Thanks once again FTS, you have given me some MORE reading. Very much appreciated. It certainly is true, the old adage, the more you learn, the more you realise how little you know !
Posts by Phizzy
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25Zoroaster spoke thus
by Doug Mason inthe following is from: cosmos, chaos and the world to come (pp.
222-224), norman cohn.
yale university press.
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43
Remind re: The "Cult" Label
by Simon inif you accuse people of being stuck in jw mindset or "cult-like" mentality simply because someone has a different view of politics than you, you'll be deleted.. it's insulting and a lazy substitute for having any real argument for a proper debate.. what next ... "you smell" ?.
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Phizzy
I think that personally insulting another Poster is simply wrong, and any action Simon takes regarding that sort of thing meets with my full approval. The argument should be addressed, and that alone.
If you determine that a particular Poster is in fact still in the JW mindset, or the mindset of many of a Political conviction, one that does not allow them to honestly assess the argument you have presented, it is simply time to leave that Poster to stew in their own ignorance, it is not time to insult them personally.
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25
Zoroaster spoke thus
by Doug Mason inthe following is from: cosmos, chaos and the world to come (pp.
222-224), norman cohn.
yale university press.
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Phizzy
Thanks FTS, I was not aware of Google Scholar until I read your Post above, I can foresee that my wife will be complaining that I am spending even more time reading !
As I said above, this Thread has been an eye opener to me, and to me is an example of the joy of learning, you add new knowledge, which then permits your mind to make lots of connections, and your Worldview is thus expanded, Wonderful !
Thank you FTS, and thank you Doug !
Edited to add : I just watched the Vid above FTS, thanks for that too, really brought the religion to life, some of the claims by the Priest were a little off, but it was good to watch.
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16
Apostasy
by frozen2018 inhas anyone seen the 2017 movie apostasy?
set in britain, the story is about a family, a single mom and her two daughters, who are jehovah's witnesses.
i'm not going to give away too much of the plot, but holy moly!
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Phizzy
I think I Posted on the Thread that Earnest points us to, but, at risk of repeating myself, the Film is accurate and very well produced and acted.
What I enjoyed at the Cinema I attended was the audience reaction to much of the content, the audience laughed out loud at the silly Doctrines, and I heard remarks like "disgusting" when the Shunning process was shown, and the way the Elders handled things.
It really was a good insight for the Public to see the reality of JW life, and what a nasty little cult it is.
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15
Are You Satisfied With The Way The News Media Acts?
by minimus init would be a wonderful thing if the news media tried to exercise some fairness when they report the news or editorialize on a matter.
if the news media does not stop showing bias, i would like to see sanctions of some sort on the cnn’s of the world.
i really don’t think they can make the media fair but it would be nice..
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Phizzy
You have just reminded me Hoser, of the time I lost all faith in the "Watching the World" column in the Awake, and began generally to take WT writings with far grater pinches of salt, shovels full actually.
That was when they wrote up this story >
This story is known as "The Bricklayers Lament" or similar, and I first heard it in the late 1950's , in a rendition by one Gerard Hoffnung, various versions of this jokey story exist, and have done so from even before Hoffnung, but the Awake writers, in the 70's I think, wrote it up as though it really happened !!!! -
25
Zoroaster spoke thus
by Doug Mason inthe following is from: cosmos, chaos and the world to come (pp.
222-224), norman cohn.
yale university press.
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Phizzy
This revelatory Post from Doug shines a little more light for me upon the Story of the Magi as found in the Book of Matthew.
I always found this Gospel story strange in that these were "Wise men" , Magi in the Greek, from the Persian word, and yet the story accords them nothing but respect, yet to my rigid JW mind it should at least have acknowledged they were not worshippers of the Christian god, and maybe even condemned too their practice of Astrology.
As the Christian god seems to have evolved from Zoroastrianism, it is now no surprise to me the way these gentlemen are presented.
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13
MORTALITY rates Pre-Covid and Post-Covid (How are we going to understand?)
by Terry ini got out my calculator and looked up mortality statistics.
i wanted to get a "feel" for what is normal ina non-pandemic world in order to compare with how things are now.once had had a "feeling" for it i began to notice that media has a dramatic (perhaps overblown) tendency toterrify the public by framing death rates, predictions, and political discord hysterically.
mortality in a normal world.
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Phizzy
It really is a hugely difficult job to unravel the truth buried in the twisted skein of figures. " Lies, damned lies and Statistics" indeed !
What I learned in the early months of this Pandemic was to take no notice of MSM Headlines, no notice of Social Media opinion, little notice of "Government Advisors", here in the U.K such people have been bought, so are not reliable , and pay small attention to so-called experts. Some were Scientists, but held weird opinions, and notably were not Epidemiologists or Virologists, so were merely offering an opinion no more valid than mine.
I think it is obvious to all that Covid19 is a killer to many who get it. To argue about whether a person died "with" or "of" Covid19 does not help to get a grasp of the personal danger one faces. If I got it, I may die because my Asthma did not allow me to survive, but regardless of how the death would be recorded, I would still be dead.
The main problem with all the factual confusion, not just figures, but facts on the nature of the diseases, and how it is spread etc etc is that nobody really knows the correct measures for Nations and Communities to take, and when to take measures.
Personally I shall continue with my self imposed hermit existence ( well, it is almost that) and hope to keep myself and my family safe. But understanding it all in a clear way still eludes me.
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14
Hide and Watch (Monsters are about to reveal themselves)
by Terry init is said of drunken behavior "i didn't know what i was doing - i was drunk.
" as if alcohol makes people do things against their own character and temperament.. .
i've known just a few alcoholics in my lifetime.
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Phizzy
" Politics is just another False Religion in my opinion."
The similarity between certain people in Politics, politicians themselves, activists and Party members , and the members of religious Cults is certainly evident.
The hanging on to a "belief" despite the huge evidence against that belief being just one symptom, another is being prepared to lie, cheat and even use violence to support their position.
Political Cult members are as Mind Controlled as religious Cult members, and far more dangerous to the wider Community.
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25
Zoroaster spoke thus
by Doug Mason inthe following is from: cosmos, chaos and the world to come (pp.
222-224), norman cohn.
yale university press.
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Phizzy
This certainly puts a new perspective on things for me, I was aware of Persian influence upon Judaism in small measure, but did not realise how very influential it was. It seems too that Zoroastrian thinking not only came down to Christian thinking via Judaism, but found its way there on its own !
The "new" Christian sects were more branches from the same (Zoroastrian) tree than mere sprouts from the Judaic branch.
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25
Zoroaster spoke thus
by Doug Mason inthe following is from: cosmos, chaos and the world to come (pp.
222-224), norman cohn.
yale university press.
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Phizzy
Thanks for your Post and for the Link to the A/J Archives Paper Doug , I found this quote particularly interesting, ( I have yet to read it all) :
"Professor M. Boyce of the University of London is able to state, as a result of searching and rigorous scholarship: Zoroastrianism is the oldest of the revealed world religions, and it has probably had more influence on mankind, directly and indirectly, than any other single faith. In its own right it was the state religion of three great Iranian Empires, which II flourished almost continually from the sixth century· B.C. to the seventh century A .. c . Iran's power and wealth lent it immense prestige, and some of its leading doctrines were adopted by Judaism~ Christianity and Islam, as well as by a host of Gnostic faiths .•. today external forces have reduced the Zoroastrians themselves to tiny scattered minorities, living mostly in Iran and India; but beliefs first taught by their prophet are still subscribed to by other peoples throughout the world. "
This story is known as "The Bricklayers Lament" or similar, and I first heard it in the late 1950's , in a rendition by one Gerard Hoffnung, various versions of this jokey story exist, and have done so from even before Hoffnung, but the Awake writers, in the 70's I think, wrote it up as though it really happened !!!!