Posts by Bungi Bill

36

Is college worth it?

by NewYork44M in

jw
friends

my life has been transformed by higher education.

however, i am aware that college is not for everyone.. here are some interesting thoughts:.

http://www.theatlasphere.com/columns/080926-williams-higher-education.php.

Bungi Bill

All I know is that the $80 per hour I am now paid as an electrical engineer is definitely superior to the $30 per hour I was on as a "sparky":

- to say nothing of the improvement in working conditions (having previously worked in such unsavoury environments as the rendering plant at a local meat processing plant).

My present employer is rather unique, though, being prepared to recognize that a person's sheer amount of practical experience can compensate for lack of academic qualifications. In practice, almost always you would not get even a look in without a four year engineering degree to your name.

Consequently, I cringe whenever hearing about somebody passing up the opportunity to go to college (as I did, for cultic reasons), or deciding to drop out from college once there.

Bill.

(With a 40 year degree from the University of Hard Knocks!)

45

Is Your Life In Ruins Because You Were A Jehovah's Witness?

by minimus in

jw
friends

are you moving on?.

i see some have a very hard time in life because of their witness past..

Bungi Bill

Not anymore. It was badly damaged, but in the last eleven years, I have been able to rebuild my life.

Like many, I felt badly affected by the WTS's anti-stance toward a university education. Currently, though, I am in the process of applying for membership of the Institute of Engineers, as an Engineering Associate (this is about as far as a busted @$$ electrician like me, who is staring down the barrels of 60 years of age, can aspire to go!)

If successful, I would feel a certain sense of satisfaction from achieving this on the 40th anniversary of their making me abandon my apprenticeship. Anybody want to wish me luck?

Bill.

34

Are the Adventists looking to attract downtrodden JW's?

by donny in

sorry if anyone has already posted on this but i did not see anything related in the few pages of active topics i checked.. last saturday i went to an oil change facilty and one of their perks is they give you a copy of the current usa today while you wait in your car.

on page 8a is a full page ad titled "liberty of conscience threatened.... a national sunday law will be established as the mark of the beast.".

the article then goes on a typical adventist rant about how saturday, not sunday, is the real sabbath established by god.

Bungi Bill

Athanasius,

Thanks for that.

CT Russell was for a time involved with a group that called themselves the Second Adventists, who - like the SDA - had emerged from the wreckage of William Miller's 1844 fiasco. Whether, though, he was exactly "friends" with the Second Adventist's Nelson Barbour could be open to question.

Bill.

28

Are the desert wastelands of biblical lands due to man or a curse?

by EndofMysteries in

i was looking on google earth the other day, take a look at it, the entire world.

notice how all of the countries and lands which were involved in all the biblical events are desert wastelands.

i thought to myself, did they destroy the soil and nothing will grow, well lets see how much rain they get a year.

Bungi Bill

Europe north of the Mediterranean lies in the path of year-round westerly winds, which ensure a regular and reliable rainfall:

- unlike the Mediterranean area (including its eastern margin) that receives the westerly winds only during the winter months (and sometimes not at all).

Furthermore, these moisture-laden westerly winds are forced to shed a higher than normal amount of precipitation as they ascend the mountain chain of the alps. (What is known as the orographic effect). There is no evidence to suggest that Europe was ever a desert, and it is extremely unlikely that any such evidence would ever be found!

Bill.

28

Are the desert wastelands of biblical lands due to man or a curse?

by EndofMysteries in

i was looking on google earth the other day, take a look at it, the entire world.

notice how all of the countries and lands which were involved in all the biblical events are desert wastelands.

i thought to myself, did they destroy the soil and nothing will grow, well lets see how much rain they get a year.

Bungi Bill

Niether.

The climate of any place on the western edge of a continent , and located approximately between latitudes 30 and 40 degrees, is determined by the Sub Tropical High Pressure Cells.

In years of higher rainfall (i.e what farmers would call a "good" year) agriculture has often been attempted in the more marginal areas of these zones (as was the case where I am currently working in South Australia). However, once the more normal rainfall pattern resumes, these efforts quickly fail - leaving behind evidence that could be interpreted as "the climate was once different."

The supernatural played little part in all this - and human activity not much more!

Bill.

78

Watchtower Corporation enters new business to help sheeples see that the end is very, very near!

by Billy the Ex-Bethelite in

my dad heard from the co who heard from a do that heard from his brother-in-law that heard from the friend of a governing body's wife, that the gb is getting very concerned that "the friends" are losing sight of the nearness of the panda-petting paradise.

many of these friends are also looking too critically at the "spiritual food" provided by the "faithful slave class.".

don't tell anyone else, but i hear that the gb has begun testing something new on some of the sheeple.

Bungi Bill

Satanus,

The accuracy of the Botchtower and Afake magazines reflects every one of those 70-odd steps, too!

Bill.

78

Watchtower Corporation enters new business to help sheeples see that the end is very, very near!

by Billy the Ex-Bethelite in

my dad heard from the co who heard from a do that heard from his brother-in-law that heard from the friend of a governing body's wife, that the gb is getting very concerned that "the friends" are losing sight of the nearness of the panda-petting paradise.

many of these friends are also looking too critically at the "spiritual food" provided by the "faithful slave class.".

don't tell anyone else, but i hear that the gb has begun testing something new on some of the sheeple.

Bungi Bill

Let's see:

- You heard it from your father,

- he heard it from the CO,

- the CO heard it from the DO,

- the DO heard it from his brother in law,

- the brother in law heard it from a friend of the wife of a member of the Governing Body.

Phew!!!!!!

No wonder rumours get started!

Bill.

60

I know very few JW window washers and cleaners

by MC RubberMallet in

maybe these occupations are quoted to make a point, but it loses meaning when maybe 1% of brothers i know actually has these as jobs..

Bungi Bill

snare&racket,

I know that this isn't directly related to the topic, but warrants a comment anyway.

In our part of the world (The South Pacific) and during the years leading up to 1975, we were even warned against learning a trade:

i.e. "Tying up five years of your life, when the system is almost finished."

That only left "career" options like commercial cleaning.

Following that debacle, I consider myself lucky to eventually qualify in one of the mal-aligned trades, namely, electrician:

- after having 40 years ago been ordered to abandon the Telecommunications Technician apprenticeship that I started out in.

Over the years, one of the tests I have had to carry out on Primary High Voltage Plant is the "Hot Collar" test - and I do continue to get rather hot under the collar when I hear them trying to dictate their career choices on their young people!

Bill.

60

I know very few JW window washers and cleaners

by MC RubberMallet in

maybe these occupations are quoted to make a point, but it loses meaning when maybe 1% of brothers i know actually has these as jobs..

Bungi Bill

Even if the term "window washers and cleaners" isn't always to be taken literally, there is more than a grain of truth in that expression (as there is with all other cliches).

The fact of the matter is that JWs are over-represented in the lower socio-economic strata;an inevitable result of theWTS's downer on education.

The Judicial Committee that handled my daughter's attempted suicide were certainly well qualified to handle such a sensitive matter (not!), consisting as it did of:

- one boilermaker.

- one laborer.

- and (almost inevitably) one office cleaner.

Bill

21

We want you to feel guilty!

by solomon in

this is another fine spiritual gem from the january 2013 study edition.. .

as the great tribulation nears, we do not want to be plagued with such anxious thoughts as these:'could i have done more in god's service?

didn't i pioneer when i had the opportunity?

Bungi Bill

A rather common perception of religion is that it uses fear to manipulate its people (e.g. by threats of hellfire & damnation).

This lot, though, is more devious than that, and primarily uses guilt to get its way. I can only speak for myself, but guilt seems to be a much more effective means of manipulation than threats of physical harm.

Yeah ......... #%^& the lot of them!

Bill.

PS: How many generations of mugs have they spun this line to now - still insisting that The End is "just around the corner."