Posts by Mephis

39

The Vedas - Scientific Knowledge - Prophecy - The Truth?

by LAWHFol in

the vedas are the core sacred texts for the people of the east.

generally the vedas are to the east as the hebrew scriptures are to the west.

supporters of the bible, boast of it's scientific accuracy,prophetic accuracy & general infallibility.

Mephis

@Mephis - Einstein,Schrodinger,Tesla,Oppenheimer,Sagan,Bohr,Heisenberg - The Most Influential Physicists / Scientists of this Era ALL extensively studied the Vedas.
Why would these Brilliant Minds spend so much time studying the Vedas and making known public-ally their great adoration of the Vedas, if they are simply books with some "fun" ideas in them, as you put it?
Don't get me wrong, my argument is not intended to Prove that God inspired these books.. Rather my point is that these books are perhaps the greatest and most substantial literary works to ever come into existence... And this deserving of attention, for any one with an ounce of intellectual desire.

Interest in the Eastern religions has been there in the past, and I'm sure it will continue into the future too. There's a whole host of thinkers of all branches of arts and science who have explored ideas from the Indian sub-continent. However... expressing an idea similar to that which can be found in a specific religion is not the same at all as signing up to the belief system of that religion. I'm unconvinced that all those scientists did 'extensively study' the Vedas. If the standard is as low as the odd quote with either a passing reference or, even worse, only a loose association with something one can pull out of the Sanskrit then we may as well call them all devout christian theologians because they'd have at least the same, if not better, understanding of the bible.

39

The Vedas - Scientific Knowledge - Prophecy - The Truth?

by LAWHFol in

the vedas are the core sacred texts for the people of the east.

generally the vedas are to the east as the hebrew scriptures are to the west.

supporters of the bible, boast of it's scientific accuracy,prophetic accuracy & general infallibility.

Mephis

LAWHFol, you start your OP with misrepresenting a paper on AI logic and language and it goes downhill from there. The idea that Newton just read texts in Sanskrit is ludicrous really. I think there are some fun ideas in the Vedas which can loosely be applied to some aspects of that blurred boundary where physics and philosophy seem to meet. But one does need to emphasise 'loosely'. And one has to be very careful of taking some of the claims which come out of India around ancient Sanskrit writing as being, well, true. eg recent claims on Sanskrit writings which are absolutely untrue include they describe spaceships and planes and gravity.

6

Caught in LIE Head of Bethel Australia service desk Rodney Spinks by Angus Stewart Australia Investigation day 6

by Watchtower-Free in

sixth day of live testimony .

this bethelite head of service desk at australia jehovah's witnesses headquarters lied under oath and is caught here by by angus stewart.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6lwmalzc-s.

Mephis

They're meant to have a clear child safeguarding policy. What's very obvious is that what currently passes for one, and this is an issue which the Charity Commission here in Britain have picked up on at least two prior occasions too, is neither clear nor in fact a policy with anything to do with child safeguarding. Spinks is caught there having to disown the elders' book because to do otherwise would be to confirm the suspicion that they seek to cover-up child abuse as an organisation. But by disowning it, it opens up the question of them needing a specific policy designed to meet best current practice. Which is really the purpose of the commission - to not only explore historic faults but to ensure that children are better protected in the future by making organisations have those policies in place and used.

22

Has the Great Witness Trolley/Cart campaign produced ANY results?

by freddo in

jw
friends

i live between two cities that are big enough to have their own metropolitan trolley cart arrangements organised at circuit level.

the 3 congregations at the hall i attend have trolley schedule noticeboards.

i see trolleys in the high streets and markets locally.

Mephis

Have seen a fair number around Manchester, UK. Have yet to see anyone stop to talk with them other than myself. People just aren't interested in stopping for loony toons carts outside a train station, tram stop, bus stop, let alone those parked on the corners of busy pedestrian zones, nor does anyone seem to really want to take one of the soggy Watchtowers being limply held out. Sending people who are intrigued enough to stop online to check out Jehovah's Witnesses really isn't the cleverest idea, but I like that they do so long may they keep on doing it.

12

Sad News: Girl of JW parents with schizophrenia murders two siblings

by ILoveTTATT2 in

jw
friends

this is a very sad and disturbing case in mexico.. used google translate.

ask me if the translation is not clear:.

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=es&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=utf-8&u=http%3a%2f%2flaverdadnoticias.com%2fnina-de-11-anos-mato-a-sus-hermanos-porque-satanas-se-lo-ordeno%2f570605%2f&edit-text=.

Mephis

Just really, really sad that the parents weren't able to pick up on the fact that their daughter needed to be getting professional help before she got to that point.

52

Court seizes over one million Jehovah's Witnesses brochures brought into Russia

by StarTrekAngel in

http://red.theworldnewsmedia.org/index.php/en/forum-home-page/jehovah-s-witnesses/93-court-seizes-over-one-million-jehovah-s-witnesses-brochures-brought-into-russia

Mephis

Funny how some apostates cry "it's a harmful cult, its a harmful cult " then defend that cults right to distribute cult material.
While freedom of expression is important, any ban on religious drivel and cult brainwashing material is completely laudable.

Sadly, determining what is or is not 'religious drivel' at a state level presupposes that the state is in a position to do that. In Russia currently that means with reference to the Orthodox church and a Science Academy which has lost any claim to independent research or thinking (again). "You can't believe this because the Orthodox church disagrees" is not really something to laud. It also is not limited to just their stupid books and magazines, it includes violence and prison. No matter how much I disagree with my family's cult, I'm not going to cheer on a state which would happily see them beaten in the street or imprisoned for going to a meeting because their stupid beliefs aren't the same as some relic worshiping nutjob's stupid beliefs. That's the bigger picture of what is happening in Russia.

I'd be damned inside and damned outside of the cult in that country for fundamentally the same reasons. Always see the irony of a group which practices its own mini-me totalitarianism running into a bigger and meaner version. But it doesn't mean they shouldn't have the same basic protections I'd claim for myself. I actually see it as a good example of such protections not being there for the nice and fluffy things we like, but for the stuff we really hate. I think there are better ways for states to take JWs to task (whether that's a near automated system for removing their capacity to make martyrs of children over the blood issue or courts refusing to accept their 'ecclesiastical rights' in serious criminal matters) than to target them as part of a package of authoritarian measures.

52

Court seizes over one million Jehovah's Witnesses brochures brought into Russia

by StarTrekAngel in

http://red.theworldnewsmedia.org/index.php/en/forum-home-page/jehovah-s-witnesses/93-court-seizes-over-one-million-jehovah-s-witnesses-brochures-brought-into-russia

Mephis

Russia's entrance into WW1 had little to do with the Russian Revolution. How Nicholas responded to domestic politics had everything to do with the Revolution. And that was influenced by Rasputin, right up until he was assasinated in 1916 by members of the Royal family.

Well it was something Rasputin was very much opposed to and yet it happened. Such was his power, or lack of it. The war was a huge trigger for the train of events which resulted in February 1917. Not least the major losses, the food shortages, the loss of confidence in the regime etc etc. Not really controversial, given similar circumstances had helped produce the revolution of 1905 too. But I'm sure one could find some historians who wouldn't consider the social stresses important.

Making Rasputin some sort of evil mastermind which then led to the better part of a century of official atheism is the stuff of legends. What need is there for Rasputin when 'normal' society produces a man like Pobedonostsev, who really did have power and influence to help shape the context of a repressive society which led to revolution? The Orthodox church has a long history of state sanctioned repression of other religions. "Inciting religious discord" (the thing which the Russian courts have been using to class JWs as 'extremist') has an equally long history of being used against minority groups. It's not just JWs caught up in this, it's Baptists, it's Muslims etc. etc.

A good piece on the broader context and why this is worrying.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/russia-should-embrace-its-religious-diversity-op-ed/526235.html

6

Jehovah's Witnesses Timeline To Judgement

by Timothy X in

hi there.

please take a moment to review the following information:.

http://www.pdf-archive.com/2015/08/21/the-key/.

Mephis

Hey Timothy X. I reviewed the pdfs and the website cited.

What kind of joker god would leave a 'trail of breadcrumbs' requiring you to measure precisely the right pyramid in precisely the right unit of measurement in order to divide the numbers to get some other numbers which you then need to use another culture's language to interpret?

Do love the idea of solar eclipses visible in Lancaster providing prophetic markers though. Lunar eclipses of Blackpool and conjunctions of the stars above Oswaldtwistle could be the missing links to help refine things.

52

Court seizes over one million Jehovah's Witnesses brochures brought into Russia

by StarTrekAngel in

http://red.theworldnewsmedia.org/index.php/en/forum-home-page/jehovah-s-witnesses/93-court-seizes-over-one-million-jehovah-s-witnesses-brochures-brought-into-russia

Mephis

There's a fun legend around Rasputin, but his actual role even within the one government he did have any influence on was fairly minimal until very literally just before he was assassinated. If he had had the power attributed to him, the Romanovs would have survived at least a few years longer than they did because Russia wouldn't have entered WW1. But, regardless, JWs are different so legitimate targets in Putin's Russia for mob violence, random bans and all the perverse court fun which goes on there once more. Not really something to celebrate for me.

52

Court seizes over one million Jehovah's Witnesses brochures brought into Russia

by StarTrekAngel in

http://red.theworldnewsmedia.org/index.php/en/forum-home-page/jehovah-s-witnesses/93-court-seizes-over-one-million-jehovah-s-witnesses-brochures-brought-into-russia

Mephis

Yes. This is Russia.
And Russians have very long memories. This is evident in Putin's honoring of past political heroes such as PyotrStolypin and the raising to sainthood of the last Tsar and his family. What runs deep, very deep, in the Russian memory is the role of religious sects on the ruling power of Russia - Rasputin's ghost will always hover in that dark and bloody history and will never disappear.
Russia has a long history with cults and their influence on political events is an integral part of their past. In fact, there was an Apocalyptic cult that committed mass suicide just outside the edge of Moscow on the eve of the Tsar's abdication.
I know that this is "old" history to some, but in a Russian's mind, it isn't.
Fringe extremist religions will never get far in Russia when someone like Putin is in power. He is deeply rooted in the past.

I really don't think Rasputin had much to do with the authoritarian nature of most Russian governments in the C20th. He was symbolic of just how much power could accrue to the 'church' (and he was a monk, even if hated) within the Tsarist regime though. If you want the parallel I see, it's in the power of the Orthodox Church once more being harnessed by the state there. It's canny little to do with 'cults' and an awful lot to do with authoritarian regimes finding ways to stigmatise 'the other' within society. I don't give a stuff about the JWs magazines or books, but I'm not going to applaud a state heading down the road Putin's Russia is going. The irony of them doing the sucking up to Mugabe's Zimbabwe, whilst ignoring the issues others around them have there, isn't lost on me though.