In general, the best thing about the Witnesses are the people in the congregations, especially when they're not invested with authority. Some invested with a degree of authority that don't become full of themselves are nice people too. When I leave the JW's someday, that's what I will miss - the people. Nothing else.
Eden
no longer a ms ........................... can't give details atm, for it might be a dead-giveaway and it ain't quite over yet.
but, it really taught me one thing: if you're trying to fade or stay in, trust no one.
and i mean no one.. eden.
Hi Minimus
A few things have happened.
The Elders let me off the hook. I feel that a couple of them are clearly avoiding close contact with me. Most others, all normal.
My wife decided she didn't wanted me to prepare the Watchtower study or the Highlights with her because I make far too many remarks that were at odds with the teachings from the "slave". [read = she sees me as an apostate] She shuns any conversation that becomes critic towards the beliefs of the JW's, although she is receptive to critics towards the GB. Go figure.
My son decided he doesn't want to be a JW anymore. Mind you, his decision has more to do with sheer lazyness than with my personal experience, which he isn't full aware of. He wanted to dissociate, but we persuaded him, for the sake of keeping the JW relatives talking with him, that he simply become inactive, to which he agreed. Nevertheless, this is causing great distress to his mother.
I partook of the emblems on the last memorial, albeit in the privacy of my home. No lightning struck me, nor did I feel born again. All normal.
Eden
the just of the account, two people enter a city and can not .
find lodging.
an old man invite them to stay with him (levite).. this is so weird, all the men of the city come to have sex with.
bohm
EdenOne: If you wish to claim the authors of the bible did not view women as a sort of property it is not a very logical argument to say people in general viewed women as property at the time. In fact, that would seem to support my view.
I was countering your implicit notion that the writer of Judges was exceptional in his view of women; I merely argued that the writer of Judges is just being consistent with the worldview of his time.
Eden
2014-03-29 adjustment to financing kingdom hall and assembly hall construction worldwide.
pdf version: http://adf.ly/juxnc.
instruction: press the 'skip ad' button top right, you should then see the download screen more easily.
Heads up: How come a letterhead in ITALIAN has the text in ENGLISH ?
Eden
just finished reading this book ("jesus, interrupted: revealing the hidden contradictions in the bible (and why we don't know about them)" by bart d. ehrman.
very, very interesting reading - i strongly recommend it.. eden.
Just finished reading this book ("Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don't Know About Them)" by Bart D. Ehrman. Very, very interesting reading - I strongly recommend it.
Eden
the just of the account, two people enter a city and can not .
find lodging.
an old man invite them to stay with him (levite).. this is so weird, all the men of the city come to have sex with.
bohm
You said:
it show how the bible view women as a sort of property.
Not so. It merely reflects the worldview of the people who lived in that time and age. Have you read the mesopotamian Code of Ur-Nammu [circa 2100 BC]? you will find similar views on women as property.
Eden
the just of the account, two people enter a city and can not .
find lodging.
an old man invite them to stay with him (levite).. this is so weird, all the men of the city come to have sex with.
I have to concur. Judges chapter 19 to 21 is a propaganda piece written in support of a monarchic system in Israel. In short, is saying: "Look at what happened when there was no King in Israel [i.e. no centralized, unified authority] and everyone was doing what they felt was right in their own eyes [i.e. near anarchy], which resulted in useless wars and massive loss of lives and the near extinction of the Benjaminite tribe".
Although there might have been some truth in the events described [a sexual crime that triggers a civil war in Israel between Benjamin and the other tribes] , the account actually puts Yahweh in a terrible light, for He is consulted in an oracle three times, endorsing the 11 tribes to go to war against Benjamin, and the first two times the Israelites suffer terrible defeats, only coming out victorious after the third strike, and even then, the deaths on the confederated army are vastly greater than the deaths on the Benjaminite side.
Eden
a few things noticed in last nights annual, jesus who?
gathering:.
1: only one scripture from the gospels was read or cited.
Same outline and same illustration here in my part of the world (Western Europe). I also noticed the heavy emphasys on Jehovah rather than in Jesus, whose memorial we were supposed to be observing.
Eden
been wanting to talk about this for a while... three years ago on this forum my friend cedars brought this up.
let's do it!.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sykaxxpyos.
It's a GREAT idea - but very, very hard to execute.
Perhaps you could reach a much broader audience if you could make a movie, not about Ray Franz per se, but about the rejection of religious bigotry.
If you could then pick up a couple of other case-studies, dealing with the catholic church and another from the protestant field, then combining it with Ray Franz's history, THEN you would reach a much much vaster audience.
Here's an example on the catholic field: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyacinthe_Loyson
Eden
given my new, unincumbered state of mind, i am rereading a few favourites and ones i haven't read before.
i'm reading east of eden again and have hey, nostradomus!
and 1984 next on the list (never read it!).
1984 is a dense book, but well worth the reading, and it will leave you scratching your head because the resemblances between the police-state described there and the WTS organization is mind-blowing.
Eden
