Even if they had the "truth" they would be wasting their time. Going from empty house to empty house is a very inefficient means of communicating information.
The fact that they are preaching a lie still means that they are inefficient.
Are Pioneers NOW wasting their time?
by Fisherman 19 Replies latest jw experiences
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Hortensia
of course it's a waste of time. It was always a waste of time.
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LovesDubs
Always has been a waste of time. Never an efficient way to recruit and on top of it the people doing it dont believe its life saving or they would actually GIVE A CRAP and get out there and the numbers would reflect a constant growth. Which of course they dont. The only people being baptised these days are the unfortunate offspring of die hard dubs who force them too thinking this will somehow keep their young ones in the org...all it does is insure that when that kid leaves, they will not be able to communicate with each other any more.
But in the meantime its been a great way to judge people and see who is MS or Elder material or who is "spiritual" and who isnt based on their reports...and if you DONT report your time you become inactive and get shunned anyway...so recruiting it doesnt do...controlling it does.
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shopaholic
I think so. They should be cooking food for the homeless, helping build homes for the less fortunate, participating in literacy programs, sponsoring social programs for the elderly, painting homes for the various organizations, working with at risk youth...oh I can go on and on and on.
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Farkel
I'm surprised that no one has mentioned that the Society DOES NOT CARE that the "preaching work" (HAHAHAHAHA!) is inefficient and they have known for years, using simple math that it takes about 35-40 YEARS for the average 10 hour per month publisher to get a new convert, if ever. I pioneered for years and never got one.
That's not the point. Most of the WTS revenues come from selling literature to the faithful. If there was no "preaching work" there would be no need to buy extra magazines and books. How many of you stood in the literature line and bought many more magazines than you knew you could get rid of, knowing that eyes were on you in that line and knowing that you would "look bad" if you got no or a very few extra pieces of literature? How many of you tossed hundreds or thousands of unplaced magazines in the trash when no one was looking?
The WTS gets their money whether you place any magazines/books or not, and the more literature you get, the more money they get.
It's that simple.
Farkel
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digderidoo
Pioneers have always wasted their time!
There was any excuse to count your time. I remember the once me and my pioneer partner went to see a mate who we grew up with, he wasn't baptised, we played monopoly for 5 hours and counted it! All because we mentioned the bible a few times and classed it as encouragement!
Paul
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lawrence
As a former pioneer ... what a waste of time; as Farkel said, peddling their crap. Being out there was a successful way of polarizing oneself from the world, made us and them more concrete. That's where the cool aid comes in.
Shopaholic - totally agreed.
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Alexia
To echo what everyone else said, we mostly spent time driving around, dropping magazines at Laundromats, coffee, lunch, more driving, visiting people who were not baptized for a social call, but still counting that as “time” because we mentioned the bible once or twice, more driving, more coffee, then it was time to go home.
Its was more social than anything else.
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av8orntexas
shamus100, thats one reason I'm here. I Reg Pioneered right out of High School, and went to college,but much later, and at 31, I feel like I'm just catching up to people at my age who have their stuff together. It really ticks me off.
I remember in 1998 like 3 brothers from my hall went to Bethel ( we were all pioneers ) and everyone kept asking why I didn't put in my application, well all through served one year, found that sister who was looking for a Bethelite and hit the bricks. I'd have been a real dummy if I'd had gone. Nothing against anyone who went or anything but I had draw my line there.
I would say yes, pioneers are wasting their time. It seems to be a bigger status symbol than ever, at least the way some people I know act. It ws clear to me after pioneer school, that it wasn't going to be a 10 plus year deal. I realized I need to go to school and make a living or being living with my mom at 40 hoping some sister would understand I was a very 'spritual' and upright brother Yeeeeeeaaah.
It's symbol. Some of the nicest people are just joe publishers,but people judge them because they were smart enough not to kill themselves 100hrs a month in 100+ degree weather in Texas.
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av8orntexas
Besides the fact that the work itself is a huge waste of time, they dawdle. I have stood out on calls rather than work alone, wasting a good 5 minutes each. We have had more errands, "forgotten" medication and supplies, and trips to A-Plus or Seven-11 (the witlesses in my former congregation were too poor to regularly frequent Starbucks, plus those stores were closer).
I have also seen much time wasted warming up. People would go out and do a few houses in temperatures around 0 C/32 F, and then get in the car to warm up. I always went along with it, since I didn't want to see the work finished and did not look forward to answering a door where someone did come.
I also liked those time wasters where someone passed a street they were looking for. I knew where it was, and could tell when they were about to pass it by. So I kept my big mouth shut, and let them waste time hunting for it. Ditto a house when I saw the number, and no one else did. I would let them waste the time searching, and they would wonder why I didn't speak up. I found it especially funny when the call was not home, after all that.
WTWizard, LMAO
The whole part of people missing the street they were looking for,hit the nail on the head. I'm sitting in a van with an elder who is a freaking Aerospace Engineer,but he suddenly can't read a territory card ? I'd sit in that back row and pretend I was looking at my mags I was going to offer.
"What ??? See the street ? My bad bro...I was reading this article, I missed it too. "
Man that brings back memories.