*The Road to True Riches

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Posted by Marilyn on March 24, 1999 at 16:26:21 {MWKjrYqRskvMg}:

In Reply to: The Road to True Riches posted by Tressa on March 24, 1999 at 12:26:18:

:::I feel a stabbing pain inside when heartless individuals refer to those with lesser educations as graduates of WWU (Window
Washer University);

Dear Tressa,

You may choose not to believe me, but most who make such jokes feel just as much empathy as you do for those who followed earlier WTS directives and bypassed education in favour admonishion from the Governing Body to seek Kingdom work over secular work. You are correct to speak up and make us take stock, that our humour is in poor taste - but I think humour is used to help lighten up the pitifulness of the situation. It doesn't make anyone here happy to see jws struggling to make ends meet like many in the Organisation have to. I'm no longer a jw, and my husband is well employed - but my 3 jw siblings are of the era when education was frowned upon and it breaks my heart to see them struggle financially to the extent that they do. It's so much easier for those who became JWs after their careers were established and they were comfortably set up in life - or those who recognised the short term view of making a living doing bit jobs here and there and went against the grain and aquired an education. My brother is now over 50 yrs old and he's back at school trying to upgrade his teaching qualifications that he got 25 yrs ago prior to becoming a Witness. They've had such a terrible life struggling to raise 3 kids on temporary jobs. Anotehr of my brothers had to go back to school in the last 10 yrs and get some qualifications, and my sisters husband does windows and toilets one day a week which is meant to look after my sister and their two teenage children and pay a large mortgage. My mother often has to slip my sister a hand out - how degrading for a woman of 40 yrs of age with a strong healthy husband (who does not pioneer) to have to take money for food from her elderly mother.

::: and every sense of moral fiber is violated in hearing jokes about elders who struggle as janitors cleaning
toilets. More often than not these cruel remarks originate from those who have no empathy or understanding of the courage it took
to pursue goals teaching others about God's purposes for mankind and abundant hope for the future.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that exjws are alone in making such jokes. I was appalled as a Witness to hear my so called spiritual sister-in-law and brother making jokes of the humble ones in the congregation. My brother the elder! I felt like vomiting on them!

It does take a lot of courage to stand up for what one believes to be true. All those who joke have been there done that. Some for many years. They know the grind and the hardship first hand. In a way we are laughing at ourselves when the lowly life-style is made a subject of mirth. But ask anyone of those jokers what their true feelings are and I think you'll be shocked at the depths of their feelings.