I was counciled for putting in Pioneer hours and not officially "Pioneering"

RubaDub

I didn't want to hijack the thread about people having to "wait" until the Society approves their pioneer status.

I recall once an elder was shocked that I had done the 60 hours a couple of months but not officially on the pioneer list for the months. I told him that I didn't need the title, that the purpose was to do the work, not get a title.

I then heard a long lecture about how that was not encouraging to others, etc, etc, etc.

He got rather annoyed when I asked him what the purpose of the preaching work is. Of course he said to spread the good news. When I asked him if the people I preached to really would care if I was on "the list" for the month or not, he really got pissed.

Really makes you think that the motivation is more about the show than the results.

Rub a Dub

Double Edge

you need to get a "WWJD" ring to wear(What Would Jesus Do). Then, when something like that comes up again, you could point at the ring, explain what the letters mean and walk away.

You'll eather get a hmmmmm.... OR response. (or you'll get invited to the back room for "illegal" jewelry)

neverendingjourney

Devout JW answer:

You don't get it. The FDS was chosen to provide spiritual food to Jehovah's people at the proper time. They, like the governing body of the 1st century mentioned in Acts Chapter 15, today take the lead in spiritual matters. If the FDS encourages us to reach out for pioneer privileges, then we should act accordingly. By following the directions of the spirit-directed FDS, Jesus's spiritual brothers, we are demonstrating our obedience and loyalty to Jehovah himself. By showing an independent spirit, you reject Jehovah's current-day theocratic arrangement.

Real-world answer:

This is a cult. Members are interested in following the directions given to them by their cult leaders, not in following what the Bible says. By showing independent thought and not simply following the edicts from the cult leadership, you differentiated yourself from the cult, and cults demand uniformity. The negative reaction you received from the church leader did not have to do with any particular interpretation of the Bible. It had everything to do with you rejecting the cult's demand for total loyalty and obedience.

truman

I had a similar experience. I wanted to auxiliary pioneer, something I had always been afraid to do. I did sign the form, but did not want my name announced from the platform as they customarily did for each month. I wanted to keep a low profile. I didn't want to hear all the 'encouragement' and congratulations from the 'friends' about how I had finally done this. It all seemed so contrived. I ended up in tears over the issue from the elder's pressure to conform. They just hate to make any accommodation to the individual, no matter how small.

garybuss

I got in 40 hours a month for years while I was in elementary school. That was the monthly requirement for publishers. My dad took it seriously and he drug my brother and I door to door 10 hours a week. Martin Anderson was the company servant and he made the service meeting last an extra half hour and he gave us a number 10 ass chewing if we didn't make the 40 hours quota.

They had a wall hung sales activity chart on hinges. Once a month after the previous month's activities were pasted on the chart with calendar numbers, Anderson would get up and chew ass. My dad, Anderson, and my Watch Tower relatives were all going to pet lions and eat fruit and live forever. Of course, they're all dead now.

All that missed school work, missed sleep, and missed childhood, all for nothing. Every single Watch Tower thing we sold in the 50's is all in the garbage can. BUT when I look at Brooklyn, Patterson, and the Wallkill communes, I see those nickles and dimes added up.

Bonnie_Clyde

Garybuss - I remember those "sales activity charts." They kept the pioneer numbers separate from the publisher numbers. So if there was only one pioneer in the congregation, the entire congregation knew how well that pioneer was doing.

SnakesInTheTower

Funny,,, my JW mom is putting in the pioneer hours now. She retired from secular work about 3 years ago and then a year ago moved states with her UBM. She refuses to sign a form to pioneer (blames her UBM..yet he never interferes...she waits on him hand and foot). She still remembers putting in 75 hours to "Vacation Pioneer" in the summer. Now even a regular pioneer doesn't do 70.

I haven't heard if they are trying to pressure her or not. I have a feeling she won't tell me, cause she knows I will drive down to Alabama and give those elders a whatfor. Thankfully, it seems like they are treating her well, even if she did tell them about her former elder MTS grad now inactive son.

By the way, what "benefits" do the Regular Pioneers get any more? No free lunch tickets for the assemblies, no discounted literature. They get 3 hours with the CO and DO before the CA at a pioneer meeting...they get a precious hour during each CO visit...and another special "outline" from mamma from a couple of elders in December to "encourage" them (from elders who hurry up and look over the outline an hour before the meeting and couldn't care less or they would be pioneering).

What do the pioneers get in return? 70 hours a month of nonsense...no one home, studying with the lonely and crazy, dealing with or contributing to the "car group gossip" sessions.... scrambling to find someone other than the wet-behind-the-ears 20 year old single MS pioneer, the single mom with 6 kids, or the crazy old sister that no one wants to work with. Yeah...good times.... Why do they do it?

Snakes ()

blondie

I can remember a couple of people turned down for "auxiliary" status. I told them to just put in the hours anyway since the point was to preach and teach not to get a title announced from the platform. So they did going out with me (a regular pioneer at the time). Yes, it did "bother" some elders as if since they deemed the person unworthy of the title, that they could not accomplish the deed. Reminds me of how many times they approved someone who did not even get close to the hour goal.

Blondie

Mrs. Fiorini

By not "officially" pioneering, they were not able to give you public praise and set you up as an example for others to follow. The amount of time you spent in service was not the main point. (For those of us who have pioneered in the past, we know how little difference that time makes in gaining converts anyway.) They want to be able to hold you up as an example to follow, subtly pressuring others to do it as well.

"The chain of command in cults is usually authoritarian, flowing from the leader through his lieutenants to their sub-leaders down to the rank and file. In such a well-regulated environment, all behaviors can be either rewarded or punished. It serves the leadership to keep their members off balance. If a person performs well, he will be given public praise from higher-ups and sometimes gifts or a promotion. If the person performs poorly, he may be publically singled out and criticized."

The above quote is from pages 60-61 of Steven Hassan's "Combatting Cult Mind Control."

WTWizard

All one need do is look at the statistics. There is a column for "full time field circus", and will be affected by people signing that form. If you just turn in the time without one of those forms, that's one less that they can put in that column. And people need the illusion that "everyone is doing it".

Plus, if you just do the time, you are not really committed. If they announce it from the platform, you will be hounded if you fall behind on your time because it's not working or you get sick. If you just do it and fail for whatever reason, you will not get hounded. What they really want is you to be obligated to be out there each and every day, and that is why they need that slip.

I was counciled for putting in Pioneer hours and not officially "Pioneering"

Share this