Posts by Bungi Bill

28

Did You Consider Yourself An "Ordained Minister?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i took pride as a 9 year old "boy" that i was a "minister".

i had a card that i carried in my wallet (with no money in it) that said i was a "minister"..

Bungi Bill

I never considered myself to be any sort of a minister.

During the mid-1970s, they went through that phase where, for a few years, only elders were supposed to be referred to as "ministers." At the same time, the "Ministry School" was renamed the "Theocratic School", and the "Kingdom Ministry" was renamed the "Kingdom Service."

Then, several years later, the WTS did (yet another!) back-flip, and restored the term "minister" to include everybody. I remember being less than impressed with them for using some of the same arguments to restore the previous use of the term "minister", as they had used in justifying its change several years before.

It all made absolutely no impression on me that we were all now once more "ministers", as I think by then the old Bull#h%t Barometer was beginning to kick in!

Bill.

41

What extent will the WT go too silence us Apostate

by jam in

i was thinking and i know this is really out there, and i am not becoming paranoid.. i thought about the terrorist , what is told to these people to move them to blow.

now some may say, no way that can happen with the jw,s.

talking about us apostate only, not the rest of the world.

Bungi Bill

As regards the Watch Tower Society, I would say that they would go just short of a bullet to silence us.

Some of the rank and file are a different matter - as Jam correctly points out , you have a certain number in the congregations who are "not right in the head." (In my time with the JWs, I personally knew a mentally unstable "brother", who made it his crusade to burn down all the church buildings in the district. Only the evidence presented by a physchiatrist that he was "in an unfit state to plead" kept this person out of prison).

Bill.

9

Is being brought up a Jehovah's Witness child abuse?

by digderidoo in

if you feel that it was abuse then why?.

personally my parents became jw's when i was 13 so i never had the earlier years within the religion.

but by being controlled so much during my teen years i would liken it to abuse.

Bungi Bill

Being a JW does not make for a family friendly environment.

Having to to sit quietly through hours and hours of boring meetings, and even longer assembly programs, would even tax adult to the limits.

- to expect this of small children is inhuman.

- as is likewise dragging small children around in the field service; either in extreme heat (as in around here) or in extreme cold temperatures.

This , added to Bible verses such as the one about "using the rod", makes child abuse all too likely to occur.

From what I observed in my 28 years with them, I would say that the majority of JW children have been subjected to child abuse.

The very best that could be said about the JWs is that it is not a family friendly religion, and it cares nothing for the welfare of its members.

(Interestingly, according to Ray Franz in Crisis of Conscience, even the then WTS President N.H. Knorr agreed that the JWs do not look after the welfare of their people).

Bill.

17

How come witnesses can seem to be very friendly to the uninformed worldlies?

by dgp in

jw
friends

i know that jehovah's witnesses are told not to be part of the world and not to have worldly friends.

i know that some witnesses do have friends.

but, what i'm curious about is how a witness could sustain polite and seemingly friendly interaction with worldlies and at the same time feel that these are not people s/he should befriend.

Bungi Bill

"Love bombing" is a tactic quite typical of all cults, when they are dealing with potential recruits.

To the JWs, this would include all "Worldly" people - hence their going out of the way to appear to be nice and friendly.

In my own case, I first heard glowing reports from my grandparents about how "happy and friendly" these Jehovahs Witnesses were. Then certainly, my initial impressions were similar.

It is only later - when you have missed a few meetings, or the "Hours" column of your Field Service Report looks a bit lean - that you discover how superficial this "friendliness" can be.

Bill.

2

Exhaustion Is The Key To Witness Faithfulness

by metatron in

jw
friends

i had occasion to do some work with some loyal, zealous witnesses recently and i can tell you that there still are some good people in this organization.. i can also tell you that i pity the exhausted, blind, and last-ditch fanatical nature of their faithfulness.

really, it's that continuing exhaustion that is the very key to the faithfulness of jehovah's witnesses.. exhaustion?

the average witness i know is overwrought, broke, physically sick or drained by taking care of someone else who is.

Bungi Bill

Excellent point, Metatron!

Physical exhaustion is a technique used by more than a few cults - both religious and political - as part of the indoctrination process.

I recall one such religious group, generally referred to as "Cooperites", after its founder, one Neville Cooper.

They had similarities with the Puritans of 17th Century England, and operated a business that was very much like a Collective Farm in the former Soviet Union.

All church members worked extended hours on this farm, using mainly manual techniques. (Why invest in a $100 000 machine, when there was a limitless amount of human labour available for nothing?).

Then, as if that were not enough, a 14 hour working day would be followed by a mind-numbing religious service lasting well into the night. (Does this not sound familiar!)

Physical exhaustion also used to advantage by some of the Communist regimes, and following the same pattern:

i.e.

- firstly a long working day to get everybody utterly exhausted.

- then after that, many hours of compulsory "political meetings," to complete the numbing of the mind.

Further to this, when I was in the Truth Lie, so many of the JWs seemed to have what is now identified as "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome." In 1990, it was calculated that five per cent of the publishers in our circuit had this condition.

Interestingly, in the sixteen years since I broke from the JWs, I have not known even one person who suffers from CFS.

Talk about "Jehovahs happy people"!

Bill

48

Former Jehovah's Witnesses..... becomes a Jewish Rabbi !

by koolaid-man in

jw
friends

former jehovah's witnesses,craig emswiller is now a jewish rabbi, and is speaking up on the dialogue progam today sat.

nov,27, 2010, 7pm est.

dialouge is hosted by former jehovah's witnesses presiding overseer and watchtower historian richard rawe.

Bungi Bill

How ones perceptions change with time and experience (most of it bad):

- there was a time when I would have thought "how could you?"

Now, nothing would surprise me anymore!

Bill.

68

Are most JW's window washers?

by SlipnSlide in

jw
friends

i have read this on this site and know some that do this type of work.

if most jw's are window washers, what other occupations are considered the type of jobs that a witless would have.

.

Bungi Bill

Around here, the JWs are also heavily represented in Pest Control work.

(A few - but not many - are like me: i.e. a busted a%s electrician).

Incredible as it now seems, there was a time when cleaning work did pay very good money.

I even know a non-JW who threw in his Engineering Diploma course to take up full-time cleaning contracts. Initially, he was working part time as a cleaner, to supplement his income while attending a Technical Institute. He ended up figuring he could make more money from cleaning contracts than what they were ever going to pay him as a diploma-qualified engineer.

(For the record, this same person now makes some sort of a living as a Gold Buyer - his cleaning contracts could not have worked out too well in the long term!)

Bill.

PS: Somebody has to do it, and I don't look down in contempt on any honest occupation. What is sad is the way all too many young JWs are presented with little choice as to what they will do for a living.

Myself, I have been a farmhand, truck driver, tractor driver, factory hand, cleaner, car park attendant, crane operator, bulldozer driver, timber worker, trades assistant - before waking up to myself (and the WTS bull#hi*) and managing to get into an adult apprenticeship. (The first apprenticeship prematurely ended when the elders told me to do so, during the pre-1975 hype!)

49

Name Something Good About Being A Jehovah's Witness

by minimus in

jw
friends

i've got one!.

you don't have to wait in long xmas lines at the store to buy xmas presents.

as a matter of fact, you don't have to buy a damn thing!.

Bungi Bill

The few things that I did benefit by from being a JW could have been obtained elsewhere - and for considerably less overall cost.

(Others may disagree, perhaps: - but it does not seem to make much sense to throw away your opportunities for a college education; and donate your retirement fund to the WTS; in return for "free" training in public speaking at the Ministry School!)

There are a lot of good people amongst the JWs, but no more than amongst the population in general. Certainly, the Witnesses don't have the monopoly on good people, as they seem to think they do. In recent years, I have met up once more with friends I had before "coming into the truth." This experience reminded me of the many excellent people I knew before I became a JW, and these days I am rather saddened that I fell for the WTS propaganda that all non-JWs ("worldly people") were automatically evil.

So yes, it is true enough - as far as it goes - to say that the JW experience did deliver certain benefits:

- the trouble is, it does not go far enough!

That is how the whole experience has affected me, anyway.

Bill.

7

Their heart does not appear to be in it.

by Bungi Bill in

jw
friends

all the jws that have called at my door over the last twelve years have appeared to be just going through the motions:.

- like they are merely (and only) fullfilling their obligations to record a reasonable in total in that column on the monthly field service report entitled "hours.".

the last lot actually seemed to be relieved that they had an excuse to disengage the enemy, and flee the field.

Bungi Bill

All the JWs that have called at my door over the last twelve years have appeared to be just going through the motions:

- like they are merely (and only) fullfilling their obligations to record a reasonable in total in that column on the Monthly Field service report entitled "Hours."

The last lot actually seemed to be relieved that they had an excuse to disengage the enemy, and flee the field.

(For the record., I generally confront them with their record of failed prophecy, and how they can therefore expect to be taken seriously).

Have others noted this:

- or are there still Jws about who enjoy a bloody good spar?

Bill.

14

Rutherford, "I made an ass of myself"

by Fatfreek in

.resurrected in 1925 to rule as princes over the earth.

(millions now living will never die, 1920, pp.

89-90) they failed to show up, of course, and rutherford quit predicting dates.

Bungi Bill

If Schnell, in his For Thirty Years a Watchtower Slave is to be believed, Rutherford knew years in advance that he was making an "ass" of him self.

i.e. he knew (and admitted) well in advance that 1925 was a lot of hocus pocus - but that it served its purpose in drawing attention to the WTS.

Furthermore, he claimed that the R&F could be distracted from disappointment "by selling the literature." (In that he was wrong - going by the massive falling away after 1925)

If proof were needed that all of us were manipulated by a multnational book selling company, this would have to be it!

Bill.