Posts by Cadellin

6

LEAVING THE WITNESS A PREACHER FINDS FREEDOM TO THINK IN TOTALITARIAN CHINA

by BroMac in

i don't know if this has been on here before but i came across it from a google news search for "jehovahs witnesses".

would someone be so kind as to make this link clickable!

http://www.autostraddle.com/things-i-read-that-i-love-66-reading-in-underpants-161749/.

Cadellin

I read that and thought it was amazing.

50

Does anyone think there was a great deliverance of the Hebrews from Egyptian captivity?

by humbled in

As has already been stated, there's no way to correlate the Biblical timeline of the exodus with current findings. The Oxford History of the Biblical World (1998) (hardly a liberal or revisionist source) has this to say:

"At no point in the known archeological sequence for Egypty, Sinai and Palestine does the extant archeological record accord with that expected from the Exodus (or, for that matter, conquest) account in the Bible. No archeological evidence from Egypt can be construed as representing a resident group of Israelites in the delta or elsewhere, unless one accepts a general equation of the Exodus group with the Hyksos...Compromise and selectivity are thus the keys to all hypotheses that have been adbvanced to date the Exodus events" (p. 104).

Equating the Israelites with the Hyksos raises its own problems. It puts the conquest of Canaan around the beginning of the 15th century, which means the times of the judges would have had to last four hundred years, before the rise of the monarchy. Moreover, the Biblical record has the Israelites interacting with Ammon, Edom and Moab and archeological digs have revealed that those settlements simply weren't populated at that time.

There's other difficulties, too, with trying to reconcile the literal Biblical account with archeology. The Bible puts the number of persons leaving Egypt at more than 2,000,000, when you count such "non-persons" as women and children--yet the entire population of Egypt was only around 2,000,000 during this supposed time period. Moreover, such a large crowd roaming the area identified in scripture would leave ample evidence of their presence. Assuming a modern mortality rate (which is overly conservative, since ancient mortality rates were much higher), there would have been at least 10,000 people dying of natural causes every month, month after month. That's a LOT of bodies to dispose of, even by burning. Plenty of bones would have been discovered, as well as pottery shards from ordinary trash. Yet--nothing.

104

Yet another "Shunning is good for you, honest!" quote in the June 15th 2013 Watchtower

by cedars in

hi folks.

that's right, the new june 15th 2013 study edition is out now on this link.... http://download.jw.org/files/media_magazines/28/w_e_20130615.pdf.

the following quote caught my eye, from the final study article on page 28.... .

Cadellin

AnnoMaly--excellent catch. Really, laying the "official" public stance re disfellowshipping as set out on their website side-by-side with this current manipulative claptrap is ample evidence of the fundamental dishonesty characterizing this relgion.

Blech.

57

Re: 2013 annual meeting

by pixel in

remember, you read it here first!.

dear brothers: .

we are pleased to announce that arrangements are being made for all baptized and unbaptized publishers who read and write english, along with their minor children, to be invited to locations where they can hear the 2013 annual meeting program that will be presented on saturday, .

Cadellin

Interesting announcement. I think this could backfire. There's a big difference between listening to live speaker (even a mediocre one) and listening to a video of one. I teach at a state university and right now, there's a big push for more of us to teach on-line. In the workshops I've attended, we're learning how to make videos of our lectures; however, individual vids should be no more than 15 minutes, max! That's because (we're told) that people find it hard to concentrate on a speaker for any longer, regardless of how fascinating she might be. A 45-60 min. lecture that's successful face-to-face doesn't migrate so well into vid form.

And it looks like this Ann Meet program is 2 1/2 hours??? Yikes!

41

New May Awake! Am I being unreasonable or does this sound crazy!?

by toweragent in

my friends usually walked me home after dark.

but one evening i was so tired that i decided to call a taxi.

the driver didnt take me home.

Cadellin

Here's one (more) thing that really annoys me about JW doctrine: They are quick to point out that we are not under Mosaic Law, so literal Sabbath-keeping is no longer needed, along with all of the animal sacrifice, etc. And yet, anytime they need a law or even a "principal," where do they turn? The Mosaic Law!

This was recently seen in the WT article that discussed aspect of IVF and frozen embryos. To be artifically inseminated with sperm from a man who is not the husband is to render the woman guilty of fornication, according to Mosaic law ("You should not give your seed to another woman," or something like that--from Exodus or Leviticus or Deut.)

So the Mosaic Law is defunct except when the WT wants to use it to maintain control over the reproductive powers of its adherents. The mandate for women to scream when threatened with rape is just one more example...

12

JWs came to my house today

by enigma1863 in

i got an unexpectedvisit from an elder an a new guy i never met before.

he said jehovah hasnt forgotten me.

they said all jws are filling out an emergency contact information form.

Cadellin

I think it's funny that the WT links them to reptiles, relying on the literality of the term dinosaur, which I think means "great/terrible lizard." Yet increasing evidence points to dinosaurs' closest living relatives as birds, at least for one main branch of the dinosaurs. Researchers in China keep finding rather amazingly well-preserved fossils of lovely feathered dinosaurs. So much for lumping them into one "kind" --as if snagging a pair of geckos for the ark would do the trick. A hen and rooster would be closer!

22

Computers have successfully replaced college professors

by moshe in

http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/15/how-californias-new-online-education-pilot-will-end-college-as-we-know-it/.

-while faculty worry about the quality of online courses, the truth is that our education system, primarily designed to test rote memorization, is built to scale and be independent of teacher interaction.

a review of research by the department of education in 2009 found that "students who took all or part of their class online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction.".

Cadellin

As someone who's both taken online college classes and who currently teaches at a large four-year university, I think it's a stretch to claim that computers will completely replace traditional face-to-face classroom instruction. Online courses run a very wide gamut from little more than a glorified correspondence course to truly top-notch classes with educational quality to rival the best bricks and mortar.

However, online classes have a much higher attrition rate than traditional classes. It takes a heightened level of motivation to keep going, simply because you don't have the physical presence of classmates and a professor who will hold you to account as she gazes in your eyes. When I did (an admittedly unscientific) survey of my students, I found that a high percentage of them had taken online classes but preferred face to face because it was easier. They told me that when you're on your own, you have to figure everything out yourself. Sure, you can email your teacher a question, but you've got to wait to get a response and then maybe it's not clear and you have to ask again, etc. Conversely, most questions can be explained/handled in person in a fraction of the time.

As well, in my classes, I spend a lot of time working with students step by step as they brainstorm, draft, revise and so on. We do mini-lessons on the fly as they need them--I respond in real "real time" based on what they're currently doing and need. That said, I think MOOCs and similar venues definitely have their place, especially for higher level college courses and non-traditional students who are typically more focused and motivated. There's no question the education landscape is changing.

13

Salon article on how the internet is killing religion (references Jwfacts!)

by JonathanH in

jw
friends

http://www.salon.com/2013/01/16/religion_may_not_survive_the_internet/.

congrats to our very on jwfacts for getting a shout out from salon.

the part where the mention jehovah's witnesses links to jwfacts.com.. .

Cadellin

Thank you for posting this. It was one of the best written, well-thought-out reads I've had in a while. All I can say is--TRUE!!!

31

please help

by joyfulfader in

i am posting to ask this group of wonderful people to help my friend who is with me now.

we are discussing her serious doubts and the barriers she is facing as the wife of an elder with small children.

she is desperately looking for help to pull away without causing dissention in her otherwise very good marriage.

Cadellin

Hi: I was in the exact situation when I began to wake up. I had a wonderful elder husband, many years in ft service and a small child. I would be happy to help her in any way, since I totally understand what she is - and will be --going through.

She needs to know that there is no easy road in her situation, especially if all of their mutual fams are JW and if she wants to be keep her marriage together. That said, difficult doesn't mean impossible. Cagefighter said there's no easy way to leave a cult and that's quite true. However, I would add that there's no wrong way to leave, either. Leaving is leaving, no matter how slowly one needs to structure her fade.

51

April 15, 2013 Watchtower - p. 22-26: Organization-Obsessed Much???

by sd-7 in

there's a study article "make sure of the more important things", and in no uncertain terms the article makes clear that "jehovah's organization" is the most important thing.

the term "organization" or "jehovah's organization" is used a whopping 24 times in the article, including a subheading titled: "follow the example of jehovah's organization".

i thought organizations were entities, but that sort of subheading makes it seem like the organization is one giant person whose example we can follow.

Cadellin

Many years ago, I worked as a corporate paralegal. My job was to create corporations for clients and maintain them through their life cycle. Yes, life cycle. As I filed Articles of Incorporation, maintained annual minutes, revised Bylaws and mission statements and, sometimes, file Articles of Dissolution (corporate death), I often felt like I was caring for actual persons who had a name, assets, family members and a mission in life. And, legally, I was.

Corporations become imbued with a life that extends beyond their immediate utilitarian purpose and take on an essence or meaning of their own. I think Kant differentiated between animals and humans by noting that humans are aware that their lives are an end in themselves and not merely a means to an end. That's exactly what eventually happens with the "personhood" of a corporate entity. It becomes larger than a mere means to an end and becomes an end in itself--it takes on a weird and creepy kind of personhood. The humans begin to serve the interests of the corporation instead of the other way around. This is exactly what has happened with the WTBS.