Perry!!!
Great to see you. I was afraid you had linked yourself so closely to Abiathar(sssss) that you might stay gone for a while. I've missed you!
hi people, may i firstly thank those who have responded to to my intro article, i am replying to you all as a new topic because the direct messaging is not working for me at the moment so i can clarify my perspective on bible study.
yes there are many arguments that are put forward to demonstrate for example that the bible has been composed of numerous preexisting creation story's ect, my focus is to give the bible the same opportunity to defend itself as anyone reasonably expects if charged with some crime they are not guilty of.. i find for example the account of jesus response when questioned about the divorce certificate 'but it was not so in the beginning' confirms that moses allowed changes to be made to the original, that said consider also the religious traditions moses people had been exposed to, the story of the god enki who seduced even his own grandchildren and the well known incest of the egyptian royalty, given the genetic cost, are such practices any more right now than they were then?
communities that practice close relative marriages today are well documented for there higher risk of numerous health problems so how would you find moses on that basis, guilty or not guilty as jesus did because he understood why moses took the creation story's of other cultures and gave his people there own creation story that taught them to avoid the general pagan practice of incest.before looking any deeper at moses creation story may i also ask the question why does jesus knowing that god promised he would never again destroy the world by a flood as he did in noah's day say 'as in the days of noah ..the flood came and took them all away' so what did jesus actually mean mt 24:.
Perry!!!
Great to see you. I was afraid you had linked yourself so closely to Abiathar(sssss) that you might stay gone for a while. I've missed you!
new to the site.
currently i am a ministerial servant and was told i was appointed to be an elder.
i told the brothers i was not ready for that assignment.
Doctor Who,
Glad you are awake! My GF is adorable when she first wakes up. She speaks a combination of Hindi, English and Arabic. I can't understand a damn thing she says until I get two cups of coffee in her. My reason for stating this is that you may want to take your time speaking "just woke up dub" to anyone until you get the psychological equivalent of a few cups of coffee in you.
And this is the place for the java. Welcome.
jehovah church faces flood of sex abuse cases.
"a woman who was abused from the age of four by a senior officer of the jehovahs witnesses has lodged a 500,000 claim for compensation in a test case that could open the door to hundreds more suits involving members of the religious organisation in the uk.".
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/crime/article1525363.ece.
Re: a "£500,000 claim for compensation"
Is there a limit in the UK for lawsuits of this type? £ 500,000 isn't that much, about 750,000 US dollars if my conversion is accurate. In the US I would expect this lawsuit to be in the $10,000,0000 range, especially considering her age at the alleged abuse. Am I missing something here my British friends? The US is too litigious, but, if the circumstances are as she suggests, this is a pittance to request.
2014 was the worst year ever for terrorism: u.s. intel chief (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/wrost-year-global-terrorism-2014-article-1.2130490).
terror attacks reached their highest number in 2014 since 45 years of its history.
in the first nine months of 2014, there were 13,000 terror acts that killed some 31,000 people!
Richard,
Your math has been proven wrong on many occasions. It is old news. Google it or search it on this site. And if we only consider the past 7000 years, the same conditions existed. I will ask you again: which time period would you rather have lived in?
2014 was the worst year ever for terrorism: u.s. intel chief (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/wrost-year-global-terrorism-2014-article-1.2130490).
terror attacks reached their highest number in 2014 since 45 years of its history.
in the first nine months of 2014, there were 13,000 terror acts that killed some 31,000 people!
Abiathar,
First of all, I thought you were leaving Richard Nixon. Second, as I've pointed out before, your obsessive focus on what you perceive to be the problems of today while completely ignoring 100,000 years of human history is comedic.
Until the year 1900, the average age of humans, based on what the experts say, was 34. There was no social security, disability, food stamps, welfare, workers comp, health insurance, or unemployment benefits. Many children died before the age of 5, and it was more than possible that your young spouse or young adult child would also die, from pneumonia, TB or a host of other illnesses which are readily treatable now.
And those who lived past 34, for 100,00 years Abiathar, limped or were lame if anything was broken and were disfigured or otherwise impaired by anything growing on them or in them.
What kind of stress do you think our ancestors experienced for 100,00 years? You focus on the stresses today as if they are much worse. Really? I mean, really?
And I will ask you again, which time period would you choose to live in other than right now?
in the january 2012 awake, pages 28-29 there is another article about homosexuality.. .
the writers argue that genetics, the environment, and sexual abuse do not justify homosexuality.
the bible clearly states that homosexuality is wrong and is an abhorrent sin.
Morpheus,
Ditto. Timothy T's OP dates from 3 years ago, and he seems to have been struggling with this. Bumping it has relevance, but I agree completely with you. What consenting adults do in private is no one's business, regardless of DNA, choice, recreation, gender or whatever. The Borg and the Fundies are hung up on whether gays are born that way; they have to have something, whether it is the DNA argument, the universality of gay marriage and societal acceptance, I suppose that allows them to begin tearing down their hateful bible inspired wall of bigotry and replacing it with acceptance. The Dark Lords will be the last to change.
in the january 2012 awake, pages 28-29 there is another article about homosexuality.. .
the writers argue that genetics, the environment, and sexual abuse do not justify homosexuality.
the bible clearly states that homosexuality is wrong and is an abhorrent sin.
Timothy T,
Like Phizzy, I quit caring what an old book written by long dead men says a long time ago. In fact, I stopped caring about what the bible said about gays when I was still an elder. But you seem to still be under its control; I respect that.
What I know is that what consenting adults do in private never has and never will be anyone else's business. It is my hope that you can one day reach that understanding and that the Dark Lords and the old scrolls written for a different world and for a different reason no longer control you.
hey guys,.
so, since my leaving i have been doing so much research on so many topics that it's been extremely enlightening.
not only have i learned a lot about the organization and what motivates it, but i have also learned a lot about the bible, god and most importantly, myself.. currently, i'm not quite sure where i stand, but i'm having some real issues with the bible and god.
Garrett,
I went back to school, finished a bachelor's degree i had quit due to the Dark Lords' influence, then got an MBA and am currently pursing a PhD.
I became a better father and leader, finished raising my two amazingly beautiful and successful brats - both of whom I am completely crazy stupid close to.
I became a better employee.
I traveled extensively, began collecting ex-girlfriends, art, and a grand assortment of real, close friends.
I volunteered and served as chair to two separate organizations for several years.
I became an adjunct professor at two colleges, a very rewarding experience.
I began seeing the world as it is; removing the black/white goggles that I had put on to mimic the Dark Lords' pharisaical teachings revealed a complex, complicated, beautiful and beautifully flawed world full of grey. As a result, I lost my judgmental nature and developed a liberal tolerance for the differences in people.
so here we are, almost a year into the "new" congregation donation arrangement.
and its beginning, as was predicted, to fail miserably, and to have direct negative consequences on the poor sheep.. let me give you a little experience, directly from our congregation of about 80 publishers.
back in may, after reading the letter about the "new" arrangement, the elder body decided to "donate" the extra funds on hand to wt, as directed.
sir82,
That thought crossed my mind too. The Communists had guns and prison camps; the Dark Lords have DFing and shaming. Since they can't DF anyone based on $ sent to the Dark Tower, that leaves shaming, which doesn't appear to be as effective as guns and labor camps.
so here we are, almost a year into the "new" congregation donation arrangement.
and its beginning, as was predicted, to fail miserably, and to have direct negative consequences on the poor sheep.. let me give you a little experience, directly from our congregation of about 80 publishers.
back in may, after reading the letter about the "new" arrangement, the elder body decided to "donate" the extra funds on hand to wt, as directed.