Posts by scotsman

119

Hamas Founder DEAD

by Yerusalyim in

are we ignoring the fact that israel finally took out ahmed yassin, the founder of hamas, which has killed so many innocent people?.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4575552/.

my opinion...what took so long?

Your raise an interesting point as to the reasons for "ongoing" terrorism. While you could point at religious sectarianism, nationalism and poverty for the roots of Northern Irish terrorism, but you'd now have to include drugs, racism and power for current reasons. Take a trip to Ireland, and find out. I'd also suggest that everyone pays a visit to Israel. It depressed me incredibly.

Again, I would stress that I am not merely saying that poverty causes terrorism, but that to seek one cause for it in Islam is also fallacious. It's like trying to find one cause for the rise of Hitler. And while the inidvidual terrorists named here may not be poor, they would probably argue that they fight on behalf of the poor and disenfranchised (not that I would agree with that).

31

Restrictions

by ozziepost in

jw
friends

there is a practice among jws of applying restrictions to individual members.

it forms part of the judicial process and, although having no scriptural basis, is applied automatically to erring ones who are judged to be repentant.. so, for a period of time, usually up to 12 months, the individual is not allowed to share in commenting at meetings, offering public prayer, appearing on the platform in congregation meetings, or in serving as an auxiliary pioneer.. as with any man-made law, difficulties arise from this practice.

although no announcement has been made to the congregation, individual congregation members can have their curiosity aroused.. for example, take the real-life situation where a sole parent has been placed on restrictions by a judicial committee.

scotsman

I recall a conversation I had with a C.O. in which he agreed that a private reproof was worse than a public one. We'd had an elder's wife privately reproved and she'd been a pioneer. The level of speculation that arose was incredible, whereas a public one usually left it cut-and-dry for the r&f and didn't lead to gossip.

I so don't miss that JW chatter.

66

Moscow Bans JW's

by HoChiMin in

jw
friends

it must be satan?

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/r/russia_jehovahs_witnesses?site=apweb&section=home&template=default.

mar 27, 12:26 pm est.

scotsman

To those in favour of the ban: if it applied in your country of residence, would you turn in your JW relatives to the authorities? Would you have your children/parents/siblings sent to prison for their beliefs?

27

The people who write Watchtower articles - what do you know about them?

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

i don't know if this topic has been discussed before, but i have some questions about how witnesses get to write articles in the watchtower.. while reading a few of maximums' posts from 2 years ago, there was one from barbara anderson who briefly described the internal politics between the editors of the awake and the editors of the watchtower.. i'm more interested in the watchtower writers though than the awake, as this is supposed to be the "spiritual food" we are all to take in and absorb.. so how does one get to be a watchtower writer?

do you have to be able to write well?.

what are your experiences with any writers you have met?

scotsman

I was friends with a chap that ended up in the Writing Dept of a non-Brooklyn Bethel. When I started University, and was an elder, he asked me to carry out some research for him in our Divinity Library. For one particular article he wanted me to find material that made a direct connection between Babylonian festivities and present New Year celebrations. The books he had me looking at were mainly late 19th and early 20th century and it felt like grasping at straws.

He was a decent guy with great taste in music and a cool and clever wife. Hopefully he'll escape.

7

Not Sure If This Has Been Said Already 911 days seperated 9/11 and Madrid

by m0nk3y in

.

i don't recall this being mentioned on the news and i havent read it anywhere .. including in this forum .. was anyone else aware ?.

http://www.snopes.com/rumors/madrid.asp

scotsman

Of course, I replied THEN read the link, hey presto dum dum Scotsboy. Coincedence or planned - does it make a difference?

119

Hamas Founder DEAD

by Yerusalyim in

are we ignoring the fact that israel finally took out ahmed yassin, the founder of hamas, which has killed so many innocent people?.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4575552/.

my opinion...what took so long?

scotsman

I may be wrong, but there was no suicide bomber on the Pan Am flight that exploded above Lockerbie. I didn't state that all terrorists were poor. But poverty does provide much of the backdrop to life in Gaza. My reason for mentioning poverty was in response to the the simplistic notion that Islamic terrorism arises from a purely religious programme. Religion is involved in Northern Ireland, but the reasons behind the terrorism are complex.

119

Hamas Founder DEAD

by Yerusalyim in

are we ignoring the fact that israel finally took out ahmed yassin, the founder of hamas, which has killed so many innocent people?.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4575552/.

my opinion...what took so long?

scotsman

It's funny how wise so many of us on this board are. Someone from the UN should be monitoring and we'd have world peace before Easter.

119

Hamas Founder DEAD

by Yerusalyim in

are we ignoring the fact that israel finally took out ahmed yassin, the founder of hamas, which has killed so many innocent people?.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4575552/.

my opinion...what took so long?

scotsman

while it's nice'n handy to blame religious extremism for the causes of terrorism, am I the only person that thinks poverty and extremely poor living conditions also have something to do with it. There's no sole cause to the conflict, just as there's no simple solution. Apart from those neutron bombs of course.

54