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?
If a doctor told you to abstain from eating meat, would it be OK to have a liver transplant? Of course it would.
This is also why strict vegetarians would accept an organ transplant, they recognise that it is not eating meat.
The WT example breaks down when you accept that a blood transfusion does not 'nourish' you as they claim, like eating blood does. Otherwise a starving man could be kept alive with transfusions, which we know cannot happen.
today i attended a one-day assembly in my hometown.
i knew when it came time to read the afternoon expenses that it would be an incredibly high and ridiculous amount that was nowhere near the real expenses for that day.
sure enough, after lunch came the announcement.
All the congregations using that hall have probably already sent in $5 per publisher as a congregation resolution anyway.
These demands are on top of that.
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/jul/27/jehovahs-witnesses-destroyed-notes-about-child-sex-abuse-inquiry-told.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/27/us-australia-religion-sexcrimes-iduskcn0q10ih20150727.
http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2015/07/28/australia-jehovah-witness-sex-abuse-hannigan-lklv.cnn.
As an appointed man, I once showed my mother Rev 20:12 and asked her "where does it say 'new scrolls?' "
She read the verse and asked me "Are you an apostate?"
This pretty much answers your question.
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/jul/27/jehovahs-witnesses-destroyed-notes-about-child-sex-abuse-inquiry-told.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/27/us-australia-religion-sexcrimes-iduskcn0q10ih20150727.
http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2015/07/28/australia-jehovah-witness-sex-abuse-hannigan-lklv.cnn.
The official JW definition of an apostate is an ex JW who has turned against the WT.
The definition that every single JW has in their own mind is someone who speaks against the WT, whether or not they were a JW in the past, and whether or not the information is true.
Looking at your list of websites, your average JW would describe any anti-JW articles as apostate articles.
This is the pre-programmed, knee jerk defence to any questioning of a WT teaching.
By labeling something 'apostate' it becomes easy to ignore and discount it.
By calling people 'disgruntled' it makes it easier to dismiss them and their complaints.
Please realise that to a JW, only the GB have the truth, so anything else is wrong, and anything else that is dangerous is apostate.
If you read this forum you will find examples where an old WT has been called apostate by loyal JW's, pretending it has somehow been altered.
The Caleb videos were originally called apostate because some thought it was from a non-WT source.
Even recorded assembly talks are called apostate if they include information that is no longer relevant and is being used to expose the WT's double speak.
In a word, 'apostate' means 'I'm not listening because you have bad motives'.
Yes, by being on this forum you are an apostate.
i just seen this on goggle news.
a report into a hall actually being refurbished!.
http://www.thecomet.net/news/stevenage_s_jehovah_s_witnesses_celebrate_worship_hall_s_makeover_and_invite_public_to_come_along_1_4228859.
I like the last photo - a beer tent and a skip for the empties.
Actually this hall is a standard design from 1 to 2 decades ago.
Every hall built around that time looks identical.
i may take my fiance to a meeting.
give them fake names and just see how my fiance reacts.
he's been curious about seeing what i hated so much about the whole thing (not that he'll really understand everything, i mean of course he never will to my extent but)... i'd like to see what an outsiders view on the whole thing would be as well.
Going to the meetings for a bit of fun is like playing with a ouija board for a bit of fun.
If something unexpected happens you might not be free of the consequences for ages afterwards.
Personally, I'd leave well alone.
new here... been lurking for some time now.... i still serve... but with each passing day, it gets harder and harder.
i'm slowly... slowly working on my wife (i call her mrs. hardcore) and even my m-i-l (who taught my wife how to be hardcore).
making some amazing progress... they are still hardcore... but unrecognizable from a couple years ago!.
If you're competent at giving talks then ignore the outline details and teach true bible principles instead.
The congregation notices when you're not the regular elder robot and they warm to you and trust you more.
You can use your position to the advantage of the congregation, until it starts to cause you too much mental stress, then you need to wind it all back, cease to qualify and begin to fade.
i looked at my statistics this morning:.
terry.
joined 11 years ago.
11 years Terry!
You are one of the best!
Here's to the next 11!
today i watched with my lovely wife the first 5 minutes of tv.jw.org broadcasting with the explanation of "this generation".. and then we discussed about the 400 million dollar in the jp morgan liquid asset funds and the new finding, the .
40 million dollar in a hedge fund at the cayman islands.
and the expected 1 billion dollar sale of property in brooklyn.. this al combined with the earlier broadcasting about the need of money that the society now has.. we concluded today, that the watch tower bible & tract society of pennsylvania is a shell company like bendini, .
Saintbertholdt 50% of the WTBTS of Pennsylvania's investment is in oil and gas.
Oh dear.
Brent Crude 1 yr 
Natural Gas 1 yr 
haven't read it all yet, but 15 skeletons have been found in south africa, near jo'burg... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/11855405/homo-naledi-a-new-species-of-human-discovered-in-a-cave-in-south-africa.html.
