I wonder if it would be drawing a long bow to suggest that their article about emperor penguins could allude to the Watch Tower Society's ridiculous claims being somewhat like The Emperor's New Clothes.
Of couse, now I'm just speculating wildly for fun. Maybe.
It's almost as though they're trying to get rid of the more intelligent JWs.
As I said on this forum a year or so ago:
But aside from that, I've had a theory (just a theory) for a little while about some of the things published recently by the Watch Tower Society - 'Selma and Steve', attitude toward those who leave, and now the Sparlock DVD. It seems to me that the Society might put out some of these unfavourable messages to deliberately shed some members, hanging on to the hard-core JWs and letting go of some of the 'fringe-dwellers' who consume literature for very little return to the Society. That is, those who are less likely to accept everything, more likely to do independent research, less likely to distribute literature, and, most importantly, less likely to donate.
This pattern is consistent with JWs becoming more insular, and the GB putting more focus on a 'spiritual paradise' as 'separate', which will gradually allow them to put less focus on a 'literal' paradise, so they can then claim that the 'kingdom' is here and Armageddon was symbolic after all. See http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/134823/4/The-Great-Tribulation-is-picking-up-speed#4163800
Indeed.
I thought it was also interesting that on the very next page, there's a brief article about penguin feathers. (Clearly a topic of life-saving importance.)
But not just any penguins. Emperor penguins.
At the end of the article, it asks the leading question, Did the emperor penguin’s feather coat come about by evolution? Or was it designed?
When JW literature insists that traits of a particular species of penguin 'must' have been designed, they are implicitly forced to admit that the ark would have to have contained pairs of each 'designed' species rather than just a single pair of very broad 'kinds'. Otherwise, the traits unique to specific species weren't designed, but were the result of gradual genetic variation.
Idiots.
to the aussies out there what do you think of the government policy to send asylum seekers to png and have them settle there if they are proven to be refugees and if not to be sent home or to a third country.
i believe this policy will definately stop the boats.
barry.
mP:
They dont consider how they treat women violent, they consider it gods will and perfectly fine
Every society has fundamentalists and moderates. It must be nice for you that you've got them all nicely stitched up as "they".
to the aussies out there what do you think of the government policy to send asylum seekers to png and have them settle there if they are proven to be refugees and if not to be sent home or to a third country.
i believe this policy will definately stop the boats.
barry.
mP:
i was just trying to show that iran is a different world from our own.
Um... must... resist... obvious... point...
They claim to be running away from evil in iran but they still basically imprison their women even if the walls and bars only exist in the fear of their women who know the threat of what might happen if they step out.
Domestic violence and oppression of women in Australia is not restricted to Iranians. Or Muslims. Or immigrants. But it still doesn't make Australia Iran, where the problem is more broadly societal than domestic.
to the aussies out there what do you think of the government policy to send asylum seekers to png and have them settle there if they are proven to be refugees and if not to be sent home or to a third country.
i believe this policy will definately stop the boats.
barry.
mP:
well it doesnt take much brains to figure out the iranians didnt walk from iran to indonesia. Its pretty obvious they want to get the best option and they lie, cheat, steal and even risk their kids lives to get to au.
You're welcome to speculate on people's motives all you like. Some people cheat. Some people don't. Some are desperate. Others take advantage of the system. There's no sense in lumping everyone in as "they".
to the aussies out there what do you think of the government policy to send asylum seekers to png and have them settle there if they are proven to be refugees and if not to be sent home or to a third country.
i believe this policy will definately stop the boats.
barry.
mP:
Your not quite well informed. Iran has one of the largest transexual communities on earth.
The fact that Iran has its own view of the contrast between sexual orientation and gender identity (two separate issues that are frequently confused in Western society) is not directly synonymous with their attitude toward and treatment of homosexuals. And as you've pointed out, the transexuals aren't treated that well there either. Your assessment that I'm not well informed is mistaken.
this is the main series playlist:.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=plynx0om_bmgbfmnapjr_v5fe9_pf8sqa1.
this is the accompanying video appendix:.
Doug Mason:
Nehemiah used the Tishri calendar, even when writing about a foreign monarch (see Theile, discussing Neh 1:1 and 2:1, as well as the period in question). The books of Ezra and Nehemiah were originally a single document (scroll), and Ezra wrote the document named after him, as well as 2 Chronicles. So the likelihood of a Tishri calendar must not be ruled out.
I have not been able to locate anything other than assumptions that the twentieth year mentioned at Nehemiah 1:1 refers to the reign of Artaxerxes, whose name does not appear at all in the original text of that verse or in the Septuagint. It is entirely possible that it counts from some other period, such the tenure of Eliashib as priest, or some other event. (Compare Ezekiel 1:1, which doesn't count a reign, but counts from when the book of the law was found in the temple during the reign of Josiah.) It is therefore only an assumption that Nehemiah used the Tishri-based calendar, and one that runs counter to the practice of other Bible writers in reference to dating the reigns of other nations' monarchs.
i was talking with a jw i've known a long time and the topic of da new order came up.
she mentioned how nice it will be when all animals are at peace.
i asked why they had camouflage and defensive and offensive weapons if they were to always get along?
Note the following from Insight on the Scriptures, volume 1, page 638:
“Spirit of Python.” In Philippi, Macedonia, Paul met a servant girl who was possessed by “a demon of divination,” literally, “a spirit of python” (Gr., pneu′ma py′tho·na; Ac 16:16). “Python” was the name of the mythical snake that guarded the temple and oracle of Delphi, Greece. The word py′thon came to refer to a person who could foretell the future and also to the spirit that spoke through that one. Although later used to denote a ventriloquist, here in Acts it is used to describe a demon who enabled a young girl to practice the art of prediction.
Python, a snake that is also called a dragon, using a term that later was supposed to refer to a ventriloquist.
The Greek story about Python originates from the 6th century BCE. Genesis was also composed in the 6th century BCE.
Elements of both are more than likely borrowed from the Epic of Gilgamesh, which also features a deceptive snake.
when jws say this, what are they really saying?
i was pondering this recently, and i was thinking...what they're really trying to imply is simple:.
apostates are thus accused of attempting to be cult leaders.. because the idea is that since they're not getting people to follow christ, but follow themselves, then they want their 'victims'' belief system to be centered around an individual, following that person's directions.
sd-7
When JWs say this, what are they really saying?
I'm pretty sure the JW leadership knows that people who leave their crackpot group aren't really trying to become 'cult leaders'. And I don't think they were really giving much thought to Jesus when they tightened up 'rules' about 'disfellowshipping' in the early 1980s.
The main reason JWs 'need' to shun 'apostates' is about information control. The leadership doesn't want former members who know 'too much' having ready access to inform current members and let them make up their own damn minds.
Because they like to have some semblence of 'scriptural backing', they trot out scriptures loosely related to the matter, including that about 'drawing members after themselves'.
Of course, a lot of JW members more than likely accept the Watch Tower Society's drivel that the 'evil scary apostates' are doing... whatever the WTS says they are.
