Yes, i went just a couple times with my wife. I let her have all the doors; there was just no way I would have been able to talk to someone about the "truth" i didn't believe in anymore.
Did you ever go in field service after realizing it was not the truth?
by Samuel Thorsen 46 Replies latest jw friends
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Seeker4
I can't remember my last time out.
I do remember that I had driven to a county jail in New Hampshire where I studied with an inmate.
When I left the prison, I was driving along and had this tremendous epiphany about field service. I pulled off to the side of the road and just thought it through.
I realized that if you were the most powerful being in the universe, and the lives of all the self-aware creatures on a planet were at stake depending on whether or not they obeyed me, that the WORST POSSIBLE thing to do would be to send people door to door to try to convince them to change.
If you're god, just perform a couple of spectacular feats, tell people what they need to do now that you have their attention, and that would be it, for Christ's sake! But this sending of for the most part pretty pathetic, under-educated folks to knock on doors and mainly just piss people off was just the stupidest thing I could imagine.
I very likely didn't go out in field service after that. I know I stopped going out shortly after the 1914 Generation change Watchtower came out, in 1995 I think. An elder invited me out with him a few months later, and I told him we should be going out an apologizing to people. I never offered any WTS literature after that, those few times I may have actually gone out.
NOT going out in field service is one of the greatest joys of leaving the WTS!
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Open mind
I maintain the national average. (At least on paper.) Keeps my wife and the elders happy. Usually it's just a time for us to be together as a family. I make sure that the kids don't ever have to do door-to-door in territory where kids from school will see them.
Recently, an elder handed me a slip of paper with the name and address of a "live one" that needed follow-up right away. I took my oldest daughter who is 98% mentally free of the JWs. Approaching the door, I asked her what we should "share" with this poor shlub. She was VERY confused. I said: "How about the October Watchtower? I'll highlight the article 'Do You See the End Afterward?' "
It has a box with bullet points that equate getting a higher education with drug abuse and smoking.
At first she said: "No way Dad! That makes us look like idiots!"
I just smiled and waited for her words to sink in.
Then I asked her: "Do you think there's any OTHER piece of literature that I would leave this guy in good conscience?"
So we did. The guy wasn't really a "live one" anyway. He had just taken a book to be nice. He even mentioned that he had done some "internet research" on JWs. (I knew he was safe then.) He mentioned "No Birthdays" and I said "Yeah, it's definitely not a religion for everyone." (Snicker, snicker.) Hopefully those bullet points will further inoculate him and any others from JW exposure.
Note to Bethel: If you would just get rid of the formal shunning policy, you wouldn't have guys like me torpedoing the preaching work. Yeah, yeah, I know. Unforgiveable sin. Sinning against the GB's Spirit. Lake of fire. Yadda yadda. Your Jedi mind tricks don't work on me anymore.
om
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BabaYaga
No. Not at all. That was the first to go for me... I thought, "I can't go and tell these people that we have the only truth anymore."
I was just going to take a break until I put my doubts to rest.
That was pretty much it. -
halcyon
I don't remember my last hour, because I think for at least the last six months or (maybe even a year?) I wasn't "formally" going out and meeting with the group or anything, but every month I'd get a phone call from the book study conductor asking me for my time that month. I would think back to all the times I'd said the word "Jehovah" to my children, and think about conversations I'd had with worldly people about my religion, lump it all together in my head into maybe about two hours, count up how many times I had repeated conversations with my children, count one or two RVs, and say thank you and hang up.
I *was* talking to others about their religions compared to mine, and I *was* talking about Jehovah. I just wasn't getting all dressed up in a skirt and pumps, sitting in a car for a couple of hours with a bunch of magazines on my lap, and pushing doorbells. I actually figured I was getting more *quality* time talking to people my way, and what's more, I wasn't leaving them all annoyed with me. Plus, I wasn't counting useless driving time.
If there was a month where I'd said nothing, I wouldn't lie. I'd say, "sorry, got nothing for you this month."
... wait, wait, that last hour is coming to me .... I am seeing a door looming in front of me, I'm pushing the doorbell, I'm praying the people aren't home .... oh crap, they are .... I hold out the mags in front of me and basically say, "I'm here with these, want them?" .... they say 'no', thankfully! .... I leave their door, I can't get back to the car soon enough .... I think I plead illness and ask to be dropped off early. Oh, the terror, my heart rate has increased just thinking about it! -
Open mind
Couple other hints to maintain your sanity while counting service time:
If your congo has rural territory, try your hardest to get an "RV" way out in the sticks and hang onto it for dear life. It's a great excuse for beautiful drives in the country with the family. Severely limits actual door-to-door time.
Also, FYI, my kids rarely give presentations. They despise it. Every now and then my wife will twist their arm into offering the mags, but for the most part she just lets them tag along.
Here's a link to a thread that details one possible approach to "Un-Witnessing" using the Direct Approach.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/12/152657/1.ashx
Lately, I've also been asking people if they'd like to hear a positive thought from the Bible.
98% say no. 2% say yes. For the two percent, I read a scripture that says something I personally agree with and ask them for their opinion. Usually it's such a no-brainer bit of feel-good life advice, that they agree. I highlight how sad it is that so many religions, including mine, focus on the differences between us. But, I've now come to realize that there's SOME good in all religious viewpoints and certainly good people in all religions. I make sure not put Jehovah's Witnesses in a positive light.
om
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choosing life
I had 2 studies going when I realized it was all a sham. I pretty much just couldn't "study" with them any more. One I turned over and the other one quit studying. I only went out door to door once after that and I used the Bible and the tract about Jesus. I refused to write down any not at homes or interested people. The lady that went with me in service looked very puzzled when I didn't keep track of anything.
I never went out again because I felt way too guilty. I told the elder when he called for my time that I didn't have any, even though he knew I did. He had been on the study with me. That was the end of it.
I feel very sorry for any who are forced into going out by their close family. It's torture after you know it just ain't true.
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DoomVoyager
I go
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Dagney
I used the small pamphlet and a cheery greeting about the last year of service. At the time I had no idea whatsoever I would ever be out of the "truth." I didn't care about placements. I could barely read the mags, how could I expect anybody else to, especially where I live. The wording was so condescending to me. I also witnessed a lot at work, had studies, and two came in. During that same time I witnessed straight from the Bible, just couldn't use the literature.
I left everything the minute I realized it was not the "truth."
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yknot
Real FS....with the intent of converting....NOPE
Fake FS with the intent of meeting expected time ......Every Month.