The "invisible" Elephant in the room: ELDERLY JW's nobody provides for

by Terry 80 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  Terry

  Question: How does the leadership of Jehovah's Witnesses instruct its members to prepare for the eventual Elder Care of its members?

  Answer: IT PRETENDS it will never happen!

  Is this responsible leadership or some kind of cognitive dissonant malfeasance?

  It is deliberate social policy based on conscious FRAUD.

  Beginning in 1920 the Watchtower religion has deliberately misinformed its membership that they will not only never grow old, but, they will actuall never die!

  This LIE has had consequences!

  The most glaring consequence is that every single person who died since that message has REFUTED the lie!

  Jehovah's faithful Witness member in good standing ages, grows feeble, has no social provision for elder care and becomes an impoverished burden on his or her family!

  Illness and infirmity are real while the Watchtower promises are very false.

  This is the "invisible" Elephant in the room.

  It is a double tragedy.

  Why?

  Young members have been discouraged from Youth to avoid Higher Education. This makes them low wage earners. They are told they will not need to worry about growing old. So, their likely saving for elder care, buying insurance and investing in their own future is vanishingly small.

  The only Social Instrument for providing for actual human needs is ILLUSORY promises based on false hope.

  Jehovah's Witnesses are certain of only one sure thing: they grow old, sick and totally dependant on help that IS NOT PROVIDED by their own religious organization!

  So, the question must be asked simply out of humanity, consideration and fellow feeling: WHY ISN'T THERE ANY HELP?

  ANSWER: the Watchtower leaders DON'T GIVE A DAMN!
• 

  james_woods

  And one of the nastiest little episodes in this practice was dumping all those old Bethelites who may not have had family, and certainly did not have any social security benefits.
• 

  venetian

  The Org provides nothing for their elderly. They rely on wealthy business minded brothers to do the job for them

  http://www.jah-jireh.org/
• 

  wha happened?

  I've heard this as a complaint from an ex CO and his wife. The society needs to set up an old folks home for retiring full time preachers. They were fortunate with family, but I see alot of elderly trying to survive on a $400 a month ss check
• 

  Violia

  I looked over the site and don't see this as in the USA. I had heard about this long ago. Can the wts now claim it is a charitable org. based on this?

  For jws to claim they are a charitable org. do they have to directly fund this or as in this case funding from the wealthy among jws ? I noticed in their news update that Britain does not provide for residential care only. This is a tricky area here in the states too. The nursing homes are often the site of a lot of fraud . The wts would do well to be careful as federal aide comes with a lot of oversight by government.
• 

  LongHairGal

  Terry:

  This is why I was against their no-college/no-career stand and I had no use for these people who criticized me because I work full time. I am a single woman who was horrified at the circumstances I saw other single women in and I had NO intention of following in their footsteps and waiting for Armageddon to save me from having to think, work or provide for myself.

  All these single sisters (and anybody else who heeds the religion's bad advice) are headed for what you describe in your post. Yes, the religious fantasy does have serious consequences.

  Let the buyer beware!
• 

  wha happened?

  With all the boomers getting older, I wonder how the WT is going to make due. All those elderly are obviously going to be contributing alot less in the form of monetary donations. I see a financial squeeze in the future
• 

  venetian

  The Jah-Jireh homes are run privately by wealthy brothers FOR JW elderly, they have nothing to do with the WT Society per se therefore cannot be a basis forthe Society claiming charitable status.

  a quote from the website.

  "Jah-Jireh is a charity in which Jehovah's Witnesses care for elderly & infirm Jehovah's Witnesses in a loving spiritual environment. However, we are not part of the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of Britain."
• 

  Giordano

  What a shame that they didn't go into the elderly care business along with the assembly business, the real estate business and the publishing business. I mean seriously couldn't they have managed some level of care for diehard (no pun intended) witnesses who require assistance, security and just being able to associate with their own during the final ageing period of their lives?

  My Mom had to use a catholic assisted living facility (they provided service to all kinds of people) when she turned 83. She didn't want to live with family she was independent. She lived there until she passed away at age 90. Eventually she couldn't attend meetings and her final years were not spent with like minded believers which would have meant a lot to her.

  How those special pioneers, missionaries and bethelites are surviving after a life time of service makes one wonder. No doubt many are living lives of quite desperation.
• 

  Terry

  The only logical conclusion I can think of is that the Watchtower Governing Board Members have always been afraid how contradictory it

  might seem if they DID encourage savings for old age, DID set up volunteer hospice, DID organize around donations earmarked for the old and infirmed.

  This would be a tacit admission the promises of urgency in the looming END were being hedged by bets on the contrary outcome.

  Yet, this never stopped the buying up of real estate in the years just prior to 1975, did it? NO WAY! They purchased buildings which, according to their own dogma, would be FREE for the taking in a few years!

  Can this be seen as anything but duplicity?