Elders hounding members to quit their jobs due to missing too many meetings (page 2)

road to nowhere

The new hound is zoom service every Saturday. And during the the week.

I graduated from college with a degree in English, and was baptized about six months later. This was in 1973, during the run up to 1975. Unable to find real work I was doing menial labor, with, of course, encouragement from the elders.

In 1982 against the advice of the elders, I went back to school to study something that people would pay me to do (accounting/business management). I turned that into a good career. I'm now retired, and the circle is closed as I'm writing novels, which seems to pay enough to be worth while.

In retrospect returning to school was the start of escape from the WTBS. So, I guess the elders were right about one thing.

In reading through the stories above I wondered how many young witnesses internalize the message that their job is unimportant, no matter what they're doing. The flip side to missing meetings to work is missing work to go to meeting. I've seen JW's fired because they put "kingdom interests first." \barf\

GrreatTeacher

Funny, my history professor in college had a simiar story.

He had graduated from college with a degree in history and was having trouble finding a job.

In the meantime, he was doing roadwork. Yes, nasty, stinky, full of tar roadwork.

He heard of the job opening teaching history at the college I attended, called and got an interview for the same day.

He left work and had no time to go home and clean up, so he showed up to his interview dirty. Obviously professional attire would have been expected.

The interviewer was so surprised that he was asked about it and he told them that he was doing what he had to do to make a living while looking for the job he was qualified for.

He got the job right then and there. They appreciated his work ethic. And, years later, when I was a student, he was still there.

And I learned the hell out of world history. Geography included. I could at one time label the entire world map of every country, mountain range and river. One continent at a time, for sure, but I REALLY learned world history. Not multiple choice, but the student labels a blank map and answers essay questions from scratch.

I know I really earned my "A" for that class!

JeffT

Good for you. I firmly believe that you can't understand the world today if you don't understand how we got here. I minored in history, if I could do it over that would be my major. As it is, most of my fiction is history-based.

a watcher

That's one of the reasons I like reading the Bible. It is to a great extent a history book.

truth_b_known

We had a Circuit Overseer who, in a talk, stated we should not take jobs involving shift work. We had several brothers (Elders and MS) who worked at the nearby refineries or as firefighters. The missed few meetings because of work. Not good enough.

A couple in the same circuit, but different congregation, took the same CO out to lunch. The CO told the wife that he thought she should quit her job and pioneer. He asked her, "What do you think?" She replied, "I think you shouldn't bite the hand that feeds you."

Overrated

My impression of God( if he existed in Jwland) would be a crazy lunatic, self centered dumbass. Sorry, can't believe.

Ding

The WT is all about controlling every aspect of JWs' lives.

Rivergang

My parents encountered this while still a “bible study”. The rather bumptious elder who was conducting the “study” was insistent that my father give up his job “so that he could attend meetings”. Happily, my father being the fiery tempered Scotsman that he was, promptly told them where to go - and what to do when they got there!

(Sadly, I fell for the crap, and it took one hell of a long time for me to wake up. Story for another time, though!)

Beth Sarim

''There are experiences where someone got fired for going to assembly. Every one I had any insight on were poor employees,''

I've always wondered about that. Being ''fired'' for going to the a$$embly. Perhaps they were crappy employees who deserved to get canned.

Elders hounding members to quit their jobs due to missing too many meetings

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