Posts by betterdaze

If the Mormons and JWs are now accepted as "deeply rooted" (if not mainstream) Protestant and/or Evangelist religions, what's to stop Scientologists and Moonies from claiming the same recognition and publically funded benefits?

~Sue

8

Spanish JW admitted to Foundation for Pluralism and Coexistens".

by InquiryMan in

i found this interesting information in the 2010 report on international religious freedom.

the government has taken steps to integrate non-catholic religious groups through the foundation for pluralism and coexistence.

the foundation provides funds to minority and religious groups to promote religious freedom and dialogue.

betterdaze

Does anyone now whether the JWs accepted its admittance or if they declined participating in the Foundations work?

Judá Morcillo Rivas, Representante de los Testigos de Jehová, was scheduled to participate in a Training course: "Public Policies and Religious Diversity" hosted by the Foundation for Pluralism and Coexistence (Fundación Pluralismo y Convivencia).

Roundtable: "The vision of Religious Denominations," November 26, 2009.

Will join the debate:

Faustino López Requena
Representative of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Morcillo Juda Rivas
Representative of the Jehovah's Witnesses

Jamyang Rinchen Ngagpa
Representative of the Buddhist

Spanish PDF download

English translation (text only)

• What's odd is that the "The course aims to give public employees the knowledge and skills to face the new challenges posed by the design and implementation of public policies for the management of religious diversity." Since when is the Watchtower managing public employees of other faiths?

• It's not clear that Rivas has actual membership on the Foundation's board. He was scheduled to participate in an interfaith "debate" sponsored by a government entity. There's lists of funding recipients on the website, no WT (yet). But it wouldn't surprise me if they set up an NGO-type front group under some obscure name so they could receive public funding for dubious "education" or "human rights" activities.

~Sue

57

Prayer & Good vibes needed for our Dear Rabbit JWD/N member

by FlyingHighNow in

jw
friends

he is undergoing very serious brain surgery today.

pray for him and his beautiful mrs. rabbit.

both them are seriously ill and it's not easy for them..

betterdaze

To both Rabbits, my thoughts for health and strength are with you.

~Sue

6

The first Apostate? Young James Sullivan Fled From the Work and Prayers of Pastor Russell's Society.

by Mythbuster in

the brooklyn daily eagle new york.

tuesday november 9, 1909, page 11. .

james sullivan, a tall, fifteen year-old boy, plead not guilty to being a juvenile delinquent before judge o'keefe in the children's court yesterday.

betterdaze

I did! Thanks for posting this account, Mythbuster. Very interesting to me (whose U.S. family began in that era in old NYC) and became the typical 15-year-old JW "rebellious youth" a few generations after.

Is there any one here who was raised in it, who cannot relate to this young guy's circumstances? It was either sink or swim, and it appears he was trying to swim his way out of it as best he could.

Hope he made it to shore.

James Sullivan, may you rest in peace. And if, on the outside chance you're still with us on this earth, more power to ya'.

~Sue

91

Creationist Theme Park: "Ark Encounter"

by leavingwt in

say hello to ark encounter.. .

kentucky governor unveils plans for creationist theme park complete with full-sized ark.

.. a joint project between beshear and answers in genesis -- a christian organization that also built a similar attraction, the creation museum -- the park will reportedly cost at least $150 million and create 900 jobs, according to the news release.. beshear's spokesperson kerri richardson declined to comment beyond what was in her office's news release on the project.. the amusement park, named ark encounter, will include all the modern recreation amenities, including: a full-sized wooden ark, a "walled city much like was found in ancient times, a replica of the tower of babel with exhibits, a first-century middle eastern village" and even outdoor parking.

betterdaze

Will there be discounted admission for all the widows and orphans who could have truly benefited from $150 million?

~Sue

19

Sisters no allowed in KH period!

by life is to short in

i just found out during the elders school sisters are not allowed in the kh for any reason.

i have a girlfriend that i became really close to when i was at bethel.

we really were as close as real sisters, in fact i am still closer to her then my own flesh and blood jw sister but with my leaving the jw's it has been hard, she does not have a clue about my true feelings of this cult, i have tried to throw points out to her and she will not get them, she will not let her mind go there.. .

betterdaze

The ideal Christian wife: barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen.*

*Brain not required.

~Sue

3

NZ Mine Tragedy - Aussie miner was a JW

by 3Mozzies in

jw
friends

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/aussie-miner-william-joynson-big-strong-but-trapped-in-dark/story-e6freuy9-1225958821843.

after a year in new zealand, australian miner william joynson and his wife kim had begun packing their belongings, ready to return to queensland.. the photo albums and other personal items had already been shipped across the tasman.. after sons jonathon, 13, and benjamin, 10, finished the school year, the family planned to leave their modest cottage and move home early in the new year.. the joynsons had shaped a life in new zealand, centred around the pike river coal mine and the jehovah's witness community, of which they were active members.. friends james ashby and rodger griffiths described the man they know as willy joynson as a "typical australian".. .

.

betterdaze

A tragedy for all concerned! My heart is with the families for their losses, the Joynsons no more or less than the others, but for all.

May the miners rest in peace. Strength to their families.

~Sue

15

How Eco-Friendly is the Watchtower?

by donuthole in

jw
friends

i have plenty of anecdotal evidence of witnesses going through life with the attitude of "we'll just clean it up in the paradise.

" i wondered if this kind of attitude was manifest in the bethel homes and factories.

is recycling something that the watchtower engages in at its facilities?

betterdaze

2

New Bible drops neutered language of controversial 02 version

by betterdaze in

new bible drops neutered language of controversial 02 version.

by bob smietana, the tennessean.

the world's best-selling bible is getting an upgrade.. .

betterdaze

New Bible drops neutered language of controversial ’02 version
By Bob Smietana, The Tennessean

The world's best-selling Bible is getting an upgrade.

At stake are millions of dollars in publishing revenue and the trust of millions of churchgoers.

Since its debut in 1978, the New International Version — known as the NIV — has been the Bible of choice for evangelicals, selling more copies than any other version. But a 2002 gender-inclusive edition bombed after being condemned as too liberal.

Translators hope their latest edition, which debuted online this month, will avoid a similar fate. They've retained some of the language of the 2002 edition. But they also made changes — like going back to using words like "mankind" and "man" instead of "human beings" and "people" — in order to appease critics.

It's available for preview at BibleGateway.com, with print versions expected in March.

Wheaton College Bible scholar Doug Moo, head of the translation committee, said the group tried to create an accurate English Bible without ticking off readers.

He thinks even critics will respect their work. Translators talked to them ahead of time and gathered suggestions for changes. Where there were disagreements, the two sides had civil conversation about it, he said.

"We really tried to get it right this time," he said. "We tried to be careful about not bowing to any cultural or ecclesiastical agenda. We also talked to anyone who wanted to talk to us."

The Rev. Don Polk, pastor of Northside Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, first read the NIV back in 1985. Before then, he'd always favored the King James version, but felt its language was too dated. So he switched over.

"I felt like it spoke better to our generations," Polk said.

In 2009, the NIV accounted for 28% of Bibles sold in Christian bookstores. That was followed by the King James, at 16%.

Today, the Committee on Bible Translation, which translated the NIV, admits Today's New International Version, the revision released in 2002, was a mistake. They substituted "brothers and sisters" where the New Testament writers used "brothers."

They also broke a promise they'd made to James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, John Piper, pastor of Minneapolis megachurch Bethlehem Baptist, and other conservative pastors, not to produce a gender-inclusive NIV.

In response, Dobson accused translators of distorting the word of God.

"They picked a fight they didn't need to pick," said Jay Phelan, senior professor of theological studies at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago.

Still, Phelan was a fan of the 2002 version. He worries that the translators have buckled under pressure from conservatives.

"The whole idea that we want to make this constituency or that constituency unhappy is wrong," he said. "You don't do a translation that way. You don't say 'this will make the liberals unhappy' or 'this will make conservatives unhappy.' Your job is to produce the most accurate translation possible."

Moo disagrees. He says that the new version of the NIV is accurate. But he also admits that the committee did some research to see what words evangelical Christians — who are most likely to buy the new NIV — prefer.

So far most of the critics of the last version have remained silent about the new one.

Focus on the Family had no comment. Neither did Piper or other vocal critics, some of whom have switched to the English Standard Version.

Denny Burk, a professor of New Testament at Boyce College, a Southern Baptist school in Louisville, has complained about one change in 1 Timothy 2:12. That verse from a New Testament letter from the Apostle Paul, used to read, "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man." Now it says, "I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man."

The change from "have authority" to "assume authority" is huge, Burk argues. He believes that God gave men and women different jobs — and that women can't be pastors. Burk says the new Bible sides with his opponents.

"It appears, therefore, that the NIV 2011 comes down on the side of egalitarianism in its rendering of 1 Timothy 2:12," he wrote in a blog at BibleGateway.com.

But the debate on both the modern New International Versions hasn't been anything compared with how some Bible versions have been received in the past. Translators of the 1950s-era Revised Standard Version changed the Hebrew word "almah" from "virgin" to "young woman" in Isaiah 7:14, which some Christians believe predicts the birth of Jesus.

But Revised Standard Version translators believed "young woman" was more accurate.

With that one change, all hell broke loose. Critics said that the translators had transformed Jesus' mother from a saint to a sinner, said Peter Thuesen, professor of religious studies at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. One minister was so angry that he burned the offending passage in front of an Associated Press photographer.