Posts by LoveUniHateExams

39

Only One Destiny for All Christians

by cofty in

the following is an extract from an article i wrote when i left the watchtower 25 years ago.

it may be helpful in reasoning with a jw about the anointed/great crowd distinction.. --------------------------------.

to divide people into those with a heavenly hope and those with an earthly one is not a biblical concept.

LoveUniHateExams

I’ve always thought the JW argument for two destinies is a pretty good one - maybe, but I think a pretty good argument could be made against, too.

Jews (nation of Israel) were chosen, according to the NT & OT. They were God's property. Strict punishments were enforced for disobedience, e.g. stoning for gays who had a sexual relationship and even for children who cursed/mocked their parents. The mainstream Christian argument goes that this was necessary to make the Jews see the need for the Messiah. Fleshly Israel lived on earth; spiritual Israel lived in peoples' hearts and their hope was also spiritual (heavenly).

It's fascinating that Jesus never said explicitly that the 'other sheep' had an earthly hope. <---- this is correct, right?

Neither did any of the early Christians say this - not Paul, nor John, etc.

16

Were the JWs ever anywhere near a bona fide religion?

by punkofnice in

the religion/corporation has changed constantly since the start.

they appear more whacko than ever.. but, were the jws ever anywhere near a bona fide religion at any time?.

disclaimer: i think all religions are a scam.

LoveUniHateExams

I think it depends on when you think the JWs started.

If you believe JWs started from Rutherford, then I'd say no, JWs were never a bona fide religion.

If you believe that Russell and his associates were JWs, then I'd argue that Russell and the Bible Students were a normal religion.

22

Jordan Peterson - Messiah or Poseur?

by cofty in

a jp video came up on my youtube feed last week - he was on a panel in front of a huge audience and some poor disturbed guy ran on stage and started crying and wailing to peterson that he needed his help.

it was agonising to watch.. what was even more disturbing was the comments section.

i do not exaggerate when i say that dozens of people were extolling peterson's wisdom as if jesus had come again.

LoveUniHateExams

I think he is the leader (perhaps by accident) of a personality cult - yeah, quite possibly.

I came to know Peterson only because of the Cathy Newman interview, which then led me to learn about his refusing to go along with Canada's proposed compelled speech Bill. Before the Newman interview, he wasn't on my radar.

Both of these, the interview and his refusal to accept compelled speech, made me see Peterson in a good light - here he was, talking sense whilst being hounded by deranged Leftists.

I haven't seen many of his lectures - although I did watch one of his public tours, a debate vs Sam Harris, moderated by Douglas Murray.

Murray did an excellent job moderating, I thought. The actual debate between Peterson and Harris was interesting. I kinda agree with you that Peterson often takes forever to say very little. His response to Sam's question 'do you believe in God?' was ridiculous.

Is he a poseur? - yeah, probably.

Does he like the sound of his own voice? - I couldn't say for sure.

Is he a Messiah? - obviously not, although some people may be inclined to see him that way. I think this says more about the state of Western culture in general than it does about a few sad men.

We're at a point in our culture where someone like Peterson can make a career out of telling men to feel good about themselves, telling them to clean up their bedroom, etc. That's rather sad, I must say.

14

Movie Review 1917

by Terry in

jw
friends

movie review"1917".

i so seldom seek to sit inside an actual movie theater anymore.however ...some films are absolutely tailored for it.life of pigravityavatar3 examples of movies which do not translate to your home viewing...at all.good, bad, or indifferent - some films are visual and immersive.. here is a sacred pronouncement:movies are a visual medium.in the hands of an orson welles (i.e.

citizen kane) they are a radio play+visual storytelling medium._____.

LoveUniHateExams

Yeah, I've heard that lots of people like 1917. It seems like a very good film.

TBH, I don't go to the cinema because I'm kinda poor and war films aren't really my thing so I'm not exactly champing at the bit, waiting for the DVD release.

(My favourite genre is horror - I'm eagerly waiting for the DVD release of The Lighthouse.)

28

I am now 73 and the road has been filled with wonders

by Terry in

jw
friends

i appreciate all my friends who stop to read what i write and post.

you help me more than you know simply by being there as a sense of 'family of friends' for me to talk to and 'share' thoughts with.i guess if i didn't have stories left to tell or people to listen, i could pack it in and join elon musk in a colony on mars.january 15, 2020. .

which world is this?_________________when the doctor pulled my screaming body out of mom all those 7 decades ago, i landed in a post-wwii world.it was--compared to today's world--an alien planet.the world i live in today has nothing in common with the world in which i grew up.there were no cell phones back then--there were black telephones with a dial-tone and an operator who placed your call.everywhere you found telephone booths!

LoveUniHateExams

Happy birthday, Terry!

29

Greta

by road to nowhere in

the daily wire.

facebook glitch reveals father, activist behind greta thunberg's facebook .... i'm not good at getting links right.

but this is interesting in light of greta supposedly doing things on her own according to dear old dad.

LoveUniHateExams

Greta is 16 years old. And 16 year olds know nothing, generally speaking.

Forget, for a moment, that she is on the autism spectrum.

It's good that she takes an interest in the welfare of the planet but education should be a priority - she should be thinking about what she wants to do with the rest of her life ... what subjects she'd like to pursue, what career she would like to go into, and learning how to socialise with other teenagers and adults, learning how to act responsibly, etc.

Instead her parents approve of her travelling for weeks across the Atlantic on a yacht when she should be learning stuff at school.

Her parents are failing her, I think.

13

Oscar Nominations for 2020

by LoveUniHateExams in

yes, folks, it will soon be that time of year when obscenely wealthy actors, script writers and directors will collect their oscars and give little thank you speeches, strangely working in social commentary and/or extinction rebellion propaganda.. i know it's a huge back-slapping exercise that many people (including me) find off-putting.. but, there is one nomination that i've got my eye on and hope will win its category.

its nomination is for best cinematography and the film is the lighthouse (2019), directed and co-written by robert eggers.

i haven't seen it yet but it's on my 'to see list', as i really liked eggers's previous (debut) film, the witch (2016).. i'll definitely buy the lighthouse when it comes out on dvd.

LoveUniHateExams

I have the Lighthouse, haven't watched it yet. If it's an "Oscar" type film, that's usually a clue that it might be a pile of utter shite (artsy BS) - I know it's not a mainstream Hollywood film.

It could be an artsy pile of sh1te, or it could be really good.

I've watched several non-spoiler reviews. Most have liked it, praising the acting and cinematography. But, yeah, a few have called it a load of artsy crap.

My interest in the film is at least partly because I loved his previous film (The Witch) - that was a really good low-budget film, kinda artsy but in a good way.

13

Oscar Nominations for 2020

by LoveUniHateExams in

yes, folks, it will soon be that time of year when obscenely wealthy actors, script writers and directors will collect their oscars and give little thank you speeches, strangely working in social commentary and/or extinction rebellion propaganda.. i know it's a huge back-slapping exercise that many people (including me) find off-putting.. but, there is one nomination that i've got my eye on and hope will win its category.

its nomination is for best cinematography and the film is the lighthouse (2019), directed and co-written by robert eggers.

i haven't seen it yet but it's on my 'to see list', as i really liked eggers's previous (debut) film, the witch (2016).. i'll definitely buy the lighthouse when it comes out on dvd.

LoveUniHateExams

@JimmyYoung, yeah, I get you. My post pointed out how stupid the Oscars are.

But I was just saying that there's little film, The Lighthouse, made on a small budget by an independent director (Robert Eggers) who isn't beholden to Hollywood (unlike tiresome hacks such as JJ Abrams, etc.), and who doesn't try to shove trendy crap or social stuff down the audience's throat.

Robert Eggers is an old-fashioned, independent film maker.

I hope The Lighthouse wins its category.

13

Oscar Nominations for 2020

by LoveUniHateExams in

yes, folks, it will soon be that time of year when obscenely wealthy actors, script writers and directors will collect their oscars and give little thank you speeches, strangely working in social commentary and/or extinction rebellion propaganda.. i know it's a huge back-slapping exercise that many people (including me) find off-putting.. but, there is one nomination that i've got my eye on and hope will win its category.

its nomination is for best cinematography and the film is the lighthouse (2019), directed and co-written by robert eggers.

i haven't seen it yet but it's on my 'to see list', as i really liked eggers's previous (debut) film, the witch (2016).. i'll definitely buy the lighthouse when it comes out on dvd.

LoveUniHateExams

Yes, folks, it will soon be that time of year when obscenely wealthy actors, script writers and directors will collect their Oscars and give little thank you speeches, strangely working in social commentary and/or Extinction Rebellion propaganda.

I know it's a huge back-slapping exercise that many people (including me) find off-putting.

But, there is one nomination that I've got my eye on and hope will win its category. Its nomination is for Best Cinematography and the film is The Lighthouse (2019), directed and co-written by Robert Eggers. I haven't seen it yet but it's on my 'to see list', as I really liked Eggers's previous (debut) film, The Witch (2016).

I'll definitely buy The Lighthouse when it comes out on DVD. I guess it could be sh1te, but I've heard some positive (non-spoiler) reviews.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jan/13/oscar-nominations-full-list-for-2020

180

Languages, Dialects, Accents

by LoveUniHateExams in

jw
friends

just though i'd start a thread devoted to languages, dialects/sociolects and accents, with the idea being that posters can comment on any language, or dialect or accent of any language, on this thread.. any phrases, expressions or idioms that you find interesting are also welcome.

first, the subject of english accents came up on another thread.. the british isles have many different types of accent (although many of the dialects may be dying out), and if i start to take a closer look, i can't help but see 'patterns' .... in received pronunciation of standard english, the letter r is pronounced initially, between vowels, and after consonants, e.g.

red, arrow, break.

LoveUniHateExams

methods of addressing one another which I found intriguing - yes, this is fascinating.

I can give a couple of examples right now.

Here's a Gaelic name: Seumas (James). It's pronounced 'Shey-mas' because 's' is pronounced like English 'sh' when it's either before or after slender consonants. But when you address people in Gaelic, you put the name in the vocative case.

So, if you want to say hello to Seumas, you'd say: 'hallo, a Sheumais'. The 'S' is lenited, meaning the letter 'h' is written before it. The digraph 'sh' is pronounced like an English 'h', so Sheumais is pronounced like Hamish.

And to say hello to Padraig, you'd say: 'hallo, a Phadraig', 'ph' being pronounced like English 'f'.

Sentence formation is also interesting.

For one thing, the verb usually comes before the subject:

Tha Seumas agus Morag a' dol a Ghlaschu an-drasda.

(Seumas and Morag are going to Glasgow now.)