Posts by garyneal

23

Im new and curious

by SushilLuffy in

garyneal

Firstly I have to continue with the little yellow book called "what does the bible mean" We are still on first chapter and have been there since June/July.

I had a "study" with that little yellow book too. You might want to skip ahead some chapters, I recommend chapter 13. I asked my witness to study the chapter on blood first, I highly recommend you get all your questions answered before you get baptized. My witness was unable to answer all my questions concerning blood without resorting to things that made no sense. I eventually ended the study in response.

51

Bloodplates... Can it Really be Justified?

by mrbunyrabit in

i was thinking about something.. getting a blood transfution.. thats wrong right?

oky and theres allot of scriptures supporting that.. so is giving blood at a bloodbank allowed for witnesses?

no, its not allowed.... oky so heres my question.... witnesses are allowed to use blood plates... where does those blood plates come from?.

garyneal

marking

32

The bible Cannon great article I found

by nugget in

http://www.thebroadroad.com/m/articles/view/bible-canon-and-the-new-world-translation.

.

not sure how to make this clickable but it is well worth a read and is nice and short..

garyneal

It drew some of the same conclusions I drew about the witnesses. If indeed the Light TM was getting brighter and hence why they had to provide their own translation, why did they not look for other books that may have been thrown out? Did not Holy Spirit lead these men to find real truths?

Of course, the real answer to this is that if they did start adding or taking away books from the Bible, they would immediately be dismissed by the larger Christian community.

27

What makes JW's think all is "Truth" now ?

by Phizzy in

jw
friends

c.t russell was, they admit 90% wrong.. ditto for rutherford.. ditto for a lot in the intervening years, wrong and wrong again, so the need for "new light".. what makes them think that the 2012 version is any more right than the previous tripe ?.

how can they know it won't all be dross tomorrow ?.

"good morning i have come to bring you the truth from god's word that may not be the truth at all when the next wt comes out" would be a more honest presentation..

garyneal

According to my wife, they do their honest research and are humble enough to correct anything that they see as wrong.

This is in contrast to most churches that hang on to false teachings like the Trinity and hellfire, celebrating holidays, and continuing to follow other pagan customs.

That is why she believes in 607 in spite of finding no support for it outside the Watchtower. Those honest researchers surely would've corrected it by now if indeed 607 is wrong.

23

Study proves 95% of people really are sheeple

by sizemik in

jw
friends

95% of people that read this will place themselves in the 5% .

.. but this is an epidemic that needs a cure .

.. study proves 95% of people really are sheeple.

garyneal

"The unexamined life is not worth living" - Socrates

Excellent quote. It brings to mind the difference between living in bliss going along with the crowd accepting canned answers to life's tough questions or asking yourself those tough questions and facing the fact that there is simply no real answer to those questions in life.

23

Study proves 95% of people really are sheeple

by sizemik in

jw
friends

95% of people that read this will place themselves in the 5% .

.. but this is an epidemic that needs a cure .

.. study proves 95% of people really are sheeple.

garyneal

Also, we do teach goal setting and decision making skills in the education system.

Sadly no, just as we do not teach critical thinking skills in the education system as well. This is especially true in the US these days with the whole No Child Left Behind program as many educators are often forced to 'teach to the test' and not allow time for exploration of why things are the way they are. Young children often ask, "Why? Why? Why?" a lot for just about anything that you say to them. Unfortunately, people are trained to stop asking why and to just accept things that are merely told to them. Maybe not intentionally but it happens never-the-less. The critical thinkers continue to ask why and don't just simply accept everything at face value without confirming this for himself or herself.

The goal setting and thinking about your future is always a good thing though. Helps keep you from falling asleep and just going through the motions.

Not only that but it gives you a sense of purpose in life, a goal, something to think about, and something to become. The best thing about goal setting is not simply in the attainment of the goal but more in the journey. As you go along pursuing your goal, you become a better, more enlightened person.

23

Study proves 95% of people really are sheeple

by sizemik in

jw
friends

95% of people that read this will place themselves in the 5% .

.. but this is an epidemic that needs a cure .

.. study proves 95% of people really are sheeple.

garyneal

This study is indeed interesting but the conclusions are not new at all. Even the ratio of 95 to 5 is not new as this has been discovered and reported by others in times past.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgUc7eLXs0s

Earl Nightingale's Strangest Secret in the World is indeed thought provoking and draws the same conclusions. Earl Nightingale also has an audio series called Lead The Field. In the 1980's, Tony Robbins made a self help series called Personal Power that heavily utilized neurolinguistic programming.

In regards to people thinking that they are in the "top 5%," that's common too. But the reality is is that most people just simply conform to the environment that surrounds them. The average person meets average requirements and seldom thinks outside their average circle of thought. They conform, often without even knowing it, to their surroundings. We all do this, well 95% of us do, only 5% really make their own lives in the form of their own thinking.

As for me, I know these secrets and yet seldom utilize this knowledge. Admittedly, I am just lazy and only when an unusual bit of motivation comes along do I get out of low gear. That's 95% of us my friend whether it is out of laziness or ignorance.

I highly recommend anyone here to listen to the Lead The Field audio program by Earl Nightingale. He presents timeless wisdom in that program that I believe is the only real truth that exists in our world. Just like in his Strangest Secret in the World piece, the simple truth is "We become what we think about."

15

Brother Sidekick and his wife came to our house today. This ones for Moshe

by garyneal in

wow, two days after my conversation with brother hero that brother sidekick shows up with his wife at our apartment.

i am not sure what he wanted but he shows me a newspaper article that suggests that jesus was in jail for the last supper and calculates his death at 33 c.e.. i honestly dont know what he was trying to get at but he and his wife started talking about the memorial.

he said that just like what the newspaper article said, the jews no longer use the old calendar.

garyneal

I love that song, Designs.

126

If THIS MAN were a Jehovah's Witness 2 million babies would be dead

by Terry in

james harrison has magical blood.. specifically, his blood contains an extremely rare enzyme that can be used to treat babies dying of rhesus disease.

if you've never heard of that disease and figure it's not a big deal, well, wait for the numbers.. harrison, being a generous type, has donated his rare, life-saving blood roughly 1,000 times over 56 years.

this has saved the lives of--seriously, you're not going to believe this--over two million babies around the world.. .

garyneal

marked as I will certainly be giving a copy of this to Brother Hero.

43

The gun is the SHUN: the JW's who no longer believe but cannot leave!

by Terry in

the insidious bind the watchtower religion places on their members is unconscionable.. holding family and friends "hostage" as an extortion strategy may be their most potent weapon of enforced conformity.. .

in effect, like an armed criminal who points a gun at you and threatens "your money or your life", the watchtower leadership.

holds the power to separate dissenting members from those whom they most cherish.

garyneal

I know a married couple who were each the children of Congregation Elders and who secretly celebrate Christmas but who can quickly remove all traces of this when the grandparents come to visit. They are compelled to live like Bootleggers hiding a still from Federal agents!!

Recently, my wife took my oldest daughter to one of her friend's birthday party at Chick-Fil-A. If any witness had um, witnessed, her being there, there could be consequences. In fact, the ironic thing about that whole day was that upon our arriving home, Brother Sidekick and his wife was at one of our neighbor's door looking for us. He just wanted to show me 'proof' that their Nisan 14 date for their memorial was backed by scholarship (which I was not buying) but after they left I commented to my wife, "What if they knew you were at a birthday party today?"

This past Valentine's Day, my wife bought me and my daughters candy, bought me a Valentine's Day card and made one each for our two girls. She also ordered pizza so I would not have to cook that night. What would the elders think if she were to be found out? I wanted to share that bit of joy with our youngest one's babysitter but I had to refrain because she is a Jehovah's Witness. Everytime I find myself censoring myself like that around them I think, WTH? I am not one of them, why am I bounding myself like that?! But, I do it for my wife who is obviously leading a double life.

I think in her case, she believes in God and some of the fundamentals of the religion. She just does not believe in every bit of the doctrines concerning celebrations and the like. I'm willing to bet that there are a LOT of witnesses like her who if they could would openly celebrate most holidays and birthdays and not take such a dim view of other churches. The problem is, they cannot openly voice these for fear of being label in any negative way. It would do her and other witnesses like her a great service if they were able to meet and discuss things like this without fear.