baghdad (afp) - more than 100 children held in a prison celebrated their freedom as us marines rolled into northeast baghdad amid chaotic scenes which saw civilians loot weapons from an army compound, a us officer said.. around 150 children spilled out of the jail after the gates were opened as a us military humvee vehicle approached, lieutenant colonel fred padilla told an afp correspondent travelling with the marines 5th regiment.
"hundreds of kids were swarming us and kissing us," padilla said.. there were parents running up, so happy to have their kids back.
"the children had been imprisoned because they had not joined the youth branch of the baath party," he alleged.
Fox, the network in which news anchors are given red, white, and blue pom-poms and do cartwheels across a giant map of Iraq on the floor every time a scud missle hits? Ha! Okay, seriously, NPR is maybe a little leftist, particularly when it comes to commentary, but that's only because they get it right. Fox, on the other hand -- well, I'm pretty sure the lead anchor has an American flag shaved and dyed into the back of his head.
Dedalus
i ask this because farkel brings up a very good point.
here, he spends countless hours in writing an essay on a subject that we probably never would have known about, had he not written an expose' on it, and yet he may not get that many responses for all his hard work and research.
on the other hand, i and others might ask a very simple question and recieve a huge amount of responses.
Minimus, everything you said in your reply to me is correct, and I can't think of anything to add.
Dedalus
i find something very distressing not to mention terribly sad about some of you people (and to those who are not one of these people i kindly ask to please don't fly into some "i'm so insulted!
" snit as if i'm wrongfully referring to you).
to those people i'm referring to i say: you rightfully hope for the british and u.s. military to destroy that saddam monster and its minions of mass-murdering/worshippers throughout iraq.
Hey Derrick, it hadn't even dawned on me that you were gone between your last reply to this topic, and today! Sorry for the rash accusations that you hit and run!
Sincerely, I'm sorry, okay? You didn't deserve me accusing you of a hit and run. Obviously, for whatever reason, your post struck a chord with me, and I'm touchy about being ignored, which isn't your fault. I hope you'll reply to what I'm about to write, though. I mean, we both agree that this issue is important, right?
:You are simply WRONG that the official teaching of JWs is that only JWs will survive Armageddon.
Derrick, if what you say is true, please explain the following quotes:
"Every kind of terror will be used to destroy the evil world--cloud bursts, lashing rains, overflowing floods, earthquakes, giant hailstorms and a rain of fire. There will be terror on the land, terror in the sea and terror in the air. With shocking surprise Armageddon will catch all those persons outside the New World society." -- From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained, 1958, p. 207.
"On Satan's side will be all the rest of mankind, more than 99.9 percent, as we read, 'The whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.' That includes all the governments of the world together with their supporters, the commercial, religious and social institutions. Even the professedly Christian organizations? Yes, because all such that are making themselves friends of the world are making themselves enemies of God." -- Watchtower 10/15/58, p. 614-5.
"Do not conclude that there are different roads, or ways, that you can follow to gain life in God's new system. There is only one. There was just one ark that survived the Flood, not a number of boats. And there will be only one organization--God's visible organization--that will survive the fast-approaching ‘great tribulation.’ It is simply not true that all religion lead to the same goal … You must be part of Jehovah’s organization, doing God’s will, in order to receive his blessing of everlasting life." – You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth, 1982, p. 255.
"Never forget that only God’s organization will survive the end of this dying system. Act wisely, therefore, and make plans for life eternal by building your future with Jehovah’s organization." – Watchtower 7/15/84, p. 20.
"Only Jehovah’s Witnesses, those of the anointed remnant and the ‘great crowd,’ as a united organization under the protection of the Supreme Organizer, have any Scriptural home of surviving the impending end of this doomed system dominated by Satan the Devil. (Revelation 7:9-17; 2 Corinthians 4:4) They will make up the ‘flesh’ that Jesus Christ said would be saved through the worst tribulation in human history." – Watchtower 9/1/89, p. 19.
"The masses of people facing annihilation if they fail to respond to the good news include out unbelieving relatives, neighbors, workmates, schoolmates, and acquaintances. But our concern is to reach out to ‘all sorts of men’ in imitation of God, who manifested his love for the entire world by giving his Son, Jesus Christ, as a ransom for all (John 3:16). We must zealously invite all to flee to God’s place of safety. By fully carrying out the preaching work, we can avoid bloodguilt." – Kingdom Ministry, September 2000, p. 1
You write:
:Your hurling insults that the Watchtower leadership is so bloodthirsty that they believe these innocents are going to die for not hearing a message from a manmade religious group isn't going to make it so.
No, but so far as I can see, the Watchtower's own words make it so. "Only Jehovah's Witnesses ...", "only God's organization," "More than 99.9 percent ..." And "innocents" can't just include those remote indigenous tribes of wherever that no one reaches -- innocents also must refer to children, right? But "unbelieving schoolmates" will be "annihilated," too, according to a recent KM. A lot of people have a big problem with that, Derrick.
I wonder how you explain all this, Derrick. I'm not speculating about secret torture chambers in the back corridors of the GB's offices. I'm quoting just exactly what they said, what's on public record, so please don't make me out to be some rabid hatemonger. Really, all I want to know is how do you explain what seem to me to be a very explicit teaching, a doctrine, and not any sort of subtle "manipulation of words to keep the rank and file in line."
Looking forward to your response, whenever it's convenient for you ...
Dedalus
baghdad (afp) - more than 100 children held in a prison celebrated their freedom as us marines rolled into northeast baghdad amid chaotic scenes which saw civilians loot weapons from an army compound, a us officer said.. around 150 children spilled out of the jail after the gates were opened as a us military humvee vehicle approached, lieutenant colonel fred padilla told an afp correspondent travelling with the marines 5th regiment.
"hundreds of kids were swarming us and kissing us," padilla said.. there were parents running up, so happy to have their kids back.
"the children had been imprisoned because they had not joined the youth branch of the baath party," he alleged.
I'm listening to NPR right now, a leftist radio station that loves to point out anything and everything that's going wrong with the war.
Oooooh, I take exception to that. NPR is pretty fair, I think. This morning there was report after report about Iraqis throwing flowers at tanks and that sort of thing. Not a trace of cynicism that I detected. The reason NPR hasn't reported the throwing of flowers at tanks beforehand is that it hadn't happened beforehand -- soldiers were consistently surprised at the level of resistance.
Dedalus
i ask this because farkel brings up a very good point.
here, he spends countless hours in writing an essay on a subject that we probably never would have known about, had he not written an expose' on it, and yet he may not get that many responses for all his hard work and research.
on the other hand, i and others might ask a very simple question and recieve a huge amount of responses.
It takes time and thought to respond meaningfully to an essay (Farkel doesn't write "book reports," but I know what you mean). It takes a bit of mental energy to assimilate all of the parts of an essay, understand how those parts work together, and respond in a way that reflects an actual understanding of things. Most people don't have time to think carefully, or don't know how, or don't care to. Much easier to respond to the snap, crackle, pop of your questions -- which I don't mind, really.
I've written a lot of essays (not about Witnesses, so I haven't posted them), and I know the pain of getting a "quick response" to something you really worked on, a response that doesn't acknowledge the sure pain and effort it took to produce something that means something. But if someone doesn't give a huge answers to one of your questions, so what? It just took a few seconds to type ...
But, apples and oranges. Some of your questions seem to produce pretty good discussions, and a discussion board doesn't have to be just one thing, anyway.
Dedalus
5. george bush has declared that "we have no fight with the iraqi .
evidence?
and al qaeda.
The peace-loving people of Iraq are beginning to realize that their liberation from the tyranical rule of Saddam is rapidly approaching, and they are welcoming the armies of liberation.
What, did you read this off the back of a box of Propaganda Puffs?
Dedalus
baghdad (afp) - more than 100 children held in a prison celebrated their freedom as us marines rolled into northeast baghdad amid chaotic scenes which saw civilians loot weapons from an army compound, a us officer said.. around 150 children spilled out of the jail after the gates were opened as a us military humvee vehicle approached, lieutenant colonel fred padilla told an afp correspondent travelling with the marines 5th regiment.
"hundreds of kids were swarming us and kissing us," padilla said.. there were parents running up, so happy to have their kids back.
"the children had been imprisoned because they had not joined the youth branch of the baath party," he alleged.
There is no "real face" of war. This story is one part of a much, much larger picture. Still, I'm glad to have read it.
Dedalus
i find something very distressing not to mention terribly sad about some of you people (and to those who are not one of these people i kindly ask to please don't fly into some "i'm so insulted!
" snit as if i'm wrongfully referring to you).
to those people i'm referring to i say: you rightfully hope for the british and u.s. military to destroy that saddam monster and its minions of mass-murdering/worshippers throughout iraq.
Robdar,
Did you or did you not write the following?
I think it is a good and fair question. I haven't read all the responses yet, but it seems that some are skirting the question.
You say that Derrick asked a good question when others said he asked a dumb question. If that's not defending him, I don't know what is.
Again, you jump to extremes.
It's "extreme" to say that you defended him? It's "extreme" to say I don't understand a post? And I jump to extremes "again"? What past incidents are you referring to?
Not expecting meaningful answers to any of this. I mean, I very carefully explained why I disagreed with you, but none of that's worth addressing, evidently.
Dedalus
i find something very distressing not to mention terribly sad about some of you people (and to those who are not one of these people i kindly ask to please don't fly into some "i'm so insulted!
" snit as if i'm wrongfully referring to you).
to those people i'm referring to i say: you rightfully hope for the british and u.s. military to destroy that saddam monster and its minions of mass-murdering/worshippers throughout iraq.
friends and 'ex-friends': .
you'll find this little ditty of a news story very amusing.
it seems some overly-zealous sister from the uk was pestering the grieving worldly ones at the local cemetary so much that they got mad and complained to the cemetary owner, who then complained to the kh overseer.
the big Apocalypso Dance is gonna start real soon now
LOL!
Dedalus
