Christians of ATS

a reply to: notquiteright

Whether you believe in Christ or not we should all try to emulate the stories of his compassion, understanding, and selfless sacrifice.

originally posted by: yuppa

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Scrutinizing

Not true in the sense that you and I can believe we are saved all we want, and we can know how to be saved, but until the day we die, are judged, and enter the kingdom ... all we have is the certainty of our belief.

All are judged,even the saints.

I believe with utter certainty there is God. He exists and it's all real.

The problem, however, is a bit like this:

In a room, there is a large box. On the outside of the box are three groups of people. All have been told there is a prize inside the box, and they fall into three groups:

1. The first group believes it's true. There is a prize in the box.

2. The second believes it's a lie. There is no prize in the box.

3. The third group doesn't know what to think. They only know the truth will be revealed when the box is opened.

Christians fall into the first group.

originally posted by: Grenade
a reply to: notquiteright

Whether you believe in Christ or not we should all try to emulate the stories of his compassion, understanding, and selfless sacrifice.

Whether the stories about these UFO's in our sky mean aliens/angels or not is important too. But the bottom line is "love your neighbor as you love yourself" is the best practice ever conceived. It solves a lot of problems too when we also forgive people and are patient.

Those are about all we have to do consistently to be doing the right thing. Yes, it is real hard to love some people. Pray for them. That always helps everyone.

Atheist I learned are not so in a foxhole when bullets are heading inbound.

originally posted by: notquiteright
I have, historically, been one of those people that debated you. I liked to point out the fallacies of your beliefs. I did this because I was always getting harassed by you people. Knocking on my door, asking me to participate in a "survey" at college, and basically telling me I'll go to some horrible place for eternity if I disagreed with you.

Myth 1: The Soul Is Immortal (One Myth Leads to Another)

What is the origin of the myth?

“The early Christian philosophers adopted the Greek concept of the soul’s immortality and thought of the soul as being created by God and infused into the body at conception.”​—The New Encyclopædia Britannica (1988), Volume 11, page 25.

What does the Bible say?

“The soul that sinneth, it shall die.”​—Ezekiel 18:4, King James Version.

Regarding the creation of the first human soul, the Bible says: “Jehovah God proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man came to be a living soul [Hebrew, neʹphesh].”​—Genesis 2:7.

The Hebrew word neʹphesh, translated “soul,” means ‘a creature that breathes.’ When God created the first man, Adam, He did not infuse into him an immortal soul but the life force that is maintained by breathing. Therefore, “soul” in the Biblical sense refers to the entire living being. If separated from the life force originally given by God, the soul dies.​—Genesis 3:19; Ezekiel 18:20.

The doctrine of the immortality of the soul raised questions: Where do souls go after death? What happens to the souls of the wicked? When nominal Christians adopted the myth of the immortal soul, this led them to accept another myth​—the teaching of hellfire.

Compare these Bible verses: Ecclesiastes 3:19; Matthew 10:28; Acts 3:23

FACT:

At death a person ceases to exist

Myth 2: The Wicked Suffer in Hell

What is the origin of the myth?

“Of all classical Greek philosophers, the one who has had the greatest influence on traditional views of Hell is Plato.”​—Histoire des enfers (The History of Hell), by Georges Minois, page 50.

“From the middle of the 2nd century AD Christians who had some training in Greek philosophy began to feel the need to express their faith in its terms . . . The philosophy that suited them best was Platonism [the teachings of Plato].”​—The New Encyclopædia Britannica (1988), Volume 25, page 890.

“The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, ‘eternal fire.’ The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God.”​—Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1994 edition, page 270.

What does the Bible say?

“For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, . . . for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.”​—Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10, Revised Standard Version.

The Hebrew word Sheol, which referred to the “abode of the dead,” is translated “hell” in some versions of the Bible. What does this passage reveal about the condition of the dead? Do they suffer in Sheol in order to atone for their errors? No, for they “know nothing.” That is why the patriarch Job, when suffering terribly because of a severe illness, begged God: “Protect me in hell [Hebrew, Sheol].” (Job 14:13; Douay-Rheims Version) What meaning would his request have had if Sheol was a place of eternal torment? Hell, in the Biblical sense, is simply the common grave of mankind, where all activity has ceased.

Is not this definition of hell more logical and in harmony with Scripture? What crime, however horrible, could cause a God of love to torture a person endlessly? (1 John 4:8) But if hellfire is a myth, what about heaven?

Compare these Bible verses: Psalm 146:3, 4; Acts 2:25-27; Romans 6:7, 23

FACT:

God does not punish people in hell

Myth 3: All Good People Go to Heaven

Perhaps you were too busy pointing out fallacies to actually get to discussing the subject I bolded at the start of this comment. You seem somewhat uninformed about it. You will not "go to some horrible place for eternity" if you disagree with anyone. You will not "go to some horrible place for eternity", period. This teaching is a product of false religion, it is designed to malign God as cruel and to ensnare people by means of phobomancy*, among other things. (*: superstituous fear or phobia; the use of fear and evil to manipulate the minds and actions of others.)

(False) Religion is a Snare and a Racket (playlist)

originally posted by: MiddleInsite

Instead lots go to Church, and then spout hate and profanity all week. Then they go back to Church on Sunday, I guess for a cleansing, and they do it all over again.

What if that behaviour is a product/effect of what goes on in said "Church"?

A widely respected religious figure, Jesus Christ, indicated that false religion produces bad works, just as a “rotten tree produces worthless fruit.” (Matthew 7:15-17)

...
Lies, Lies!

Certainly, the handiest trick of the propagandist is the use of outright lies. Consider, for example, the lies that Martin Luther wrote in 1543 about the Jews in Europe: “They have poisoned wells, made assassinations, kidnaped children . . . They are venomous, bitter, vindictive, tricky serpents, assassins, and children of the devil who sting and work harm.” His exhortation to so-called Christians? “Set fire to their synagogues or schools . . . Their houses [should] also be razed and destroyed.”

...

Source: The Manipulation of Information (Awake!—2000)

Remember, Martin Luther is the one the Lutheran Church owes its name to, in case you missed that. Coming back to what Jesus said, what fruit does false religion yield?

On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, starting World War II. Three weeks later The New York Times carried the headline: “German Soldiers Rallied by Churches.” Did German churches really support Hitler’s wars?

Friedrich Heer, Roman Catholic professor of history at Vienna University, acknowledged that they did: “In the cold facts of German history, the Cross and the swastika came ever closer together, until the swastika proclaimed the message of victory from the towers of German cathedrals, swastika flags appeared round altars and Catholic and Protestant theologians, pastors, churchmen and statesmen welcomed the alliance with Hitler.”

Indeed, church leaders gave unqualified support to Hitler’s war effort, as Roman Catholic professor Gordon Zahn wrote: “The German Catholic who looked to his religious superiors for spiritual guidance and direction regarding service in Hitler’s wars received virtually the same answers he would have received from the Nazi ruler himself.”

Religions on the Other Side

But what were churches saying in the countries that opposed Germany? The New York Times of December 29, 1966, reported: “In the past local Catholic hierarchies almost always supported the wars of their nations, blessing troops and offering prayers for victory, while another group of bishops on the other side publicly prayed for the opposite outcome.” (How many religions can you think of whose members engage in war?)

Was this support of opposing armies done with Vatican approval? Consider: On December 8, 1939, just three months after the outbreak of World War II, Pope Pius XII issued the pastoral letter Asperis Commoti Anxietatibus. The letter was addressed to chaplains in armies of the warring nations, and it urged those on both sides to have confidence in their respective military bishops. The letter admonished the chaplains “as fighters under the flags of their country to fight also for the Church.”

Religion often takes an aggressive lead in mobilizing countries for war. “Even in our churches we have put the battle flags,” admitted the late Harry Emerson Fosdick, a Protestant clergyman. And regarding the first world war, British brigadier general Frank P. Crozier said: “The Christian Churches are the finest blood-​lust creators which we have, and of them we made free use.”

However, that was religion’s record in the past. What about its more recent role in the war in republics of the former Yugoslavia, where most people are either Roman Catholic or Orthodox?

Religion’s Responsibility

A headline in Asiaweek of October 20, 1993, declared: “Bosnia Is an Epicenter of Religious Conflict.” A headline for a commentary in the San Antonio Express-​News of June 13, 1993, proclaimed: “Religious Chiefs Should End Bosnian Woes.” The article said: “The Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Muslim faiths . . . can’t slough off responsibility for what is happening. Not this time, not with the whole world nightly watching. It’s their war. . . . The principle that religious leaders bear responsibility for warfare is clear. Their very sanctimoniousness provokes it. By blessing one side over the other they do so.”

Why, for example, is hatred between members of the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Churches so great? Popes, patriarchs, and other church leaders are responsible. Ever since the final separation between these religions in 1054, church leaders have fostered hatred and wars between their members. The Montenegrin newspaper Pobeda, September 20, 1991, pointed to that religious schism and its consequences in an article about the recent fighting. Under the title “Killers in the Name of God,” the article explained:

“It is not a question of politics between [Croatian president] Tudjman and [Serbian leader] Milošević but rather it is a religious war. It should be stated that already a thousand years have passed since the Pope decided to eliminate the Orthodox religion as a rivalry. . . . In 1054 . . . the Pope declared the Orthodox Church responsible for the separation. . . . In 1900 the first Catholic congress explicitly explained the plan of genocide against the Orthodox for the 20th century. [This] plan is now taking place.”

However, this fairly recent conflict is not the first example of religious strife in that century. 80 years ago, during World War II, Roman Catholics tried to eliminate the Orthodox Church presence in the area. With the pope’s backing, the Croatian nationalist movement called Ustashi came to govern the independent state of Croatia. The New Encyclopædia Britannica reports that this Vatican-​approved rule employed “extraordinarily brutal practices, which included executions of hundreds of thousands of Serbs and Jews.”

In the book The Yugoslav Auschwitz and the Vatican, not only are these mass killings documented​—involving tens of thousands of victims—​but the Vatican’s involvement in them is also documented.

On the other hand, the Orthodox Church has backed the Serbs in their fighting. In fact, one Serbian unit leader was quoted as saying: ‘The Patriarch is my commander.’

What could have been done to stop the killing, which in Bosnia and Herzegovina alone has left as many as 150,000 either dead or missing? Fred Schmidt declared in the San Antonio Express-​News that the UN Security Council should pass “a formal resolution calling on the pope, the patriarch of Constantinople, and [the other leaders] of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Muslim churches having jurisdiction in Bosnia-​Herzegovina to forthwith call off their dogs and meet together to figure out how their faithful can find it in their hearts to live as neighbors with those of other faiths.”

In a similar vein, a commentary in the Scottsdale, Arizona, Progress Tribune concluded that the war “might be stopped if the religious leaders over there got serious about stopping it.” The article suggested that they do that “by immediately excommunicating any congregant who fires a shell at Sarajevo.”

No Real Force for Peace

However, popes have consistently refused to excommunicate the worst of war criminals, even when fellow Catholics have appealed for such action to be taken. For example, the Catholic Telegraph-​Register of Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A., under the heading “Reared as Catholic but Violates Faith Says Cable to Pope,” reported: “An appeal has been made to Pius XII that Reichsfuehrer Adolph Hitler be excommunicated. . . . ‘Adolph Hitler,’ [the cable] read in part, ‘was born of Catholic parents, was baptized a Catholic, and was reared and educated as such.’” Yet Hitler was never excommunicated.

Consider, too, the situation in parts of Africa where brutal warfare has raged. Fifteen Roman Catholic bishops from the African nations of Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zaire confessed that, despite the presence of many baptized “Christians” in the region, “internal conflicts have led to massacres, destruction and forced removals of people.” The bishops admitted that the root of the problem “is that the Christian faith has not sufficiently penetrated the mentality of the people.”

The National Catholic Reporter of April 8, 1994, said the “pope . . . felt ‘immense pain’ at fresh reports of conflict in the tiny African nation [of Burundi], whose population is predominantly Catholic.” The pope said that in Rwanda, where about 70 percent of the population is Catholic, “even Catholics are responsible” for the killing. Yes, Catholics on both sides have massacred one another, even as they have in countless previous wars. And other religions have done the same.

Are we therefore to conclude that all religions take sides in war? Is there any religion that is a true force for peace?

a reply to: whereislogic

Interestingly enough JW,org hide pedophiles, no issue with that?
I expect you believe the JW lie that they don’t exist

Yes, the Christian church has failed consistently but, your choice of faith has no right to claim any moral superiority

a reply to: Raggedyman

The abuse scandals are a scourge, to be sure.
The Catholic Church, SBC, Mormons, you name it.
They’re all dealing with it.
Pedos are sociopaths. Sociopaths prey on the good will of society. They seek out positions in churches, schools, sports, and the Boy Scouts.
Yes, the abuse has been covered up, and all of those orgs are struggling with it. In many ways, our society hasn’t wanted to acknowledge just how sinister and prevalent it is.

a reply to: Gandalf77

Yes but
JW,org still cover it up and actively deny the reality
Never mind harbour these ...

Worse still is people like the poster I replied to denying it’s a reality because they are told otherwise and can’t use their own abilities at their fingertips to research the truth, because they are not allowed to seek the truth

a reply to: Raggedyman

Brainwashing is a frightening thing.

a reply to: whereislogic

If there is nothing in the box, what's the point?

a reply to: ketsuko

Just standing around making fun of the people who believe there's a prize.

Kind of jealous of those people actually who believe in the prize, if anything you always have a sense of reassurance.

Personally I'm sticking around for the unboxing.

a reply to: keukendeur
What a limited existence! If all someone lives for is the mockery of others, that person allows those others to define them, and not in a positive way. What would such a person do without those other people?

a reply to: Raggedyman

I've looked into this since you seem rather insistent about it.

The Australian royal commission found that, "We do not consider the Jehovah's Witness organisation to be an organisation which responds adequately to child sexual abuse. ... The organisation's retention and continued application of policies such as the two-witness rule in cases of child sexual abuse shows a serious lack of understanding of the nature of child sexual abuse."[86] In its final report, the royal commission added, "As long as the Jehovah's Witness organisation continues to ... [rely on a literal interpretation of the Bible and 1st century principles to set practice, policy and procedure] ... in its response to allegations of child sexual abuse, it will remain an organisation that does not respond adequately to child sexual abuse and that fails to protect children."

en.wikipedia.org...'s_Witnesses'_handling_of_child_sex_abuse#2015_Australian_royal_commission
[sorry, I can't seem to get that Wikipedia link to work. Probably punctuation in address.]

If you are curious about what is being literally interpreted, here you go; 1 Corinthians 6 ESV

1When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? 2Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? 3Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! 4So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? 5I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, 6but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? 7To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? 8But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers!a

9Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

There is nothing unique about JWs attempting to follow this scripture. Any literalist group does the same. Hence they fail to report crimes to secular authorities but rather attempt to follow their own "morally superior way."

Then isn't this indictment not only applicable to JWs, but to all Bible followers ? Well, at least members of organized groups with elders and such.

My Son-in-law showed me this viral video from Young Turks.
The viral part starts at the 2:00 mark.
The Young Turks - Ana Kasparian Goes Viral on TikTok, Find Out Why

Tune in again at about 8:32;
"Religious people have a problem understanding that we are not in your religion. We do not have to follow the rules of your religion..."

a reply to: pthena

Wow, what you are saying is really creepy
You are mixing church “politics” with state/secular law

The church is not above secular law and you imply it should be. Think how creepy that is.
Now consider that JW,org has harboured pedophiles from justice and you excuse that based on a text dealing with how christians treat each other within the church community.
Should they treat murder the same?

How do you excuse it so simply

a reply to: Raggedyman

The church is not above secular law

Very good. I whole heartedly agree.

and you imply it should be.

No. Apostle Paul flat out states it that way.

Creepy? Yes, absolutely.

But I'm not the Christian here. I am not bound to what the Bible says. That's why I support turning abusers over to the civil authority. Reputation of the churches be damned.

Ha...97.1% of bibles are either King James or were translated from the King James. In fact, if I were to leave Greek Orthodoxy (which has enough problems of its own...), the first litmus test I would give any pastor is, "KJV, yay or n...(actually that's really confusing for us Hellenophones)...yup or nup?"

The piece of excrement, commonly referred to as the King Jimmy Bimmy is a frighteningly wicked thing. Not only is his horrific understanding of Greek the very thing responsible for much of the hate in today's world from White Supremacists being inventive when it comes to dehumanizing all other colors to painting God as a homophobic jerk when in the true Word, I think God gushes about the homes more than May West or Goo Goo Ga Ga Woman or whatever that pop star girl is called. There are countless other places where certain word choices are used, all wrong, and little by little along with the Hebrew, for which I can't speak for, it paints God as this truly unapproachable, petty, sadistic sociopath when in reality, the Bible is a truly modern thing and God a whole lot like us. He commands us to question all we read and are told to believe, he demands we seek truth and knowledge, he has a sense of humor, I mean, we are pieces of him and in his image. Possibly even quite literally pieces of him. His favorite past time for God's sake say the Psalms is watching the baby animals frolic in the spring, animals being vessels of the souls which are already perfect and need no work. Funny how videos of wittle puppies and pwitty kitties are how 94.2% of the world passes downtime. And because of the mathematics and symbolism of Hebrew and the mathematics used with intent in the Greek, a whole new meaning or two which are otherwise hidden emerge which are totally lost in translation but aside from telling a tale still undeciphered but what it may suggest is too insane to even fathom, it also signs the book with a kind of proof that no ancient primitive does contributed to its pages and just so happened to pass along even the typos without which, the most incredible hidden message in the Bible wouldn't even be there which seem to suggest something is different about this book. Sure it isn't necessarily divinely inspired but if it ain't, there's some kind of magic, or time traveler's intervention, or alien interference, or cosmic code or something which was both a part of the Bible but also would have had to be present throughout the time that the Hebrew language formed which is I mean...a long time. The coincidences are statistically impossible and the time between authors who would have both had to have the same idea in mind can't happen. Much or most even of this is destroyed by the KJV and he also had no shame in throwing in other evil symbology, though ghb its, language, probably black magic even. And I don't know who he thought he was, but like the Book of Enoch which basically explains everything we need to know about what all of this is, who we are, and who "they" are, your typical KJV loving misled bunny of a worthless priest will disavow Enoch (ignoring that Christ himself quotes from the Book of Enoch several times more than ALL OTHER BOOKS OF THE TORAH COMBINED...I'll take Christ over Nicea any day...), Jimmy took it upon himself to wipe FOUR MORE books from the Bible on the way to the publisher. Giving us today's "bible" from the 300 or so books, epistles, and testaments it is thought were meant to be a part of the collection from the Book of Adam and Eve, to the Book of the Giants, the Book of Judas which if true makes poor Judas a saint given what he agreed to suffer for all time to do Christ's bidding...

I'm putting too much fluff here...just ask yourself if a priest has the right idea if he swears by or rejects the altered Bible prepared by Jimmy who himself was an openly theist Luciferian and kickstarted the Lyciferian and Masonic temples rebirth the globe over, had as a copywriter demonologist John Dee, and worked with Dee to transcribe from demons in a black mirror the Enochian language spoken by the fallen and perhaps, the Angelic Host in its entirety and God himself perhaps and used it to perform fallen angel invocations and cosmic magic of Solomon's level sorcery...oh and let's not forget who hated the majority of Christ's followers and killed a whole lot of them. A descendant of Count Dracula and related to good old most prolific serial killer in history, Countess Lizzie B...and we all know what kind of things she got into. Let's just say there's a reason rabbis transcribed typos and all back in the day and that the two oldest copies of the Torah ever found match letter for letter the Torahs printed in 2021. Language is an important thing.

And lastly, people feel removed from the story of the Bible because of this constant rich powerful people reacting, sniping, cutting out what we are allowed to read so really, where Christians today, 97.1 percent of them at least, have never even actually read the Word but think they have and dedicate their lives to a silly leisure time science project of a Christ hating king and condemn themselves left and right following what some idiot too smug to see the forest for the trees so decides to base his teaching on King LuciMason's project instead of the Word as written by the prophets, it makes for a selfish, muddy, ugly Christianity where people think God needs their help doing his job as judge when we have one single command while here and that's to love every other human no matter who he is nor what he does as much as you love your brother. That's it. We should be like Christ and he turned the world upside down when even those on bottom believed in a pyramid of people and class but suggested for the first time what would take till the enlightenment to catch on, the invaluableness of every, any human life and soul. And boy was he a bad ass for the ages saying his people, those he loved above all were the outcasted, the hated, the spat on, the addicts, the lepers, the beggars, the lame bodies, hello...his best friend in the world was a street walking whore. And maybe more than a friend. And children. Of course. Year 0's Di and Michael Jackson in a two for one! Best to hate religion but love God like Jesus said to. Read the entire apocrypha. You'll know what feels right and what is just nonsense translating or people editing for selfish reasons. The first typo in the Bible, the first word in fact, sums it all up and is confirmed in Daniel and the last word in the Bible.

Oh and as far as it being an old timey story no longer applicable...read and ponder the missing pieces. You will see it's even more relatable today than it was 2000 years ago and that it's a story far more like Star Wars but much more exciting than it is like Ben Hur. We are far from the most advanced era of humankind and so stories from when we were at our peak are all right there and in this book, we ain't talking science fiction. I was a staunch atheist till just four or five years ago when it all clicked and explained everything that has been and seems to be coming to pass perfectly and where I'd go read Christian themed forums and feel embarrassed for how low functioning, gullible, ignorant, and pathetic a person has to be to buy into a JudeoChristian faith, when it finally hit me it hit hard and changed my life like...like whoa. It was all accompanied by my long wished for paranormal experience/confirmation which may have helped.

originally posted by: MiddleInsite
If more Christians would walk to walk instead of talk the talk, they might have more weight when discussing things such as morals or lifestyles.

Instead lots go to Church, and then spout hate and profanity all week. Then they go back to Church on Sunday, I guess for a cleansing, and they do it all over again.

And instead of going after everyone else's sin, maybe they could get a hold of the pedo priest problem finally, and those who commit adultery and get divorced, etc, within their flock. Stop worrying so much about the gays and those who wish to live their lives differently. They are not hurting you. Try and mind your own business.

If Christians were to do that, I might take them a bit more seriously.

I won't hold my breath.

So true. In fact it fulfills part of Bible prophecy concerning the last days:

"But know this, that in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here...having an appearance of godliness but proving false to its power; and from these turn away."-2 Timothy 3:1, 6.

And this is so true. Many people profess to be Christians and even go to Church on Sunday. But just like your post brings out their conduct proves they are not real followers of Christ. Although shameful it is fulfillment of Bible prophecy.


I get the jist of the OP and I can agree with the sentiment.

You may be surprised to learn that the Bible also has foretold the turning away from religion. And soon at the behest of God himself, Jesus Christ will put it into the hearts of all the rulers around the world at once time to turn upon and get rid of religion. So this hatred you see of religion is also a fulfillment of Bible prophecy.

a reply to: Raggedyman

Proverbs 16:27-29

27 A worthless man digs up what is bad;

His speech is like a scorching fire.

28 A troublemaker* causes dissension, [*: Or “A schemer.”]

And a slanderer separates close friends.

29 A violent man entices his neighbor

And leads him in the wrong way.

For those who find themselves heated up* by Raggedyman's commentary, you might want to check out some of the statistics regarding the subject he spoke about for a more honest picture of the situation, some of which are available in the video below after 2:53 (the information in the video has been ignored by Raggedyman when linked in the past, so it's not really for him; he has demonstrated that he's going to stick with his slanderous spin designed to entice others by fostering hatred and prejudice*, digging up what is bad and then spinning it to lay blame elsewhere, including me for beliefs he falsely ascribes to me, no matter what the real situation is, demonstrating it's slander for the purpose I just described. Either concerning what I supposedly believe or so-called 'lies' that were never suggested by anyone; there's also no 'hiding' going on, just more word-spin to create a slanderous negative picture of the subject). *: the 'tickling of ears' described at 2 Timothy 4:3,4 is also involved, pushing the right buttons so to speak. Cause: “The words of a slanderer are like tasty morsels;* [Or “like things to be swallowed greedily.”] they are gulped right down into the stomach.” (Proverbs 18:8)

*: “Let anger alone and leave rage; do not show yourself heated up only to do evil.” (Psalm 37:8)

“Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are of serious concern, whatever things are righteous, whatever things are chaste, whatever things are lovable, whatever things are well-spoken-of, whatever things are virtuous, and whatever things are praiseworthy, continue considering these things.” (Philippians 4:8)

Coming back to Psalm 37:8, this is the behaviour (evil) the type of false accusations that Raggedyman uses on a regular basis in response to my commentary leads to, and is designed to lead to (I've seen a news report about the incident where they interview a Patriarch or some other clergyman of the Orthodox Church, using the same accusations and a couple more that are listed in the video above, basically demonstrating his full support of these acts of violence and where the hatred is coming from, the source of the behaviour of the flock, the rotten tree of these rotten fruits. Not sure if I remember correctly, but I think he was also a leading figure in the political party spoken of below, or at least, he sounded just like them, parroting their arguments and way of talking about this supposed "cult", and the news media interviewer played right along with it, justifying the violence, coming up with excuses as to why it's OK to do this to these supposedly super-threatening people):

Sometimes the behaviour is lurking under the surface until they have what in their eyes seems like a good excuse to unleash their anger and hatred on peaceful Christians that want nothing to do with the pitfalls of nationalism and patriotism, and the wars and violence it promotes. See after 6:09 below:

I'm sure there are quite a few people in those mobs that thought of themselves as Christians and patriots. Yet their behaviour proves otherwise. As Jesus said:

“Really, then, by their fruits you will recognize those men.” (Matt. 7:20)

originally posted by: whereislogic

...
Lies, Lies!

Certainly, the handiest trick of the propagandist is the use of outright lies. Consider, for example, the lies that Martin Luther wrote in 1543 about the Jews in Europe: “They have poisoned wells, made assassinations, kidnaped children . . . They are venomous, bitter, vindictive, tricky serpents, assassins, and children of the devil who sting and work harm.” His exhortation to so-called Christians? “Set fire to their synagogues or schools . . . Their houses [should] also be razed and destroyed.”

...

Source: The Manipulation of Information (Awake!—2000)

Note he's pushing the same button in the bolded part there, as in creating the perception of a threat to your children. A very powerful button to push for manipulative purposes and fostering hatred for that perceived threat, enticing people to act on that hatred while thinking their doing something good.

The irony is, I was responding to someone who said:

originally posted by: MiddleInsite

Instead lots go to Church, and then spout hate and profanity all week. Then they go back to Church on Sunday, I guess for a cleansing, and they do it all over again.

I guess there are variant approaches that are more focussed on laying the groundwork rather than easily described as literally spouting hatred. Perhaps to have a justification ready for laying said groundwork if someone objects to the behaviour or points it out?

a reply to: whereislogic

So are you denying JW,org are harbouring pedos?
A lot of talk but no substance

I am asking for a straight answer