Fred Franztone
JoinedTopics Started by Fred Franztone
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10
Is the blood doctrine idolatrous?
by Fred Franztone ini'm not a god-fearing individual, but when i was still a believer, many suns ago, it occurred to me that the blood doctrine had an idolatrous foundation; it was one of the initial anti-wt thoughts in my mind that eventually led to me leaving the religion and ultimately (and somewhat ironically) to atheism.. the bible says that one should 'abstain from blood', and putting aside whether this is a mistranslation of bloodshed (which i've never bought), the wt are quite picky about which commandments they follow; they don't observe the sabbath, and they've even provided justifications for lying, so why the preoccupation with the blood commandment?
and why is it so serious a matter that it's a disfellowship-worthy offence?
the justification i was always given by elders was that blood is sacred, it's a symbol of life, and whilst the commandment to abstain from blood clearly meant that one shouldn't eat it, it's not unreasonable on the surface to extrapolate it to include transfusions (although some would disagree).. the problem with this reasoning of course is that by abstaining from blood transfusions, death from massive blood-loss is a possibility, unlike with abstaining from eating it.
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15
192-page books
by Fred Franztone inthis is my 192nd post, so i thought it'd be fitting to ask a somewhat banal question which i've occasionally pondered over the years.
does anyone know what's behind the wt's penchant for 192-page books?
is there some kind of logistical reason for this?
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5
Ezekial.
by zeb ini rarely comment on the bible itself as i believe it can be a 'merry go round' and nothing achieved.
in my gradual reading of the bible for the third time i am now up to the book of ezekial.
the message goes into a great detail as to what the almighty will do to fallen nations but there is so little as to the good that is promised later in the scriptures as to the 'new order' (but the jw dont use that term anymore).
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4
the next time
by pepperheart inthe next time we hear about cuts that the watchtower are making and some people say .
"oh they are a multinational group and far to big to fail.
well so were lehman brothers and the royal bank of scotland.
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Arguments I’ve Had: Historical Accuracy and the Bible
by Saethydd inwhen i was a jw and still living with my parents i remember the way my father held what could almost be described as contempt for archeologists, paleontologists, and other scientists who dared to try explain what happened in past.
he justified this attidtude with the argument that these people don’t have enough evidence to make such claims with any certainty.
however, i see now that his viewpoint was more likely a defense mechanism to protect his presupposed conclusion that everything described in the bible actually happened.
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Anyone else get a message from Hanged Man?
by pale.emperor ini dont know why i'd want to argue over something like this.
i've been aware of this theory for years.
as interesting as it is - it's still bullshit.. for future reference, i believe the bible to be a collection of fantasy, myth, real locations and crazy ramblings of psychedelic bloke stuck on patmos.. my reply:.
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The Trinity explained from the Whiteboard
by JW Answers ina lot of people are confused over the teaching of the trinity, some doubt it, some outright deny it, where some can't get their head around it.
the bible supports it through scriptural evidence.
this video explains from the whiteboard the difference between the god of the watchtower to the god in the bible.
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Invited to a talk: What to do?
by Fred Franztone inmy sister texted me last night with an invitation to watch our dad give his first ever public talk.
i don't live particularly near to my family, but i'm not too far from them to make the journey, and i am on good terms with them, having never been baptised and so not disfellowshipped; they don't shun me and likely wouldn't even if i were disfellowshipped, it's not in their character.. i haven't been inside a kingdom hall since 2006, and i would like to keep it that way; i only intend to step inside one again in the event of a family wedding or funeral service.
i don't want to be rude to my sister, ignoring the text isn't an option, so i need a diplomatic way of declining her invitation.. i've considered saying that i'm busy, but this leaves things open for her to ask again in the future, and i'd rather she got the message that i'm not interested, without me having to say so in an explicit way.. any suggestions from those who have been in a similar situation?.
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Neanderthals - Meet Your Ancestors
by Earnest intonight (sunday, 13th may) at 20:00 on bbc 2 ... for neanderthal believers, agnostics and deniers.. this first programme in a two-part series investigates what neanderthals looked like and and how they lived in their ice age world.
it turns out that almost everything we thought we knew about them is wrong.
they weren't hunched, grunting, knuckle-dragging ape-men at all.
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Weird, weird. Newest internet debate, Laurel or yanny?
by James Mixon ini heard laurel and the wife heard yanny.
maybe someone can post the spoken word..