i had my previous toshiba laptop plugged into the wall five days ago when a sudden electric storm drove a jagged bolt of electricity earthward and fried my hard drive.
i posted my sad status on facebook.
guess who saw it?
Congratulations, Terry, on (1) not losing anything when Zeus took out your Toshiba and (2) getting a shiny new laptop that can do everything you want and is much better than its predecessor, but most of all (3) having a wonderful son who obviously loves you.
You just won the trifecta of good karma, my friend! You deserve it. Enjoy!
(Now put that new Chromebook to good use and tell us some more of your wonderful stories.)
if you are a new person to the board you might want to send scully a pm thanking her for her hard work and dedication.
the boe project owes her for helping it to get started.. example:.
several years ago there was a website called (dirtclod.com) who had the courage to display the boes right out in front of everybody.
Many, many thanks to everyone involved in providing this valuable service. My hat's off to you.
this year will be my first for by going to the memorial.
i will get asked by my parents how i can deny jesus even if i don't believe the end is close.
my thoughts on this are as follows, bear in mind saying it's all make believe is not an option.. i think that jesus intended for everyone to eat the bread and drink the wine.
i have a question.....if two jw have sex and only one of them goes to the eldurrs and confesses.....do they both get busted?
or does the boe need a confession from both people.?
if one of em denies it happened will that person still get df'd?.
I personally know of a case where a young pioneer sister was having an "affair" with a slightly older married brother in the same congregation. Long story short, she wound up confessing to the elders but he denied everything. She was disfellowshipped on the grounds that she was guilty of either adultery or slander (lying about a fellow JW). Nothing was done to the man because there was no second witness. As far as I know, he never even lost his congregational "privileges."
This episode didn't turn out entirely negative, though. The young lady "did her penance" and was reinstated, but she later woke up and is no longer a JW. The man eventually got caught with another young lady, and this time he was disfellowshipped. I don't know if he ever got reinstated or not, but at least he was exposed as the duplicitous snake he was.
meet mr. michael columbus - a jehovah's witness who has a personal financial interest in keeping the watchtower's noblood doctrine alive and kicking.. .
michael j. columbus - jehovah's witness extraordinaire.. linkedin profile.. summary of columbus' accomplishments:.
for more than 30 years i have been involved in blood management.
Let's see... from profiteering opportunist taking advantage of incredulous followers of religious charlatans to car salesman. In some ways, just a difference without a distinction.
Would you buy a used car from such a man?
i am still not done with the miracle wheat article... there's just so much information to process!
i already did the summary, and the new information that i have doesn't change my conclusion: the entire scandal happened because russell was very gullible and didn't check with government agencies to see if the wheat was legitimate or not.
he went into a business venture on which he knew nothing about.here's some interesting stats about the finances of the watchtower back in 1911:it received, from the sale of books and donations, $150,000.
I appreciate your doing all this work and then sharing it with us. It's very interesting from a historical standpoint.
It's possible that Russell himself was entirely sincere and guileless in promoting Miracle Wheat, but it undermines the claim that his organization was somehow especially selected by God and being directed by Holy Spirit. Good intentions of kind-hearted people are no proof that what they teach is actually true, regardless of how strongly held their beliefs are. If God was really directing an organization, it simply wouldn't make silly mistakes like this.
this is a pretty good example of the limitations of "bloodless medicine", and why the informed choice should always be "blood conservation" medicine, which retains the safety net of blood transfusion when medically required.
sadly, the watchtower fails to inform jws regarding these important limitations, and their potentially disastrous consequences.. http://www.dailyreportonline.com/id=1202750028414/jury-awards-100k-to-family-of-jehovahs-witness-who-died-after-refusing-blood-transfusion?mcode=0&curindex=0&curpage=3&slreturn=20160118223352.
I am very sorry this poor woman died, but her own decision to cling to her religious leaders' dubious interpretation of a few scriptures taken entirely out of context was the proximate cause of her death. It was no one's fault but her own, though the religious charlatans who put her in this predicament bear at least a moral responsibility.
As cold as it seems, her estate should not have received a dime. In fact, it should be required to reimburse the hospital and the doctor for their legal expenses. This kind of frivolous lawsuit is what clogs up the legal system and causes untold harm to people and organizations just trying to help people the best way they can.
I agree that everyone should be free to believe whatever they want, as long they don't impose it on others. But if you suffer harm because of your religious superstitions, don't go whining to the court.
the watchtower 2007 feb 15 pp.30-31 explains why jehovah's witnesses are not to toast.
what is astounding is that for each point they then go on an explain why the point is irrelevant, yet still conclude toasting is wrong.
what did people think when reading this?
And don't forget the piñata conundrum. Every argument about "pagan origins" and "false worship" used to forbid toasting could also apply to piñatas. Heck, even luaus (Hawaiian cookouts). But the false GODs (Guardians of Doctrine) in Brooklyn (soon to be Warwick) have decreed that piñatas and luaus are okay today because they are no longer have religious connotations and are therefore harmless as part of "approved" celebrations.
That's actually a reasonable position to take, but why aren't they consistent when it comes to other things? It seems like they just arbitrarily pick which things still have "pagan stink" on them and which don't.
There are a widely read satirical articles about True Christians™ wearing makeup and keeping cats that emulate Watchtower reasoning and make a mockery of it at the same time. They're hilarious, but they make a valid point. Many Watchtower rules are capricious and downright silly, and the reasoning behind them specious and self-serving.
It's all about control, folks. Blind obedience in small things leads to unquestioning compliance in big things. Here is official Watchtower policy, as stated in the November 15, 2013 Watchtower, page 20, “At that time, the lifesaving direction that we receive from Jehovah’s organization may not appear practical from a human standpoint. All of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not.”
That's scary! Unquestioning obedience is one thing that led many otherwise good and decent Germans to become merciless mass murderers... twice in one generation! In World War II, they put their faith and trust in the Führer and his Nazi Party and committed unspeakable horrors that affect us all to this day. "I was only following orders" was not an acceptable excuse then, and should not be today.
Don't let anyone else do your thinking for you. Blind obedience has never worked out well in the long term... for anyone.
this took quite a while this evening.
so worth it though.
hope you enjoy!
Sorry, folks. In my comment preview, the page I pasted in appears, but when the comment is actually posted it disappears. I'll keep working on it. If anybody wants it right away, PM me and I'll email you a PDF of that page.
Meanwhile, here is a dropbox link. Maybe it will work.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/eal0kyg50fu6aat/Watchtower%201994%2008%20Aug%20pg%2011.pdf?dl=0
this took quite a while this evening.
so worth it though.
hope you enjoy!
Just in case anyone claims that Watchtower quote is fake, here is a scan of the original in context. It's from the Watchtower, August 15, 1994 issue, page 11. Many thanks to fastJehu and others who previously posted the link to http://avoidjw.org/watchtower-awake-magazines/. I plan to download everything I can from there and save it for future reference, just in case the owner is forced to take it down, like what happened to the original Quotes site.
