Posts by aligot ripounsous

98

Torn between being Gay and the Truth.........

by ScoobySnax in

jw
friends

is there anything worse than this?

sometimes it is ok, other times it sucks.

aligot ripounsous

Scooby

You say you feel torn between being gay and the JW "truth" but we can wonder : in the end, are JWs' moral principles, in that precific matter, so different from Bible principles ? Honestly I don't think so. There are many domains where we can contest JWs' views and rightly say that they build up their own set of rules, which are not found in the Bible : birthdays, salute to the flag, etc. But one has to admit that the Bible view on homosexuality is plainly set out and JWs don't depart from it. Whether these principles are of universal value is not what this post is about, I find that they are the best at hand on this subject but each one can have his/her personal opinion in the matter. So, the choice you have to make is between your leaning (is homosexual attraction inborn or acquired, I wouldn't venture to say) and the principles you have been taught, that you still seem to consider as important, and maybe this inward feeling, which meets with common sense, that homosexuality is just not natural. I don't mean to be judgemental, it's up to you to direct your life with, this is my wish for you, as little frustration and/or moral uncomfort as you will be able to bear, either way. May Jehovah help you manage it.

10

WATCHTOWER to adopt new rule

by What-A-Coincidence in

jw
friends

watchtower picks up rule that schools dropped ... "the 2 second hug rule".

like the rule about not being alone with someone of the opposite sex unless in view of others.

new rule to be imposed at all watchtower gatherings.. .

aligot ripounsous

in [France], people greet each other with a kiss on each cheek - this is polite. To refuse is as rude as putting your hands in your pockets in America when somebody goes to shake your hand.

Well, Hamster, many people kiss one another on cheeks in France, but not everybody does and only with friends. We usually do it with someone of the other gender (mediterranean men tend to do it more readily with other men), and it is never as casual as shaking hands. It's quite true that the WTS has "advised" not to do it at the KH, for a reason I can understand, that is, it creates a sort of segregation between those who get a kiss and those who don't and the latter ones may feel they're not part of the club. Now, quite a few still do it with their close friends, I do it and no elder has ever openly disapproved of in front of me in the last ten years. I suppose some frown on it though since the WTS stand on this subject hasn't changed, to my knowledge. Depends in fact on congregations and elders and I don't know what the practice is in other countries.

10

Ex-JW Joy Castro writes her own "Truth Book" to cope, share, help

by Gopher in

jw
friends

i thought this was a compelling and honest account about overcoming a particularly traumatic childhood.

it was written about an associate professor of english studies.

the article was published in the daily nebraskan, the independent student newspaper of the university of nebraska in lincoln.. beneath the article is a section where you can add your comments for joy or for the student journalist who wrote the story.. http://www.dailynebraskan.com/media/storage/paper857/news/2008/02/19/news/unl-professor.writes.memoir.to.cope.share.help-3217944.shtml.

aligot ripounsous

"What kind of a god gives more of a sh -- about smoking than somebody who whales on little kids?"

That's how Joy's outspoken young friend and schoolmate, to whom Joy was confiding her miserable life with her abuser stepfather, and who helped her to run away from home, at the age of 14, and flee to her father's, summed up the way she was viewing the jw's religion (Joy's father had been DFed on the ground of smoking).

As a by-product of the seemingly pro-life stand she held when she got her unplanned pregnancy while still a junior college student (which stand, I like to imagine, was an imprint of her religious background), she gave up usage of drugs. That U-turn allowed her to achieve brilliantly as a University teacher. I can't help but think that, somehow, Jehovah has blessed her determination to reconstruct her personality and her life, the upper way.

25

Mat 27.52 bodies of holy ones.Sorry,bro.Franz but YOU'RE RIDICULING US

by aligot ripounsous in

after jesus' death, mat.

27 : 52-53 reads : and the memorial tombs were opened and many bodies of the holy ones that had fallen asleep were raised up, (and persons, coming out from among the memorial tombs after his being raised up, entered into the holy city,) and they became visible to many people.

let me first give cognac the credit for having raised this topic lately (i don't know what was written on jwd in the past on this subject).

aligot ripounsous

Narkissos,

Decisions...One has to make a choice between differing explanations. I found the classical resurrection option satisfactory, for lack of anything better, until I read Leolaia's link and her position, which seems to provide the key for the most blatant difficulties. Again, I don't venture on the expert field, just trying to make an opinion for my own use, as an honnête homme, at a given time, which leaves room for changing my mind ! As for the early Church fathers, my feeling is that they were holding quite diverse views, among which we've got a wide array of options (auberge espagnole, don't know if spanish inn means anything on the other side), so that we'll always find the one that suits us. To make it short, that summing up was, indeed, my-personal-conclusion.

9

Around the last WW1 French veteran still living

by aligot ripounsous in

one of the last two french ww1 veterans died recently.

some have wondered on this board whether there had ever been a french army, or one composed of other than white flag holders.

yes there was a french army.

aligot ripounsous

Mincan,

sorry for the misunderstanding, I was telling my opinion and didn't try to lecture anyone.

9

IBSA AROUND SINCE CIRCA AD33

by badboy in

jw
friends

i unerstand that in the photo drama of creation,it is claimed that the ibsa has been around since circa ad33.. what does anyone make of this claim?.

aligot ripounsous

Good ol' Freddie Franz claimed that the first Jehovah's witness was Abel.

I can assure you that this teaching is still running in congregations, just ask any JW, at random. JWs have such a craving for authenticity and roots. There's one thing they hate, being called a 100 years old american religion..

9

Around the last WW1 French veteran still living

by aligot ripounsous in

one of the last two french ww1 veterans died recently.

some have wondered on this board whether there had ever been a french army, or one composed of other than white flag holders.

yes there was a french army.

aligot ripounsous

I'm afraid, there's no such thing as an interesting war.

25

Mat 27.52 bodies of holy ones.Sorry,bro.Franz but YOU'RE RIDICULING US

by aligot ripounsous in

after jesus' death, mat.

27 : 52-53 reads : and the memorial tombs were opened and many bodies of the holy ones that had fallen asleep were raised up, (and persons, coming out from among the memorial tombs after his being raised up, entered into the holy city,) and they became visible to many people.

let me first give cognac the credit for having raised this topic lately (i don't know what was written on jwd in the past on this subject).

aligot ripounsous

Thank you to (in order of appearing) Narkissos, Joseph, Leolaia (fine link) and others, for your very informative contributions, I'm sure Cognac isn't disappointed either. So, this is a difficult passage or, I should rather say, a simple nearly-initial text (earthquake causes tombs opening and corpses being tossed out) which successive additions (resurrection, then holy ones, then entering into the city delayed ) have made it complicated and, to top the whole lot up, dogmatic WTS translators who have made it totally incoherent.

25

Mat 27.52 bodies of holy ones.Sorry,bro.Franz but YOU'RE RIDICULING US

by aligot ripounsous in

after jesus' death, mat.

27 : 52-53 reads : and the memorial tombs were opened and many bodies of the holy ones that had fallen asleep were raised up, (and persons, coming out from among the memorial tombs after his being raised up, entered into the holy city,) and they became visible to many people.

let me first give cognac the credit for having raised this topic lately (i don't know what was written on jwd in the past on this subject).

aligot ripounsous

Bonsoir Narkissos,

I've not checked with other translations but I'm pretty sure they all read like the one you quote because it looks the only sensible one, even to a non specialist like me. I hadn't paid attention to the 'after his resurrection' part but, as you say, it must have been added later on. Now, I won't engage in a controversy as to whether Jesus had any awareness while in hades during the time that elapsed between his death and his resurrection, because I'm happy with the JW teaching that "as for the dead, they know nothing". Comprenne qui pourra (is that the meaning of Go figure ?) . What remains is the dishonest approach of the WTS which, willingly, is ready to twist the meaning of the text just to make it fit with the creed that nobody can have been resurrected before Jesus. Bonne nuit.

25

Mat 27.52 bodies of holy ones.Sorry,bro.Franz but YOU'RE RIDICULING US

by aligot ripounsous in

after jesus' death, mat.

27 : 52-53 reads : and the memorial tombs were opened and many bodies of the holy ones that had fallen asleep were raised up, (and persons, coming out from among the memorial tombs after his being raised up, entered into the holy city,) and they became visible to many people.

let me first give cognac the credit for having raised this topic lately (i don't know what was written on jwd in the past on this subject).

aligot ripounsous

After Jesus' death, Mat. 27 : 52-53 reads : …And the memorial tombs were opened and many bodies of the holy ones that had fallen asleep were raised up, (and persons, coming out from among the memorial tombs after his being raised up, entered into the holy city,) and they became visible to many people.

Let me first give Cognac the credit for having raised this topic lately (I don't know what was written on JWD in the past on this subject). As she launched her thread in the Support section and the wording of the thread wasn't quite explicit as to the content, I thought that bringing it over here would open it to unregistered lurkers and spur our JWD scholars' insight.

When Fred FRANZ presented his NWT to the Governing body, simple questions could have been raised about this passage by those in charge of preserving "the Truth" :

1) Regarding those "persons, coming out from among the memorial tombs...[who] entered into the holy city " any reader could ask : Well, as your rendering suggests, this part of the text is not related to the raised up dead but to passers by who happened to roam in cemeteries and entered in Jerusalem afterwards. But then, why did Matthew bother to write it down in his gospel ? If I follow you, he could just as well have reported that theses persons "entered into the holy city" to go shopping. Doesn't match.

2) Regarding the "bodies of the holy ones that had fallen asleep were raised up", our understanding, in the GB, is that these corpses were hurled out of the tombs by accident but, could an earthquake be so selective as to limit its effects to the holy ones, didn't miscreants have a right to be hurled out too ?

I gather that nobody in the GB dared question Guru Fred's holy uttering and say : NONSENSE !