Posts by MadGiant

10

Four Jehovah's Witnesses face death penalty - Victim of Pakistan's Blasphemy Law.

by Sol Reform in

four jehovah's witnesses face death penalty - victim of pakistan's blasphemy law.. http://www.charismanews.com/world/44004-popular-tv-show-the-latest-victim-of-pakistan-s-blasphemy-law.

popular tv show the latest victim of pakistan's blasphemy law 10:00am edt 5/28/2014.

world watch monitor film actress veena malik and her husband, assad khattak khan, were charged with blasphemy after a re-enactment of their wedding appeared on "utho jago pakistan.

MadGiant

I don't want to look like an a$$hole but, what did these people expected? What did we expected?

Islamic Republic of Pakistan

The constitution of Pakistan establishes Islam as the state religion, and provides all its citizens the right to profess, practice and propagate their religion subject to law, public order, and morality. The constitution limits the political rights of Pakistan's non-Muslims, and only Muslims are allowed to become the President or the Prime Minister. Moreover, only Muslims are allowed to serve as judges in the Federal Shariat Court, which has the power to strike down any law deemed un-Islamic.

But Islam is not the only religion. Don't you think that similar situations (hopefully not dead penalties) could be developed all over the world?

Catholic Jurisdictions where Catholicism has been established as a state or official religion:

Alsace-Moselle

Argentina

Costa Rica

Liechtenstein

Malta Monaco

Vatican City

Other

Andorra

Dominican Republic

El Salvador

Panama

Paraguay

Peru

Poland

Spain

The above listed countries also give constitutional privileges to Catholicism without necessarily referring to it as the state religion.

Eastern Orthodox Jurisdictions where one of the Eastern Orthodox Churches has been established as a state religion:

[Armenia]

Greece: Church of Greece Mount Athos (officially the 'Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain')

Georgia: Georgian Orthodox Church

Other The Finnish Orthodox Church is not the state religion of Finland but has a special relationship with the Finnish state.

The internal structure of the church is described in the Orthodox Church Act. The church has a power to tax its members, and receives a share of corporate tax revenue of the state. The church does not consider itself a state church, as the state does not have the authority to affect its internal workings or theology.

Protestantism

Lutheran Jurisdictions where a Lutheran church has been established as a state religion include the Nordic countries. Membership is very high among the general population, however the amount of actively participating members and believers is considerably lower than in many other countries with similar membership statistics. Furthermore, all of these churches have lately seen decline in the percentage of the population being members.

Denmark (Church of Denmark) Also the Church of the Faroe Islands is the state church of the Faroe Islands, a territory of Denmark. Iceland (Church of Iceland) (76.81% of population members at 1 January 2012) Norway (Church of Norway)

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_religion

“Civilization will not attain to its perfection until the last stone from the last church falls on the last priest”

-Emile Zola

Ismael

23

You know, I recently believed that Jesus was a cool guy....

by Muddy Waters in

after leaving the jdub world, for awhile it still seemed like the bible was still a holy book, something valuable, worthy, etc., and that the jw religion had just corrupted it and used it to their own ends.. i thought that jesus was like a bhudda, a guy going around taking about peace and love and who exposed the hypocrisy of the religious leaders.. .

but he also said some hurtful things, harmful things, things like dividing up your family, things like whoever had more affection for their family than for him was not worthy of him, to not take time to bury your father but go preaching instead... to send out his followers without any food for the day but to rely on the kindness of others and believe that that kindness and charity expressed gods blessing and favour.... bah!.

i now believe jesus was just another man, saying both good things and stupid things.

MadGiant

"There were dozens of varieties by the end of the 2nd century." - sir

"To paraphrase the Geico commercials: "15 minutes on Wikipedia could save you endless embarrassment when posting to the web." -sir

Christianity, in its earliest days, shared a good deal in common with the many “mystery religions” which became popular in the Roman Empire. In fact, it’s hard not to place Christianity among the mystery religions (even though Christian apologists refuse to do this).

So I should have used "congregations" instead of "churches".

In the first and second century, the basic unit of Christianity was the localized church. Each of these churches appears to have had its own collection of sacred writings, and its own concept of Christianity. It was like Wiccan meet Jesus.

At any rate, the main authority of each individual church lay in its assembly of elders. Collectively, they determined the teachings of that church, and ensured that they were distributed to the members.

So, you were right in both statements. First, if we are talking semantics, there were dozens of varieties by the end of the 2nd century, even if there were more wiccans that anything else before various "Church Fathers" developed an “orthodox” and uniform doctrine, and a Church based upon it. Records of other and/or older doctrines were either suppressed, or misrepresented, in intervening centuries. So again, I don't know if you could call whatever they have before Christianity until someone put their crap together.

Second, 15 minutes on Wikipedia could save you endless embarrassment when posting to the web, even though some of us need 16 minutes.

Take care,
Ismael

12

Why is my JW mother so mean to me and her grandson??

by quellycatface in

jw
friends

i've been wanting to ask your advice for ages on this subject and here goes.. my mum is a jw fanatic, she just reads the bible and the publications, no other books at all.

she is a functioning alcoholic.. she is so disappointed in me.

i married out of the truth, you see!!!.

MadGiant

Emotional Blackmail:

http://www.angelfire.com/biz/BPD/blackmail.html

Toxic Relationship with Parents:

http://www.consistent-parenting-advice.com/toxic-parent.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/health/20mind.html?_r=0

http://theinvisiblescar.wordpress.com/2013/05/10/ending-the-toxic-relationship-and-giving-yourself-time-and-space-to-find-yourself/

23

You know, I recently believed that Jesus was a cool guy....

by Muddy Waters in

after leaving the jdub world, for awhile it still seemed like the bible was still a holy book, something valuable, worthy, etc., and that the jw religion had just corrupted it and used it to their own ends.. i thought that jesus was like a bhudda, a guy going around taking about peace and love and who exposed the hypocrisy of the religious leaders.. .

but he also said some hurtful things, harmful things, things like dividing up your family, things like whoever had more affection for their family than for him was not worthy of him, to not take time to bury your father but go preaching instead... to send out his followers without any food for the day but to rely on the kindness of others and believe that that kindness and charity expressed gods blessing and favour.... bah!.

i now believe jesus was just another man, saying both good things and stupid things.

MadGiant

"I will not accept Jesus as Hitler, evil man. Reading the New Testament requires some level of sophistication. First, how do you know he did the bad things if you negate the good things. The gospels are not histories but works of faith. I am almost finished reading Bart Ehrmann's latest book on how Jesus became God. The Church Fathers knew there were descrepancies in the gospels yet felt the faith was better explained by the four gospels than a single uniform gospel. You are reading on a superficial level. It is your right. The canonization was a political process. Constantine wanted the controversy to stop." - BotR

How do you know if he really existed?

How deep do I have to read to understand?

Do you know how where these " early Christian figures" and what church did they founded?

I'll give you a hint;

St Irenaeus of Lyon

St Ignatius of Antioch

Tertullian of Carthage

St Anthony of the Desert

St Athanasius of Alexandria

St Jerome of Pannonia

Until circa 1,000 their was only one church, then they split into two. After that, 500 years past until Luther founded another one. since then, we have over 30,000 flavors and counting.

“Every sect is a certificate that God has not plainly revealed his will to man. To each reader the Bible conveys a different meaning.” - Robert G. Ingersoll (1833 – 1899)

Respectfully,

Ismael

23

You know, I recently believed that Jesus was a cool guy....

by Muddy Waters in

after leaving the jdub world, for awhile it still seemed like the bible was still a holy book, something valuable, worthy, etc., and that the jw religion had just corrupted it and used it to their own ends.. i thought that jesus was like a bhudda, a guy going around taking about peace and love and who exposed the hypocrisy of the religious leaders.. .

but he also said some hurtful things, harmful things, things like dividing up your family, things like whoever had more affection for their family than for him was not worthy of him, to not take time to bury your father but go preaching instead... to send out his followers without any food for the day but to rely on the kindness of others and believe that that kindness and charity expressed gods blessing and favour.... bah!.

i now believe jesus was just another man, saying both good things and stupid things.

MadGiant

If, and this is a by IF, Jesus really existed (evidence for the historical existence of Jesus of Nazareth as portrayed in the Bible is only found in the bible and church's documents), the guy was a jerk.

How to tell your friends Jesus was a dick.

http://double-woe-seven.blogspot.com/2013/11/how-to-tell-your-friends-jesus-was-dick.html?m=1

Take care,

Ismael

125

Sign of the Time of the End ---> Armagaddon

by Waiting4TheKingdom in

jw
friends

five events to come and to watch for:.

1 world leaders say peace and security!

- they "say" this but may not fully "achieve" this.

MadGiant

5 Christ throws Satan and his demons into the abyss - They are removed for the 1000 year Reign of our King, Christ Jesus -W4TK

More like 900 years.

125

Sign of the Time of the End ---> Armagaddon

by Waiting4TheKingdom in

jw
friends

five events to come and to watch for:.

1 world leaders say peace and security!

- they "say" this but may not fully "achieve" this.

MadGiant

pa·thet·ic
pəˈTHetik/
adjective
adjective: pathetic
1. Arousing pity, especially through vulnerability or sadness.
"she/he looked so pathetic waiting for Armageddon"

synonyms: pitiful, pitiable, piteous, miserably inadequate.
"his/her end time predictions were pathetic"

synonyms: feeble, woeful, sorry, poor, pitiful, lamentable, deplorable, contemptible, inadequate, paltry, insufficient, unsatisfactory
"a pathetic excuse for a prophet"

Origin

late 16th century (in the sense ‘affecting the emotions’): via late Latin from Greek pathētikos ‘sensitive,’ based on pathos ‘suffering.’

43

Do you think JWs are dangerous, if yes why? If not, why?

by suavojr in

jw
friends

personally the jws to me are not dangerous.

on the other hand, many do think they are in fact a dangerous cult.

why are they dangerous?.

MadGiant

"Thank you for the reminder! It is just so hard to leave but I know that is what I must ultimately do." - suavojr

"It is goin to hurt and I just don't know jow to prepare to lose it all" - suavojr

Just read your reply a couple of times. That's your sign. Why are you so concern about leaving? Under normal conditions you shouldn't.

Take care,

Ismael

43

Do you think JWs are dangerous, if yes why? If not, why?

by suavojr in

jw
friends

personally the jws to me are not dangerous.

on the other hand, many do think they are in fact a dangerous cult.

why are they dangerous?.

MadGiant

… “People do not knowingly join “cults” that will ultimately destroy and kill them. People join self-help groups, churches, political movements, college campus dinner socials, and the like, in an effort to be a part of something larger than themselves. It is mostly the innocent and naive who find themselves entrapped. In their open hearted endeavor to find meaning in their lives, they walk blindly into the promise of ultimate answers and a higher purpose. It is usually only gradually that a group turns into or reveals itself as a cult, becomes malignant, but by then it is often too late.” “When your own thoughts are forbidden, when your questions are not allowed and our doubts are punished, when contacts with friendships outside of the organization are censored, we are being abused for the ends never justify the means

When our heart aches knowing we have made friendships and secret attachments that will be forever forbidden if we leave, we are in danger. When we consider staying in a group because we cannot bear the loss, disappointment and sorrow our leaving will cause for ourselves and those we have come to love, we are in a cult… If there is any lesson to be learned it is that an ideal can never be brought about by fear, abuse, and the threat of retribution. When family and friends are used as a weapon in order to force us to stay in an organization, something has gone terribly wrong.”

-Deborah Layton Jonestown Survivor

171

New to The Jehovahs Witness Faith and need some help

by jnjburkett in

jw
friends

hello there i am new to the faith and have been studying for about a month.

i am very excited and hungry for the truth and have not missed a meeting or study since the memorial.

we do about 2 bible studies a week.

MadGiant

The Bible does address serving in the military, directly and indirectly. Genesis 14, 1 Samuel 13:2; 24:2; 26:2, Matthew 8:5-13, Matthew 8:5; 27:54; Mark 15:39-45; Luke 7:2; 23:47 ; Acts 10:1; 21:32 ; 28:16.

That aside; do you know that you are being recruited by a high control group. Why don't you do some research, analysis and tests. Read from apologetics, critics and opposers first, then draw your own conclusions.

… “People do not knowingly join “cults” that will ultimately destroy and kill them. People join self-help groups, churches, political movements, college campus dinner socials, and the like, in an effort to be a part of something larger than themselves. It is mostly the innocent and naive who find themselves entrapped. In their open hearted endeavor to find meaning in their lives, they walk blindly into the promise of ultimate answers and a higher purpose. It is usually only gradually that a group turns into or reveals itself as a cult, becomes malignant, but by then it is often too late.” “When your own thoughts are forbidden, when your questions are not allowed and our doubts are punished, when contacts with friendships outside of the organization are censored, we are being abused for the ends never justify the means.

When our heart aches knowing we have made friendships and secret attachments that will be forever forbidden if we leave, we are in danger. When we consider staying in a group because we cannot bear the loss, disappointment and sorrow our leaving will cause for ourselves and those we have come to love, we are in a cult… If there is any lesson to be learned it is that an ideal can never be brought about by fear, abuse, and the threat of retribution. When family and friends are used as a weapon in order to force us to stay in an organization, something has gone terribly wrong.” -Deborah Layton Jonestown Survivor

Ismael