JWs get used as an "agency" at Resources Fair for inmates in Iowa

by Gopher 62 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Gopher

  The JW's don't miss a beat in marketing their cultish religion to the downtrodden of society.

  http://www.messengernews.net/top_stories_full.asp?2031

  Resources fair helps NCCF inmates get ready for release

  Event showcases groups that can help former prisoners

  By BILL SHEA Messenger staff writer

  ROCKWELL CITY ? For prison inmates about to return to society, getting everything from new driver?s licenses to health care information can be a bewildering process. An event at the North Central Correctional Facility brought representatives of 30 agencies to the inmates Thursday in an effort to erase that problem. Called a resources fair, it gave inmates a chance to ask questions and collect lots of brochures. ??There?s a lot of information here for us,?? said inmate Clarence Williams, of Waterloo. ??All we?ve got to do is utilize it.?? ??I think it?s very neat that they bring groups like this into the institution to help us out,?? he added. The event is the only one of its kind in the Iowa prison system. It was held for the second time this year. The afternoon session in the minimum security prison?s gymnasium resembled a college fair or job fair. Close to 100 inmates circulated throughout the room. The driver?s license staff from the Iowa Department of Transportation attracted the most attention. Getting the inmates in touch with agencies that can help them after their release and encouraging them to plan ahead for future problems are the twin goals of the fair, according to Misty Sweet, a correctional counselor. Sweet said the fair builds on weekly classes on substance abuse, family issues, education and recreation. Those classes began in January. ??We take a life area each week and pick it apart,?? she said. Inmates must complete those sessions in order to go to the resources fair. Meeting the inmates before they?re released does pave the way for future contact with them, according to Linda Pingel, a work-force adviser in the Fort Dodge office of Iowa Workforce Development. ??I tell them to come and see me as soon as they walk out the door and I do see them,?? Pingel said. On Thursday, she was urging inmates to enroll in a program that gives employers a federal tax credit if they hire a newly released prisoner. She said the tax credit is a nice incentive for companies to hire former inmates, but the inmates have to be enrolled in the program in order for the employers to benefit. Participating agencies included Alcoholics Anonymous, Child Support Recovery Unit, Churches United Shelter, College Planning Center, Community and Family Resources, Family Planning Council of Iowa, Iowa Central Community College, Iowa Department of Human Services, Iowa Department of Transportation, Iowa Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services, Iowa State University Extension Service, Iowa Workforce Development, Jehovah?s Witnesses, Parents Anonymous, Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa, Primary Health Care Inc., Proteus, the Salvation Army, Social Security Administration, Urban Dreams, Western Iowa Tech Community College. Inmate Chad Winslow, of Des Moines, said the fair helps give inmates a chance to get their lives back on track. ??It gives us a chance to show them that we?re trying to make a change,?? he said.

  Isn't this just wonderful?
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  a friend in need

  Among the twenty or so support groups mentioned, you forgot about the ' cultish ' Salvation Army.
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  Elsewhere

  I have $20 that says the JWs are only interested in helping inmates who are JWs or studying to be converted to JW's.

  JW's NEVER help anyone if it is not in the interests of the organization.
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  Gopher

  Among the twenty or so support groups mentioned, you forgot about the ' cultish ' Salvation Army.

  All I know about the Salvation Army is that they're a minor religion that is mainly known for feeding and clothing the poor.

  The article says that these agencies are looking for future contact with these inmates once they're released. I think that JW's are targeting these people when they're at their most vulnerable, instead of setting up to help them like the Salvation Army would.
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  Scully

  While I don't subscribe to the belief system of the Salvation Army, I do wholeheartedly respect the services they provide in the community. I did part of my nursing training at a Salvation Army owned and operated Grace Hospital and it was there that I feel I received the best training experiences.

  Perhaps if Jehovah's Witnesses ran hospitals I would have had equal quality or better training there, but then again, they don't have their own hospitals, do they? Or food banks, or shelters for homeless or battered women, or thrift shops for financially challenged people....

  What do JWs have to offer former inmates? Bible studies.

  By their works you will know them...

  Love, Scully
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  a friend in need

  The Salvation Army may mostly be known for feeding and clothing the poor but realistically it is a ' religion ' as are Jehovah's Witnesses. Where the SA's try to help with physical needs, JWs mostly try to help with a persons spiritual needs.

  Really, you can't critisize JWs for helping in any way they can, just as the SA does. My point is, why did you only critisize one group? If catholics and protestants had offered to help, would you have sarcastically pointed out their need to " help the downtrodden " ?
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  a friend in need

  Scully:

  Couldn't have said it better. " by their works you shall know them ".

  Religious teachings that is. Not hospitals, shelters, etc. , all good things, mind you, but not religious.

  a f i n
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  Undaunted Danny

  The Salvation Army feeds and shelters the destitute,BIG TIME they do so in my hometown, Bangor Maine.

  The WT$ is in it for the PR. Don't forget,David Koresh of Waco,and Jim Jones of Jonestown 'helped' the downtrodden too..

  As a matter of record the WT$ exploits minorities.

  http://www.dannyhaszard.com/haszard1.htm Maine Times May 24 - May 30, 2001

  [[ Q: When I was working as a visiting nurse, I took care of a guy with uncontrolled diabetes, and it was killing him. He was a Jehovah's Witness, and he told me it didn't really matter whether he controlled his disease because his religion taught him that every thing's just temporary anyway. I never saw anybody living in such complete poverty, he couldn't afford the food or medicine he needed, and he refused to accept any kind of assistance. But he had this stack of new books he had bought from the church. He was a man without education or sophistication.

  A: That's another part of the cult dynamic: They exploit minorities and ignorance. Enlightened aristocrats are, as they say, "goat-like"; they're not receptive to the Kingdom Message. A few years ago, the Haitians who were impounded at Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba, 80 percent of them were Jehovah's Witnesses. The church said, "See, they're downtrodden, they're more receptive to the good news, they're more sheep-like." But they just exploit minorities, that's what happens....]
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  a friend in need

  Danny:

  What do David Koresh and Jim Jones have to do with JWs. Have any Witnesses ever killed en mass? I'm afraid I don't understand your point at all.

  If the young witness decided to choose religious books over his health concerns, that is his business. Said nurse has no right publicising anything about any patient, especially to a newspaper. That alone would make me wonder about anything the nurse had to say.

  a f i n
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  galaxy7

  where would the poor ,homeless and downtrodden people go for assistance if it were not for the salvation army?

  They do exactly as Jesus instructed .which is to feed and shelter the poor,visit the prisioners and generally care for those with no voice in society.

  what do Jehovahs Witnesses do? they do nothing !