Posts by Xander

11

This I like...Microwave weapons

by Xander in

jw
friends

http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/030202-ebomb01.htm

what's so great about these?.

it kills electronics without killing people.

Xander

http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/030202-ebomb01.htm

What's so great about these?

It kills electronics without killing people. Easy way to 'bomb somebody back to the stone age' without actually hurting anyone (well, obviously, loss of electronics sucks, but for a near third-world country like Iraq, this kind of thing could be VERY useful).

Instead of having to use TacNukes to get at deeply buried bunkers, just set one of these off over it. It will overload the powerlines and fry all the electronics in the bunker. Sure, they're still hundreds of feet underground, and sure they're still alive. But they ain't going anywhere, and they ain't doin NOTHING down there.

11

Shuttle Explosion

by RR in

jw
friends

my sympathies go out to the families of those lost in the shuttle explosion.. .

but you think with all the billions the society has they would have a message of comfort for these people.. .

a full page ad in the paper, a short spot on the telly.

Xander

The WT bastards WILL put out an article, and its form will be something along the lines of

And, of course, ONLY the WT is busy using a tragedy to foist its 'religion' on people right now.

28

Help - how to reason from 'best out there'?

by Xander in

okay, another discussion with the brother.

he did mention i was a bad influence, but, feh, he still talks and listens a little, so i'm not too worried.. i've got him whittled down to - "if nothing else, at least this org tries to follow the bible the closest, every other religion has serious flaws.".

this is kind of a hard one to beat, as, in the end, what the society says is generally quite good and positive.

Xander

Let him find the truth on his own.

If that wasn't so much easier said than done, there'd be no problems for any of us here, I fear.

to question the idea that God was going to kill people because they didn't listen to the mumbling 19 year old JW pioneer that came to their door offering magazines

I got an interesting jab in there. We had been talking about the massive 'growth' the org was experiencing. I pointed out that said 'growth' was below the population growth rate, then I was talking of all the places I'd been on business trips in the US, and how so few had even heard of the JW religion (which, honestly, for a long time was a surprise to me, as well. After all, weren't we the most important people in the universe? At the very crux of an epic struggle before god and satan? Surely, EVERYONE must at least have HEARD of us!?)

In any case, his response was "Well, you work in IT, the people you talk to won't be at their doors. It's not possible for EVERYBODY to be reached with the message."

"Wait, don't you still believe that EVERYBODY *must* be reached with the message before the end comes?"

Oops.

Oh, well, it didn't sink in.

2

Advice? Looking for.....

by Xander in

okay, strange request.

what i'm looking for is 'traditional' oriental or classic music pieces remixed/modernized.

for example, several songs on linkin park's "reanimation" cd - the opening, krwlng, to a lesser extent [riff raff] and my{dsmbr kinda what i'm looking for.. (sorry for the limited example set, but it's only like the second time i've heard music like this, and i can't recall where i heard things like this first).. thoughts?

Xander

Okay, strange request. What I'm looking for is 'traditional' oriental or classic music pieces remixed/modernized. For example, several songs on Linkin Park's "Reanimation" CD - the opening, Krwlng, to a lesser extent [Riff Raff] and My{Dsmbr kinda what I'm looking for.

(Sorry for the limited example set, but it's only like the second time I've heard music like this, and I can't recall where I heard things like this first).

Thoughts?

34

The USA and the 'Divine Mandate'

by Abaddon in

jw
friends

having had a bizzare (for a european) preoccupation with american history in the 19th c, i do find that current american foreign policy still has implict in it the religiously inspired rationale that enabled americans to seriously claim that the ethnic cleansing of the west, and the genocidal behaviours that this often entailed, was because god wanted them to do it.. from certain newspaper articles i've read it seems as if some of those in the white house believe that bush getting in despite not having the majority of the popular vote was a sign, and that 9/11 backed up their belief that bush was a man put in a certain place for a certain time and role.

that bible studies are a regular expected activity of white house staffers.. now, this makes me very nervous.

i prefer my religious fanatics to come from developing countries that may have weapons of mass destruction, rather than from the most powerful millitary country in the world with more weapons of mass destruction than the rest of the world put together.. obviously just because it was in a newspaper doesn't mean it's true (yesterday's guardian i think).. but what do you think?.

Xander

LOLOL - thx for that. Completely forgot!

I feel nothing but murder in my soul for the people responsible for this thing.

I would be right by your side kicking the shit, verbally or otherwise, out of them

So, where does Matthew 5:9 fit in here?

Matthew 6:15?

Matthew 26:52? This is a good one, as the situation applies.

"Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.

Or Matthew 5:38-39?

"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' [1] 39 But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Sorry, but at least, according to the bible, being a christian and fighting a war or even wanting to are incompatible.

If you believe christian lore, then jesus and all his disciples ended up dying without resistance to their oppressors.

You're doing such a fine example following in their footsteps, perry...

34

The USA and the 'Divine Mandate'

by Abaddon in

jw
friends

having had a bizzare (for a european) preoccupation with american history in the 19th c, i do find that current american foreign policy still has implict in it the religiously inspired rationale that enabled americans to seriously claim that the ethnic cleansing of the west, and the genocidal behaviours that this often entailed, was because god wanted them to do it.. from certain newspaper articles i've read it seems as if some of those in the white house believe that bush getting in despite not having the majority of the popular vote was a sign, and that 9/11 backed up their belief that bush was a man put in a certain place for a certain time and role.

that bible studies are a regular expected activity of white house staffers.. now, this makes me very nervous.

i prefer my religious fanatics to come from developing countries that may have weapons of mass destruction, rather than from the most powerful millitary country in the world with more weapons of mass destruction than the rest of the world put together.. obviously just because it was in a newspaper doesn't mean it's true (yesterday's guardian i think).. but what do you think?.

Xander

Wow, perry, well done, you've certainly gone to a lot of trouble to stop with the ad hominem attacks, dodging questions, and actually address some of Abaddon's thoughts.

Oh, wait, no you didn't.....

EDIT: Oh, fine, I'll comment:

It was thrust upon us after WWII

That's bullshit and you know it. I know it, everyone knows it. We TOOK it after WWII because it suited our leaders' goals. The US was mostly isolationist throughout the Victorian era, and almost missed WWI entirely. THE WORLD WOULD BE A MUCH BETTER PLACE IF WE HAD JUST STAYED OUT OF IT'S WAY.

We meddled in WWI, and fucked up. Instead of another stalemate - which is how wars in Europe had ended for the past 500 years - Germany was handed an embarassing armistice and that, with the depression, led DIRECTLY to Hitler coming to power.

The history of America is one of meddling, arrogance, and failure.

I feel nothing but murder in my soul for the people responsible for this thing.

Really? A year and a half later? You'd think you could calm down and attack the problem rationally by now. You'd then realize that enemy is AL QAEDA, not Iraq, and be more rational about who we should still be fighting.

Edited by - Xander on 31 January 2003 17:49:40

28

Help - how to reason from 'best out there'?

by Xander in

okay, another discussion with the brother.

he did mention i was a bad influence, but, feh, he still talks and listens a little, so i'm not too worried.. i've got him whittled down to - "if nothing else, at least this org tries to follow the bible the closest, every other religion has serious flaws.".

this is kind of a hard one to beat, as, in the end, what the society says is generally quite good and positive.

Xander

Indeed - thanks a bunch, that is much as I suspected, very useful!

(Honestly, I'm hoping that our next discussion occurs over email or ICQ or something so I have more time to compose my thoughts).

Thanks again!

55

What Is Your Animal Personality? (QUIZ)

by Gizmo in

jw
friends

ok ok i stole this from a site syn introduced me to, didn't know this black hole even existed, so blame the springbok...hehehehe.

http://quizilla.com/users/emryswolf/quizzes/what%20is%20your%20animal%20personality%3f.

hehehehe it's no gremlin, but er...close enough!.

Xander

Badger

rrrrrrowr

rrrrrowr rrrrrowwrr

grrrrr

28

Help - how to reason from 'best out there'?

by Xander in

okay, another discussion with the brother.

he did mention i was a bad influence, but, feh, he still talks and listens a little, so i'm not too worried.. i've got him whittled down to - "if nothing else, at least this org tries to follow the bible the closest, every other religion has serious flaws.".

this is kind of a hard one to beat, as, in the end, what the society says is generally quite good and positive.

Xander

he is following the dictates of the Bible, or the dictates of men in doing these things

That's where I kinda wedged him with the birthday thing above. He acknowledges that to his belief system, it is more important to follow the men who claim to speak for god than follow the bible. I think he's only okay with that obviously ridiculous idea because he feels they correctly speak for god/the bible.

Contradictions (ie, the 'blinking light') help a bit, doctrinal changes that stick (ie, 'New light') don't really, and translation errors or other guffaws might a little. (Sadly, he's totally okay with the UN library card excuse.)

I dunno, I fear nothing but time will have any effect. I'm sure we'll have more such conversations, and I'm sure I'll bounce more ideas of this board, thanks for your time/comments/suggestions so far!

28

Help - how to reason from 'best out there'?

by Xander in

okay, another discussion with the brother.

he did mention i was a bad influence, but, feh, he still talks and listens a little, so i'm not too worried.. i've got him whittled down to - "if nothing else, at least this org tries to follow the bible the closest, every other religion has serious flaws.".

this is kind of a hard one to beat, as, in the end, what the society says is generally quite good and positive.

Xander

Out of over 6,000 extant New Testament Greek manuscripts There has not been found a single New Tesament Greek manuscript containing the divine name in its full form YHWH. The Watchtower admitts this in their Bible encyclopedias.

However, appendix 1A of the Interlinear Translation claims to show a number of partial Greek manuscripts that contain the form YHWH (in original Hebrew, no less). I'm EXTREMELY SKEPTICAL of the validity of those 'partials', and am curious if anyone has any other thoughts on them?

I truly feel they might be the "best" (term used loosely) Christian religion out there. But the fact is, they still fail. I'm not a Christian BTW.

I'm not, either, hence the difficulty of arguing my position. He's much like I was at that age - completely unwilling to accept anything other than divine creation for humanity, so I must argue from a position of christianity as a valid religion, but the JWs as not.

That's a VERY difficult position for me to argue from, as my study of scripture has slacked off a lot, for obvious reasons.