Posts by Island Man

13

DNA analysis establishes modern-day Lebanese to be ancient Canaanites

by jwleaks in

wcontinuity and admixture in the last five millennia of levantine history from ancient canaanite and present-day lebanese genome sequences.

the american journal of human genetics .

july 27, 2017. summary.

Island Man

I knew it! I knew it! I knew it when I saw the way those hips moved! Hips don't lie - Shakira is part Canaanite!

33

Beautiful new kingdom song

by slimboyfat in

has anyone noticed this new song?

i think it's absolutely beautiful.

it's got a film score quality about it, with depth and feeling.

Island Man

Island Man. Just to be clear I am saying I think the music and the voice are pish. My dislike of that sort of sentimental, sacrine-sweet, "music" is not a sign of immaturity as you suggested but of good taste.
The fact that it is a propaganda tool of an evil cult is a separate issue.

Thanks for the clarification, cofty.

23

The average Witness will continue to follow Watchtower leadership whether right or wrong.

by UnshackleTheChains in

i hate to say this, but given my own experience as a jw for almost 3 decades, i am beginning to believe the average jw will continue to look to and be guided by the gb regardless of whether they are right or wrong.. despite all the scandals and negative media attention the watchtower organisation is receiving, life seems to go on as normal in jw land.

it's truly bizarre!!.

clearly, the gbs tactic of mostly hiding away from the media is clearly working for them.

Island Man

The psychology of JWs is not unlike the psychology of a crazed fan of a soccer team (or other competitive sport). The fan supports his team no matter what. If a member of the team is penalized by the umpire for an infringement of the rules, then the fan gets upset with the umpire. His team can do no wrong. It's the umpire's fault. He's either incompetent or he's supporting the other team.

It's also the same psychology of supporters of political parties. Trump is the best president the US has ever seen and no amount of hard, disconfirming facts or scandals will change their mind about that.

What the JWs are exhibiting is not zeal for God, but a prideful, worshipful, patriotic allegiance to the organization and its Governing Body. It's quite ironic that JWs condemn blind political patriotism while they themselves are clearly victims of blind patriotism to an organization.

14

Watchtower's unscriptual boasting about works

by Diogenesister in

nothing big here, just a little musing on this scripture at ephesians 2.8-9 that definately states that only faith saves, not works, in case men start to boast about their amazing works.

"8for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of god, 9not of works, that no one would boast.

well my word, i would definately say witnesses *do nothing but boast*, especially now on jw broadcast.

Island Man

Another text to add to the list is Luke 18:9-14. Watchtower and JWs often behave exactly like the pharisee in that parable.

25

The "Jesus is Michael" teaching soon to go?

by Island Man in

could the teaching that jesus is michael the archangel, be soon to be discarded?

first of all, watchtower is big on image and this is one of those teachings that paint the jw religion as being rather kooky and heretical.

secondly, this teaching is not an original watchtower teaching but one they inherited from their second adventist ancestry.

Island Man

"Does a single JW still care about this doctrine?"

Umm.. that's kinda my point. JWs don't care much about this teaching - and yet it's harming the image of the organization - not in the eyes of JWs but in the eyes of potential recruits outside the org. That makes it a "costly" teaching which is earning them very little or no returns.

25

The "Jesus is Michael" teaching soon to go?

by Island Man in

could the teaching that jesus is michael the archangel, be soon to be discarded?

first of all, watchtower is big on image and this is one of those teachings that paint the jw religion as being rather kooky and heretical.

secondly, this teaching is not an original watchtower teaching but one they inherited from their second adventist ancestry.

Island Man

"What brought that question to your mind all of a sudden?"

I've noticed that many never-JW critics of Watchtower bring up this teaching to highlight just how crazy and heretical JW doctrine is. There is even a relatively famous youtube cartoon clip on JWs that feature that teaching to point out the craziness of JW teachings.

So it's a teaching that brings the organization a fair amount of ridicule and negative publicity among other christians. Balance that against the fact that it's not a very core teaching, and it's easy to conclude that it's a teaching that they can do better without, and is therefore likely to be discarded.

25

The "Jesus is Michael" teaching soon to go?

by Island Man in

could the teaching that jesus is michael the archangel, be soon to be discarded?

first of all, watchtower is big on image and this is one of those teachings that paint the jw religion as being rather kooky and heretical.

secondly, this teaching is not an original watchtower teaching but one they inherited from their second adventist ancestry.

Island Man

"Way too many questions to answer then with Rev. 12:7"

Those are leading questions concocted by Watchtower for the purpose of supporting their claim that Jesus is Michael. Those questions don't pose a problem for other Christian groups.

33

Beautiful new kingdom song

by slimboyfat in

has anyone noticed this new song?

i think it's absolutely beautiful.

it's got a film score quality about it, with depth and feeling.

Island Man

I have stated before that it sounds like a score for an epic movie like a Lord of the Rings type movie. I have to admit I like the music too myself and I'm not ashamed to say it. Just because an organization is corrupt, manipulative, exploitative, deceitful, etc doesn't mean you have to be ashamed to admit that one of their songs has good music. Saying you like one of their songs doesn't mean you're now endorsing the organization or its practices. Let's not be petty. Let's not fall into the trap of stigmatizing where you just condemn everything that comes from a particular source as bad or distasteful just because it's a source you disapprove of. True maturity means you're big enough to acknowledge whatever little good there may be that comes from your worst or most hated enemy.

Just to illustrate my point, I'll tell you a little story about a Caribbean nation called Grenada. Remember the US military operation in Grenada in 1983? In the late 1970s there was a coup there and a Marxist regime started a communist revolution that ultimately imploded violently in 1983. But during the time of the Marxist regime, Grenada became like a kind of protege of Cuba and to a lesser extent, the USSR. Lots of Grenadians were able to go to Cuban universities to study to become doctors, engineers, etc. And lots of skilled technicians from Cuba came to Grenada to help set up various industries like soap making and canning etc. They even started building the Island's first international airport which Reagan was worried would be used for military purposes. So there was a fair amount of technological and industrial investments made by Cuba and USSR to ensure that the Grenada revolution succeeded. Of course Cuba and USSR no doubt saw some strategic benefit for themselves in having Grenada as an ally due to its location.

But of course, living under a Marxist regime during the height of the cold war was not all good. There were abuses like imprisoning, torturing and sometimes killing dissenters or those suspected of covertly working with the CIA to undermine or topple the revolution. By late 1983 a festering division within the Marxist regime resulted in one of the two "joint leaders" being placed under house arrest by the other. Later he was freed by a large crowd of his protesting supporters who brought him to one of the forts which housed a large cache of arms and ammunition. A standoff ensued which lasted a few hours then culminated in a mini-massacre when APCs went up to the fort and someone fired the first shot igniting a firefight. Shortly after the firefight ended the freed "joint leader" and cabinet colleagues loyal to his faction were captured, tried and executed by firing squad on that fort. The other faction instituted a curfew and several days later US troops came in.

By this time you can imagine that the whole experience with Marxism was quite traumatizing to many Grenadians. Many of them had lost loved ones during the firefight. And the "joint leader" that was executed was the one that was more popular, charismatic and beloved by the people. Add to all of this the prevailing anti-communist sentiment that loomed at that time during the height of the cold war and you can imagine that many Grenadians developed a bit of an aversion to communism and this brings me to the salient point: What happened to all the factories and equipment that Cuba and Russia sent to Grenada?

They were stigmatized as being communist and abandoned, discarded, given away, etc. The bad experience they had with the Marxist regime - they stigmatized the factories and the equipment with it. These factories were basically just abandoned and so, industrially speaking, Grenada was no better off after the revolution than they were before. They threw out the baby with the bathwater, so to speak. Fortunately they didn't view the then unfinished international airport the same way. Ironically, the airport that Cubans were working on, and that Reagan was saying would be used for Russian fighter jets, was completed with the help of the very anti-communist, US.

Lesson: Do not stigmatize. Appreciate a spade as being a spade regardless of how you feel about its maker.

25

The "Jesus is Michael" teaching soon to go?

by Island Man in

could the teaching that jesus is michael the archangel, be soon to be discarded?

first of all, watchtower is big on image and this is one of those teachings that paint the jw religion as being rather kooky and heretical.

secondly, this teaching is not an original watchtower teaching but one they inherited from their second adventist ancestry.

Island Man

Could the teaching that Jesus is Michael the archangel, be soon to be discarded?

First of all, Watchtower is big on image and this is one of those teachings that paint the JW religion as being rather kooky and heretical. Secondly, this teaching is not an original Watchtower teaching but one they inherited from their Second Adventist ancestry. SDA's teach the same thing. So dumping this teaching can be spun by Watchtower as them further expunging themselves of the last vestiges of false teachings from christendom, and further marking a distinction between JWs and other groups. Thirdly, it's not a teaching that is critical to the framework of the JW belief system. It is not a linchpin teaching like 1914, but more of an obscure side point. They stand to gain more than they will ever lose, if they dump it. So could this be one of the current JW teachings that will soon be abandoned?

13

Exposing the Core Premise of JW False Teaching

by TerryWalstrom in

poison is at work in any argument with jehovah's witnesses.

this poison has little to do with the beauty of watchtower logic or the tasty morsels of jw reasoning.. the poison is odorless and tasteless and it has absorbed into their core premise: scripture interpretation directed by jehovah.. if you buy into the core premise (somebody possesses a divinely granted access to an infallible source of truth) you are already dead in the water.. that is the deal breaker.

false premises lead always to false conclusions.. stop right here.. the core misrepresentation of christianity solely rests in accepting the bible as the inerrant word of almighty god.

Island Man

If you look up the All Scripture book, at the criteria used to determine the inspiration of Bible books you will notice that the arguments take two or three forms:

1. Book X is inspired because Book Y quotes from it or mentions it.

2. Book Y is inspired because earliest Jewish records list in among the writings that the Jews considered to be scripture.

3. Book Z is inspired because [insert name of famous early Christian apologist] quotes from it and considers it as scripture.

So ultimately the claim of inspiration for the current canon of Bible books rests entirely on putting faith in ancient tradition - faith in men.