Middle Man: I am glad that you benefited from God's undeserved kindness in your traffic incident. But I have to wonder where God was when that tsunami struck south Asia a couple of years ago. You remember the one that killed an estimated 300,000, don't you? A truly nasty affair. Or, how about the thousands of people who die each day simply because they lack food and/or potable water? I'm glad that you find comfort in the idea that God sent angels to play traffic cop on your behalf. It kind of warms the heart, especially when one thinks of all those people who have died so needlessly in Iraq and the world over. Every day, people die horrible, agonizing deaths. Just think of Aushwitz, Dachau, Treblinka - a veritable litany that would make anyone start to sing: "What a wonderful, wonderful world!" And to think that God sent a couple of his very own "Eagle Scouts" to your rescue!
Rapunzel
JoinedPosts by Rapunzel
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101
You tell me what I saw, if not Angels then what?
by middleman inthis happened to me years ago when i was still living in nashville tn.
i was driving home from work one day and i was in the turn lane getting ready to take a left.
i had a green arrow and i proceeded into the intersection.
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Christianity after Nietzsche.
by Narkissos inmost of us are familiar with, or at least have heard of, friedrich nietzsche's virulent criticism of christianity: according to nietzsche the belief in, and desire for, "another (higher or future) world" and "eternal life" betrays a hatred of this world and real life, of power and beauty, of the animal and the "body," a "slave morality" which essentially consists in "resentment" against everything real, powerful, beautiful, etc.
christian "spirituality" is shameful "nihilism," nihilism in disguise, the central emblem of which is the cross, understood as the very negation of life, with the "will of power" and the cruel beauty it is made of.
nietzsche lumps together christianity and anarchism as expressions of the same basic rejection of reality.
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Rapunzel
Hi, Narkissos. You write that "Nietzsche lumps together Christianity and Anarchism as expressions of the same basic rejection of reality." I would like to ask: For you, what is Nietzsche's conception of "reality"? Is it the Wille zur Macht [the Will to Power]? I ask this because of your use of the term reality. As I mentioned in aprevious, I have always thought of Nietzsche as the consumate anti-metaphysical philosopher; and, of course, metaphysics deals with the study of 'reality." So, I guess that I am asking whether you think that Nietzsche even had a concept of reality, and if he did, what it was.
It's interesting that you should mention the entire Western tradition of philosophy, from Socrates and Plato and thereafter. This leads me to my next question: Do you see Nietsche's thought as based on the philosophy of the pre-Socratics. Did Nietzsce not do a dissertation on Democritus? Could Nietzsche's idea of reality be said to be based on a form of ancient atomism?
Also, how would you define Nietzsche theory of eternal recurrence? For me, this is one of his more nebulous doctrines.
Finally, I don't see Christianity as willing to accept the confrontation of Nietzschean thought. I don't think that Christianity and Nietzsche have much common ground for dialogue or polemics.
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Atrocities in the name of god
by lilyflor inhttp://www.jordanmaxwell.com/articles/religion/christian%20bloodshed.pdf.
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Rapunzel
I think that all kinds of problems and evil arise when charity [from the Latin caritas = the Greek, philia, i.e. "love for one's fellow man"] is exceded, or superceded, by idoltry, which is the fanatical and blind glorification of intolerance and cruelty.
If you google "Brownowski at Auschwitz," you will find a very powerful video clip from Bronowski's Ascent of Man. In the clip, Bronowski is standing beside a pond located at the concentration camp/crematorium at Auschwitz. Into this pond were dumped the ashes of four million people, including the ashes of many of Bronowski's family members. In the video clip, Bronowski emphatically states that the atrocity of genocide committed at Aushwitz "was not done by gas. It was done by arrogance. It was done by dogma. It was done by ignorance." Pointing at the infamous pond at Aushwitz, Bronowski says: "When people believe they have absolute knowledge, this how they behave."
I believe that the most important segment of the video is when Bronowski quotes Oliver Cromwell: "I beseech you - in the bowels of Christ - think it possible that you may be mistaken."
The clip ends by Brownowski stating that "we must cure ourselves of the 'itch' for absolute knowledge and power." In my opinion, idolatry could be defined as the "itch," the proclivity, for absolute knowledge, absolute power, and absolute certainty that one's own beliefs are the only true beliefs possible. From idolatry result the most heinous and atrocious evils imaginable.
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What about a prom? IF You Are A JW KID!!!
by seektruth101 inmy son asked a jw girl if she would go to the prom with him and she flat out said no!
what the hell jw cant go to prom.
where can i find more on this?
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Rapunzel
Seek truth: I agree with the other posters in what they say about Witness "thought/philosophy" in regard to relations between boys and girls. The Witnesses are very controlling and manipulative in this area; they are very reactionary in regard to inter-gender relations.
But I am not sure if this was the reason - or the whole reason - why the girl said "no" to your son's invitation to the prom. I intend no disrespect toward you or your son, but perhaps she isn't all that "into" your son. Maybe she simply did not like him enough, and would have said "no" even if she were not a Witness. After all, you provide very little detail; you just mention that your son invited the girl to the prom, and she "flat out" refused. I have to say that it is her right to refuse. You give no details. Perhaps she is going, but with another boy. Are we to assume that because your son did invite her to this socially significant event, your son and the girl were on at least very friendly terms? I mean, what was their relationship before he invited her? Were they familiar with each other at all, or is she a pretty girl that he had admired from afar? Did your son have any right to reasonably expect her to say "yes"? Did it come as a total shock when she said "no"? Like I said, the important thing is their relationship/friendship before he invited her.
What I am saying by no means implies that I disagree with the other posters; they are correct in their assessment of Witness "culture" in regard to relations between the sexes. Given that, I wonder why, if your son knew the girl was a Witness - and presumably he knew her enough so as to be aware of this fact - did he even invite her to the prom in the first place, given the Witnesses attitudes toward such "worldly" events. In any case, I think that it would serve you better if you provided a little more details about the situation.
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A revelation for me: the revelation of Revelation
by Eyes Open ini was reading the thread about revelation, and some research i did on the beginning of chapter 10 of the apocalyptic book came to mind, so i thought i'd share it here in case anyone's interested.. as an ignorant jehovah's witness, i had no idea of the real literary structure of the book.
the watchtower society makes out the mighty angel in 10:1 who stands on the sea and earth is jesus christ, and that the contents of the little scroll he hands john is a prophecy to be fulfilled after 1914. to grasp the simple truth that the strong angel in 10:1 is the angel alluded to in 1:1, and that the little scroll is actually the scroll which has been progressively unsealed in 6:1 to 8:1, was very satisfying.
it describes the revelation being given to john, which contains the main content of the prophetic work!.
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Rapunzel
J.C. - You write: "We know the messiah arrived (was baptized) in 29 C.E." May I enquire as to exactly how do we know that? As I know, people have never been able to assign an exact date to Jesus' birth. By all accounts, it is only possible to assign an approximate date to his birth - anywhere from the year 8 B.C.E. to the year 4 B.C.E. In regard to the time that he suppsedly began his ministry, that is based on the hypothesis of traditional folklore. If you have any extra-biblical sources [sources outside the Bible] that you could share, I would greatly appreciate your sharing them.
In regard to your stating that the second coming of Christ occured in 1992, I can offer no comment on that. I would not know how to respond to such a claim. Sorry, but such a claim is outside the realm of rational debate. Such a statement is either farcical, or...well, I won't even begin to address the alternative.
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A revelation for me: the revelation of Revelation
by Eyes Open ini was reading the thread about revelation, and some research i did on the beginning of chapter 10 of the apocalyptic book came to mind, so i thought i'd share it here in case anyone's interested.. as an ignorant jehovah's witness, i had no idea of the real literary structure of the book.
the watchtower society makes out the mighty angel in 10:1 who stands on the sea and earth is jesus christ, and that the contents of the little scroll he hands john is a prophecy to be fulfilled after 1914. to grasp the simple truth that the strong angel in 10:1 is the angel alluded to in 1:1, and that the little scroll is actually the scroll which has been progressively unsealed in 6:1 to 8:1, was very satisfying.
it describes the revelation being given to john, which contains the main content of the prophetic work!.
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Rapunzel
Eyes Open - Thank you very much for having posted the verse in question from Ezekiel, and its textual context.
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A revelation for me: the revelation of Revelation
by Eyes Open ini was reading the thread about revelation, and some research i did on the beginning of chapter 10 of the apocalyptic book came to mind, so i thought i'd share it here in case anyone's interested.. as an ignorant jehovah's witness, i had no idea of the real literary structure of the book.
the watchtower society makes out the mighty angel in 10:1 who stands on the sea and earth is jesus christ, and that the contents of the little scroll he hands john is a prophecy to be fulfilled after 1914. to grasp the simple truth that the strong angel in 10:1 is the angel alluded to in 1:1, and that the little scroll is actually the scroll which has been progressively unsealed in 6:1 to 8:1, was very satisfying.
it describes the revelation being given to john, which contains the main content of the prophetic work!.
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Rapunzel
According to chapter 37 of the bible book of Ezekiel, the prophet raises people from the dead. This leads me to believe that this biblical book is to be read as imaginative fiction. As for God assigning one day for every year that the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah committed their transgressions, I believe that this, too, is some sort of literary trope. Nowhere does one find the implication that "a day for year" should be considered as a universal, across-the-board equivalence, applicable to, and valid for, the Bible in general. After all, doesn't 2 Peter equate one day with a thousand years and a thousand years with one day? This is a true chiasmus. However, the writer of Ezekiel does not effectuate a true chiamus because, whereas he writes that God has assigned "one day for a year," of Israel's and Judah's transgressions, he does not write that one year of calendar time could be considered as one day.
I think that the major problem is that many people read the Bible as literal fact, and not as literary fiction/narrative. This is a most pernicious and unfortunate error. To paraphrase Mark Twain, the Bible contains thousands of lies. These "lies" develop from people's ignorance. In truth, people - due to ignorance [not stupidity, there is a difference between the two] - do not know how to read the Bible as it should be read, that is to say as literature. The Latin etymology of the word ignorance means "to be unaware." Throughout the millenia, many intelligent people have misread the Bible. They have failed to take the various contexts - cultural; literary; historical; socio-political - into consideration. While being able to read the literal words on the pages quite well, people have failed to understand the Bible for what much of it is - a collection of stories and narratives. These stories and narratives - the texts - were written by humans. Therefore, they contain and reflect the contradictions and the folly that comprise human nature and constitute the human condition.
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A revelation for me: the revelation of Revelation
by Eyes Open ini was reading the thread about revelation, and some research i did on the beginning of chapter 10 of the apocalyptic book came to mind, so i thought i'd share it here in case anyone's interested.. as an ignorant jehovah's witness, i had no idea of the real literary structure of the book.
the watchtower society makes out the mighty angel in 10:1 who stands on the sea and earth is jesus christ, and that the contents of the little scroll he hands john is a prophecy to be fulfilled after 1914. to grasp the simple truth that the strong angel in 10:1 is the angel alluded to in 1:1, and that the little scroll is actually the scroll which has been progressively unsealed in 6:1 to 8:1, was very satisfying.
it describes the revelation being given to john, which contains the main content of the prophetic work!.
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Rapunzel
J.C. so stridently insists that Ezekiel says "a day for a year." Could someone please provide a citation for this verse, along with its context - the preceding three/four verses, and the following three/four verses? I have no doubt that there is such a verse in Ezekiel. As I have mentioned, for complicated reasons that I cannot go into, I do not have access to a Bible at the present time. I would greatly appreciate reading the surrounding context of the verse in which Ezekiel equates a "day with a year." In context of the biblical passage in question, is Ezekiel specifically talking about prophecy? Or is he speaking in a poetic, metaphorical sense? Is he speaking about the subjectivity that all humans feel at the passing of time. Time itself is a subjective exerience. When thinking of his/her beloved, one day may indeed seem like a year, for example.
Moreover, in 2 Peter 3:8, it states that "with the Lord, a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as a day." Here, the writer is employing an ancient trope called a chiasmus. It involves a reversal of terms within a sentence. For example - "Every moment is a lifetime, and every lifetime is but a moment." The word chiasmus is derived from the name of the Greek letter, "chi." The Greek letter, "chi," is pronounced as a "kay" or "hard" "c" sound, but in English, is transribed as an "X." Were one to draw a diagram, one could connect the four terms - a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as a day - by drawing an "X."
Without any doubt whatsoever, the book of Revelation is referring to events expected to happen in the immediate future. Of that, there can be no doubt.So, what was to be done when the end did not come as the apocalyptic writer of Revelation had expected? Simple, they resorted to sophistry.They devised the idea that "soon" with God really meant the distant future.What else could be done but to claim that "right away" meant by God's calendar, not humans'?
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Hello everyone.....
by Male Formed ini'm new to the boards.
my partner has been posting here for a little while, so i figured i'd start posting too.
as for my status, i have faded and am now living life out of the closet.... well, sort of.
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Rapunzel
Indo Dude: First of all welcome to the board. I was wondering if those words that you posted earlier were in Bahasa Indonesian. I don't speak it, but I knew a few Bahasa speakers in Taiwan, where I lived for about eighteen years. Are you Indonesian? Do you live there? Are you in Jakarta? Have you ever been to Taiwan?
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Why Jehovah Witnesses teach a more biblical faith
by tralon insurprizeingly, i am not a jw but an observer and in partial agreement with the jehovah witnesses on many issues.
i have been to many churches in my 30 years and have studied many church beliefs, church history and the bible as well.
so why do i believe the jehovah witnesses are the one true faith of jehovah god?.
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Rapunzel
I know! "Tralon" is really Theodore Jaracz using a pseudonym!! How clever of you, Teddy!!!! But aren't you the naughty boy!!! Trying to slip into this apostate website in cognito!! Well, now that you're here, take off your
clothes...ugh...I mean your shoes and stay a while. Say, we have heard this this week's Watchtower study will feature "newbullshitlight. Care to explicate?