The Last Days of a Pioneer

by madisoncembre 26 Replies latest jw experiences

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  madisoncembre

  Foolednomore:

  I Pioneered for a month. But my parents and I came to the conclusion that this No way of supporting myself. So I took college courses. The elders were very angry by this action. I ask them all in a meeting. Are you going to support me? How about 100 dollars from each of you a month?

  Exactly! I am almost at the point myself of taking college courses. They have a big ask of you, and all they have to say in return is to live simply. I am lucky that didn't apply in my case because of my father-in-law but there are so many instances of pioneers living in poverty that they just don't seem to give much thought to. And they think that poverty is such an OK thing to be in as long as those hours get put in! How about hours you wasted when you could have been working to support yourself, or in your case, go to college courses.
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  LongHairGal

  MADISONCEMBRE:

  Good blog. Like others have said, I also hated field service. They try to say it’s a ‘warning work’ but I don’t buy it. You would use the media for any Real warning work. I believe it’s just a busy-making work and a yardstick by which to judge the rank & file Witnesses!

  FFGHOST:

  You are absolutely right that the ones pushing full-time ministry for somebody else are the least worried about money! That was MY observation when I was younger and came into the Witness religion.. ALL the older people were either collecting their pensions or on their way to; Or they had a business and were well-off.

  They tried aggressively to get younger people to pursue poverty and ‘pioneer’. (As I said many times, they got nowhere with me.) They hated me because I held onto my full-time job.. For spite, they made sure I wasn’t invited anywhere - meanwhile all the pioneers got invited to special gatherings.

  Well, now all those pioneers have reached retirement age. Hopefully, they can pay their bills. If not, they can go ask the religion for money.. As for me, I retired when the time was right and am ever-grateful I followed my gut.👍🏻
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  Beth Sarim

  ''Well, now all those pioneers have reached retirement age. Hopefully, they can pay their bills. If not, they can go ask the religion for money.. As for me, I retired when the time was right and am ever-grateful I followed my gut'''

  The Borg will somehow gaslight the pioneers for getting old and not relying on jehovah(Borg) enough if the ''poor pioneers'' cannot somehow pay their own bills.

  I'm just more than glad there's JW victims out there which can follow their own gut feeling and work full time to support themselves,,,earn a decent living until they can retire comfortably. And then not being gaslighted to believe they are the problem and also feeling stupid in the end for ''reading too much'' in to things.
  
  
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  titch

  Madison: You put together a great blog that is well-thought-out and constructed, and I congratulate you on that. Concerning that term "field circus." The person who has used that term on this site is a person who goes by the screen-name "WT Wizard". Concerning "field service", or "field circus": Personally, I DO NOT think or believe that it is "natural" for a person to go from door-to-door, to present his/her religious belief structure to other people. It just isn't. It might be comfortable to do that to one's immediate relatives, or to their immediate neighbors, or people that they work with or go to school with. But to complete strangers, from door-to-door? Nope. It just doesn't "sit right" with me. Well, thanks for your post. Best Regards-----Titch.
  
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  Beth Sarim

  "Field circus" as said poster calls it,,,is just a 'busy' work to keep the sheeples minds occupied.

  So they dont start waking-up or asking questions about its relevance.
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  LongHairGal

  BETH SARIM:

  Thanks. While there are some ‘JW victims’ out there who supported themselves like I did until retirement - I tend to think they are few and far between.

  I wondered if most younger Witnesses back then caved into all the peer pressure - while my ‘worldly’ upbringing saved me perhaps.. I also don’t see myself as a ‘victim’ the way other JWs are.. After all, I did not listen and I continued working.. I let their talk go in one ear and out the other.

  It certainly doesn’t matter now who ‘hated’ or disapproved of me decades ago.. Many have passed away while others are struggling because they followed bad advice.. Likewise, how would it matter now if a broke pioneer got invited to gatherings and dinners back then?? Is it going to pay their bills now?

  Any lurkers reading this had better look out for themselves and learn from other’s mistakes.
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  Beth Sarim

  The field serve-us work was a people-pleasing work. Agreed LongHaired!!

  You might get invited to a dance,bbq or daytrip someplace. Or a fishing trip.

  But those things dont pay for your retirement and bills.

  The ones who are born-in usually cave and succumb to "peer pressure" to serve the Borg without question.

  Thats where its so infuriating. Because born-ins have no choice,,its all around them. They get roped-in.