Posts by careful

16

A look at Robert Alter’s translation: The Hebrew Bible

by Wonderment in

a look at robert alter’s translation: the hebrew biblethree volumes labeled as, "the five books of moses"; "the writings"; and "prophets.

"verse numbers appear in the margins.

my take: some view this as a plus, since this allows for continuous, undistracted reading.

careful

Yes, thanks, Wonderment, for your work here. I'd love to comment at length but must go back to work. I have time, however, for a few thoughts.

As for verse placement, the JB (and NJB?) have worked out a nice compromise, I think. They place the verse numbers at the end of the lines of text for the reason you stipulate and have a small raised dot within the text to indicate just where the verse ends/begins. It takes a little getting used to, but I like the compromise. Does Alter have such a dot?

The "encounter" with Goodspeed was not an in-person one. Some ordinary Bethelite back in 1950 sent Goodspeed a copy of the NWTCGS right after it was released. By that time Goodspeed had retired from the University of Chicago and was living in Los Angeles. Surprisingly, he wrote back. I saw a copy of the letter once. It's kept in the Writing Dept. archives. Basically, he complimented the work and then added some criticisms. When the 1951 revision came out, Fred Franz had implemented most, if not all, of Goodspeed's corrections/suggestions.

I'm not surprised that Cetnar only mentioned a criticism. The compliments were several, something that surprised me a bit, but then Goodspeed was known for being a pretty nice guy.

126

7 Jehovah’s Witnesses Brutally Tortured in Russia

by Drearyweather in

https://jw-russia.org/en/news/19021923-622.html.

at least seven of jehovah’s witnesses were subjected to torture—electric shocks, suffocation, and cruel beatings—on the first floor of the russian investigative committee’s building at ul.

ostrovskogo, d. 47, in surgut.

careful

THANK YOU, SIMON!

I think some people really show up how bitter and pathetic they are from these comments.
Anyone wishing harm and torture on people simply by virtue of them being JWs is pathetic.

11

The origin of the word Lullaby

by StarTrekAngel in

reading around the subject of lillith, the alledged, rebel first wife of adam, i stumbled upon this link and many others that link the custom of singing babies to sleep as an ancient jewish superstition.. http://www.jeanniemusick.com/lilith-world/lilith-as-the-origin-of-the-lullaby/.

some of the research could probably be argued but looking at it from the wt perspective and mirroring their usual reasoning, i could imagine the following.... ... it appears that the word "lullaby" originates from the the hebrew "lilith-abi", which means "lilith be gone".

jewish mothers used to sing these songs to their babies in bed in hopes that they would be protected from this baby snatching demon called lilith.

careful

Normally accepted sources on the etymologies of English words make no such claims. The word has typical English-Germanic roots lull[en] + bye. Upon what basis is this supposed Hebrew etymology based? Why have the professors and other linguistic experts who produce the etymologies in dictionaries like the American Heritage and Webster ones not substantiated such a claim?

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lullaby

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/lullaby

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lullaby

https://word-ancestry.livejournal.com/107757.html

Do you really want to trust the version of this word's origins by "Jeannie Musick" who also writes on "The Vampire Chronicle TV Series" and “How to Raise a Pet Vampire” over experts who spend their careers studying this word's etymology?

http://www.jeanniemusick.com/lilith-world/lilith-as-the-origin-of-the-lullaby/

11

Research Opportunity

by researchstudentsophie in

my name is sophie, and i am currently in the class ap research.

the aim of ap research is to have students enter into an academic conversation that exists about a specific topic or issue.

for my research project, i have chosen to evaluate the social stress levels, or sense of belonging, within members of the jehovah’s witnesses community, due to my personal background with the religion.. the following attachment will help me collect data for my research.

careful

Sophie,
I'm with jtg here. If you make a claim like you do with this:

"Because this sect exhibits mental illness 16 times more than the general population, it is important to find a solution, in order to raise awareness and help people"

and you do not back it up with facts, you will filter out participation, at least to some degree, by those who will doubt your factual basis and your motives.

When putting together your project, you need to steer clear of such unsubstantiated/dubious claims if you want full participation.

Best wishes on your work.

6

Will the org ever be forced to do this?

by careful in

https://www.toledoblade.com/news/world/2019/02/19/nuns-priests-vatican-city-apologize-inaction-cover-ups/stories/20190220019.

the catholic leaders acknowledge "that their family-like communities blinded them to sexual abuse and led to misplaced loyalties, denial, and cover-ups.".

will the gb ever have to do the same, or will they just keep demanding silence from their members who know the facts and keep buying the silence from victims through confidentiality agreements when settling lawsuits?.

careful

https://www.toledoblade.com/news/World/2019/02/19/nuns-priests-vatican-city-apologize-inaction-cover-ups/stories/20190220019

The Catholic leaders acknowledge "that their family-like communities blinded them to sexual abuse and led to misplaced loyalties, denial, and cover-ups."

Will the GB ever have to do the same, or will they just keep demanding silence from their members who know the facts and keep buying the silence from victims through confidentiality agreements when settling lawsuits?

4

Secret book in RC Chruch CSA scandal revelaed

by careful in

worth a look:.

https://www.newsweek.com/catholic-church-admits-secret-rules-dealing-priest-sex-scandals-1335578.

it makes me wonder how many jw kids might be from fathers they do not really know as their true dads.

careful

Worth a look:

https://www.newsweek.com/catholic-church-admits-secret-rules-dealing-priest-sex-scandals-1335578

It makes me wonder how many JW kids might be from fathers they do not really know as their true dads. Because of their theology, Witnesses would not usually have an abortion if a young teen girl was impregnated by some child sexually abusive brother. Wouldn't there be some cases where this was all kept hush-hush? Surely there must be some...

20

Watchtower Trolleys With Added Bling

by cofty in

my wife and i were in edinburgh on saturday (did a ghost tour) and around dusk we passed two trolleys on the high street — aka 'the royal mile' — that both had two rows of led lights under the little shelves.

has anybody else seen this or is it a local innovation?

i'm happy to report their pimped-up trolleys were attracting no attention as usual.

careful

JP,

Their real purpose is to "giv[e] Pioneers and Elders" easy field service time!

Atlantis, thx for the pix.

4

Ex-Cardinal McCarrick Defrocked by Pope for CSA

by careful in

the pope is making a statement.. https://abcnews.go.com/us/us-cardinal-theodore-mccarrick-defrocked-vatican-sex-abuse/story?id=61017455.

will the org follow suit, perhaps if forced to?.

careful

The pope is making a statement.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/us-cardinal-theodore-mccarrick-defrocked-vatican-sex-abuse/story?id=61017455

Will the org follow suit, perhaps if forced to?

21

Has Anyone ever turned down to be on the Governing Body?

by Iamallcool in

jw
friends

just wondering.

.

careful

Thank you, sir82!

19

Electronic Frontier Foundation v Watch Tower Society

by Corney in

[disclaimer: the headline is slightly misleading since the eff itself doesn't participate in the case, so read more below].

it's not a secret that during the last two years watchtower obtained nearly 40 dmca subpoenas requiring google, facebook, instagram, twitter, soundcloud, scribd, reddit and other isps to provide personal information of users that allegedly infringed the society's copyright.. since subpoena proceeding is ex parte, almost all the requests were granted.. but one of the affected users contacted, on advice of youtube's legal team, the electronic frontier foundation (eff), and the foundation found a law firm ready to represent him pro bono, namely garvey schubert barer:.

youtube's legal department emailed the user on or about july 10, 2018, five days before the subpoena's return date, stating that it would comply with the subpoena unless it received a file-stamped motion to quash "or other type of formal objection before july 20, 2018.

careful

Thanks for the post. This is interesting. So their attempt to bully people with DMCA has caused them new legal expenses—brilliant!