First some quotes from your magazines.....
Christendom's pretended interest in the poor is sheer hypocrisy." Watchtower 1951 12/1 p. 723
"Nevertheless, the churches lay claim to helping the poor. Churches have built hospitals, conducted charity drives and encouraged their members to be active participents in social reforms." Watchtower 1972 10/15 page 639.
“Jehovah’s Witnesses may feel that they should be more concerned about the problems people are facing now – hunger, sickness, poverty and the like. You may feel that they should undertake extensive charity drives. Actually there is a biblical reason for you not hearing much about their charitable works” Awake 1975 4/8 p.18
“No question about it, as Jesus said, “You always have poor with you”.
“……Those who are Christian ministers are in position to give something far better than silver or gold” Awake 1973 11/22 p. 26
God’s faithful people cannot afford to donate to such organizations. They must use what they have to preach this gospel of the established Kingdom for the benefit of the poor everywhere, as commanded.” Watchtower 1950 12/15 p.507
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“Some give because they believe it is good business or because gifts are tax deductable. Others give because of feelings of guilt, as though by charity they would atone for their sins”. Awake 1973 11/22 p.24
How can handing out the Watchtower and awake help these people when in many countries only one in four are able to read and these magazines are not very nourishing to the hungry?
Is Christ's statement "There will always be poor" tell Christians not to feed the bellies of the poor?
Did Christ ever feed the poor?
Are you supposed to be a follower of Christ?
Should you then also feed the bellies as well as the minds of the poor as christ led us to do?
Update:@Grey tower, to be fair, they do give them paper to start the fire if they ever get sone food to cook on it.
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
As a former Jehovah's Witness I can confirm that Witnesses have no interest in giving financially to help the poor or the homeless. They think they can ignore the plight of impoverished refugees, malnourished and sick children in war-torn countries because Jesus said the poor will always be with us. They wash their hands (like Pilate) and say their only responsibility is to spread their version of the gospel message.
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world" (James 1:27). They do the later while ignorning the former.
"Feed a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime."
To correct your flagrant bias and total ignorance of what we do, we do far more than simply "... handing out the Watchtower and Awake." That millions of copies of these Bible-based magazines are printed and yet I can go a month with only placing two tells me my work is more important than that. Especially when I average 25 hours of field ministry each month.
You assume... like most ignorant "Christians"... that you can read Jesus' mind. Jesus' statement about there always being poor people is an inditement of this corrupt system of things in the hands of men. It also has nothing to do with a command from Jesus either way... either for feeding the poor or not feeding the poor.
There is no indication that Jesus ever fed the poor. There are clear indications that he fed thousands of people, some of which may have been poor. However, if feeding the poor were of such all-importance to Jehovah, then there would clearly have been several examples of Jesus doing so. Instead, we're given numerous examples where Jesus left his listeners, rich or poor, with spiritual information.
There are many charitable things I do throughout the week, none of which are of much significance to anyone other than Jehovah God. That we don't put millions of dollars on a band-aid of a problem should be celebrated, because all the other organizations that do such work are corrupt with only a small amount of money (1¢ for every $1 donated) going to the people in need.
So who is worse... the person who wisely provides BILLIONS of hours of spiritual concern to help people help themselves by applying Bible principles, rather than give a temporary solution? Or the person who makes a big show of their charitable causes... and then denies the people in need 99.9% of what they need?
I give Haiti as an example. Here it is, 2-1/2 years after the earthquake that devastated the region, and with all the "charitable" organizations that claim to be helping them, there are still thousands living in shanty towns.
Where is your wisdom and logic now, if you ever did possess any. You sound exactly like the rich man Jesus himself describes at Luke 18:9-14.
1) How can handing out the Watchtower and awake help these people when in many countries only one in four are able to read and these magazines are not very nourishing to the hungry?
We do not always hand out literature. We always share a scripture from the Bible. To answer this leading question, the information in the Watchtower and Awake magazines can lead people to the Bible where they change their outlook on life and start following Jesus. By following Jesus they will correct the lifestyle they live in accordance to what the Bible teaches. This is all that matters.
2) Is Christ's statement "There will always be poor" tell Christians not to feed the bellies of the poor?
No. Christians are to take care of other Christians. There will always be poor but the words of Jesus are like treasures. They can change your life and make your spiritually rich. Remember, Jesus taught Christians to seek the kingdom first and everything else will be added to your life.
3) Did Christ ever feed the poor?
He fed people that listened to him. He took care of his brothers and sisters of his faith. It did not matter if they were rich or poor. Most importantly he gave the waters of life to all those who would receive it.
4) Are you supposed to be a follower of Christ?
We are followers of the Christ.
5) Should you then also feed the bellies as well as the minds of the poor as christ led us to do?
Did Jesus tell us to feel all the poor? Or did he tell us to take care of our brothers and sisters in the faith?
edit:
... and you will not lift a hand to feed those who are spiritually poor.
Take time to Google images of homeless people, it will break your heart. If you are not motivated to help after looking at those pictures then you are the poor one. If all of society would donate a small portion of their income to the various charitable organizations we could wipe out the majority of homeless people. For some there is no help, they don't want it, but for the majority of people that are without shelter and steady food, they would welcome it with open arms. It motivated me so much that I am in the process now of starting a non-profit. A great deal of money and effort is involved, but if I change just one life for the better it would have been worth it. I just wish all people felt like that.
That is correct, they do not feed the poor. IF there were to be of some odd news that they did, there would most likely be a profit involved.
Just a piece of advice...
Current JW's will not care what was printed a long time ago... they are indoctrinated with a " Current Belief " structure..
this is yet another way to keep what went on in the past.. irrelevant
You look quite fat yourself? What are you giving to the poor?
Still trying huh ?
You look pretty cute- l will definitely give you some Oatmeal, it will enhance your chipmunk cheeks.
* Hey Man l' m giving you oatmeal and you criticizing me?
Holy hell! I didn't come here to read, Lady!