were you more 'materialistic' when you were a witness???

by chuckyy 15 Replies latest jw experiences

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  chuckyy

  It was my experience when a JW that many focussed their lives around...having good holidays...having nice cars (some with private plates)...having perfect houses etc etc. It all seemed very materialistic to me. Totally the opposite to what was being preached from the platform. The justification always seemed to be:

  'Its not having money thats bad...but the love of money.'

  That scripture was very frequently used in order, I suspect, of easing consciences. Thing was, I too got embroiled in it, thinking my house wasn't up to standard...that I needed a nicer car etc. I was never like that before I was a JW and have not felt that way since.

  Is it just me ??? Was this just my cong???? Or have you had similar experiences too????
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  dh

  i always wanted more than my jw lot in life prescribed.
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  upside/down

  I lived in two different Dub worlds.

  West central Iowa- country folk, old school Dubs.

  South Orange County Cali- OC folk, new school Dubs.

  They all looked out for #1. While they preached the "simple" "rely on J" lifestyle with one side of their mouth, they were arranging their "portfolio" and planning their next vacation with the other side of their mouth. They certainly like to "use the system to the full". I remember when the lotto hit Cali and all the Dubs were like we can't so that blah blah blah... but there was a burger joint a fe blocks from the hall where all the pio's would eat because you got a FREE lotto ticket with a burger... hey it's free I'm not really buying it... maybe J will bless my pioneering with a winning ticket... GAG!!! I was "new" and I thought they were stupid and greedy. Oh well...

  That's what makes me blaze, is that I belonged to the naive, submissive group of people who actually believed what I heard from the FDS and applied it to ME, not caring whether others applied it or not. Thank God I saw the light before my kids were too screwed up and my financial future would never recover.

  I was never materialistic before or since becoming a Dub or till now... my parent didn't raise us that way! (they get the credit)!

  u/d

  
  
  
  
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  TheEdge

  Good point. Strange that JWs tend to go into poorly paid, part time work (as many have pointed out on here), as there is no point in a ''future'' in this ''System'' - by the same token, I always wondered why those who had piles of cash didn't just share it amongst the Society where it could do the most good - after all, the END is at hand.
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  franklin J

  I suppose in hindsight my family had more materialistically than most JWs.

  My folks were conservative but we had more than the others, much more. My folks personal belief was that if you had more; you gave more. Hence we ( myself and 2 sisters) were full time pioneers. Dad was an elder and mom was the typical JW "wife"

  My parents ALWAYS opened our home to the circuit overseers when they visited and always entertained . My father payed for the new sound system in the Congregation when it was installed and contributed heavily to buy a new car for the circuit overseer. They had the money and they contributed when they had to.

  What I failed to realize at the time ( as a typical 18 year old) is that it was Dads money that kept me pioneering; payed for my car, gas; insurance; clothes. I was expected to be the good example ; the "leader" for all the young people.

  That same car that took me out in field service was always available to pick kids up to go to meetings or out to the movies. When I got a menial job; the pay was merely for playtime money. After we had left the religion; my mother confided in me that she and my father felt that they had cheated me as a child with no birthdays or Xmas and always tried to compensate.

  As a grown man with much responsiblity of my own now; I realize that my folks lived quite well; did well for themselves financially and just never made a showy display of it.
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  Odrade

  Hubby and I were just talking about that after spending the evening with my super-JW parents and brother. They are so fixated on their cars and toys and things...

  Okay, people like things. I'll be the first to admit I'm easily distracted by pretty, shiny things. LOL! But they always seem to be so keyed in to stuff...

  I'm not sure about myself personally, I don't know if any more or less materialistic, but I do think I obsessed more about how to have nice things, and what the line was that must not be crossed into materialism. Now, if I see something I want, and it doesn't strain the budget, I buy it.

  I wonder if I once was obsessed, whereas now I'm comfortable with material goods, is because before I used shopping and possessions to fill a hole in myself and my existence. Now I don't need to do that, so while I have more possessions now, having and acquiring are not the be all and end all.

  O
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  frenchbabyface

  Before and now ... just let or set me free (I'll pay for it if needed in any way)
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  Beck_Melbourne

  If you weren't guilty of being materialistic - you were guilty of coveting.

  Apparently I was very materialistic because I owned a microwave

  That was back in the days when microwaves were - I must be getting old.

  ~Beck~
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  Incense_and_Peppermints

  Apparently I was very materialistic because I owned a microwave

  you.....fiend!!!

  ((( Beck )))
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  gaiagirl

  I was accused of being materialistic by a couple who I was sharing a motel with, while at a District Convention in Houston. The session was over, and we had eaten at a TGIF restaurant, and I said I'd like to visit the Galleria to do some shopping.....