Posts by Bungi Bill

33

Manmade rules

by Jrjw in

i was talking to someone a few years ago and he said in his congregation they have a rail of white shirts prepared in the cloakroom for if a speaker doesn't have a white shirt on.

it was a rule in their hall that all brothers in the platform must wear white shirts when going talks and if the speaker won't comply when asked to change into the shirt they provide an elder in the congregation will do the talk instead.

i have never known any other halls do it so it must be a rule the elders have made up without gb input.

Bungi Bill

I was in one congregation in which the elders decided to "lift the tone" of things by insisting that men wear jackets at all times while engaging in field service. This in a location in which summertime temperatures frequently exceed 30 degrees Celsius; and in which the community in general would regard you as being barking mad if you did not remove your coat!

In another circuit during the late 1980s, all those desiring to get "get appointed" were required to not just make the "national average", but to exceed it. Would-be Ministerial Servants had to report at least 12 hours a month, while servants who hoped appointment as Elder had to report at least 15 hours a month. All congregations in that circuit were spilling over with publishers, and we were covering the territory in less than a month. In fact, during the Circuit Overseer's visit, coverage was more like once a week. People were (not surprisingly) heartily sick of us always being at their doors. By the time I left, the list of "Do Not Calls" almost exceeded the number of homes it was okay to call at! Also, the official stance of the WTS that you "worked a territory to life, NOT to death" proved to be quite untrue. Nontheless, the iron-clad rule remained, "Thou shalt report 12 hours a month". Not written anywhere in the Bible, though. (Certainly nowhere that I could see, anyway!)

15

"Reaching out" in the org and personal confessions...

by Good JW in

going to be completely honest here, no feelings spared for me.

when i was a jw, one of my biggest motivations for "reaching out" was to become a "somebody".

i loved the idea of being a leader, teaching/training others.

Bungi Bill

However I do think that unless you are made fully aware of the human desire to be prominent, and until you have been almost at rock bottom, you won't serve any community very well (or at least not get to your potential).

Very true. As my late father was wont to say " Before you can give orders, you have to learn to take them."
That truth is something you really appreciate if you have ever worked under Managers / Supervisors etc who had never first learned "to take orders".

86

Do You Know Any “Gay” Jehovah’s Witnesses?

by minimus in

jw
friends

of course the religion condemns homosexuality but did you know any gay witnesses?

i knew some bethelites that were very effeminate and i remember 4 women who were suspected of being lesbians by many in the congregation.

they eventually moved away and were very vocal against males, especially elders..

Bungi Bill

I have, both practising and latent.

The practising one was the recipient of much action by Judical Committee.

The other two were a former lesbian couple, probably no longer practising, but who still lived together and exhibited much of the signs of their "former way of life." Those, however, would almost fill a book all on their own, and I don't intend to start now!

29

Russia is Smart

by Kohanic in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhnseocpffq.

so according to the law department's meeting in feb 2016, russia has been studying the linguistics of the watchtower articles and discovered its brainwashing abilities!.

lol it's funny now that i'm on the russian side of this debate now, ban them all!.

Bungi Bill

As they say "It takes one to know one".

Russia (at least when it was the old Soviet Union) made mind-control an art form.

If they say that the WTS is all about mind control, then it must be right!

66

Since leaving the JW Organization, who is believing?

by Issa in

jw
friends

i left the jw organization last year during summer.

maybe some of you can relate.

who of you are agnostic or an atheist?

Bungi Bill

The term "Religioned Out" best describes my current situation.

52

US violent crimes and murders rose in 2016, the FBI says

by Simon in

i can't remember the exact topic but i think a few people predicted the same thing - that the blm movement would cause an increase in violent deaths of young black men, ultimately doing more harm than good.. and so it has: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41391333.

an 8.6% rise in the homicide rate is pretty appalling by any standard unless it started at very low levels, which we know it didn't.. this is why i object to movements based on false premises and invented media lies / selective coverage.

the people who suffer the most are not the ones marching in the streets.

Bungi Bill

I think he's a loathsome human being but that doesn't mean I can't notice when the media is biased and unfair in their treatment or that he can't do great things. The president of the US isn't a Mr Nice Guy competition after all.

Interesting - particularly the last sentence!

It ought to be cause for concern that all too often, election campaigns come down to a mere popularity contest. Certainly, last year's General Election in this country was just that - with little or no intelligent debate about policies.

All I can say is God help us all!

52

US violent crimes and murders rose in 2016, the FBI says

by Simon in

i can't remember the exact topic but i think a few people predicted the same thing - that the blm movement would cause an increase in violent deaths of young black men, ultimately doing more harm than good.. and so it has: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41391333.

an 8.6% rise in the homicide rate is pretty appalling by any standard unless it started at very low levels, which we know it didn't.. this is why i object to movements based on false premises and invented media lies / selective coverage.

the people who suffer the most are not the ones marching in the streets.

Bungi Bill

It is true that socio-economic factors do play a part in the incidence of crime. In the district where I presently live, one dosen't have to look to hard to see evidence of that - i.e. in the former forest industry towns of New Zealand's North Island, where once every unskilled worker was practically guaranteed a job in a forestry crew, thus keeping him out of mischief during the daylight hours Monday to Friday. Reforms in the industry that were implemented 30 years ago, though, have left consequences that you wouldn't want to know about!

However, caution has to be exercised here. It is all too easy to apportion blame to everybody and everything except the criminal himself.

As I recall it being reported in Time magazine, the noticeable reductions in crime which occurred in America during the early 1990s largely happened because the police returned focus onto their primary role - that of harassing the criminal element. Growing up during the late 1950s and through the 1960s, I lived in fear (bordering on mortal terror!) of the local policeman.

No doubt, there are those around who would direct a stream of tomatoes at me for saying this, but I do believe the community would be one hell of a lot safer if every one of us was absolutely $h#t-scared of the man (or woman) in a blue uniform.

29

Anointed Delusions of Grandeur

by Kohanic in

so here is something i've been wondering about.

how do the 'anointed' come to the conclusion that they are chosen?

is it some weird collective delusion of grandeur and how is it manifested in such ones?.

Bungi Bill

My experience with those who claimed to be "annointed" was that they were very definitely affected by mental illness. One in particular that I can think of still requires intensive psychiatric treatment, 30+ years after first "partaking of the emblems."

Those who regularly work with the mentally ill are generally in agreement that mental illness has number of common characteristics. One of these is deep religiosity, and another is having delusions of grandeur. Not, of course, that all religious people are necessarily mad! However, religion together with mental illness is not a good combination.

16

Is Happiness Without Religion Possible?

by Brian J in

according to the 11/2017 study watchtower.......apparently not.

is it really true that one can be happy without religion?

certainly an individual can be happy without false religion, but a person cannot be truly happy unless he has a relationship with jehovah, who is described as “the happy god.” (1 tim.

Bungi Bill

Is happiness without religion possible?

Bloody right it is, as I have found out over the last 23 years!

27

Encounter with a long time elder. (Jehovah's happy people)

by freddo in

jw
friends

so i'm at work and go to my vehicle parked outside the empty property i'm working at and an elderly man comes out of next door and we recognise each other from when we were elders in the same circuit.

he is early 80's in age, a jw since the 1960's and so the next generation in age up from me.. he's an outwardly jolly sort and asks how i am etc.

(knows i'm not an elder but thinks i'm pimi) and asks if i want a cup of tea so i go in and sit in his kitchen for my lunchbreak and have a chat.. i have a little fish around and ask about how jw's in his hall are.

Bungi Bill

Goes to show you can make the bible say whatever you want"

Put a good spin doctor on the job, and the possibilities are endless! (Happliy, though, the current lot of GB members aren't up to the task).