Posts by Xanthippe

Excellent. Hilarious that the off-camera assistant gets Jackson a fresh glass of water as soon as he is asked, does your religion accept corporal punishment of children. It's almost like saying, you're gonna need this!

49

A philosophical question .... what does the word God mean to you personally ?

by Finkelstein in

to myself it means to seek knowledge and understanding of are selves and the world in which we live.. unfortunately history has shown whenever one tries to connect to god and of his knowledge through men who say they themselves are connected to god through spiritual wifi ie.

gb members of the jehovah's witnesses for example, one usually ends up finding a accumulation of only man's acquired knowledge.

over thousands of years of trying to connect to a god(s) for help and answers, mankind has eventually relinquished himself to seeking answers through scientific investigative acquired knowledge of the world in which we live in.

Xanthippe

It's something I used to believe before I did any proper reading about evolution and theology. That's what it means to me.

22

Daily Mirror article about JWs destroying evidence

by Tornintwo in

i can't see another thread but maybe i missed it:.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/jehovahs-witnesses-paedophile-sex-abuse-7278824#comments-section.

Xanthippe

The Jehovah’s Witness church is believed to have sent a memo telling them to get rid of notes taken during “judicial meetings” with alleged sex offenders.

It comes after Judge Lowell Goddard – the head of Britain’s independent child sex abuse inquiry – warned institutions that NO paperwork relating to abuse claimsshould be shredded.

The Sunday People revealed 15 months ago that the church was accused of covering for paedophiles in congregations.

It is accused of brainwashing abused women and girls into not going to police so it can keep its image, preferring to deal with attackers at “judicial” meetings.

A former church elder said: “This latest move is disgusting.

"It gives elders an excuse to stand in court and say they have no paperwork relating to judicial meetings and can’t remember details.”

Under the church’s “audit”, basic details of what the abuser was accused of, when the assault was alleged to have happened and outcomes of such judicial meetings will be kept on file.

But more detailed notes, usually handwritten by elders during the meetings, could be destroyed.

The Jehovah’s Witness church failed to answer criticism over the memo.

But it said: “We abhor child abuse and view it as a heinous crime. Any suggestion that Jehovah Witnesses cover up child abuse is absolutely false.”

Last year we told how Louise Palmer, 38 , was ignored by her parents and church elders when she revealed her brother raped her as a child.

He was jailed for 14 years at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

In Newcastle upon Tyne, elders refused to talk to police about ministerial servant Gordon Leighton , 53, who was jailed for 13 years in 2013 for attacks on children.

In Barry, South Wales, they did not help police probing elder Mark Sewell , 53, jailed for 14 years in 2014 for sex attacks.

150

Start A Butterfly Garden!

by Bonsai in

jw
friends

time to take a break from debating religion.

take in a breath of fresh air and be healed by the wonders of nature around you.. how many of you have a garden?

how many have a nice flower patch to go with your vegetable garden?

Xanthippe

These Astrantias are similar to mine. They come in many colours from white, to pink to red and the butterflies love them.

150

Start A Butterfly Garden!

by Bonsai in

jw
friends

time to take a break from debating religion.

take in a breath of fresh air and be healed by the wonders of nature around you.. how many of you have a garden?

how many have a nice flower patch to go with your vegetable garden?

Xanthippe

Theses are teasels which the which the Red Admirals and, as you can see, the Goldfinches love. They have purple flowers before they go to seed as in the picture. They're architectural for the winter as well.

24

What do you think of the phrase " You don't have all the facts, and I am not in a position to tell you what I know"?

by KateWild in

jw
friends

what do you think of the phrase " you don't have all the facts, and i am not in a position to tell you what i know"?.

has this phrase ever been used with you?

i have my own opinions at present but i don't want to express them yet as they are subject to change.. kate xx.

Xanthippe

It could be someone just protecting the boundaries of their friend, telling you there are private things here that they have promised not to divulge. It's difficult for me to comment Kate without knowing the circumstances xx

150

Start A Butterfly Garden!

by Bonsai in

jw
friends

time to take a break from debating religion.

take in a breath of fresh air and be healed by the wonders of nature around you.. how many of you have a garden?

how many have a nice flower patch to go with your vegetable garden?

Xanthippe

I love butterflies and I do get a lot of bees in my garden. I have a Buddleia davidii but they also seem to like aquilegia, not the fancy hybrids though. They also like astrantia, I have a white variety which is very beautiful.

When my daughter and I went to Blarney Castle in Ireland a few years ago they had a walkway planted with teasels which were covered in red admirals. I grow it in my garden now and it also attracts goldfinches who like the seeds.

We get a lot of peacocks, orange tips, tortoiseshells and some blues. We also get a species a bumblebee which makes burrows in the soil.

42

No more pain sorrow or crying in new system!!!!!!!

by atomant in

"and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain.

for the old world and its evils are gone forever.

" rev.

Xanthippe

What if from God’s standpoint, the universe is actually just one large ‘something,’ and we are all so intertwined that in order for one person in existence to be reconciled to God, we all must be? What if to him we are really just all one creation with no real borders of separation between us? I mean, we are ‘real’ and sort of solid, but some atoms pass right through us. So that ‘border’ between our skin and the air ceases to exist on some level. What if that is true on the larger scale, that only from our perspective are we separate, but to God we are all the same, not just in equality, but in reality? Sort of each a thread in the tapestry, to make an analogy.

Interesting, almost Eastern philosophy. It Hot does seem strange though that we have to reach for unusual explanations for why we have to follow God's rules. I would think the obvious answer would be because they make everyone happy and their lives successful. Sadly they don't, so many choose not to follow them because they don't bring happiness to everyone and even make some people very unhappy.

So your explanation that there may be some physical law in the universe that we don't yet know about that means we all have to obey God or the universe won't work and our earth will never be 'right' seems just an excuse when you could more easily say we don't know why we must obey God. Then you would have to ask is the Bible requiring that we do things that God wants or what humans have invented?

Also as people try to be happy you may think that their different needs are causing the problems in the world. Some people want to work for a living for example and others think it's ok to steal. That's what we have laws for. To protect communities from law- breakers we have the criminal justice system.

Some people want peace but others want war. We are trying to frame international laws to deal with this and prevent human rights abuses. Also for the first time an arms treaty has been signed at the UN to try to prevent illegal arms sales.

I also believe we will find a cure for cancer one day and that gene therapy will prevent congenital problems that cause infant deaths. Plus UNICEF continues its efforts in developing countries to vaccinate infants and young children and WATERAID aims to provide clean water globally by 2030 to reduce water born infections that kill babies.