How Have you Counted your time for Pioneering?

by jehu or jehonadab 111 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  factfinder

  No one should go out in fs if they don't want to-again, I'm not refering to children who have no choice because their parents drag them out in fs.

  If anyone felt when they WERE witnesses that the jws are a cult-why would you pioneer or go out in fs at all? What could you gain?

  I was sincere when I was going out in service-I imagined I was obeying and pleasing God.

  As a witness I thought that is why anyone went out in service. (Again, not refering to children forced to by parents.)

  I knew ones in the cong who never turned in fs slips , even though I worked with them during the month door to door and knew they had in at least the amount of time that we worked together. I did not think anyone would lie about going out when they didn't.

  As far as counting time on breaks- yes, I remember being with some who did that- giving a magazine or tract to the waitress or offering them to people sitting nearby- but really, that WAS FS- just that it was offering the mags or tracts "table to table" (so to speak!!!) rather than door to door.
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  still thinking

  I don't see it as that different factfinder...I see it as survival. We need to eat to survive...but we also need love to survive...being honest in that situation means the possiblity of family withholding love...emotionally you need to be very stable to survive this type of abuse...so to lie to a mind controlling cult about the amount of hours you have done...survival at its finest....at least until you can build enough strength to abandon family and friends for honesty.

  Facing the Lion is an autobiography by Simone Liebster. This is the first memoir of a Holocaust survivor who is a Jehovah's Witness. She details her life before the war and the impact of Nazi oppression on her world. This is a story of standing up for your beliefs in the face overwhelming pressure.
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  factfinder

  still thinking-

  thank you, I was not familiar with that book.

  I don't have love from my relatives.
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  still thinking

  If anyone felt when they WERE witnesses that the jws are a cult-why would you pioneer or go out in fs at all? What could you gain?

  If you were born in...I would say you gain your family, friends and life as you know it.

  And even if you weren't born in, you gain the approval of your peers or at least not their disapproval and judgement.
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  Teary Oberon

  "at least until you can build enough strength to abandon family and friends for honesty."

  Sometimes being honest with yourself is the most difficult thing in the world, but it is still the right thing to do. Jesus himself said that his followers needed to be prepared to lose family and friends and mothers and brothers if they chose to follow him and seek out the truth.

  Do you think that his original, first century disciples would really stoop so low that they would profess to be followers of Jesus while secretly 'pretending' to be on the side of the local Pharisees or opposers of Jesus, just so they wouldn't lose family and friends? Absurd. I am sure that Jesus would have had some choice words for people like that =P
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  still thinking

  factfinder...It's a powerful book I've got to say. And a good read. I recommend it. But I still got the feeling all the way through that her parents primary role should have been to protect their daughter not stand up for their religious beliefs. '

  However, in saying that, the bravery and belief they displayed were unbelievable.

  I don't have love from my relatives.

  That's not uncommon factfinder, in or out of the JW bullshit...but I feel for you.
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  Quarterback

  That is a great book, Still Thinking.

  Your right, children shouldn't be pressured into FS. Why do parents force their children? Well, why do parents force their kids to Hockey camps, Footbal/Soccer teams?. Out in the snow, sleet, cold, heat, rain? Do children really like that? I don't see that on their faces.

  But, why do parents do that to their kids?

  Parents scare their kids to obey the laws. i.e. " Look both ways, before you decide to cross the street, little Johnnie", "Don't play with matches".

  When it comes to religion, parents like to employ what seems to work, after all, the scriptures do tell the parents to "Teach your children, well".

  Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young would agree.
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  factfinder

  still thinking-

  Thank you!
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  still thinking

  Teary...fortunately for Jesus's deciples in the first century they actually had Jesus to follow. They saw him, they ate with him, they witnessed his miracles.

  We do not have such luxury....today and for centuries we have had false religion. All claiming to have the truth, all claiming that theirs is the path to salvation. I believe that religion breeds dishonesty...because it is fundamentally dishonest.

  I agree with you about being honest with yourself...but for many who have survived religious, spritual, physical, social, abuse...they have never had the opportunity to discover who their 'self' actually is.

  This board is filled with intellecually honest people, people who have been brave enough to step out of their safety zones and be honest with themselves. You cannot condemn them for what they did when they were witnessess, they were in a mind controlling cult. Their dishonesty in this situation was the first sign or pangs of honesty.
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  Teary Oberon

  Parents have the natural right to teach their kids as they see fit and to guide them in the path that they choose until the child is old enough to decide for himself/herself whether to stay on that path or find a new one.

  So you really cannot criticize a parent for trying to instill a certain religious faith in their child -- it is their prerogative as the ones who gave life to that child in the first place.