CANADA | Toronto Star | May 3, 2013 - Jehovah's Witnesses: Kindness is an act of grace - not an obligation

by jwleaks 22 Replies latest jw friends

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  steve2

  It is utter nonsense to explain JWs unpreparedness for retirement as being a consequence of their belonging to a religious cult.

  Even during my most zealous years in the organization, I noticed huge variability among the Witnesses in how much they prepared for retirement. Sure, some knowingly put nothing aside, confident the end was "just around the corner", whilst others - no less zealous for "the kingdom" - took a more cautious approach. Besides, in each congregation there were glaring examples of some being totally unprepared for their retirement. Warning examples abounded for all in the congregation to see. It's not as if the rank and file did not - and do not - see firsthand the consequences of poor retirement planning.

  It is each person's individual responsibility to ensure they have actioned plans for their retirement years. Unlike her own JW parents, my mother - herself a zealous witness until her death some 2 years ago - always said she would never repeat her own parents' mistake of neglecting to prepare for their own retirement (they had expected the end in the 1930s).

  Of interest, whilst my maternal JW grandparents never owned their own house, renting until they died, and had only meagre savings, all their 8 children - JWs and non JWs alike - own their own homes and have retirement investments.

  Blame the organization for a lot of things - yes. But to blame the lack of retirement planning by many JWs on their organization is one of the worst forms of unjustifiable victim-creation.
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  Adam Believed

  Ken Gallinger nailed it. Spot on. It's about choices that lead to a conclusion... Helping is good but not an obligation just because a person has made por choices.
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  SAHS

  Although it certainly is an unfortunate situation for this 65-year-old sister, I think that ultimately it is the responsibility for her to make rational and informed decisions as to her financial future. Some people have made other kinds of poor choices, such losing a significant amount of money on the stock market or the lottery, investing in risky or scandalous get-rich-quick ventures, squandering untold sums of money on substance addictions, involvement in criminal activity resulting in being sued or fined, etc.

  At the same time, however, it must also be acknowledged that there can be mitigating factors, especially for someone who has been “trapped” in a cult. Remember, there are a lot of very intelligent people who have been suckered into these fanciful and disingenuous types of religious groups. (Look at all the celebrities, albeit rich, who are involved with cults such as the Mormons and Scientology.) As we all know, the dynamics of living in a JW family can make it extremely difficult if not impossible to just up and leave it. Now, I don’t know to what extent the pioneer sister in that article was blindsided or coerced in her attachment with the JWs (was she a born-in?), but it would seem that there would definitely be some factors that would tend to cause a person brought up in that environment to have been misled (i.e., kept in the dark, being encourage not to be self-sufficient or to critically research the organization).

  So, although the responsibility for one’s course in life, including practical future planning, technically must rest on the individual, there should, moreover, be some degree of understanding and empathy taken into consideration. After all, no one would consciously want to be misled and disadvantaged by a deceptive cult. And if you or someone you really love were in such a situation, how do you think you would feel?