by swiftbreeze 37 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
The Reports submitted by Jehovah?s Witnesses are a load of Botox!
That is to say they are artificially inflated to appear better than they are and appeal to the vanity of a Society that places value on presenting a false and distorted image of true reality.
We did a lot of country travel and doorknocking. It was not unusual to have 5 or 6 in a car, since usually there were a couple of kids along. Everybody got to count their time, while only one or two actually got out of the car at any one time to knock on a farmhouse door.
The other thing that used to bother me as a JW was this business of standing on the street corner with a Watchtower and Awake in hand. I know in KM meetings we were shown how to take the initiative to walk up to people on the street and start talking, and I actually enjoyed that, but didn't witness on the street very often. But what bothered me a lot was all these "brothers and sisters" who just stood there on the streetcorner like wooden Indians, and never spoke a word unless spoken to by a passer-by. Many times I would see them look at their watches, and then put the magazines back in their purse or briefcase and then walk away, kind of blending into the crowd as though they had never been there. I don't know if most of them were just shy, or felt intimidated, but why did they just stand there?
So I thought about that for a while. And it began to dawn on me why they did that. It was because they could stand there and not have to talk to anyone, or knock on doors and meet abusive householders. They would stand there so that they could count this time on their field service report. At the same time, the odds are that if you stand there long enough, someone is bound to come up to you and talk to you, and most of those types are usually pretty kind or civil (but not all). So then you could talk about these little experiences at the Kingdom Hall. That reinforces your reputation amongst your fellow witnesses, and you become perceived as one of the more "spiritually mature", and a faithful Witness of Jehovah.
During Kingdom Ministry School, we practised how to give presentations for the field. Testimonials and experiences would be given. And we would hear comments about how "people of the world" respected JW's and how much courage it must take to knock on doors and stand on street corners for their faith. But for those who have done this, that is just not the case. Standing on the street corner does not require a lot of courage! It is the easy way out, when compared to approaching people on the street or knocking on doors or visiting offices to place literature.
I know this all sounds so cynical, but I feel that this is closer to the truth, than the JW version of how they do field service for Jehovah.
Rod P.
What became of the street work that we were encouraged to do at least so many times a year? What ever became of the wearing of placards and parading in front of churches with loudspeakers, yelling nasty slogans?
There is a jw lady living across the road from my school (catholic school) she did street ministries.
She would stand out the front of her house and start screaming out stuff about Jehovah. One time when I was walking to the office (the office was at the front of the school) she was yelling stuff like "Jehovah Blah blah blah blah Lake of fire blah blah blah blah jehovah blah blah blah and that is the truth!" I walked pass trying my absolute best to keep a straight face! while the other students just cracked up laughing.
The lady approached me once after school and she told me that she does street ministries. She was doing the whole Goat and sheep speech and I just tuned out while she was standing there going blah blah blah blah then she left me alone after a while
The freaky thing is she'd threaten students with a knife! and she also spayed one of my friends with a hose because she refused to buy a bible my poor friend entered the school soaking wet!
The jw lady used to live near one of my friends.
And you know what bright and early in the morning she'd wake up to the jw lady standing in her backyard yelling out about jehovah.
One time when my friend was walking home from the milk bar with her brother the jw lady approached her and wouldn't leave her alone. My friends brother was able to escape and grab their older sister. Their older sister walked up to the jw and said "Look I believed dolphins created us!" woooooo the lady cracked it big time!!!! But they made a run for it though!
street ministries with a nutty Jehovah's witness isn't a good mix!
Evanescence
I can't believe the dishonesty (really ) I was such a faithful sucker I never lied on my FS report. Plus I felt like crap when I didn't get at least 10 hours. I fudged a little bit about the family study - I can't believe I spent all those years feeling guilty when I could have just doctored my report .
To the subject though, it seemed like folks in my area were pretty well trained on the FS issue. Saturday morning there would be a decent group at the book study. Weekdays it was mostly pios. and auxs. We had a large territory but worked it over pretty good. I hardly see anybody out these days though.
The worst of the worst was 'holiday' witnessing though. I had a regular RV tell me off in good fashion for intruding his Christmas celebration. He said they never read the magazines I left and they just took 'em to be nice to me (that was sweet wasn't it LOL). Anyhow - he sure got rid of my arse. Good for him!
(sweet tee of the 'I don't get any respect' class)
Swiftbreeze:
You are right. The pioneers and elders would disappear and go on their pre-arranged favorite calls with their favorite people. The rest of the "friends" would clique-up as well and single ones like myself that were left over would get to work with the congregation mental cases and rejects and have a really stressful time.
And this was before you even got out into the field!! I absolutely hated it!
Why did we pretend to enjoy field service
Wow--I never cheated on my monthly report but always wondered how everyone else counted so much more time than me. Boy was I dumb!
I had a regular RV tell me off in good fashion
Hey, Sweet Tee. What's an RV?
RV = Return Visit
I just received this in my private box and thought you'd enjoy it as much as I did:
I read your piece "fatfreek" and it was very strange, strange only in the coincidental sense.
About 10:00 AM last Saturday my wife and I stopped at a local convenience store/gas station combo that also happens to serve some kind of frozen yogurt inside. It must serve as the JW Saturday morning watering hole. Outside it looked like a mini van convention. Inside it was like a Ward and June Cleaver look-alike contest. Males in suits and ties, females in dresses (the only exceptions were a few of the very youngest boys who wore just shirts and ties).
Anyway, the place was wall to wall JWs ( a conservative estimate would have been about 40), and it didn't take long to discover the usual microwave fare you can always count on convenience stores having was now strangely absent. The quick snack, I thought had been within my reach moments before, was now a distant dream without so much as the crumb of a sandwich to console my hunger! No wonder they show up at my house at 11:00 AM on Saturdays looking so well nourished!
So here I was, hungry, and I must have stuck out like a sore thumb because I'm not in a suit or tie and so I decide to make the most of it and start some friendly conversation just to satisfy something -- even it was just my own curiosity. I smile, say hello to a few of them, exchange pleasantries, make comments and give plenty of pauses and opportunities for opening up dialog when low and behold...nothing! That's right, they weren't the slightest bit interested in talking to me.
In case you missed the irony of the situation, here's a group of people practically banging down doors allegedly in the hope of finding even one receptive soul to give them the time of day and yet when these folks are standing around taking a break I can't get them to say more than two words about anything! Come on, if you really believe you have the truth that could lead to someone having eternal life, wouldn't you take every opportunity to share it with others? It makes me wonder about their priorities.
Moral of the story: Whether you briefly encounter them in a convenience store or spend a lifetime with them at their Kingdom Hall, you're apt to walk away a little hungry and a lot unsatisfied.
