After 50 years Zealous Service, My Elder Friends goes Inactive

by James Jack 32 Replies latest jw experiences

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  James Jack

  I asked him what happened. He said "him and his wife lived a full Theocratic Life for Jehovah. Doing everything the Organization and the Traveling Brothers told them to do, like work Part Time, Regular Pioneer, Serve where the Need is Great. Armageddon is just ready to break out at any time. We heard that same line of Reasoning for many, many years. And those who could not do what we did were considered weaker than us!"

  "They worked Full time, had Families, token Field Service, missed a lot of Meetings. They were able to retire with benefits, plenty of money, a home paid off and spend time with their Grand Children. They live a comfortable life now and their service to Jehovah is still the same."

  "At 62, I tried to collect Social Security, but only qualified to receive $480 a month, not even enough to pay rent! We quick Pioneering, took on Full Time employment in our 60's, to try to increase our SSI benefits. My body gave out when I hit 67. We stopped going to the Kingdom Hall because we have been lied too all those years. That was 8 years ago. I am now 75, can't work, live in Government housing, get food stamps, and my wife is still about able to hold down a Part Time job answering phones so that we have a little change for necessities."

  I said:"That is why 5 years ago, I quit Pioneering at 50,(The Overlapping Generations change woke me up), to focus on planning for retirement with whatever measure of time and health I have left."

  This couple in South Florida, who helped "raise my wife in the Truth", active Elder for 30 years, his wife and him both Pioneered and moved several times" to serve where the need is great" for another 20 years, with over 50 Years of "Faithful Service to the Organization", gave up going and are now inactive for the last 7 years!
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  DesirousOfChange

  We stopped going to the Kingdom Hall because we have been lied too all those years

  Another wasted life.

  Let's review: It's a cult!

  Doc
  
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  prologos

  Your story, or stories, are so typical of the truly devoted , at least you are already in retirement heaven, heaven's waiting room, Florida, not in Michigan Maine or Minnesota, Manitoba.
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  WTWizard

  Seems they never let people do what is sustainable. They can do pious-sneer time, but at what expense? Unless joke-hova is going to pay them a living pension, there is no reason to work part time and serve joke-hova full time.

  And there is no way to simply invest some of it, wait for that investment to pay off big, and then retire. Play a lottery ticket, you are gambling. Play the sweepstakes, and if you do manage to win big, they will expect you to throw away the prize into the Worldwide Damnation Fund. Play the stock market, and you are going to have to throw away the profits (if you are allowed to do it at all--the stock market is nothing to play with unless you can devote your full time to it). Buy silver in hopes that it will go from 15 or so toilet papers per ounce to 7,000 or more, you get hounded about it being "too worldly". Anyone that is smart would cut way back on field circus for the time, work as much as possible, invest as much as reasonably possible into silver (physical silver you hold) in realization of the huge shortage ahead, and wait until your currency becomes toilet paper and the shortage blows up. Then, retire and spend more time in field circus if you so please.

  But no, they just have to have all your money now. There is a big problem with them accepting that someone might have a few dozen rolls of silver quarters, dimes, and halves, a few tubs of rounds, a couple dozen silver bars, a couple tubs of Eagles, a few tubs of Canadian Maple Leafs, a couple dozen Australian Kookaburras, and maybe even a few New Zealand Kiwis. That would be a diverse way to play silver, plus make it a hobby. It would also keep the money out of the Worldwide Damnation Fund.
  
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  LongHairGal

  JAMES JACK:

  This is such a tragic story and I'm sure we are going to hear more like this as time goes on!

  While I feel badly about the predicament of the couple you describe, sadly, back in the day they would have viewed me as "weak" and "not spiritual" because I had a full-time job....They probably would have ignored me. I'm sure they were probably invited to many gatherings that I was excluded from! I'm sure they were happy and floating on air!

  I'm sure they got a lot of "association" and "love"....I wonder, however, if any of their so-called spiritual friends have offered them any assistance?

  Peer pressure in the Witness religion was very powerful but I'm so grateful I resisted it. What the hell would all of this "love" mean NOW if a person is broke in their old age?? I agree with what WIZARD said above jokingly about Jehovah providing a living wage/pension... I guess he expected a single woman like me to work, and so I did. Maybe He gave me the strength!
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  Marcial

  Cela devrait nous faire souvenir de Ray Franz et de son épouse qui ont vécu ce drame de l'après sortie de cette organisation et se sont retrouvés avec peu d'argent pour survivre . Je loue de telles personnes qui malgré leur age font cette analyse et agissent en conséquence . Ne plus mentir malgré eux dans la contrainte que fait subir sur ses adeptes la watchtower et ceux qui la soutiennent aveuglément. Marcial
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  flipper

  JAMES- Thanks for posting this story. What a sad situation. But please tell your friends that we are here for them and we are thinking about them. They are REALLY to be commended for exiting the JW cult so late in life. They must be really strong mentally. So many older folks can't face that they wasted their lives for years- so they stay in. It's still an extremely tough road to hoe at that age though. Good for them that they finally have their freedom. But the financial losses and price they had to pay was horrific. Take care, Peace out, Mr. Flipper
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  ToesUp

  We are seeing the exact scenario play out in our family. Family members in the mid to late 60's having a hard time making a living, with no end in site and no money saved. Many have pioneered for years, gone where the need is great and served at Bethel. It is sad!
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  Gayle

  This should make us remember Ray Franz and his wife who lived this tragedy of the after release of this organization and found themselves with little money to survive. I commend such persons who, despite their age, do this analysis and act accordingly. No longer lie themselves in the constraint that subjected its followers on the watchtower and those who blindly support. Marcial

  Marcial:I hope okay that I did a computer translator of your comments. I so respect Ray and Cynthia Franz courageous flight from the organization. They helped me to see so much of the WT reality of JW future. Thank you, Marcial!
  
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  fleshyheadedmutant

  Poor people.

  They were the poster witness followers for so many years. Now that they can no longer serve the WTS they have found out the WTS has no use for them. They have been discarded.

  So sad. At least they have each other.