OrphanCrow

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Posts by OrphanCrow

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  2

  Naming Infinity: A True Story of Religious Mysticism and Mathematical Creativity

  by OrphanCrow in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  during the time that the silver sword, the jw bible, was being examined in the russian courts as to whether or not it was going to be recognized as a "real bible" or be declared extremist (which it was), i did some research for historical context, trying to get a better understanding of the social environment that would be evaluating the jw bible.. the most crucial piece of information that i was interested in expanding and tracking down was how the jws' use of 'the divine name' in the bible would be perceived in russian culture.. i started from the premise that the act of naming denoted ownership.

  and i was interested in how that act would be interpreted against the backdrop of orthodoxy in russia, given that russian orthodoxy has had its own historical and controversial schisms over the rituals and interpretations of "the divine".

  even though we live in the 21st century and this drama is played out in front of us, how it is scripted is based on centuries of belief and ritual that are not present in the birthplace of the jworg.. i also thought that the org's habit of claiming divine favor based on "knowing" god's name would not play out well against the history and inherent religious biases that run deep within russian culture and so i wanted to know how the act of naming god might be viewed in today's culture.. anyways.

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  OrphanCrow

  It is a super interesting book, Cimarrona.

  The book reveals much about the world of the intellectuals and monks/priests inside post-Revolution Russia - how they did or did not survive, how they continued their studies and teaching professions - and how so many of those gifted and learned people were eliminated, never to be heard of again.

  The decade(s) following the Revolution of 1917 is known as the years of "godlessness". Those were the years in which the Soviet propaganda was directed toward the elimination of religion, and they were also the years that thousands of Orthodox priests lost their lives.

  I read another book about Russian history recently that dovetails somewhat into the same years that "Naming Infinity" deals with - primarily the post-revolution years and into the Stalin era. This book, too, deals with religion in Russia, or rather, the lack of religion in Russia during its communist years.

  "Godless at the Workbench" is another super interesting read except it is not available in digital format. I bought a hard copy. It joins my favorite book collection.

  

  This publication documents the exhibition of illustrated journals (by famous Soviet artists), posters, archival photographs and films testifying to the Soviet anti-religious campaigns of 1918-1939. Because religion in the Russian empire had been one of the main markers of social identity, these campaigns (which heavily relied on visual propaganda) were determinant in the creation of a Soviet identity divorced from pre-revolutionary culture. Primarily, Godless at the Workbench explored the link between visual culture and the development of Soviet identity, through the visual materials produced for the anti-religious campaigns, or documentation of the campaigns. This exhibition was presented at Dunlop Art Gallery from January 17 to March 7, 2004.
  Curator: Guest Curator Dr. Annie Gérin
  Description: 169 pages, hard cover, 37 black and white, 39 colour images
  Essay: Dr. Annie Gérin
  ISBN: 1-894882-09-1

  The essay by Dr. Gerin is excellent and I did find some of the images from the book posted online.

  

  
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  Facebook Post (Ad) Calgary, CANADA

  by tepidpoultry in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

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  OrphanCrow

  Darkspliver, you might find this information on how class actions unfold in Canada to be helpful:

  http://courts.findlaw.ca/article/class-action-starting-a-lawsuit-with-others/
  

  As with most laws in Canada, the law on class action lawsuits are guided by the provinces/territories. Most, but not all provinces allow class action lawsuits.

  Higgerty Law is in Alberta.

  McFadden et al is in Ontario.

  I don't know the strategy but I am sure there is a reason that two different class actions are being pursued. Location, I think, is critical. It may have something to do with this, but I dunno:

  However, a class action doesn’t exist until a judge gives the okay to go ahead. This process is called certification. Before certification can occur, the judge examines whether the action is suitable.
  The provincial legislation, the class proceedings act, will outline what the requirements and rules (also called the test) are in order for the class action to be certified. For example, in Alberta and Ontario, the test for certification is in section five, whereas in British Columbia the certification test is in section four.
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  Facebook Post (Ad) Calgary, CANADA

  by tepidpoultry in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

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  OrphanCrow

  dsp: I thought Higgerty Law got beaten?

  "Got beaten"? What does that even mean?

  Please explain what you mean by that and why you think that

  thank you
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  27

  ''This good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth FULL STOP''- Matthew 24:14. JW ORG

  by ThomasCovenant in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  hi.

  only just noticed on the jw borg home page that matt 24:14 is quoted with a full stop instead of a comma after the word earth then the closing quotation marks.. isn't that incorrect?.

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  OrphanCrow

  steve: the Watchtower...was first incorporated: 1881.

  Okay, if you don't mind me being pedantic, Steve, I shall continue.

  Not 1881. Incorporation didn't happen until 1884 (according to wiki). Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society was formed in 1881 but didn't incorporate until 1884.

  Incidentally, it was in 1874 that the American church tax exemptions, for corporations of a religious nature, first came into force. Namely, property tax exemption. Tax exemptions for religious corporations would wind their way through the system until, in 1894, tax exemptions became written into statute.*

  The WTS, regardless of its many names and configurations, is an organization that arose out of the American tax system and, throughout the years, it has continued to morph, evolve, and change into whatever is necessary in order to hold onto that precious tax exemption.

  *https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/tehistory.pdf
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  14

  South Ossetia declares Jehovah’s Witnesses ‘extremists

  by pleaseresearch in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the supreme court in the breakaway south ossetia has ruled that jehovah’s witnesses is an extremist organization and banned its activities.. when the ruling comes into force in a few days, jehovah’s witnesses members will face up to 10 years in jail for any religious activities such as assembly and distributing literature.. http://dfwatch.net/south-ossetia-jehovahs-witnesses-49295.

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  OrphanCrow

  An updated article from Oct 17 Caucasian Knot:

  Entered into Force on the decision to ban Jehovah's Witnesses in South Ossetia

  The activity of the republican organization of Jehovah's Witnesses *, recognized by the Supreme Court of South Ossetia as extremist, will be monitored by law enforcement agencies, the head of the South Ossetian Justice Ministry said today.

  As reported by the " Caucasian Knot ", on October 11 the head of the Ministry of Justice of South Ossetia stated that the Supreme Court recognized the republican organization of Jehovah's Witnesses as * extremist and banned its activities .

  "The decision of the court today came into force, the activities of this organization will be monitored by the competent authorities and suppressed by law," Zalina Laliyev, the Minister of Justice of South Ossetia, quotes Interfax-Religion.

  She also noted that the court decision was not appealed, "Sputnik-Ossetia" reports.
  
  The minister did not specify how many people are in the organization banned by the court, noting that "there are a lot of them." "They are uniquely more than a thousand and their ranks are replenished day by day," Lalieva explained.

  She stressed that in the republic there is only one religious organization registered in the Ministry of Justice - the Alan Diocese.

  Comments from the South Ossetian Jehovah's Witnesses * regarding the decision of the Supreme Court of the Republic to ban the organization and its recognition as extremist has not yet been received.
  
  Источник: http://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/311201/
  © Кавказский Узел
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  14

  South Ossetia declares Jehovah’s Witnesses ‘extremists

  by pleaseresearch in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the supreme court in the breakaway south ossetia has ruled that jehovah’s witnesses is an extremist organization and banned its activities.. when the ruling comes into force in a few days, jehovah’s witnesses members will face up to 10 years in jail for any religious activities such as assembly and distributing literature.. http://dfwatch.net/south-ossetia-jehovahs-witnesses-49295.

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  OrphanCrow

  shepherdless: South Ossetia has a population of 53,000. Surely there can’t be many JWs there.

  "In South Ossetia, there are more than 1,000 Jehovah's Witnesses *, said earlier the commissioner for religious affairs under the President of the Republic, Sonya Khubaeva. Commenting on the suit filed by the Prosecutor General's Office, Khubaeva stated that Jehovah's Witnesses * in South Ossetia had never had an official status, although they tried to register as a religious organization."
  
  Источник: http://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/310919/
  © Кавказский Узел
  
• 
  2

  Naming Infinity: A True Story of Religious Mysticism and Mathematical Creativity

  by OrphanCrow in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  during the time that the silver sword, the jw bible, was being examined in the russian courts as to whether or not it was going to be recognized as a "real bible" or be declared extremist (which it was), i did some research for historical context, trying to get a better understanding of the social environment that would be evaluating the jw bible.. the most crucial piece of information that i was interested in expanding and tracking down was how the jws' use of 'the divine name' in the bible would be perceived in russian culture.. i started from the premise that the act of naming denoted ownership.

  and i was interested in how that act would be interpreted against the backdrop of orthodoxy in russia, given that russian orthodoxy has had its own historical and controversial schisms over the rituals and interpretations of "the divine".

  even though we live in the 21st century and this drama is played out in front of us, how it is scripted is based on centuries of belief and ritual that are not present in the birthplace of the jworg.. i also thought that the org's habit of claiming divine favor based on "knowing" god's name would not play out well against the history and inherent religious biases that run deep within russian culture and so i wanted to know how the act of naming god might be viewed in today's culture.. anyways.

  1. 
  2. 
• 

  OrphanCrow

  During the time that the Silver Sword, the JW Bible, was being examined in the Russian courts as to whether or not it was going to be recognized as a "real bible" or be declared extremist (which it was), I did some research for historical context, trying to get a better understanding of the social environment that would be evaluating the JW bible.

  The most crucial piece of information that I was interested in expanding and tracking down was how the JWs' use of 'the divine name' in the bible would be perceived in Russian culture.

  I started from the premise that the act of naming denoted ownership. And I was interested in how that act would be interpreted against the backdrop of Orthodoxy in Russia, given that Russian Orthodoxy has had its own historical and controversial schisms over the rituals and interpretations of "the divine". Even though we live in the 21st century and this drama is played out in front of us, how it is scripted is based on centuries of belief and ritual that are not present in the birthplace of the JWorg.

  I also thought that the Org's habit of claiming divine favor based on "knowing" god's name would not play out well against the history and inherent religious biases that run deep within Russian culture and so I wanted to know how the act of naming god might be viewed in today's culture.

  Anyways. I stumbled across a book - it is available for free download - that is really interesting. I wasn't looking for it in particular, but it is a fascinating read. Very engaging.

  Naming Infinity: A True Story of Religious Mysticism and Mathematical Creativity Loren Graham and Jean-Michel Kantor

  A review of the book:

  Reviewed by Alexey Glutsyuk

  And another review by Paul J. Zwier

  There are several places online that one can download a digital copy of the book - Naming Infinity - and it is also available in hardcopy (which will have the photographic images not included in the digital copy...damn)

  https://www.amazon.com/Naming-Infinity-Religious-Mathematical-Creativity/dp/0674032934

  

  In 1913, Russian imperial marines stormed an Orthodox monastery at Mt. Athos, Greece, to haul off monks engaged in a dangerously heretical practice known as Name Worshipping. Exiled to remote Russian outposts, the monks and their mystical movement went underground. Ultimately, they came across Russian intellectuals who embraced Name Worshipping—and who would achieve one of the biggest mathematical breakthroughs of the twentieth century, going beyond recent French achievements.
  

  
  
  Loren Graham and Jean-Michel Kantor take us on an exciting mathematical mystery tour as they unravel a bizarre tale of political struggles, psychological crises, sexual complexities, and ethical dilemmas. At the core of this book is the contest between French and Russian mathematicians who sought new answers to one of the oldest puzzles in math: the nature of infinity. The French school chased rationalist solutions. The Russian mathematicians, notably Dmitri Egorov and Nikolai Luzin—who founded the famous Moscow School of Mathematics—were inspired by mystical insights attained during Name Worshipping. Their religious practice appears to have opened to them visions into the infinite—and led to the founding of descriptive set theory.
  
  The men and women of the leading French and Russian mathematical schools are central characters in this absorbing tale that could not be told until now. Naming Infinity is a poignant human interest story that raises provocative questions about science and religion, intuition and ­creativity.
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  14

  South Ossetia declares Jehovah’s Witnesses ‘extremists

  by pleaseresearch in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the supreme court in the breakaway south ossetia has ruled that jehovah’s witnesses is an extremist organization and banned its activities.. when the ruling comes into force in a few days, jehovah’s witnesses members will face up to 10 years in jail for any religious activities such as assembly and distributing literature.. http://dfwatch.net/south-ossetia-jehovahs-witnesses-49295.

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  OrphanCrow

  Here is a map that shows North Ossetia's location and situates South Ossetia in close proximity to Chechnya and other conflict zones. It is not at all surprising that the Jehovah's Witnesses have had their activities curtailed in this area.

  
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  14

  South Ossetia declares Jehovah’s Witnesses ‘extremists

  by pleaseresearch in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the supreme court in the breakaway south ossetia has ruled that jehovah’s witnesses is an extremist organization and banned its activities.. when the ruling comes into force in a few days, jehovah’s witnesses members will face up to 10 years in jail for any religious activities such as assembly and distributing literature.. http://dfwatch.net/south-ossetia-jehovahs-witnesses-49295.

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  OrphanCrow

  The same story covered in "The Caucasian Knot":

  http://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/310919/

  South Ossetia's history and current legal/political standing:

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Ossetia

  Geographical location:

  

  South Ossetia borders North Ossetia, which is a republic in the Russian Federation.

  September 2004 - the Beslan School Tragedy occurred in Beslan, North Ossetia.
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  20

  How do they get away with "New Light"?

  by moreconfusedthanever in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  one thing that bothers me greatly is the fact that they can change their policies and beliefs and just say its "new light" and no one bats an eyelid.. there are many scriptures such as isaiah 40:8 "the word of god will last to time indefinite.

  " or hebrews 6:18 "it is impossible for god to lie".

  if he is "spirit directing" the borg then there should be no need for new light..

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  OrphanCrow

  moreconfused: One thing that bothers me greatly is the fact that they can change their policies and beliefs and just say its "new light" and no one bats an eyelid.

  Change/newlight is part of the 'hook'. It serves a critical function. It solidifies "truth" by redefining it. Remember Russell's "present truth" doctrine?

  Heh. I have memories of being a child and the build up to summer assemblies - "oooooh...what new light will be revealed?" and my mother's intense searching of new literature, examining and discussing...looking for that "new light" as though it was something precious and special....a special gift that came right from...God himself!!!!

  A person only has a problem with "new light" if their concept of an unchanging, stable "god" transcends human interpretation. If a person has accepted an outside source (the org) as the authority on all things divine, then "new light" becomes the confirmation and the cement that holds them inside the cult. New light is confirmation of authority from god and a sign of progress. The "truth" gets brighter. Or so they say.

  Here is a quote (translated) that is taken from an unnamed JW who gave an interview in an unnamed country (and sorry...it comes from an unnamed source...yeah, I know, bad form and all that), that explains how an educated JW who works occasionally in the academic world (he teaches at an American university), views "new light"/revision:

  I have also gone in ******* until my 27th birthday and then in america again through the academic mill. And I can assure you that the study discipline of JW is readily comparable to a high-quality academic education in the US, that means, every statement that JW make is based on a certain research, which, like any other research, also occasionally requires some revision. What I consider rather to be a strength than a weakness. This means, JW are well-educated people...