This is the first post I have made on this forum so I guess I should quickly introduce myself. I am a software engineer, avid supporter of the scientific methodology and and see myself as agnostic. Three years ago I met and ended up marrying a lovely woman - we've been very happy together except....
My wife is a Jehovah's witness and she believes:
a) The world is no older than 6000 years.
b) There were once people who lived to the ripe old age of 900.
c) God speaks to the Watch Tower (or more specifically through Jehovah's Witness' "anointed" ones) who in turn "educate" the followers.
d) Blood transfusions are against the word of God, thus if any injury would result in the necessity of a blood transfusion she would *refuse* and die for her beliefs.
The first two I'm not really concerned about, but it's the last two that have me a bit worried. I have been trying and trying to convince her to realise that the people in the watch tower are either devious or simpletons (or a combination of both). Recently she came home from one of her JW "meetings" and stated that they had a new "understanding" on a passage in the bible about how Jesus declared that there would be a time where a generation of people would never die. For those of you unfamiliar with the JW religion it will take a 10 second google search to understand what I'm talking about.
What she fails to realise is that when the JW organisation is offering a new "understanding" what in fact is happening is the JW organisation is offering "excuses" to the logical argument that they were previously talking out of their arse. The fundamental problem here is that the organisation changes their views - so my argument is - if the previous "understanding" was in fact wrong, how do we *know* the new understangin isn't.
Her reply to this (as always) goes straight back to the bible:
Proverbs 4:18 "But the path of the righteous ones is like the bright light that is getting lighter and lighter until the day is firmly established."
So it's here in the logic that I am stuck. To me the above quote lets JW's pretty much change ANYHING they want to "interpret" from the bible.
Secondly I love my wife and if something happens where she requires a blood transfusion, I would blame myself for not being able to enlighten her in the purity of lateral, logical and sane thinking.
Thanks in advance.
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