Another viewpoint on North Korea.
fulltimestudent
JoinedPosts by fulltimestudent
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New Red Dawn movie- do you think it could happen?
by moshe incoming to theaters at thanksgiving- the premise is a new class of emp weapons paralyzes our military and allows a foreign power to invade the usa.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngoe7bdgdlg&noredirect=1.
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We want you to feel guilty!
by solomon inthis is another fine spiritual gem from the january 2013 study edition.. .
as the great tribulation nears, we do not want to be plagued with such anxious thoughts as these:'could i have done more in god's service?
didn't i pioneer when i had the opportunity?
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fulltimestudent
And, if you 'listen to and obey' the FD&S and do all they say, then on the day when you finally 'awake' and realise that all religion is deceptive and that you have wasted much of your life believing bullsh*t, then you will certainly have regrets and possibly extreme anger toward those who lied to you.
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Early Christianity in East Asia
by fulltimestudent inearly christianity developed as a series of regional churches.
we can see the rough outline by constantine's time.
the main political centres of the roman empire also became regional centres of power for the church.. one of those centres became the church of the east, also called the easst syriac church and sometimes (mistakenly) the nestorian church.
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fulltimestudent
I understand, Satanus. Its not going to grab everyone's attention. But for those who may desire to understand the REAL development of Christianity and not the propaganda versions of the WTS/JWs or the Catholic Church or any of the other versions of Christianity, this can be an enlightening ride.
That's only part of my interest though, my principal goal is to understand the web of information that covered the earliest history of mankind and how it may have interacted.
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Early Christianity in East Asia
by fulltimestudent inearly christianity developed as a series of regional churches.
we can see the rough outline by constantine's time.
the main political centres of the roman empire also became regional centres of power for the church.. one of those centres became the church of the east, also called the easst syriac church and sometimes (mistakenly) the nestorian church.
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fulltimestudent
Early Christianity developed as a series of regional churches. We can see the rough outline by Constantine's time. The main political centres of the Roman Empire also became regional centres of power for the Church.
One of those centres became the Church of the East, also called the Easst Syriac church and sometimes (mistakenly) the Nestorian church. In the first century, this grouping was certainly the strongest of all the early groupings, even though it now seems on the verge of disappearing. The remains of this form of worship (churches and religious items) have been found all the way from the Mediterranean coast to China.
If the topic interests you, you may like to seek out this recent book:
Hidden Treasures and Intercultural Encounters- Studies on East Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia.
Edited by: Dietmar Winkler and Li Tang.
A review appears in my universities, Asian Historical Research Society and the web-link is:
www. mahrs.org/books/htie
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New Red Dawn movie- do you think it could happen?
by moshe incoming to theaters at thanksgiving- the premise is a new class of emp weapons paralyzes our military and allows a foreign power to invade the usa.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngoe7bdgdlg&noredirect=1.
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fulltimestudent
You know what gives me nerves? War between Japan and China. Think about how destabilising that would be,
Jgnat, you're right! A war between China and Japan would be destablising to the world, mainly because of interlocking alliances that would mean a cascade into a much greater conflict.
But, I read the situation as being one where both sides know the consequences, and know that they can't go past words. I doubt that China for one wants to go down that route, as the popularity of the National government is dependent on constructing a modern state. Current progress can only be described as amazing, but there is still a long way to go as 50% of the nation is still existing in a poorer condition.
And you could read Sun Zi's, The Art of War, to understand that East Asians, with Confucianism underpinning their thinking (and not Christianity) think differently, and they do not have that "End of the (bloody) world," mind set that Christian based thought gives us.
So let me re-assure you, both sides are staking out their ideological territory, and I doubt very much that it means war. The problem is that things were done to China by the West, in the final stages of the Imperialistic era and the humiliation still rankles and every now and again it sort of wells up. The saddest thing (to me) is that there seems some evidence that the current US administration may have caused this problem as part of the 'pivot to Asia' movement that Obama/Hilary Clinton have been talking about.
But I understand how you feel. I'ts taken me near 40 years (starting slowly from 1975) to get rid of the cataclysmic mind-set that I developed as a JW.
Sorry for the digression from Red Dawn.
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New Red Dawn movie- do you think it could happen?
by moshe incoming to theaters at thanksgiving- the premise is a new class of emp weapons paralyzes our military and allows a foreign power to invade the usa.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngoe7bdgdlg&noredirect=1.
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fulltimestudent
Agreed Bobcat. The theme of the film is pure paranoid fantasy.
Satanus. Don't listen to your own side's propaganda. I suggest that life in NK is not as terrible as is presented in lazy, sloppy journalism in the west. And, the money is on life in NK getting better.
Kim Jong un has been making public statements to that affect. What could he know that others may not? Well, the possible inside story is that NK has discovered large deposits or rare earth minerals, and that the forced retirement of former General Ri (the former Army leader) was related to that, as the Army had been controlling the mines. The story is that Ri's house was stuffed with cash and when the Kim's found out how much money was involved they acted to take control. The minerals are, of course, being sold across the border into China and thence to whoever in the world wants to buy the stuff.
If JWS ever gets back to life (and they can access their past threads) there is quite a bit of stuff about NK that's been posted.
More, the Chinese (who detest instability in a border country) have been pushing the NK goverment to raise living standards by allowing free markets, which to a certain extent have been permitted, and that is certainly helping life in NK.
If you find an internet newspaper called Asia Times located in Bangkok, (it was a print newspaper, until it went bust in the Asian Financial crisis of the 1990's) you'll find many good articles on NK, likely giving a more accurate account of life there than many Western newspapers. Particularly look for items by Andrei Lankov and Leonid Petrov. Petrov is an academic at Sydney University and I study under him. Lankov teaches at the Australain National University in Canberra and also at a South Korean University. Both have had quite a few visits to NK.
In any case as any reader of googlemaps knows, its difficult to hide what's happening inside any country these days.
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New Red Dawn movie- do you think it could happen?
by moshe incoming to theaters at thanksgiving- the premise is a new class of emp weapons paralyzes our military and allows a foreign power to invade the usa.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngoe7bdgdlg&noredirect=1.
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fulltimestudent
BTW, Moshe, quoting the Washington Times on this subject is a little like quoting the Watchtower on the topic of Jehovah's Witnesses. The WT (Washington Times) is (was?) owned by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon of the Unification Church (the Moonies).
Moon is an enigma, he is said to oppose Communism, but has maintained good ties to the Kim family in NK. I do not doubt the possible chaos that such weapons (spoken of) could cause. But why the article? What purpose does it serve? We can no longer ask Moon as he is now on another planet (grin)
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31
New Red Dawn movie- do you think it could happen?
by moshe incoming to theaters at thanksgiving- the premise is a new class of emp weapons paralyzes our military and allows a foreign power to invade the usa.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngoe7bdgdlg&noredirect=1.
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fulltimestudent
In my previous Yahwehistic/Jesusistic life, I converted a former member of the Central Committee of the East German Communist Party. He had disagreed with the Stalinist line and supported the Titoist (Yugoslavia) line and people stopped talking to him (just like the JWs do), and as there was no Berlin wall at that time, he just walked into West Berlin and asked for asylum, eventually finishing up in that well-known bastion of freedom, Australia.
We got on very well and had lots of talks. One interesting thing he told me, is that they were taught at the Party school (aka, Elders school) not to believe their own propaganda. Propaganda was just that- propaganda.
So I feel quite amused about the Red Dawn film. I see it as just propaganda (for the restless American masses). Its no different to the rubbish the North Koreans are fed, and for the same purpose. We were fed the same crap as witnesses, telling us how good it was to be on the Jesus/Yahweh side and how we'd win out in the end, even though we may go through difficult times.
Just compare the Red Dawn movie to this video that purports to be of the training that NK soldiers undergo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa_yTBtt244&feature=related
and see if there are similarities? BTW, I have not sought to find who made the NK training film. It could possibly be completely fake.
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On a more serious note, I've taken two units of Korean History this semester covering traditional and modern Korea. There is a lot I could say, as the west's fantasy construct of NK is a bit different to the reality.
And, no-one should sell the NK Army short. As far as outsiders can tell it is a well disciplined force. You laugh at it at your own peril. It should also be remembered that the USA, with all its blitzkreig might. has not won a war on the Asian mainland since WW2 (Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan), even though its opponents were inferior in technical matters, military training and economic might.
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Just got a visit from the Elders
by Resistance is Futile infirst a little background.
i've never been a jw, my spouse was born in and disfellowshipped as a young adult.
when i saw the subsequent treatment from family i was disgusted.
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fulltimestudent
Getting DF'd was such a wonderful kick in the arse, for me. Life is so wonderful for me that I will never ever ever go back, and that's in spite of the fact that I had some rather good times inside. But the truth is that if you have reasonable emotional balance, you can have good times anywhere.
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Gospel of Barnabas (bible) discovery will.....collapse? Christianity
by Terry inhttp://www.wnd.com/2012/05/iran-discovery-will-collapse-christianity/.
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an interesting study in mind fantasy and eager absolute belief!.
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fulltimestudent
mP, yes, there are many early Christian documents that have been translated and discussed, mostly in academic circles. Get to know them and search scholarly work via Google scholar. You may have to use a good library to access academic journals (without payment). Some University libraries will permit use of their facilities to non-students.
If you are interested in the Dead Sea scrolls, you can examine photostats on the Israeli Museum site: dss.collections.imj.org. Some of the scrolls have an English translation facility if you zoom into the scroll and select a verse. Otherwise, there is the Penguin Classics edition of The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, as tranlated by Geza Vermes, which is not expensive and may be in your local library. If it's not, you may be able to convince them to buy a copy.