Posts by Marvin Shilmer

9

JW Blood Doctrine Constitutes Idolatry

by TTATTelder in

if you sacrifice your life for something - that is devotion to the highest degree and can in certain context constitute worship.. .

as has been discussed many times on this forum, the blood doctrine of being willing to sacrifice life to honor a symbol of life (blood) is ludicrous (see this excellent thread by cofty http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/273265/my-explanation-why-they-got-wrong-about-blood-using-only-nwt?page=1).

it is also idolatry.... .

Marvin Shilmer

A person who sacrifices their wife (or child, or anyone else) to preserve a photo of their wife (or child, or anyone else) is assigning a higher priority to the photo than the real thing. Aside from such a person being a lunatic, whether that prioritization is worship is debatable depending on how a person understands the term worship.

Regarding blood and symbolism the Watchtower organization holds two competing doctrines:

- On one hand it says blood is a symbol for life and we should be willing to sacrifice life out of regard for that symbol.

- On the other hand it says a symbol is not as important as the thing it symbolizes.

These two doctrinal positions collide the moment a decision must be made about whether a person's life should or shouldn't have priority over how they treat the supposed symbol of life.

See: Blood as important as life?

34

RELIGION AND MENTAL ILLNESS!!!

by ADJUSTMENTS in

jw
friends

i have have come to realize most "rank and file" jw's are mentally unstable-to-ill and here is why.... http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/mental-issues.php.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/religious_delusion.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/religion_and_schizophrenia.

Marvin Shilmer

steve2,

I agree with what you write on this issue.

Probably the best study available on the subject is found in a 1983 article in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (MacDonald and Luckett, Religious Affiliation and Psychiatric Diagnoses, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 1983, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 15-37).

Findings of that article do not suggest there is more psychoses among Jehovah’s Witnesses compared with other religious affiliations. The study did include a category of "no religious preference" but compared with the various religious categories this group had it's own issues with the paramount one being alcoholism.

I have a short article addressing this study if readers are interested. See: Jehovah’s Witnesses and psychiatric diagnoses?

25

'Tracing All Things With Accuracy' - How the Watchtower Society's Writing Department never makes a mistake

by jwleaks in

from the 2011 yearbook of jehovah's witnesses.. source: 'tracing all things with accuracy'.

tracing all things with accuracy.

jesus said that the faithful slave would be discreet in giving the domestics their food at the proper time.

Marvin Shilmer

Accuracy and Watchtower's Writing Department

An Example of -- cough cough -- accuracy: Death from TRALI?

34

RELIGION AND MENTAL ILLNESS!!!

by ADJUSTMENTS in

jw
friends

i have have come to realize most "rank and file" jw's are mentally unstable-to-ill and here is why.... http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/mental-issues.php.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/religious_delusion.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/religion_and_schizophrenia.

Marvin Shilmer

-

Jehovah's Witnesses and mental illness at: http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com/2011/09/mental-illness.html

108

"Jehovah ALWAYS had/used an organization". How would you reply?

by EdenOne in

in a recent meeting with elders, an argument was used to the effect that jehovah has always [= throughout history] used, or operated through, an organization; therefore, the wts must be that organization today, since god must be using one.

naturally, i know what arguments i've used to counter that argument.

but i'm interested in hearing yours.

Marvin Shilmer

I just answer saying, No.

If I'm asked why I'd point out what some have already pointed out here, that even the Society acknowledges there was no central organization God was using for nearly 2,000 years. I'd say that's a gap.

10

Usage of FDS and Faithful Slave.

by runForever in

.

Marvin Shilmer

Thanks Splash for pointing out that particular article and how often it repeats the phrase. I've added the reference to my blog article on Watchtower's brainwashing.

23

Consequences of staying on the recommended Hotel list

by Samaritan At the Well in

i wanted to share an experience i had and see if anyone else had encountered this same matter.

we always tried to make an extra effort to ensure we stood on the approved hotel lists when going to our special day conventions or district conventions or what they now call regional.

we use to stay many nights a year and i would save up my hotel points to use at a later time.. i remember checking in at popular chain hotel and asked the hotel clerk how many points would i earn for the 3 night stay?

Marvin Shilmer

It was happening all the time, and is still going on.

I have points status at a couple of hotel chains and I watch my points pretty close. When I learned about this points stealing scheme many years ago I would still stay at the designated hotel but would rebook under my points and get the stay that way rather than letting Watchtower just rip my off.

10

Usage of FDS and Faithful Slave.

by runForever in

.

Marvin Shilmer

Watchtower's repetitive usage of "faithful slave" (or the abbreviated version: "the slave") is very telling. Watchtower once wrote about repetitive usage of terms, and why it's done.

See: Watchtower Identifies Brainwashing

35

Site Update: Jan 10, 2015

by Simon in

i've made some updates to the user section of the site.

besides some cosmetic tweaks the most notable new feature is the ability to see a listing of the topics someone has posted on - this includes topics they started as well as topics they replied to.. it will look like this when you go to a user page or your own profile page:.

simon.

Marvin Shilmer

Not sure why but just in case it matters to the cause...

I use IE11 and the quote feature is not working for me.

Thanks for all your work, Simon! Not trying to add to any burden.

51

Is this a discussion forum or a debating forum , which is it ?

by smiddy in

jw
friends

do you get confused sometimes whether this site is a discussion forum or a debating forum ?.

just asking.

whats your thoughts.. smiddy.

Marvin Shilmer

"However sometimes a question is used as a trap or weapon....... sometimes as an insult. That should be avoided by moving the debate along if possible....... instead of getting bogged down."

I've never understood thinking like that. Ever!

If a precise question is asked and the answer is relevant to the subject then that question deserves an answer. The only "trap" I see in a question is on the part of someone who does not want to face what the answer says about something they want to hold as valid.

The fastest way to move a discussion along is to give straightforward answers to relevant questions. This is how we learn and grow. If anything, failure to answer questions bogs down honest discussion.

We all should refuse to let questions insult us. We grow by facing questions and answering them.