Today's Newspaper - JW's Nailed

by BizzyBee 5 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  BizzyBee

  Nice print today on the ignorance and lack of compassion espoused by JWs. This is from today's Santa Barbara News Press, by nationally syndicated columnist (can scroll down to highlighted area):

  FRIDGE NOTES William Edelen January 7, 2007

  In the discussion time of my Sunday Symposium we have a small ritual. When anyone says something worth remembering, we say "that's" for your fridge door. Everyone has a fridge door library of notes. Here are a few educational gems for the "religion" section of your door for this New Year of 2007. "The government of the United States is in no sense founded on the Christian religion" President George Washington in the Treaty of Tripoli. "This would be the best of all possible worlds if there were no religion in it." President John Adams. The Jefferson-Adams letters. "I do not find in Christianity one redeeming feature. It has made one half the world fools...the other half hypocrites." President Thomas Jefferson "A just government has no need for the clergy or the church. The fruits of Christianity are pride and indolence in the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity;; and in both clergy and laity...superstition...bigotry and persecution..." President James Madison, author of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. From his address before the General Assembly of Virginia, 1785 "The bible is not my book...nor Christianity my religion." President Abraham Lincoln to the Washington D.C. clergy "The first clergyman was the first sly rogue who encountered the first fool." Voltaire "Religion is regarded by the common people as true...by the wise as false...and by the rulers as useful." Mark Twain "The bible has some poetry...some blood drenched history...a wealth of obscenity and upwards of a hundred thousand lies." Mark Twain "Civilization will thrive when the last stone...from the last church...falls on the head of the last priest." Emile Zola "Reason should be destroyed in all Christians." Martin Luther "I pray with all of my heart for the day when we won't have any more public schools. The churches will have taken them all over and we Christians will be running them" Jerry Falwell "The source and cause of fights and malignancy...persecution...wars...and all evil is religion. Let it once enter our public schools and they would be destroyed." Supreme Court of Wisconsin, Weiss vs. District Board, March 18, 1890 "Buried deep in the heart of every Christian evangelist lies the wreck of a con man" H.L. Mencken "FAITH...(noun)...Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge" Ambrose Bierce "There is one Commandment I have never broken..I can assure you...I have never coveted my neighbour's wife..." Ruth Gordon, actress. (Ten Commandments are a cultic code written BY Hebrew men FOR Hebrew men.) "ARE WOMEN HUMAN?...a subject debated for two weeks by the Council of Macon in Lyons, France, 584 a.d. Debated by 63 Catholic bishops. When the vote was taken women were declared 'human" by only one vote. The Catholic church is still to this day debating the question, in 2007. As are Southern Baptists and many fundamentalist churches. "ARE GAYS AND LESBIANS HUMAN"...A subject being debated today in 2007 in the Methodist church...the Episcopal church...the Presbyterian church and the majority of fundamentalist and evangelical churches..as well as the door bell ringing Jehovah Witnesses. Jacob and Joshua Miller of the rock band "Nemesis" and members of the Jehovah Witnesses...have both been "disfellowshipped" (excommunicated)for being gay. As they said in their statement, "this means that our immediate family is to have no contact with us. And all other practicing Jehovah Witnesses around the world are not to speak with us ever again." How many future generations of morally sensitive people are going to be amazed and laughing at the homophobic ignorance and superstition to todays churches Can you believe this is the year 2007. A question that any intelligent grade school child could ask is: "when are Christians going to start living the "love" the drivel and blabber about every Sunday from pulpits and pew?"William Edelen. "It is fear...that first brought God and Gods into the world" Petronius And so it is to this day of January 7...2007. Pick your favorite for your fridge door religion library. For those of you who admire the brilliance of that American giant of letters and philosophy, Ralph Waldo Emerson ...you may like this one to round out your library. "CHRISTIAN CREEDS AND DOCTRINES ARE A DISEASE OF THE INTELLECT."
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  SirNose586

  Interesting find, BizzyBee. Not only the JWs, but Christianity as a whole was nailed.

  I wish that Mr. Edelen had cited his quotes. The inclusion of some references would be quite useful in combatting these "America was supposed to be Christian" nutjobs.
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  Kenneson

  Number 16 on whether women are humans by the Council of Macon caught my attention, so I conducted a search. Here is what I found.

  http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft9704/opinion/nolan.html
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  betterdaze

  ***I wish that Mr. Edelen had cited his quotes. ***
  #14, "FAITH...(noun)...Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge"?Ambrose Bierce
  
  Ahhh, "The Devil's Dictionary." It's a blast! Can you believe my JW mom actually bought a Devil's title as a (humorous) reference work for us kids?
  We loved it. Still do. His definitions are timeless.
  
  You can find it online here: http://www.alcyone.com/max/lit/devils/f.html
  
  Dover Publications still reprints it, too: http://store.doverpublications.com/0486275426.html
  
  For more on the author, looky here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrose_bierce
  
  ~Sue
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  ValiantBoy

  Gawd..I love Ruth Gordon!

  Great quotes.. everyone in Oklahoma should be forced to read the first two...
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  zagor

  "It is fear...that first brought God and Gods into the world"

  That says it all