Consequence,
My condolences on the loss of your father. That really sounds like a shock.
some quick background information: my dad (her firstborn son) died unexpectedly this past october.
his death has really hit our family hard.
personally, i have not totally come to terms with this.
Consequence,
My condolences on the loss of your father. That really sounds like a shock.
i've been thinking about this the past few days and curious what the honest consensus is here just for fun.. show of hands,.
is the governing body.... a: completely sincere.
they really do believe what they teach.. b: somewhat sincere.
A - I think they believe they are doing Gods work, and all of their actions are filtered through that premise.
thats a big test.
can you think of the test that that would put on gods people?
its a big test, its a big test.
Flipper,
I had the same opinion. Nice enough guy. But nice doesn't cut it when you are in charge of that much propoganda. He was just as sold on it as any rank and file member. As an older man, he was largely the same guy, but he just wasn't 100% mentally (like most people at 90). He would slip every once in a while and speak of regret, or mistakes. I think the weight of having so much control, and looking back at how much was abandon, maybe even makes the uber-faithful twinge a little.
... but, they fail to take note of one important detail.. i believe that if we are going to have any chance of reasoning with a jw about blood, this is the place we need to begin.. don't try to convince them that it was only a dietary law.
it wasn't, and they will never go along with it.. don't tell them that saving a life is more important than obeying a law, even a seemingly trivial one.
they take pride in obedience.
Fish,
All blood is metabolized by the body in due time. Its a "cyclical" liquid organ. I don't want to interject too much here, and let TD speak on his own, but think of this logically. You cannot put a rib smoothie or meal replacement shake into an IV. If a person is catatonic, they receive a "feeding tube". Just like if you are low on blood, you can't guzzle a pint and be all good. Besides turning your poop black, you will end up dying because your organs are not getting the necessary nutrients. the circulatory and digestive systems are two different systems.
Abstain has no qualifier. So if you viewed it on a scale, you would maybe on one hand say anything goes, blood sausage, eating bowls of blood, being a member of the Masai......then on the other side you would have not thinking about blood, not brushing your teeth too hard, etc... Both of those seem like extremes wouldn't you agree? What do you think the middle might look or feel like?
... but, they fail to take note of one important detail.. i believe that if we are going to have any chance of reasoning with a jw about blood, this is the place we need to begin.. don't try to convince them that it was only a dietary law.
it wasn't, and they will never go along with it.. don't tell them that saving a life is more important than obeying a law, even a seemingly trivial one.
they take pride in obedience.
Oye Vey! This was quite the conversation to catch up on! As the doctrine that helped me realize I was following the wrong path and not thinking for myself, I both love and hate the discussions on blood. It truly is the single most indefensible doctrine when considering scripture, practice, and the evolution within the organization of what is and is not allowed.
Leviticus 17 is clear. I mean really.........how do you "accidentally" eat an animal found dead on the road? You trip while singing? It could have been valuable livestock as someone presented, or perhaps the person who found it is in dire straights and it was a matter of feeding his family. Either way, the person just remained unclean for a day. Not exactly analogous to being disfellowshipped and cut off from your entire social structure. It seems so clear, its difficult to understand why there is even an argument (much less 13 pages of one).
Fish I once vehemently defended this doctrine on-line. In fact I made the argument that the second mention in Acts regarding keeping from blood, was written by Luke as a sort of prescription. "Good health to you" and all that. What a tool I was! its hard, but you are very close. People die over this. A lot of them. Its important to get right, if you are going to remove a tool by which modern medicine currently and historically has been able to save peoples lives in certain situations.
I don't know......if an Israelite can sell the drowned animal to their neighbor......can JW's donate blood in a blood drive?
thats a big test.
can you think of the test that that would put on gods people?
its a big test, its a big test.
Just found out Floyd Kite died today in San Diego at 90. Probably just a couple hours ago. This was definitely one of his most famous talks. I found him to be a nice older man. Seemed to acknowledge through an older mans ramblings at times, that he had many regrets in how he treated people. He had a good heart, but was a true believer to the fullest. Company man through and through. His funeral will be a big event in San Diego i think.
i'm currently disfellowshipped and living at home with my parents, but because they are both still devout jws i have to keep going to the meetings and crap because i don't want to risk getting thrown out until i finish college or find a job that will let me support myself and go to college.. yesterday, my mother rode with me to the meeting and told me how much my best friend and my oldest sister are missing me, and it just tears me apart because during the meeting i was practically counting the minutes till it was over.
it didn't help matters that i had to sit with my family because the library was closed off, thus forcing me to follow along with the meeting on my tablet instead of reading something useful or interesting like i normally do.. when i got home i just cried out in frustration because it feels like no matter what i do, i am making the wrong choice.
either i have to keep pretending to support an organization that has caused so much pain to so many people, or i have to abandon my family and friends to it so i can save myself.
My humble suggestion since you are so young is as follows. Try to remember that the way you think and feel NOW, is not the way you may think and feel as you get older. You have figured out that the organization is bunk. Good for you! You are way ahead of the game.
But so that you have the best way of retaining your family, and not living with strife and anxiety, I woudl say go along to get along currently. Get reinstated, and as you get older (how old are you), you can make your life your own. Don't be in a rush to leave, educate yourself vigerously, and plan your life NOT worrying about this silly religion. Once you have the motive, self confidence, and plan to enact your life.....the elders and the entire system will just sort of fall away as silly to you. You can speak to your parents and siblings on their level.
Don't lose your family. Don't be rash. Try to think LONG term. Today is just a day. Its early in your life. BE PATIENT. EDUCATE YOURSELF.
May I ask how old you are, and the basic reason for disfellowshipping? (no real details needed).
Take care!
hey guys!
i'm new on this site and am a non jw here married to a jw.
my husband's family are active members and they daily post articles on facebook from jw.org which i know is meant for me to see and read.
Charity....you are more right than you know. JWs define how right they are by the amount of things that make them "different". Such as no birthdays, no voting, no cross, no trinity, no blood, no collection plate, etc....
So it can be difficult to get anywhere here. Its best to say it doesnt matter to you what he died on, but the best records available say it was most lilely a cross. Maybe here is a thought experiment. Ask if it woild mean anything to them if concrete proof was identified that ahowed he died on a cross. Would it shake their faith? (It would). Then proclaim it wouldnt matter to you.
i am a newbie, and yes current jw.
i have been dealing with a lot confusion for months now.
i guess it started last year when i found myself losing my zeal, desire for spiritual things.
Embrace this one singular truth.....there is no one singular truth. We have been where you are at. Take your time, and consider thoa to be possiblyvyour one and only life......and live it!
so i was checking out the website to see what the february broadcast was all about before i watched it with my jw wife.. on the front page was this video.... https://tv.jw.org/#en/video/vodbible/pub-jwbai_201607_1_video.
i watched it and pretended i had never been a jw.. if you pretend you don't understand their particular language it makes for a interesting (if not vague) watch.. btw i've seen several of the actors before.
jw version of movie stars?
Wow. My kids are really young, and they just don't know what a bullet they dodged when daddy decided to skip out on the religion of his youth. Sheesh.
Here is what is interesting. He doesn't explain what "when things started getting physical" meant. I don't think however it meant sex. The reason is because he is clearly in pioneer or christian evangelizer school at the end after it had "been a few years". If he had sex, he would have been disfellowshipped, and barred from attending such a school for 5 years after reinstatement as is their unspoken but sort of spoken custom.
Anyone else catch that?