Posts by sammielee24

14

Do other religions have questions you're not allowed to ask ?

by A Paduan in

there seem to be certain unanswerable questions that only "apostates" would ask - ones that sort of send up a flare.. do other religions have these "you must be the debbil" fears of thought ?.

sammielee24

Having at various times throughout my life spent time in a number of churces - Anglican/Presbyterian/Catholic/Unitarian etc - the biggest difference is that the fear of punishment for asking the question does not exist in the way it does with the WTS. People inside the organization are afraid to be seen reading a 'banned' book, they are afraid of being seen going into a Christian bookstore, they are afraid of being seen in the religious studies section of the book store, or a Walmart or even a library, they are afraid of being caught listening to anything 'banned', they are afraid of being caught viewing anything 'banned'...they are afraid of being caught inside a church doorway or even on the grounds, afraid of attending a wedding ceremony, a funeral - they are quite simply always afraid because if they dare ask a question or seek greater knowledge, they know that the accusation will be apostasy and the punishment will be death by shunning. Most religions instill some guilt in all their members for a variety of reasons, but the JW's add an insane amount of fear to the ridiculous amount of guilt they burden their members with. Very Christ-like.

sammieswife.

24

How many JWs die for want of a blood transfusion?

by Gill in

does anyone have a rough or even accurate idea of how many jws lose their lives each year due to the no blood doctrine?.

sammielee24

When you think about it, wts policy has been killing people with their stupid ideas since Rutherfords day. They used to be anti - vaccination, and I'd bet few or no jws had vaccinations then and died because of it. They started publishing anti - vaccination propoganda in the 1920's, and didn't change it until 1952

I know families from the 40's/50's who have never been vaccinated - still - to this day. When I mentioned the possibility of the child getting a virus and then spreading it to his little school chums and perhaps some of the dying from an illness that could have been prevented - I was reminded that it would be better to have a child die than go against Jehovah's wishes. There was no mention of the other kids that might die because they would be of course 'worldly' and simply collateral damage. Such lovely, kind, Christ like people are the JW's. So compassionate and caring........sammieswife.

101

Saddam executed

by frozen one in

jw
friends

now what'll happen?.

.

sammielee24

How much more civilized it would have been to keep him locked away for his remaining years. The loss of freedom is the greatest punishment.

I may have thought this at one time, however, in an attempt at being civilized, the financial burden of keeping a criminal alive is exorbitant. While a serial rapist or a child killer might spend his life in prison, eating 3 meals a day, watching television and having access to family, letters, lawyers, dentists and doctors - millions of law abiding citizens in the country live in poverty having never seen a dentist, sleeping in cars, living without heat and exist on one meal - if that - in a day. Freedom is a relevant term. sammieswife.

101

Saddam executed

by frozen one in

jw
friends

now what'll happen?.

.

sammielee24

I shake my head at the glee anyone would find in watching a person hang. I do believe in the death penalty but I also believe that lethal injection is more humane. Now we are subject to the constant, days on end pictures of a skeleton with a rope on it's neck with a view over and again as to how the neck is twisted and how long it all takes ad nauseum. Days on end of showing a man walking to the noose. Hearing it on the news. The man will be a martyr for many and already countries are standing up to show where their allegience is. Lybia has declared 3 days of mourning now. With almost a million Iraqi's dead, missing or refugee's since this war started, more and more people are questioning how, why and when it will all end. Saddam was a butcher, but until his capture the number of those same dead, missing and fleeing was far less. There were no suicide bombers until the war. Civil unrest was kept under control. Women at least could go to universities and not be afraid of death squads. The damage is so bad now, the cost in dollars just to repair the infrastructure itself is beyond what the USA can hand over - so now what? Which was it we wanted - WMD? Democracy? Saddam? Oil? Terrorists? ...who even knows any longer? By the way - Turkmenistan is apparently going to be the next up and coming hot spot now and they have more oil and gas up for grabs than anyone else.

Somehow, I'm not sure what Saddam's execution has accomplished. He did not go to trial on all of the charges against him as far as I know. Could there be a link between the change in our own 'stay the course' policy and political shifts that might have warranted a much faster execution and dissolution of further trials for his crimes, than was originally intended? sammieswife.

15

Going to Ontario in 2007 also

by Cabin in the woods in

jw
friends

i just read a thread that is running on here about a family moving to a lovely place in ontario.

well, i am trying to do the same thing but did not want to usurp the previous thread.

the difference is ... i want to go by myself with my 2 pugs and live in the 'bush'(deep in the woods) for a year.

sammielee24

Forgot - I also don't know if you have to quarantine your pets - or if you simply have to provide proof of their vaccinations from a vet. Friends of mine travelling back and forth from England and Ireland shipped their animals all over the UK and I think they may have even relaxed the rules over there now so it's not a 6 month quarantine - finally. People that I know travelling with their pets, only have to prove vaccination if I recall unless they changed the rules on that too. sammieswife.

15

Going to Ontario in 2007 also

by Cabin in the woods in

jw
friends

i just read a thread that is running on here about a family moving to a lovely place in ontario.

well, i am trying to do the same thing but did not want to usurp the previous thread.

the difference is ... i want to go by myself with my 2 pugs and live in the 'bush'(deep in the woods) for a year.

sammielee24

Just as there are many Canadian snowbirds - the same application applies to US visitors to Canada. I believe you are allowed to visit Canada or the USA legally for 6 months at a time. I have relatives that owned trailers in Florida and Arizona for years and left Canada to live down there every winter. It's very common. The Algonquin area is magnificent and there are many, many remote areas in Northern Ontario and the wilds of BC that you would enjoy if you like solitude. The further north you go in Ontario, the less expensive the housing will become as you move into the very small populated areas. Have some fun on your upcoming trip and enjoy your visit with friends. Give your dogs a big hug for us - sammieswife.

15

How to get a scriptual divorce?

by helncon in

jw
friends

just wondering on how it is possible to get a scriptual divorce as my dad needs to get one but as much research done i can't see how he can get one but he says he has spoken to some elders and that they have said it can be granted but on what grounds?.

i know if you have committed adultery and extreme cases disertion but other that these is there any way else.. you see my mum basically up and left my dad and they have reconciled once but now its definately over and have a legal divorce, so would disertion come under this catorgory?

also my mum has battled mental illness(mainly major depression) for as long as i can remember can he do it on the grounds of mental capacity?.

sammielee24

Tell him to forget the WT rules and do what he will for himself. If he loves this woman and they want to be married, he has EVERY right to as there are no legal or ethical reasons for him not to. This baloney about a scriptural divorce is a bunch of bullcrap and it's pretty moronic to actually tell someone that even though they are divorced for 20 years that they can't get married, engage in sexual activity or even have any companionship with another person UNLESS they can PROVE that the other person did one of those things themselves BEFORE you do it. Utterly ridiculous. According to the society people should remain alone, lonely and celibate all the days of their lives after a divorce - try telling that to a 20 year old that gets divorced after a year - and yes, we all know JW's that got divorced and were forced to live alone and die alone because of the stupidity of this.

The reasons for divorce are no ones business - the action has been completed and its time to move forward. If he gets married, they will DF him but he at least has you as his family so he is in better shape than many. He would also have I assume a great new love in his life to help him adjust. If he takes the other road and tries to find a bunch of (what the watchtower deems) immoral behaviour on your mother, then he is really being reduced just an opportunist, a manipulator and a player. sammieswife.

21

Should you tell them the trutheven if it kills them?

by The wanderer in

jw
friends

should you tell them the trutheven if it kills them?.

a family of witnesses that were good to me in the.

past was always strong in the truth.

sammielee24

Have you ever known a married couple that seem to spend their lives bitching and fighting, sleeping in separate beds and going weeks without talking. But they are lovely to their children and grandchildren and others.

Yet they still stay together. I guess they are comfortable with their lives on the balance of things.

I have known couples like this and it is so very sad. The people that I've seen don't stay because they are comfortable - they've stayed because the due date has passed and been replaced by fear. Many people come to a cross roads in their life when leaving a destructive relationship becomes a real and necessary possibility but when faced with the reality that the decision to leave means taking action, well fear takes over their logic, hopes and dreams for themselves and they do nothing. Denial of how bad their life in creates a cover of normalcy except when they are alone. Another year passes, then another, then another until one by one the hopes disappear, the dreams have long gone and now there is no logic in leaving. Where would one go? How would they live? Who would have them? What would people think? What would my church think? The time to act was there one moment and gone the next and now there are two people that simply coexist in one house, bitter, angry and frustrated at what life dealt them - until they die. sammieswife.

10

Is religion dangerous and do we really NEED saving?

by Morocco in

im not trying to sound haughty or god-hating, i dont even know if i believe what i wrote but tell me what you guys think about this: how are we, as individuals and a species, to grow into what we want to become unless we are first burned by the fires of lesson?

how can we see our faults unless first we experience them, then, by contrast no longer live by them?

the harsh reality is that in order to overcome ignorance we must be first fooled by it so that we may be intimate with it.

sammielee24

Think I've heard this more like 'when you are given lemons, make lemonade'. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. In order to appreciate the good times you have to suffer the bad times. We are the sum of all our choices. Well - you get the drift.

No one is forced to take any action. We make CHOICES and we live by them. EVERY INDIVIDUAL is responsible for what mankind has been and will become. We must first stop shifting the blame to the Devil, communism, drugs, or criminals and swiftly realize that the evils, lies, deception, abhorrent violence and all such things are of our OWN making and are our own responsibility. Only then will we ever have the hope of possessing the desire to change.

If you hear this once you hear it a gazillion times until it has minimal meaning for a lot of people. I agree that we all make choices and while they might not be the wisest of choices or the ones that others might approve of, sometimes they are the only choices that a person may be able or capable of making. Rather than put people down we could ask ourselves how they got there and how to fix it.

If you happened to see the special on poverty in America - the dirtly little secret or the invisible people (poor), you will understand what I mean. Who cannot agree that as humans we collectively need to take responsibility for the society we have? As humans we help populate, nurture or destroy the earth yet collectively do little to change that based on many things including culture and religion. sammieswife.

21

Should you tell them the trutheven if it kills them?

by The wanderer in

jw
friends

should you tell them the trutheven if it kills them?.

a family of witnesses that were good to me in the.

past was always strong in the truth.

sammielee24

Depending on their relationship with you and where you want it to go often sets the boundaries of how much you can say. I believe that there are small ways to infiltrate those minds and if you are lucky enough to be able to discuss some things that might open the door a crack, then I think it best to use it. That's just my opinion though because I happen to see the WTS as a destructive cult with a total abuse of power and I believe that apathy and complacence condone that continual abuse. sammieswife.