Posts by Bungi Bill

27

Another 1975 coming soon

by fade_away in

jw
friends

i heard some analysts on the news recently saying that at the rate the us is falling and china rising, it is expected that china will be the super power within the next 30 or 40 years.

if that happens then i guess there will be another mass exodus of jws from the wt despite what new light they come up with.

but if the witlesses are right then that means god must intervene and the great tribulation and armageddon is coming in less than 30 or 40 years.

"All Scripture is inspired of God and Beneficial" .....

by smiddy in

did you just take that scripture at face value ?

beleiving it to be so ?.

was" all scripture is inspired by god" written down at that one time ?

Bungi Bill

There were differences in translation between the Septuagint version and the Hebrew text. Once such difference is in the translation of Jeremiah, Chapter 25.

In the Hebrew text, Judah is listed as only one of a number of Middle Eastern countries in servitude to Babylon. According to the Septuagint version, however, you would get the idea that Judah alone was placed in servitude - thus helping the WTS stand that the "seventy years" meant something other than just mere servitude.

Bill.

61

Is There ANY Religion That You Would Feel Comfortable Being A Member Of?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i know that most of us here despise the witness religion.

are you soured on all all religions?.

Bungi Bill

While I always keep an open mind to such matters, I have seen nothing yet to dispell my extreme distrust of religion in any of its forms.

Bill.

77

The J Dub Culture of Skirt-Wearing

by mummatron in

jw
friends

this is something that has always bothered me.

as a born-in jw i was raised as a little girl wearing skirts and dresses which is clearly quite normal in terms of gender-appropriate clothing.

however, the older i grew, the more i realised that all jw women and girls wore skirts to meetings and when out in fs, but would wear trousers in their everyday life.

Bungi Bill

I can recall back about 1980 mention being made of this matter at the District Convention.

They phrased it as "what the community considers to be appropriate dress for wearing to church." Some supposed "fashion consultant" ( a person that I had never heard of before or since) was quoted as saying "pants suits are inappropriate for wearing in church." As if she was the Final Word!

I thought to myself at the time "You ought to see what comes and goes from the local Baptist Chruch down the road from our street!"

When, in the mid-1970s, a series of Watchtower articles came about how ones conscience alone should be the deciding matter as to choice of dress and grooming, some Australian congregations did allow women to wear pants suits. After a few years, though, the WTS seemed to feel that they were losing control over the R&F, and even those congrgations re-imposed the WTS Tulmud.

And yet, the JWs have the nerve to lambast "Christendom" for enforcing their own traditions!

Bill.

57

CO begging for more MS's

by life is to short in

the co is at my husbands hall this week so i tied in to the meeting he was going on and on about how there are 140 elders in the circuit and only 80 something ms's.

of the elders 25 are over 75 years old.

of the ms's it was about 20 are over 75 years old.

Bungi Bill

What a contrast to how it was in 1980s, when it seemed like all the brothers were clambering over each other to be appointed!

As to the stock market plunge being a dead-sure sign that "the end is just around the corner", I can recall 40 years ago being told almost the same thing; i.e. "the monetary system is only just holding together, and is about to go anytime now" - as was "This System".

Really something to get excited about!

Bill.

102

How do you make a living?

by paulnotsaul in

jw
friends

since most of us believed it was right around the corner, how many of you went to any secondary schools or training?

what do you do now to survive?

are you working or unemployed?

Bungi Bill

Industrial electrician.

During the last ten years, I worked for a time as a Power Station Superintendent, and prior to that was Manager of an Electrical Supply Company (although, with my limited qualifications, I had to go to a Third World country in order to be considered for such a role).

These days, I am back on the tools - and thoroughly enjoying being there (the B/S that goes on in the office no longer holds much appeal to me!)

Bill.

48

"Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over."

by Mr. Falcon in

(numbers 5:23-28) 23 and the priest must write these cursings in the book and must wipe them out into the bitter water.

24 and he must make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the water that brings a curse must enter into her as something bitter.

25 and the priest must take the grain offering of jealousy from the womans hand and wave the grain offering to and fro before jehovah, and he must bring it near the altar.

Bungi Bill

"Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" - I like it!

Bill.

21

Women and Pants

by Lynnie in

i'm still amazed that the wtbts still don't allow women to wear pants to meetings etc.

is this a disfellowshipping offense?.

Bungi Bill

WontLeave,

I am speaking from personal experience, having been a member of that congregation during those years. As one of the ministerial servants there, I, too, had a full beard.

The crackdown started in 1981, when - for the coming District Convention - brothers volunteering to be attendants were informed "no beards allowed." After that, much must have been said in private to the various Bodies of Eelders by the Circuit Overseers. Certainly, immediately following each CO's visit, the elders seemed to have a lot to say about "when those articles came out about conscience" - and how "publishers thought that they could do what they liked".

This seemed to co-incide with when the WTS started making abig thing about "The Organisation."

Bill.

21

Women and Pants

by Lynnie in

i'm still amazed that the wtbts still don't allow women to wear pants to meetings etc.

is this a disfellowshipping offense?.

Bungi Bill

This is yet one more example of WTS hypocrisy.

They are always very quick to condemn "Christendom" for imposing man-made rules and regulations, yet seem oblivious to the fact that they are doing exactly the same:

- and no more so than over this matter of dress and grooming.

Nowhere in the Bible does it prohibit women from wearing trousers (no translation that I have ever read, anyway!), likewise no scripture condemns men for wearing beards. This very fact was raised during the mid-1970s, when the emphasis was suddenly placed on the role of ones conscience should play in deciding such matters. At least one Australian congregation (Newmarket, in Brisbane) acknowledged that dress and grooming were quite correctly matters to be decided by an individual's conscience. To that end, brothers were not hasselled for wearing beards, and sisters were permitted to wear trouser suits in field service, at the meetings and even on the platform. At one point, nearly all the congregation's ministerial wore beards.

However, it was as if the WTS then feared it was loosing control of matters, and after a few years they re-imposed the WTS Talmud. In effect, each individual was notified "We will tell you what your conscience is telling you. You, yourself are incapable of knowing."

Bill.

25

Jehovah's Witnesses with OBVIOUS drinking problems?

by lovelylil in

jw
friends

hi guys, been a while since i've posted.

summer is very busy at my job, lots of ot, which is good because winter is slow and i barely get my f/t hours.

anyway, i had to post this to see if anyone has seen a similiar situation in their congregation.. i drive a lot for work, do home visits for a local visiting nurse association.

Bungi Bill

Maisha,

The trouble with "modest" consumption of alcohol is that every JW has their own idea of what constitutes "modest consumption."

Early on, I was warned off the JWs a non-JW relative, following her attendance at a Jehovahs Witness wedding reception. She was quite appalled by the heavy drinking that she saw going on at that event.

Later, I knew an elder who was rather concerned when named to attend the next session of the Kingdom Ministry School. He told us that he was going to "have to dry himself out beforehand" - referring to his fondness for apple wine, which he consumed for by the flagon full. For nine months after the 1975 debacle, that same elder never ventured out once in field service, and would regularly demolish a 2 litre flagon of sherry over the course of one night. Throughout all this, he kept his position, and was always quite highly regarded in the JW community. (a lot to do with his being a "closet" drinker, I think - you would never ever see him in any public bar around the place).

I myself was not exactly squeaky clean when it came to the subject of the brown bottle. Raised by parents who were modest drinkers, I was first introduced to drinking when I began associating with the local congregation. There was considerable social pressure to indulge in the stuff, and as others have noted, it was an easy habit to adopt - being one of the few escapes / indulgences / releases (call it what you will!) that a Witness is permitted to have.

The "guidance" that I received from the brother whom I studied with was that it was all-right to have the "occassional" heavy session on the grog, but one should still at all times "have all their faculties" about them. (This is indeed what he - an elder and regular pioneer - did).

The immediate problem here is in precisely defining what constitutes "occassional", and where the boundary line between "still having all ones faculties" and having lost them is located!

In my 28 years "in the Truth", I both witnessed - and participated in - much abuse of alcohol.

Bill.