Posts by Laika

167

Sudden General Election in UK to be held June 8th 2017

by freddo in

theresa may the british p.m. has called for an election.. the house of commons has to vote tomorrow and have a two-thirds majority to agree and the main opposition parties want it to happen too so it looks pretty certain to go ahead..

Laika

Can someone explain British Elections? Do they vote for MPs or a party or what?

Hi John, we vote for MPs who usually belong to a specific party. (so sort of both I guess)

167

Sudden General Election in UK to be held June 8th 2017

by freddo in

theresa may the british p.m. has called for an election.. the house of commons has to vote tomorrow and have a two-thirds majority to agree and the main opposition parties want it to happen too so it looks pretty certain to go ahead..

Laika

Sbf, Finland has had years of economic struggle thanks to forced austerity from being on the Euro, they have only recently started to grow again.

I don't think Scotland would be 'singularly inept' a lot of governments are inept at managing their economies, not least the Tory one we've kept in power for 7+ years. I would probably vote for Scottish independence if they pledged their own currency (were I scottish of course!) so I hardly think you're incapable, but without that commitment I probably wouldn't take the risk.

167

Sudden General Election in UK to be held June 8th 2017

by freddo in

theresa may the british p.m. has called for an election.. the house of commons has to vote tomorrow and have a two-thirds majority to agree and the main opposition parties want it to happen too so it looks pretty certain to go ahead..

Laika

That other small countries such as Denmark and Switzerland are prosperous without oil, but the idea that Scots could do the same is complete fantasy?

Hi Slim, Denmark and Switzerland have their own currency, that Scotland could do the same while keeping the pound does seem like complete fantasy to me, but if I recall correctly this is what the SNP were offering.

16

JWs and Pacifism

by pale.emperor in

pacifismˈpasɪfɪz(ə)mnoun: pacifismthe belief that war and violence are unjustifiable and that all disputes should be settled by peaceful means.. .

one thing that always irked me as a witness was their pacifism.

i totally agree that non violence is a wonderful way to live, but at the same time whenever i'd read or watch something about nazi germany i always thought being a pacifist in that environment wouldn't work.

Laika

Jesus was a pacifist...

Now that I'm no longer a JW I think the JW position on war and violence is weird, they are opposed to war more because of 'political neutrality' (no part of the world) then 'turn the other cheek' and 'love your enemies' which is the main reason for opposition to war in the Quakers and anabaptist peace churches (and early church history), plus they allow for some level of personal violence (as has been mentioned)

Of course they will sometimes write about 'loving your enemy' but not so much because they don't really practice it outside of a war setting (they shun their enemies)

167

Sudden General Election in UK to be held June 8th 2017

by freddo in

theresa may the british p.m. has called for an election.. the house of commons has to vote tomorrow and have a two-thirds majority to agree and the main opposition parties want it to happen too so it looks pretty certain to go ahead..

Laika

But does anyone really think that Corbyn would have been a strong negotiator for Britain's interests?

Hi Simon, I don't know about 'strong negotiator' but he seemed to pay more attention to the fact that a hard brexit will cause a lot of people economic pain then Theresa and the Tories, I think he'd have also been more likely to invest in the economy if he can't make a deal, unlike the conservatives who will probably turn to austerity again and make things worse.

167

Sudden General Election in UK to be held June 8th 2017

by freddo in

theresa may the british p.m. has called for an election.. the house of commons has to vote tomorrow and have a two-thirds majority to agree and the main opposition parties want it to happen too so it looks pretty certain to go ahead..

Laika

Naive kids and urban hipsters adore Corbyn.
Those of us old enough to remember labour governments of days of yore know how this always ends.

Hi Cofty, I don't adore Corbyn, though I voted Labour, and I find this unfair and rather patronising.

I have a good job with a good salary so I know things could be much worse but exorbitant rental costs make it hard to save a lot and I'm completely locked out of the housing market. This will have a knock on effect in that I won't be able to afford to provide children (if I ever have any) an upbringing with the same living standards as the one my parents provided me, and most young people have it worse than me.

Of course this is worst where I live in London but the ridiculous wealth gap between young and old is growing across the country and these are not problems caused by old left wing governments.

I'm glad the youth finally turned out and I hope the results sends a message to the other political parties that they need to stop ignoring us and actually help us.

71

Breaking News, London: Van Ploughs into Pedestrians

by Simon in

3 male passengers then get out and start stabbing / shooting people according to early reports.. but it could have been anyone for any reason, who knows, possibly jehovahs witnesses or amish.. maybe we'll never know the reason but i'm sure there will be people praying for those involved and hashtags.. thus solving the problem once and for all.. just "life in a big city" according to the muslim mayor of london, sadiq khan..

Laika

A friend of mine is in a coma after this attack. Hope he pulls through

35

Are Jehovah's Witnesses Mind Numbingly Boring To You?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i honestly think they are the most boring people on earth!

even when they produce their so called "new light", there's no excitement.

jws just do their thing and refuse to think about their useless lives.

Laika

I was so afraid to say to my JW associates and even to my wife, that the meetings are boring

Yes! And it's weird because practically all JWs find the meetings boring and yet most of them would still express outrage if you stated this out loud.

19

Why Were the Anabaptists Not Chosen by Jesus in 1919?

by berrygerry in

wt acknowledges their lack of neutrality during ww1, and previously stated that this was followed by a period of refining.

however, they were still the one group that far-and-away were the only ones that were practicing first-century christianity the most closely, as well as being the only group trying to do so.. interesting read about the hutterites ( http://www.ubcpress.ca/books/pdf/chapters/courtsandcolonies/chapterone.pdf ).

, especially this quote about ww1:.

Laika

Yes! The anabaptists have been practicing peace centuries before the Watchtower ever existed.

7

Baptism as a Symbol of Dedication - Anther unbiblical doctrine of men

by doubtfull1799 in

i'm not sure if this has been discussed before - i did a brief search and couldn't find anything on this particular aspect.. for those atheists who believe it is all nonsense anyway, feel free to ignore this post.

i happen to be of that same persuasion but i still enjoy discussing it on a philosophical level.

its funny how you may have left because of the more "out there" doctrines and chronology etc not making sense and you come to see that they are going "beef the things written", but the longer you're out and the more you think about your old beliefs, even the most common basic or "fundamental" doctrines are also "going beyond the things written.. baptism as a symbol of dedication is a case in point.

Laika

Doubtfull, you are quite right that baptism is never connected to 'dedication' but...

Every Biblical mention of baptism (by water) is as a symbol of repentance, or acceptance/belief

Go further than this. The bible never calls baptism a symbol either.

(good thread btw)