Posts by Billy the Ex-Bethelite

17

WT Comments (1/14 JAH'S SOVEREIGNTY) BLONDIE RETURNS!!

by V in

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

Thanks for the clarification of this weeks WT, Blondie.

Oh, oh, [waiving raised had frantically] I want to comment on para. 4:

Even though "The Word/Jesus/Michael" had been with Jehovah for billions & billions of years, had created everything together, and seen the whole Garden of Eden thing together, Jesus still needed an extra 40 days to "meditate deeply on the issue of sovereignty" just to help him make up his mind...
Not really, like a typical man, Jesus was trying to take a shortcut through the wilderness from the Jordan back to Nazareth, got lost for 40 days, and was too stubborn to stop and ask for directions.

Oh, oh, I want to comment on the picture:

Um, y'all have got it all wrong, you're assuming incorrectly. Is the Art Department going to have to start drawing on name tags? Jesus is the one on the right. Satan is the manly, studly, hot looking guy, the 'angel of light', and 'ruler of the world' on the left. Since Jesus was lost, hungry and unsure about Jehovah's sovereignty for 40 days, Jesus is the one that is skinny, sickly, dirty, and creepy looking. Mark 1:13 says "So he continued in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan, and he was with the wild beasts, but the angels were ministering to him." Jesus was obviously so troubled and exhausted by this experience with Satan and the wild beasts, that the poor, weak guy needed the angels to strengthen and encourage him.

Over here, paragraph 8:

Jesus life course clearly demonstrated that nobody should get baptized before they're 30 years old. They should only preach for about 3-1/2 years. And don't bother writing anything down. Frankly, if Moses wrote, David wrote, Solomon wrote, and lots of other imperfect men wrote parts of the OT, if Jesus intended for there to be a New Testament Christian Greek Scriptures, shouldn't he have been the one to write it? Hello! If Jesus wanted a publishing empire built, couldn't he have built one?

And review question #2:

What did Jesus primarily accomplish by 1) his ministry and 2) his death? 1) He said a lot of confusing things that led to a bunch of new religions. 2) He stopped living.

Thank You and Good Night !!

13

Public Talk at CO Visit

by stillajwexelder in

just to confirm , at the moment the public talk at the circuit visit is still 45 minutes long.

not sure if this will change when the enw outlines are released to cos for their next round of visits starting early march

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

After two weeks of 30 minute public talks, I recommend that the regular PTs be further reduced to 20 minutes.

I recommend that the CO visit public talks be reduced to 10 minutes.

I recommend that all the circuit assembly and district convention talks be reduced to 15 minutes or less. Replace dramas with beauty pagents or monster truck pulls or both.

The time saved by reducing the talks can be used for.... [drum roll].... FIELD SERVICE !! [cue applause]

Back on topic: Yes, I think the COs are finishing this round with the 45 minute snoozers.

9

How are American Small businesses at a disadvantage?

by wanderlustguy in

jw
friends

i've read this on the thread about minimum wage, and i own a small business, have run several small businesses (under 100 employees) and feel this is one of the easiest, least restrictive, and most profitable business demographics to be in.

as a matter of fact, i do even better the smaller the business is.

so...first off...do you own your own small business?

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

Small business owner here. Less than 10 employees. Some advantages, some disadvantages. Unfortunately, I'm in an area of slow growth, so I can't expect to get rich quick. However, my expenses are less than most areas and my customers are very loyal. I'm smart, talented, and confident that the business will continue to grow. I come from a family of independent business owners, so I came into this with my eyes open.

Employees can certainly be problematic. But with time and experience you grab and keep the talent as you can get it. Laws, bookkeeping, and regulations can be complex, but you learn them as you go and it gets easier. So, I'm planning to stick with small business.

Side note: When I was on vacation in Switzerland staying with family of friends, they mentioned that almost nobody had any concept of actually starting their own business. Anybody that seemed ambitious enough to have started a business in the US would have the mindset there of getting a good job with a big company instead. They thought it really hurt the Swiss economy to have talented people just sitting in offices with secure, but mundane, jobs.

30

How do JW's react when learning that Jehovah is not part of Christianity?

by oompa in

jw
friends

jehovah this, jehovah that......6 times per page in the old testament.

but oh how few jw's know that the name jehovah does not even appear in the christian greek scriptures....or new testatment as i prefer.

i used to be so proud of our real bible, the nwt for restoring the divine name thousands of times in the ot.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

As a JW, we would be expected to accept everything 100%, including any inclusions of "Jehovah" in the NWT where it may not have originally appeared. Not 99%, and certainly not 98% acceptance. If you didn't accept everything exactly as stated, you would be destroyed by both Jehovah and Jesus and never get to enjoy your pet lion in paradise.

Now that I don't accept everything 100%, or even 98%, I question the validity of most of the Christian Greek New Testament Scriptures.

22

New Crop of C.O.'s - Charismatic or Company Men?

by Confucious in

jw
friends

just a fun discussion thread here.. when i first was involved in the wt - probably early 90's.... all the c.o.

's were really charismatic men.. i know part of it was that the wt gave the men a lot of leway on their talks.

pretty much they can use their speaking talents.. i mean, some of the c.o.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

When I was young, the COs were motivated by 100% conviction. They provided their own car and usually a trailer. Received almost nothing from the bOrg, and little from the circuit. They worked every day and every night in their assignments. Assemblies were a ton of work for everyone, especially the CO. They earned respect and expected little. They worked diligently and urgently since the end was sooooooo close.

Now, the COs are corporate middle managers. Company car, all expenses (sometimes very questionable) paid by the congregations of circuit, additional reimbursement from the bOrg, circuit apartment free and clear. Set schedule for free Mondays, minimal weekend activity, late mornings, more free evenings. Congregations to provide all food and additional housing. Most work delegated. Almost no original material, use formulaic corporate outlines over and over. 'Motivate' by stressing more field service or alternative witnessing or phone witnessing or more RVs. Expect everything, earn nothing, since you are to be respected for the position you are in, not for anything you actually have done. Tell everyone the end is soooooo close, but don't bother making friends since you'll only be in that circuit for 3 years and then on to the next. Kiss the @sses of the upper management above you, brutalize the workers below you--that's the formula for a successful middle manager.

Today, most of those that would make good COs are the substitute COs who work for nothing. The current crop of COs are company men. The CO training school at Patterson actually seems to made them worse. Now their attitude is, "It's all about the numbers!"

51

I don't want to worship a God that.............

by oompa in

would kill billions of people for any reason.. would require family members to not speak to a member of their own family.. would require a parent to stone a child for being a bad boy.. would require probably millions of animals to be slaughtered and make smoke for him.. would let a rapist of a young girl have the privilege of marrying her.. would let mankind suffer for thousands of years to prove something to his heavenly creatures.. would let horrible "natural" tragedies occur, killing millions of people, when they don't have to happen.. would communicate to mankind by writing to them.....but not keep any originals around....like pyramids.. would want to be worshiped in the first place.....i just don't get it........................you can add your own if you want..........oompa.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

*Additions*

I don't want to worship a God that...

... has a whole series of failed administrations (Garden of Eden, Israel) and wise servants that stopped serving him (Satan, Solomon), as noted in this week's Watchtower lesson.

... used to be able to send prophets that could really prophecy, heal, and even resurrect, but can't come up with anybody to do those things today.

... used to bless his servants materially (Abraham, Lot, Job), but now 'blesses' his servants with material poverty and a fruitless ministry.

... sent his Son to 'minister' for a mere 3 1/2 years, needed angels to strengthen him, spoke in mysterious illustrations, and never wrote a word for posterity.

... doesn't answer my prayers.

41

2008;END OF WORLD?

by badboy in

jw
friends

some say this year will be end of world.. what do you think?.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

I can agree with Mickey Mouse on the chronology speculation fed to Gilead students. In 2004-5, a Gilead student told us that one instructor mentioned the chronology of 1975 + 30 years = 2005. As I recall, the 30 years was based on:

***

it-1p.15Abel*** Since Seth was evidently born shortly after Abel’s death and when Adam was 130 years of age, it is possible that Abel may have been as much as 100 years old at the time of his martyrdom.

Based on that Insight quote, the speculation was that 30 years transpired from the creation of Adam to the end of the 6th creative day. Thus the 7th rest day of 7,000 years would end in 2005. Of course it wasn't published, since it was RUBBISH!

Back to the question: Will 2008 be the end of the world? Duh, THE WORLD ALREADY ENDED INVISIBLY IN 1984. We merely exist as a post-armageddon figment of Jehober's material experimental imagination. So, lots of things will get worse this year and many people will end, but the world won't end.

49

Any thoughts about increasing Minimum Wage?

by journey-on in

jw
friends

some people want to up the minimum wage to $10 - $12 per hour!

what are your thoughts about this?.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

I won't try to expand the question. I think we can all agree that corporate CEOs are paid way too much. Yes, minimum wage isn't enough to support a family. But, I think a high minimum wage makes kids around here unemployable. They don't need to support the family, so why should they make the same minimum wage as a 40 y.o. with 3 kids?

Simply looking at my situation, I want to hire a few part-time high school kids. I have had dozens come in and apply. But as it is, I can't justify hiring them straight away at $8. Neither are most of the other potential employers in town able to hire inexperienced kids at $8. It becomes expensive and time consuming to overpay, train, and motivate them. So, now we have a bunch of unemployed teens in town, making no spending money to learn how to work, and budget, and their parents need to bring home more money to support them.

Before you think I'm a rich, tight-fisted, idiot, I'm still in debt for the initial investments in the business. I work a ton of hours. My employees (all part-time) that have been with me very long are over $8. I have other skills, but since I was in Bethel, you can't really list that experience on an application since you have no work or income references. I have no college degree since I was raised JW. And I couldn't get just any job because of missing meetings, neutrality, holidays, etc. Despite what the bOrg says, Jehober doesn't miraculously bless his people with great jobs. What a lie they feed the sheeples. So, I found myself unemployed in an area of low opportunities. But my business is doing well, and more importantly I'm learning the truth about "the Truth". Mostly I'll stick to WT topics here on the forum, but this one caught my attention.

Back to the question, why would there need to be more US or state legislation to increase minimum wage? How about mandating that US imports are made with fairly paid foreign workers? What about the illegal immigrants that are paid below minimum tax-free throughout the US?

49

Any thoughts about increasing Minimum Wage?

by journey-on in

jw
friends

some people want to up the minimum wage to $10 - $12 per hour!

what are your thoughts about this?.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

Here's my take as a small business owner having a state minimum wage higher than the national minimum wage.

All my adult employees receive above the national and state minimum wage. They are worth it and I'll increase, just so I don't lose my best.

However, since the last raise of state minimum, I've had to cut back on any new hires to keep on budget. I would like to hire some part-time teenagers, but even at the allowed 50 cents below the minimum for under 18, it's way more than any schoolkid is worth.

I'm not in an area with a booming economy. Around here, it appears that the increased minimum wage is making it harder for kids to find part-time work. And it makes it harder for small businesses to comply with all government requirements. I stay legal, but I already know of many other businesses nearby that pay 'under the table' below minimum. Otherwise, the employees wouldn't have any jobs, and the businesses would fail. Increasing the minimum wage to $10-12? Around here, unemployment would skyrocket and businesses would move out of the country. I know that I would either have to raise my prices, go illegal, or go under.

Frankly, the state minimum wage here is still not enough to support a family with. On the other hand, the state minimum wage is already too high to expect businesses to rationalize hiring kids, the handicapped, or anyone else that just wants a simple job to earn a few more bucks to suppliment the family income.

Sure, it would be great to see everyone make a lot more money and to require places like WalMart pay their "associates" more since the company certainly can afford it. But to be fair, forget state or national, why not legislate a global minimum wage? With everything that gets imported from Asia and looking at the poverty in Africa, should there be a global minimum wage of $4 per hour?

13

Post-Cult Recovery

by Maddie in

common issues in post-cult recovery .

sense of purposelessness, of being disconnected.

they left a group that had a powerful purpose and intense drive; they miss the peak experiences produced from the intensity and the group dynamics.. depression.. grieving for other group members, for a sense of loss in their life.. guilt.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

Thanks for sharing the info Maddie ! I was relieved to note that "projectile vomiting" and "Tourette's Syndrome" were not included on the list.

Seriously, although the things listed can be painful after-effects, it really helps to see such things documented. I suffered from severe depression for many years before treatment and reading many books on the subject. I still have the depression, but now that I can recognize the symptoms, I relate them to the medical condition rather than some personal flaw or weakness. Of course, the depression is undoubtedly bOrg related. But, at least I can recognize things for what they are. I don't view this as my personal fault. I can quickly dismiss feelings of guilt when they arise. I see it as a situation I have found myself in, and will soon remedy things one at a time as I'm able. Recognizing effects/after-effects like this helps me view things objectively, cope with the issues, keeps me in rather good spirits, and helps me be empathetic toward others.

Okay, maybe this explanation sounds kinda dumb, some things are tricky to put into words. And I really have had only one shot of Bailey's... wealllly.

Billy