This is all very obviously a complete turnaround from the days of 1990, when young "brothers"were almost climbing over each other to get appointed.
Bill.
Bungi Bill
JoinedPosts by Bungi Bill
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42
Where are the Young Elders?
by James Jack ini was appointed as an elder when i turned 30, 25 years ago.
which was the norm back then.. now, i very rarely here of a young man becoming an elder.
in our town we have 2 english congregations.
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Bungi Bill
My experiences from living in a high crime area have left me with some serious doubts about the level of protection firearm ownership offers a person.
Off an on over a 17 year period, I lived in what was a veritable cess pit of violent crime in a certain Third World country. Yet in all that time, I personally knew only two people who got shot:
- and both of them were "carrying" a firearm.
Both were gold buyers by occupation, and as such, were each licensed to carry a 9mm automatic. Both, too, knew how to use the things - regularly taking part in pistol shooting competitions against the police shooting teams. Yet, in two separate violent confrontations, it was they rather than their attackers who got shot (luckily, neither shooting was fatal, although one of them was only a millimetre or two away from being left paraplegic).
Maybe the Australian country singer, John Williamson, had a point in his song We must have a Flag of Our Own - a stanza of which reads "The way to get shot is to carry a gun."
My experiences while living "at the sharp end" tends to suggest so, anyway!
(I could also add the double shooting of two armed policemen. While not knowing these two officers personally, I was less than 100 metres away from them that Friday night when both were shot down by a .38 Special-weilding assassin. One officer was killed instantly, while his companion was greviously wounded. Again, the M-16 rifle that each man was carrying failed to protect him from getting shot, and the criminals escaped with the two M-16 assault rifles. However, it was our unarmed, 70 man strong security detail that recovered these stolen weapons, using nothing more than a dog unit. The culprit, also, was induced to surrender himself later the following day. That was brought about by using distinctly Melanesian methods, none of which would be approved of by Civil Libertarians, and which is the subject of another story altogether!)
Bill
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Preach, preach, preach....feel guilty...preach some more
by Tornintwo insince starting to wake up, i can't help notice how so many talks emphasise preaching, increasing your hours, pioneering etc...with a hefty load of guilt on the side.. i always noticed the guilt, but now i'm noticing how talks that seem to start out on another issue always seem to come back to hours!
visit talk seemed to start out about persecution, trusting in jehovah etc...but the main thrust in the end was, 'do more hours, pioneer, don't get an education or pursue a career, don't get distracted, hooray for the pioneers!
if you dont do more hours you will be 'the sort that shrink back to destruction'.
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Bungi Bill
In other words, nothing much has changed since I started taking an interest in this #u&*ing bloody cult some 50 years ago. Back then, the only thing that mattered was the column on the monthly field service report slip entitled "Hours" . Lo and bloody behold, it is still the same now! (Sad to say, none of this comes as any surprise).
Bill.
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This is a topic I am going to kill with my opening post.Why haven`t the Major religions of Christendom exposed J.W.`s as the true Apostates
by smiddy ini am initially thinking of the major religious institutions of christianity , catholic ,many branches , church of england , and the major protestant religions , too numerous to mention here.. after all their is 40,000 plus christian religions in the world today ?so obviously j.w.`s are not the only false religion .. so my real question is really , to do with the mainstream christian religions , why are`nt they more aggressive in their condemnation of the jehovah witness religion for their obvious failings ,flip backs ,contradictions ,prophecy`s that never eventuated , end of the world predictions ,re-inventing their past history , even distancing themselves from their past history , and their founding members , such as c.t.russell and j.f.rutherford whose policies they now reject... they need to get on board and bleed it for all it`s worth .. smiddy .
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Bungi Bill
Mainly, I think, because the mainstream churches regard fringe-groups like the JWs as being beneath contempt.
Bill.
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How many times were you told, "You Just Don't Qualify Yet to be an Elder"
by John Aquila inyou think it's the holy spirit that appoints the elders, at least that's what new jw males are told.
the culture within the organization dictates to all young male jehovah's witnesses that unless you are an elder, you will not get the sultry, passionate- brunette, the voluptuous, curvaceous,- blond, or the seductive, erotic, red headed-vamp..
so unaware of the social forces that are shaping your mind, you succumb to the dictum issued by the governing body to conform to the structure already in place- if you want to be successful.
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Bungi Bill
Sparrowdown,
You're right on the mark there. I never did have much of a taste for kissing people's backsides - no matter what it was going to gain! I guess my taste bud's were against me advancing too far in The Borg (and in retrospect, that was a bloody good thing, too).
Bill.
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How many times were you told, "You Just Don't Qualify Yet to be an Elder"
by John Aquila inyou think it's the holy spirit that appoints the elders, at least that's what new jw males are told.
the culture within the organization dictates to all young male jehovah's witnesses that unless you are an elder, you will not get the sultry, passionate- brunette, the voluptuous, curvaceous,- blond, or the seductive, erotic, red headed-vamp..
so unaware of the social forces that are shaping your mind, you succumb to the dictum issued by the governing body to conform to the structure already in place- if you want to be successful.
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Bungi Bill
Never!
I had one hell of a battle even getting to be an MS - despite being equipped with the necessary plumbing!
No doubt he good old Holy Spirit had something against me (read : I must have got in somebody of importance's bad books somewhere along the line - and that person in turn had a direct telephone circuit to the Holy Spirit).
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What is your understanding of a christian Minister of God ?
by smiddy inas i understand it ,a christian minister of god is someone who goes to school gets the opportunity to further their education at a higher level ,then studies greek hebrew , latin , and what is available in ancient manuscripts , and demonstrates they have a comprehension of all these issues.....and of course they would need to get a pass on these subjects.. i think this would be the minimum standard required in the mainstream christian churches ,greek orthodox , catholic, all branches ,church of england ,and most of the mainstream protestant religions.
then we come to jehovah `s witnesses , none of the above applies to them , all they have is , they have been baptized by water immersion into their religion with none of the above qualifications.. and this includes minors , some as young as ten , possibly even younger in some situations who are classed as ministers of god simply by their baptism by water immersion.. they are also on record as saying higher education is a waste of time.why ?
because the end is just around the corner , a phrase that has been repeated and repeated since the year 1914 till now.. what young child could possibly hold their own with a discussion in theology or even comprehend the complexities of christianity with their counterparts.?.
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Bungi Bill
smiddy,
What young child could possibly hold their own with a discussion in theology or even comprehend the complexities of Christianity with their counterparts.?
It is something of a joke, isn't it!
Cathloic priests have to have at least a bachelor's degree, preferably in fields such as religious studies or philosophy, before they can even be considered for seminary training. They then have to graduate from a seminary, where academic work includes such subjects as biblical theology and philosophy.
Contrast that with the case of the JWs, where - as you have correctly observed - even a baptised 10 year old child is classed as a minister.
How many JWs would these days be willing to cross swords with a priest / pastor / minister of any of the mainstream churches, I wonder? My guess is that most would be looking for the very first excuse to disengage from the enemy, and then to flee the field!
Bill.
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57
40 years on - and still in Damage Control mode!
by Bungi Bill inearlier this morning, i posted off to the the institute of engineers an application for membership as an "engineering associate":.
- today being just over 40 years since the congregation's retards elders made me abandon my apprenticeship.. (in this part of the world, the pre-1975 hype was taken to that level.
not being content to prevent young persons attending university, they went one step further and treated with hostility any youngster who would "tie up five years of their lives" by entering into an apprenticeship.
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Bungi Bill
berrygerry,
Absolutely:
- Watch out for the bloody carborundum!
fulltimestudent,
Sad that it has taken you until almost 80 years of age before reaching the final stages of achieving your degree, but you show them! (which is the very best way of waving the good old two-fingered salute at those #&^*s who prevented you from attempting university studies in the first place).
Bill.
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40 years on - and still in Damage Control mode!
by Bungi Bill inearlier this morning, i posted off to the the institute of engineers an application for membership as an "engineering associate":.
- today being just over 40 years since the congregation's retards elders made me abandon my apprenticeship.. (in this part of the world, the pre-1975 hype was taken to that level.
not being content to prevent young persons attending university, they went one step further and treated with hostility any youngster who would "tie up five years of their lives" by entering into an apprenticeship.
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Bungi Bill
Once again, thanking everybody for their kind words of support.
Bill.
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50
Newspaper article: 'Rise of ISIS and earthquakes are WARNINGS before ARMAGEDDON destroys Earth'
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/581439/rise-isis-earthquakes-warnings-before-armageddon-apocalypse-end-destroys-volcanoes-earth.
the "end" of mankind, which has been long predicted by jehovah's witnesses, could happen as soon as this year - according to latest announcement from the christian religion.. in the latest edition of jehovah's witnesses monthly publication watchtower, an article translated into 700 languages - urges people to join the religion or face certain death when god sends his forces from the heavens to "remove all world leaders," "exterminate his enemies" and "rid the world of satan".. critics have lambasted the warning of a coming armageddon as yet another "failed prediction" by the religion, which has previously delivered similar alerts such as a foretold apocalypse in 1975.. indeed, jehovah's witnesses have been warning people of the need to recognise jehovah or face certain death when the "end" comes for more than 100 years.. the christian-based religion was founded in the 1870s by charles taze russell in pittsburgh, pennsylvania, us, as an offshoot from the bible studies movement.. today, there are 8.2million jehovah's witness evangelists, while 19.9 million celebrated their annual memorial festival marking christ's death - worldwide in 2014.. followers do not believe in military service and will not accept blood transfusions.. in a new eight-page article, watchtower said jehovah's witness leaders are now "convinced" humans are in their "final days" before the armageddon.. they cite an increase in global armed conflict, such as the rise of the islamic state terror group, as well as natural disasters such as volcanoes and earthquakes.. the lengthy article, written by an unnamed author, said: "will god let humans continue to dominate one another and threaten the future of mankind?
no, as we have seen, he will step in and bring an end to centuries of misery and oppression.
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Bungi Bill
Bogeymen keep changing from era to era. Earlier, the articles ranted about "godless" communism and the precariousness of humankind from nuclear obliteration.
My wife and I were only reminded of that recently, while listening to a recording of Barry Mcguire's Eve of Destruction. The WTS /GB (or whatever else you want to call them) didn't exactly invent any these "bogeymen". However, they certainly played upon people's fears of such things.
For example, there were the statistics they once liked to bandy around, that equated the world's nuclear arsenal to the equivalent of so many plugs of gelignite:
- then decided that it would take one plug of "jelly" to kill one human being; and so therefore by dividing the total explosive blast of the world's nuclear arsenal by the total number of human beings, you could (and they did) determine its "overkill" factor.
Now they use the threat of terrorism to similarly try to frighten people.
Bill.