A blog by Tom Sheepandgoats (aka Tom Harley)
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An Insular People: No Part of the World: Part 2
See Part 1 Sweeping the Western world is a kinder, gentler view of minorities. More tolerance is in the air, less judgment, more fairness. There is more understanding of human quirks. The emphasis is on human rights; every person of every minority has them—unless that minority is in favor of separating from the world. That is something not tolerated. BitterWinter is running a so-far ten…
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An Insular People—No Part of the World: Part 1
There is a fine reality check in Deuteronomy to guard against Israel of old getting too big for its pants: “It was not because you were the most numerous of all the peoples that Jehovah showed affection for you and chose you, for you were the smallest of all the peoples.” (7:7) Got it. They weren’t a big deal on the world stage. So, when…
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Joseph Kempler
After the war, concentration camp Joseph Kempler was invited to a hearing in Germany for the purpose of identifying war criminals. There, he struck up an acquaintance with some Jehovah’s Witnesses who had also been incarcerated. He knew nothing of their beliefs but he had previously encountered them, as a camp within a camp, at the Melk labor prison. He sat with them throughout the…
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Theologians Move Away from Satan—Why?
Modern theologians have discarded Satan. It is so yesterday. Satan makes Christianity a dualism, a bad to offset the good. The devil is a good concept to have around, since you can blame all your troubles on him. But modern theologians of the monotheistic religions have long since moved on from him, as though an embarrassment from their childhood. I think this is because they are…
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Assume Unity of Scripture or Disunity–the Choice
Back in the days of cloth diapers, it was easy to accidentally flush one down the toilet, rendering the contraption inoperable. Many times I recall my father fishing them out, which was not an easy task and might even be beyond him, entailing the call for an expensive plumber. Once, a certain false-flushing only partially disabled the upstairs toilet. It thereafter worked for liquid waste…
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The Clock Ticks on Emotion: A Correction to Theology
If you are trying to please the ology people—those whose specialize in theology, sociology, psychology, and add philosophy to the stack—you do not present God by his personality and attributes. These are not matters of the intellect. The thinkers do not have the tools to measure it. They are uncomfortable when not strictly in the realm of the head, strictly in the realm of critical…
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Who We Are and Why We Are and Where We Are Going?
“How can people believe Bible texts the way they do? People were superstitious then. And it is violent.” Maybe because they are enamored with its main character, God. Those not enamored with him are not attracted to the text. Psalm 34:8 is a favorite of mine: “Taste and see that Jehovah is good.” Some people think he tastes bad. Taste is not a provable topic.…
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Like a Bad Accident: You Know You Shouldn’t Watch, but You Can’t Look Away.
Our next-door neighbor likens the news to a bad accident. “You know you shouldn’t watch, but you can’t look away,” she says. Is that a great analogy for ‘Man ruling man to his injury’ or what? And she is not even a Witness. It’s a trainwreck! You really should look away, for you will see some horrific things—but you can’t. It will cause you less…
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Sociologists Recognize the Practice of Religion is Rational–it Only Took Till 1987 (Stark and Baimbridge)
When an LDC couple moves into town, or any person of the full-time-servant variety, there is some flexibility as to which congregation they will attend. I try to woo them into mine. ‘Frankly, in some of those other congregations,’ I tell them, ‘I’m not sure they even believe in God.’ It’s a joke. Everyone knows it’s a joke. They laugh. But in the world of…
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The Theodicy that No One Takes Seriously Today: Is it Because it Works?
People run in herds and theologians are no different. New ideas replace old and these fellows jump ship en masse. New ideas come along and they abandon the old for the new. It is today almost taboo to mention what was once widely accepted. ‘Functional dualism,’ the notion that there is not just a good supernatural being (God), but also a bad supernatural being (Satan)…