Rush

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Posts by Rush

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  13

  Did you know there are prophets among us?

  by avengers in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when you are df'd or da'd then you're out.. as for those who are not df'd or da'd my question is: are you then still jw?.

  i haven't been df'd and i did not da myself.

  am i then still a jw?

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  Rush

  this self-appointed holiness of the 'faithful and discreet slave' really turns my stomach.
• 
  8

  Finally out of the Bloodless program

  by wednesday in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i just had a brief hospital stay and was able to do something important.

  i removed myself from the bloodless program.

  now my chart will have no signs of me being a jw.

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  Rush

  pardon my ignorance, but what is a 'bloodless program?'. and does it really give permission to someone to come and look at your medical records? i've not heard of this here(in the uk), is it new?

  Rush
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  28

  Would you or have you used a blood tranfusion?

  by TylerMacKay in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  would you or have you used a blood tranfusion since you the left the wt?

  i was wondering what your feelings are on it now

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  Rush

  Shadow,

  i used to be a jw until about 9yrs ago. when i was eighteen, i fell away, packed my bags and went to medical school, which is something i'd always wanted to do and hadn't been able to.

  i don't know of any true jw doctors. i have the occasional bout with my parents about blood, but not with anyone more senior. and i've never run into the HLC.

  to be honest, i don't think it's worth it. i think that the blood policy is ultimately untenable, and will be eroded away until 'new light' is shed. i really don't lose any sleep over the matter.

  i'm more than happy to answer any other questions.

  Rush.
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  31

  I'm Getting a Tattoo!!!!

  by ESTEE in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  on my ankle.. here it is....what do you think???.

  estee.

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  Rush

  me and my two brothers have all got tatts over the past couple of years, and have never looked back. love mine.
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  28

  Would you or have you used a blood tranfusion?

  by TylerMacKay in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  would you or have you used a blood tranfusion since you the left the wt?

  i was wondering what your feelings are on it now

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  Rush

  i can speak with a little bit of authority here, or at least first hand knowledge. as a doctor working in an acute general medical department i prescribe blood on a weekly if not daily basis. NO, blood is not a risk free medicine. but neither are many of our modern pharmacy that millions of us take for heart, blood pressure, thyroid and so on.

  i've saw a young woman last night in the casualty department who was bleeding from her gut and literally came back to life after blood, in a way that no amount of fluids pumped into her could manage.

  with our present technology at the stage it (naturally) is, blood is the gold standard, treatment-of-choice for a few critical conditions. special circumstances excepted (usually in young, fit individuals) which we hear an awful lot about in 'blood-free surgery' stories, we can't do without it as health providers.

  and why do witnesses insist on arguing the science behind blood (wonderful design, individual specific, infection transmission) when whether the science was kosher or not, they'd still have to condemn it?

  i know the risks, i've seen the problems. but i would still have a transfusion.

  if you're new out of the truth, be aware of emotional 'hangovers' from your old beliefs. you've got a fantastic oppurtunity to construct your own code of living now, one you can really have faith in.

  thoughts are with you all,

  Rush.
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  21

  Straining the gnat, gulping the camel.

  by Rush in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i remember the stink caused in the congregation when the sweets 'skittles' were released in the uk.

  they were advertised as containing 100% natural flavourings and colourings.. the problem was, the dye they used in the red skittles was cochineal.

  cochineal is made by pulping the dried bodies of a mexican beetle and produces a vivid red colour that has been highly sought after in the past.. i'm not sure where the issue arose, but some bright spark decided it was against the blood policy to eat this as the beetles hadn't been bled before they were dried and crushed.. the congregation was in an uproar.

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  Rush

  now that i'm on a roll, i've got another little one about black pudding (blood pudding).

  when my dad was an elder, he was at work (in a fire station) when the cook made them all a fried breakfast, including black pudding. when my dad's plate came and he saw the black pudding, he told the cook he couldn't eat it and got up to scrape it into the bin. a colleague told him not to throw it away but to give it to him instead.

  my dad refused, and explained (a bit embarrassed) that he had to throw it away, in line with the bible's command to pour blood upon the ground. of course, his workmate didn't appreciate this and told him not to be so stupid. but my dad went ahead and threw it in the bin anyway. i'm sure this did his reputation no end of good at work as they already thought him a bit wierd, being a witness.

  on the subject of rare meats, muscle is pink because of the pigment myoglobin which is similar to haemoglobin, but presumably isn't classed as blood.

  if anyone's got anymore of these, i love hearing them.

  Cheers,

  Rush.
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  21

  Straining the gnat, gulping the camel.

  by Rush in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i remember the stink caused in the congregation when the sweets 'skittles' were released in the uk.

  they were advertised as containing 100% natural flavourings and colourings.. the problem was, the dye they used in the red skittles was cochineal.

  cochineal is made by pulping the dried bodies of a mexican beetle and produces a vivid red colour that has been highly sought after in the past.. i'm not sure where the issue arose, but some bright spark decided it was against the blood policy to eat this as the beetles hadn't been bled before they were dried and crushed.. the congregation was in an uproar.

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  Rush

  I remember the stink caused in the congregation when the sweets 'Skittles' were released in the uk. they were advertised as containing 100% natural flavourings and colourings.

  The problem was, the dye they used in the red skittles was cochineal. Cochineal is made by pulping the dried bodies of a mexican beetle and produces a vivid red colour that has been highly sought after in the past.

  I'm not sure where the issue arose, but some bright spark decided it was against the blood policy to eat this as the beetles hadn't been bled before they were dried and crushed.

  The congregation was in an uproar. I'm pretty sure there was never any formal anouncements about the point, but the elders when asked said it was a 'conscience decision'. People were scouring ingredients on foodstuffs in a religious fervour, convinced this was another satanic ploy to corrupt god's people. A sister in our group found cochineal in the dye on top of a bakewell tart, tried to scrape the icing off but 'the whole cake was just ruined, I had to throw the whole thing in the bin.' (I wonder what her unbelieving husband thought of this use of groceries?)

  It finally came to a finish when one of the wiser sister's in the congregation, who'd kept respectively silent to avoid defending people, proclaimed the whole business ridiculous and asked if anyone seriously thought John the Baptist bled his locust with a pin before eating them in the wilderness.

  Unbelievable.

  Rush.
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  19

  Convention Report

  by Euphemism in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just got back from my convention yesterday evening.

  i'll be trying to catch up on the posts as time allows, but there is a very large volume; so if i miss any personal replies, please forgive me.. this was my first convention since i became mentally free, and it was just painful to sit through.

  i used to be one of those dubs who actually enjoyed conventions.

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  Rush

  that was quite an experience in itself, reading your nice little summary.

  i honestly don't know how you can do it. the only thing that would stop me from tearing my own ears off would be to distract myself entirely in a day-dream, but then i would have no reason to sit for three days in the company of people who probably wouldn't want me there anyway.

  thanks for keeping us posted anyway, it's nice to know what we're missing.
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  23

  Oh No! Could The WTS Have Been Right Re Aluminium!!!!!!!!!

  by ISP in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  aluminium toxicity in edinburgh (1976)

  in the 1970s, there were outbreaks of encephalopathy (dementia) and bone disease (osteomalacia) in various dialysis units.

  this was often called "dialysis dementia".

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  Rush

  I don't know an awful lot about this subject, but can find two reviews on 'Medline' that look at exposure to aluminium in various forms (such as occupational and drinking water) done in 2002.

  one concluded that there was not enough information to link aluminium in any form with an increased risk of dementia. The other concluded that water levels above a certain threshold increased your risk of dementia but could not conclude on other sources.

  Sorry I can't be more precise at the moment. But I'm certainly not throwing out my pans yet.
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  27

  Childhood Sexuality

  by JH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  now be honest, at what age does a person start to masturbate?

  read the link and you will be surprised.

  answer that question in your mind first and after, read this link below.. .

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  Rush

  Hey all,

  first back to the original question. I feel a lot of the shocked replies to this indicate a certain amount of prudishness (in the nicest possible way) and possibly a good old WTBTS emotional hangover.

  I can't put an exact date on itself but I started around the age of five and continued pretty consistently through to puberty. I remember how long it took me to come to terms with it. I was convinced I was being punished by god by giving me a pre-pubescent erection and struggled with the guilt of this and the belief I was a bad person for years.

  I remember very clearly the first time I realised my JW friends also partook and the enormous sense of relief (pardon the pun) that others were engaging in this 'unclean' habit.

  I know of brother in a local congregation who was so wracked with guilt over his habit he took himself to the local hospital and demanded a circumcision to attempt to curtail his masturbation. Of course, this wasn't delivered and I think he may have actually got a psychiatric referral instead.

  On a more first-hand note, I am a doctor in hospital not far from where I was brought up. I would admit people to a surgical ward the night befor minor ops such as vasectomies, varicose veins and hernia repairs. This one young chap came in for an inguinal (groin) hernia repair. Normally it takes me around ten minutes to get everything done with these patients. However, this bloke happened to be a JW and when he recognised me he pored out his heart to me and told me he had developed this hernia because he'd masturbated for the first time, at the age of thirty! It took me forty-five minutes of listening, counselling and reinforcing that masturbation does NOT make you go blind, give you hariy palms or hernias. This poor man was distraught. I also happen to know from another source that he'd been to see the elders about his 'problem'.

  It's not just ignorance, but down-right dangerous, propagating these ridiculous myth. Mental health is on the line here.