Bungi Bill

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Posts by Bungi Bill

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  26

  Do Most Witnesses Truly Believe In Their Religion?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i wonder how many witnesses actually believe their religion.

  what do you think?.

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  Bungi Bill

  Undercover,

  An interesting thought.

  We used to sneer at members of the "Churches of Christendom", who typically did not know what they believed in, and didn't seem to care too much about it, either! Now it would seem that exactly the same situation prevails amongst the JWs themselves.

  This, then, begs the question - what actually attracts people to the JW religion?

  They still claim an overall net increase in numbers most years, and "Born-Ins" / "Raised Ins" cannot account for all of that:

  - given that at least two thirds of those born in or raised in "The Truth" end up giving it away.

  Perhaps this is the subject of a seperate thread?

  Bill.

  PS: In saying this, I am trying hard not to sound like some disgruntled old veteran, complaining about "the new fellas" not being " as good as we was."
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  22

  Did you miss out on a career opportunity when you were a JW?

  by moshe in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  opportunities seemed to be advertised everywhere when i was a young man, it was hard to decide on one.

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  Bungi Bill

  No Room For George,

  I for one can identify with your rage:

  - more than a few times, I have maintained that the WTS is "nothing a plug of gelignite wouldn't fix!"

  Bill.
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  26

  Do Most Witnesses Truly Believe In Their Religion?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i wonder how many witnesses actually believe their religion.

  what do you think?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
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  Bungi Bill

  Going by my own experience , those who are "new in the truth" probably do believe it all - I know that did once, anyway.

  However, the ones that manage to remain with the JWs would have to develop some sort of a coping mechanism in order to stick with:

  eg. in public, giving lip service to WTS theology; while privately turning a blind eye to the more extreme requirements of their religion.

  These would tend to be ones initially attracted to the JWs by reasons other than doctrinal purity (and there are those around who were first drawn to the dubs by their apparent purity of doctrine - I know, I was one!) . Such persons would likely rationalize the whole thing along the lines of "Whether right or wrong, Jehovah's Organization is a safe place to be in", or "Better to be wrong and in Jehovah's Organization, than right and outside it", and so on and so forth.

  So, in answer to Minimus's question, most of those who are "many years in The Truth" probably don't believe it - not the more extreme parts of their religion, anyway (which, let's face it, actually constitutes the most of it!)

  Bill.
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  22

  Did you miss out on a career opportunity when you were a JW?

  by moshe in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  opportunities seemed to be advertised everywhere when i was a young man, it was hard to decide on one.

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  Bungi Bill

  In one word - yes.

  To be more precise, I actually missed out on several career opportunities at different times. As Moshe has correctly observed, during that era, we were often spoiled for choice!

  The Borg was at that time, though, even down on trades (after all, imagine the folly of tying up five years of your life!). As a result, they got me to abandon my apprenticeship after just 12 months. Fortunately, I was able to pick that up again later ; although by then I was married with a family.

  This proved to be hard going, but the alternative (i.e. being without a skill) was even worse. Because of family commitments, I had to forgo continuing on and doing the Diploma course; but I did manage to complete a paper in Advanced Trade studies at the end of my apprenticeship. This did not sit too well with some of the more fanatical zealots in the congregation. However, I had learned enough about what was what by then to politely tell them where to go - and what to do with themselves once they got there!

  This actually began the start of my fade.

  Bill.
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  84

  BEARDS: Why JW men don't have them

  by 00DAD in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i know this has been dished over before, but when i was doing some research i discovered a couple of interesting points.

  as far as i can find, there is only one wt article that implies that jw men should not have beards.

  *** w75 8/15 pp.

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  Bungi Bill

  Their stand on beards is yet further evidence that the JW religion contains man-made rules, just like any other religion does.

  Their downer on beards is found even in countries where it is customary for all men to wear beards - such as Papua New Guinea (a country in which I recently lived for a total of eight years, and thus had ample opportunity in which to observe 1. what is local custom, and 2. what the WTS stand was.)

  This beardless culture would have more to do with Rutherford's attempts to emphasize that he was now in charge - not C.T. Russell, than it had to do with any imagined "Student Revolt."

  Bill.
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  53

  How many of us have Higher Learning, and still mop floors

  by Quarterback in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  someone who works at a college locally, pointed out to me that one of their scholar students was stocking shelves at a dollar store.. with this recession, are you finding that higher learning is wasting time?

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  i know that it's necessary to become a dr. or a lawyer, but, with the shortage of work, even teachers are working as secretarys.. what do you think?.

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  Bungi Bill

  I, too, am a "skilled blue collar worker" (even though my collar is actually a high-vis orange in color!).

  For a time I pulled a salary that most graduate engineers would struggle to achieve:

  - but it came at one hell of a price (i.e. twice in two years somebody on the job tried to kill me - and the high stress levels sent two of my "back to back" workers mad. One had to literally be bound in a straight jacket, and medivaced out to he Cairns Base Hospital in Northern Australia, where he was detained in the pyscho ward for three weeks).

  Since giving that away, I have repeatedly been in the position where - despite my trade qualifications and extensive industry experience - lack of formal education proves to be a hinderance. As an experienced protection relay technician, I am able to sell a client a protection system, apply the settings, test the device and commission it. However, due to lack of formal advanced education, I am unable to advise a client what protection settings should be applied - leaving more than a few to ask "why did you bother to tender for the job in the first place?"

  All I can say is, even if you already have trade qualifications and industry experience, there is still no such thing as "too much education."

  Bill (Graduate of the University of Hard Knocks).
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  44

  I'm going to sit on top of my pyramid in the Pleiades eating my miracle wheat for 1,000 years while I tack into the wind....

  by baltar447 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  Bungi Bill

  An encouraging and upbuilding thread - every word of it once uttered by the FDS!

  Bill.

  PS: No wonder it left so many people completely &*#^ed - Up!
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  44

  I'm going to sit on top of my pyramid in the Pleiades eating my miracle wheat for 1,000 years while I tack into the wind....

  by baltar447 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  Bungi Bill

  Don't forget the benefits of regularly reverse-flushing yourself with the garden hose; said to do wonders for general health!

  Oh, and I nearly forgot this gem of domestic hygiene:

  - Forget all the various cleaning products and materials that the supermarkets sell. What you can't get clean with ordinary kersosene, plus a drop or two of lemon juice, is not worth trying to clean anyway.

  Bill.
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  24

  Elder's wives

  by Zordino in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i still go to meetings (sometimes) mostly to acompany my wife and kids.

  i have known of jw friends of mine that have gone to elder's for family problems, dispute's with other cult member's or those hemroid's that just won't clear up.

  whatever.... i personally never ever told an elder or elder's a stitch of info about my personal life or trouble's etc.

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  Bungi Bill

  soft+gentle,

  I tend to agree. The only problem I ever experienced like this concerned two ministerial servants, who seemed to have a mechanical interlock between their ears and their mouths - completely bypassing the brain!

  Needless to say, their wives also suffered from a similar difficulty.

  However, I can honestly say that I never encountered any such problems orginating from elder's wives.

  Bill.
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  53

  How many of us have Higher Learning, and still mop floors

  by Quarterback in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  someone who works at a college locally, pointed out to me that one of their scholar students was stocking shelves at a dollar store.. with this recession, are you finding that higher learning is wasting time?

  .

  i know that it's necessary to become a dr. or a lawyer, but, with the shortage of work, even teachers are working as secretarys.. what do you think?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
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  Bungi Bill

  I don't have Higher Learning, and pull cables for a living (OK - I do also sweep the workshop floor at the end of each shift!).

  With nothing higher than an Advanced Trade qualification, the best I was able to do was get a job managing a power station in a malarial jungle clearing, in some Third World Country - which I gave away after there were two attempts on my life in as many years.

  During my final year at high school, some of the brain-boxes in the congregation assured me that "you made more money doing unskilled work, than you made at a skilled job." Fortunately, I woke up to that one while there was still time to at least learn a trade - and then slip in a paper in Advanced Trade Studies as well.

  Bill.