Posts by JanH

23

The Hiram key

by TheHighPriest in

jw
friends

the following is on the back cover of the book the hiram key.. .

are the scrolls containing the secret teachings of jesus buried in scotland?.

the discovery that the most important incantation of freemasonry is spoken in ancient egyptian was the turning point of a six year quest to find the lost roots of the order.

JanH

UB,

I know goes over some of the solid historical work carried out by Baigent and Lee in the books:
The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception
The Holy Blood and The Holy grail
The Messianic Legacy
Templars and Freemasons (can't remmember the exact title)
+ several others

Let me get it straight right away: these are not in any way respected scholarly works. They are mass marketed conspiracy theories with little merit.

There may be much interesting stuff in them, and some facts, but they do not represent any scholarly consensus. Not even close.

While it was clearly unethical practices from some scholars that led them to monopolize control of the Scrolls, it is laughable it had anything to do with the Vatican.

Since then, these scrolls have been published, and Christianity is just as invulnerable to historical facts as it always was.

Just so nobody gets mislead that these books represent a scholarly opinion, except at best a single minority voice. By all means, read it, but be skeptical, and read what others say on the subject.

- Jan
--
Faith, n. Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel. [Ambrose Bierce, The Devil´s Dictionary, 1911]

37

Final Observations

by Esmeralda in

jw
friends

i'm an observant person.

i became that way back in what i call the 'wallflower years' of my life, when i could very easily blend into the woodwork of any room i walked into without anyone looking up.

i became a student of human nature and watched how people interacted, and that study has come in handy at many points.. sometimes, though, i don't realize when i'm opening a can of worms.

JanH

(((((((so-and-so)))))))!!!!! I think so too!

That comment made my day, JJ. I have been thinking the same thing every time I saw it, but I feared I'd infuriate the Jedi knights if I said anything

Signing out,

Darth Maul
aka

- Jan
--
Faith, n. Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel. [Ambrose Bierce, The Devil´s Dictionary, 1911]

32

She was a fine sister

by silentlambs in

she was a fine sister with a history that went back six generations with jehovahs witnesses.

her family boasted well over 1000 jw family members, many of which had high station within the organization.

this proud heritage was marred by another fact in the familys history this sister had not disclosed.

A great quotation from a great thinker, there, Wendy. It sums up exactly my position. Any idea worthy of acceptance will be able to sustain a critical and skeptical attack and prevail. False ideas and stupid thoughts will not. That is why those who want to cling to false ideas want to hail blind faith as a positive quality.

It is doubt, not faith, that has finally brought some progress to humanity, after centuries of suppression by superstitious ideologies.

And the beginning of this thread shows exactly why suprstition is so bad: under cover of all sorts of insane ideas, people do evil against each other.

- Jan
--
Faith, n. Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel. [Ambrose Bierce, The Devil´s Dictionary, 1911]

5

picture

by orbison in

jw
friends

ok i am new to this, could someone pls tellme how to post pic .

thanks

JanH

very mature to start whining after a few minutes, orbinson, and unlikely to get anyone wanting to help you.

- Jan
--
Faith, n. Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel. [Ambrose Bierce, The Devil´s Dictionary, 1911]

16

US to lose King of the South Crown

by Uncanny in

jw
friends

now that the news is out the the united states of america has lost its seat on the united nations security council, one can only speculate if and when the old boys in the brooklyn writing deparetment will strip them of their king of the south title.. the us says it was because europe couldn't "get its act together.

" but the truth was they just didn't get enough votes.

not too many salutes from the middle east or the asian countries, especially after george w's spyplane fiasco over the chinese border.. i'd like to see china, the awakening giant, take on the role of the big bad bible bogeyman on the planet during these never ending wicked last days.

JanH

Now that the news is out the the United States of America has lost its seat on the United Nations Security Council

Uh, let's call it the Human Rights Commission. Not exactly comparable.

- Jan
--
Faith, n. Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel. [Ambrose Bierce, The Devil´s Dictionary, 1911]

18

Doubletalk

by Norm in

jw
friends

some times the inconstancies and contradictions in the watchtower literature seems almost unbelievable.

the double standard of the watchtower writers seems to be without limit.. one of the explanations for this is that some watchtower articles deals with how jehovah's witnesses want to be perceived and how they want to be treated by society in general, and the contradictory articles deals with how the faithful and loyal witnesses should regard their enemies and outsiders.

in psalm 139 this is spoken of as a complete hatred.

JanH

Francois,

For the Nazis, the common enemy was the Jews. When visiting Germany in WWII, the Japanese congratulated Hitler on his use of the Jew as the common enemy. "Yes," Hitler said, "If the Jew didn't exist, we'd have to invent him."

I have read a lot of books and texts about and by Hitler, and I have to say it sounds extremely unlikely that Hitler ever said anything like that.

Do you have any source for this?

- Jan
--
Faith, n. Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel. [Ambrose Bierce, The Devil´s Dictionary, 1911]

29

wasted in arguments

by hippikon in

jw
friends

i think a lot of space is wasted in arguments that get personal.

we are a varied bunch and i think that variety is good.

i dont want to discourage anyone from posting but personal attacks ( justified or not) dont achieve anything.

JanH

Francoise,

Perceptive enough to spot a flashing neon ego.

In the mirror?

- Jan
--
Faith, n. Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel. [Ambrose Bierce, The Devil´s Dictionary, 1911]

9

She wouldn't call him 'Janice.'

by LDH in

jw
friends

i was thinking of a relative on my mom's side of the family...... when i was a young girl, about 10 or 11, way to young to perceive 'alternate lifestyles,' we had an experience in family.. my mom's uncle (i'll call him jack, cause i can't remember his real name) came to my grandmother's house while we were visiting.

this time he came dressed as a woman!.

my aunt quickly ushered the children out of the room up the stairs.

JanH

ianao,

Funny. "You asshole" is the first thing coming to my mind when I read your comment.

- Jan
--
Faith, n. Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel. [Ambrose Bierce, The Devil´s Dictionary, 1911]

9

"Forgiving Others May Do a Body Good"

by Jang in

jw
friends

your benefit, not the offenders'.

tihs article shows why.. jan. .

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_627.html entitled.

JanH

Hmm, interesting. i totally agree about coming to terms, and get rid of rage to heal yourself.

But there are two different definitions of "forgive", closely related. It is something you do yourself, as a way to bring closure.

But mostly, people think about the word "forgive" as communicating to the offender the idea that the trespasses has been forgotten and are behind them, so to say. In serious matters, I see no reason to do this. The world is big enough to avoid assholes, so you don't have to risk the same happening again. That's my way, anyway.

- Jan
--
Faith, n. Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel. [Ambrose Bierce, The Devil´s Dictionary, 1911]

5

Poem

by philo in

jw
friends

you've learned the law.

and turn to your heart.

and the mind of christ.

JanH

The Incarnate One

The windless northern surge, the sea-gull's scream,
And Calvin's kirk crowning the barren brae.
I think of Giotto the Tuscan shepherd's dream,
Christ, man and creature in their inner day.
How could our race betray
The Image, and the Incarnate One unmake
Who chose this form and fashion for our sake?

The Word made flesh here is made word again
A word made word in flourish and arrogant crook.
See there King Calvin with his iron pen,
And God three angry letters in a book,
And there the logical hook
On which the Mystery is impaled and bent
Into an ideological argument.

There's better gospel in man's natural tongue,
And truer sight was theirs outside the Law
Who saw the far side of the Cross among
The archaic peoples in their ancient awe,
In ignorant wonder saw
The wooden cross-tree on the bare hillside,
Not knowing that there a God suffered and died.

The fleshless word, growing, will bring us down,
Pagan and Christian man alike will fall,
The auguries say, the white and black and brown,
The merry and the sad, theorist, lover, all
Invisibly will fall:
Abstract calamity, save for those who can
Build their cold empire on the abstract man.

A soft breeze stirs and all my thoughts are blown
Far out to sea and lost. Yet I know well
The bloodless word will battle for its own
Invisibly in brain and nerve and cell.
The generations tell
Their personal tale: the One has far to go
Past the mirages and the murdering snow.

- Edwin Muir

- Jan
--
Faith, n. Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel. [Ambrose Bierce, The Devil´s Dictionary, 1911]