Life is riddled with a procession of minor impediments

[The Legendary Shark]

About six and a quarter inches.

[I, Cosh]

Or if you're homosexual in Northern Ireland...

It's not that long since that was the case on the mainland too.

[ZenArcade]

Mainland? Mr Justice Treacy labeled his (Poots) stance on a ban as 'infected' following on from an earlier ruling indicating a ban is irrational. Z

[The Legendary Shark]

I have a friend who is a Jehovah's Witness. He would rather die than accept a blood transfusion due to a passage in the Bible that says something like "thou shalt not partake of blood."
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"Blood is life!" he once said to me, berating me for giving blood.
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"Ah yes," I said, "but doesn't the Bible also teach that there is no greater love than a man should lay down his life for his brother? And in giving blood, am I not laying down at least a portion of my life for my brothers and sisters?"
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He harrumphed and said that he'd still rather place his faith in artificial blood.
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"Rather than blood created by God and freely given?" I asked.
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We don't talk about that particular subject any more.

[ZenArcade]

Yeah Shark, I'll bet they're queuing up at your door. Z

[The Legendary Shark]

Nah, we get on fine. As religions go, the Witnesses are pretty inoffensive. They don't blow themselves up in crowded market squares or level whole villages with bombs in the name of Jehovah. If they don't want to accept blood transfusions that's up to them. The only problem I have is when they drag their kids into it, which is a pretty big problem admittedly but not as big as many of the problems that come bundled with other belief systems.

[Tiplodocus]

I couldn't donate for ages because I had stayed in a malaria area for "six months or more" and they didn't have a decent malaria test. One day I finally added it up and it was actually  5 months and 3 weeks. So now I can donate.

Well done Matt on 52 pints. That's very nearly an armful.

[Dandontdare]

I've been meaning to read Locke & Key for a while so I picked up vols 1, 3 and 4 from the library recently and have read the first one. Really like it so decided to search for Vol 2 before reading 3 & 4  as it seems like a very story-driven book. Out of all the libraries in Manchester there are multiple copies of all the other volumes but not a single copy of vol 2. Grrr.

[HdE]

Insomni-surfing teh web tonight, and I feel like commenting on this:

Nah, we get on fine. As religions go, the Witnesses are pretty inoffensive. They don't blow themselves up in crowded market squares or level whole villages with bombs in the name of Jehovah. If they don't want to accept blood transfusions that's up to them. The only problem I have is when they drag their kids into it, which is a pretty big problem admittedly but not as big as many of the problems that come bundled with other belief systems.

Just going to pop into this thread and say:

I'm actually very pleased to see these folks getting some positive press. The town I live in has a pretty large contingent of them, and I even know a few folks who have shown an interest in their faith.

I think it's absolutely correct to say they're an inoffensive bunch. I'd actually say they strike me as a group who practice their beliefs conscientiously, and from experience I know they're very mindful of not upsetting folks.

I also like that when they catch someone in their number doing horrible stuff that certain other religious groups would tolerate, they don't allow it to continue. That's pretty admirable, when you consider some of the stuff that certain branches of orthodox religion have hushed up and covered over.   

[TordelBack]

Hmmm, I have a slightly more negative view of the JWs as an organisation, based on their treatment of a 'dissenting' family who were neighbours of ours, whose kid was my brother's best friend.   Their uncle went on a rant on national telly about their financial practices, and the next day the family was evicted from their JW-owned home. It was pretty depressing.

This however a single anecdote, which I'm sure can be duplicated in most religions at one at one time or another.

(Incidentally, my brother's friend is now a well-known evolution-denier)

[The Legendary Shark]

I can only say that my JW friend has been a rock for me during my recent travails and doesn't take my refusal to join as a mark that I'm in any way inferior or evil. My own cousin, on the other hand, is a Christian and turned her back on me - as did all but one local councillor. Many of these councillors can be seen attending church or chapel, all dressed up and with shiny scrubbed faces, almost every Sunday.
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But I don't expect it's their respective religions making them act as they do. Religion is, to me at least, no more important than the football team one supports or the music one enjoys.

[TordelBack]

I can only say that my JW friend has been a rock for me during my recent travails and doesn't take my refusal to join as a mark that I'm in any way inferior or evil. My own cousin, on the other hand, is a Christian and turned her back on me - as did all but one local councillor. Many of these councillors can be seen attending church or chapel, all dressed up and with shiny scrubbed faces, almost every Sunday.

Says it all, really. I take comfort in the fact that if these particular Christian types somehow have lucked into the right fairytale their returned Jesus is going to kick their arses.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

And on a less serious, more "minor impediment", point:

My car's air con got snow in and it filled up the cabin with exhaust fumes. It's fine per the garage but will be stinky for a week or so.

[The Legendary Shark]

Tie a rotten fish to the exhaust manifold with fuse wire - that'll soon get rid of the horrid exhaust fume stench...

[Hawkmumbler]

If you take the last few posts, and assume JW stands for Jedi Warrior, the connotations become quite hilarious.