Posts by Joe Grundy

" - please.. ok.... how do the witness justify the bible and at the same time condem catholicism et all.... i mean, the books in the bible were picked by the council of nicea - which according the the witnesses - were part of the great appostasy and sanctioned by the same group of religious leaders they condemn..

Joe Grundy

The question of the biblical canon (or is it the canonical bible) is one that has stuck with me for many years. I used to debate it with my (non-conformist protestant) parents and still do on occasion with my fanatical evangelical BIL. What struck me - and continues to strike me - is just how many people claim to believe in the bible, and can quote from it incessantly, but have absolutely no knowledge or understanding of its context or history.

I sometimes wonder if some of these people would consider it heretical to look beyond the writings themselves. I suppose though, that the same could be true for JWs looking beyond WTBTS stuff, or Mormons looking outside their books.

This is an interesting question, and I suspect that the answer lies in the ability of 'true believers' to voluntarily apply blinkers until they see only what they are happy to see (or only what they have been conditioned to see).

35

What would be the Ideal Church for you?

by AK - Jeff in

i mean - what kind of doctrine would they teach - what sort of social programs would they support - how big?

how small?

preacherman or preacherwoman?

Joe Grundy

Well, having seen the 'Reverend Alecia' thread and video, I think I could really go for the big fat momma doing Holy Spirit-inspired swivelling on her office chair.

Of course, I'm not sure what the finer points of her doctrine are ...

5

It's not only the JWs ...

by Joe Grundy in

jw
friends

this is from the 'cyprus mail' 27 july 2006:

ag investigates church sex scandal .

by constantine markides.

Joe Grundy

Blondie:

I take your point, and this is something I was wholly unaware of until I discovered on this board and other sites. And I think that the vast majority of the public are unaware of it. It is a shameful, disgusting, dangerous and entirely inhuman policy and I condemn it without hesitation or reservation.

Another question which occurred to me is this. In the UK, anyone who has dealings with children in a formal way (e.g. teachers, Boy Scout leaders, swimming teachers, etc.) has to be vetted for previous convictions. I don't know whether this applies to Sunday School teachers in the various churches or not. I was going to ask whether the same would apply to JWs who are involved with children, perhaps doing 'bible studies'. But I may have answered my own question, because JWs have no specific activities aimed at children, do they? Children have to sit through the 'adult' services/meetings (and in my very limited experience, that's not far from abuse in itself).

Here, adherence to the GO church is nominally very strong. This is, I believe, the only country in the world where McDonald's serves a special menu during Lent. But the adherence is mainly nominal. The far stronger influence is family (and money). Divorce rates are very low, there are very few single mothers, etc. What actually happens often is that adultery/taking a mistress or lover is condoned as long as it is kept private and does not shame the family overmuch. Reported child abuse is low here, but I suspect that it is far more prevalent than generally believed but 'swept under the carpet'. This island is still reportedly the destination of choice of many 'white slave trade' people traffickers.

Trustees	MR DEREK HARRIS
	BRIAN GRELLIER
	MR EVAN THORNHILL
	MR HUGH DALE
	MR JOHN THOMAS
	MR LEONARD WILLIAM BROWN
	MR RONALD HETHERINGTON
	JUSTIN MOSS