What I caught was how they were baffled by having to be in "the world". Then any and all help came from friends offering money, food, apartments, jobs. Can't anyone see how they people are used up and then discarded?
this weeks video on older ones stepping down
by road to nowhere 22 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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john.prestor
I didn't see the video, what's it show? In general, yeah, I don't know how they don't see it either, they devote their life to "Jehovah" (the Governing Body) and then "he" throws them out in middle-age or even old-age with nothing to show for their decades of "sacred service." It's shameful. Maybe some of them do but they can't say it, and they'd never let people who do on JW Broadcasting.
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steve2
JW organization has a very long history of discarding older ones. My maternal grandfather and grandmother worked tirelessly setting up new congregations in the central districts of the North Island of New Zealand through the late 1930s and over the 1940s. He then developed serious back problems (due to also working in a demanding labouring job) and eventually had to step down. Others took his place in the now established congregations - and they virtually forgot him. He and my grandmother were inactive for a few years but still kept up meeting attendance. Not one word of recognition or appreciation. He was dropped and treated as if he were "weak". He wasn't weak - he was old and worn out because he devoted his life to a thankless organization. Oh, and my grandparents died in the 1970s dirt poor.
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sparky1
Would someone post the video please. Thank you.
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Spiral
The other thing that stands out to me about these videos, and some of the depictions in the magazines, is the assumption that there are people in the congregations who have money and time to help elderly people. That disregards the reality of working people today, and of JWs in particular.
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john.prestor
You're right Spiral, and whether it's because the Governing Body 'makes' them poor by telling them not to go to college so they don't get good jobs or they join up because they didn't go to college so they feel welcome, they're not rolling in the dough. Certainly cant afford to live in a huge new compound next to a lake in a national forest...
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Spiral
@john.prestor, I was also listening in while my Mom and a friend listened to a video just this week. So slow in presentation it seemed to be aimed at a preschooler.... anyway, the whole theme was Jehovah will support you even if you tell your boss you can't work Sundays, meeting nights, etc., etc.
They just love to encourage people to stay poor, don't they?
I can't understand why more aren't annoyed by those fancy digs in NY, while they are living in public housing or older trailer homes out in the real world. I've seen some real poverty here in the last few years, it's sad because it was so unnecessary.
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stillin
There was an elderly couple that had moved into my area. He was a company man, but I attributed it to his military background. He was kind and hated the lying that he saw while he served on the BOE.
What really tore me up was how neglected he was the older he got. I did some home repairs and improvements for them, but they could see that what they really needed was their financially successful daughter to be nearby. So they moved away, embittered by their experience here and the lack of love, the identifying mark of the true Christian Congregation.
They're dead now, but I learned my lesson from their experience.
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LongHairGal
ROADTONOWHERE:
Yes, I’m sure everyone can see how the religion uses and discards people. As for how “baffled” these elderly are at having to be in the world, well it cannot be helped. As for people in the congregations giving them money, food, apartments and jobs: do you think this can go on indefinitely?
SPIRAL:
I agree with what you said about the wrong assumption that there are people in the congregations who have “money” and “time” to help elderly people. This is a false idea since most people have to work.
Also, anybody who believes they can always say No to an employer who wants them to work overtime or a Sunday once in a while will find themselves unemployed. I cannot feel sorry for these JWs at all.
ALL needy Witnesses are going to HAVE to get off the pioneer list and miss a meeting here and there and get their noses to the grindstone in the workforce!!! I have NO sympathy for the predicament of any Witness who does not.
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Tobyjones262
I know of many who worked like dogs for nothing or free and in later years, years that were supposed to be in the new system that never came, have nothing. My GF who was a CO and also elder for years and worked as a SP for several years saw in his later years that he had nothing. He took a high risk job with the prison system so he could get a pension. In the prison system you only have to work 10 years to get a pension. He did this very quietly. I have no respect for him even now that he is dead.