Posts by ozziepost

24

What is a bikini witness?

by NoAliasAvailable in

jw
friends

...just curious

ozziepost

What is a bikini witness?

Someone who sends three times as many PMs as they post in a day?

14

More Xmas deception by the Watchtower

by ozziepost in

has christmas.

lost christ?if a non-witness were to read this headline, what do you think it would convey?.

wouldn't it imply that the magazine or website was actually bemoaning the growing secularisation of a "christian" festival, much like the slogans we see of late "put christ back into christ-mas"?

ozziepost

Looks like we're going off topic!

My point wasn't about whether it was right or wrong to celebrate Xmas (WT Wizard you've misunderstood me completely) but the deception used by the WTS to promote its own peculiar teachings.

14

More Xmas deception by the Watchtower

by ozziepost in

has christmas.

lost christ?if a non-witness were to read this headline, what do you think it would convey?.

wouldn't it imply that the magazine or website was actually bemoaning the growing secularisation of a "christian" festival, much like the slogans we see of late "put christ back into christ-mas"?

Has Christmas
LOST CHRIST?

If a non-Witness were to read this headline, what do you think it would convey?

Wouldn't it imply that the magazine or website was actually bemoaning the growing secularisation of a "christian" festival, much like the slogans we see of late "Put Christ back into Christ-mas"?

Yet, having been hooked the reader may later find that the Watchtower has a much different slant on Christmas, much like the "bait and switch" techniques employed by unscrupulous business enterprises.

It should also concern the "honest hearted reader™" reader as to why such deception is necessary. Could it be that the WTS sub-consciously know they bear a false message?

BTW, here's the full article, just in case it should disappear!!

"I have never been able to reconcile myself to the gaieties of the Christmas season. They have appeared to me to be so inconsistent with the life and teaching of Jesus."—Mohandas K. Gandhi.

MANY would completely disagree with Gandhi. 'What,' they may wonder, 'could a Hindu statesman really know about a Christian holiday?' It must be admitted, though, that Christmas has spread all over the world, affecting all manner of cultures. Each December, the holiday seems all-pervasive.

For example, some 145 million Asians celebrate Christmas, 40 million more than a decade ago. And if by "gaieties" Gandhi meant the secular side of modern-day Christmas, the frenzied consumerism that we all observe, it is hard to deny that this aspect of the celebration is often the most prominent. Asiaweek magazine notes: "Christmas in Asia—from the festive lights in Hong Kong to towering hotel Yuletide trees in Beijing to a creche in downtown Singapore—is largely a secular (mainly retail) event."

Has the modern-day celebration of Christmas lost sight of Christ? Officially, December 25 has been observed since the fourth century C.E., when the Roman Catholic Church designated that day for religious observance of Jesus' birth. But according to a recent poll taken in the United States, only 33 percent of those polled felt that the birth of Christ is the most important aspect of Christmas.

What do you think? Do you at times feel that in all the insistent advertising, the harried buying of presents, the decorating of trees, the organizing and attending of parties, the sending of cards—Jesus has somehow been left out of the picture?

Many seem to feel that one way to put Christ back into Christmas is by displaying a Nativity scene, or crèche. Likely you have seen such groupings of figurines, representing the baby Jesus in a manger surrounded by Mary, Joseph, some shepherds, "three wise men," or "three kings," some barnyard animals, and some onlookers. It is commonly felt that these crèches serve to remind people of the real meaning of Christmas. According to U.S. Catholic, "a crèche gives a more developed picture than any single gospel can give, though it also emphasizes the nonhistorical character of these narratives."

How, though, would a Nativity scene suggest that the narratives in the Gospel accounts of the Bible are nonhistorical? Well, it must be admitted that quaintly painted little sculptures lend an aura of legend or fairy tale to the birth of Christ. First popularized by a monk in the 13th century, the Nativity scene was once a fairly modest affair. Today, like so many other things associated with this holiday, Nativity scenes have become big business. In Naples, Italy, rows of shops sell figures for Nativity scenes, or presepi, year round. Some of the more popular figures represent, not characters from the Gospel accounts, but modern-day celebrities, such as Princess Diana, Mother Teresa, and clothing designer Gianni Versace. Elsewhere, presepi are made of chocolate, pasta, even seashells. You can appreciate why it is hard to see history in such displays.

How, then, could such Nativity scenes give "a more developed picture than any single gospel can give"? Are the Gospel accounts not truly historical? Even hardened skeptics must admit that Jesus was a real, historical person. So he must at one time have been a real baby, born in a real place. There should be a better way to get a developed picture of the events surrounding his birth than merely gazing at a Nativity scene!

In fact, there is. Two historians wrote independent accounts of Jesus' birth. If you sometimes feel that Christ goes largely ignored at Christmastime, why not examine these accounts for yourself? In them, you will find, not legends or myths, but a fascinating story—the real story of the birth of Christ.

http://www.watchtower.org/e/19981215/article_01.htm

57

Are Seventh-Day Adventists a better Church to belong to than being a JW

by jwfacts in

a lot of exjws need an answer to "where else to go?

" and some people seem to need to belong to an organization.

doing some research on answers.yahoo.com i noticed that both jws and mormons come in for a lot of criticism for being manipulative cults.

ozziepost

G'day barry,

How's it down there? warm up here.

Anyway, i think you've illustarted the danger of labels.

IMO if a person identifies as a label rather than a belief system i.e. christian, then we have cause to question.

Cheers, ozzie

57

Are Seventh-Day Adventists a better Church to belong to than being a JW

by jwfacts in

a lot of exjws need an answer to "where else to go?

" and some people seem to need to belong to an organization.

doing some research on answers.yahoo.com i noticed that both jws and mormons come in for a lot of criticism for being manipulative cults.

ozziepost

G'day V,

I don't think my comments were that the SDAs are a cult; I was addressing the question which is "are they no better than being a JW?" and on that basis I commented.

I repeat, mainstream christians seem to me (see, I observe too! ) to be just as blind to the error found in the SDAs as they are in the Dubs or the Mormons.

Part of that blind response is to be misled by their smiling faces or their conditional "love".

In the hell hole of Pol Pot's Cambodia, there were examples of peasants being seduced by his winsome smile. (See the book "The Pol Pot Regime" written by historian Ben Kiernan) We all know what happened later!

My point is that tyrants portray themselves as genial benefactors and our being aware of this should guide us in how we viewgroups or organisations.

So, it matters not one hoot how friendly and pleasant are the SDA relatives. Yes, Mrs Ozzie and I have had friendly relations with SDA people too, but it's quite irrelevant. It's whether the code of belief is valid is what matters.

My concern is that searching people may simply be jumping from "the frying pan into the fire" by leaving the dubs and then joining up with some other controlling and/or exclusive group.

Cheers, Ozzie

57

Are Seventh-Day Adventists a better Church to belong to than being a JW

by jwfacts in

a lot of exjws need an answer to "where else to go?

" and some people seem to need to belong to an organization.

doing some research on answers.yahoo.com i noticed that both jws and mormons come in for a lot of criticism for being manipulative cults.

ozziepost

jwfacts:

Good question and rather timely downunder. You see, it surprises me that downunder the christian 'mob' seem to be blind to seeing what is wrong with 'em! I'm speaking of th evangelicals here, who I would have thought would be holding firmly to their own code, yet they smile when the SDA's are mentioned and simply affirm that they are just another denomination.

That's so much BS and they know it! Yet they would rather vilify the Dubs and the Mormons. In my book, if it's wrong, it's wrong.

Typical of these blind responses is this one from Vernon Williams above,