Posts by behemot

48

MY FIRST DOUBT

by goldensky in

jw
friends

dear all,.

i posted my first thread a few days ago and some of you asked me questions i'm more than willing to answer.

but there is so much i want to say to you there's no way i can convey all the information at one sitting, so i've decided to tackle one subject at a time, both for the sake of not boring you and because i'd love to know how you feel about each individual topic.

behemot

Goldensky, on many the inconsistencies of the JWs ransom doctrine you can read this interesting essay written by Alan Feuerbacher, a former JW:

http://corior.blogspot.com/2006/02/gods-justice-sin-imperfection-and.html

As to animal sacrifices, they are very ancient rituals that turned up in almost all cultures and predate the Hebrews: in fact, you'll find them throughout early Ancient Near Eastern civilizations and they were already practiced in Canaan before the Jews "conquest", so much so that certain scholars think the liturgy and the sacrifice system set out in the Law is a "yahwization" (an adaptation to the cult of Jahweh) of a pre-existent Caananite ritual (see for instance René DUSSAUD, Les Origines cananeennes du sacrifice israélite, Paris, Presses Universitaires de France 1941).

As a matter of fact, almost all the types of sacrifices prescribed and described in the Law ( zebah , zebah hayyamîm, šelamîm, neder, minhah, kalîl , tenuwphah ) have been found in Canaanite texts (especially from Ugarit, XIV sec. b.C.E.): see, for instance, the discussion in Patrick D. MILLER, Prayer and Sacrifice in Ugarit and Israel, in idem,Israelite Religion and Biblical Theology. Collected Essays , Sheffield, Continuum International Publishing Group 2000, pp. 84-100.

Behemot

86

Opening Pandora's Box - By Barbara Anderson

by flipper in

barbara wanted me to ost this information about her discussion at a seminar which was held in europe first, then chicago just a week or two ago.

you'll find this link interesting.

all comments welcome.

behemot

Don’t get me wrong.

I do very much appreciate what Barbara Anderson is doing to expose the harmful JWs policy about abuse, blood, shunning etc.. I applaud at her participating at the annual conference of the International Cultic Studies Association in Geneva. But what about giving a lecture in the Vatican? and in a Catholic church? organized by GRIS, the Italian Catholic anti-cult (mostly anti JWs actually) association? I understand Barbara takes advantage of all possible ways to go public with these very important issues, but while I’m sure of her sincerity, allow me to doubt the sincerity of the Catholic Church in hosting her lectures. Do you really think they are concerned about the welfare of people who join the JWs? Concerned about the way JWs handle the abuse? Their record is not clean.

(see http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/apr/24/children.childprotection )

I think they view JWs just as competitors on the religious “market” and thus they welcome whatever discredits them. And I’m afraid they just “used” Barbara and her commendable efforts to further their own agenda.

62

What/Who are the Saints?

by PSacramento in

according to the ot:.

saints :gadowsh meaning holy one and referes to those that have kept themselves free of difelment, idolatry, and other unlcean and profane things or the word gaddiysh which means those who are sacred to the most high, but can also man gods or deities.. in the nt:.

saint: hagios, meaning someone(something) revered, worthy of veneration, someone whos services god employs.. both meaning show that the individul is special and unique in god's eyes, yet there is no mention of any saint by name, the term always being use din the plural.. paul often addresses his letters to "the saints" of whatever church he was writing too and mentions "the saints" in general.. .

behemot

SAINT, n.: A dead sinner revised and edited.

(from The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce, 1911)

U.S.A. profile of non religious population stats

by behemot in

jw
friends

http://www.americanreligionsurvey-aris.org/reports/nones_08.pdf.

behemot

http://www.americanreligionsurvey-aris.org/reports/NONES_08.pdf

21

Religion, a force for good?

by Dean Fox in

is religion a force for good?.

the knee jerk reaction from most people who hold to a religious belief is "yes, of course it is.

" then when you point out that religion is used to motivate people to commit suicide bombings they will likely concede that this isn't always the case.. in one instance though someone said religion is always a force for good because the intentions are always good, even those of a suicide bomber.

behemot

That (some) religious people do perform good deeds is an undeniable fact, but so it is with regard to non-religious people who act likewise.

I'm inclined to think that religious people who do good would act similarly even without their religion ... but the reverse is not necessarily true. As Steven Weinberg once said:

With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion. (quoted in The New York Times, April 20, 1999)

21

Religion, a force for good?

by Dean Fox in

is religion a force for good?.

the knee jerk reaction from most people who hold to a religious belief is "yes, of course it is.

" then when you point out that religion is used to motivate people to commit suicide bombings they will likely concede that this isn't always the case.. in one instance though someone said religion is always a force for good because the intentions are always good, even those of a suicide bomber.

behemot

I don't really understand the beliefs/people antinomy, as if beliefs are somehow good in themselves and it's only people's twisting and misinterpreting (as opposed to an ideal correct interpretation) them that leads to trouble.

Religion is a cultural system and as such beliefs are man-made cultural products, so that there are no doctrines somewhere out there detached from people, there is no belief without believers.

Beliefs, ritual acts, moral codes, and a social group that feels bound together by all the above make, all together, religion.

21

Religion, a force for good?

by Dean Fox in

is religion a force for good?.

the knee jerk reaction from most people who hold to a religious belief is "yes, of course it is.

" then when you point out that religion is used to motivate people to commit suicide bombings they will likely concede that this isn't always the case.. in one instance though someone said religion is always a force for good because the intentions are always good, even those of a suicide bomber.

behemot

Serena Williams "witnessing" to the line judge at the US Open!

by losthusband in

jw
friends

is this girl really a jw, and what will happen to her in her congregation after this.............. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baeepruo1go.

behemot

http://www.slate.com/id/2228410/

18

The scientific approach to "holy books"

by behemot in

jw
friends

"remember, always, young man, that science which has become a great power in the last century, has analyzed everything divine handed down to us in the holy books.

after this cruel analysis the learned of this world have nothing left of all that was sacred.

but they have only analyzed the parts and overlooked the whole, and indeed their blindness is marvelous.

behemot

I think the above quote is better understood in terms of the cultural impact of the bible on our Western world.

Perhaps the author wants to convey the idea that, despite the fact that the historical critical approach to the "holy book" has dismantled its claims of divine authorship (and this is all the more so an established fact today, more than a century later than Dostoevskij), yet we still can't help but somehow come to terms with that heritage, which remains the cradle of our culture and keeps on affecting in many ways - even unconsciously - our lives on both individual and societal level.

Behe

18

The scientific approach to "holy books"

by behemot in

jw
friends

"remember, always, young man, that science which has become a great power in the last century, has analyzed everything divine handed down to us in the holy books.

after this cruel analysis the learned of this world have nothing left of all that was sacred.

but they have only analyzed the parts and overlooked the whole, and indeed their blindness is marvelous.

behemot

" Remember, always, young man, that science which has become a great power in the last century, has analyzed everything divine handed down to us in the holy books. After this cruel analysis the learned of this world have nothing left of all that was sacred. But they have only analyzed the parts and overlooked the whole, and indeed their blindness is marvelous. Yet the whole still stands steadfast before their eyes, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Has it not lasted nineteen centuries? Is it still not a living, a moving power in the individual soul and in the masses of people? It is still strong and living even in the souls of atheists, who have destroyed everything! For even those who have renounced Christianity and attack it still follow the Christian ideal. And neither their subtlety nor the ardor of their hearts has been able to create a higher ideal of man and of virtue than the ideal given by Christ of old. When it has been attempted, the result has been only grotesque ."

quote from The Brothers Karamazov by Fedor Dostoevskij, Book 4, chapter 1

Your comments welcome.

Behemot