talesin

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Posts by talesin

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  37

  Notable changes of the JWs org, in the last five years or so

  by glenster in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i've been updating the links at my web site and i'm working on the gtjbrooklyn pages now.

  what would you say are the several biggest changesin the jws organization/rules in the last five years or so?

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  talesin

  The JW dot org logo and major 'branding' (videos, movies, pins, tv channel, GB celebrities, you name it). Literature carts in parks, malls, etc.
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  34

  Was Adam "born" Circumsized ?

  by RubaDub in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i guess we have to assume that jesus was circumcised on the 8th day but what about adam?

  he was "perfect", so did he have the weenie cut or not?.

  i would like to bring this question up at a "get-together".. rub a dub .

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  talesin

  Skedaddle - thanks. Can you source that? While reading up on this, I found some differing views. I'm using Wiki for this explanation (not where I originally read it), but there's references in the Wiki article. Thoughts?

  Most Shia traditions regard the practice as obligatory. They rely on sayings that come from classical Shia authors.[26] In one narration Muhammad was asked if an uncircumcised man could go to pilgrimage. He answered "not as long as he is not circumcised". They quote Ali as saying: "If a man becomes Muslim, he must submit to circumcision even if he is 80 years old".[27] Another narration from Al-Sadiq says: "Circumcise your sons when they are seven days old as it is cleaner (athar) and the flesh grows faster and because the earth hates the urine of the uncircumcised".[28]

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khitan_(circumcision)

  _________________________________________________

  There is a tradition in arab Orthodoxy (and I think it is also Ethiopia), to circumcize. The Orthodox Church does NOT require the practice, and views it as part of the Old Covenant. It was interesting reading the Orthodox forums, and happy to see that they have officially taken a stand against it as a religious practice (though they do not forbid it).
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  10

  X-Men Apocalypse & Yahweh

  by smiddy in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  i have watched the trailer for this movie , and the bad guy in this makes the statement something like this, when asked who are you ?

  his reply , i have been called many names over time , and yahweh was one of them .. will jw.org ban the jdubs from seeing it ?

  being not suitable for a christian ?

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  talesin

  Looks good, and directed by the Beastmaster. I've enjoyed the X-Men franchise.

  I didn't get to read a lot of comics, smiddy. Spiderman, Batman, and the Silver Surfer (love is the Power Cosmic) and of course, Wonder Woman!

  I'll have to check out Captain Marvel at the library.
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  34

  Was Adam "born" Circumsized ?

  by RubaDub in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i guess we have to assume that jesus was circumcised on the 8th day but what about adam?

  he was "perfect", so did he have the weenie cut or not?.

  i would like to bring this question up at a "get-together".. rub a dub .

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  talesin

  Simon, I was reading up on it, and some doctors are actually performing it in the USA (and most likely in Canada, too). "First, do no harm." ahahaha, right, after money, the patient comes first. It's barbaric, and that poor tiny infant. Disgusts me.

  joey jojo, exactly, it's not meant to be sliced off. Interesting that Islam also requires the practice (another religion that demonizes sex).

  Oh, and on a midwifery website - in the USA, more male children die annually from circumcision complications (most often bleeding for lack of vitamin K) than SIDS. YIKES
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  30

  When Did Higher Education Become Taboo?

  by Wild_Thing in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have been reading about the early history of russelites/jws and in the beginning, it seems the organization was formed and headed by quite a few educated people.

  lawyers, doctors, businessman.

  you could buy voting rights within the organization for $1000, which by today's standard would be somewhere between $15,000 and $20,000, something most of us do not have on hand, unless you are highly educated and/or wealthy.

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  talesin

  Very similar in Canada, with our first woman physician refused entry at the Toronto School of Medicine, so she trained in the USA, then immediately came back to Canada to set up a practice. That was 1867 (Confederation, too), and in 1870, she and Jenny Trout were admitted to Toronto School. It took the College of Physicians & Surgeons 10 years to admit them into the 'old boys' club', though and in 1880 she was granted a license to practice. And post-war, the women who worked men's jobs were not prepared to go back in the kitchen (many of them), and voila, higher education became a goal for many.

  I was offered a scholarship to a prestigious French university for my final year of high school, as an exchange student. I would have been 16, and my parents vetoed it. Even now, I can't understand how they believed such nonsense, and would deprive their child of such an opportunity. Stay Alive Till '75! was the call ... ridiculous!
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  143

  Fidel Castro and the WT

  by Hecce in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i am going to engage on a trip to the past and share with you some of the matters that marked the beginning of the jws persecution in cuba.

  you will be surprised that the pattern that was followed is very similar to what happened in other dictatorial countries.. in the cuban case, i am going to surprise you and tell you that like what happened with hitler; the wt was partially responsible for their clash and confrontation with the cuban government.

  during the early 60s the revolution was fighting for survival and they were willing and ready to demolish any perceived enemy to their cause.. a prime example was their war against the catholic church that was the most influential religious entity in the country; it took the supreme leader only a few public discourses to send the vast majority of clergy packing and back to their country, in this case spain.. the jehovah’s witnesses were an insignificant minority but they over estimated their importance and displayed a belligerent attitude, it was known that this was a us based religion and an easy target to connect them with the cia.

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  talesin

  And this:

  1. Unbelievable. What visitors from the US. This was written in 2009, I believe? US citizens were forbidden to travel to Cuba. Perhaps WT executives were exempted for business reasons? Hmm, interesting.

  2. Accounts of refugee seekers are markedly different from the PR of the WT representative.

  3. Living under military surveillance. I've heard about what this is like, from my Syrian friends. A spiritual paradise, indeed. Jehovah's Happy People. NOT
  
  Thank you for shining a much-needed light on the JW situation in Cuba.

  [bold is mine]

  They regularly receive visitors
  from members from many countries, such as Belgium, Italy ,
  Mexico and the US, and have an especially strong connection
  with a group in Brooklyn, New York.

  They also said that school authorities are
  generally respectful when Jehovah Witnesses refuse to
  participate in mandatory patriotic activities and allow
  students to opt out of such activities based on their
  religious convictions. They cited occasional friction due to
  "overly zealous" school administrators and teachers. This statement is in striking contrast to the stories told by refugee applicants of persecution and humiliation of Jehovah Witnesses within the education system.
  

  The leaders also said that neighborhood surveillance is at such a high level that the authorities know clearly who is a sincere practitioner of their religion, and who feigns these beliefs to avoid military service.
  
  
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  143

  Fidel Castro and the WT

  by Hecce in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i am going to engage on a trip to the past and share with you some of the matters that marked the beginning of the jws persecution in cuba.

  you will be surprised that the pattern that was followed is very similar to what happened in other dictatorial countries.. in the cuban case, i am going to surprise you and tell you that like what happened with hitler; the wt was partially responsible for their clash and confrontation with the cuban government.

  during the early 60s the revolution was fighting for survival and they were willing and ready to demolish any perceived enemy to their cause.. a prime example was their war against the catholic church that was the most influential religious entity in the country; it took the supreme leader only a few public discourses to send the vast majority of clergy packing and back to their country, in this case spain.. the jehovah’s witnesses were an insignificant minority but they over estimated their importance and displayed a belligerent attitude, it was known that this was a us based religion and an easy target to connect them with the cia.

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  talesin

  This is heart-breaking. When I think of our Cuban community, they are lovely and warm people. Friendly, vibrant with a real lust for life. And trusting the Society - such betrayal! Sending those trusting souls 'into the lion's den'.

  Sometime during the 70s a directive came from Brooklyn to open up on a certain day all the Kingdom Halls. This was a clear violation of the Government prohibition, and it was an act of civil disobedience in a country where those things are not tolerated.
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  143

  Fidel Castro and the WT

  by Hecce in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i am going to engage on a trip to the past and share with you some of the matters that marked the beginning of the jws persecution in cuba.

  you will be surprised that the pattern that was followed is very similar to what happened in other dictatorial countries.. in the cuban case, i am going to surprise you and tell you that like what happened with hitler; the wt was partially responsible for their clash and confrontation with the cuban government.

  during the early 60s the revolution was fighting for survival and they were willing and ready to demolish any perceived enemy to their cause.. a prime example was their war against the catholic church that was the most influential religious entity in the country; it took the supreme leader only a few public discourses to send the vast majority of clergy packing and back to their country, in this case spain.. the jehovah’s witnesses were an insignificant minority but they over estimated their importance and displayed a belligerent attitude, it was known that this was a us based religion and an easy target to connect them with the cia.

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  talesin

  when the proselytizing and meeting activities were suppressed there was a legal challenge from the WT, this was american style.

  I noticed that their anti-communism Awake! articles were american style.

  _________________________________

  Concentration camps, and torture. The society really hung them out to dry, like Malawi. (still on page 2).
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  21

  WT should admit that 1914

  by bobld in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  was a man made date when jesus came and that a generation is not 102 plus years.. why not say something like this.when the disciples asked jesus for a sign and the end of the age.jesus gave them a composite sign and said all these things will take place.when-before the people now living(at the end of the age which no one knows)have all died..

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  talesin

  That would be admitting to one mistake, it's true.

  Would that make everything okay? What about blood transfusion martyrs? And the 2-witness rule? For example.
  
  In addition, if they admit to being wrong, what does that say about being directed by g-d's holy spirit? Is he toying with them (us), or are they false prophets? Why do g-d's spokespeople keep getting these end-of-days dates wrong?

  Those could be thought-provoking questions, if I were still a JW. Questions that could give the GB and their overlords pause. Admit to one flaw, and the downfall of the Tower could be imminent.
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  40

  Prince's recent passport pik!

  by fulltimestudent in

  1. social
  2. current

  well, that's the claim.

  is this sexy, or isn't it?

  are male witnesses now allowed to wear eye liner?.

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  talesin

  neat blue dog

  I'm good at finding articles and researching. Blogs? No thank you. Discussion Boards and Forums? Nope. There appears to *be* no confirmation. I have searched before, last year when I heard the rumour, and at first, thought this thread was News. I checked again this evening. But there's nothing to be found.

  I have lots of time on my hands, so decided to do that. You're welcome.

  google is your friend.