Talented Witnesses

Zico

Did anyone know any Witnesses who were really talented at something and gave it up in order to 'put Jehovah first'? I find it really sad that the Watchtower Society can restrict such talented people from fulfilling their dreams in order to chase those empty promises of a Paradise Earth, in a similar way that they stop intelligent people from going on to higher education.

In my Congregation there is a really skilled football (soccer) player. He was considered a big deal among professional youth coaches, he'd been courted by a lot of big teams, most notably Man Utd and Tottenham. It was hard for him to be offered the potential to fulfill his dreams by pro clubs and have to turn them down in order to 'pursue spiritual goals', especially since he was a Tottenham supporter, but he thought it was the right thing to do. In the local leagues he had consistently been the highest goal scorer for many years, despite being younger than most of the players in his league. Until the elders stopped him from playing, as it involved 'worldly association' and 'competition'. Nothing is ever good enough for them is it? He turns down potential professional contracts, and rather than praise him, they come out and say 'Well, you're still playing in the amateur leagues...' He really is brilliant, I've played against him, and I just can't get near him. I've also watched him when he played in his amateur league, and he always manages to stand out among the rest.

I also knew of another guy who had been offered a recording contract for his band. He turned it down. He was considered very talented though, and he'd even been invited to the Welsh Music Awards and sat near some big names like Stereophonics, and Manic Street Preachers. After he turned down the offer of a contract, the recording company told him that if it was because he didn't like his band, they'd get him a new one, they were so desperate to sign him. He still refused. He was so guttered, he couldn't lose to another song for 2 years. (Except the kingdom songs!)

I just find all that so, so sad. Ok, there's never a guarantee that they would have made it big, but they had potential, and they weren't even allowed the chance to see what they could do.

Did anyone else know Witnesses like this?

Dune

I was hounded by football coaches throughtout my high school career, but i'm not sure if that was because of my skill or my size :-P.

However, one thing that has recently started to disturb me was how when i was in the 12th grade(senior year in high school) i was offered a 15,000 a year stipidend and free ride to any college I wanted if I worked for the NSA. People usually had to apply for this, they had it given to me personally.

I asked an elder about it and he convinced me to turn it down. The worst part about this is that after i started going to college, the elder stopped talking to me and started to treat me like garbage. It wasnt until now that i'm leaving that he tried to mend the broken ties.

Anyway, i'm applying for a job at the DOD, hope it works out.

Talented Witnesses

Zico

Dune

Zico

Warlock

Zico

jaguarbass

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