Posts by CalebInFloroda

42

Yahweh's wonderful creation

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

when i thought of myself as a christian witness of yahweh attempting to be a footstep follower of jesus, psalm 104 was one of my favourites.

if i was ever in some wonderful scenic area, psalm 104 would jump into my mind, and i'd start to praise yahweh and jesus.. but if something horrible came to mind as in the following video, i'd always think of the favourite christian escape clause, it's all because of adam's sin.

but any connection between natural animal savagery and adam's sin is never logically made in the bible.. interestingly, the supposedly inspired psalm 104 (nwt-the grey one i guess) itself says that:.

CalebInFloroda

Post script for Perry:

One thing that might help you understand the stark differencs between the concepts you have as a Christian and that of the Jews is your mentioning serving "the G-d of the Bible."

That doesn't exist for Jews since we knew G-d before any of us put "pen to paper" to create even a stroke of a letter of what would eventually become the Bible.

Christians may believe in the G-d of the Bible, but Jews believe in the G-d of Abraham and Sarah, and we did this before there was a Bible.

We believed in G-d before the Ten Commandments were inscribed on stone.

We believed in G-d before G-d revealed the Torah to Moses.

Now it is a good thing to believe in the Bible and what you learn of G-d within its pages, don't get me wrong.

But the G-d of the Jews existed before the Bible and is not limited to the Bible. Thus our theological concepts can differ greatly. We are the people who knew about and worshipped G-d before there was a Bible, and we wrote the Book you put your faith in.

Scripture is the product of our religion, not its basis. The G-d we interact with is not found just in Scripture. At best, G-d is merely reflected in it, at least as Jews understand G-d.

So approaches and conclusions can only differ since you are basing you belief on what a book says about G-d, but we wrote the book based on our experiences. That is very different.

42

Yahweh's wonderful creation

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

when i thought of myself as a christian witness of yahweh attempting to be a footstep follower of jesus, psalm 104 was one of my favourites.

if i was ever in some wonderful scenic area, psalm 104 would jump into my mind, and i'd start to praise yahweh and jesus.. but if something horrible came to mind as in the following video, i'd always think of the favourite christian escape clause, it's all because of adam's sin.

but any connection between natural animal savagery and adam's sin is never logically made in the bible.. interestingly, the supposedly inspired psalm 104 (nwt-the grey one i guess) itself says that:.

CalebInFloroda

Perry,

Jews have never had either a doctrine of "Original Sin" or a doctrine of "salvation." What you are talking about is how Christians have reinterpreted (and in some cases mistranslated) certain Jewish texts.

But regardless of the interpretations or renderings, Jews still don't have such doctrines.

For instance, you mention "works" being advocated by the Jehovah's Witnesses as a requisite to salvation. Did you know that it is a misconception that Jews believe that works of the Mosaic Law can gain salvation?

It's simple:

a. Jews have no doctrine of Original Sin

b. Jews therefore see no need for gaining salvation

c. There is no such theological concept of "works" of the Law in Judaism

d. Obedience to the Law (or as we Jews call it, being Torah-observant) provides no merit

e. Ezekiel 18 declares that the sin of parents cannot be visited upon children and that an individual can repent of the wickedness and be judged righteous without any type of sacrifice

While I understand the Christian viewpoint and your need to explain your view, it still doesn't change the fact that what you believe is not what Jews or their Scriptures teach, which is the point I was making.

And besides, with all due respect, I was not trying to counter your beliefs as a Christian. It does not violate your views to declare that the Jews who wrote the Hebrew Tanakh had no concept of Original Sin or held to a theology of personal salvation since Christian belief is that such views were introduced by Jesus of Nazareth. That being so, it would be expected that no such declarations would be found in any immediate reading of any Jewish religious texts.

42

Yahweh's wonderful creation

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

when i thought of myself as a christian witness of yahweh attempting to be a footstep follower of jesus, psalm 104 was one of my favourites.

if i was ever in some wonderful scenic area, psalm 104 would jump into my mind, and i'd start to praise yahweh and jesus.. but if something horrible came to mind as in the following video, i'd always think of the favourite christian escape clause, it's all because of adam's sin.

but any connection between natural animal savagery and adam's sin is never logically made in the bible.. interestingly, the supposedly inspired psalm 104 (nwt-the grey one i guess) itself says that:.

CalebInFloroda

I have to agree with both Introvert 2 and defender of truth.

Psalm 104 was clearly composed by someone reflecting on the visible world as normally witnessed by Semites. The writer never states that they have a special insight into the Creator's mind as to why things were so. On the contrary the psalmist limits the composition to facets of nature of quite a limited scope, one an Israelite of that ancient period could witness during their own lifetime.

Instead of fanciful mythology, the writer is very realistic in this instance. He applauds not the miracles described of in the New Testament but the miracles of the natural world. Even how lions capture their prey is attributed to G-d here as part of this "miracle," without any excuse for how "violent" this may appear or claiming that sin has somehow upset the balance of nature. On the contrary all this is good and contrasted with the way of sinners, which at the end of the psalm are requested to be removed from this scene of holiness which includes nature's circle of life and death.

5

Child Abuse- A universal problem -for example, in Pakistan

by fulltimestudent in

while the australian royal commission may be the focus of our attention at the moment, we should not forget that this is a much wider problem.

previous official investigations in australia (inquiring into church run homes for kids)have revealed horrible examples of abuse, as have similar investigations in canada and ireland.. and international news today reports on this mass incident in pakistan.

and if some may want to see this as a muslim problem, then please do a search and find that similar things happen in india.. the hongkong based asia times reports:.

CalebInFloroda

It happens despite the creed.

A good example is one of my best friends who was abused all through childhood until they were able to leave home at 17 despite reporting it to (and begging help from) aunts, uncles, cousins, teachers, coaches, school counsellors, a psychiatrist, two medical nurses, and three police officers during those years.

Among these were Christians, agnostics, atheists, and a Buddhist or someone practicing a nature-based form of religion. Schools, teachers, police and medical professionals all failed this person, as did the institutions and organizations they belonged to.

42

Yahweh's wonderful creation

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

when i thought of myself as a christian witness of yahweh attempting to be a footstep follower of jesus, psalm 104 was one of my favourites.

if i was ever in some wonderful scenic area, psalm 104 would jump into my mind, and i'd start to praise yahweh and jesus.. but if something horrible came to mind as in the following video, i'd always think of the favourite christian escape clause, it's all because of adam's sin.

but any connection between natural animal savagery and adam's sin is never logically made in the bible.. interestingly, the supposedly inspired psalm 104 (nwt-the grey one i guess) itself says that:.

CalebInFloroda

@fulltimestudent

You actually have Jewish theology behind you.

In Judaism there is no doctrine of "Original Sin," and therefore none of the texts in the Hebrew Scriptures were written with this view in mind nor can be honestly read with this doctrine as an intention.

Of particular interest is that Psalm 104 is a creation hymn, and recited/chanted as a daily prayer in Judaism each morning. Because of its connection with origins or beginnings, it is also recorded on Rosh Chodesh (New Moon) and gets used similarly in the Divine Office/Liturgy of the Hours in both Orthodox Christianity and Catholicism as part of their official daily prayers too.

As such the Psalm is a poetic description of the natural circle of life that includes both life and death as normal facets of creation.

14

Any LGBTs?

by BashfulAshG in

just curious...

CalebInFloroda

Jokingly, friends often say I'm a member of "Judy-ism" due to the stereotypical connections between gay men and Judy Garland...which often are not as stereotypical as one thinks.

But I guess I am labeled "G," though my friends and family never really raise the issue or bring it up anymore than they bring up dating, marriage, and sex regarding the straight people in my circle.

We do tell jokes sometimes, me and my gay friends, like the "Judy-ism" thing, but it is similar to the Jewish jokes me and my Jewish friends also tell. Outside of that and the times I've brought it up here, there is little more discussion in my life about being gay than straight people talk about being straight.

Times have changed so much, especially after the marriage equality thing, and now being "gay" doesn't make me so different or special among friends...

...unless we are talking about holding a party. It's still true that people would rather go to a party or dinner hosted by gays than by straights because it a scientific fact that gays hold far more fabulous parties. I believe that is also in the Bible too.

21

Why the Bible is a poor moral compass

by Diogenesister in

please don't click the link if you feel details of abuse would upset you http://jwleaks.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/letter-to-the-director-of-public-prosecutions-from-steven-unthank-in-relation-to-discontinuing-the-criminal-trial-february-2012-pdf.pdf.

looking at some of the events that led up to the rc in australia i came across this letter, submitted to the d.p.p.

by steven upthank, in relation to the crown discontinuing prosecution of the governing body of jehovahs witnesses.

CalebInFloroda

One of the things necessary to understand is that what one is reading in the Jewish texts did not define Jewish society nor were the legends therein written as a moral compass for society of the past or present.

The Hebrew Scriptures were never the origin of the narratives therein nor were they the basis for the Jewish concepts which gave birth to monotheism. Jehovah's Witnesses employ a theology like this, but it is ignorant.

For the Jewish texts to be considered the basis of religion would mean they appeared miraculously, which they did not. The texts were never meant to be the basis or foundation for a religion like the JWs use it. These Scriptures are the product of a functioning religion, one that already had doctrines and practices and a liturgy that was pre-Biblical. Judaism wrote the Bible. The Bible was not the basis for Judaism.

Jews have never confined themselves to what is written in these texts (and it is apparent that some are merely speaking here of those that do). Speaking only for Judaism, the Jews defined G-d due to their experiences and what the concept would mean as times changed. The reason we are called the "children of Israel" is that our identity as a people is defined by our 'wrestling' with the "G-d concept."

This wrestling has advanced far beyond the simplistic views of a deity that rules from the heavens still adhered to by Christians. Embracing the concept of G-d includes atheism, agnosticism, and defining G-d in more humanistic and empirical ways as well as transcending these. The majority of Jews don't carry over literal interpretations of ancient texts into modern life as that would not be practicing religion...it would be tantamount to wearing a relic.

Denial comes in many forms. Sometimes it comes in ignorantly embracing ancient deity concepts and enforcing belief in these through hate-inspiring religions like the JWs, but sometimes it comes in being ignorant of texts that Gentiles have applied non-Jewish views to and mistakenly applying these non-Jewish concepts upon texts written by Jews, reflective of Jewish society, and written for Jews.

That's just as ridiculous as judging atheists by JW standards and theology. In ridding ourselves of JW theology we often have to "unlearn" ANYTHING we have been exposed to from them, even those concepts we now reject outside the Watchtower to ensure false ideas still do not play a part in the choices we make and the conclusions we arrive at today.

21

Why the Bible is a poor moral compass

by Diogenesister in

please don't click the link if you feel details of abuse would upset you http://jwleaks.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/letter-to-the-director-of-public-prosecutions-from-steven-unthank-in-relation-to-discontinuing-the-criminal-trial-february-2012-pdf.pdf.

looking at some of the events that led up to the rc in australia i came across this letter, submitted to the d.p.p.

by steven upthank, in relation to the crown discontinuing prosecution of the governing body of jehovahs witnesses.

CalebInFloroda

Of course, if the Bible is to blame, then each and every person who uses it in their lives and every institution that employs it would be like the Roman Catholic Church and the JWs in moral failure. But that is not the case.

If a certain chemical is toxic to one, then it is toxic to all. But if it causes a toxic reaction in some but not all, then the substance isn't toxic in and of itself. The introduction of the substance to particular individuals, how they handle or respond to it, introduces a variable that changes the substance into something it was not (i.e., a peanut is harmless to many, but not to someone with a peanut allergy).

As for Scripture, its use among Orthordox Judaism has produced the same child sex abuse scandals as found in the RCC and the JWs, but the situation is unheard of among the more liberal groups such as the Conservative, the URJ, and the post-denominational Jews.

If the Bible itself was the cause, then all groups and all people who use it would engage in the same moral behavior. They do not. Therefore it is not the Bible itself, but the introduction of something else, perhaps literalism and fundamentalist theologies, that cause the problem. The interpretation of Scripture by literalist principles causes fanaticism, homophobia, and suppression of normal sexual expressions which tend to open the same to obsession with deviant behaviors instead of creating a more "holy" people.

If the Bible was the problem, the passing of laws supporting marriage equality may have not passed in the United States as quickly and easily. One of the most powerful support groups behind the movement in the USA has been the Conservative and Reform Jewish movements. Their application of Scripture has moved them to stop at nothing in making marriage equality a reality all due to the Jewish principle of Tikklun Olam which originates in and finds its foundation in the Bible.

14

Any LGBTs?

by BashfulAshG in

just curious...

CalebInFloroda

By the way, while I've known about my sexual orientation for as long as I can remember, what I did not know when I was a teenager (and young adult) JW is when other men where coming on to me and such.

Looking back (and no longer the naive Caleb I was then), I have had many the married JW men make a pass at me and even a set up situations to get me in a compromising situation. I was a bit socially-stupid (and thank goodness for that) and it actually protected me a lot.

I only learned a few years ago that one JW man had been trying to get me to sleep with him for years and was known for being somewhat of a predator himself, getting young JW males around 18 to 20 and grooming them for sex with him, leaving the guys confused and rejected as soon as "new meat" would come of age and the guys either grew out of their "experimental stage" or just got too old for him. He was around 45 at the time, handsome, well-groomed, and always had young men hanging around him at the hall and such.

I have a high IQ and that comes with a bit of a low EQ, and to this day I have some difficulty understanding how and why people respond and react.

14

Any LGBTs?

by BashfulAshG in

just curious...

CalebInFloroda

Actually, despite reports, I'm am not LGBT...At best, I'm just G.

But I got a friend with multiple personality disorder who is like LBT and their favorite sandwich is an LBT, so it's comfusing at best when they are off their medication.

(Just kidding on that last part, and yes all the rumors are true--I'm Jewish!) LOL