Posts by fulltimestudent

6

Outlaw temple

by Fadeaway1962 in

ancient 'outlaw temple' discovered in israel.

the famous first temple was not alone.. a bird's-eye view of the temple, taken at the end of the 2013 excavation season.. (image: © p. partouche/skyview).

image 1 of 6. one of the two human-shaped figurines.

Its an interesting discovery that leads to more questions. Many reports of this discovery state that its believed that this 'new' temple must have been 'sanctioned' (approved) by the religious elite associated with the kingship in Jerusalem. But an alternative view, is that rather than being "authorised" by the religious elite in Jerusalem, the religious elite did not have the authority (power) to prevent people worshiping in that temple.

Another interesting side point, is that both that temple and the Jerusalem temple were laid out in a pattern that existed in other non-Jewish areas. And, another question arises, who designed and built this newly discovered temple? Were the designers/builders from outside Israel? If they were Israelites then why did Solomon need to get designers/builders from non-Israelites?

19

Jehovah Banned in Singapore

by EverApostate in

singapore is a tiny, beautiful and economically powerful country in se asia.

all religions are allowed there except the jehaovah's witnesses and another christian denomination.

jws are banned because they don’t serve the military and all singapore citizens are required to serve in the military for a while.. the jws are banned in singapore since 1972. .

fulltimestudent

My friend and i were about to book airplane seats for a visit to SG, (he's Singaporean and hasn't been there for about 14 years) when this new coronavirus problem came, so we decided not to go,

I agree, it is a clean and very safe city. Once on a business trip I couldn't sleep and went for a walk at 2.00 am - a few people around but I felt completely safe. Singapore is also very very hot and in monsoon weather its steamy. It can rain buckets without notice.

For RubaDub - If sentenced by a court to be caned, you dont bend over and get your bum caned. They tie you to a large X frame and you're caned on your back. Its extremely painful and you wont forget it. Critics argue that it's a form of torture and some say it can damage your kidneys. At the very least you wont sleep on your back for a month or more. (that punishment btw, is a carry over from the British occupation of Malaya).

The government is authoritarian and has made sure it has never lost an election. It is also socialist and owns a large, proftable investment company (Temasek- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temasek_Holdings) which I've heard distributes some of its profits to all Singaporeans. Does that sound\ "communist" - However, when he became Prime MInister, he jailed all local communists.

As the first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew ( an ethnic Hakka Chinese family) may have been parachuted in by the Brits to help in quelling the Malaysian Communist Insurgency. At University LKY studied economics and law which may have helped in his government role, An Australian teacher, who taught in SG for some years claimed (to me) that he met LKY as a member of a teachers delegation wanting a pay-rise, and that he had never met anyone as tough and nasty. There are claims that SG had a secret police oraganisation who specialised in eavesdropping conversations on buses and in cafes and arresting anyone who spoke against the government. I was once shown a building where (it was claimed) the secret police would question you. They had (more rumour) an interesting method of extracting information. There was supposed to be a cellar in the building where they took arrested dissidents, and (nothing as unsophisticated as a beating) they'd strip you and hose you down and lock you in a freezer. As I've indicated, that may or may not be true.

LKY was criticised for curtailing civil liberties (media control and limits on public protests) and bringing libel suits against political opponents. He argued that such disciplinary measures were necessary for political stability which, together with the rule of law, were essential for economic progress, once saying: "Anybody who decides to take me on needs to put on knuckle-dusters. If you think you can hurt me more than I can hurt you, try. There is no other way you can govern a Chinese society" (Wikipedia biog)

Tyrant or not, he made Singapore successful. And (as the Wikipedia Bio notes "... he forged a system of meritocratic, highly effective and non-corrupt government and civil service. Many of his policies are now taught at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Lee eschewed populist policies in favour of long-term social and economic planning. He championed meritocracy."

Interestingly, the former head of the Chinese Department at the university I attended some years back, once worked in the Australian Diplomatic Service and was in China in the late 1990's. He got to know some members of the then government quite well. In conversation with one high ranking Minister one day, he asked, "What will China look like when you're finished your transformation of China?" Without hesitation, the Minister replied, "Singapore."

LKY certainly got on well with the Chinese and made quite large investments in China. Singaporean companies have built quite large suburbs in some Chinese cites. See: https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/1877266/singapores-quota-investment-china-doubled-100-billion-yuan

and China is a large investor in Singapore: https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/hub/business-china-special/spore-is-chinas-largest-investor

6

I don't want to be a Jehovah's Witness anymore, but I'm scared of losing my family- Story On Australia's ABC

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

the abc is a government owned media group, and today's web-page included this story:.

its formatted as answers to specific questions, and in response to the question, "why did you stop believing" comes a story we hear much too often.. the special thing about the story this time is that likely millions of australian will read her story.. https://www.abc.net.au/life/i-dont-want-to-be-a-jehovahs-witness-anymore-or-lose-my-family/11885098.

the article also reminds us that australians are giving up on religion in increasing numbers.. quote: "it seems australians are increasingly giving up on god — or at least religion.. on the last census in 2016, nearly a third of australians (30 per cent) reported they had 'no religion' — the highest number of people ever to do so, and up 11 per cent on 2006.".

fulltimestudent

smiddy3, Is it going to be aired on TV ?

Nothing in the above feature on the ABC's web-site indicates that its to be shown on an ABC TV show.

However, since its part of a web-site series (with both Jewish and Muslim ex-believersinterviewed) the ABC could be planning a future program on why people leave their religion.

6

I don't want to be a Jehovah's Witness anymore, but I'm scared of losing my family- Story On Australia's ABC

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

the abc is a government owned media group, and today's web-page included this story:.

its formatted as answers to specific questions, and in response to the question, "why did you stop believing" comes a story we hear much too often.. the special thing about the story this time is that likely millions of australian will read her story.. https://www.abc.net.au/life/i-dont-want-to-be-a-jehovahs-witness-anymore-or-lose-my-family/11885098.

the article also reminds us that australians are giving up on religion in increasing numbers.. quote: "it seems australians are increasingly giving up on god — or at least religion.. on the last census in 2016, nearly a third of australians (30 per cent) reported they had 'no religion' — the highest number of people ever to do so, and up 11 per cent on 2006.".

fulltimestudent

The ABC is a government owned Media group, and today's web-page included this story:

Its formatted as answers to specific questions, and in response to the question, "Why did you stop believing" comes a story we hear much too often.

The special thing about the story this time is that likely millions of Australian will read her story.

https://www.abc.net.au/life/i-dont-want-to-be-a-jehovahs-witness-anymore-or-lose-my-family/11885098

The article also reminds us that Australians are giving up on religion in increasing numbers.

Quote: "It seems Australians are increasingly giving up on God — or at least religion.

On the last census in 2016, nearly a third of Australians (30 per cent) reported they had 'no religion' — the highest number of people ever to do so, and up 11 per cent on 2006."

27

New Wuhan coronavirus around.....

by mikeflood in

new coronavirus wreaking havoc.....first case detected in the us one hour ago....six deaths already in china.....hope it gets controlled soon.....

fulltimestudent

Went to the Chinese Spring Festival (China doesn't use the term Chinese New Year anymore) in Sydney last night, Many, but not all, Chinese and other Asians there wore masks, as did some Aussies of European descent, buts the majority were not wearing masks, It was unexpectedly crowded - maybe half/half Asians/Aussies of European descent - so I soon escaped to the ( bit) less crowded Darling Harbour Precinct. So was there a chance of coming into contact with someone already infected with this new coronavirus? Yeah, possibly! If I get it, will I die? I could, its a very serious infection, that quickly induces infected lungs (pneumonia).

Funny thing, unusual for me I developed what the Dr said was influenza around the end of December. The Dr blamed the bushfire smoke then covering Sydney for my symptons. I survived that 'flu despite it being a common cause of death in the elderly, so maybe I could survive this new coronavirus.

Here's a couple of experts discussing it:

1. A Dr. Bill Schaffner, (on a Bloombewrg News video) who claims some expertise in coronavirus stsudies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO8QWq1K1_c

2, And closer to groundzero, Dr. Gabriel Leung, Of the School of Medicine at Hongkong University, suggests the precautions you could take (if neccessary), this video from CGTN (China Global News Video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv7trxYtMzY

Leung is considered a leading world expert, read more about him at his biography page:

https://sph.hku.hk/en/about-us/faculty-and-staff/academic-staff/leung,-gabriel-m

2

Do you like pictures with quotes?

by Doug Mason in

if you like pictures with quotes, then search with this at google images:.

cure-for-christianity knockout quote.

doug.

fulltimestudent

GRIN!! Thanx mate!

29

Lack of zeal

by road to nowhere in

i hear rumbling about the rank and file not having the same zeal they had when new.. lets see: door to door at the time least likely to find someone.

waste of a whole morning.

isolated.

fulltimestudent

Let's face it, 'zeal' is defined as, "great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective." In my 40 year experience (starting from 1953) more than half of every congregation I associated with could not be described as having 'zeal.'

Who could have zeal for the most brain-numbing activity (i.e.H2H work) that anyone could invent to waste your bloody time.Those who engaged in that work likely forced themselves to get out of bed on the days they went out in service.

Maybe only about 10% of any congregation could be called zealous. Clearly even old YHWH himself has gone to sleep out of sheer boredom (and, that's why he's forgotten about the Big A.)

89

Do You Think “Higher Education “Is All That??

by minimus in

jw
friends

as jehovah’s witnesses, we were regularly told how awful a college education is.

i’m no longer associated with the religion but i am not so pro university.

it’s not because i think you are better off without a degree.

fulltimestudent

Minimus - Very difficult for a student to challenge the professor

Given that I attended an Australian university, it may be different in your country. Possibly your country is very authoritarian,

At the university (one of the top 8 in Australia) I attended most lecturers I talked about this same problem expressed disappointment that too many students were too passive.

And, in class one lecturer told us, "You can disagree with me if you want to, but just make sure you really know what you're arguing."

Its possible I was treated differently because I was much older, but I'm sure that many students were far brighter than I was.

89

Do You Think “Higher Education “Is All That??

by minimus in

jw
friends

as jehovah’s witnesses, we were regularly told how awful a college education is.

i’m no longer associated with the religion but i am not so pro university.

it’s not because i think you are better off without a degree.

fulltimestudent

Why? As witnesses we engaged in a H2H work where we heard all kinds of personal thoughts and we simply (mostly) ignored whatever the householder said.

I suggest that you could do the same thing whenever someone expresses an opinion that you disagree with.

However, if you have (and I hope you have) enrolled in a critical thinking study unit, you could always practise your critical thinking skills and analyse his/her arguments and engage him/her in a discussion.

Learn from your JW experience.

42

Elon Musk, And The CyberTruck That Homer Built

by Simon in

i think tesla and musk have officially jumped the shark.. did you see the "cybertruck" they released?

it's like the car that homer built!.

it has to be the ugliest vehicle ever built.

fulltimestudent

Posted today, on the FB page of a Singaporean friend.