Posts by neverendingjourney

99

Pioneer hours change

by JWFreak in

jw
friends

it's just a label who cares

1. The pioneer brand is gradually being cheapened by making the rank available to more publishers. A lot of the current pioneers get off on being part of an exclusive club. They get a boost of self-esteem from accomplishing something other JWs cannot (even if a lot of them count tons of phantom hours to get there).

2. It's going to force a lot of elders and MS's to join the pioneer ranks. The number of people forming part of the "in" crowd will grow. As a consequence, the "out" group will be looked upon with a greater sense of disdain (spiritually weak) than before.

99

Pioneer hours change

by JWFreak in

jw
friends

it's just a label who cares

neverendingjourney

Just out of school putting in 90 hours a month... Why didn't they lower it then?

You see, the end was closer back then then it is now, so there was a greater sense of urgency. Back then, the end would arrive before the generation that lived during 1914 died off. Now, the end of the world will get here whenever it gets here.

Seriously, though. I feel your frustration. I was a regular pioneer back when the requirement was 1,000 a year.

The organizational changes continue to lurch along - there seems to be no planning, no thought to finding the ideal time to announce these things. It gives the appearance of an organization in disarray, that is thinking up stuff and implementing it off the cuff, no thoughts to repercussions, consequences, etc.

I've noticed this too and have commented about it before. To me this is a sign of a power struggle at the very top. Notice how the GB has been at 9 members since 2005 and there have been no new appointments. Perhaps a new GB member or two could break the gridlock and upset the balance of power on the GB and they can't reach a consensus on which new GB members they want to call up. It's very strange, but they are definitely giving off mixed signals.

43

Does anyone remember the big 6 month Bible study push during the mid 1990s?

by neverendingjourney in

i was a regular pioneer for a while during the mid 90s, about a year or two after the knowledge book replaced the live forever book as the primary bible study manual.

around that time the society began to spew a bunch of b.s.

about the end being so near (hadn't heard that one before) and how there were waiting lists for bible studies in many former soviet countries.

neverendingjourney

I'm glad to see others remember it as well as I do. I had no idea it was a pre-75 re-hash. I wish I had known back then. Perhaps I wouldn't have gotten myself so worked up over having to drop studies that weren't "progressing."

Just as a side note, my dad informed me that yesterday's public speaker said Armageddon is no longer around the corner, but is virtually upon us already. Yawn. Dad's been hearing this for 25 years and he still buys into it.

43

Does anyone remember the big 6 month Bible study push during the mid 1990s?

by neverendingjourney in

i was a regular pioneer for a while during the mid 90s, about a year or two after the knowledge book replaced the live forever book as the primary bible study manual.

around that time the society began to spew a bunch of b.s.

about the end being so near (hadn't heard that one before) and how there were waiting lists for bible studies in many former soviet countries.

neverendingjourney

I will never forgive myself for what I did to this man

Don't beat yourself up over this. I don't blame the man who was most influential in getting me to baptism (you could say he brough me into "the truth") even though he's a complete asshole. Day after day he worked on getting me to buy into a picture of JWs that simply didn't exist. I got baptized at 16 years of age. He then cheated on his wife and was disfellowshipped one month after I was baptized. He was probably cheating on her during the time he was indoctrinating me. I was the first person he spoke to after his judicial committee. And he was an elder at the time. The last time I saw him about a year ago. He's reinstated now but has never climbed back up the ranks. He was in full elder mode, though, despite the fact that he's pretty much inactive himself, and began interrogating me about my personal life. Even though I was only 16 at the time I made the decision, I only have myself to blame.

43

Does anyone remember the big 6 month Bible study push during the mid 1990s?

by neverendingjourney in

i was a regular pioneer for a while during the mid 90s, about a year or two after the knowledge book replaced the live forever book as the primary bible study manual.

around that time the society began to spew a bunch of b.s.

about the end being so near (hadn't heard that one before) and how there were waiting lists for bible studies in many former soviet countries.

neverendingjourney

I was really gung ho though...

So was I. I think the only people who took this seriously were us gung ho types. Those folks who'd been around a while, especially those who lived during the pre-75 push (I didn't know there had been such a push), surely had heard that tune before and were not all too eager to follow orders lockstep. Plus, as James points out, studies are hard to come by, and especially those people "reaching out" for privileges (often studies are prerequisites to move up the ladder) weren't too eager to drop the few they had.

I'm glad you have a real life now. I do as well, sort of. I still have to contend with my JW family. As long as I want to be able to communicate with them, JWs still have a minor degree of control over my actions. I have to make sure my non-JW ways don't become too readily apparent. Such is life.

43

Does anyone remember the big 6 month Bible study push during the mid 1990s?

by neverendingjourney in

i was a regular pioneer for a while during the mid 90s, about a year or two after the knowledge book replaced the live forever book as the primary bible study manual.

around that time the society began to spew a bunch of b.s.

about the end being so near (hadn't heard that one before) and how there were waiting lists for bible studies in many former soviet countries.

neverendingjourney

I do remember that push!! I had forgotten until now. I think it was to get everyone more actively involved b/c the end was right around the corner. Excited and rejuvinated about the end coming.

That's how I remember it as well.

43

Does anyone remember the big 6 month Bible study push during the mid 1990s?

by neverendingjourney in

i was a regular pioneer for a while during the mid 90s, about a year or two after the knowledge book replaced the live forever book as the primary bible study manual.

around that time the society began to spew a bunch of b.s.

about the end being so near (hadn't heard that one before) and how there were waiting lists for bible studies in many former soviet countries.

neverendingjourney

Thanks, A@G

I was a pioneer only for a year and a half, but it was the longest year and a half of my life. I didn't think my memory was failing me because the big controversy at that time was how strictly to follow these guidelines. It was easy for all of us to see how absurd it was, but then again, these orders were coming from Jehovah. What was a faithful JW to do? The dissonance was incredible.

In the grand scheme of things, it was short-lived and relatively unimportant, but it stood out to me because it was the biggest controversy during the time when I was most active as a JW. For someone who lived through the 70s, this was surely familiar ground, but it was brand new to me.

43

Does anyone remember the big 6 month Bible study push during the mid 1990s?

by neverendingjourney in

i was a regular pioneer for a while during the mid 90s, about a year or two after the knowledge book replaced the live forever book as the primary bible study manual.

around that time the society began to spew a bunch of b.s.

about the end being so near (hadn't heard that one before) and how there were waiting lists for bible studies in many former soviet countries.

neverendingjourney

I suspect that in the 90's, it was a half-hearted, half-baked, poorly thought-out attempt to try to rekindle the zeal & excitement the organization experienced in the late '60's when the orignal "6 month study" program was introduced with the "Truth" book.

This was probably the case. In fact, as I've discussed above, the program was short lived and largely ignored. Not long after this push they came out with the Require brochure to be used as an intro. to the Knowledge book and the emphasis on quick studies was dropped.

43

Does anyone remember the big 6 month Bible study push during the mid 1990s?

by neverendingjourney in

i was a regular pioneer for a while during the mid 90s, about a year or two after the knowledge book replaced the live forever book as the primary bible study manual.

around that time the society began to spew a bunch of b.s.

about the end being so near (hadn't heard that one before) and how there were waiting lists for bible studies in many former soviet countries.

neverendingjourney

what you describe was done from 1966 to 1975 with the Truth book. The WTS learned a lesson not to pin it down to a specific time period, but expected people to be meeting attenders in 6 months if not baptized before a year was up or dropped as a student.

I'll be darned. Maybe my memory is failing me, but I remember the six month thing being a big issue among the regular pioneer clique. Some of us tried to follow it religiously and others simply ignored the "advice" altogether. I'm going to have to go back and look at my pioneer book and letters to refresh my memory. The way I remember it was that there was a strong push to finish these studies in six months followed by a lot of grumbling from the regular pioneers. After a few months, the emphasis on finishing the study in six months was dropped and replaced by the more generic "relatively short time" language.

My memory's been known to fail me before, but it sounds like you've done your research, so I'll take your word for it.

43

Does anyone remember the big 6 month Bible study push during the mid 1990s?

by neverendingjourney in

i was a regular pioneer for a while during the mid 90s, about a year or two after the knowledge book replaced the live forever book as the primary bible study manual.

around that time the society began to spew a bunch of b.s.

about the end being so near (hadn't heard that one before) and how there were waiting lists for bible studies in many former soviet countries.

neverendingjourney

What I remember is a one book only study program during that time. The real push for 6 months was from 1966 to 1975.

I wasn't around during that time frame, but it wouldn't surprise me if these arrangements have gone in cycles.

Granted, it's been a while and my memory is a little rusty, but I specifically remember there being a big push to cover one chapter per session and to finish the study in six months. It wasn't a definite, you-must-do-this-or-else requirement, but the Society was strongly suggesting 6 months as an "appropriate" time frame. In fact, when I get home tonight I'm going to review my pioneer letters from that time. I think I remember there being specific instructions from Brooklyn about this in one of them.

The KM question box you quoted, if I remember correctly, was the first signs that the society was beginning to soften their stance. For the first few months, I remember them pushing the 6 month timeframe more rigidly, and then this info. came out providing some leeway.