I remember a pioneer who had an elective surgery and an elder had paid her bill! Funny, I wonder why her parents or other family members didn't help her?!
Were the "Pioneers" in your hall treated with favoritism by the Elders?
by booker-t 26 Replies latest jw friends
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jesussaves
Yes! YES!! YES!!! My congregation had a clique of pioneers. There were seven in one family (The children and wives of two brothers). They pretty much ran stuff. One of the boys was the 'youngest pioneer in the circuit' (it was his title for a few years). I remember turning in an application to pioneer and I was told by the elders that they didn't think I could make the hours. They just didn't want a poor girl from a single parent family to get into their secret clique.
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mamochan13
In my hall there were pioneer caste systems within the pioneers. Because my dad was not "in the truth", I was a pioneer without rank, lower than regular publishers who had both parents as JW's. I recall one circuit assembly when they invited ALL the pioneers in the circuit on stage for a special presentation. That is, ALL 30 or so...except me. Yeah, it hurt.
I don't think the favourtism is anything different than any similar religious organization. Except JW's paint themselves as being "different" and above such elitist practices. Yeah, right!
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Plummet
Yes It was this way in our congregation. Nearly half of our elders are pioneers. Our congregation's motto "If you don't pioneer, your dumber then a box of rocks."
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Legolas
Yes I feel that some times they were!
But some times they got the sh*t end of the stick to, meaning that they pretty much had to do the business territory!
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Finally-Free
But some times they got the sh*t end of the stick to, meaning that they pretty much had to do the business territory!
My method of doing "business territory" was to go to a bar with a MS, drink beer, and flirt with the hot waitresses. We had our ties on so there was no problem counting our time.
In my hall there were pioneer caste systems within the pioneers.
Sounds like my hall. Unbaptized people were treated better than those of us not raised in the cult. Eventually I stopped pioneering™ because of my health, and my status in the hall plunged to an all time low, where people barely acknowledged my existence. Only the DF'd people were treated worse than me.
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blondie
mamochan, that is sad.
I was a regular pioneer and I can attest that single female pioneers are not valued that much unless your daddy is an elder.
After my husband was an elder, I learned about these little annual parties the elders had for the regular pioneers. As an elder's wife, I was invited. I went and observing the Suckup Olympics, I told hubbie that I wasn't going next year. He agreed that he didn't want to either.
The excuse many elders use that that Jesus loved one apostle more than the others (John). But the point is that the other apostles did not see happening or why would they have fought together over who was First. Notice below that the WTS gets it right in writing but not in practice.
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w88 10/1 p. 11 Appreciation for Our Brothers ***On the pretext that the Scriptures allow for our having warmer feelings for some brothers than for others, are we inclined to rationalize our feelings? (John 19:26; 20:2) Do we think we can express a cold, reasoned "love" to some because we have to, while we reserve warm brotherly affection for those to whom we are attracted?
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ChakkaConned
I remember sitting behind a sister at a meeting who had just been to the pioneer school. She had put her notes from the school under her seat in plain view. I could read where the elder had said "publishers don't appreciate the importance of the preaching work..." I thought that was a terrible thing to say. The majority of pioneers in my hall were pretty haughty. We lazy publishers who went out once or twice a week were expected to take our cars everytime and certainly not expect any gas money. They also would give themselves a "pioneer only" party occasionally and show the pictures to the publishers. When I signed up to aux. pioneer one month, a reg. pioneer told me, "I used to waste time too aux. pioneering" insinuating that aux. pioneering was for slackers. Real encouraging! So yes, most of the pioneers elevated themselves and so did the elders.
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Why Georgia
At the last hall my husband and I went to the Pioneers were all rich bored women with husbands that were either unbelieving mates or only jw's on Sunday.
I always felt that the Elders in our congregation were jealous that these women could do the ministry work and sip coffee and eat donuts while they had to do their real jobs and take care of the congregation responsibilities.
Why Georgia
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daystar
The JW class system, while it mirrors the class system in many countries, tends to be rather condensed and focused within each congregation. I think it would make for a rather fascinating sociological study.
I suspect that if the WBTS could admit this, and perhaps either hire some psychologists and sociologists, or put some JWs through school for such degrees, to study the structure with an eye to softening it at least, it would go far to alleviating some of the social strains all JWs go through.