Posts by Maddie

13

Computer advice needed please

by Mr Ben in

jw
friends

i can't find an answer on the net, any computer buffs out there who can help?.

when i bring dvd films from the shop they are always from different zones, but i am only allowed 3 more changes to the zone setting and then it will be fixed permanently on the last zone setting.

i can't find a way to disable this or increase the number of times i can allow the zone setting to change.. thanks in advance,.

Maddie

Go to Google, enter your DVD model and the word "hack" where you may find advice for disabling your region locking.

32

paul potts

by freyd in

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57na .

.

wow!

Maddie

Paul Potts won "Has Britain got Talent" contest. The prize was to appear before the Queen, at the Royal Variety Show and prize money.

He is such a mild mannered and modest man, who was a mobile phone salesman and Simon Cowell was so impressed with him that he saw that he got a record contract and looked after him.

Paul Potts comes from Wales and definitely has the beautiful voice associated with the Welsh.

Maddie

62

What foods do you find offensive?

by bigwilly in

jw
friends

apparently some food items offend persons on this site.

so, out of curiousity, what foods offend you?

what about them offends you?

Maddie

The first thing that comes to mind is TRIPE - yuck!!!

Maddie

8

Discussion of JW death on Fark.com

by Paralipomenon in

not sure if this has been posted, but i didn't see the usual suspects posting there.. http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?idlink=3183138.

interesting, over 300 comments and only a handfull favorable.

most people are getting disgusted with witnesses.

I just had a look through the comments and I agree that the JW's ruling on blood is getting a negative reaction in general. The tragic death of a young mother when so needless has sparked a wave of indignation and disgust. I hope it has a snow-ball effect and puts an end to the WT soon!

Maddie

25

Are there things you can't get rid of?

by faundy in

for instance, i still can't bring myself to say 'bless you' when someone sneezes.

i still cringe when saying 'good luck' and even now i feel i am being really naughty when shopping for a birthday card for someone.

.

Maddie

Hi faundy

Yes it feels strange to do the things you mentioned and sometimes I listen to people who are not JW's who haven't got any hang-ups and it amazes me. Being a JW makes us all so supersticious about things and fearful. Hopefully it passes with time.

Maddie

24

Go Buy The Independent

by sweet pea in

Maddie

Thank you sweet pea and besty

I think it was quite a good article and my view is that every little bit of publicity that brings attention to what goes on inside the borg is a good thing.

Maddie

15

Besides JWs Being "The Happiest People On Earth", What Else Are They?

by minimus in

jw
friends

Maddie

They are lost

Maddie

30

Tutankhamun's Face

by snowbird in

what did you think of it?

i would like to see it up close and personal.. i wonder if jcanon is going to come back and expound on king tut's short reign since he has done so many posts on his father, akhenaten.. sylvia.

Maddie

I just think it's amazing!

Maddie

62

Have You Divorced And/Or Remarried- What Did You Learn From It ?

by flipper in

jw
friends

in seeing a lot of posters threads , i feel i see many people who have been divorced at one time , and either have remarried or have stayed single .

i totally understand those who choose to stay single, as i was single for 6 years before i got married again !

as experts say, next to death it's one of the hardest experiences you'll go through !

Maddie

Married, divorced, married. I married very young the first time to the wrong person for some of the wrong reasons. I stayed in the marriage for far too long which dragged out the misery and caused much unhappiness and my health to suffer.

When I met the man I am now married to, I was not looking for a relationship. He is the total opposite of my first husband in every way and I was very suspicious at first - expecting the "beast" to appear at any moment. Eventually I realised that he was the genuine article and we married and are very happy.

I learnt many things from my first marriage about myself and having a relationship and am a much more tolerant, patient and compassionate person. I know that I can't change other people but only have the power to change myself.

Maddie

58

TRAGEDY ; YOUNG JW MOTHER DIES AFTER GIVING BIRTH

by stay young and beautiful in

jw
friends

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/shropshire/7078455.stm .

a young mother has died after giving birth to twins, following claims that she had refused a blood transfusion because of her faith.

jehovah's witness, emma gough, 22, from telford, shropshire, gave birth on 25 october.

Maddie

The Watchtower has used three main Scripture references in support of their forbidding of blood transfusions. The first verse is Genesis 9:4. Here a command is given that refers to "the eating of blood", certainly not receiving transfusions. They teach is a law forbidding the eating of blood was given to Noah, that the law is for all mankind, and not just the Israelites. Noah is commanded not to eat flesh that still had the blood in it; Noah is told not to eat living animals, or animals not properly drained of blood. Animals were slaughtered and their blood was drained, insuring their death, and then the bled meat could be eaten. God's people were not to "eat flesh with it’s life, that is its blood." This scripture does not refer to the eating of blood alone, since the blood was to be poured out, and the flesh was to be eaten.

The second and most convincing "proof text" that is used is found at Leviticus 17:10-16. Again, we find reference to the actual eating of the blood of animals. These verses are no way connected with transfusions between humans. Jehovah’s Witnesses point to this saying anyone who eats the blood of any flesh is to be "cut off." meaning being put to death. However, this is their unique misinterpretation of the passage. This text is also part of the Law and cannot be said to be applied to all of mankind. It is speaking directly to the offense of drinking blood. Because blood is at the heart of the Old Testament sacrificial system, and typified the blood of Christ, it carried a heavier penalty than eating unbled meat. In v. 15 we see the very mild penalty for eating unbled meat. The reason for the difference is that when an animal is killed by an Israelite he is to show his reverence for life and the atonement by pouring out the blood.

The law was for the Jews? In Deuteronomy 14:21, we find the Law on unbled flesh states, "You (Jews) shall not eat anything which dies of itself. You may give it to the alien who is in your town so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner." We see that the law on eating unbled flesh and pouring out the blood applied ONLY to the Jews, since aliens and foreigners (Gentiles) were free to eat of it. It was in the context of the nation being separate and not do what the gentiles did around them.

What they forgot to take into account is Lev 3:17 You shall eat neither fat nor blood.'" So the prohibition is not just blood.

Leviticus 17:15-16 clearly shows that the punishment for violating this law on blood is to have one separated from the congregation for a short period of time. The law breaker must wash himself and his clothing and he will be unclean until evening, but then he will be clean (Leviticus 17:15-16). It is not an eternal punishment.

In Exodus 31 and Numbers 15:21, one finds that punishment for picking up stones (working) on the Sabbath was death. To work on the Sabbath was more serious than that of the drinking or eating of blood. in Samuel 14:31-32 records how the Israelites ate sheep, oxen, and calves "with their blood." Saul offered up a sacrifice to God, there was no punishment inflicted, and God went on the bless them.

Next is in Acts 15:20 says, "but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood." V. 29 says, "that you abstain from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you do well.v.21, "For Moses, from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath." These verses point back to the Law of Moses in Leviticus 17:12 and 14, forbidding the eating of flesh with its blood in it. The abstaining from blood does in no way refer to receiving blood transfusions as the Watchtower's interpretation insinuates.

All of the prohibitions mentioned together here are concerned with the temple practices of the heathens, who in the idolatrous worship services that used animal blood in their rituals, and strangled animals during their ceremonies. As Christians we are not to participate but withdraw from such things. The Gentiles in their new found freedom were not seeing this in the way the Jewish brethren were. The command issued at the Acts 15 council to the church was on the behalf of the Jewish believers in the New Testament. The decree is a concession in view of the background of the "weaker brethren.' In 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 the 'stronger brother' is asked to restrict himself on the behalf of the 'weaker brother, so they may not stumble the weaker brother. Similarly in Acts 15, the Gentile believer is to restrict himself in respect for his Jewish brother's scruples regarding food laws. This principle regarding food laws is again repeated in Romans 14: where the apostle says, 'Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions." The same principle is used for eating meats sacrificed to idols, where the believer has the freedom to eat of it as long as it would not stumble the brethren.

When one turns to the Levitical Law, the context is not blood. The contextual meaning is sacrifice. The prohibition did apply to transfusions, even the most orthodox Jew, today from what I know, do not refuse blood transfusions on the basis of the Old Testament prohibitions, only the JW. The New Testament principle is this: Jesus asked the Pharisees, "Which of you shall have an donkey or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not go to pull him out on the sabbath day?" (Luke 14:5) The difference in Jesus example is that a life is being saved, even if it is only the life of an animal. To administer a blood transfusion to save a life is to endorse, or sustain, the preeminent value, which is life itself. The priority of the law is the sanctity of life. Jesus even used the example of David to prove this principle. David was permitted to eat the showbread, belonging only to the priest, in his time of need, he was not punished. (1 Sam. 21:6). The Bible's principle Jesus made clear in Mark 7:14 when He said, "Nothing that goes into a man from the outside can make him unclean." Therefore, no Jehovah’s Witnesses can become "unclean" by eating a blood product or receiving a transfusion. Not only does the Watchtower consider them unclean, but they are considered unworthy for eternal life. What manmade traditions do to punish sincere people who want to do what is right! If the blind lead the blind will they not both fall in a ditch?

ALEMAN - I know you have complete faith in what the Watchtower tell you is the correct interpretation of scripture "to abstain from blood". As they have been wrong about interpretations many times before ( their so-called New Light), it just might be worth considering that they are wrong about this very serious one too.

Maddie