moscow upholds ban on jehovah's witnesses
by maria danilova.
associated press writer leader of russian jehovah's witnesses, vasily kalin, right, jehovah's witnesses' canadian lawyer john burns, center, and spokesman for the jehovah's witnesses christian presber, stand in front of the moscow city court, wednesday, june 16, 2004. a moscow court upheld a ban on the city's jehovah's witnesses, ending a six-year case that reflected growing pressure to stifle minority religious groups in russia, where orthodox christianity is predominant.
I don't quite agree with those who say that JWs will/may grow stronger with this ban. I think today's world is different, information readly available. This ban has the potential to trigger the curiosity out of those trapped in, about what is really the reason for the ban.
When I was a JW I thought there was little opportunities for discussion about religious issues. This ban will surely cause discussions among JWs and, hopefully, put their critical/analytical thinking to work.
Observador
.
i was watching cnn and heard this announced.
i also found this article at the following link.. http://www.iht.com/articles/525323.html
Hi Ranch.
Thanks for the link to the article.
Observador.
with my phd!
finally after all these long years.
the funny thing tho is that i'm walking through the ceremony, but not getting my diploma... yet.
Leolaia, I join the folks in congratulating you.
I love your posts and hope you continue to share them with us, even after becoming a... doctor.
Way to go!
Observador.
i was looking in one of the more recent copies of the awake and there is a question from the readers on pinatas.
i won't go into the whole thing, but in the response, at one point, the awake says that (paraphrase) "the bible puts birthdays in a bad light.
however (and i love that word, 'cuz it implies, 'well, we've changed our minds again') if a practice has no current false religious attachments, then it is up to each individual to decide what they will do".....that's not verbatim, but it's close enough.
each Christian must make a personal decision as to whether he will follow such a custom.
Very good points raised, but what I like the most is when they say "must make" a personal decision..., instead of the more natural and logical sentence "each Christian can/may make a personal decision..." since it involves a permission to do something.
The reason I don't like "must make" is because it sounds like they're saying "hey, you're such grown up people. You have to make your own decisions now", as if it were the "christians" who created all these elaborated rules on what can and cannot be done and now want the WT to decide for them what to do.
The same wording is used on the blood articles. Very clever, in my opinion.
canada refuses to change its name to ronald reagan, by andy borowitz
canada today rebuffed a proposal made by republicans in congress to change its name to ronald reagan.. .
the controversial proposal, which appeared to have broad backing from congressional republicans, was suggested as a way for canada to show its appreciation for the kindness and friendship that mr. reagan extended during his eight years as presidentbut moments after the proposal was floated, canadian prime minister paul martin gave the notion of renaming his country ronald reagan a frosty thumbs-down.. .
very nice!
i just had a startling conversation with a brother in my congregation at today's meeting.
he asked me if i had read the two study articles of the june 15th 2004 watchtower magazine on blood transfusions, particularly the banned and not-banned blood products.
he told me he found it absolutely idiotic the way the argumentation for banning some blood products and not others was presented.
The comparison is apparently to the symbolic value of Jesus? blood.
I wrote short article in the form of a summary about these two articles specifically. You can find it here (in Portuguese, sorry). But the point I wanted to make was this: under "observações", my very first observation has exactly to do with the quote above.
http://www.observandoomundo.com/artigo.php?cod=65
I mean, the christian, when making use of a blood transfusion, has no intention of replacing the "blood of Christ". Why not? Simple: the blood of Christ theologically redeems a person from the adamic sin and death. A transfusion, on the other hand, cannot and will not replace that; it simply avoids a premature and needless death.
The other points deal with WT language trickery to fool the unattentive "brothers".
That's it.
Observador.
the 2 jw convension-halls in the netherlands have now a bank/credit-card accespoint to give contribution to the wts with your bank or creditcards.
do you know this happens in other country's?
it is really strange to see that brs&srs are giving donations with their visa & mastercards.
Blondie,
Badger, the WTS has been taking checks (and cashing checks) for some time now.
you're right about the two points above. There is no significant differences between donating real cash, check or... credit card withdrawal. That's why I think that if Jesus would do anything, as some have wondered, he would've had reason to do it much earlier.
What I hope, by the Soc doing this, is that it will become more clear for those who are already questioning things on the kingdom world, the true nature of this religion. The more they beg, the better.
On the other point, you're right again. Just think about this: not much more than 70 years ago the organization would despise all religions. Now they not only welcome but even beg to be recognized and called a religion. That's why, folks, I think this organization will be around for a long long time, such is its ability to re-invent itself.
When I find out anything about the conventions in Brazil, I'll let you all know.
Observador.
there used to be a time when one knew who the president of the watchtower society was, and with that in mind, one could sense some kind of leadership.
perhaps witnesses then, felt that "the society" was keeping up with jehovah's celestial chariot.
maybe you felt in the 80s and 90s that you had to keep "in step with jehovah's organization" because it was making bigger steps each year - and with each new release, maybe you felt "privileged" to be a part of the "spiritual paradise.".
Hello Stradman.
Thanks for sheding some light on this most elusive and mysterious group.
Ohhh, and may I be the first to welcome you to the board!
Observador.
first of all, shame on these brothers and sisters for not following the society's strict prohibition against private, non-official internet web pages.
now, on a more funny note, check out the picture gallery: .
http://www.sunpoint.net/~turkuenglish/salo_060702.htm.
And they still have the nerve to say that "Jehovah's people are so beautiful".
http://www.sunpoint.net/~turkuenglish/t/tikkala/6.jpg
Observador.
my parents kicked me out of their home 3 years ago when i started to question things.
i was engaged to a ministerial servant and a regular pioneer shortly before everything happened.
although i haven't been da'd or df'd i have been labeled an "apostate.
And I love you too, Chevy.
Thanks for sharing the letter with us. I'm thinking of writing a letter to my parents in the same style as yours.
