Posts by fulltimestudent

23

Interesting article about the evidence of the Jewish Exodus

by cappytan in

jw
friends

the reality is that there is no evidence whatsoever that the jews were ever enslaved in egypt.

yes, there's the story contained within the bible itself, but that's not a remotely historically admissible source.

i'm talking about real proof; archeological evidence, state records and primary sources.

fulltimestudent

The bible attempts to make the Israelites/Jews look important. They were a bit like the North Koreans of contemporary times, who are always trying to make themselves look powerful.

Why were the Jews doing that? Its because they claimed that their YHWH was the only true god and all the other gods of the nations were nothing. Think of the message in the Elijah and the Baal priests story.

The message behind the exodus story, is that YHWH is so powerful, that the then mightiest nation in that world era, was no match for YHWH's strength and power.

For most past events in 'real' history, there is some corroborating evidence that something happened. There is nothing in 'real' history to corroborate this bit of puffery.

It's all 'piss and wind.' As is the WTS's attempts to prove its true. The WTS's argument is to say that the bible has 'true' history, but the Egyptian record is not true.

Read it for yourself (See the Aid book, pp 540-548).

And, keep thinking about why the OT does not mention that Egypt also ruled Palestine for long periods, with Egyptian armies often supporting their local satrap?

See:

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5711077341921280/why-bible-silent-about-real-israel-egyptian-connections

37

After leaving what did you Major in?

by Luther bertrand in

i am curious if my observations are correct.

i noticed alot of exjws end up majoring in the social sciences.

i am also interested in what educational choices people have made either while fading or while completely out.

fulltimestudent

I'll graduate this year with a B.Arts. with a major in Ancient History, and maybe a minor in Japanese studies. My capstone essay earned a distinction, but I lost marks for being a day late in my submission. Bugger!

That's the formal description for my studies, but I usually describe my studies as a 'blackmarket' degree, in that I've followed no formal program, but made as many intellectual journeys as I could across Asia, exploring side roads as I went. In that journey, I accumulated more credit points than I need to graduate, simply because there was always some new discovery to be investigated. I was fortunate in being to use the resources of two universities in my explorations.

I faced a difficult decision at the beginning of this journey, I could see that the big story of the nineteenth century was the disintegration of east Asian order, and in the twentieth C. the re-organisation of China, and in the twentyfirst C. the ascendancy of Asia, but I was also very curious about the origins of Christianity and the role of 'shared' knowledge in the development of both Judaism and Christianity. I settled for Asia, but found to my surprise that my intellectual journey would also enlighten me as to the pagan origins of both Judaism and Christianity.

My only regret, is that I wasted 40 years of my life thinking that the YHWH/Jesus combo God was going to save the world. How could I have succumbedr to believing something so weird? (grin)

Right now, I'm taking two topics essentially outside my field of study, but the university thinks I (OK, all students) need something they call a 'people' unit and a 'planet' unit. Searching through the lists of topics, I found a study unit under each label that helps me. So this semester, "Critical thinking" and next semester, "Why do people believe weird things" - so here's hoping I do not become too introspective.

4

I wonder what D.Trump thinks of this order, placed with a Chinese company by Chicago transport

by fulltimestudent in

its interesting to watch these shenagins, isn't it?

the order was for: .

846 7000-series rail cars from csr sifang america jv, which submitted the lowest bid, chicago transport authority said in a statement on its website thursday.

fulltimestudent

DesirousOfChange : But they will structure the cost of those things in such a manner that the US based manufacturing plant shows no profit and thus owes no corp taxes to the US or Illinois.
Doc

That seems to be the way international business is done, as organised by the current world hegemon.

In Australia, (at least), American businesses (Google, MacDonalds, etc) dodge the payment of enormous amounts of taxes, it's becoming a bit of an issue in local politics, as royalties from the slumping export of iron ore to China, although I really cant see any of our two possible oligarchies doing much about it.

4

I wonder what D.Trump thinks of this order, placed with a Chinese company by Chicago transport

by fulltimestudent in

its interesting to watch these shenagins, isn't it?

the order was for: .

846 7000-series rail cars from csr sifang america jv, which submitted the lowest bid, chicago transport authority said in a statement on its website thursday.

fulltimestudent

Its interesting to watch these shenagins, isn't it? The order was for:

846 7000-series rail cars from CSR Sifang America JV, which submitted the lowest bid, Chicago Transport Authority said in a statement on its website Thursday. Prototypes for an initial order for 400 train cars are due in 2019 and expected to go into a service a year later after tests. As part of its winning bid, CSR Sifang will also invest $40 million to build a rail assembly facility in Chicago. ...
... The deal is China’s second in the U.S., following the one China CNR Corp. won in October 2014 worth $567 million to supply trains for Boston’s subway system."

Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-10/chicago-hands-china-1-3-billion-order-for-new-urban-train-cars

12

A useful MacDonald's advert in Taiwan teaching tolerance attacked by religious bigots

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqlfpbfiuly

fulltimestudent

GrreatTeacher : People who think they don't know any homosexuals shouldn't be so sure. I think it's more likely that everyone knows a homosexual, they just don't know that they are gay.
Being in the closet is still a thing.

Smile! yes, absolutely! Especially so since research is indicating that homophobes who shout the loudest are likely fighting against their own feelings.

And homophobia makes an interesting closet.

13

The changing world - The Chinese in the west.

by fulltimestudent in

i was hosing the garden at the front of our apartments earlier this morning, and this large gang (20-30 people) of elderly chinese went past, picking up rubbish in the street.

it suddenly clicked that this was 'clean-up australia' day.

what interested me was the involvement of this group of elderly chinese, and i assume that this is likely happening across sydney in all the many suburbs that have become 'chinese' in the last 35 years.

fulltimestudent

Bonsai : It would be a smart investment to study Chinese. I originally came to Asia to study Chinese, but fell in love with Japan. Now I'm starting to wonder whether or not I should have stuck with Chinese.

Well, maybe? Surely it all depends on your goals. IS all your effort solely for making money? (Reading your posts, I do not get that impression).

If you want to, or need to, and think you have the ability, the possibility of making money does exist. But, I think the competition could be horrendous. And that is at all levels. Particularly as the next few hundred million Chinese become urbanised. But in that situation opportunities are there to be seized by the astute.

As it is, Japanese culture, as a variant of East Asian culture, is also fascinating. Are you living a satisfying life? Then maybe the path chosen was the right path.

I could imagine living a 'rich' life, in a small Japanese village located in the foothills of the mountains or somewhere near the ocean.

56

Why Faith is Self-Defeating

by cofty in

the god of christian theism values faith.. "without faith it is impossible to please god, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists" - heb.11.

faith and evidence are inversely proportional - the more evidence there is that god exists the less faith you need in that proposition and vice-versa.. so how can a christian criticise any other faith-based belief?

for example they can protest that all the evidence is against the claims of scientology, but that just means that scientologists require more faith than christians.

fulltimestudent

But then there's Romans 10:17:

New American Standard Bible
"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ."

And when Paul wrote those words, the only 'word' of Christ was verbal.

Although, the KJV and a few other translations are slightly different.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Therefore faith is from the hearing ear, and the hearing ear is from the word of God.

And at that point in time, that surely meant the OT.

But, I guess, the point is the same - faith follows something heard. It does not, in Judeao-Christian theology, exist prior to the "hearing' of the message.

So the old AId book became very adventurous and claimed, "Faith is based on concrete evidence."

Although,

"Kierkegaard (is claimed to have) said that faith without doubt is simply credulity, the will to believe too readily, especially without adequate evidence, and that “in Doubt can Faith begin.” All people involved in spiritual practice, of whatever persuasion, must confront doubt at one time or another, and find a way beyond it to belief, however temporary. But “faith is not equivalent to mere belief. Faith is the condition of ultimate confidence that we have the capacity to follow the path of doubt to its end. And courage.”

In the end, that harmonises with the wisdom advice of Zheng Yi, (about 1000 years ago) who taught that:

"A student must first of all learn to doubt."

12

A useful MacDonald's advert in Taiwan teaching tolerance attacked by religious bigots

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqlfpbfiuly

fulltimestudent

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqLFpbFiulY

13

The changing world - The Chinese in the west.

by fulltimestudent in

i was hosing the garden at the front of our apartments earlier this morning, and this large gang (20-30 people) of elderly chinese went past, picking up rubbish in the street.

it suddenly clicked that this was 'clean-up australia' day.

what interested me was the involvement of this group of elderly chinese, and i assume that this is likely happening across sydney in all the many suburbs that have become 'chinese' in the last 35 years.

fulltimestudent

joey jojo : Many Chinese families can trace their heritage back to the day's of the Australian gold rushes which means they were here long before many European families.

Joey, I'm not sure how deep your interest is in the this topic. But you may find Eric Roll's ( a dinky di Aussie) books informative. Most particularly his, "Sojourners: Flowers and the Wide Sea." In that book, Rolls demonstrates that Chineselikely 'discovered' Australia long before the Dutch or the Brits. Chinese ships had been sailing around the Indonesian archipelago for centuries, so it is extremely unlikely that they never reached our northern shores.

And, as you say, the discovery of gold in Australia, brought many Chinese to the goldfields (among the many other nationalities. On the evidence presented in Eric Roll' books , the Chinese however were the best organised. They brought with them seeds, seedlings, and baby pigs, and within weeks of arriving on a goldfield they were producing their own food. They were meticulous in finding alluvial gold. The European and American diggers were only interested in finding nuggets, but the Chinese dug over inch of their claims and washed the soil and found lots of smaller pieces. It was likely that meticulous technique that caused 'western' miners to be jealous of the Chinese and caused some of the unrest such as the Lambing Flats riots.

A JW connection to that time:

A one-time Circuit overseer, by the name of Farleigh James, was a descendent of one of those nineteenth century Chinese miners. His grandfather (I think) by the name of Hung Fee (from south China) discovered some gold in the area around Bright in Victoria, bought a small inn in Bright and married a half Chinese girl from Bendigo. Their descendents, who anglicised their names to Humphrey, still live in the Wangaratta area. My good XJW friend was married to his daughter, but was divorced by his wife, when he was disfellowshipped.

8

How the Churches got the ‘End of the World’ wrong in 1492.

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

in 1453 constantinople (also known as byzantium), the last remnant of the once mighty roman empire was a christian island in an islamic sea.

the city had been seriously weakened during the holy fourth crusade (1202-04), when fellow christians of the catholic brand had besieged the city, captured it, and savagely sacked it.. ( who needs enemies when you have christian friends?).

a miniature of the siege, artist unknown.

fulltimestudent

Why did they get it wrong? It can be suggested that they read, but do not understand.

They could read in Luke 21 of the signs (of the end), just as we did. But they (and us) failed to read carefully.

Read it again (from the New Jerusalem Bible)

25 'There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; on earth nations in agony, bewildered by the turmoil of the ocean and its waves;
26 men fainting away with terror and fear at what menaces the world, for the powers of heaven will be shaken.
27 And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28 When these things begin to take place, stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.'
29 And he told them a parable, 'Look at the fig tree and indeed every tree.
30 As soon as you see them bud, you can see for yourselves that summer is now near.
31 So with you when you see these things happening: know that the kingdom of God is near.
32 In truth I tell you, before this generation has passed away all will have taken place.

This prophesy, made by Jesus failed. He imagined that he was about to fulfill the messianic prophesies and free Israel from the yoke of unbelievers. He was deluded, and paid the penalty with his life,

If there is ever an end to the world, it will not be as a result of Jesus prophecy.