Posts by fulltimestudent

40

Badass Female Bible Characters

by Kudra in

jw
friends

hi, this thread is inspired by the "bible characters trading cards" thread.... can we come up with a great list of female bible characters that were strong, decisive and inspiring?.

scully mentioned ja'el: drugging and driving a tent spike through the head (we all remember the awesome bible stories illustration) of the enemy general.. list yours along with a description of why they were so badass!.

.

fulltimestudent

I vote for Jezebel - she scared the elite of the time 'sh*tless.'

18

atrapado's story parte dos

by atrapado in

we met after the meeting which i found strange i figured if i was to be named it would be before the meeting.

they read me the letter from the wt.

it basically said that they were happy about my recommendation but they couldnt accept the recommendation of a 16 year old that i should wait until i was at least 17. of course i was not 16. the problem is that in spanish you write the day first the month after.

fulltimestudent

Atropardo, go to your university library (or, any other good library) and search for the 'psychology of followers in religious cults'. Try the same for 'followers in Personality cults.'

A lot of thinking and research has been put into the way 'followers' behave. Maybe, its as important to understand the reasons we became 'followers' as it is to understand how religious/political groups form.

All religions do form in similarpatterns. Augustus, the first Roman Emperor, set up his Imperial cult that way, and likely the Jesus cult was in imitation of the Augustan Imperial cult. ( A Jewish version of the world domination dream) By the way, I use the word 'cult' in the classical sense, not with the meaning attached today.

The strangest, no! the most humourous, was a cult established by the Emperor Hadrian, who set up the cult centre in Egypt, for his boyfriend, who died in a boating accident. A city (Antinopolis) was founded near where the young man died. Temples were built for his worship in Bythnia and Athens. The cult became extremely popular and its fair to say that the face of Antinous is the best known from the ancient world (whereas no-one knows what Jesus looked like). Even the Vatican has a very large bust of him. I've made a note in my 'want to do' research book, to try and find out why people became his followers. What, if you like, was their psychology?

And, of course, the Personality cults of political leaders (Stalin, Chiang Kai Shek, Mao Zedong, Kim Il-sung etc) follow similar principles and techniques for the manipulation of followers.

44

Would YOU Have Died For The Witness Religion?

by minimus in

jw
friends

would you have not taken a blood transfusion or a transplant because the gb said it was bad?.

would you have imitated the jws in concentration camps and died for your beliefs?.

fulltimestudent

Yeah! well what else can you do in a screwed up religious philosophy like Christianity, whether its the witness brand or the catholic brand or the modern easy-queasy-love everyone American brands.

Right from the start - the dying for Yahweh/Jesus model was promoted as the proper thing to do, it became so popular in early Christian times, that young Christians, full of zeal, would jump up at trials etc and say 'Hey, we're Christians too- kill us also!"

I've just finished an essay on martyrdom in the Korean Catholic church, the man named Yi Sung-hon,suggested to be the first Korean Catholic, had heard of the Catholic religion, travelled to Beijing to meet the Jesuit missionaries who were allowed to preach there. The missionaries did not want to baptise him, they thought him 'too new.' But he persisted and they asked him the question, "Will you die for your faith?" And when he said "Yes!" they baptised him. He died as a martyr in 1801, but not without denying his faith 3 times in the intervening years. I guesshe had the same sort of doubts, that all of us may have.

All up in Korea, over 8000 Christians died a martyr's death. In Japan over 36,000, at least.

Dying for Yahweh/Jesus is a trademark of Christianity!

18

atrapado's story parte dos

by atrapado in

we met after the meeting which i found strange i figured if i was to be named it would be before the meeting.

they read me the letter from the wt.

it basically said that they were happy about my recommendation but they couldnt accept the recommendation of a 16 year old that i should wait until i was at least 17. of course i was not 16. the problem is that in spanish you write the day first the month after.

fulltimestudent

Interesting story, Atrapardo.

May I suggest, that you do some research on the psychology of 'followers.'

29

Hi! Life story of young, 23-year-old (gay), disassociated, non-baptized publisher

by HillCountry in

jw
friends

hello, this is my first post and the first time i have told my entire story, albeit abridged, to anyone.

it will be a long story, sorry.. my grandparents were brought up with different religious backgrounds but converted to bible students around the depression era.

later, my grandfather met my grandmother through the congregation and got married until his death, having a marriage that lasted over four decades.

fulltimestudent

Hi Hill country.

I can understand how you feel, but question the validity of reasons that make you feel so badly. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being gay, or having sex with another person of the same sex. Same sex attraction is part of the human story, anyone genuinely interested in the history of mankind, soon discovers the reality of male2male sex as far back as we can go in time.

It also indicates this in the Bible. 1 Kings 14:24, says that the land was full of male temple prostitutes in the time of Rehoboam, son of Solomon, grandson of David. The time of David and Solomon was supposedly the golden age of Yahweh worshippers, and yet in not so many years we suddenly find that there are male prostitutes all over the place. Now male prostitutes need customers, so as well as the land being full of male prostitutes, the land was also full of their customers impatient, it can be deduced, to fork out their hard-earned shekels for a 'good-time' with their local male temple prostitute.

Male2male sex was very popular in Greek and Roman times. Plato's Symposium describes Socrates and his fellow philosophers at parties with their boyfriends, drinking late into the night, served wine by naked serving boys. Alexander the Great had a long term boyfriend, and hugged the corpse all day when his boyfriend died. The Roman emperor Hadrian even started a religious cult for his dead boyfriend Antinous, it became very popular perhaps even serving as a model for the Jesus cult, and resulted in the preservation of more suviving statues of the handsome young Antinous than statues of anyone else.

In East Asia, the biggest winge that Christian missionaries had about the Chinese, Koreans and Japanese was that they all (an exaggeration) had boyfriends.

Gary Leupp, a scholar dealing with Japan in the Tokugawa era (circa 1600's to 1900's) suggests that M2M sex was "normative."

In that same time period, some of the most influential people in Europe had their boyfriends also, including King James I, the man responsible for the KJV Bible.

And, for an emotional read about another gay kid who almost broke under the strain of trying to live in Yahweh's wonderful spiritual paradise, search for the life story of Josh, a young western australian kid (as I recall it). (I tried to find it, but couldn't).

Its a changing world out there, Hillcountry! Don't get sucked into what the witnesses (or, any other Christian) tells you. They are quite wrong in their ideas., and if there is a JUST God in heaven, the first ones he is going to punish will be stupid homophobic Christians.

To cheer you, here in Australia, the winner last night of the latest 'big brother' show (if that means anything) was a gay man, who, as soon as the award was made, proposed to his long term boyfriend.

7

My heart sings ...

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

i've felt pressured the last 2 days - i'm writing an essay i've titled, traditions in conflict, the persecution of catholics in nineteenth century choson (korea) - (depressing subject, eh?).

the right words have not been flowing easily.

one problem is (i think) that i accumulated too much material.

fulltimestudent

Hortensia/Aida - I'm so happy to see U. I'd never have guessed that Hortensia was U- you just do nto look like a Hortensia (Smile)

Hey! I'll say it again - I'm so glad to find you again. The worst thing about the collapse of JWS was the suddeness. No time to say goodbye, get emails, etc.

Anyway, hope all is well with you.

Re, the Gu/Bo story, the only new thing (and, it was raised at the start of the story) is the claim that Heywood passed information to British Intelligence, which I presume you have seen. (I believe the WSJ carried that story first). Not sure if that makes him an agent, but maybe so.

Problem is when a story appears, no matter what the source, its difficult to discern whether its fact or fiction. In addition to carry over info from cold war days, we now have the difficulty of writers presenting speculation as information.

Though, I think its rather clear, that Bo was part of a faction that would like a more socialist inclination in modern China, as against the other view of those who want a more market oriented inclination. A good Buddhist (another smile) may say the middle road is best.

7

My heart sings ...

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

i've felt pressured the last 2 days - i'm writing an essay i've titled, traditions in conflict, the persecution of catholics in nineteenth century choson (korea) - (depressing subject, eh?).

the right words have not been flowing easily.

one problem is (i think) that i accumulated too much material.

fulltimestudent

Panhandlegirl.

I'm enrolled in a BA.

I was encouraged to study by a friend who was a Lecturer (in a different field). We used to have a lot of free-ranging talks and one day he asked if I had a degree. Only a WT-BS (Watchtower degree in bull-sh*t). Anyway, he encouraged me to start to study. Thinking it over I liked the idea... so here I am.

I knew absolutely nothing about universities or how its all organised. So I applied to a couple, got accepted by one - so that's where I go. Unfortunately, they don't have a specific Asian Studies program, so I will have to major in Ancient History. But, that's turned into an advantage, as I've been able to focus on West Asia in that part of my studies. I also found out that I could get permission to take study units at another University, so what my main University lacked, I could get at another university.

Hopefully, at the end of 2013, I will have my BA, and an understanding of Asia, from past to present, from east to west, from north to south, from past to present.

Then ... I can start to think about getting a firm hold on the rest of my life ... (sardonic smile)

1

Breaking News: Pres. Obama And Mitt Ramney,Live Election Results Udates

by Scott77 in

ohio and virginia too close to call; romney wins indiana and kentucky, obama takes vermont.

mitt ramney has 33, obama 16 electoral votes.

270 electoral votes are needed to win the white house.. .

fulltimestudent

Just glanced at the Sydney Morning Herald web-site, and they are saying Obama has won..

Its 3.45 pm here in Sydney, so I guess its still night in the USA. They'll have egg on their face if they've called too early.

7

My heart sings ...

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

i've felt pressured the last 2 days - i'm writing an essay i've titled, traditions in conflict, the persecution of catholics in nineteenth century choson (korea) - (depressing subject, eh?).

the right words have not been flowing easily.

one problem is (i think) that i accumulated too much material.

fulltimestudent

I've felt pressured the last 2 days - I'm writing an essay I've titled, Traditions in Conflict, The Persecution of Catholics in Nineteenth Century Choson (Korea) - (depressing subject, eh?). The right words have not been flowing easily. One problem is (I think) that I accumulated too much material. But, anyway that's not what I'm posting about.

I bought a book last sunday at a remainder shop, only $50, over 700 pages - coffee table book size and heavy enough to break the average coffee table (grin). Its titled, The Art of East Asia, ( KONEMANN, tandem Verlag- 2006). And packed with wonderful illustrations. I brought it home, put it on a shelf for after I finished this essay.

About 2 hours ago, with my brain log-jammed with thoughts about the essay, I stopped trying to write and opened the book. I've spent 2 hours looking at the wonderful illustrations and as this thread title says - my heart is suddenly singing. All the wonderful things that humans have painted, sculpted, built etc.** (Not just East Asia, of course - but Asia is the focus of my studies).

Now I feel free to write - just wanted to tell someone else about it, so you guys copped it (haha). Life is suddenly blue-skied.

** If anyone else visits China, go see the museums in Shanghai and Suzhou - beautiful stuff. Have not been to the National collection in Beijing, but that probably beats all the others. And do not forget Japan, and Korea either.

44

Is North Korea Changing ?

by fulltimestudent in

there's a good chance that a process of change is occurring in nk, which i'll come back to, as first i'd like to briefly explain how korea became divided.. i've spent a lot of time this past calendar year on the history and development of korea, this last semester focussing on modern korea with all its sadness, commencing with the japanese takeover in 1905, and the full annexation and military occupation in 1910. .

many korean's (naturally) opposed the japanese occupation.

some actively fought the japanese as guerilla's in the mountains.

fulltimestudent

Much more so than you may imagine, Satanus and isot4:

At Bethel you labour for an allowance and your keep (food etc). In NK its the same. Wages are low, but there is also a ration system. At the state stores, North Koreans exchange their coupons for their choice of food, at very low prices. So its very similar to bethel. In affect "GOD" supplies your needs, be it Yahweh and his son, or Kim Il-sung or his son.

And, as in Bethel, you can get superior accommodation if you get into the top echelons.

The North Korean system is superior in this respect. If Kim Jong-un visits your work unit and he is pleased with your work, he may give you an expensive Rolex or similar. Bethel workers don't get that now do they?

The problem faced by both systems though, is the same. How do you keep the workers motivated when promises do not come true? IN NK, the news is seeping out that in China things are so much better, that in South Korea things are so much better. And Kim Jong-un KNOWS its better in the west - he went to school in Switzerland, an Island of prosperity in prosperous Europe.

The witnesses GB have the same hassles as Kim and his Korean Workers Party.