fulltimestudent

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Posts by fulltimestudent

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  109

  The Confederate Flag

  by Simon in

  1. social
  2. current

  the latest controversy over the confederate flag just sums up to me the state of dysfunction that exists in american society.. in summary: a white supremacist nutter shoots 9 black people dead in a church.

  he's clearly inspired by the messages of others which the confederate flag is often a symbol of.. it seems like a no-brainer to remove it.

  not only isn't it removed, it isn't even lowered at all as a mark of respect.. and of course now there are the people who want to defend their right to have it.

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  fulltimestudent

  Here's a David Goldman (aka, Spengler) essay on the topic:

  The Confederate battle flag is what makes America stupid: Spengler

  Link: http://atimes.com/2015/06/the-confederate-battle-flag-is-what-makes-america-stupid/
  

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

  in part, Goldman writes:

  As the New York Times reports this morning, not a single Republican presidential candidate has the courage to tell South Carolina to stop flying the Confederate battle flag from its state capitol. It is a bit late for that, to be sure; public display of any kind of the symbol of the slaveholders’ rebellion should have been banned after the Union victory in 1865. Removing the Confederate flag from the grounds of South Carolina’s seat of government has become an African-American cause in the wake of last week’s Charleston church massacre. It may be incommensurate with the crime, but black Americans are entirely justified in their rancor against official sanction of a symbol of slavery.
  On moral grounds I sympathize with the African-American view, but there is an even more urgent reason to rip down the Confederate flag. Our refusal to look squarely at the evil character of the American Confederacy turned us into idiots. It may be a bit late to remedy this national lapse in mental capacity, but one has to start somewhere.
  America never recovered from its Civil War, which killed nearly a million combatants on both sides. The Union won on the battlefield but conceded a cultural victory of sorts to the defeated South, spinning a myth of Southern gallantry in a lost cause. This myth dominated the popular culture from D.W.Griffiths’ 1916 epic “Birth of a Nation” (which celebrates the rise of the Klu Klux Klan).

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

  I'm not sure that the problem is the difference in views, but the idea that violence (force) toward opposing views is the way to reconcile the difference.
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  14

  Compensation after 30 years

  by umbertoecho in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  i have waited for so long to see some sort of justice given to my daughters.

  it is far too late for me.

  i have the same story as so many do on this site, so i won't bore you.

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  fulltimestudent

  umbertoecho: A man who must have had experience in grooming. To be fair, my family did not know, but when I took him to court in the eighties, things were so different. It was not done to take such a dirty thing to court. To do so was to admit to being a rotten parent. I saw it differently. I wanted his name etched for all time in the records, as a paedophile.
  There was no support for me or my children. No family member or close related friends wanted to be near such a disaster. I must say that the detectives and the magistrate were so fantastic though. They were the ones who stayed by us in this horrible experience. The magistrate slammed his hand down hard when the perps lawyer tried to cast doubt as to my mothering capacity. He really slammed hard on the desk and it was loud. He (the magistrate) gave no quarter to this slimy lawyer ( disbarred later on by the way).

  You must be a very strong person, or perhaps your righteous outrage gave you strength that you did not know you had.

  I remember those days when no-one wanted to discuss this problem, and any media mention would be a brief paragraph or two. And no-one (seemingly) knew the full extent of the problem. And, at times, it seems that those in authority were protecting offenders, so you were indeed fortunate to have fair-minded police and magistrate in the case you mention.

  The problem of "protection' of offenders goes back centuries. Recent research from Cambridge University academics suggest, that during the reign of Elizabeth the first, kidnappers of young boys for sexual service in the entertainment industry may have had the protection of the Queen.

  Readers on this topic may be interested in the writings of a man who likely has a deep understanding of the problem of child abuse in the Catholic church. His name is Richard Sipe and this is a link to part of his web-site:

  http://www.awrsipe.com/Comments.html

  The page I've linked to has some articles that discuss the problem, mainly in the context of that church. And, there are some interesting points that he makes. For example, in this article: http://www.awrsipe.com/Comments/2006-01-30-Spot_an_Abuser.html

  Sipe estimates that there are likely some 100,000 Catholic victims of child abuse whose tormentors were priests and bishops. Statistically, the number of JW victims must be less, but the pattern is the same - the abuse is often by those with authority. If you explore his site, you may find his explanations of why there are so many child sex offenders in Christianity.

  For his trouble Sipe has been the victim of attacks by his fellow church members, which I point out to demonstrate that your experience is not unique. In fact its common.

  Here's one such attack: http://www.themediareport.com/2013/08/07/richard-sipe-ex-priest/

  Your experience must be comforting to those in similar situations.
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  Walking along a Tokyo street, a man and his pet tortise

  by fulltimestudent in

  1. social
  2. current

  not a sight you'd expect to see, anywhere - hisao mitani and his giant pet, an african tortoise, have become used to turning heads when they go on their walks in tokyo.

  the 62-year-old funeral parlour owner says he has been taking his pet bon-chan on daily walks for several years now.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nqnbfl279i.

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  fulltimestudent

  Not a sight you'd expect to see, anywhere - Hisao Mitani and his giant pet, an African tortoise, have become used to turning heads when they go on their walks in Tokyo. The 62-year-old funeral parlour owner says he has been taking his pet Bon-chan on daily walks for several years now.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NQnbFL279I
  
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  35

  David Splane: The Catholic Church brought the Gospel into China!

  by FusionTheism in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  quotes from the new david splane "1900 years" video:.

  "the catholic church took the preaching work more seriously than the reformers... who brought the gospel into china?

  ... it was the catholic church.".

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  fulltimestudent

  FusionTheism: It definitely looks like "New Light" for the Governing Body to say that the Catholic Church was preaching the Gospel message and was obeying Jesus' Great Commission.

  
  

  Before commenting, i should make this explanation. I started to study with the witnesses in the early 1950's. And I think the best description of the youthful me, is the word 'nerd.'

  
  

  A Wikipedia entry describes a nerd as: " Nerd (adjective: nerdy) is a descriptive term, often used pejoratively, indicating that a person is overly intellectual, obsessive, or lacking social skills. They may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, obscure, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly technical or relating to topics of fiction or fantasy, to the exclusion of more mainstream activities." ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerd

  So everyone can picture me, (then), typically spending my saturday nights, reading books in the NSW Public Library. My behaviour altered only slightly when I became a witness - I learned to 'work' a room and speak to people, but still read a lot to understand how things (people) worked.

  
  

  One thing I did try very hard to understand was how the JW version of Yahweh regarded people who believed in Jesus? the Bible etc, during the centuries before Yahweh made his controversial decision to appoint Joe Rutherford's re-organised Bible bashers, as his "F&DS" with responsibility to care for his (Yahweh's) interests on earth. Around me then were many long-time witnesses, like Wallace Baxter (treasurer of the WTS/IBSA at the Sydney bethel), who had become a witness around 1918/1919 and many others. (And had been branch overseer in the Lithuanian branch when WW2 broke out.)

  
  

  And when I dispute that Splane's comment is 'new light' it is because my understanding from all those old time witnesses, was that prior to 1918/1919 was that any person who loved the, 'Yahweh/Jesus combo god' and tried to serve them with a whole heart, was acceptable to Yahweh/Jesus. So among all the millions of humans - Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants etc, there were many who must have been approved by Yahweh/Jesus.

  
  

  Usually in the past, the witnesses I knew avoided giving these 'faithful' people a denominational label. And indeed, in the 1930s, Judge Joey specifically attacked the Catholic church, in response to attempts by the church to prevent the house-to-house work of the witnesses.

  
  

  So while Splane got his history all arse-up, I think his comments are not 'new light' just a slight adjustment to 'old light' (grin).

  Now I know that logically, that concept does some terrible things to the idea of a 144,000 elite class, but logic has never been either a witness or a Christian strong point. So don't blame me for the inconsistency in witness beliefs.

  
  

  
  

  
  
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  4

  Revelations only book with specific warning about change.

  by umbertoecho in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  revelations seem to be the only book out of the supposed 66 books in the bible that has a specific warning about taking or adding one word to " this prophecy".

  i am curious as to what others make of this.

  i have looked at a few bibles, the last chapter and verses 18-19, state this warning.

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  fulltimestudent

  umbertoecho: It seems obvious that an author of say.......Revelations, would be warning against any change made to this book in order to protect it's contents. This book of prophecy is very different in language to just about any other book in the bible.
  So I believe it would be to maintain the integrity of this prophecy.

  But surely, any writer wants to maintain the integrity of what they write, particularly if they believe they are writing something important.

  Revelation can be described as being three things, first a letter, then prophecy and thirdly it has typical characteristics of Jewish apocalyptic literature. And, I suggest you have to examine the book in the framework of these genres.

  Some other examples of apocalyptic literature in the Judeao-Christian tradition are, The Ascension of Isaiah, The Apocalypse of Peter and The Shepherd of Hermas.

  All were in circulation in the first century when there was no New Testament. When the time came that the church wanted to certify that some documents were more important than others, The Shepherd of Hermas was very nearly included as scripture, whereas there was argument over Revelation and it was (some argue) not certified finally as 'scripture' until 419 CE. Even then some Asian churches (who were then the most important churches) rejected it.

  It is the only biblical book for which John Calvin did not write a commentary, and Luther commented that it was "neither apostolic nor prophetic." To this day,the Eastern Orthodox church does not include it in readings for their Divine Liturgy.

  
  

  umbertoecho: What do you think fulltimestudent? I do realize that questions can be used as a form of teaching.........but at this stage I am interested in opinions

  What do I think? I'm inclined to the view that it was written at a time of persecution of the young church to persuade believers that God was in control and would make everything OK in the end. Vivid imagery and fantastic events were part of the propaganda techniques of the time.

  The other interesting thing to me, is the very accurate description of the huge East-West trade market (i.e. The Silk Road) in Ch. 18. Precisely why the author attacks the trade is unclear. Possibly he was hostile toward the Jews who were involved in that trade and were possibly living (by this time) in many cities across Asia (Acts 2:5-11). Most of them were probably descended from the Jews who had not returned to Jerusalem after Cyrus (God's Christ) had given them permission to do so. The Babylonian Jews (after 70 CE) were becoming more important also in Judaism.

  Another interesting point is that the holy city (New Jerusalem) of Revelation 21 is described in terms that are so similar to the Amitahba Buddha's "western paradise". Was there an influence from Afghanistan, then part of the Greek colonial Empire, and strongly Buddhist at that point? One could call on the name of Amitahba and he would save you into his western paradise.

  
  

  
  
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  174

  The Bible is NOT Error-Free

  by FusionTheism in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  for many christians, the bible is viewed as the 100% error-free, perfect book straight from god, where every single word was carefully chosen by god for a reason.

  but, usually, when you have a discussion on the topic, these christians will end up saying that only the original copies written directly from the hands of the prophets and apostles were error-free, and all manuscript copies since then are subject to copyist mistakes and other errors.. since zero original copies are in existence, how do we know the originals were error-free?

  why should we think the originals should be error-free to begin with?

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  fulltimestudent

  FusionTheism: I view the Bible as containing the Gospel Message of salvation, and the teachings of Jesus, which are infallible,

  
  

  Why do you think the gospel accounts are infallible?

  These accounts were written some 30 + years after the events they purport to recall. Can you recall accurately the content of talks you heard 30 years ago? They are also filtered not just through the memory of the authors, but through their subsequent experiences in teaching. And, it is believed that some of the authors were not eye-witnesses of the events they describe.

  The content of most of Jesus' teachings merely mirrored Jewish beliefs of that time (compare the gospels to the documents that make up the Dead Sea Scrolls). And then there is the problem of his expectations, clearly expecting the promised kingdom to come in his time. (Luke 21: 33)
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  5

  Fair warning-Image (avatar) change

  by fulltimestudent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  time for an image change - hence a new avatar..

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  fulltimestudent

  Time for an image change - hence a new avatar.
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  4

  Revelations only book with specific warning about change.

  by umbertoecho in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  revelations seem to be the only book out of the supposed 66 books in the bible that has a specific warning about taking or adding one word to " this prophecy".

  i am curious as to what others make of this.

  i have looked at a few bibles, the last chapter and verses 18-19, state this warning.

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  fulltimestudent

  umbertoechoan hour agoRevelations seem to be the only book out of the supposed 66 books in the bible that has a specific warning about taking or adding one word to " this prophecy".

  Have you ever wondered why an author may feel it is neccessary to add those words to his imagined writings?
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  12

  are ministryideaz apostates?

  by sneekyapostate in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  are ministry ideaz book binders apostates cos its plastered all over the net haha?.

  ministryideaz.com - meeting & service supply.

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  fulltimestudent

  I've been out of this mob (jws) for many years, so I've got no idea who makes and supplies this stuff.

  But it does look like stuff that used to be made and supplied by the Madzay family, who came from Cleveland in the USA. They came to prominence in WW2, by smuggling WT literature into Canada by speedboat, and became very close to Knorr and Franz.

  Here in Australia, Dave Madzay was once Assistant Branch Overseer, but liked a drink or two, too often through the day, got picked up one night by the police for D.U.I. and was removed from his positions. Out of Bethel, he drank more and went out in a blaze of glory one night, when he mistakenly filled a kerosene heater with petrol. Bad mistake!!!!

  Just did a search for madzay, cleveland - and whacko!!

  the search link was described as:
  

  Madzay Color Graphics - madzay.com‎

  Adwww.madzay.com/‎

  Products for Jehovah's Witnesses Calendars, Organizers, Book Covers

  • Greeting Cards
  • Book Covers
  • Organizers
  • For 2015
  • 
    

  link: http://www.madzay.com/?gclid=CNOQt4-on8YCFRMDvAodoqEFOQ

  Obviously, a younger, brighter (no funnies) generation is in control.
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  3

  Do we need a 'Head Office' any more

  by fulltimestudent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  lacking access to good scholarship, jehovah's witnesses and their watchtower society waste tens of millions of dollars (or, is it billions) building new head offices in the usa and other places - all at the very time that advances in it technologies, etc, are raising doubts about the wisdom of having a traditional head office.. reference: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/business/comment-and-analysis/time-to-dismantle-the-canberra-head-office-20150619-ghrq9l.

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  fulltimestudent

  Lacking access to good scholarship, Jehovah's witnesses and their Watchtower Society waste tens of millions of dollars (or, is it billions) building new Head Offices in the USA and other places - all at the very time that advances in IT technologies, etc, are raising doubts about the wisdom of having a traditional Head Office.

  Reference: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/business/comment-and-analysis/time-to-dismantle-the-canberra-head-office-20150619-ghrq9l