Bungi Bill

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Posts by Bungi Bill

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  86

  Are you a fader, Df'd, DA'd, or Still In?

  by brotherdan in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i thought this would be an interesting poll that would show everyone the backgrounds of all of us when we left, if we have.. for myself, i am not df'd, but i am attempting a fade.

  i still go to some meetings with the wife to help with kids, but that's it.

  no commenting or field service.. what about everyone else?.

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  Bungi Bill

  I was well and truly "Sent to Coventry" some sixteen years ago, and have made sure that I stayed that way ever since!

  Bill.
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  31

  How Many Of You "Reached Out" For Extra "Privileges"?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  whether you are a male or female, the organization was always making you try to reach out for extra privileges whether it be pioneering for a month, year or a lifetime, going to bethel, or becoming a "servant" in the hall.. did you feel compelled to "reach out" or did you want to do more for "jehovah god"?.

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  Bungi Bill

  Yes, having rather felt compelled to (I know - bloody fool!).

  As others have noted, the "reaching out" phase was not too bad. What followed afterwards was another story - and after making ministerial servant, I lost any interest in becoming an elder.

  Bill.
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  27

  As a witness, what view of the world did you have? Heres my story

  by stillstuckcruz in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so heres my story:.

  i just turned 20 years old.

  like many i was raised as a jw.

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  Bungi Bill

  Seeing things from only a JW perspective does give you a very distorted view of the world:

  - somewhat like looking at it through a surveyor's dumpy level, after firstly being reflected off one of those trick mirrors!

  There was a time that I swallowed the WTS's line totally that the Witnesses were different from everyone else. Then for a long time afterwards, I desperately tried to keep on believing that this was the case.

  In reality, the JWs are no different to any other religion - despite what they would have you believe.

  There are some good people amongst the JWs, but no more than there are amongst the population in general. Furthermore, such ones would most likely have been good people either before they became Witnesses, or if they had never ever been JWs in the first place (as in those "born in"). Certainly, there is absolutely no basis for the claim (as discussed in a recent post on this forum) that, only upon being baptised as JWs, do people then become "productive and law abiding citizens."

  Some four to five years ago, I made a point to reconnect with people that I had been very close to before the Watchtower Madness took hold. This served as a reminder to me just how many pleasant, decent people there are in "The World."

  For sure, I knew any number of good people over the years amongst the JWs:

  - but I knew none, absolutely none, amongst the Witnesses who were any better than these that I had known before "coming into The Truth."

  - these same people that I had swallowed the WTS line about as being "evil", "wicked", "immoral"; and one or two other most unpleasant adjectives!

  These same persons were even obviously happy to have me as a friend once more, despite the fact they must have thought that I had taken leave of my senses some forty odd years ago!

  (Conversely, my first introduction to domestic violence was just after I began associating with the local congregation - quite a culture shock to a boy of 17, who had already been indoctrinated with the idea that the JWs are somehow "different"!)

  What else is there to say, but best forget everything the JWs taught you about "The World" (or anything else, for that matter) - unless it can be corroborated by other sources.

  Bill.
• 
  38

  Has anyone knocked on your door recently?

  by dysfunction in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i am a housewife, and no one has knocked on my door to spread the "truth",not even on the weekends.

  question, has anyone experienced this... or has the preaching work slowed down?

  or are the witnesses less active, zealous?.

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  Bungi Bill

  They have actually been fairly regular callers in at my place - several times a year on average.

  Not that they display any enthusiasm or spirit in what they do!

  One is left with the distinct impression that the JWs these days are merely going through the motions, so as to have some figure to place in that column marked "Hours" att he end of each month!

  Bill.
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  27

  Forget what they say, most JWs do not believe the end is near...

  by drew sagan in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was a baptized jw for 7 years.

  during that time i repeatedly vocalized my belief that "the end is near.

  " however, what did this cost me?

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  Bungi Bill

  KM 6/69?

  - I think you will find that these superlative words of guidance were uttered in the Kingdom Ministry sometime during mid-1974 (May of 1974, I seem to remember).

  Anyway, many publishers were frantically selling off property, then using the proceeds to "pioneer", during that year before 1975. Not surprisingly, though, few of those same individuals were still in the pioneer service two years later (when I was). In fact, many of them were no longer "In the Truth" by then. (A lot crashed spectacularly - getting DF'd for the Trifecta of smoking, drinking and sexual immorality- this according to the then Branch Overseer).

  After this particular Kingdom Ministry praised these persons for selling everything and plunging into full time service, an article in a 1976 Watchtower article severely criticised them for what they had done. That WT article was all about "Serving with Eternity in View" - not serving until a date.

  Maybe that is why the present day JWs are not all special pioneers - i.e. they are just following the WTS's counsel to "Serve with Eternity in View."

  (Says Bill, with his tongue deeply embedded in his cheek!)
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  30

  Content is King- Why the Meetings Fail

  by LostGeneration in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  one of the big sayings for those that run websites is that "content is king" it makes perfect sense, as sites like this one have entertaining content for the targeted audience.

  even better, more content is added everyday bringing users back repeatedly.

  poptular tv shows and movies are loved because they entertain customers for a low cost or free.. on the other hand, you have the content provided by the watchtower bible and tract society, delivered though the pages of the watchtower and through weekly meetings.

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  Bungi Bill

  The ability to put your audience to sleep is the hallmark of somebody who has no idea about how to teach. While learning the electrical fitting trade at Trade School, we had an unforgettable instructor in mechanical theory. 32 years later, all the apprentices in my intake can still vividly recall this character!

  He was dealing with a subject that could easily be "dull as ditchwater", yet he was able to present this material in such a way that all of us actually looked forward to when Charlie Crawford was giving the lecture.

  I learned much from him about the art of teaching, tried to incorporate as many of his methods as I could when giving a talk at the KH - and was largely successful (going by the feedback I got from the brothers and sisters afterwards, anyway):

  - It would seem now, though, that even this latitude has been taken away from speakers at the Kingdom Halls.

  As for the WTS's written material, more than a few used to remark that - right or wrong - they still knew how to tell a good story!

  Never use just one word when you could use a dozen to say the same thing.

  And some of the words they used! I can recall at least once when the term "revivified" was used to describe something inanimate being brought back to life. (The dictionary was actually consulted upon seeing this, just to confirm that there really was such a word!)

  Popular belief had it that such a writing style was the trade mark of Freddie Franz. Whoever the culprit was, the term "verbal blockbuster" must have been invented just for him!

  Bill.
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  8

  When one become A JW, he or she become A law-abiding ,productive citizen

  by jam in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ok, a law-abiding citizen , yes, but a productive citizen, what do you think.. i have heard this statment from the borg., how people from all over the.

  world have change their lives and become a productive citizen, how?.

  in my community when a problem arise (gangs, racial, police) who is on.

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  Bungi Bill

  Their above statement is claiming that only Jehovahs Witnesses are law abiding and productive citizens;

  - i.e. barring the seven million odd JWs in this world, all the other six billion persons on this planet are not law abiding and productive; not even one of them!

  This, of course, is simply ridiculous!

  Furthermore, the above claim is the same as saying that each and every JW is a law-abiding citizen. This, too, is by no means the case - but will be the subject of a future post.

  Bill.
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  12

  NWT: "Most accurate translation" -Who says?

  by Leto in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i remember when i was a witless, i spouted the words "it's the most accurate translation".... i'm sure you did too :).

  i've been researching the topic of just how badly the nwt is mistranslated.

  i keep finding more and more examples of blatant mutilation of scriptures in the nwt.. for the record, i love to know just where are they finding these "scholars" to prop up their assertions that their joke of a bible is the "most accurate"?

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  Bungi Bill

  The one scholar that I know of who had only favorable things to say about the New World Translation was Alexander Thompson.

  Thompson, apparently, was "Advisor to the Queen" (i.e. of England) on Biblical Languages.

  (Presumably, the King or Queen of England requires such an advisor, because he/she is automatically head of the Church of England?)

  Anyway, I - along with most other publishers I knew when I first "came into the Truth" - always carried a photocopy of Alexander Thompson's praise of the NWT. When anybody disputed the accuracy of that "green" bible we all carried, this document would be waved in their faces!

  That 7 x 5 inch card, though, did not list Thompson's academic qualifications - so I have no idea of what his background actually was:

  This photocopy seemed to think that being "Advisor to the Queen" more than qualified him to know what he was talking about!

  Bill.
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  35

  Does anyone know what happens to full-time JW's(DO's, CO's, Missionaries, Special pioneers, etc) when they reach old age?

  by african GB Member in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am just wondering since these people never work a secular job.

  is there some sort of an arrangement from the society to care for them?

  presuming they don't even have children of their own to look after them when they are old..

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  Bungi Bill

  Many years ago now, I can remember a remark being made in a Watchtower article, in which they actually boasted of this fact:

  i.e. Unlike the "Churches of Christendom", there was NO retirement for full time ministers of Jehovahs Witnesses.

  Reading between the lines, of course, this means that when they are unable to keep working - because of poor health or advanced age - they are thrown out into the street.

  Bill.
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  103

  Jan. 15th WT- Go to Meetings to Fight the Blues- Eliminate other Activities

  by flipper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  our jw contact sent us the " witness only " wt's again and i just had to make a thread on this mind numbing article.

  starting on pg.22 in the jan.15th it deals with " coping with discouragement ".

  it seems lots of jw's are under intense stress these days ( can you blame them ?

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  Bungi Bill

  When I first began began "studying" with the JWs, I heard from them what a miraculous experience it was to attend one of their meetings;

  - nothing at all like any church service you ever attended.

  - instead, you would experience indescribable benefits.

  - and all in all, these meetings were a totally mind blowing experience.

  Then came the reality!

  - I actually thought for quite a time that there must be something wrong with me, that there was somehow a point that I was missing.

  The penny did finally drop, however - i.e. their meetings are just a rehash of a rehash of previous rehashes, with the hardest part being to stay awake throughout the entire two hours.

  As for meeting attendance being a cure for depression - best stick to Prozac!

  Bill.