Posts by behemot

Once a PO who was totally dumb and incapable (and whom the congregation barely put up with) was asked to step down (not as an elder, mind you, just as PO) by the entire elders' body (plus a troubleshooter special pioneer especially dispatched by the Branch) and he wouldn't budge, kept on (for hours!) claiming that Jehovah himself had put him in that position and that he didn't intend to let it go ... never seen anybody more glued to his chair ... very embarrassing.

Behemot

7

Is it really necessary to have all these splinter foreign language groups?

by gubberningbody in

jw
friends

in countries with basically a homogenous-language speaking group?

it strikes me as more devisive than uniting.

more like "separate, but equal".

behemot

In my experience foreign-language groups are often set up not because they are actually needed but, especially in stagnant and "fruitless" territories, just to give the impression to the otherwise bored members of the congregation that things are moving forward, there is some activity going on, initiatives taken, people getting busy in the work.

That's a two-edged sword though: foreign-language groups attract the most active, enthusiastic and eager members looking for "spiritual" gratification (well, at times it attracts also some with less noble reasons to turn over a new leaf), which in time, when the new group gains independence, leaves the "mother" congregation in an even weaker state.

Behemot

2

Imminence of the end & gardening

by behemot in

jw
friends

"i have, as a matter of fact, known some christians who did believe that the second coming was imminent.

i knew a parson who frightened his congregation terribly by telling them that the second coming was very imminent indeed, but they were much consoled when they found that he was planting trees in his garden.

" (bertrand russell, why i am not a christian, lecture given on march 6, 1927 to the national secular society, south london branch, at battersea town hall).

behemot

"I have, as a matter of fact, known some Christians who did believe that the second coming was imminent. I knew a parson who frightened his congregation terribly by telling them that the second coming was very imminent indeed, but they were much consoled when they found that he was planting trees in his garden." (Bertrand Russell, Why I Am Not a Christian, lecture given on March 6, 1927 to the National Secular Society, South London Branch, at Battersea Town Hall)

Reminded me of so many JWs whose lifestyle and plans for the future contradicts their claim of the end's imminence: so many of them are "planting trees in" their "garden" ... good for them, actually, for eating of their fruits will soften their disappointment when the end doesn't come at all.

Behemot

1

Why We Suffer: reading suggestion

by behemot in

jw
friends

just finished reading this book, which i found very insightful:.

http://www.amazon.com/gods-problem-answer-important-question-why/dp/0061173975.

anyone read it?.

behemot

Just finished reading this book, which I found very insightful:

http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Problem-Answer-Important-Question-Why/dp/0061173975

Anyone read it?

Behemot

2

Gods fluttering spirit and the luminaries of day and night.

by hamsterbait in

i was very ill this weekend and started brooding over the ot which fascinates me even now.. according to egyptian religion, the spirit is shown as a pair of wings.

since in genesis the literal words are "the spirit of god was fluttering above the face of the waters", why do translators hide this obvious animistic phrase by translating it "moving to and fro" rather than fluttering?

(remember the gospel where gods spirit flutters down in the form of a dove?).

behemot

"And to YOU who are in fear of my name the sun of righteousness will certainly shine forth, with healing in its wings; and YOU will actually go forth and paw the ground like fattened calves.” (Malachi 4:2)

For the origins and story of the sunwinged sun see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winged_sun

http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/2059223

For early JWs' usage of sunwinged disk in their literature see:

http://www.seanet.com/~raines/disc.html

Behemot