Went to a meeting after afew years, with mum. A Pioneer brother I know...first Question; "So what car do you drive now?" HE asks me every few years when I see him...but he has a "Pioneer" family who sacrifice alot for the Kingdom....and can't seem to GET OVER IT! They bitch about brother so and so buying 2 new Nissans....yes two! Brother B...... just changes houses again, to something bigger! {Meanwhile I'm thinking good for him} They all Pioneer and Sneer at brothers who own stuff while they can't, and live all together in a crap rented apartment which they try to fill with new furniture....tacky!
Pioneers who SNEER at those who have "Meterial things" Pathetic!!
by Witness 007 25 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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undercover
It depends on where you're at.
I remember being in one hall that was made up mostly of "well-to-do" folks...me not being one of them though.
Many of the friends were driving Benz, BMW, Caddys, the like. Of course the other less well-off congregations looked down their self-righteous noses at our congregation (which kind of bugged me...we were't all rich, just enough to give the impression of being a "rich" hall).
The joke around town was: "Do you know how you can tell a pioneer in the XXX congregation?" "They drive a used Mercedes..."
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yknot
Ditto..Undercover
I have seen dirt poor.....and truly faithful to 9 men in NY
and
Comfortable to filthy rich......mostly doing it for the status and rarely actually talking to a 'worldly' person.
Guess which of the two groups got the most commendation from the DO?
Money Money Money........Money
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VM44
They do that so that they mentally can continue to live the way they do.
They have to prop their egos up somehow!
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BurnTheShips
I remember when as a kid the looks my dad got in the parking lot when he first got the Mercedes.......
"That elder is not setting a good example"
Envy.
BTS
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whyamihere
Years ago an elder pulled me to the side and said...." You can't pioneer with that car!" and then I said..."I didn't sign up to pioneer!"
I had a 1997 Trans am with ram air....lol. I miss that car!
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Awakened at Gilead
I just keep in mind that even though people will say in talks that you need to have a simple life, no need for flat screen TVs, new cars, nice housing, etc...
Then I go visit Bethel, and its filled with...
Flatscreen TVs in the lobby...
The COs and Bethel all use brand new cars
Bethelites have awesome rooms...
So it's nice to criticize the lifestyle of others when you are living like the rich and famous. I'm going to imitate Bethel from here on, lol.
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WTWizard
I believe in having a good job. No, it is not necessary to have a huge TV set or a fancy car (I also recommend living within or below your means). But, having a job that allows you to live nicely and still within or below your means is nice, too.
What I do not like is when the Washtowel Slaveholdery makes people forgo education that could have gotten them a nice job. It could make the difference between affording nice cars and TV sets, and not being able to afford the basics. Besides, it is nice to be able to live below your means and still have the nice things in life--because you will not rack up debt, and will be able to maintain your lifestyle if things go bad with the economy.
Fulfillment? True, most jobs are stagnation traps today. But nothing compares to spending 18 hours a day, 7 days a week going from door to door saying "We're here to place this waste of paper with you and your neighbors", door after door. To me, if you are giving up a better paying job to do more of that, you are wasting talent and creating deadweight. And it is much harder to live within or below your means as a toilet scrubber or window washer than as a master engineer or a high level computer programmer.
And, if they would only get those better jobs, they might even have more to tip the poor waitress at Starbucks than a waste of paper when they go on their coffee breaks.
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Frequent_Fader_Miles
Oh how I remember those days!
I was often "sneered" at because I loved stylish clothes .... "materialistic" was the first word that would pop out of their mouths.
Mind you, I did ldress nice, but I had a talent for designing and sewing them myself. It's not like I spent a lot of money on my clothes. They didn't have to know that though ... heh heh ... I just let them stew in their dumb envy.
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lancelink
We bought a house with a large lot about the time when I was getting serious about leaving the jw's.
Nicer house, same price as the older one, but a larger lot.
Well,, about 3 months ago while attending a Sunday meeting one of the elders pulled me aside as I was getting ready to leave
and asked me what was going on, why my attendance at the meetings was really falling off.
I told him that I was busy, working more to help one of my daughter's pay her college expenses. He cut me off and said that the reason
I was not attending all the meetings, and staying active was because we had bought a "bigger house with more responsibilities
that keep me away from theocratic activities."
I bit my tongue, and smiled at him and said " I believe that you have more important things to critisize,I've been part of this congregation for over 30 years and did pretty much everything that the BOE asked me to do and where did it get me?
My life is not yours to play around with anymore." and I walked away.
Have not heard from him at all since that encounter.