Witnesses generally avoid any act of organized charity whatsoever. It is rare to find any who would admit to contributing to groups helping the poor or helpless like Amnesty Int'l, Habitat for Humanity, or Care. Either they get preached to - and saved as Witnesses - or they are damned as 'bird food' at Armageddon, so charity is not necessary.
This lack of feeling is a big reason why their "ministry" is so dramatically unproductive - people at the doors quickly detect the fake smiles and mechanical obedience.
Dramatically unproductive also because many JWs
themselves deep inside know that their "cheeriness" is obligatory and that whatever satisfaction is to be found in the preaching work only fills briefly and only that if it produces fruitage, so to speak.
The tragedy of this is that it teaches people - ESPECIALLY CHILDREN - that such active compassion is a waste of time. Witness kids sadly get molded into the idea that Christianity is little more than "field service" and meeting attendance. No feeling - or even faith ( as shown by the scrupulous house to house records demanded by Circuit Overseers) - is needed.
How very true.
For I became hungry and YOU gave me something to eat; I got thirsty and YOU gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and YOU received me hospitably; naked, and YOU clothed me. I fell sick and YOU looked after me. I was in prison and YOU came to me.’ Then the righteous ones will answer him with the words, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty, and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and receive you hospitably, or naked, and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to you?’ And in reply the king will say to them, ‘Truly I say to YOU, To the extent that YOU did it to one of the least of these my brothers, YOU did it to me.’
"Then he will say, in turn, to those on his left, ‘Be on YOUR way from me, YOU who have been cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.
For I became hungry, but YOU gave me nothing to eat, and I got thirsty, but YOU gave me nothing to drink.
I was a stranger, but YOU did not receive me hospitably; naked, but YOU did not clothe me; sick and in prison, but YOU did not look after me.’
Then they also will answer with the words, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you?’
Then he will answer them with the words, ‘Truly I say to YOU, To the extent that YOU did not do it to one of these least ones, YOU did not do it to me.’
And these will depart into everlasting cutting-off, but the righteous ones into everlasting life."
Matthew 25:35-46 NWT
Of note is that Jesus here did not even allude to "preaching the good news of the kingdom" as a service to be performed on behalf of his brothers as evidence of righteousness.
According to the WTS's interpretation overall doctrine, doing good to others of humankind in general has nothing whatever to do with performing what is generally-understood as practical charitable services toward them, of which they are desperately in need and to which Jesus referred. WT application, as regards the "world of mankind," applies exclusively to clocking hours attempting to convert them to the JW religion. Period.
Not surprisingly, though, when interpreting this scripture specifically as deemed applicable to the "annointed remnant" as opposed to humankind in general, the Society's primary application has it to do with "the other sheep's" doing good in precisely the manner Jesus was instructing---with regard to satisfying their generally-understood practical material needs. And, of course, since most JWs know not even a single person who professes to be of the annointed, fullfilling this scripture necessarily boils down to picking up the tab for the dozen or so members of the GB and those precious few they deem worthy---rarely annointed, but eternally loyal, to the organization, that is.
(If one accepts the Society's interpretation of this verse the correct one---that Jesus was speaking of performing good works toward only the remnant of a literal 144,000 who comprise his annointed siblings who'd join him in heavenly rulership---it would mean that those of us living in what the Society has pronounced "these last days" will be judged by how conscientiously and effectively we hunt down, out of some 6 billion of earth's inhabitants---the vast majority of whom are in dire need---the scant +/- 8,000 humans earthwide professing to be of this priestly-kingly sibling class (fewer even is the number are those the Society regards as "true" annointed!) and do good to them. What we do as regards the rest of earth's innummerable destitute is of no moment to Jesus. How utterly preposterous.)
Even among those who accept the "truth" and get baptized, any assistance in a material way will only be considered---by no means a guarantee!---for those who have "a long record of 'faithful' kingdom service." Read: acceptable levels of sales hours logged and seminars attended. Even so, if such an older "faithful one" has living adult children, s/he is instructed that these are, therefore, the ones s/he should expect to come to the rescue, no matter that the "faithful"-now-needy parent may have misguidedly followed Society directives to "quit mixing in company" with any of them, perhaps for many years or even decades. (To say nothing of the likelihood that these very offspring, likely reared "in the truth" are, as a result of the organization's denunciation of higher education, as ill-equipped to care materially for their parents as the parents are to care for themselves).
After 40 years of being a zealous Witness, I discover I have no real friends amoung them.
I have for some while been stricken by the identical sad realization, after 29 years active. Even as a JW, at least during my final years when my disillusionment was picking up momentum at a blinding clip, I issued irrevocable instructions to my husband that there was to be no funeral for me following my death as 99.9% of my associates had come to consist only of JWs and I was well aware that among them there were so few that I felt cared about me. Or, in truth, that I cared about.
Since I've de-/inactivated myself, I am even more resolute in this conviction and decision. I know that, should I precede him in death, as I likely will, my husband will be caused additional grief as a result of this decision, but it's my life and I lived too much of it in a lie. I want its conclusion, at least, to speak honestly and that starts with acknowledging that, even were he to insist on some kind of memorial service, there'd be very few anyway who'd even pretend to care, seeing as how I'd "left Jehovah." Of the two options, I figure no service at all would be the slightly less painful eventuality for him.
Are Witnesses really loving? A rhetorical question the lurking JW reader is rightly left to conclude for himself based on his own honest observations and experiences, I would say.
AMNESIAN