by stillajwexelder 57 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
It was read in our congregation donation acknowledgement letter last night that 440 Bethelites were reassigned as Special Pioneers. I didn't catch the start date for the 440 count.
Ah, that explains it.
Out of the 2000 or so laid off, 440 were "lucky" enough to stay on the gravy train a bit longer as SPs.
And the other 1600 or so? Tough sh##, losers!
Funny how the letter didn't mention them....
The letter read:
...between Jan 2006 and May 2008 some 440 Bethel-trained Brothers and Sisters have been reassigned as Special Pioneers in 36 states.
Rejected
440 Bethelites reassigned......does that mean those who accepted assignments as pioneers versus those who declined and got jobs at supermarkets...
Oh, please don't worry about these men and women....with the amount of Awakes and WT magazines they have read, they all have the equivalent of a college education.....I am sure they will walk into many businesses and fill in the blanks on the applications with this information and soon will be CEOs and other professionals. Maybe even lawyers or doctors.
(or we can look through cleaner windows when we shop)
Not Feeling It: Only Bethelites reassigned as "Special Pioneers" are given ANY kind of compensation or care after leaving. The VAST majority of those being laid off drop out of full-time service alltogether, and have never been compensated in any way.
Thanks DP!
There is some serious spin here. Obviously the rank and file are buying that "Mother" is compensating *all* of them. Not that the compensation for SPs is all that to begin with. Why pay them when you know that the congregations will!?
BTW: I've heard from 2 sources (one firsthand, one secondhand) that Bethel is laying off "the crazies". This is telling in many ways. One: The local congregations are getting "blessed" by hard-core loonies that even Bethel didn't want. And second: You can actually overdo "holier than thou" at HQ.
--Not Spinning It
Now, you won't believe this, but....
A friend of mine, a young man, was fired from Bethel, sent home, sent packing, with no compensation, in 2006. He came on this board and started talking about it but nobody believed him, they called him a troll, and he was banned from the board.
Now it's common knowledge about the "layoffs." I've tried to get him to come back to the board. I hoped with an introduction from me, people might believe he's legit, since I actually know him, he's been in my house, we're not just cyber-friends. He would have good info for you but I can't get him to come back here yet.
StAnn
Not sure what happened back then but I'd be interested to hear from him on here, StAnn.
Unless things have changed radically, the reassignment as Special Pioneers does little to ease the financial burden either.
I don't know what the stipend amount is now - but I knew of a Special Pioneer couple 'assigned' to a poor area of Kentucky in the 70's and 80's, who in order to survive, had to beg the local grocery manager for permission to collect the food that the store was about to throw into the dumpster. In fact, they and most of the 'brothers' who recounted the story, were quite proud of their inventiveness.
They lived in a run down mobile home, donated I think, by a local brother. They were both SP's, so they got two checks from the Society. Seems like I heard an amount like $125 per month? Don't quote that figure though.
I hope no one is deceived into believing that getting a SP check is a suitable means of survival. It isn't. I don't think they had any health coverage. I am sure that they also obtained whatever welfare they qualified for under the state guidelines. I knew of a couple in our congregation that went and visited them from time to time and provided some financial assistance also.
Someone called it a 'gravy train' - Don't think so. They are likely eating Gravy Train though.
Jeff
BTW: I've heard from 2 sources (one firsthand, one secondhand) that Bethel is laying off "the crazies". This is telling in many ways. One: The local congregations are getting "blessed" by hard-core loonies that even Bethel didn't want. And second: You can actually overdo "holier than thou" at HQ.
Having served time at Bethel I can say that the above is a true statement. While there in the 70's guys like that sometimes crashed and burned depending where they worked/workmates. So they at times left . Todays Bethel, from what I gather here, appears not even to be close to what it was back then. I would hate to think what some SR's (self righteous) attitudes are like now when they leave.
Someone called it a 'gravy train' - Don't think so. They are likely eating Gravy Train though.
Good one, AK. I agree. That's why I think the congregations will have to support them. Jah always provides, right?
Hopefully the brusque treatment will be a cold water slap in the face and jar them out of cult think. Or, enough people might wonder why Jehovah's Corporation Organization would do this to the faithful.
-- Not Buying It
It is only a matter of time before one of them learns the "truth" and comes to JWD.............or to say it better..........only a matter of time before one of them comes to JWD and learns the "truth".
HappyDad
