"STANDING WHERE IT DOES NOT BELONG"

[Witness]

2 hours ago, Anna said:

And if it's not, it gets lopped off. So leave it to Jehovah.

Yes, we leave it to God, but Jesus still expects us to discern good fruit from bad fruit if we want to receive life. Matt 12:33; Luke 6:43-45;  Luke 8:14,15  We do not enter the Kingdom on a tail wind of questionable, changed,  teachings and doctrines not outlined in the Bible.  If a branch remains in Christ, and teaches truth sourced in Holy Spirit; the hearer who receives it, who welcomes it, gains life from the living water sourced in the vine - sourced in Christ.  John 7:38

 

[Anna]

On 3/11/2019 at 11:03 AM, Witness said:

Why not put a clay Buddha statue on the living room coffee table simply because he appears so benevolent?  Or, a gilded wooden cross on the wall because it is a superb piece of art.  Or, a statue of Mary, Peter or Joseph in the garden.  Again, they are just formed of earthen clay. 

Because the Buddha, gilded wooden cross, and statues of saints were made specifically for the purpose of veneration.

It seems that the primary and original purpose of the inuksuk was navigational aids and not objects of veneration.  But as with everything, humans who do not know the truth about Jehovah attach spiritual significance to just about anything they want. In India the cow becomes holy,  for Christendom salt becomes holy (blessed salt), For Muslims a natural spring of water (the Zamzam well) becomes holy...etc. etc. The point is a cow is a cow, salt is salt, a spring is a spring. Just because people decide to turn something that originally had no such significance into something different, that’s their problem. The inuksuk has no such significance at the Canadian Bethel. It would be like saying we can’t use salt because some religion blesses it and makes it holy. Now it would be totally different if this item was made to have spiritual significance from its creation, like your aforementioned examples. But it is clear that the inuksuk originally had no such significance.

 

[Anna]

11 hours ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

.... however, as I told my CO one day when he asked what I thought about the organization "I can do without Caleb and Sophia".

Who knows, the CO might have felt the same....

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

21 minutes ago, Anna said:

The inuksuk has no such significance at the Canadian Bethel. It would be like saying we can’t use salt because some religion blesses it and makes it holy. Now it would be totally different if this item was made to have spiritual significance from its creation, like your aforementioned examples. But it is clear that the inuksuk originally had no such significance.

I agree with that.

BUT ... it is a crystal clear and dramatic example of "WDS" *, on the part of those AGENDA driven people.

With bad detectives .... seeing is believing.

If they had not BELIEVED something ... they would not have seen it.

 

 

* ( _"WDS" = "Watchtower Derangement Syndrome" - the sword that cuts both ways.)

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

24 minutes ago, Anna said:

11 hours ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

.... however, as I told my CO one day when he asked what I thought about the organization "I can do without Caleb and Sophia".

Who knows, the CO might have felt the same....

He grinned, but said "Well.... they have their place ..."

I rolled my eyes, but did not say anything more.

[Witness]

33 minutes ago, Anna said:

Because the Buddha, gilded wooden cross, and statues of saints were made specifically for the purpose of veneration.

It seems that the primary and original purpose of the inuksuk was navigational aids and not objects of veneration.  But as with everything, humans who do not know the truth about Jehovah attach spiritual significance to just about anything they want. In India the cow becomes holy,  for Christendom salt becomes holy (blessed salt), For Muslims a natural spring of water (the Zamzam well) becomes holy...etc. etc. The point is a cow is a cow, salt is salt, a spring is a spring. Just because people decide to turn something that originally had no such significance into something different, that’s their problem. The inuksuk has no such significance at the Canadian Bethel. It would be like saying we can’t use salt because some religion blesses it and makes it holy. Now it would be totally different if this item was made to have spiritual significance from its creation, like your aforementioned examples. But it is clear that the inuksuk originally had no such significance.

 

I knew someone would come up with an "explanation" that it''s not the same as any other pagan idol.  I really can't believe your reasoning.  This isn't just spring water, or salt or a cow.  It's a well-known sacred idol that the Watchtower has adopted as their mascot in Canada, for the preaching work.  

Sacred ‘Sign Posts’ Of The Inuit People

A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - The mysterious stone figures known as Inukshuk can be found throughout far northern areas of Alaska, Canada, Siberia, and Greenland. Inukshuk (the singular of 'inuksuit') means "in the likeness of a human" (or "that which acts in the capacity of a human") in the Inuit language.

They are man-made stone landmark, with many different meanings, used by the Inuit for communication,  navigation, as a marker for travel routes, fishing places, camps, hunting grounds, places of worship, drift fences used in hunting or to mark a food storage.

The traditional meaning of the Inukshuk is "Someone was here" or "You are on the right path."

For the Inuit people living in the circumpolar regions, Inukshuk arrangement of stones, especially its arms and legs, indicates the purpose of the marker.

Inukshuk - among the oldest and most important objects placed by humans upon the vast Arctic landscape - are a sacred symbol. The figure is the Inuit symbol of their homeland and these people tradition forbids the destruction of these objects.

An inukshuk (also known as inuksuk) is often venerated as symbolizing an ancestor who knew how to survive on the land in the traditional way. The figure can be small or large, a single rock, several rocks balanced on each other, round boulders or flat. Built from whatever stones are at hand, each one is unique.

The so-called the Hammer of Thor,  a 3.3 me (10.8 ft) tall, t-shaped, man-made rock formation is located along the Arnaud River in the Ungava Peninsula, Quebec, Canada. It was believed to have been erected by Vikings in reference to the hammer-wielding Thor of Norse mythology. However, it most likely is an artifact of Inuit culture.

Today, the inuksuk statue continue to serve as an Inuit cultural symbol. It is the centrepiece of the flag and coat of arms of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, and the flag of Nunatsiavut.

http://www.ancientpages.com/2018/09/04/sacred-sign-posts-of-the-inuit-people/

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Witness]

I'm beating my head against the wall.  JWs already venerate an idol - the organization, which supposedly leads one to salvation.   Rom 1:25; Rev 13:1,4-8

What's another idol to throw into the mix, anyway?

Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.16 For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Deut 30:11-20

 

[Anna]

7 minutes ago, Witness said:

I knew someone would come up with an "explanation" that it''s not the same as any other pagan idol.  I really can't believe your reasoning.  This isn't just spring water, or salt or a cow.  It's a well-known sacred idol that the Watchtower has adopted as their mascot in Canada, for the preaching work.  

Sacred ‘Sign Posts’ Of The Inuit People

A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - The mysterious stone figures known as Inukshuk can be found throughout far northern areas of Alaska, Canada, Siberia, and Greenland. Inukshuk (the singular of 'inuksuit') means "in the likeness of a human" (or "that which acts in the capacity of a human") in the Inuit language.

They are man-made stone landmark, with many different meanings, used by the Inuit for communication,  navigation, as a marker for travel routes, fishing places, camps, hunting grounds, places of worship, drift fences used in hunting or to mark a food storage.

The traditional meaning of the Inukshuk is "Someone was here" or "You are on the right path."

For the Inuit people living in the circumpolar regions, Inukshuk arrangement of stones, especially its arms and legs, indicates the purpose of the marker.

Inukshuk - among the oldest and most important objects placed by humans upon the vast Arctic landscape - are a sacred symbol. The figure is the Inuit symbol of their homeland and these people tradition forbids the destruction of these objects.

An inukshuk (also known as inuksuk) is often venerated as symbolizing an ancestor who knew how to survive on the land in the traditional way. The figure can be small or large, a single rock, several rocks balanced on each other, round boulders or flat. Built from whatever stones are at hand, each one is unique.

The so-called the Hammer of Thor,  a 3.3 me (10.8 ft) tall, t-shaped, man-made rock formation is located along the Arnaud River in the Ungava Peninsula, Quebec, Canada. It was believed to have been erected by Vikings in reference to the hammer-wielding Thor of Norse mythology. However, it most likely is an artifact of Inuit culture.

Today, the inuksuk statue continue to serve as an Inuit cultural symbol. It is the centrepiece of the flag and coat of arms of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, and the flag of Nunatsiavut.

http://www.ancientpages.com/2018/09/04/sacred-sign-posts-of-the-inuit-people/

 

You can post as many explanations as you like, but with your previous arguments about the supposed crosses I am of the impression that you are desperately looking for anything that signifies some dark intentions of the WT.  And yet, if it wasn't for the org. you would most likely be holding the cross sacred today.

From reading your extract from ancientpages.com I can still see that the inuksuk was not made for veneration but "is often venerated as symbolizing an ancestor". Two different things. I guess my point about humans finding anything to venerate was lost on you. Jehovah's Witnesses are not opposed to cultural heritage, and that is why the inuskuk is at the Canadian Bethel. I wouldn't read anymore into it than that.

[Anna]

17 minutes ago, Witness said:

JWs already venerate an idol - the organization

There you go again. No, the organization is there to get one from A to B and to preach the Kingdom. That's why it's an organization.

or·gan·i·za·tion

1. an organized body of people with a particular purpose, especially a business, society, association, etc.

2.

the action of organizing something.

[Witness]

15 hours ago, Anna said:

You can post as many explanations as you like, but with your previous arguments about the supposed crosses I am of the impression that you are desperately looking for anything that signifies some dark intentions of the WT.  And yet, if it wasn't for the org. you would most likely be holding the cross sacred today.

From reading your extract from ancientpages.com I can still see that the inuksuk was not made for veneration but "is often venerated as symbolizing an ancestor". Two different things. I guess my point about humans finding anything to venerate was lost on you. Jehovah's Witnesses are not opposed to cultural heritage, and that is why the inuskuk is at the Canadian Bethel. I wouldn't read anymore into it than that.

Inukshuk - among the oldest and most important objects placed by humans upon the vast Arctic landscape - are a sacred symbol. The figure is the Inuit symbol of their homeland and these people tradition forbids the destruction of these objects.

If it wasn't a symbol of veneration, it wouldn't be forbidden to remove it.  

I doubt the Canadian Bethel would go so far as to adopt the northern territory flag of Canada with an Inuksuk already on it, because it is a FLAG representing another nation; and JWs don’t “venerate” flags of other nations.    However, the organization does have its own flag that symbolizes a homeland, so why not put the Inuksuk on the jw dot org flag to symbolize the preaching work of a nation?

 

 

[Witness]

15 hours ago, Anna said:

There you go again. No, the organization is there to get one from A to B and to preach the Kingdom. That's why it's an organization.

or·gan·i·za·tion

1. an organized body of people with a particular purpose, especially a business, society, association, etc.

2.

the action of organizing something.

If your words were true and that’s all there was to it, no one would be shunned or disfellowshipped for rejecting “Jehovah’s organization”.  Rev 13:1,5-7,11,15-17

"Apostasy

Definition: Apostasy is abandoning or deserting the worship and service of God, actually a rebellion against Jehovah God. Some apostates profess to know and serve God but reject teachings or requirements set out in his Word. Others claim to believe the Bible but reject Jehovah’s organization.  rs p.34-37"

 

"Wild Beast and its Ten Horns" - 4womaninthewilderness blogspot

 

 

 

 

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

Sometimes it takes a REAL ARMY (Spiritual or physical) to fight against overwhelming forces. 

Some people are experts at everything ... but too few to mention.

THAT is REALITY ....

Each person has to decide for himself or herself, when the evil that ALL men do, outweighs all the GOOD that some men TRY to do.

In France, when the Allied Forces invaded on D-Day, to destroy the Nazis, they bombed and destroyed many innocent civilians to get rid of the cancer that was Nazism.  

This is called "Collateral Damage".

One French man was hiding in his basement, when Allied Bombs, attempting to kill Germans, destroyed his home, and trapped him in the basement, injured, and he died of his injuries, but also thirst and starvation.  In the dark.

He left behind his skeletonized  remains, and  a THANK YOU LETTER TO THE ALLIES ... for rescuing France from a great cancerous evil, even though it resulted in his  PERSONAL death, ... and he died slow, and alone. In the dark.

From time to time, and over long periods of time, I have been damaged by incompetent and ignorant Elders ... but I think the perspective of the Frenchman is the correct one to have ... and that is the one I have, and I am sticking with it.

I didn't like it then, and  I don't LIKE it now ... but reality is what it is ... and I am determined NOT to think like a petulant, whiny child, expecting mere mortals to be more than what they really are.

Or, as fictional Vulcan  First Officer Spock once said in a Star Trek movie ...

"Sometimes, the needs of the many are greater, than the needs of the few .... or the one."