What are Jehovah's Witnesses' stance on home ownership?

by timothytha 23 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  timothytha

  What do people usually think of when they buy a house? "I will probably live here for a long time" (you're invested with your time), "I will save money by building equity over time". (you've invested in yourself financially for the long run) Of course, I wouldn't be able to list the numerous reasons why people want to buy a house.
  

  Would it be wise to buy a house, or would it be considered being worldly and materialistic and an overall poor investment (spiritually speaking)?

  I've discussed it with a Witness during our Bible studies before, and his reply was "if you set your roots here in this world, you will for surely lose your life in the end." He's talked about how other Witnesses' have downgraded (sold their property and lived a humbler life) and committing full time at Bethel. He's also told me that mortgage debt is actually the worst type of debt there is (not from a financial/ building equity/ etc standpoint, but a spiritual one) since you're going to invest your time and money for at least 30 years into something that wouldn't be permanent anyways.

  What is the Witnesses' general stance on saving money on a down payment on a house, instead of, say, renting for the rest of your life? Is it the act of "setting your roots here" rather than buying the house itself?

  Is home ownership considered an unnecessary luxury? Perhaps even a dangerous investment? How would this apply to Witnesses that owned property before becoming Jehovah's Witnesses? Would they be encouraged to sell off their homes?

  If that is the case (not saying it is) how would it be for other things such as new cars, and other materialistic things that aren't necessarily bad in itself? Some are even necessities! Of course, it's not exactly an equivalent comparison since the price of buying a house far outweighs the price of a phone or car.

  But I think you guys get my point by now. How do you guys view home ownership?
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  Rattigan350

  It is a person decision, based on people's resources and family and future plans
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  fadeguy

  Hi, I have been following your website for a year now, finally got around to signing up.This post hits close to home so wanted to share my experience.
  

  Back in the early 90s i bought a home that i intended for parent to live in. The JW's criticized me for buying the home, saying how they couldn't believe i would buy a home so close to the time of the end. Almost 30 years later the parent died and I ended up selling the home afterwards and the witnesses criticized me for selling the house. Seems no matter what you do it is never the right thing unless directly benefits the watchtower corporation.
  
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  LongHairGal

  TIMOTHY:

  Don’t mean to hurt your feelings, but you are laboring under a wrong assumption! Just because Witnesses attempt to insinuate themselves into other people’s business doesn’t mean they are entitled to be told anything..Home ownership and any such decisions are private..Period.

  What about all those stupid videos of people hiding out in somebody’s basement? You need to OWN a home to have a basement to hide in!

  As for this Witness telling you about other JWs who have ‘sold their property to live a humbler life’, this is one of the stupidest things anybody can do..This is what people did before 1975!!! Remember that failure? Nobody seemed to learn from this…Did this JW also mention how many are NOW penniless at an old age because they lived off the proceeds of the sale and the money ran out?..These people are now older and broke in an economy where it’s next to impossible to find work.

  As for this guy talking about ‘committing to full time at bethel’..where have you been? 🤣 Are you unaware of the many hundreds of people kicked out of bethels over the last decade or so?? These older people were sent packing with No money, no retirement package. No nothing. I heard of some who even got a bill for the last lunch they had in the cafeteria or commissary!! 😮 Imagine getting a bill for the sandwich and the little container of milk you had..after you got kicked out on your rear end?? They are sent back to congregations where it is expected that people there are going to help $upport them. And I don’t think we’ve seen the last of this ‘downsizing’!

  This is why I’m glad I’m not in the JW religion anymore. If I were in any congregation where fired bethelites are and somebody had the nerve to come up to ME (who got criticized for a full-time job) asking for money, my answer would be No..Brothers with businesses are going to have to help them.

  Nobody should give a second thought to what some strangers think about this or any other important decisions they need to make for their own lives.
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  waton

  the more houses you own, the better, and charge max rent for investment properties, keep new homebuyers, young couples off the market by out bidding them. . capitalism at its most rampant. btw: the bible and wt.Bible t.s. never abolished slavery.
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  ozziepost

  Would it be wise to buy a house, or would it be considered being worldly and materialistic and an overall poor investment (spiritually speaking)?

  Haha, this reminded me of the language of the Witchtower in Questions from Readers or in the Awake! 😁

  ’salright mate, not criticising, it just made me smile 😊
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  inbetween

  Where I grew up, and in the eighties, building or buying a house was considered as sign of spiritual weakness. Our tyrannical PO at that time, often judged others who did so, as being close to falling away from the truth.

  Until some years later, his own daughter started building a new house with her husband. Narrative changed, suddenly, this was necessary, because "they could not find an adequate rental place"....hypocrite...

  I have the feeling, its not so much looked down upon anymore as it was back then...
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  FFGhost

  Depends on which JW you talk to.

  Some JWs are fairly wealthy, some very wealthy. Ask one of them, and you will get their blessing.

  Other JWs are of moderate means, or poor, and could not afford to buy real estate. Ask one of them, and the most likely response will be one of personal pride, how they are keeping their lives simple and "pursuing Kingdom interests first", and if you were wise, you'd do the same.

  It also may well depend on which country the JW resides in. In the US, where owning your own home is deeply ingrained into the culture, most JWs would have no issue. In, say, Germany or Switzerland, well half or more of the population rent their homes, there may be a more negative response.
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  punkofnice

  ghosty - Depends on which JW you talk to.

  That about sums it up.

  You will find those that are jealous will gossip and deride a person...not just for buying a gaff, but for anything.

  The more wealthy jobots are the ones that will give 'hospitality(tm)' to the visiting scrounger/CO. These ones are usually 'promoted' to Elder because of their wealth no matter what scum they are. I've seen it first hand.

  'Do what thou wilst shall be the whole of the law.' paraphrase Mr A Crowley.
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  truth_b_known

  Seems no matter what you do it is never the right thing unless directly benefits the watchtower corporation.

  This is because Jehovah's Witnesses pride themselves in fault finding. It is a way they attempt to elevate themselves. It is a disgusting game of grasping at straws with heavy tones of holier than thou.

  Witnesses are constantly shooting themselves in the foot in this game. They have to over think every decision with the bottom line being "Will a fellow Witness find fault" rather than ask themselves "What does Jehovah think," which ultimately is just asking "Is there anything truly wrong with this?" Buy or rent a home may be an example, but the sadder example is when you have older Witnesses who did nothing to prepare for retirement or can't retire because they were too worried what others would think.