Youths who gave up amazing lives

by JohnR1975 18 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  JohnR1975

  When I was growing up I remember many young people interviewed on the platform at assemblies. The ones who really stood out are the talented ones who gave up amazing lives to pioneer.

  I remember specifically when I was a boy in the 70s and 80s some who were very good at sport or something. Their teachers begged them to get professional training use their talents to the full. They sat there on the stage so proud that they turned it all down to pioneer and got a cleaning job or similar.

  sure this was the case all over the world.

  now these ones are approaching later life they wasted their best years as pioneers. They will be a burden on other as they are broke.

  They must be wondering what if they used their best years to the full, then took early retirement and then pioneered?
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  hoser

  To be fair those who had promising sports/music careers are used to enrich others just like the watchtower enriches themselves on the backs of its members

  A very, very small percentage of “promising” sports and music stars make it to fame and recognition.

  The coaches, schools recording studios make a living on the backs of these people they promise to be stars
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  TonusOH

  I got lucky. I was totally prepared to spend my days as a mail clerk making poverty-level wages as I waited on the New System. I had two hobbies; I liked to draw, and I was obsessed with computers. My mother did not care for either and openly discouraged them as wastes of time and resources. Still, I helped out with the handful of computers and printers at my job, and they were more than happy to have someone do that work while earning a low wage.

  But they were expanding their use of computers quickly, and managing the computers started to take more and more of my work time. It just made sense to promote me and begin to pay me like an IT staffer. They increased my pay by 50% over the next 18 months and I had a career. This was right at the time that I was beginning my very slow fade. I've been working in IT for almost 30 years, now.

  It's chilling to think how close I came to finding myself working in a mailroom for my whole working life, making a pittance and being easily replaceable. My mother stopped complaining about my career when my wages made it possible for her to enjoy a better life, but she never really expressed gratitude for what it provided for her.
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  SadElder

  This post immediately reminded me of an Awake cover article displaying the pictures of young people that died after refusing blood. It still makes me sad,

  I looked for the article but I'm headed out to an appointment I'll have to look later.
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  skin

  Back then to pioneer, you had to report 60+ hours a month, today you can gain that title with as little as 15hrs.
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  Biahi

  Hoser, you are right, but how many, who made the choice to forego college, sports, or other opportunities, instead of slaving for WT for free, regret it now? And, who knows, maybe that person could have been another Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, or cured cancer? We will never know.
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  Ugot2bekiddingme1

  I have to laugh when Watchtower frowns on Higher Education and then ask if any of the "Brothers " have degrees in legal or Technical Disciplines. They cry like little Bitches when someone in the Kingdumb Hall gets an education or tries. But ooh, it's a different story when they need something.
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  karter

  I live in New Zealand rugby is like a religon here. My brother and myself were very good players but stopped playing as the pressure from everyone got to much our coaches could'nt belive it they said we could go far...Another lost opportunity.

  Karter.
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  slimboyfat

  Every life is amazing, I give up 🤷‍♂️
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  LongHairGal

  JOHN R1975:

  I remember those young JW testimonials at the assemblies years ago. They gave up jobs/scholarships to be in the full-time ministry.

  I wasn’t born-in and was not swayed by any of this.. I kept on working full-time. They all hated me but I am glad Now I never listened….You mention how those JWs are broke now and will ‘be a burden to others’. I heard this term over the years I was a JW. There is an underlying wrong assumption in the Witness religion that ‘other people in the congregation’ are going to give them money.. Meanwhile they knocked people with full-time jobs. They could Dream on as far as I was concerned.

  To me this is a fallacy and urban legend and I’m Glad I’m not around this anymore!.. I remember an older sister who told me about her few cleaning jobs who said “I wouldn’t want to be a burden on the congregation”. I thought to myself that she was nuts if she imagined people in the Kingdom Hall were going to support her.

  I saw a post on Reddit fairly recently where a person related how they gave up all to pioneer and apparently expected charity of some sort to come from somewhere. They were disillusioned that it did not.. This is/was an attitude that I observed years ago… Sadly, this mentality persists to this very day in the Jehovah’s Witnesses.. It is all the more ridiculous as their numbers are decreasing and there are even fewer people left to bum money from.