Young People Ask: Where do I go from here?

by truthseeker 14 Replies latest jw friends

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  truthseeker

  If you're a young practising JW, maybe you've read the glossy brochure released in 2002 entitled, "Youths - What Will You Do With Your Life?"

  What did you think? Did the idea of a full-time career in "Jehovah's service" as a Bethelite, Ministerial Servant, or International Quick-Build Volunteer appeal to you?

  Or maybe you had other interests - maybe you were already at college or studying for a degree. Maybe you just weren't interested in "full-time" service.

  Perhaps you watched the new DVD released last year for youths. Did you agree that "accolades and degrees" are a "waste of time" because the new system will be here?

  Maybe you have friends who are in Bethel - are they really happy? Did you ever think how they will manage when they get to old to do their duties?

  Perhaps you see that the whole thing is a waste of time.

  How old are you? 15, 16, 18, 21 even 25 or older?

  Are you aware that generations of youths who made "full-time" service their career in the 1930s, 40s and 50s are now in their 50s, 60s and 70s?

  What about your parents? Did they make "full-time" service a career when they were your age? How old are they now?

  Did they promise you that "the new system will be here before you start school, finish school or get your degree?"

  Did you know that the Watchtower has been continously publishing their material since 1879, and the end has STILL not come?

  These are serious questions you need to ask yourself.

  Where do I see myself in 5, 10 or 20 years time? Still strutting about door to door offering the same regurgitated material? Or will I at least get a college education and a decent job.
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  czarofmischief

  I thank God and my father that I went to school, and that now I have a baby on the way I am able to find a decent job fairly quickly (have a few nibbles on the resumes I sent out). I have nothing but pity for those who buy the WT line and waste their lives peddling this crap.

  CZAR
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  jeanniebeanz

  I have nothing but pity for those who buy the WT line and waste their lives peddling this crap.

  Yeah, I was amoung those who bought it. It really derailed my future. At this point, I seriously doubt that I will be able to have enough in the bank to retire on, and will most likely be working into my 70's.

  Thanks WTBTS.

  Jean
• 

  Neo

  truthseeker,

  Very good! That's what I call a reverse "Young People Ask". Take notice, you lurker!! The WT is getting weaker and weaker; there's no real future there.

  Read what they wrote about careers

  If you are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things. Why not? Because all the evidence in fulfillment of Bible prophecy indicates that this corrupt system is due to end in a few years. ...

  Therefore, as a young person, you will never fulfill any career that this system offers. If you are in high school and thinking about a college education, it means at least four, perhaps even six or eight more years to graduate into a specialized career. But where will this system of things be by that time? It will be well on the way towards its finish, if not actually gone!

  This is why parents who base their lives on God's prophetic Word find it much more practical to direct their young ones into trades that do not require such long periods of additional schooling. ...

  True, those who do not understand where we are in the stream of time from God's viewpoint will call this impractical. But which is really practical: preparing yourself for a position in this world that soon will pass away? or working toward surviving this system's end and enjoying eternal life in God's righteous new order?"

  Guess when this article was published?

  Answer: Awake!, May 22, 1969, p. 15.

  The young people back then actually 'grew old'. You just can't trust the Watchtower!

  Neo
• 

  AlmostAtheist

  Thanks, Neo! I was trying to figure out how to encourage my 16-year-old brother-in-law to go ahead and go to college, despite being a JW. I just know he thinks he can cut grass and odd jobs and "pioneer" until this system ends. I'll print off that 1969 article from the Cd and show it to him, then make my pitch.

  Last chance before the DF axe falls Thursday night...

  Dave
• 

  GentlyFeral

  jeanniebeanz,

  Yeah, I was amoung those who bought it. It really derailed my future. At this point, I seriously doubt that I will be able to have enough in the bank to retire on, and will most likely be working into my 70's.

  Me too, Jeannie. I've just now figured out - at 50! - that the only option left is to find or build a job that I won't need to retire from - one that pays enough to live on, isn't too strenuous, and doesn't suck.

  gently feral
• 

  Neo

  I'll print off that 1969 article from the Cd and show it to him, then make my pitch.

  It's too bad they don't have the 1969 Awake! on CD-ROM. I have been looking for a scan of that article for a long time.

  Could someone please help us? Dave will be formally disfellowshipped Thursday night and won't have contact with his brother-in-law after it is announced.

  Neo
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  Undecided

  Check your math:

  Are you aware that generations of youths who made "full-time" service their career in the 1930s, 40s and 50s are now in their 50s, 60s and 70s?

  are in their 70s, 80s, 90s. at least most of them.

  Ken P.
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  franklin J

  this is an excellent post for any JW teenagers that might have visited the site.

  I was one of those teenagers 30 years ago thinking those same questions. Being from a very theocratic family I hade to make a decision. I chose full time pioneering; and after 4 years of that asked myself ..." where do I go from here....Gilead? No. Bethel? No; not for me. What do I want.?"

  What I wanted; and did; was to make the decsion on my own to attend college to study Architecture. Fortunately for me; my college educated Elder father thought this was great and actually encouraged me to pursue an education....Thank you, dad

  ...Needless to say, this was the beginning of the end of our JW way of life....
• 

  AlmostAtheist

  In lieu of the Awake article, this snippet is also pretty damning:

  ---

  *** w67 2/1 p. 81 Servants of God Full Time *** 6 Some, on examining their situation, realize that the course that is truly consistent with their dedication to God is for them to be sharing in the field ministry full time, as pioneer ministers, devoting a hundred hours to preaching the ?good news? each month. They have completed their secular schooling, are young, in good health and without family obligations or other responsibilities that have a prior claim on them. (Eccl. 12:1, 13) They do not choose to get established in a career in the business world, because they cannot see throwing in their lot with a system that God?s Word plainly says is ?going out of business? in the near future. So how do they react to ?attractive offers? from the world? During his last year of high school one young brother, just a short time ago, was offered scholarships that would have completely paid for a college education. But he knew that success he might enjoy in the world would be, at most, short-lived. He called to mind the Bible?s counsel: ?Do not be loving either the world or the things in the world . . . the world is passing away and so is its desire, but he that does the will of God remains forever.? (1 John 2:15-17) Love for Jehovah and faith in His word of promise moved him to enroll as a pioneer.

  ---

  It's not as good as the Awake article (what Watchtower article ever was?), but the point is still made.

  Dave