i don't think i've made any apology for my leanings here towards jws, whilst i don't imagine most here will agree with me, i just think its good sometimes to redress the balance on this forum in a small way to let people who might be reading/lurking/ know that.. despite feeling messed up a bit in my own head about which direction i want/have to take in my own life, and despite many struggles as deep and traumatic as many have experienced here, i still hold jws as a group in the highest esteem.
i can remember what it was like to try and do the "right" thing and follow the way of the truth, it was bloody hard, and i fell down many times.
i always used to try and pick myself up dust myself down and start over again, sometimes with success for longer periods than others.
Scooby
My experience has been that there are nice and not so nice people i in all walks of life, regardless of their religious beliefs. There are Witness shits and non-Witness shits, and there are supportive people wherever you seek them. People are people.
One of the things that shocks me about this site is the number who still attend meetings (mainly doing the fade). When were you last at a meeting Scooby?
are we ignoring the fact that israel finally took out ahmed yassin, the founder of hamas, which has killed so many innocent people?.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4575552/.
my opinion...what took so long?
I'm sorry Blacksheep, I wasn't being pissy about your visit to Ireland. But in my experience it's not hard to get an opinion (however biased) of the Troubles.
You're right that religion can contribute to the establishment of totalitarian states, but it isn't necessary. Fascism may have exploited its religious connections, but can the same be said of Stalin, Pol Pot etc.? What they do share in common is their ideological nature. It could be said that your description "that fascism typically ALWAYS is boosted by a deepseated religious belief that God's on their side" applies to Bush's administration.
I don't deny the contributary factor religion plays in terrrorism or dictatorial regimes but my point remains that it is just one of many factors.
what is the latest incarnation of the king of the north in dubland as i had an elder tell me on sunday that the muslim nations were the king now.
i had not heard that before and it seems to me that they are just pulling anybody out of their arse as the king as they become more influential, how many times are they going to get it wrong before people wake up to it?
Funny, my mother's convinced it's still Russia. She follows Putin's parliamentary escapades closely. She and her naughty speculative JW friends see the attack on Babylon the Great starting with Islam because it's being the most problematic.
are we ignoring the fact that israel finally took out ahmed yassin, the founder of hamas, which has killed so many innocent people?.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4575552/.
my opinion...what took so long?
Blacksheep
I guess as a holiday maker you didn't get much chance to chat with people about the causes of the Troubles. Even in peace time violence continues, but because it's not bombs, or in Britain, it recieves scant attention.
I didn't suggest that Hitler's rise could be attributed to poverty. It was the complexity of reasons I was refering to. Having said that, the economic crisis of the Thirties didn't hamper him. I don't think it's a balanced comparison between the religion of the Nazis and the religion of Hamas - the latter has a much closer connection. As you say, it is the "belief in one's vast superiority over people of other cultures, religions, races...whatever", but rather than coupled with religion, I would say any idealogical stance, religious or political.
are we ignoring the fact that israel finally took out ahmed yassin, the founder of hamas, which has killed so many innocent people?.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4575552/.
my opinion...what took so long?
Blacksheep
Your raise an interesting point as to the reasons for "ongoing" terrorism. While you could point at religious sectarianism, nationalism and poverty for the roots of Northern Irish terrorism, but you'd now have to include drugs, racism and power for current reasons. Take a trip to Ireland, and find out. I'd also suggest that everyone pays a visit to Israel. It depressed me incredibly.
Again, I would stress that I am not merely saying that poverty causes terrorism, but that to seek one cause for it in Islam is also fallacious. It's like trying to find one cause for the rise of Hitler. And while the inidvidual terrorists named here may not be poor, they would probably argue that they fight on behalf of the poor and disenfranchised (not that I would agree with that).
there is a practice among jws of applying restrictions to individual members.
it forms part of the judicial process and, although having no scriptural basis, is applied automatically to erring ones who are judged to be repentant.. so, for a period of time, usually up to 12 months, the individual is not allowed to share in commenting at meetings, offering public prayer, appearing on the platform in congregation meetings, or in serving as an auxiliary pioneer.. as with any man-made law, difficulties arise from this practice.
although no announcement has been made to the congregation, individual congregation members can have their curiosity aroused.. for example, take the real-life situation where a sole parent has been placed on restrictions by a judicial committee.
I recall a conversation I had with a C.O. in which he agreed that a private reproof was worse than a public one. We'd had an elder's wife privately reproved and she'd been a pioneer. The level of speculation that arose was incredible, whereas a public one usually left it cut-and-dry for the r&f and didn't lead to gossip.
I so don't miss that JW chatter.
it must be satan?
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/r/russia_jehovahs_witnesses?site=apweb§ion=home&template=default.
mar 27, 12:26 pm est.
To those in favour of the ban: if it applied in your country of residence, would you turn in your JW relatives to the authorities? Would you have your children/parents/siblings sent to prison for their beliefs?
i don't know if this topic has been discussed before, but i have some questions about how witnesses get to write articles in the watchtower.. while reading a few of maximums' posts from 2 years ago, there was one from barbara anderson who briefly described the internal politics between the editors of the awake and the editors of the watchtower.. i'm more interested in the watchtower writers though than the awake, as this is supposed to be the "spiritual food" we are all to take in and absorb.. so how does one get to be a watchtower writer?
do you have to be able to write well?.
what are your experiences with any writers you have met?
I was friends with a chap that ended up in the Writing Dept of a non-Brooklyn Bethel. When I started University, and was an elder, he asked me to carry out some research for him in our Divinity Library. For one particular article he wanted me to find material that made a direct connection between Babylonian festivities and present New Year celebrations. The books he had me looking at were mainly late 19th and early 20th century and it felt like grasping at straws.
He was a decent guy with great taste in music and a cool and clever wife. Hopefully he'll escape.
.
i don't recall this being mentioned on the news and i havent read it anywhere .. including in this forum .. was anyone else aware ?.
http://www.snopes.com/rumors/madrid.asp
Of course, I replied THEN read the link, hey presto dum dum Scotsboy. Coincedence or planned - does it make a difference?
are we ignoring the fact that israel finally took out ahmed yassin, the founder of hamas, which has killed so many innocent people?.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4575552/.
my opinion...what took so long?
I may be wrong, but there was no suicide bomber on the Pan Am flight that exploded above Lockerbie. I didn't state that all terrorists were poor. But poverty does provide much of the backdrop to life in Gaza. My reason for mentioning poverty was in response to the the simplistic notion that Islamic terrorism arises from a purely religious programme. Religion is involved in Northern Ireland, but the reasons behind the terrorism are complex.
