Posts by Oroborus21

35

BIG NEWS - Did I miss something ?

by wombat in

jw
friends

"the doctrines importance will be underscored next week as elders who lead more than 98,000 congregations worldwide recite a new five-page blood directive from headquarters.

the doctrines importance will be underscored next week as elders who lead more than 98,000 congregations worldwide recite a new five-page blood directive from headquarters.".

i've seen nothing on this site since sunday regarding a "new five page directive from headquarters.. so what happened?

Oroborus21

sorry about the extra spacing. why does that happen when you go in and make a correction?

anyway,

Woodsman, I think your points are good ones. It might be that the Society wishes to have the friends rely on the HLCs instead of outdated info but we will have to see if that is the case. Since they coordinate and appoint the HLCs I would be more worried about agency-liability so I would think it would go the other way but who knows.

The letter itself didnt' have any connection to the JCS article. We know that just factually because the JCS article wasn't released until December and the letter and more importantly the KM was printed before that or at most about the same time.

As to whether the Society might have been aware of the specifics regarding Ms. Wood's mother, I am not sure they would know the details of what was in her family's head or that they consulted the Blood Brochure or didn't know hemoglobin was permissible. Wood hasn't revealed whether such things were communicatd to the local body of elders much less the Society (that i know of) and hasn't explained why they didn't look at the more recent information and videos which do indicate which blood fractions are OK.

35

BIG NEWS - Did I miss something ?

by wombat in

jw
friends

"the doctrines importance will be underscored next week as elders who lead more than 98,000 congregations worldwide recite a new five-page blood directive from headquarters.

the doctrines importance will be underscored next week as elders who lead more than 98,000 congregations worldwide recite a new five-page blood directive from headquarters.".

i've seen nothing on this site since sunday regarding a "new five page directive from headquarters.. so what happened?

Oroborus21

Earth to Wombat (and the rest of the Forum)

Go back and read my first comments in the AP Thread.

That is what I was saying all along. This is not news and in fact it really wasn't a NEW directive, unless you mean this letter regarding HLCs replaced the old one.

Big Whoop!

The whole thing was much ado about nothing, had actually no factual connection to the JCS Big News Essay/Louderback-Wood tort (misrepresentation) theory - although it tried to bring it in by mentioning it and quoting it. At least the writer quoted Wood as admitting that the theory was unproven and untested.

There is no further outcome for JWs or the Society regarding the AP story. Like so many that have been published from time to time, it was interesting for its own reasons and another story like it will appear again some time in the future. These things (news stories) don't affect the way most JWs actually feel, much less what they believe, regarding the Org other than perhaps reinforcing the persecution-complex/belief.

It was a puff piece that was interesting since it was about an insane doctrine (Blood rejection) of a minority religious group (JWs) that many people know about.

Its only value was that being an AP piece it was picked up and carried in the sparse Religious sections of many newspapers and online AP wire sections, THUS reminding society in general about JWs and their insane religious belief of rejecting blood.

Regarding the Thursday/Service Meeting announcement/letter which you can read for yourself (it is linked on the AP thread) there was nothing special about it and no, it didn't create any confusion regarding blood fractions contrary to what the AP writer suggested (as his whole theme for his article) that the "new directive" would supposedly do.

Will a retraction go out over the AP wire - "Whoops! I didn't understand that this letter is not really anything new or different and it won't be confusing to 6 million JWs like I thought. Sorry, AP Writer"

don't hold your breath,

Eduardo

PS: What will be BIG NEWS is when the Society/JWs finally abandon the entire doctrine. That day is coming.

37

About Tattoos...

by Mastodon in

somebody was asking me about tattoos and what the biblical rules about them are.

i also remember that a magazine (an awake!?

) mentioned that getting a tattoo is a matter of conscience.

Oroborus21

Still a dumb reason to get a Tattoo. Better to just put an Arrow showing the way....Eduardo

The Rapture Movie

by Oroborus21 in

jw
friends

just happened to catch this movie on tv, from 1991, the rapture, starring mimi rogers.. has anyone else seen it and have any comments regarding it?.

i found the movie to be an interesting mishmash of various concepts.

i know it isn't an accurate portrayal of fundamentalism or born-again christian faith but i found some of the bits amusing in how it displayed how sometimes these persons can be just as judgmental and self-righteous as anyone - not too mention mentally disturbed.

Oroborus21

Just happened to catch this movie on TV, from 1991, The Rapture, starring Mimi Rogers.

Has anyone else seen it and have any comments regarding it?

I found the movie to be an interesting mishmash of various concepts. I know it isn't an accurate portrayal of Fundamentalism or Born-Again Christian faith but I found some of the bits amusing in how it displayed how sometimes these persons can be just as judgmental and self-righteous as anyone - not too mention mentally disturbed. Overall, I thought it pretty interesting, even though it goes low-budget at the end and the final climax and denouement could be better.

These comments from people that saw the movie here were interesting:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102757/usercomments?start=0

along these lines has anyone here seen the Omega Code series of movies or any of them. I think I saw the first one. It wasn't as bad as Battlefield Earth. :-)

Are these kinds of movies just vanity pieces or do the producers really think they are helping to spread their message-philosophy in this medium?

And why is there such a gulf between movies like these and movies like the Ten Commandments or The Passion. Is it just a question of money and production values?

-Eduardo

18

FALLACIES IN WT PUBLICATIONS;EVER NOTICED ANY?

by badboy in

jw
friends

any takers?

Oroborus21

I think you are still going to need to clarify and also specify a time period.

After all statements made by Russell may well have been shown to be eitehr misconceptions or false under current science (but perhaps believed to be true then).

The Golden Age is full of all kinds of such fallacies. And we can go back just a few decades to talk about such fallacies as vaccinations are bad, that transplants are cannabalism (more of a theological fallacy) or that the literal heart is the seat of emotion and controls the brain at an emotive level or we can go back to last week's Service Meeting discussion which stated or implied that blood transfusions are bad...

that's what i am saying, you have to be kidding with your question-post?

While not every word is a fallacy or untruth (and maybe the majority is true or at least consistent) there are too many such factual fallacies to list.

-Eduardo

18

FALLACIES IN WT PUBLICATIONS;EVER NOTICED ANY?

by badboy in

jw
friends

any takers?

Oroborus21

Are you kidding?

Like someone else said, if you want a more meaningful response to your post/thread you may have to define what you are lookign for by way of discussing.

Logical fallacies? theological fallacies? factual fallacies? etc. and maybe give us what you are talking about or what you have found.

-Eduardo

PS: Ozzie, that's a little too simplistic and untrue. Not everything is a fallacy.

20

How many here were homeschooled?

by Highlander in

jw
friends

.

i'm quite new here, so i apologize if this topic has been covered.. the reason i ask this,, i was raised in the midwest.

a majority(more than 50%) of the children at the local congregation were homeschooled.. the end result was that these homeschooled kids had social problems, found it difficult making and keeping friends and were completely out of touch with the world.. as these kids became adults, rarely did they stay on as witnesses and usually went to the other extreme,, you know the old saying,, sex drugs and rock n' roll..

Oroborus21

It's not just JWs that do it. In fact, I would wager that in a comparison to other religious groups the percentage of JWs kids homeschooled is less than some other groups (excepting the whole Compulsory Flag Salute period of course).

I have wondered about homeschooling myself. My friend was homeschooled and she is socially adept and one smart cookie and probably did more reading than her peers.

But I find it hard to believe that homeschooling is the best way when there is a good alternative available. Between compettion and interpersonal dynamics of a classroom that mimics compettion in the workplace or life to the opportunities for extracurriculars and socializing, I think it rare that a homeschool situation could be better.

But of course, everything comes down to the individual and their parents. A child may walk through the public school system and not be as well prepared and developed as they would if they were homeschooled and vice versa.

Some homeschooling programs allow for a greater breadth and more challenging lessons than the public or private school systems. A lot resemble distant learning programs used by colleges these days with interactivity on the internet and video instructors. So today's homeschooling is a lot different than it was before.

One problem though is college entrance. I think the homeschooling program is going to be a ding as far as GPA for matriculation into college and the student will have to do well on standardized tests (SAT/ACT) to have a good shot for some schools. Others it may not matter.

It's all about the individual again and in part about the environment. I would not want my daughter attending some of the schools that I have lectured too and others have been fine.

In the U.S. we have a major problem with our educatioal system K-12 and a lot of it would be fixable if we made it that the schools had to compete for the kids by giving the parents the money to spend as they see fit and allowing the kids to attend any school of their choice regardless of location.

-Eduardo

of the soapbox for education reform class

14

JW Religion a Heresy ?

by Think in

many christian believe that doctrines and teachings of jehavah's witnesess are heresy.

they meet strong opposition in many coutries around the globe from people, churches and the goverments.

what is your opinion?

Oroborus21

Sorry, I thought you were asking a serious question Think. But in looking at your post history and this one here, I see that you really like to post what can be found on any JW-polemic website. Why? Newbies can go to Randy's sites or any of the countless other sites for lots of good info on JW history and doctrine.

Ok, anyway, I think that the word "heresy" probably went out with the Spanish Inquisition.

Any Christian who speaks of other's beliefs as heresies is really just being a snob.

No one has a monopoly on the ultimate TRUTH (not even orthodoxy) and woe to those that think they do. That's part of the Society's/JWs biggest problem but it is an illness that a lot of other Christians suffer from also.

-Eduardo

47

Are you in a cult and want out? Be on the Dr. Phil show!

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

are you in a cult and want out?

be on the dr. phil show!.

http://www.drphil.com/plugger/respond/?plugid=9833do you feel you're involved in a cult?

Oroborus21

It could be nice if they could get someone who hasn't seen their grandkids or a sibling for 20 years or something real emotional like that due to the Disfellowshipping/disassociation. That might work for TV without having to get into the underlying theology.

I can picture the studio audience "aawwwing" and shaking their heads, just from hearing that someone was shunned over something petty.

-Eduardo

4

The Gospel of Mary Magdalene

by Clam in

.

have any of you read this?.

if you have, what was your opinion please.

Oroborus21

I've read it as it is in Erhman's Lost Scriptures. It is very small, just a fragment really.

It is most interesting in its 4 pages which are apparently missing which contain the detail of a supposed special revelation to Mary but since these are missing what that revelation was is up for speculation.

otherwise the fragment just emphasizes that Mary Magdalene had a special relationship with Jesus.

I don't think there is anything different or remarkable in it compared to the other non-Canonical Gospels.

-Eduardo