Marvin Shilmer

Joined

• started 433 topics
• posted 4,004 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by Marvin Shilmer

• 
  447

  Does Anyone Still Believe in God?

  by LaurenM in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  do any of you ex-jw's still believe in god?

  even with the new rebranding/softening of this religion, i still don't see how people can believe in him.

  the god of the old testimate is an angry murderer who approved rapes and slavery and killed thousands of men, women and children.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Marvin Shilmer

  God Discussion

  My take on this subject is this: The subject of God is the subject of how humans attempt to understand the universe our specie lives in. Humans are like guttural bacteria. We live in a universe with no clue what is beyond it. So we attempt to explain what we see based on information we do not have. Because we recognize our puniness in the universe, we assume something much bigger (read: more powerful and smarter) than ourselves is behind the event of our world. For millenniums the term assigned to this theory is "god".

  ___
• 
  447

  Does Anyone Still Believe in God?

  by LaurenM in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  do any of you ex-jw's still believe in god?

  even with the new rebranding/softening of this religion, i still don't see how people can believe in him.

  the god of the old testimate is an angry murderer who approved rapes and slavery and killed thousands of men, women and children.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Marvin Shilmer

  ...like the laws of nature...

  The laws of nature are no more than human explanation of what we see happening around us. What we observe makes sense (read: seems organized) to us because we are here (read: we're the survivors of untold catastrophic destructive events) to see those things the way those things have come to this point.

  What will we have to say about the laws of nature when our terrestrial specie is wiped out by a Shoemaker-Levy type event? Nothing. Because we won't be here to explain how the synchronization was not as well-honed as we'd hoped for in our prayers to god, the creator of this wonderfully tamed universe we live in. (Read: sarcasm)
• 
  22

  How to Read Financial Statements

  by JeffT in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just put an entry on my blog.

  thought it might be useful in all the discussions about money.

  feel free to post questions or comments either here or on my blog.. http://pathologicallyintellectual.blogspot.com/.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Marvin Shilmer

  I guess that is one of the advantages of being an international organization when just moving money around between countries can result in a profit. Nice gig.

  The gig is nice of it pays off. Betting on currency exchange rates is a gamble like other investments. Only this gamble is more heavily influenced by political elements that can pop up without notice. There's also business elements that take everyone by surprise. The Euro is heavily driven by the German economy. My money would have gambled the Euro would make gains against the US dollar in the months ahead. But this VW (German!) thing that has recently become known changes the math for me.
• 
  37

  Jehovah's Witnesses can donate blood

  by Marvin Shilmer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  jehovah’s witnesses can donate blood.

  today i added a new article to my blog that answers the question of whether watchtower doctrine forbids jehovah’s witnesses from going to their community blood bank and donating some of their blood to help replace all the products from blood accepted on a daily basis by the community of jehovah’s witnesses.. .

  my article is titled jehovah’s witnesses can donate blood and is available at: http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com/2012/03/jehovahs-witnesses-can-donate-blood.html.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Marvin Shilmer

  Plasma donation centers in the US already separate out nothing but plasma and return the rest back to the donor. The plasma is then fractionated for use in medicines so, those types of donations are not "the general blood supply". It seems to me from what I have read of that letter, donating plasma to a plasma center would be allowable. They throw away what they don't use for medicines after extracting the components for medicines. Let THAT get out into congregations of largely financially struggling witnesses! They can put an extra $200+ in their pockets every month donating plasma!

  Plasma apheresis donation has become a common practice and is a viable approach for Jehovah's Witnesses. Watchtower policy already allows JWs to accept every bit of plasma so long as it's delivered as cryosupernatant (by volume 99% of plasma) and cryoprecipitate (by volume 1% of plasma). JW patients whose condition would benefit from transfusion of these products line up to accept them.

  See:

  Over 96% Accept 99%!

  Jehovah’s Witnesses can donate blood

  American Blood Centers' Approach to Jehovah's Witnesses Donating Blood
  
• 
  16

  A funny little diplomatic cable regarding the Malawi atrocities against JW's in 1975

  by Saintbertholdt in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  no doubt that atrocities were perpetrated against jehovah's witnesses in 1972-73.. but what about the reports in 1975?.

  here is an excerpt from a diplomatic cable sent to the us secretary of state in 1977.. the cable was released/declassified in 2009.. .... re jehovah's witnesses, why do we go back to the.

  events of 197273?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Marvin Shilmer

  ...HE FOUND THE JW'S QUITE CAPABLE OF FALSIFICATIONS AND MISSTATEMENTS IN FURTHERANCE OF THEIR CAUSE.

  The leadership of this religion is quite capable of falsification and misstatement. The Malawi incident exemplifies the lengths Watchtower leadership is willing to go to build its religion empire on the backs of earnest but naive followers who suffered and died for refusing to do what top Watchtower leadership was doing all along.

  Malawi — Savage Betrayal by Watchtower?
  

  ___
• 
  78

  Need Help with Blood Transfusion Illustration

  by Dissonant15 in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  please, who can provide an intelligent rebuttal to the following illustration?

  i always thought it was bullet-proof:.

  "if your doctor directs you to 'abstain from alcohol' would you be ok to have it injected into your veins rather than drink it?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Marvin Shilmer

  Using a generic term when a specific term is more appropriate serves no other purpose but to obfuscate and confuse.

  Precisely.

  In 1950 Watchtower published the following statement:

  “If transfusion of human blood in the modern way was not practiced back there in Noah’s day or in Moses’ day, there was no need for God to expressly state a law against it; just the same as he included no law against smoking tobacco in his commandments to his typical people.”
  

  Here's the problem with that statement by Watchtower. To Noah God did make a statement about one use of blood, which was the act of eating blood (of animals killed as food). Nothing was said to Noah about other uses of blood, such as the ancient and various uses of blood for medicinal transplantation that then existed. If we accept what Watchtower says above then we have no reason to think God ever expected humans to refrain from non-eating uses of blood, and particularly when that use would help preserve health/life.

  Because the ancients (like Noah) did not have our modern technology and know-how to transplant blood like doctors of today does not mean the ancients did not transplant blood in various ways available to them for medicinal value.

  See:

  Medicine Practiced in Noah’s day — and Blood

  Ancient Blood Transplantation, and Noah

  Historical Medicinal Uses of Blood
• 
  75

  Brooklyn Layoffs and Halt to Kingdom Hall construction projects

  by James Jack in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  a good source just just told me that at morning worship today that the governing body announced that a total of 1600 bethelites will be let get go and not transferred to warwich when the last property is sold in brooklyn and all kingdom hall building projects are on hold for at least a year so that all the focus will be on the preaching work.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Marvin Shilmer

  I remember the food at the Conventions and Assemblies. They made Money until it was changed to a donation for the food.
  All of sudden, they were losing money for the lack of Donations.
  Food Program ended, problem ended!

  Yep. That's how it was.

  Back in the good ole days the assembly and convention gigs were considered major annual revenue drivers! The medium sized district conventions would clear well over $100,000 dollars, and the more local circuit assemblies tended to clear around $15,000 (twice per year) and that was after giving Watchtower it's cut/tax, which would tend to be in the $10-20,000 range (twice per year).
• 
  135

  Latest Leaked BOE letter to Elders Oct. 4th

  by Watchtower-Free in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  october 4, 2015. to all congregations.

  re: new provisions announced atannual meeting.

  dear brothers:.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Marvin Shilmer

  So now they have a simplified version of the simple book?
  Good grief!

  Why not? Franz is gone! Just think they have Splane, who makes about as much sense as screen doors on a submarine talking about the generation double-lap!! They have little choice but to simplify the simple!!!
• 
  135

  Latest Leaked BOE letter to Elders Oct. 4th

  by Watchtower-Free in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  october 4, 2015. to all congregations.

  re: new provisions announced atannual meeting.

  dear brothers:.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Marvin Shilmer

  Then: 24 issues X 32 pages each = 768 pages per year
  Now: 6 issues X 16 pages each = 96 pages per year

  That's the math alright. Add to that all the digital stuff replacing hardcopy at every level, plus postal savings due to digital distribution of all those letters and other stuff (shipping costs way down!).
• 
  135

  Latest Leaked BOE letter to Elders Oct. 4th

  by Watchtower-Free in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  october 4, 2015. to all congregations.

  re: new provisions announced atannual meeting.

  dear brothers:.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Marvin Shilmer

  Very much a "thing" among homeschooling JWs

  That's amazing! It also explains a few things I've noticed about home-schooled pupils. I had no idea that standards were so lax to accept this sort of thing!