Posted by AF [AF] on November 25, 1999 at 00:27:11 {yaNwUlwC5c1EwaxRomAMdaOt1gg/Zk}:
In Reply to: ************For Friend posted by Friend on November 24, 1999 at 15:05:08:
No, Friend, it is not simply my opinion that things are as I've described. It is my observation of actual behavior by JWs at various levels that is the heart of my description. This observed behavior is perfectly consistent with clearly stated policy in various WTS publications, including the express policy announced in the 4/1/86 Watchtower -- which has never been rescinded in publicly available literature.
You also have entirely mischaracterized my comments, and therefore set up the usual strawman that JWs just love to knock down. My comments are not about people who merely offer the Society "suggestions for change", but about those who explicitly tell the Society or elders that the Society is wrong about something. It is those people who get into trouble, and it is those people who the several Watchtowers I quoted are referring to.
It is an observed fact that JWs who explicitly state that the Society is wrong about something are at high risk of being disfellowshiped for apostasy.
As for your own views on blood, how have you expressed these? Have you tentatively discussed them with a few friends? Or have you boldly told people like Fred Rusk and Gary Smalley, "I think you're wrong about these things and here is the proof"? How about Ted Jaracz? Have you told him personally that you think the Society's position is wrong and that you think it needs to be changed? I suspect you've done none of these things, for the same reason you're deathly afraid of revealing your identity in public on H2O or even in private. You know what these guys would do to you, and you don't want to risk getting DF'd with all the complications for your family that that would bring. Join the group!
I think it's diagnostic of your attitude that you failed to comment on express comments that two GB members made that prove my point.
Your comment about "special pleading" is a copout; you did not deal with the substance of my challenge.
AF