Posts by Mephis

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.

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

Thing is this is Russia. Where minority groups are targeted for unpleasant behaviour. Where the state turns a blind eye to actions by those who support it. Where censorship and restrictive controls are becoming the norm once more. Where speaking out against the ruling oligarchy is increasingly uncommon and increasingly dangerous. It's not some glorious crusade to show the JWs are wrong about neutrality, it's another case of the Russian state being heavyhanded, authoritarian and deeply unpleasant at its heart. The JW persecution complex really doesn't need feeding by it actually happening eg by the police turning a blind eye to mob attacks etc.

12

Something that's bugging me. Why didn't the ARC ask Jackson..

by defender of truth in

..about child molesters being reappointed to positions of trust?

also, whether they would consider using 'worldly' expertise when assessing potential risk?.

why was spinks questioned as to whether the organisation should use professionals to assess whether a pedophile is fit to rejoin the jw community (or whether they are still a danger), let alone be reappointed.. and yet jackson, one of the policy makers in the org, was not even spoken to about pedophiles being judged as 'repentant' and even safe to be reappointed, by incompetent elders??.

Mephis

I don't think so millie. If he knew the questions being asked, he wouldn't have fumbled so badly on some of them. He'll have likely been given some rehearsal with his own legal team, which would include an overview of what was likely to come up, and that does some to show in parts.

There's no real need to chase some questions down. Jackson was there primarily to establish that the GB were in charge and to try and find the extent of their ability to compromise on potential recommendations. He was asked to accept that child abuse is a problem within JWs, and even amongst those with a position of responsibility, so I think the commission, based on their own reading of the evidence they have, are aware of the problems - that was also highlighted in the questioning of Applewhite (Stewart asked her to agree that once that boundary had been crossed, there was a huge risk factor that re-offending would occur in the future). Think the submission from counsel for the commission, with the potential recommendations, will clarify the procedures they will expect to be put into place to prevent it happening.

15

4 versions of Jesus resurrection- all different

by purrpurr in

i've been reading more and studying about the bible .

it was brought to my notice that out of the four different versions of jesus resurrection they do not back each other up.

instead they contradict each other a lot.

Mephis

My favorite one is the problem of when Jesus was born. Matthew says Herod the Great was ruling. and ordering babies to be killed Fine. We know when Herod the Great ruled from very secure secular sources. So some time before Herod's death in 4 BC, although there's no secular account of baby killing and Herod really was unpopular enough that you'd think someone would have mentioned it. Luke says Jesus was born during the census of Quirinius. Which we also have a good date for. And he did indeed carry out a census in Judea. Slight problem there is that he was governor of Syria 6 to 12 AD. There's no resolution to that dating contradiction which works. One of them is wrong in at least some way.

13

Why is the GB so concerned with the well-being of the accused in matters of sexual abuse?

by paradisebeauty in

i'm reading some documents from the royal commission and i don't get it, why so much concern for the accused and his reputation???

i'm starting to think maybe some gb members have things like this in their past, because a normal human being would not take the side of a sexual predator over a child....united states branche x e c u t i v e o f f i c e sto watch tower societyaustraliagsc/as january 21, 1999 no.

176sit is understood that if the law requires elders to report cases of child abuse, they should complywith the law and do so.

Mephis

Because they've got so lost in the idea of redemption for the sinner that they've never ever really considered how the survivor feels. They're meant to forgive after all... Doesn't really work when it's about serious criminal offences and not someone saying they didn't like the colour of your shoes, but that's the danger of reading the Bible as providing a how-to manual for life beyond 'love thy neighbour as yourself'.

29

Jesus is not Michael the Archangel here is why

by paradisebeauty in

one of the biggest missunderstanding and unbiblical teaching of the jw's is that jesus is michael the archangel.

here is what proffessor anthony buzzard has to say about this:.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puqzffyxno0.

Mephis

The Essenes seem to have had at least two messiahs, and the priestly one actually addresses his army with reference to Michael in the Qumran scrolls. At least 3 of the supposed archangels are referenced as being part of the whole shebang but they then still need God to come and help too. They're all kind of distinct figures from my reading of what's been translated and made available from Qumran. I'm kind of wary of Mark Amaru Pinkham's interpretation there.

Jude referencing Enoch really strongly hints towards Michael not being the same as Jesus, at least in the view of whoever wrote Jude. Michael's fifth of the seven in Enoch 20, so you're struggling to see how he's any more special than any other of the named super-angels within those writings - Tobit even has one of the others doing the 'I'm going to pretend to be a man' thing. Jude's only short but it still manages to throw in a Michael reference without linking it to Jesus, and so one is almost forced to assume a reading similar to that found in Enoch of what/who Michael is. There's an interesting theory that angels (especially Michael) became the replacement other deities for many Jews in the second temple period, perhaps Catholic saints is a parallel there, though others will no doubt have their own opinions on that.

But really, it seems to me the whole 'Michael is Jesus' thing is kind of the JWs trying to find a way to keep Jesus distinct from God. Doesn't really make sense to me, but then I don't do the believer thing and Revelation has always struck me as having to be seen with all the other apocalyptic stuff coming out of early Christianity and also pre-70 CE Judaism. It's all very Gnostic in some ways, so I guess they're right with following the early Christian church there - they're just following the bunch who got excommunicated ;)

18

GOD in the Beginning

by Doug Mason in

the ancient hebrews left two bequests:.

a universal, single god named yahweh;.

a series of writings identified as sacred scripture..

Mephis

Really nice introduction and summary Doug.

21

Serious question about the Australian RC and the WTBTS.

by DATA-DOG in

i have not been in a position to watch all of the interviews, so i'm sure that i missed a few things.

here is my question.

were either elders or ministerial servants accused of sexually abusing children, or were the accused just lowly r&f publishers or bible studies?

Mephis

Pre-hearing, the WBTS tried to argue that only elders and ministerial servants accused of abuse should be counted as their responsibility - and then only if it didn't involve abuse within their own families. (There are letters from their solicitor trying to make that case in the exhibits.) The commission rejected that argument as their focus has not just been on 'who', but also the culture/context/processes within JWs and how that influences both abuse and also the response to reports of abuse. But the two examples provided by the survivors' personal testimony did involve an elder, who was acting in loco parentis to a teenage girl, and a ministerial servant who abused his own daughters.

18

Jehovah’s Witnesses face child sexual-abuse investigation in Australia - Washington Post article

by defender of truth in

of the religious and nonreligious groups being investigated, the jehovahs witnesses are exceptional, experts say.. in a converted office in downtown sydney, the organizations doctrines and practices are being parsed by lawyers, victims and journalists, providing rare insight into one of the christian worlds most conservative churches.. .

the church, which was founded in pennsylvania during the 1870s to promote a 1st-century interpretation of the bible, has emerged as the least able or willing to deal with sexual abuse within its ranks, said anne cossins, an associate law professor at the university of new south wales and an expert in sex crimes who is a consultant for the inquiry.. .

i find their approach to the issue and victims extraordinarily bizarre almost medieval, she said in an interview.. .

Mephis

DoT, that's Warwick in the UK. I think the Warwick being referenced is the one in New York where they're building the new compound :D

24

Article- Child checks for all religious leaders, inquiry recommends

by AndersonsInfo in

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/child-checks-for-all-religious-leaders-inquiry-recommends/story-fngburq5-1227486717033.

by: rick morton .

from: the australian .

Mephis

I think there may need to be a judgement made somewhere along the line on whether or not treating children as adults (as they are by JWs rather than eg having them in a Sunday School or having child specific activities, they actively baptise minors and even have rules on how best to shun them as they would an adult) counts as more than incidental to the role of the 'religious leaders' within a congregation. On first glance, I'm really not sure, although the report also makes clear that supervised contact makes no difference to the requirement to have the checks done.

(in Britain, they don't meet the current requirements to have the equivalent checks done)