Posts by fulltimestudent

11

If you live in Sydney - this Exhibition is worth seeing (at the AGNSW)

by fulltimestudent in

http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/afghanistan/.

afghanistan - hidden treasures from the national museum, kabulbuy tickets online.

a glimpse into afghanistans ancient culture and those who risked all to protect it.. .

fulltimestudent

Lois:

Were you able to see it all in person?

Nope-Havn't been there at all yet. Its only been on for about 2 weeks, which more or less coincided with the start of semester, etc. Strangely, I heard about it, from a visiting Professor from Duke University. His talk to us one lunchtime was on the hellenisation (Greek influence) of Jerusalem and Judah. And, that hellenising process is an important part background in the study unit in which I've enrolled this semester. (The New Testament in its Times).

I spoke to him after his talk, and asked if he'd given much consideration to the hellenising process in Buddhism, on the eastern side of the Seleucid Empire? (Judah was, at the time, a part of the Seleucid empire also). He went on to tell me about this exhibition, and that's how I know. Actually, its been travelling around the world, and I have read something of the beauty of these objects already.

BTW, if you've not had time to explore the AGNSW's exhibition site fully, you can also see this youtube presentation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHx3k9NhIEM

and from there explore some other youtube videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9mBLNOr8rw

23

Don't Let Your JW Past Keep You Down!

by minimus in

jw
friends

i know many who were witnesses hate their past, their decisions, their wasted time.. but you know what??

it's not so bad now.

at least we are out, either mentally, physically or both.. and now, we know better!.

fulltimestudent

Minimus

I know many who were Witnesses hate their past, their decisions, their wasted time.

But you know what?? It's not so bad now. At least we are out, either mentally, physically or both.

Absolutely! We can rejoice in being out, even more so if we also recognise that Christianity itself is just another human attempt to come to grips with the reality of life.

I lived and breathed 'the truth' (as they like to call it) for 40 years, from the time I got caught up in it to the time that I escaped, given a helping hand on the day they disfellowhipped me.

It was expected that I would soon buckle and crawl back, repentantly. As soon as I recovered my equilibrium, I decided I would make up for lost time. And, I've never been happier.

11

If you live in Sydney - this Exhibition is worth seeing (at the AGNSW)

by fulltimestudent in

http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/afghanistan/.

afghanistan - hidden treasures from the national museum, kabulbuy tickets online.

a glimpse into afghanistans ancient culture and those who risked all to protect it.. .

fulltimestudent

http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/afghanistan/

Afghanistan - hidden treasures from the National Museum, Kabul

jpg Buy tickets online

A glimpse into Afghanistan’s ancient culture and those who risked all to protect it.

Feared lost forever, the artefacts in this exhibition were hidden by museum staff in Kabul, safe from bombs, looters and a Taliban decree to destroy all ‘idolatrous’ images.

Spanning 2200BCE to 200CE, these priceless treasures from important archaeological sites at the heart of the Silk Road have now been seen by over 1.7 million people in major museums worldwide, including the British Museum in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Immersive online story

Hear Afghan and Australian voices talking about the importance of keeping culture alive under sometimes very difficult circumstances in Journey of the treasures .

2

Are the west's allies in the new Ukrainian government, Nazi's???

by fulltimestudent in

putin, the russian president , has claimed that many in the new ukrainian government are 'fascists and nazis.

' i've also been reading in some asian newspapers that some of the new leadership were fascists and nazis.

but, i could not get corroboration for that claim, and so, i was reluctant to repeat it.. now the american foreign policy magazine has confirmed it.. reference: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/03/18/yes_there_are_bad_guys_in_the_ukrainian_government.

fulltimestudent

Putin, the Russian President , has claimed that many in the new Ukrainian government are 'fascists and nazis.' I've also been reading in some Asian newspapers that some of the new leadership were fascists and nazis. But, I could not get corroboration for that claim, and so, I was reluctant to repeat it.

Now the American Foreign Policy magazine has confirmed it.

Reference: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/03/18/yes_there_are_bad_guys_in_the_ukrainian_government

Yes, There Are Bad Guys in the Ukrainian Government

It's time for a frank conversation about some of the unsavory characters in Kiev.

... The uncomfortable truth is that a sizeable portion of Kiev's current government -- and the protesters who brought it to power -- are, indeed, fascists. If Western governments hope to steer Ukraine clear from the most unsavory characters in Moscow and Kiev, they will need to wage a two-pronged diplomatic offensive: against Putin's propaganda and, at the same time, against Ukraine's resurgent far-right.

Ukraine is home toSvoboda, arguably Europe's most influential far-right movement today. (In the photo above, Svoboda activists seize a Ministry of Agriculture building during Kiev's Euromaidan protests in January.) Party leader Oleh Tyahnybok is on record complaining that his country is controlled by a "Muscovite-Jewish mafia," while his deputy derided the Ukrainian-born film star Mila Kunis as a "dirty Jewess." In Svoboda's eyes, gays are perverts and black people unfit to represent the nation at Eurovision, lest viewers come away thinking Ukraine is somewhere besides Uganda.

Svoboda began life in the mid-90s as the Social-National Party (a name deliberately redolent of the National Socialist Party, better known as Nazis), with its logo the fascist Wolfsangel. In 2004, the party gave itself an unobjectionable new name(Svoboda means "Freedom") and canned the Nazi imagery, and in the subsequent decade has seen its star swiftly rise.

Today, Svoboda holds a larger chunk of its nation's ministries (nearly a quarter, including the prized defense portfolio) than any other far-right party on the continent. Ukraine's deputy prime minister represents Svoboda (the smaller, even more extreme "Right Sector" coalition fills thedeputy National Security Council chair), as does the prosecutor general and the deputy chair of parliament -- where the party is the fourth-largest. And Svoboda's fresh faces are scarcely different from the old: one of its freshmen members of parliament is the founder of the "Joseph Goebbels Political Research Centre" and has hailed the Holocaust as a "bright period" in human history.

55

What Ailed Those Pilots ... ?

by snowbird in

the pilots and crew of the missing plane, was something wrong with all of them?.

sylvia.

fulltimestudent

snowbird:

It seems that everyone on the plane must have been incapacitated.

If we can rely on any released information, then the increase in altitude to above 40,000 feet, may have been to do exactly that

17

When did the arrangement change from congregation servant to elders

by Deceived in

does anyone remember when the arrangement changed from having 1 congregation servant to the body of elders arrangement.. i have been out of the religion for so long i am getting a little rusty on the changes that happened.

i am writing down my memoirs and right now i am recounting my teenage years as the daughter of a congregation servant.

there was a big change in our family life when i was 15 because of the change in the arrangement.

fulltimestudent

Paul Grundy's, JW facts notes:

In 1971 another significant change came with the introduction of a body of elders. The Watchtower 1971 November 15 p.685 and p.691 said that the Early Christian elder bodies "likely rotated" and so enforced rotation, such that each elder would hold a responsibility such as Presiding Overseer for just one year.

Reference: http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/elders.php

Compound Complex comments:

It was a very rough start, what with much fighting and recriminations as to who did and did not qualify, so I heard.

My XJW friend recalls the same thing, in the Sydney congregation where he served (at the time), as MS servant. The Congregation Overseer refused to call the meeting of servants that the society had instructed, apparently, because he feared that the other servants in the congregation would not recommend him as an elder.

I tried to stay out of the bunfight, thinking that if you got involved in all the organisational crap, how could you be a 'shepherd,' caring for the flock.

8

"An a great war broke out in heaven..."

by Zoos in

jw
friends

king charles russell did battle with priest guy pierce over who has the right to continue directing the affairs of the watchtower from heaven.

and priest pierce threw new beams of light at king russell but he did not prevail, neither was a place found for him, or his higness knorr or his majesty franz.. woe to the earth, for they make us hurl!.

fulltimestudent

Revelation 6:14 (NIV):

The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up,

Hoooray! No more GOD bossing us around, no more Jesus wanting to slaughter us with his long sword, no more saints suffering relgious hysteria, no more 144,000 with their megolomania.

Humans are free at last.

11

why does the GB exclude the word "grace" from the new world translation?

by freckles12 in

fulltimestudent

Well, it does have some meaning, particularly for contemporary Christians, but sadly it often becomes just a word that may not be understood.

When, outside an American church on a sunday morning, one churchgoer says to another, "Wonderful sermon today, it really made me appreciate God's grace!

The speaker will have some particular aspect of their theology in mind as they make their comment. The question then arises, will the hearer in that conversation, have the same sense of meaning?

The answer surely is that they may not, because the word can be used so vaguely, just as the ancient Greeks did.

Wikipedia comments on the many aspects of this word. ( See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace

Grace may refer to:

Religion

Divine grace in theology

Grace (Christianity)
Actual grace

Irresistible grace

Prevenient grace

Sola gratia (Latin for "grace alone"), a Protestant axiom rooted in the theology of Augustine of Hippo

Grace (prayer), a prayer of thanksgiving said before or after a meal

The Graces, or the Charites, in Greek mythology

The last meaning refers to religion in ancient Greece, in which there were three goddesses ( the three Graces) who presided over the realm of charis. So there is an ancient connection between charis/grace and religious belief.

Davidson (Davidson, J, The Greeks and Greek Love, 2008, p. 38 ) comments that the whole concept of the original greek word,

"charis is alien to a heirarchical, institutionalised, rules-and-regulations religion like Christianity, which imported this fundamentally here-and-now-oriented entity, essentially a lubricant in ongoing relations between gods and men, into a fundamentally hereafter-oriented cult. Greek charis bounces around in multiple exchanges over time of gifts, gifts of sacrifice, statues, plays, dances, hymns, etc. It looks both ways, both in return for and in anticipation of divine favour, thus establishing a meaningful and consequential relationship with gods in the present, which is simply a metaphysical version of the whole interplay or relationships of kindness and faith that you establish with other people."

So in Davidson's view, charis places emphasis on the developing relationship between the worshipper and the Divinity. If Davidson is correct, then:

I'm not sure that Freddy's use of 'undeserved' gets the emphasis right.

But then do contemporary Christians of other (competing) brands see it as Davidson explains it?

14

Faith On The March

by RN in

jw
friends

anyone out there have an original edition of this book?.

because i'm trying to decide if i've lost my mind or have the worst memory ever.

in my early teens (mid 1970's) i read this book, and i always wanted to read it again; especially in the early '90's when things really started to bug me.

fulltimestudent

Faith on the March is a personal account of Macmillan's life as a Jw. It would be naive to expect that he is going to delve deeply into controversial issues.

I read the book when I was young (both in physical age and experience). It had a profound affect on me. I began to see myself as one of hundreds of thousands of faithful witnesses marching together into the New System. And that of course, if the witness chronology had been correct, was what we would've been.

It is in retrospect a wrong view. But then, so it was for the early Christians, who had a similar worldview. They were also mistaken, and have had to resort to all sorts of mental juggling to reconcile the facts with their erroneous faith. (just read the mental tricks of the true believers on this site).

Btw - no need to buy a copy. Its available on the internet. If you want the viewpoint of a true believer, you can read it there, otherwise do not bother.

https://archive.org/details/FaithOnTheMarchByAHMacmillan

15

Do JWs Still Believe In Types And Antitypes?

by minimus in

do they still say the remnant picture moses or noah or some inanimate object??

?.

fulltimestudent

The origin of this concept is in tradtional Christianity, not the Jws.