When things started to "fall off"

by comment 22 Replies latest jw friends

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  comment

  I was thinking about this in several areas today.

  1) District conventions and house-to-house work

  If you were a Witness for a long time, you probably remember a time when going to the conventions seemed perfectly "normal" to you: it was absolutely "the thing" to sit in a sports arena all day listening to Bible talks and counsel from men in suits.

  But at some point, did you ever start to feel like you were participating in a cultural relic, so to speak?

  As in, "Here it is, the 1990's, and the Society is still using fundamentally the same old format they've been using all century long. No nods to technology or people's different ways of processing information today: just the same old message in the same old package."

  I got that feeling. And I also got it eventually in the door-to-door work: something that had passed its best-before date and now felt more like participating in a historical reenactment. No more being invited in, rarely a magazine placement (let alone a book or a Bible study), and even if someone did achieve something, you got the feeling the householder wasn't nearly as interested as we liked to think they might be. Whereas I remember having a very different feeling about door-to-door in the 1970's and 1980's.

  2) Field service

  You know how the joys of sacred service are just supposed to increase as you do more in God's work? It kind of ended up the reverse for me.

  In the years after my baptism, I typically stayed well ahead of the congregation average hours. But I only auxiliary pioneered once, under pressure because all the ministerial servants and elders were "supposed" to do it one April. So I ran all over the place getting my time in that month--and after that, I never recorded more than 10 hours in service again. The juice just went out of the experience for me. I was already having some doubts at the time of auxiliary pioneering, and I found I didn't like all the "stretching" that went on among the pioneers to get their time in (of course I worked a lot with them that month).

  Has anyone else had similar feelings or experiences?

  comment
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  Fredhall

  And...
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  rem

  Comment,

  Your experience about being pressured into auxilliary pioneering in April is exactly what happened to me. I never believed in aux pioneering, but it was the thing to do one April a couple years ago - all of the MS's and Elders were doing it. I hated it. Never did it before and never did it again. The next April they tried it again, I just avoided everyone. LOL

  rem
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  betweenworlds

  I have! I was speaking to my husband about this the other day. I was wondering why the WTBTS would not use every method available to proclaim the good news. In Jesus days they went door to door because that was the best and really the ONLY method. However today with TV, internet etc. etc. there are many other more expedient, efficient ways to do it. Why does the WTBTS not utilize these?? Why don't they spread the good news on billboards, TV specials, interactive internet sites, yada yada yada. I don't get it, I really don't. But then God works in mysterious ways doesn't he? <YEAH RIGHT!>
  (Or perhaps those methods aren't the best way to hawk worthless literature?) Any insights in the WTBTS Amish-like thinking?
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  trevor

  comment,

  The lecturing to a stadium of followers, is all part of the mass hypnotic technique that is employed so successfully by the WT & Babble Society. Brainwashing ect................................
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  Skimmer

  Hello betweenworlds:

  Outside of the WTBTS, you won't find many people who believe that there is any scriptural support for house to house work. The NWT mistranslated verses that describe house to house really mean that worship was supported in private residences.

  The WTBTS has relied mainly on the door knocking campaign because it is a relatively profitable exploitation of free labor. As ever fewer persons are willing to respond positively to the WTBTS when the JWs knock at the door, I expect that there will be expansion into proselytizing in public places like bus stations, shopping malls, and other locations that now see solicitations from Moonies, Larouche supporters, Hare Krishna, etc. Also, I expect more more acceptance of counting time by phone, mail, e-mail, and the like as long as literature goes out and the money comes in.

  Years ago the WTBTS had its own radio station WBBR and at one time had a syndicated radio program and also a syndicated newspaper column. Alas, these cost money and so the WTBTS is more interested in what it can get for free.

  The WTBTS must look with envy at the various televangelists and the money they rake in with every television show. I predict that they will soon succumb to temptation and start their own cable TV channel or at least their own syndicated TV program. But don't hold your breath waiting for a viewer call-in show; remember that the only questions the WTBTS allows are those it prints as study article footnotes.

  One problem that the WTBTS has with the production of a television program series is the lack of material. Their literature presents the same stuff, over and over. Also, who would they have as hosts and speakers? The best they could do would be to re-present convention speakers, but who wants to listen to the typical convention talk? (E.g., "You must do more!", "Do not question the Organization!", "Obey us or die!", "Fight independent thinking!")

  There is an important secondary reason for the house to house effort. Because of the time and literature reporting (this will never go away), the elders can keep track of the rank and file and use field service as an indicator of a person's "spirituality".
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  comment

  I wonder if the Society would be into doing a TV station, because it would tend to make it look more like other religions.

  At a glance, will someone flipping through the stations be able to tell Brother TV Speaker apart from a regular TV evangelist? Maybe if it's the shout-and-weep Pentecostal type, but not necessarily other denominations.

  comment
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  Cautious

  Hi Comment, you have raised some interesting thoughts with this post.

  "Here it is, the 1990's, and the Society is still using fundamentally the same old format they've been using all century long. No nods to technology or people's different ways of processing information today: just the same old message in the same old package."

  This is a really good point, and also brings into question the issue of equality among the WTS – as people have different learning styles, is it not then discriminatory not to teach so that all can benefit? Then again, if they did teach using different styles than the one they do, would more of the R&F be able to think about it more critically???

  I remember being so bored at meeting, assemblies, conventions etc that I would usually just stare out the window, or study the holes in the latest bargain floor covering in the KH. But I never thought critically about it, I was just spending my time wishing it was all over, checking the time, going to "powder my note", anything but THINK about what being spoken at me.

  At a glance, will someone flipping through the stations be able to tell Brother TV Speaker apart from a regular TV evangelist? Maybe if it's the shout-and-weep Pentecostal type, but not necessarily other denominations.

  When our son started his first year of school we decided to let him do religious education, as we thought he should get a more balanced view then the one we had been brought up with. However, the “RE teacher” sounded just like any JW giving a talk – assumption, assumption, assumption, conclusion. So my thought is that you would be right, it would be very difficult to tell a JW evangelist from a regular evangelist by flipping through the stations.

  These mind numbing techniques work, it seems to me, by getting the message pounded into your head, but not allowing you to really THINK about it.

  My son has never been to another RE class since that day.

  Field Service - I fell for that one - regular pioneered after a sever bout of auxiliary pioneering. Funny you should mention "running out of juice", because I became ill and had to give up regular pioneers, never auxiliaried again, and my hours just dropped off until they were non-existant.

  Skimmer, I agree with you that

  There is an important secondary reason for the house to house effort. Because of the time and literature reporting (this will never go away), the elders can keep track of the rank and file and use field service as an indicator of a person's "spirituality".

  They then go on to use this information, along with their archaic teaching style, to hound you into being a more "spiritual" person - no matter how much or how little you do, it never seems to be enough.

  Do elders have some kind of "performance" report on "their" congregations?

  Thanks for the post

  Keep thinking
  Cautious
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  Jimmer

  If the borg ever produces a teaching series to televise, who would buy advertising during it?
  Perhaps the following:

  Preparation H
  Depends
  Immodium AD
  Bankruptcy lawyers
  Roto Rooter

  It'll end up being broadcast on some low power, limited reach UHF station with all four viewers laid up in the local psych ward.

  Da..Da..Da..Blauuuuuuuugh!
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  crittersitter

  i've started reading the book "30 years a watchtower slave" again , just to review some older facts. the door to door work was actually a method of increasing sales as opposed to subscriptions, i understand rutherford devised this campaign along with faithful cronies.
  this book is full of interesting info...
  the so called "kingdom publisher"...the slaves to the borg keep sludging along, rapping their knuckles in a sad attempt at "worship"
  because they were told this is what god wanted
  so sad
  i get the feeling tho it's all show for alot of jw's, lacking the enthusiasim like pre 1975
  at least that is what i get from it