The best book I've read on near death experiences is called Science and the Near Death Experience: How Consciousness Survives Death. It's not quite as simple as some like to make out. That it's either a hallucination or 'someone looking to make a quick buck.' There are several cases that cannot be dismissed quite so easily, although to those who already have their minds made up, no amount of evidence will ever convince them of the possibility that something might exist after this physical life.
Posts by Mary
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95An interesting article on scientific explanations of near-death / out-of-body experiences
by cedars ini've been doing quite a bit of research into books recently, and i've noticed that the book "proof of heaven" is selling very strongly at the moment.
it's currently no.1 in the new york times bestseller list for nonfiction paperbacks.. the book is by a qualified neurosurgeon who converted to religious faith after going into a coma and having what he later described as an experience of heaven, which he elaborates on in great detail in the book.
he argues that the experience must have been supernatural, because his cerebral cortex was "offline" for the duration of his vision.. .
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Taking alcohol into the veins (WBT$ illo) - can someone deconstruct this for me?
by punkofnice inok. so i've heard that the wbt$ say that having alcohol into the body intraveniously (how do you spell it?
), when the doctor says you shouldn't have alcohol is baaaadddd!
so you wouldn't have a blood transfusion because invisible sky friend jar hoover says it's baaaaaddddddd.. no doubt the illustration is beyond crazy but how is the best way to deconstruct it?.
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Mary
Strictly speaking, I'm not aware of any situation where transfusing alcohol into your veins could save your life, but for arguments sake, let's say it could.
If a doctor told someone to "abstain from alcohol" (for whatever reason) and that person suddenly found themselves in a situation where transfusing the alcohol into their vein would save their life, wouldn't it be absurd if the guy refused to do this because his doctor told that he shouldn't drink any alcohol, and subsequently died?
Yet that is exactly what Witnesses are taught to do. It's kinda like obeying the speed limit. If the speed limit is 50 km/hour (about 30 mph), in everyday life, you're supposed to generally obey it. However, let's say one night that you're driving out in the country and you come across someone who's severely injured on the side of the road. There's no hospitals close by and you know time is of the essence if this persons life is going to be saved. You bundle them into your car and you take off. You're going above the speed limit because someone's life is at stake and it's imperative that you get them to the hospital asap.
On the way, a cop sees you speeding and pulls you over. You quickly tell them what's happening and why you're speeding. The cop is not really sympathetic and while he can see that the passenger in your car is dying, he feels that it's a far greater sin to go above the posted speed limit than to try and save this person's life. The posted speed limit takes presedence over everything, even a person's life and if he dies because the cop is writing you out a ticket, oh well---too bad.
This of course, would be outrageous to anyone with 1/2 a brain, yet this is basically what JW's are taught. An obscure dietary law written thousands of years ago is viewed as being far more important than someone's life and if they die because of it---oh well too bad.
I really, truly wish that the assholes responsible for keeping this damn doctrine in place could spend a week with my sister and see the living hell that her life has become since my brother in law died in part due to the ban on blood transfusions. There are just no words for it and absolutely no justification.
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Nephilim found in the State of Chihuahua
by bats in the belfry inthe broadcaster, july 16, 1925. .
the broadcaster was a four-page, second-class publication, that hoped to reach hundreds of thousands of persons through the mails.
later, this publication was discontinued, because so many failed to reach their destination.
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Mary
As soon as I see a sentence begin with the word "Evidently", you automatically know who wrote it.
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Rare find: WTS endorsed 4-page pamphlet, The Broadcaster. Bet you never heard of it before now!
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.watchtowerdocuments.com/documents/1920-1949.html.
to see twenty issues of the rarest of the rare wts endorsed pamphlets (or brochures), click on the link above and then scroll down the column on the left of the page to the date 1924 - 1925 where you will find listed the words, .
the broadcaster - wts endorsed-must read *new*.
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Mary
Excellent find Barb! Thanks for posting that. I actually came across a stack of old pamphlets and brochures from the 30s and 40s that I had never seen before. One of these days I'll try to upload them on here.
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It's Official! The Governing Body IS the Faithful and Discreet Slave (Annual Meeting Report - jw.org)
by 00DAD init's official!
from the jw.org website:.
november 9, 2012. annual meeting report .
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Mary
This is really no surprise as we've been discussing this probability for the last several years on here. With the number of rank and file Witnesses partaking of the emblems, the numbers are going up instead of down which cannot be going unnoticed. Plus, they've never consulted the thousands of other 'annointed' ones on anything and I think more and more people are asking "why not?"
Their easiest solution is to make the F&DS class apply only to the GB. Problem solved.
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37
Transfusion and Eating no difference?
by Marvin Shilmer intransfusion and eating no difference?.
today i added a new article to my blog addressing what watchtower says in public view about transfusion versus eating compared to what it admits in private about transfusion and eating.
its short and sweet, and of course documented.
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Mary
Martin said: I suspect our new resident Ethos is a Topix poster known as Dream-weaver. (See: http://www.topix.com/forum/religion/jehovahs-witness/T331TUN3GEA9CQJJP/post1
Oh Christ........is that nutter still around?
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37
Transfusion and Eating no difference?
by Marvin Shilmer intransfusion and eating no difference?.
today i added a new article to my blog addressing what watchtower says in public view about transfusion versus eating compared to what it admits in private about transfusion and eating.
its short and sweet, and of course documented.
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Mary
Ethnos said: Tranfusion is obviously not the same thing as literally ingesting blood orally. That was never an equivocation made by the WTS (to my knowledge).
Are you kidding? That is exactly what they assert:
"Each time the prohibition of blood is mentioned in the Scriptures it is in connection with taking it as food, and so it is as a nutrient that we are concerned with in its being forbidden."-----September 15, 1958 WT p. 575
The equivocation is in the fact that tranfusing blood NOURISHES the body, just as EATING does.
No, it does not. There is no nutritional benefit from a blood transfusion. If there was, you could use blood transfusions to treat malnutrition. You can't. When you eat something, it is taken into the stomach where it is digested and broken down into nutrients, which are then passed through the intestines into the blood vessels, where the blood carries them to the body for nourishment. This is accomplished by the digestive system. During a transfusion, the blood that is transfused travels through the blood stream, then goes to the intestines where it picks up the digested food passed through the intestines
and carrying that food throughout the rest of the body. This is the circulatory system. The transfused blood is not food itself but the carrier of food. The food is broken down into its component parts whereas the blood remains whole. This is the medical definition proving that eating blood (such as blood pudding or blood sausage) through the mouth is a completely different procedure than a blood transfusion. -
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The trampling of Jerusalem didn't begin until AFTER Jesus died (easy way to prove WT waaaay off on everything)
by EndofMysteries inhopefully this doesn't do more bad then good, but it's funny they are going on the destruction of jerusalem in 587/607 time, and appear to have not ever read what jesus said.
luke 21:20-24 - furthermore, when you see jerusalem surrounded by encamped armies, then know that the desolating of her has drawn near.
21 then let those in ju?de'a begin fleeing to the mountains, and let those in the midst of her withdraw, and let those in the country places not enter into her; 22 because these are days for meting out justice, that all the things written may be fulfilled.
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Mary
I brought this to an elders' attention years ago and basically, this is how the GB likes to interpret Luke 21:20-24
“Furthermore, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by encamped armies, then know that the desolating of her has drawn near." -
happened in 66 C.E. when the Romans first attacked."Then let those in Jude'a begin fleeing to the mountains, and let those in the midst of her withdraw, and let those in the country places not enter into her".
There is very little evidence that these early Christians (or Messianic Jews as they were then known) actually 'fled to the mountains', although there is some debate as to whether some of them might have fled to Pella. Earliest written account for this though, is not until the 4th century CE. But for the sake of argument here, let's assume that they did flee to the mountains. This would have been done presumably when the Romans first retreated around 67 CE."...Woe to the pregnant women and the ones suckling a baby in those days! For there will be great necessity upon the land and wrath on this people.."---Again, this would have been referring to the time that Jesus' followers were supposed to 'flee to the mountains', after the Romans retreated around 67 CE.
"....and they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations..."
After the Romans returned and devastated Jerusalem 68CE - 70 CE"...and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations, until the appointed times of the nations are fulfilled..."
This of course is the part that they change. Without any justification whatsoever, the Organization insists that this "trampling" began not in 70 CE (which would be the logical flow of what we've already discussed), but in 607 BCE. This change was done for no other reason than them trying to shore up their bizarre theory that Jesus returned invisibly in 1914. Just add 2520 years to 607 BCE and you come up with the year 1913. Tweek it by saying there is no "year zero" and viola, you've got 'biblical proof' that 1914 is the be-all and end-all of life as we know it.If you bring it to their attention and ask how they can possibly interpret the first part of verse 24 as applying to 70CE and the latter part of the same verse to a date hundreds of years earlier, you'll just get a glazed look and no logical answer. Which really is no surprise.
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Memorial partakers this year?
by punkofnice inwill there be over 12k 'partakers'(tm) this year?.
won't the wbt$ publish the amount of 'partakers'(tm) of the vinegar and crackers this year given that they stated this in qfr watchtower 15th august 2011 page 22 ????
(wow!
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Mary
So did they ever publish how many partook this year?
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104
It is OFFICIAL they want MORE MONEY : NEW ANNOUNCEMENT!!!
by raymond frantz ini just came back from the meeting .although the local announcements have been abolished recently as an item for the second part , an elder came on the platform to announce that the society needs more money and there is a letter on the noticeboard for all the congragation to read to this effect.
although the announcement was read half heartedly (this elder's daughter is an apostate ,it looks like he knows what's going on) the implictions are dramatic .
the society in brief,requests any brother or sister with funds sitting on personal accounts to loan them to the society ,he didn't go into any specifics but i will take a picture of the letter next time and make it available here .. i'm not amazed that they're asking for money ,i thought it will happen sooner or later .what i'm amazed is that 99% of the congragation are oblivious to the financial crisis that the society finds itself these days and the reasons why .i can see the future now .the watchtower will be the fist part of the babylon the great to go down in a blaze of scandals and financial troubles !.
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Mary
an elder came on the platform to announce that the Society needs more money
For what? Didn't they just sell Crooklyn Bethel for a ka-jillion dollars? They don't pay Bethelites for their wages (except for the $100/month pocket money) and they sure as hell don't give any to charity........Maybe it's time they bring back food services at the ASSemblies. LOL.