watchtower 2014 3/15
Full-time servants whose theocratic assignments have taken them far from home may face particularly difficult decisions. Those serving as Bethelites, missionaries, and traveling overseers all view their assignment as precious, as a blessing from Jehovah. Still, if their parents get sick, the first reaction might be, ‘We need to leave our assignment and return home to look after our parents.’ Yet, it would be wise to consider prayerfully whether that is what the parents really need or desire. No one should hastily give up service privileges, and it may not always be necessary. Could the health issue be temporary, one with which some in the parents’ congregation would be happy to help?—Prov. 21:5.
11 Consider, for example, the case of two fleshly brothers who served far from home. One was a missionary in South America, the other worked at world headquarters, in Brooklyn, New York. The brothers’ elderly parents needed help. The sons and their wives visited the parents in the Far East to see what help could best be provided and how. In time, the couple in South America were weighing leaving their assignment to return home. Then they received a telephone call from the coordinator of the body of elders in the parents’ congregation. Those elders had discussed the situation and wanted the missionaries to continue in their assignment as long as possible. The elders appreciated this couple’s service and were determined to do all they could to help them care for their parents. All in the family appreciated the loving concern.
12 Whatever strategy a Christian family adopts to care for the needs of elderly parents, all concerned will certainly want to make sure that it reflects well on God’s name. Never would we want to be like the religious leaders in Jesus’ day. (Matt. 15:3-6) We want our decisions to honor God and the congregation.—2 Cor. 6:3.
THE CONGREGATION’S RESPONSIBILITY
...
15 In some lands, governmental authorities provide pensions, welfare programs, and home-care attendants for senior citizens. (Rom. 13:6) Elsewhere, no such organized services exist. Hence, how much physical assistance relatives and the congregation need to provide for older brothers and sisters varies from situation to situation. If believing children live far from their parents, it may affect how much help the children reasonably are in a position to provide. The children would do well to communicate freely with the elders of their parents’ congregation to make sure that all understand the family’s circumstances. For instance, the elders may be able to help out by assisting the parents to learn about and benefit from governmental or social programs locally. They may also observe situations—such as unopened bills or mismanaged medication—that they can bring to the attention of adult children. Such well-motivated and kind interchanges of information can prevent a situation from getting worse and may well lead to practical solutions. Clearly, on-the-spot helpers and advisers, who effectively act as the children’s “eyes,” may alleviate the worries of a family.
16 Out of affection for beloved older ones, some Christians have volunteered their time and energy to meet whatever needs they reasonably can. They make it a point to show extra interest in older members of the congregation. Some volunteers divide the tasks with others in the congregation and care for older ones on a rotation basis. While realizing that their own circumstances do not allow them to engage in the full-time ministry, they are happy to assist the children to remain in their chosen careers as long as possible. What an excellent spirit such brothers show! Of course, their generosity does not relieve children of the responsibility to do what they can for their parents.
*** w10 5/15 pp. 18-19 Remain Spiritually Strong While Caring for a Sick Relative ***
Consider, too, the experience of Jerry, a traveling overseer, and his wife, Maria. They had to adjust their goals to care for their aged parents. “Both my husband and I had the goal of serving as missionaries in a foreign field,” says Maria. “Jerry, though, is an only child, and his parents were in need of care. Hence, we decided to stay in Ireland to care for them. By doing so, we were able to be in constant attendance when Jerry’s father was hospitalized before he died. Now we keep in contact with Jerry’s mother each day, and we are within easy reach if she needs help. The congregation with which Jerry’s mother is associated has been very helpful and supportive, allowing us to remain in the traveling work.”
*** w98 8/1 p. 29 Highly Esteeming Privileges of Sacred Service ***
Similarly, a brother who has been serving in Senegal since 1967 received much loving support from the congregation where his father was located. When a crisis arose, the husband, with the willing cooperation of his loving wife, traveled alone to the United States to help his parents. He found it necessary to remain there for several months. The situation was difficult, but when he had done what he could, the congregation stepped in and helped so that he could continue his missionary service. Over a period of some 18 years, the congregation provided loving help in countless ways, first for the father (even though he no longer recognized many of them) and then for the mother. Did that free the son of responsibility? No; he often traveled from Senegal and used his vacation to provide all the help he could. But many in that congregation had the pleasure of knowing that they were having a share in keeping a hardworking couple in special full-time service in Senegal.
I bet if they made it so you could count time for caring for the oldies there would be jws queuing at their doors. What a cruel cult. But then, cults are known for discarding members when they are too old or sick.
Exactly Blondie, I came on to say that pioneers and bethelites can now say their time is 'corban'.
Great hypocrits.
Things change quickly in WT land.
WT '04 5/15 p 16-17
. Paul wrote: “If any widow has children or grandchildren, let these learn first to practice godly devotion in their own household and to keep paying a due compensation to their parents and grandparents, for this is acceptable in God’s sight.” (1 Timothy 5:4) Indeed, love for Jehovah and reverential fear of him will move us to care for aging parents, no matter what challenges doing so may involve.
Philip was serving as a volunteer construction worker in Liberia in 1999 when he received news that his father was critically ill. Convinced that his mother would be unable to cope on her own, he decided to return home to organize medical care for his father.
“It was not easy going back,” recalls Philip, “but I felt that my first obligation was to my parents.” Over the next three years, he moved his parents to a more suitable home and with the help of local fellow Christians adapted the dwelling to accommodate his father’s special needs.
Philip’s mother is now better prepared to cope with his father’s serious health problems. Recently, Philip was able to accept an invitation to work as a volunteer at the branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Macedonia.
