GB: Let's keep them stupid so they'll give us money.
Does becoming (or remaining) one of Jehovah's Witnesses result in Poverty? Pew Research results differ from Watchtower claims.
by Balaamsass2 47 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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LongHairGal
ROAD TO NOWHERE:
And who would the ‘someone else’ be who would ‘grudgingly’ provide ‘charity’??
You are not referring to the fewer and fewer responsible rank & file people left in the religion, are you?? This is a stupid delusion and urban legend that too many Jehovah’s Witnesses hold to.. It is bad enough that JWs in decades past thought this when the congregations were brimming and full of people! That is not the case anymore.
Besides, it isn’t like 30 years ago when the JWs bought somebody a bag of groceries until they got on their feet again.. No, these people are senior citizens and AREN’T getting back on their feet again.. They aren’t getting a job tomorrow. They will be expecting charity and handouts the rest of their lives!!!
This is the actual outcome for many thousands of JWs who were in the ministry for decades and didn’t get actual jobs in their Youth like the REST of society traditionally does!!.. This is because of following the (now expired) teachings of a religion!
It is absurd wishful thinking for any JWs or even ex-JWs to imagine any of their ‘friends’ or associates are going to provide for them in their old age!
This is the result of indulging in fantasies all their lives instead of healthy realistic thinking.
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Balaamsass2
Hi Stuck! 3rd Gen and I are home with Colds. :) "Balaamsass2, it’s been a while since I dropped into this forum and was happy to see a friend. I have had the the same experience. All my old peeps in the org are now old and their kids aren’t sticking. I hope you and the wife are well!
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Balaamsass2
This weekend's Wall Street Journal ran a story about seniors trying to live 100% on Social Security. It was the 2nd most read story of the paper this weekend. Just think of ALL THE HOURS JWs spent every week at meetings, service, talk prep., Elders meetings, preparing for all the above, dressing up for all the above, and then traveling to and from all the above! I added it all up years ago. It averaged 20 hours a week! 52 weeks per year PLUS travel time and costs of Conventions and assemblies. Over 1,000 hours per year. If that 1000 hours were spent on a minimum wage job flipping burgers in California it would amount to an additional $15,500. per year of income ($155,000. every 10 years). Imagine if that 1,000 hours per year were spent on a college degree...for just 4-6 years of one's life......
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DisgruntledFool
I have 5 siblings, all of us raised as Witnesses. Only one is marginally active. I am the youngest at 68. My oldest sister lives on JUST Social Security and Medicaid (lives with me), the next oldest is married, she and her husband own their own home, have some IRA'S and both collect Social Security and work part time to keep busy. Next is my brother who lives in government subsidized housing, gets minimal Social Security, has Medicaid and receives food stamps. My third oldest sister gets minimal Social Security, rental assistance, foods stamps and Medicaid. And last but not least is my 4th sister. She receives minimal Social Security and Medicaid (also lives with me). And me? I got some excellent advice from a gentleman that I took on tour when I was a Bethelite at Watchtower Farms back in the mid '70's. To make a long story short, he advised me NOT to put too much stock in Watchtower's gloom and doom scenario. He was a Bethelite in the 1940's and said that they were preaching about Armageddon daily at Bethel back then. 'If you don't look out for yourself, they certainly aren't going to', he told me. I semi-retired from my own business at 43 and now have assets in the top 10% of Americans as well as a very healthy Social Security payment. I know where my next meal is coming from! At any rate, one of my friends became a Circuit Overseer (the road I was slated to take) and he is now 'retired' without ANYTHING to fall back on. Jehovah's Witnesses leadership single handedly created an entire generation of very poor people because of their useless financial advice!
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Foolednomore
My advice to any young JW who would listen would be: Forget about Jwism it's a load of crap. Get an education. Get a Job or career you want to do, save and invest your money. Talk to a financial advisor.
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Balaamsass2
The initial story had a link explaining the rankings' strong connection to education. I think it is an important read to understand Watchtower's " indiscrete slaves" crime against young and old JWs' future long-term prospects.
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LongHairGal
DISGRUNTLED FOOL:
I am glad you took the very wise advice of that older gentleman in the 1970s.
He warned you not to listen to talk of “gloom and doom” and that the JW religion was saying this in the ‘40s”.. He was most correct to say: “if you don’t look out for yourself, they certainly aren’t going to”.
I know this all from personal experience. They thought they would ‘punish’ me 🙄 with shunning in the late ‘70s and later because I would not quit my full-time job to do housecleaning and the ministry.. Thankfully, I never listened and worked until retirement.
When they removed the hour reporting at the annual meeting of 2023, I felt validated (not that I needed it because I always felt I did the intelligent thing).. The result is that many thousands of Witnesses who knocked themselves out for decades - ended up unprepared for their retirement!.. What a slap in the face!.. The End of the World didn’t come in time as they were led to believe!.. They hoped Covid was finally it.. Surely, they would have ALL made a different choice if they knew how it would turn out!