Posts by shepherdless

277

Did Jeruselm fall in 587 or 586 BCE?

by Doug Mason in

i came across this article written in 2004 by an evangelical.. “when did jerusalem fall?”, rodger young, journal of the evangelical society [jets], 47/1 (march 2004), 21-38.. http://www.rcyoung.org/articles/jerusalem.pdf .

these are the conclusions of the 18-page analysis.

(1) jerusalem fell in the fourth month (tammuz) of 587 bc.

shepherdless

I have to disagree, eyeuse2badub.

Ptolemys Canon (a list of eclipses going back to about 700BC) which gives the date and year of each eclipse by reference to the relevant King and the the number of years that King has been on his throne, has proven to be incredibly reliable.

These days we can calculate the exact dates of solar and lunar eclipses 1000s of years into the past and 1000s of years into the future. There is a NASA website which gives the data.

While Ptolemys Canon doesn’t say the exact date a king came to power (only the year) the data has proven 100% accurate each time there has been other info to check it with (eg those Babylonian tablets Watchtower was so desperate to discredit a few years ago).

For what it is worth, Ptolemys Canon records Nebuchadnezzar as coming to power in about 605BC, which would mean that (assuming the Bible is factually correct and accurate) the destruction of Jerusalem occurred in about 587 or 586BC.

16

From ABC News - Australia

by no-zombie in

this morning, this article appeared on our national online news channel; the abc.. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-10/jehovahs-witness-abuse-exposed/11561776.

no-zombie.

shepherdless

Yes, right on the front page of the website. My wife is in damage control this morning; sending me jw.borg links to Watchtower’s child abuse articles of a few months ago.

17

The serpent in the Garden can’t be secretly Satan

by Doug Mason in

we know that the serpent in the garden can’t be secretly satan, because the first time satan is mentioned by name is in a story chronologically after this one, and in that, he is said to be walking.

remember that the serpent was cursed to crawl on his belly all the rest of his days, but in the book of job, satan is still walking around and chatting with god as if they’d never had a falling out.

this is when god had to ask satan where he’s been, because his infallible omniscience obviously didn’t know.. so if he had to ask that of satan, who is later described as the lord of lies, then why would god believe him?

shepherdless

I remember seeing a documentary ages ago, that made exactly the same point.

49

Steven Unthank and his work.

by WHATSGOINGON in

hi everyone, .

i have been trying really hard to find the court case transcript where steven unthank was in court in australia and one of the wt lawyers or a wt spokesperson said the faithful and discreet slave does not exist.. i hope that this is correct i remember reading about this a long while back and would love to get evidence of this.. i found steven on facebook and messaged him about 6 months ago and he didn't respond, he probably wants to let all this go, and i don't blame him for that.. any suggestions would be very much appreciated.. thanks wgo..

shepherdless

Smiddy, could it have been a VCAT hearing using the Morwell Magistrates Court as a venue? It looks like he brought both a criminal complaint and Human Rights case.

In any event, if the criminal case was dismissed, I doubt there would be any publicly available record.

49

Steven Unthank and his work.

by WHATSGOINGON in

hi everyone, .

i have been trying really hard to find the court case transcript where steven unthank was in court in australia and one of the wt lawyers or a wt spokesperson said the faithful and discreet slave does not exist.. i hope that this is correct i remember reading about this a long while back and would love to get evidence of this.. i found steven on facebook and messaged him about 6 months ago and he didn't respond, he probably wants to let all this go, and i don't blame him for that.. any suggestions would be very much appreciated.. thanks wgo..

shepherdless

I didn’t listen to the whole podcast, but I think he says the relevant statements were made at a hearing of the Victorian Human Rights Commission, not the Latrobe Magistrates Court.

I believe such cases are heard in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. A quick check, and I notice that there is a case called:

Unthank v Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Australia ((Human Rights) [2013] VCAT 1810 (23 October 2013)

My guess is that is the one.

Also, I doubt you will get any judgement from the Vic Magistrates Court naming Unthank as a party, as the summons was a criminal complaint, which would be listed as “R v Governing Body of Jehovahs Witnesses”, or something like that. He was only an “informant” not a party in that.

34

Seeking advice

by Mizalisa in

jw
friends

i'm not a jw, nor was i raised jw.

for the past three years i have been involved with a man who was raised jw, who at first told me he no longer believed as they did, but who, it has become clear over time, has not told his family or religious community the truth.

he has strung me along for years, never introduced me to anyone in his life.

shepherdless

Commiserations, Mizalisa, but a very wise move, all the same.

I am a never-JW myself. I married someone who was completely out at the time. After kids came along, she got herself baptised.

You have dodged a bullet.

5

Hurricane in the Bahamas

by zeb in

winds of over 300 k an hour my heart goes out to you..

shepherdless

A bit of light humour:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-01/h-bombs-and-hurricanes/11468384

150

Cause of Mass Shootings Mental Health?

by blondie in

jw
friends

i have been sad to see so many groups and individuals say that the cause of these events are the mental status of the shooters.

i have looked over the backgrounds of these shooters, and few had medically identified mental health issues.

it is too easy to think that people shoot or kill other people because they are mentally ill.. actually, many or most people with real mental illnesses are most likely to be the victims of others.. i have been a volunteer with the organization called nami (national alliance of mental lillness) for 25 years now.

shepherdless

Or is there some other rational way you can define these types of weapons?

In Australia, the solution was to ban private individuals from owning any semi-automatic weapon. Obviously there were many outraged at the time, but people soon realised that pretty much any legal use of a firearm could be done with a bolt action or lever action firearm. Problem solved.

14

Evolution or Creation?

by Doug Mason in

what would the outcome be among people at this site if we were able to conduct a poll on belief in evolution or in creation?.

what would the outcome be if at the same time we asked for religious affiliation (including formal, informal, or none)?

doug.

shepherdless

Evolution (ie theory of natural selection) for me.

No religious affiliation. No superstitious beliefs.

7

Great Australian Kingdom Hall Sell Off

by gerry in

balga kingdom hall western australia sells for au$3.3 million.

https://www.onthehouse.com.au/property/wa/balga-6061/13-wallington-rd-balga-wa-6061-18287256.

shepherdless

“Balga congregation of Jehovahs Witnesses” is still a registered charity. I guess it is hard to keep up with the wheels rolling away off Jehovah’s crumbling chariot.

Last filing with the commission in March this year. It apparently has 128 “volunteers” which (given my past comparisons with other congregations) probably means it has, or had, around 128 publishers now up for redistribution.