When the World has Something They Want.

Amongst the people who work for my business there is a young man who is working as an apprentice.  He came to us fresh out of school, very enthusiastic and of course his knowledge of his chosen trade was extremely limited.  We pay him a wage and for four and a half days a week he comes into work and learns his trade from our experienced technicians.  Once a week he goes to the local technical college where he is tested on both his practical and theory knowledge until one day he will pass his final test and become a qualified motor mechanic.  

So far he has been with us for almost a year and month by month we have seen his skills develop. He's still a long way off being able a viable financial asset to the company but he is a long term project.  In a few years time all the effort and expense we are investing in him will hopefully pay off for both the business and for him.  We will have a fully qualified mechanic trained to our standards and he will have a secure and well paid job.

Recently, in my town a Witness boy had a similar apprenticeship with a local garage.  Just like my business, they invested time and money in developing his skills until he reached the point where he finally qualified, at which point he promptly quit his job and joined the Bethel in London as a mechanic!  Needless to say the garage owner was 'gutted', especially when the boy explained that had always been his goal.

His parents proudly explained what their son had done and how pleased they were that he now had the qualifications he needed to join the Bethel family.  They didn't care about the garage owner and his small business, he was simply a means to an end.

Now the reality is that any apprentice could do that, even the young man who works for me.  Nobody can force them to stay, no matter how much time and effort you spend on them but JW's constantly blow their own trumpet about how honest, decent and wonderful they all are as employees.  Where was the honesty and decency from that boy and his parents?  They have taken the opportunity away from another trainee mechanic, one who did not have a hidden agenda, someone who likely would have repaid the loyalty and effort afforded to them.

Not only that but the garage now has a policy of not taking any more apprentices so more young people may have missed the chance of learning a skill that would lead to a lifelong career.   

Not too long ago a local congregation tried to buy some land from a man in order to build a new Kingdom Hall.  The man refused to sell to them, in fact his exact words were; Over my dead body. He clearly didn't like the religion for reasons we will never know.  Not long after the man died and they approached his widowed wife who agreed to sell the land to the congregation.  The story of how they acquired the land was related from the platform during the new Kingdom Hall dedication talk. Needless to say the whole congregation clapped enthusiastically when the 'over my dead body' comment was relayed and how it became a reality.  They didn't reveal that the poor widow had no choice but to sell because her husbands death had left her deeply in debt.

I guess JW's are oblivious to just how arrogant they are.  They criticise anything and everything that is not part of their Organisation as 'worldly' yet they think nothing of using the world to get whatever it is they desire - a qualification, a piece of land.

During my time in the Organisation I often heard the phrase; What would Jesus have done?

And that is just what it is, a phrase they use, a soundbite that tickles their ears because they never stop and answer the question.  If they did they would realise that the Jesus they promote would have nothing to do with an arrogant Organisation that tramples all over anyone that has something they desire.