I'm in complete agreement with you, jimmyjames. What disturbs me is that many in our society view the mention of specific names as a more heinous crime than the suggestion that entire nameless groups of people should be done away with. I mean, these deranged boys had to get their sick ideas from somewhere, right? If they didn't get these ideas direct from the entertainment industry (this can include the news media, by the way), then they were in all likelihood passed along to them from someone else who had the idea fed to them.
I am worried that if we continue to allow the "artistic" condemnation of nameless individuals and groups of individuals en masse, then we as a society may one day find a way to, for example, justify Adolf Hitler's actions because he did not attack any specific individuals, but rather exterminated "just Jews".
SanFranciscoJim
JoinedPosts by SanFranciscoJim
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This hit a little too close to home
by mommy inthe following appeared in the newspaper this morning:.
a 17-year-old highlands school student was in jail thursday on charges that he had developed a hit list, naming several fellow students he supposedly planned to kill.
highlands police say they arrested andrew douglas quintero, a junior, without incident on wednesday and charged him with 10 misdemeanor counts of communicating threats.. in an interview thursday, highlands school principal jack brooks indicated he wasn't sure whether the student intended to carry out the threats, but said he wasn't taking any chances.. "whether this was done out of humor or it was an expression of anger, i had no idea," brooks said.
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SanFranciscoJim
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This hit a little too close to home
by mommy inthe following appeared in the newspaper this morning:.
a 17-year-old highlands school student was in jail thursday on charges that he had developed a hit list, naming several fellow students he supposedly planned to kill.
highlands police say they arrested andrew douglas quintero, a junior, without incident on wednesday and charged him with 10 misdemeanor counts of communicating threats.. in an interview thursday, highlands school principal jack brooks indicated he wasn't sure whether the student intended to carry out the threats, but said he wasn't taking any chances.. "whether this was done out of humor or it was an expression of anger, i had no idea," brooks said.
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SanFranciscoJim
larc & jimmyjames,
I think you're not quite getting what I'm trying to say. Let me be clear: Under no circumstances am I condoning threats of violent acts. Those who do so should be punished.
What I was trying to say, however, is that I find it hypocritically ironic that if one writes these threats down on paper, it's considered a crime. But, if one puts it to "music", then it's considered "artistic license". If one complains about the written threats, there is public outcry that the offender should be castigated. However, if one complains too loudly about the so-called "music" containing violently suggestive lyrics, then it is the complainer who is trashed for "free speech violations".
This is only my opinion (and I could be wrong not having a master's degree in psychology), but I firmly believe that youth are strongly influenced by the entertainment arts. Just ask Rod Serling and Stephen King, both of whom wrote stories which were shortly thereafter mimiced in real life. -
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This hit a little too close to home
by mommy inthe following appeared in the newspaper this morning:.
a 17-year-old highlands school student was in jail thursday on charges that he had developed a hit list, naming several fellow students he supposedly planned to kill.
highlands police say they arrested andrew douglas quintero, a junior, without incident on wednesday and charged him with 10 misdemeanor counts of communicating threats.. in an interview thursday, highlands school principal jack brooks indicated he wasn't sure whether the student intended to carry out the threats, but said he wasn't taking any chances.. "whether this was done out of humor or it was an expression of anger, i had no idea," brooks said.
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SanFranciscoJim
For the record, I am first in line to condemn the expression of hatred in any form. Yet, I am having a great deal of difficulty understanding the convoluted logic in suspending a student for written threats when probably better than half that same student body regularly listen to lyrics from modern day "musicians" advocating the very thing the students are punished for doing. Try to take away their music and they cry "free speech".
Pardon me, but something does not compute here, Will Robinson. -
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Homosexuals and Evolution
by patio34 inon monday past, the la times health section had an article on homosexuality, especially the traits visible in young toddlers.
it also delved into possible causes of homosexuality and the latest research and theories.. there was an interesting comment in the article something like "it's a peculiarity in evolution that homosexuality occurs because it precludes procreation.
" in evolution, whoever produces the most offspring are the ones who pass on their genes.
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SanFranciscoJim
I have two younger brothers. Both of them are married and have children. Buried within them is the same genetic makeup passed along to all three of us by our parents. Somewhere along the line in my family's ancestry, the right combination of genes were passed to me to cause my homosexuality. While both of my brothers are busy perpetuating the species, one or both of them may produce a gay child (or grandchild, etc.).
Frankly, genetics is still too complicated for the average lay person to fully comprehend (myself included). For what it's worth, I hope they never discover the "gay gene". Why? Because until society overcomes its homophobia, gay fetuses will be quietly aborted (or genetically altered in grotesque experiments). -
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Yugoslavia bans import of JW's literature
by Gianluca inhere is some news on the jw's:.
belgrade: the yugoslav interior ministry has banned the import of jehovah's witnesses literature, claiming it would have a negative influence on the education of children.. source: bbc monitoring european - political .
publication date: 2001-05-22. text of report in english by belgrade-based radio b92 text web site on 22 may .
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SanFranciscoJim
So, then, how many times were you kicked by the Beatles?
(Sorry, Fred, you left yourself wide open & I just couldn't resist.) -
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Homosexuals and Evolution
by patio34 inon monday past, the la times health section had an article on homosexuality, especially the traits visible in young toddlers.
it also delved into possible causes of homosexuality and the latest research and theories.. there was an interesting comment in the article something like "it's a peculiarity in evolution that homosexuality occurs because it precludes procreation.
" in evolution, whoever produces the most offspring are the ones who pass on their genes.
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SanFranciscoJim
Homosexuals are not sterile. Although it is against our nature, we also have the ability to procreate. I simply choose not to engage in an activity which I find physically repugnant. However, were it necessary for me to assist in the propogation of the species, I would be physically capable of doing so.
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The Natural Law fallacy and Homosexuality
by JanH inthere is a fallacy of logic that is so common that few people realize that it is, indeed, a fallacy of logic: the fallacy by appeal to nature.. one argument against homosexuality goes something like this:.
the natural use of the reproductive organs is obviously to make children.
using these organs in a way that cannot produce children is unnatural and thus ethically wrong.. .
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SanFranciscoJim
If I may skip over RedhorseWoman's delightful post for a moment (thank you so much, RedhorseWoman!), I would like to revert to Iggy's statement:
"Nobody has to prove anything. You believe what you want and I will believe what I want. There is no burden of proof because the reasons for believing one thing or the other are not based on logic or solid evidence.
Iggy"
Iggy, what you state is dimetrically opposed to the words of the Apostle Paul at Hebrews 11:1, which states:
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."(NIV)
Faith - any form of faith - requires the burden of proof. -
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The Natural Law fallacy and Homosexuality
by JanH inthere is a fallacy of logic that is so common that few people realize that it is, indeed, a fallacy of logic: the fallacy by appeal to nature.. one argument against homosexuality goes something like this:.
the natural use of the reproductive organs is obviously to make children.
using these organs in a way that cannot produce children is unnatural and thus ethically wrong.. .
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SanFranciscoJim
Thanks for the thoughtful research, Doug. However, let me take it a step further. Let's look at the apostle Paul first and his use of arsenokoites to supposedly condemn homosexuality. To begin with, one needs a basic understanding of early Common Era Greek. Those who lived in the first century C.E. expressed the idea of homosexuality exclusively as a verb, yet Paul utilizes a noun in his condemnations. Arsenokoites is actually a slang term which may or may not have been coined by Paul himself. There is no earlier written usage of this word. If you look at the two root words in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, you will see that the literal translation of the word is "lift couch" or "raised chair"; the true definition of this word has been lost in obscurity, but most scholars of early Greek believe it had something to do with temple prostitution, a common practice in the pagan temples in and around early Corinth. This would correlate well with the other supposed condemnation of homosexuality in Leviticus 20:13 where the writer, instead of using the Hebrew word 'iysh for "man" (Strong's #376) actually utilizes zakar - a person worthy of note (Strong's #2145). The writer further uses tow'ebah (Strong's #8441) in the same passage which translates as "abomination", but is more accurately translated as "idolatry". The "person worthy of note" which the Hebrew writer is warning against sleeping with is the high priest of the pagan god Molech (see Lev. 20: 1-5). Persons, both male and female, would provide sexual favors to the high priest in return for guarantees of fertility of crops and offspring. This practice was carried over into early Christian times and this is likely what Paul was warning against.
This same scenario is also seen in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Had the mob been entirely homosexual, Lot surely would have known better than to offer his daughters. So then why did he? He was offering them as virgins, pagan sacrifices.
Doug, I've been studying the Bible in the ancient languages for two decades, and no one, absolutely no one, can convince me that homosexuality is condemned anywhere therein. The supposed condemnations of homosexuality are in fact warnings to followers of the One True God to abstain from engaging in any pagan fertility ritual, or in any way associating onesself with idolatrous practice. Had any of the writers wished to outright condemn homosexuality, they would have used much clearer wording. Finally, one needs to ask: If homosexuality is such a mortal sin, why is this a topic which Jesus Christ himself never addressed, not even once? -
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WHY APOSTATES THEMSELVES ARE DOOMED!!!
by You Know inall mankind stands condemned before god, and yet some are more reprehensible than others are.
as an example, christ called the original christian apostate, judas, the son of destruction.
so too, and not surprisingly, the activities of modern day apostates are said to awaken the judgment from of old, so that "the destruction of them is not slumbering.
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SanFranciscoJim
".....and yet some are more reprehensible than others are."
....and some women are more pregnant than others.
....and some corpses are deader than others.
Forgive me, but just where in the Bible is there a scale of reprehensibility? I suppose this means that Jehovah will give us all a spanking, but some of us will end up with redder bottoms than others. -
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Musings on the WTS Funk
by Farkel inthe watchtower society is in a funk.
no doubt about it.
it is stagnant and paralyzed by its own inertia.. it has survived for one and one quarter centuries for a few very simple reasons: .
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SanFranciscoJim
Interesting observations, Farkel. As one who was disfellowshipped more than 21 years ago, I can tell you that the differences between the average JW then and now are visible.
Every summer, the San Francisco chapter of A Common Bond performs our own version of "street work" across the street from the Cow Palace, where the San Francisco Bay Area District Assemblies are held. (See http://www.gayxjw.org/streetwork.html ) One of the observations I made the first year we were out there was that most of the JW's didn't have the familiar cloned, pasted-on crocodile smiles that they had back in the 1970's when we were advertising ourselves as "Jehovah's Happy People". (Yeeeeeecccchhhhh!!!) Today's JW looks bedraggled, worn out, forlorn, and a tad angry.
When we are standing outside the Assembly, the looks we get from JW passersby in their vehicles run the gamut from startling to downright hilarious. However, the JW's are becoming bolder and ruder as the years go on. Last year, we had a "sister" in a black pick up truck actually give us "the finger" as she drove past! (Unfortunately, I was not fast enough with my digital camera).
Years ago, "apostates" were viewed merely as another "sign of the times of the end" and were largely ignored. Today, we are percieved as a real threat, both by the Society, as well as by individual JW's. Oh, the times, they are a-changin'!