Marvin Shilmer

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Posts by Marvin Shilmer

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  305

  McKinney Texas pool party?

  by Marvin Shilmer in

  1. social
  2. current

  so today i was asked my thoughts on the pool party incident in mcminney, texas.

  my response: it shows a clash of expectations.

  i saw police officers who expected citizens to listen to and follow instructions.

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  Marvin Shilmer

  He couldn't be bothered go after either of the two male teens, black or white, he perceived as a more immediate and dangerous enough threat to draw his weapon on.

  We must have watched different videos. The one i watched showed the two males being pursued by two officers who left the one to finish his detention of the mouthy bikini clad gal.

  Cops are understandably skittish about being approached abruptly (and from behind no less!) when on the job and in uniform. We'll see how things look with more investigation.

  Clash of expectations is what i saw.

  - On one hand we have officers charged with keeping public order and who expect to be listened to and with reasonable requests obeyed.

  - On the other hand we have teenagers who expect officers to react just like their parents to disobedience and mouthiness.

  It's a bad brew, and we call the police only when there's an issue in need of remedy.
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  8

  The Man with the Golden Arm

  by Marvin Shilmer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  james harrison is australian and is known as the man with the golden arm.

  i've neither researched nor inquired of his religious disposition, but i feel safe assuming he's not now and never has been associated formally with the watchtower organization.

  this man is a national treasure and hero of the first order.

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  Marvin Shilmer

  This is one story you won't read about in any of WT's literature or video you won't see on their website.

  There was a time when Watchtower's leadership would have heralded this man's selflessness as heroic. But no more.

  See: Watchtower praises the donation and feeding of blood as heroic
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  305

  McKinney Texas pool party?

  by Marvin Shilmer in

  1. social
  2. current

  so today i was asked my thoughts on the pool party incident in mcminney, texas.

  my response: it shows a clash of expectations.

  i saw police officers who expected citizens to listen to and follow instructions.

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  Marvin Shilmer

  So today I was asked my thoughts on the pool party incident in McMinney, Texas.

  My response: It shows a clash of expectations.

  I saw police officers who expected citizens to listen to and follow instructions.

  I saw teenager citizens responding to police officers expecting them to act like their parents who let them refuse to follow instructions, mouth off and all without consequences.

  That's a bad mix. Oh, and the police get called to mop stuff up that began by poor upbringing.

  That's my take.

  I was asked specifically about the officer who drew his gun on unarmed males.

  My response: Well the guy taking the video from behind one of these males at least had a chance to see when the one guy's hand went behind his body (as he approached the officer!) that there was no weapon to draw. But the officer was not standing behind the approaching male. He was in front of the male and was being approached from his back/side. The cop was definitely hyped. But for me it's too early to say his reactions were unacceptable. I'll wait to hear a more comprehensive report based on multiple perspectives to the whole incident.

  Edited to add: The one guy who seemingly bumped his buddy even closer to the officer didn't do anyone any favor either.
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  556

  The Watchtower are Right About Blood...

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ... 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.

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  Marvin Shilmer

  Watchtower's blood taboo stands or falls based on one thing: What is was required of the biblical Noah.

  Humans in Noah's time had health needs like everyone else among ancients. The use of blood transplantation for medicinal remedy was widely practiced from antiquity. Hence if God did not want Noah to use blood for this purpose there was reason to tell Noah that as a matter of biblical record. But there is no biblical record of any such a thing. Based on the biblical record Noah was free to transplant blood (even from slaughtered animals!) for medicinal remedy.

  
  - Ancient Blood Transplantation, and Noah

  Watchtower's blood taboo could not be more wrong.
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  8

  The Man with the Golden Arm

  by Marvin Shilmer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  james harrison is australian and is known as the man with the golden arm.

  i've neither researched nor inquired of his religious disposition, but i feel safe assuming he's not now and never has been associated formally with the watchtower organization.

  this man is a national treasure and hero of the first order.

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  Marvin Shilmer

  James Harrison is Australian and is known as The Man with the Golden Arm.

  I've neither researched nor inquired of his religious disposition, but I feel safe assuming he's not now and never has been associated formally with the Watchtower organization.

  This man is a national treasure and hero of the first order. I encourage readers here to spend a few moments and read this article about what he has done to help millions.

  Here: This man's blood has saved the lives of two million babies
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  63

  2015 Regional Convention Anthony Morris Governing Body encourages coerced baptism of unwilling children ...again

  by Watchtower-Free in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this is from the last talk of the convention ......... clip 1:30 minutes longhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrej8tlyiso&feature=youtu.be.

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  Marvin Shilmer

  That is beyond pathetic, and it should be criminal!!!
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  86

  What are you gonna do when the existence of god is disproved?

  by Doltologist in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  in 1897, j.j. thomson discovered the electron.

  this was the first constituent part of the atom which, for 2,000 years, was thought to be indivisible.

  today, we know of 18 elemental particles following the recent discovery of the higgs boson, the so-called god particle.. back in 1897, most people believed in god because there weren't even any theories as to how the universe came into being.

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  Marvin Shilmer

  But this is just a story and should not be considered anything more than that.

  Thinking about our universe having an "end" along with concepts of what lay beyond that boundary only enforces in me how terribly ignorant we are of our own universe, not to mention whatever (if anything we can comprehend) is beyond. I'm not sure humans will ever have capacity to learn whatever is the engine of things like our universe.

  But, of course, in our little human world that we do know something about it is better to strive to understand the greater universe than to just sit and wait for whatever comes along. On the other hand, it might not make much difference, if any, what we humans do or don't do.
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  86

  What are you gonna do when the existence of god is disproved?

  by Doltologist in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  in 1897, j.j. thomson discovered the electron.

  this was the first constituent part of the atom which, for 2,000 years, was thought to be indivisible.

  today, we know of 18 elemental particles following the recent discovery of the higgs boson, the so-called god particle.. back in 1897, most people believed in god because there weren't even any theories as to how the universe came into being.

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  Marvin Shilmer

  Humans and our knowledge base to-date are infinitesimally small in the universe. Whether humans will ever be able to see or understand things outside our universe and whether there is some extrauniverse being that controls our universe is yet to be seen.

  At our current state of knowledge attempting to speak about whether there is such an influence is like two bacteria in our bowels debating whether their world is it or if maybe there is something beyond.
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  164

  California Supreme Court Case - S226656

  by Gayle in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/maincasescreen.cfm?dist=0&doc_id=2109889&doc_no=s226656&search=party&start=1&query_partylastnameororg=watchtower bible and tract.

  started 5/27/2015.

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  Marvin Shilmer

  ... to divert attention...

  My comment was toward another participant regarding your posting activity, which makes what I said on-point rather than off-point.

  Regarding primary subject matter I've raised in this discussion, there's nothing to divert attention away from. What I wrote then remains the case, and despite your embarrassing responses.

  Candance's purpose in filing her lawsuit was to affect positive change in an institutional policy regarding allegation of child victimization. She filed and persisted in this lawsuit because it was a legitimate and reachable tool at her disposal, with substantial help from an understanding lawyer. She has not spent any more time on Kendrick (her victimizer) than was necessary to help a court appointed jury make a finding about whether he victimized her, something her and her lawyer met with success. It is not mere opinion that Kendrick sexually battered Candace. It's a question that has been met with an answer by a duly seated court appointed jury. Apparently you don't like this. Too bad. It's done.
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  33

  Teddy Hero Worship Continues -- Sept 15 Study Edition Bio on Melita Jaracz

  by LostGeneration in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  very weird article, you can read it here if you can tolerate such nonsense:.

  http://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/w20150915/melita-jaracz-blessing-in-life/.

  basically teddy was a super, duper spiritual giant who went undercover behind the iron curtain, sorta james bond like.

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  Marvin Shilmer

  A few years back I spoke with a Bethelite who was readying to leave Bethel along with his wife. He had been at Bethel for decades and was rather high up the ladder.

  As he and I talked I recalled him as a teenager and young adult and spoke about his many academic and personal accomplishments, and a specific award he had earned when he was 17 years old. He replied saying, "That was the last productive thing I have done with my life so far."

  This man left Bethel for "family reasons". He came home with high recommendations from Bethel. He and his wife opted to pioneer for two years afterward. He would never accept appointment as an elder, though several attempts were made. Then he did the fade.

  His wife was and remains very distraught over this. But I know this man. He has brains, and everything was finally sinking in for him. His wife will probably never wake up to what's going on inside Watchtower. But he has, and it's really taken a toll on him, which is not surprising news around here.