Posts by Mephis

61

Did the flood happen?

by BlackWolf in

so we were talking about noah for our family worship tonight and it ended with a little debate between me and my parents about how the flood was possible.

you know, where did the water come from, how did all the animals fit, etc.

of course it led nowhere and my parents came up with some strange theories like that there was "an expanse of water in the sky" and that's where all the water came from.

There's a rational wiki article which covers some of the historical, geological and more general scientific objections to the idea that Noah had a global flood: http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Global_flood

Of course, the entire problem with taking this approach is that believers suspend all their rational thinking powers and make problems go away with 'God magic'.

'The air pressure on earth being under so much water in the sky would be the same as living at the bottom of the deepest part of the ocean - how did Noah live like that?'

'God did it so your factually based objection is irrelevant'.

7

The charity Commission has refused charity status to another religion in the recent past

by Truthexplorer in

thought this was interesting.

see link below.

http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/charity-commission-reasons-refusing-charitable-status-plymouth-brethren-included-doctrine-separation/governance/article/1165267.

Mephis

The commission has a number of powers over charities, so it's more likely we'll see those used first to put effective safeguarding policies into place rather than the commission opening a nasty political row over religious charities. Trustees, under British law, have a duty to the charity's interests over any religious ideology and that would seem a much easier (and already proven) way to achieve the fundamental aim of ensuring adequate policies are in place to protect children and vulnerable adults.

13

JW claims of having the most accurate translation of bible

by StarTrekAngel in

is is true at all?

if so, are there any independent sources who have asserted this claim?

who did the translation?.

Mephis

'Most accurate' is pretty much meaningless as a description of a translation really - what measures that? For the bible, it tends to be how well the translation fits a church's own doctrinal preferences...

It reads well as an 'Englished' modern translation of ancient Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic texts. It has some serious issues with (deliberately) obscuring major contradictions in the text (eg who caused David to make a census?) which are acknowledged by almost every serious translation. It also plays fast and loose with choosing how it translates certain passages - their version of John 1:1 being one which most bible scholars and translators would reject for a number of reasons as implausible.

7

The charity Commission has refused charity status to another religion in the recent past

by Truthexplorer in

thought this was interesting.

see link below.

http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/charity-commission-reasons-refusing-charitable-status-plymouth-brethren-included-doctrine-separation/governance/article/1165267.

Mephis

The difference in this case was that the application for charitable status was initially rejected. It wasn't removing charitable status from them. In the end, the brethren congregation concerned got their status in return for a few minor amendments to making information on their meetings available to the public and in promises to make sure teens leaving the group would not be left destitute by their shunning practices.

There's a very, very long way before the WBTS has its charitable status revoked here in Britain. At any point the WBTS can new light some understanding that having an effective child safeguarding policy isn't a breach of their religious freedoms. They already rationalise reporting laws in that way, while fighting tooth and nail against reporting where the laws are not specific enough or do not exist.

7

Barnet Kingdom Hall in the UK is a Pokemon Go Stop

by usualusername1 in

jw
friends

i have no ideas what to make of that.discuss.uun.

Mephis

The locations of pokestops etc. are based on information registered by players of an older game called Ingress as well as some from Pokemon before they stopped applications for new stops and gyms. Religious buildings and generally places of interest or cultural purpose are frequently chosen.

44

The Atheist Delusion

by looter in

jw
friends

atheist delusion.

just want to know what the ex jw community thinks about this video and also offer my pov.

the video was actually an advertisement on here.

Mephis

All Christians have to do is read some and they will be ready to tackle these barriers with ease and, hopefully, with grace. But, this only goes for those who indeed have this situation not for those who reject God because they came to a their own conclusion. You know who you are.

So Christians have an answer to every question, which works apart from all those times when it doesn't because atheists have used evidence to form a conclusion? Kind of like how the Reasoning Book was meant to work. Heck, kind of like how the Come Back to Jehovah brochure is meant to work.

As others have said, follow the evidence. I'm agnostic about a God in the deistic sense, but I'm pretty positive that old blood and thunderguts Jehovah is a human invention.

13

“The Jesus-followers’ first 200 years”

by Doug Mason in

the archaeologist digs and then sifts through remnants from the past, assembling the discoveries into patterns so that stories of the past may be brought back to life.. with almost 850 direct quotations from 50 books, my study sifts remnants from the first 200 years of christianity and sorts them into patterns that may help others to assemble a vessel that can hold ideas, or to form a skeleton where muscle and flesh, heart and mind, may be applied.

a comprehensive contents listing is provided at the rear of this study.. my study, “the jesus-followers’ first 200 years” is available at:.

http://www.jwstudies.com/the_jesus-followers__first_200_years.pdf .

Mephis

As ever, a very useful starting place for people wanting to get into the scholarship of a subject.

15

The UK WTS companies' accounts documents for 2015 are currently available to download and here's information plus links

by AndersonsInfo in

jw
friends

the uk wts companies' documents for 2015 are currently free to download from the uk government's companies house website.

the person who sent me this information said that it appears they are testing a new form of the website, so access to documents may in the future revert to a pay per file system.

therefore, he advises getting copies of documents as soon as possible, as he doesn’t know when the testing phase will finish.

Mephis

Provision of serviced facilities is an internal book keeping charge for the use of the bethel in London and costs of having bethelites etc. The accounts are (independently) audited. It would be fraudulent to 'hide' court costs. Having a pet QC and legal staff may well be covered under serviced facilities but the costs of those will be pretty similar every year regardless of litigation. Actual legal fees will almost inevitably end up under 'exceptional items' in the accounting year they go out - which will be the year ending August 2016, or possibly even August 2017 depending on when they are forced to pay up.

On general financial state, they've doubled their reserves to £40m which they estimate will allow them to run for a year without any further donations coming in. So they're not broke in Britain. But they do seem to be shifting money around Europe again (see 'grants' increase to £15m) which easily explains at least half of the increase of money going in to British branch.

15

The UK WTS companies' accounts documents for 2015 are currently available to download and here's information plus links

by AndersonsInfo in

jw
friends

the uk wts companies' documents for 2015 are currently free to download from the uk government's companies house website.

the person who sent me this information said that it appears they are testing a new form of the website, so access to documents may in the future revert to a pay per file system.

therefore, he advises getting copies of documents as soon as possible, as he doesn’t know when the testing phase will finish.

Mephis

The system in the UK would mean that only Companies House (ie the government) would know who has requested something. It's asking for a pdf file to be sent to an e-mail address in return for an online payment - should they go that route.

15

The UK WTS companies' accounts documents for 2015 are currently available to download and here's information plus links

by AndersonsInfo in

jw
friends

the uk wts companies' documents for 2015 are currently free to download from the uk government's companies house website.

the person who sent me this information said that it appears they are testing a new form of the website, so access to documents may in the future revert to a pay per file system.

therefore, he advises getting copies of documents as soon as possible, as he doesn’t know when the testing phase will finish.

Mephis

It would typically be under exceptional items, but their own costs will be fairly minimal for litigation (Bethel QC and legal team) so the recent British court cases, where costs and/or restitution to others were involved, won't appear in accounts which only cover until August 2015.

I enjoyed the fiction that their inhouse legal staff told them to fight the Charity Commission's inquiry. Tails don't wag dogs.