Posts by Journeyman

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

Journeyman

That pic is not so bad (until you remember he's a married man) - but THIS one really does scream out embarrassment (and probably harassment):

26

It's official: JW celeb Nicolas King publicly out

by neat blue dog in

after years of speculation, jw movie star & chorus member nicolas king, who ironically starred as the bad guy espousing homosexuality in a jw movie, has coupled up with his performing partner and also performed in a church for pride month.. .

.

Journeyman

Good point, slim.
I was thinking something similar using deepfake technology, and since they're investing more in video editing and production I guess WT could start replacing the faces of video actors who are considered persona non grata with new, 'approved' ones - but AI generated ones are better as they remove any problem of the 'actor' later leaving the org in future.

6

dailly text 6/26

by pokertopia in

become imitators of me.—1 cor.

11:1.. when paul said this, did he ask us to imitate his preach activities?

it is not a new verse that starts anew, but a verse that ends the previous chapter, so what paul says to imitate is shown in the previous chapter.

Journeyman

I don't think the interpretation of daily text there is too bad - focusing on Paul's ministry as one example of something of his to imitate seems acceptable to me.

However, I do agree that quite often the org stretches the meaning and application of the daily verses it chooses, so as to try and make a link with their self-defined "faithful and discreet slave", to promote pioneering or Bethel service, or another of their own non-scriptural inventions.

One thing that interests me is that in the comments on that verse, they say the following (bold mine for emphasis):

Elders can imitate the apostle Paul not only by preaching from door to door but also by being ready and willing to give a witness on every occasion. (Eph. 6:14, 15) Like Paul, elders can use the time spent in the ministry to train others, including ministerial servants. (1 Pet. 5:1, 2) But elders should never be so busy caring for assignments that they have no time for the preaching work. (Matt. 28:19, 20) To remain balanced, they may on occasion need to say no to some assignments. After prayerful consideration, they may realize that they could not care for an assignment without neglecting the more important things, such as conducting family worship, having a full share in the preaching work, or training their children in that activity. They can be sure that Jehovah understands their desire to be balanced in all things.

It's interesting that they explicitly say elders may need to "on occasion" say no to assignments. They would never have said that in the past, I don't think, but sheer pressure on the brothers in recent years is making the org have to soften their official line despite there being a lack of new brothers coming forward, and I think that will have the effect of actually accelerating the shortage of men to take on assignments in future.

Although they don't give any detail on what "say no to some assignments" might mean - probably to try and cover themselves - that itself could backfire on them, as brothers will decide for themselves if they've had enough and what to turn down, and there's not a lot the CO or other elders can do about it apart from threaten to remove the elder's appointment, which would just make the situation worse.

Another case of the GB being stuck in a dilemma due to their past complacency and failings.

55

"Independent" Scotland joke!

by BoogerMan in

humza yousaf, scotland's first minister, said: "scotland, i'm afraid, is suffering because we are not independent.

" https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-66012834.

try telling that to scotland's tourists and many island communities: the ferry services are dying month by month, and the two new overdue & over-budget ferries justify a serious legal/criminal enquiry.. any bunch of incompetents who can't provide a small country with a ferry service and a legally binding contract to build 2 new boats - having controlled scotland since 2007 - has no credibility in claiming they could run a country!.

Journeyman

Not just dumb questions like would you vote for Scottish independence...

Actually, that's the most important question. It mirrors what was actually asked in 2014 (which the Scots voted against), and it focuses the mind. You can ask all the nuanced questions you like, but voters will need to be reminded that ultimately any referendum question boils down to a simple question: Stay in the UK, or leave it?

Again, that should be the lesson for everyone from the 2016 EU referendum(*). After all the debate, when it comes to putting an X in the box, there are no weaselly "maybe this, maybe that" multiple choice options in the end. You either vote IN or OUT (if you vote at all). It's not possible to have second choices or "sit on the fence" options.

It may be a good idea to have a second vote (or secondary box in the main referendum) to get some direction on how the first choice should be implemented (something which should probably have happened with the EU referendum too), but the basic question would have to be answered first - as The Clash said: "Should I stay or should I go?"

(*) - apart from the lesson: don't offer a referendum if you're not prepared to back up the result and you're going to throw your toys out of the pram and run away if you don't get your way, like the coward PM David Cameron did.

55

"Independent" Scotland joke!

by BoogerMan in

humza yousaf, scotland's first minister, said: "scotland, i'm afraid, is suffering because we are not independent.

" https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-66012834.

try telling that to scotland's tourists and many island communities: the ferry services are dying month by month, and the two new overdue & over-budget ferries justify a serious legal/criminal enquiry.. any bunch of incompetents who can't provide a small country with a ferry service and a legally binding contract to build 2 new boats - having controlled scotland since 2007 - has no credibility in claiming they could run a country!.

Journeyman

YouGov a ? Not a Company I would trust to return a result that is close to truth.

The Wikipedia link I posted previously summarising a variety of recent polling sources shows that a majority for Scottish independence is by no means large or consistent. The numbers swing from +/- 10%, with up to as many as 10% undecided, which could be enough to swing a vote either way on the day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_on_Scottish_independence

So Anony Mous is right to question whether there really is such an overwhelming demand for IndyRef2 right now.

And while the same could be said for the EU referendum of 2016 (where the majority to leave was small), the difference is that that vote was the first test of the public mandate in 40 years on the matter (thanks to stalling by successive governments), whereas Scotland had a vote just 9 years ago on the question of independence. By that reckoning, we should expect the next IndyRef vote in about 2054...

42

How do you feel about Brexit?

by SydBarrett in

jw
friends

the "independent scotland" thread got me thinking on this.

there are a lot of brits on this board.

what are your thoughts on brexit?

Journeyman

EU has precisely zero stakes in Brexit.

That's wrong in one major and important way: the EU had a vested interest in making Brexit as difficult as possible, to dissuade any other member states from thinking that leaving the union would be easy or desirable.

That's why the EU was so difficult in a lot of the negotiations and wanted to make the issue over a possible border with Northern Ireland so hard, while at the same time making sly comments about how they would "love to have the UK stay" etc (to try to sway the undecideds and win over the Remainers - although the latter wasn't hard, since in the eyes of many of them, the EU can do no wrong).

However, that's also why IMO the UK Brexit negotiating Tories were so unwise to talk and act like they were playing "hardball". They should've been smarter and more careful than that, knowing that the EU negotiators (people like Michel Barnier) were trying to make the departure of the UK as difficult and awkward as possible, whilst on the surface trying to sound the more reasonable and understanding parties.

The best way to counter someone who is trying to manipulate you is to smile sweetly, be as nice as possible in return, but then play them at their own game - not try to act and talk like the toughest guy in the room and butt heads in a misguided attempt to make the other side back down. In that sense, the EU negotiators played a much more crafty and well-planned game (apart from Juncker who occasionally got caught voicing his real views). But then, the UK also had the major (self-inflicted) disadvantage of having first Theresa May (too weak) then Boris Johnson (well, we all know how well that turned out) as leaders at the time!

26

It's official: JW celeb Nicolas King publicly out

by neat blue dog in

after years of speculation, jw movie star & chorus member nicolas king, who ironically starred as the bad guy espousing homosexuality in a jw movie, has coupled up with his performing partner and also performed in a church for pride month.. .

.

Journeyman

It always used to be that if someone appeared in a prominent picture in the publications and then left the truth they would be removed and the picture will be changed

they can’t do that with old videos

Exactly. I remember, for example, that the cover of the old JWs and Education brochure was changed because apparently one of the girls pictured there left the religion (below). Of course the change was noticed, but it was easily made. Not so now with all the embedded video online and in broadcasts, meetings, assemblies and conventions. This problem will grow as more and more people leave the org over the years, and there are more and more video files with lots more people in to have to review to pick out the 'unwanted' faces.

I wouldn't be surprised if the org will have to keep a file indexing all the people they've used and which videos they are in, so they can calculate the 'damage' if one of them leaves, especially if someone becomes a high-profile apostate (which might happen one day). Hey, maybe they've already been doing that, especially since the experience with AMIII.

26

It's official: JW celeb Nicolas King publicly out

by neat blue dog in

after years of speculation, jw movie star & chorus member nicolas king, who ironically starred as the bad guy espousing homosexuality in a jw movie, has coupled up with his performing partner and also performed in a church for pride month.. .

.

Journeyman

Oh dear. Another embarrassment for the WT org. If they didn't notice (or turned a blind eye to) the signs of the way Mr King was leaning before, they're unmistakable now!

As I said in other posts, this (and AMIII's 'disappearance' too) are examples of the problem the org has created for itself by giving 'favoured' individuals high profiles in their videos, dramas and ~~televangelist~~ JW Broadcasting channel. If said individuals turn apostate or otherwise misbehave according to their rules, it makes it much more public and embarrassing and leaves the org with the dilemma of whether to remove all media featuring the persona non grata or leave it. Either choice creates awkward questions.

Well, as someone once said, you reap what you sow!

42

God and Unicorns

by Sea Breeze in

atheist scientists now agree that "elasmotherium sibiricu" lived with humans.

all they had to do was read their bible to know that.

job 39:9 “will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?”.

Journeyman

As markweatherill says, It's the KJV which mentions unicorns, not the Hebrew Bible.

According to Strong's Concordance, the most common rendering of the original Hebrew word in those verses is "wild ox". Some, like the NWT, use "wild bull", but the two are close enough to be indistinguishable for the purposes of understanding the meaning: a powerful beast with horns.

Of the most common translations, only the King James has the fanciful rendering of "unicorn", but that's hardly surprising. The New KJV also now renders it "wild oxen" in line with others.

I've never bought into the argument of some that the old KJV is so great and should be clung to because it is "poetic", "traditional", etc. The "unicorn" rendering is a classic example of why it is not a very good translation, although I suppose it served the purpose of getting the Bible in some form into the hands of the masses in its time, rather than remaining a preserve of the Church only.

55

"Independent" Scotland joke!

by BoogerMan in

humza yousaf, scotland's first minister, said: "scotland, i'm afraid, is suffering because we are not independent.

" https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-66012834.

try telling that to scotland's tourists and many island communities: the ferry services are dying month by month, and the two new overdue & over-budget ferries justify a serious legal/criminal enquiry.. any bunch of incompetents who can't provide a small country with a ferry service and a legally binding contract to build 2 new boats - having controlled scotland since 2007 - has no credibility in claiming they could run a country!.

Journeyman

Could someone or anyone clarify why they think Scotland is a joke?

Ok, that's a fair question, and I apologise for repeating that term in quoting LoveUni's comment. I did not intend to suggest that Scotland or the Scots themselves are "a joke", however I do feel that the time and effort expended on this issue are deeply misguided, at a time when there are common threats (economics, international politics, crisis of democracy, crime) to be tackled which IMO, should be faced by the UK together, not by fragmenting into constituent parts.

I think my second comment better summed up my view that behind all the posturing and politics on both sides (some of which IS a "joke" in a sick sort of way), the possibility of Scottish independence is a looming tragedy for all parts of the United Kingdom.

If the pressure is maintained by pro-independence Scots and they successfully rouse enough support for another IndyRef by selling this idea of some kind of anti-English "break the yoke" utopia in which Scotland can then somehow slot neatly back into a union with the EU, then of course a referendum cannot be put off indefinitely in a democracy, but it would be massively wasteful and damaging to the whole of the Union IMO, and so that is why I would prefer to see desire for the whole thing fade among Scots themselves, and that in turn is why I am not sorry to see divisions and flaws in pro-independence parties exposed.

While the SNP appeared to be riding high, they were able to fool many voters into thinking they had the answers, but now let those who think independence is some sort of ideal end goal see the reality. I know of, and see comments from many pro-union Scots who have been very worried at the direction that Scotland has been taking under the almost total grip of the SNP, and so will be relieved to see a light shone on their activities. I don't know whether the SNP really are/were pro-independence or were just using that for leverage (as some of the more radical/committed pro-Indy Scots seem to believe), but either way, I feel they have been playing with fire by stoking up the whole IndyRef issue.

Sadly, the UK is so divided politically now (as discussed on the Brexit thread) that I don't see the possible shrinking of the SNP's power leading to much more rallying around the Union though. It seems polling on the Scottish independence issue in Scotland is usually very close, with no more than about 8-10% either way (and up to 10% undecided, enough to possibly tip any result), which means whatever the outcome, if a referendum is forced through it's likely to be very divisive and damaging to the body politic, just as the EU referendum vote was. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_on_Scottish_independence

Really I think the people of this island would be much better together than fragmented, especially if it did come to trying to change or rebuild the damaged political system that we currently have. My fear though, is that the "me and mine first, and stuff the rest of you" principle which we've all been fed on since at least the Thatcher years of the 1980s will predominate, and for me, the demand for Scottish independence is just one symptom of that. Ironic really, since the modern resurgence of Scots Nats was fed precisely as a counter-reaction to her policies.