Posts by fulltimestudent

96

This weeks #2 & #3 talk on homosexuality

by granada35 in

jw
friends

after a one year sucessful fade and no longer associated with any congreation, i was visiting my sister this week (who goes to the meeting to please her husband for now; i am slowly planting seeds though) and they decided to year this weeks midweek meeting via the telephone.

since i was a guest in her house, i sat with them in the living room to hear the meeting.

to my surprise (especially growing up as a gay jw with still alot of anger in my heart over how i was treated), the talks 2 and 3 where on, of course, homosexualiy.

fulltimestudent

A very popular 2007 Korean movie, called, "The Frozen Flower" had a very interesting storyline. It involved a Korean King (a real figure in Korean history) was same sex attracted. In the film, his key General is also his male lover. in this trailer of the movie, you'll see (at about 25 seconds) a brief clip from a much longer segment of the movie, of the King and his General making love:

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

It's quite physically violent at times, but the theme involves the jealousies that are aroused when the King comes under political pressure, to have an heir to ensure political continuity. He tries the make the Queen pregnant but fails. So he thinks up a scheme in which the General can make the Queen pregnant. I'll leave it to your imaginations to work out the consequences.

My point is that although there is not yet a general acceptance for same sex attracted people in Korea, the movie was quite popular ( I saw it at a Korean film festival sponsored by the Korean government) and talking to Koreans, there were no feelings of disgust at the homosexual scenes.

But check out comment by western people and its a different story. If you need to read some try the comments on this website about the movie:

http://jolecole.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/movie-rant-frozen-flower-explores.html

There must be a reason for that, what do you think accounts for objectivity on one hand and disgust on the other?

96

This weeks #2 & #3 talk on homosexuality

by granada35 in

jw
friends

after a one year sucessful fade and no longer associated with any congreation, i was visiting my sister this week (who goes to the meeting to please her husband for now; i am slowly planting seeds though) and they decided to year this weeks midweek meeting via the telephone.

since i was a guest in her house, i sat with them in the living room to hear the meeting.

to my surprise (especially growing up as a gay jw with still alot of anger in my heart over how i was treated), the talks 2 and 3 where on, of course, homosexualiy.

fulltimestudent

Dear Island man,

Of course, you're right - so much of what we do is subjective, but we could make an effort to understand the viewpoints of other sexualities, couldn't we? Not all human societies have adopted you're attitude, which, surely, reinforces your comment on subjectivity. But, I want to make the point that understanding someone else's viewpoint does not mean that you have to adopt the practises that you've come to understand.

Our Christian backgrounds make us see the world in black and white, which is a quite deficient way to see the world of humanity.

A few days ago I helped an acquaintance, who had to have a hernia operation. He's single, lives alone, (25% of Australians live alone these days) and had no-one to give him some support to get to the hospital and accompany him home. Prior to the day of the operation, he wanted to know something about the operation, so I looked up stuff for him on the internet, and found this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGVlf6LlQ3s the interesting thing was he could hardly watch it, finding a view of anyone's insides "disgusting" - which is just the word you've used.

I find that puzzling, that this person could feel his own body was disgusting surprises me.

Anyway, I'll prepare a second post on this theme, that will compare western and Asian outlooks on the matter.

96

This weeks #2 & #3 talk on homosexuality

by granada35 in

jw
friends

after a one year sucessful fade and no longer associated with any congreation, i was visiting my sister this week (who goes to the meeting to please her husband for now; i am slowly planting seeds though) and they decided to year this weeks midweek meeting via the telephone.

since i was a guest in her house, i sat with them in the living room to hear the meeting.

to my surprise (especially growing up as a gay jw with still alot of anger in my heart over how i was treated), the talks 2 and 3 where on, of course, homosexualiy.

fulltimestudent

Island man:

Personally, the thought of two men getting it on, or trying to imagine myself getting it on with another man, repulses me. ...

This is how I feel about homosexuality. I see homosexuals as persons having a sexual preference that I do not share and even find disgusting to contemplate, I just see them as having a bizzare sexual taste - from my heterosexual perspective.

Island man, there's at least one flaw in your persepective.

All the practises involved in homosexual practise, are mirror images of heterosexual sexual practise. There are only limited things that humans (or animals) can do to each for sexual experience.

Male 2 female practise	Male 2 Male Practise
Oral sex	the same
Anal sex	the same
Vaginal sex	Impossible for males, but possible for females

96

This weeks #2 & #3 talk on homosexuality

by granada35 in

jw
friends

after a one year sucessful fade and no longer associated with any congreation, i was visiting my sister this week (who goes to the meeting to please her husband for now; i am slowly planting seeds though) and they decided to year this weeks midweek meeting via the telephone.

since i was a guest in her house, i sat with them in the living room to hear the meeting.

to my surprise (especially growing up as a gay jw with still alot of anger in my heart over how i was treated), the talks 2 and 3 where on, of course, homosexualiy.

fulltimestudent

granada35:

I forgot to mention in my openning comment regarding hearing this ex-elder giving the #3 talk this week on homosexuality...towards the end of his talk, he not only raised his voice (almost yelling) to display his disgust towards homosexual people but was actually shaking with anger....and then the school overseer got up on stage and told the congreation that this brother did an "excellent job in delivering this talk!!!!"

Separation of Powers, has it right when he says:

I have been in congregations where the zealot against drinking was a drunk, the zealot against pornography was an Internet freak, and the zealot against all things "gay" was a closet homosexual.

The anger shown by the speaker, is as much directed at himself, as at same sex attracted people. That speaker (likely) cannot get rid of his attraction, but despises himself for having an attraction to men.

It's sad isn't it? What a terrible way to have to live!

Even worse, if he's married, he's unlikely to have a good sexual relationship with his wife, and thus denies her the fulfillment of her sexuality.

What a terrible thing Christianity has done to the world.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

For anyone reading this, who has same sex attraction and is experiencing self-hate to the dangerous extent shown by the man giving the talk in granada35's experience, please not that help is available.

A good starting point for you, could be this website: http://www.rainbow-project.org/mh/internalised-homophobia

3

The Best of Times to be Alive - Mankind has changed -A Different sort of Innovation

by fulltimestudent in

joi ito speaks about a different way to do things: (and our former (not loving us now) brothers had better learn it)'.

got 12 minutes, to find out how the world is changing?.

remember before the internet?

fulltimestudent

And and American version:

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

3

The Best of Times to be Alive - Mankind has changed -A Different sort of Innovation

by fulltimestudent in

joi ito speaks about a different way to do things: (and our former (not loving us now) brothers had better learn it)'.

got 12 minutes, to find out how the world is changing?.

remember before the internet?

fulltimestudent

and another:

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

3

The Best of Times to be Alive - Mankind has changed -A Different sort of Innovation

by fulltimestudent in

joi ito speaks about a different way to do things: (and our former (not loving us now) brothers had better learn it)'.

got 12 minutes, to find out how the world is changing?.

remember before the internet?

fulltimestudent

Think, for a moment, about 3D printing. What a difference this unit could make in disaster stricken areas, or even providing low cost housing in shanty towns:

Link: http://www.3ders.org/articles/20140625-china-building-world-largest-3d-printer-to-construct-houses.html

China building world's largest 3D printer to construct houses

June 25, 2014

A Chinese company wants to print entire houses using 3D printing. Qingdao Unique Products Develop Co Ltd, a local maker of 3-D printers, has unveiled the world's largest 3D printer last week at the 2014 World 3D Printing Technology Industry Conference and Exhibition held in Qingdao.

This massive 3D printer has a build volume of 12 m x 12 m x 12 m. According to Wang Hong, company's founder and CEO, the company has spent the last 6 months developing this giant printer. It weighs more than 120 tons and was assembled using cranes and other machines.

The giant 3D printer is currently placed in the High-tech Zone of local 3D Printing Industrial Park and will be open to the public. Its first task is to print a seven-meter high "Temple of Heaven", the largest extant sacrificial temple in China, using Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) process.

One notable advantage of this new printer is its use of graphene glass fiber reinforced plastic as 3D printing materials, which is light weight, strong, corrosion-resistant, and environmentally friendly.

The 3D printed Temple of Heaven will have floor space of 100 square meters and will consume 20 tons of material, a mixture of 8 tons of new material and 12 tons of concrete. "Traditionally you need at least 150 tons of concrete to build such a structure." said Wang.

"It will take at least 6 to 8 months to build up the structure layer by layer, just like building a house." Qingdao Unique told 3ders.org. Once built, it will become the world's biggest structure constructed by 3D printing technology.

"Compared to the 3D Printer the Dutch Architects used for the "Canal House" in Amsterdam last year, the size of this 3D building printer expands nearly three times." explained Qingdao Unique to us. The company said that their printer is able to print entire building out in one print job, rather than printing out each pieces and then bonding them together. In addition, they believe that their 3D printed building are three times as strong because they use graphene glass fiber reinforced plastic as printing materials.

The company believes the 3D printer can be used for post-disaster recovery and reconstruction in the near future.

3

The Best of Times to be Alive - Mankind has changed -A Different sort of Innovation

by fulltimestudent in

joi ito speaks about a different way to do things: (and our former (not loving us now) brothers had better learn it)'.

got 12 minutes, to find out how the world is changing?.

remember before the internet?

fulltimestudent

Joi Ito speaks about a different way to do things: (and our former (not loving us now) brothers had better learn it)'

Got 12 minutes, to find out how the world is changing?

“Remember before the internet?” asks Joi Ito. “Remember when people used to try to predict the future?” In this engaging talk, the head of the MIT Media Lab skips the future predictions and instead shares a new approach to creating in the moment: building quickly and improving constantly, without waiting for permission or for proof that you have the right idea. This kind of bottom-up innovation is seen in the most fascinating, futuristic projects emerging today, and it starts, he says, with being open and alert to what’s going on around you right now. Don’t be a futurist, he suggests: be a now-ist.

Hear Ito at:

http://www.ted.com/talks/joi_ito_want_to_innovate_become_a_now_ist#t-733170

Its discusses many ways he sees the world changing, but, in particular there's a segment that starts about 5.40 that I suggest is very important to the future of everyone

7

Who is running North Korea?

by fulltimestudent in

kim jong un has not been seen in public for over a month.

and that has lead to all sorts of speculation.. has he had a stroke?

maybe, he is clearly obese.. last time he was seen he was limping.

fulltimestudent

Look who's back, albeit with a limp and a walking stick.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/north-korean-leader-kim-jongun-reappears-after-long-absence-20141014-115mer.html

3

A Church in Laodicea ...

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

the turkish newspaper, hurriyet daily news, website, has this series of images on it's web-site, that may be of interest to some.. link: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=447&galleryid=2311#photogallery.

the comments say:.

work has been started to prepare an ancient church, which is one of the seven churches of asia mentioned in the book of revelation, to welcome tourists at the ancient site of laodicea, in the aegean province of denizli.

fulltimestudent

But, perhaps the best account (so far) is on the web-site of the Biblical Archeology Society

Link: http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/laodicea-columns-reveal-the-grandeur-of-an-early-christian-center/

Laodicea Columns Reveal the Grandeur of an Early Christian Center

Bible and archaeology news
Noah Wiener • 08/14/2013

Recently exposed columns at Laodicea. DHA Photo, via Hurriyet Daily News.

Archaeologists have uncovered massive columns in Laodicea, a large ancient city in western Turkey that served as an early center of Christianity. The 1900-year-old columns were found in the city’s northern agora, an area described by the Turkish paper Hurriyet Daily Newsas “one of the oldest faith centers in Anatolia.”

In the September/October 2011 issue of BAR, Dorothy D. Resig highlighted recent discoveries of early churches. Read an excerpt on Laodicea from “Crossing the Holy Land: New church discoveries from the Biblical world.”

Given the importance of Asia Minor to the apostle Paul and other early followers of Jesus, it should come as no surprise that a church from the fourth century was discovered recently in western Turkey. Turkey announced at the end of January 2011 that a large, well-preserved church had been found at Laodicea using ground-penetrating radar. According to excavation director Celal Şimşek of Pamukkale University, the church was built during the reign of Constantine (306–337) and destroyed by an earthquake in the early seventh century. There are 11 apses—one facing east and five each on the northern and southern sides. Floral and geometric mosaics as well as opus sectile pavement cover the floors. The cross-shaped marble baptistery, located at the end of a long corridor on the north side of the church, is one of the oldest and best-preserved ever discovered.

Laodicea is mentioned several times in the New Testament, in both Paul’s letter to the Colossians (2:1, 4:13–16) and the Book of Revelation, in which it is one of the seven churches in Asia [Minor] to receive the message revealed to John that the “time is near” (Revelation 1:3, 11, 3:14–22). Paul’s letter suggests that Laodicea had a very early Christian community with close ties to the one in Colossus (11 mi away), possibly having been evangelized by Paul’s disciple Epaphras, who is mentioned by name in the epistle.

In the Book of Revelation, however, the Laodiceans are chastised for being “lukewarm, neither cold nor hot” and for failing to recognize their spiritual want in the midst of their material wealth and prosperity (Revelation 3:16–17). The ruins of ancient Laodicea indicate that its residents were indeed fairly well-to-do, no doubt benefiting from their position on a bustling trade route. According to first-century Greek historian Strabo, Laodicea was also home to a well-known medical school. The Seleucid king Antiochus II of Syria founded Laodicea ad Lyceum (as it is more properly called) between 261 and 253 B.C. and named it in honor of his wife, Laodice. Remains from the Hellenistic and Roman periods include two theaters, a stadium and a nymphaeum, a monumental fountain that continued in use into the Byzantine period (fourth–seventh centuries), when it was walled off and converted into a Christian structure.

A bishop’s seat was located at Laodicea very early on, and it remains a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church today, although the city is uninhabited and the bishop’s seat has been vacant since 1968. In 363–364 A.D., clergy from all over Asia Minor convened at the regional Council of Laodicea to discuss issues of clerical and lay conduct and to specify the authoritative texts of the Biblical canon. The council included the Book of Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah in its canon of the Old Testament but did not include the Book of Revelation in the New Testament. (The later ecumenical Council of Chalcedon in 451 and the Quinisext Council of 692 confirmed all the decisions of the Laodicean Council, although the Biblical canon differs somewhat today.) It is possible that the newly discovered church is the very same building where Asia Minor’s clergy met to hold the influential Council of Laodicea, but certainly much remains to be revealed and studied here.

An image of the baptism pool in the church.