Something has been bothering me as of late. My younger brother, who is 17 years old plans on getting married right after he turns 18 this upcoming year. I have quite a few problems with this, but he thinks that he knows it all at his age.
I'm concerned for several reasons. He has been raised as a witness by my mother since he was born and thinks that this is the right religion at the moment although he can see a flaw here and there which might culminate in him finding his own brain one day. He got babtized when he was 14 which was the first mistake, although I made the same mistake at his age.
When he was 15 years old he met a witness girl who was a few years older than him and they decided that they were in love. The only people in my family that are witnesses are my mother and my brother, I was a witness for 20 something years but I've since faded away. His girlfriend is a fourth generation witness and her whole family are witnesses and have been for the past sixty years. Her brothers are all ministerial servants or elders as well as her father.
As weird as it seems, her family wasn't to fond of my brother because he wasn't a pure blood witness, but I guess they are willing to make exceptions. I find the fact that his girlfriend is such a strong witness to be a hinderence when it comes to him eventually being able to think for himself and get out. And since I'm faded, her family might convince him that my wife and I are bad association and should be shunned.
Right about the time he was babtized, he decided that home schooling was the way to go and quit public school. Now he is blessed with horrible socialization skills and the only friends he has are a few of the older brothers at the hall, his girlfriend and her family, and his only voice of reason, my wife and I. there are no younger ones in his hall and the younger ones in his girlfriend's hall are all married which might be why she really wants to get married.
He got so caught up in his relationship and with going out in service that he slacked off in his homeschooling studies and is now considering getting his GED because he's still doing 10th grade school work. He quit his last job a few months ago and still has no job, so he has no money. His future wife to be makes about $18k before taxes. He wants to go to college and get a job, or so he says but he's not really looking. But the thing they definitely know for sure is that they want to get married during the spring of next year.
The witnesses seem to be all for it. If they do get married then I don't forsee him going to college because they'll find that they can't live the lifestyle they want on her measily salary. He'll have to get a job that an 18 year old without job skills and no experience can get. Since he's socially handicapped and doesn't like conversing with "worldy people" he will probably work for a brother doing janitorial work or landscaping. If he decides that the witness religion isn't for him, his wife will quickly turn him in and divorce him. Or if he stays in, her family may eventually convince him not to come around me anymore since I'm "the debil".
Anyway, it bothers me. It hasn't happened yet, so I want to change my above prediction to him going to college, figuring out that he doesn't want to be a witness and then making a huge success with his life with whatever he chooses.