This was the line my nephew gave me regarding why JWs don't give alms. I had several rebuttals to give him, but didn't. I was hoping for some comments from this board.
You don't paint the rooms on the Titanic
by TTWSYF 17 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Ignoranceisbliss
What is an alms? -
TheListener
My rebuttal would be "that's why I don't donate to the JWs anymore". -
TTWSYF
Giving alms is helping to provide for the needy with food, shelter, clothing, support, medical, education, and/or etc, etc. -
Vanderhoven7
Ask him what true religion involves. By giving to the less fortunate, one is not propping up a system, but saving/delivering souls in peril. Big difference. -
CookieMonster
I never understood the anti-charity stance. Even Jesus cured the sick & fed the hungry before delivering his sermons. He encouraged charitable works not just to your own spiritual bros & sis but also to be extended to the rest, yes even your 'enemy'- as taught by the parable of the good samaritan. -
Saintbertholdt
You don't paint the rooms on the Titanic
If this system is by analogy the Titanic and is sinking and everybody is therefore looking for a lifeboat, I guess.what he is saying is that we should support Elon Musk to settle on Mars, right? But instead you now have people on the deck of the Titanic preaching about the iceberg. And what about the band that played on the deck? Oh we have the pop-star Prince today, silly me.Well at least in 80 years time there will be a movie about the incident with stunning special effects, with a mediocre love story and a so so theme tune. Meh, I can wait for the movie... In the meantime I'm watching Space-ex vidoes on YouTube. -
Divergent
Can a hungry person eat a Bible? -
BarelyThere
This was something that always bothered me.
When I was in high school I earned a 75% scholarship but had the opportunity for a 100% scholarship but with the requirement of 100 hours of community service. I thought it would be so easy being a JW. However, I was then told only a small portion of hours could come from religious activities. So, I was excited at the opportunity of volunteering at the local soup kitchen or doing Meals on Wheels. I was "counseled" that this was a waste of time and my time would be better spent preaching to others about the "real life" when all of these problems would be gone (e.g. hunger, old age, etc.). I thought it was a nice enough thought (and I believed it) but couldn't help but think "what about these people problems that they were contending with NOW?"
Nonetheless, I decided to forego the volunteer hours and settled for the 75% scholarship (thankfully my parents had no issue with getting higher education). Funny thing is, all the time I would have volunteered for these charitable places, I didn't replace with going in service. I was home watching tv! What a waste.
As an adult, I tried to do kind things for others that didn't involve my time (buying a homeless person something tangible that they needed, donating meals at the grocery store food drive, donating clothes to women's shelters). It just always seemed so pointless to me that JWs would be judged if they wanted to volunteer their time at a 'worldly' charity instead of going in service. Because that's what people need... "Sorry you haven't had a hot meal recently, here's the latest Watchtower & Awake magazines." There was even a local needs against doing charity walks for cancer/diseases because that time could be spent preaching. Smh.
Being DFed now at least gives me the opportunity to actually help people/animals in a real, tangible way.
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DesirousOfChange
Great replies already.
What Vanderhoven & CookieMonster said.
Staying with the Titanic parable, you could ask if throwing them a life preserver would be the Christian thing to do?
Doc