Dmitar

Be more concerned with reading the bible because this cleanses the entire soul. 

Correct, why then fall under the same snare of a town crier?
Can you explain your position here? Wouldn't any organization in this world, and every man, be individually judged? Was Jesus not judged by man?

If the signs of the coming Kingdom are spiritual signs, which they are, then a Christian should be more concerned with what is happening within their heart and not within the world where Satan has power over.  Luke 17:20,21

My thoughts on Jehovah w/regard to omniscience is that he designed the universe(material and immaterial) in his "head" prior to creating his son and did so in such a manner such that no matter what path free will might take, it would be perfect. Rather than inspecting quality into the creation, he designed it so that like a biological system engaging in apoptosis (cell death of "sinful" senescent cells), evil is removed and can leave no indelible marks.

(bold mine) It explains that God can choose to see what he wants to see. In any case, even humans can predict a certain outcome based on certain behavior, how much more so a God who is a lot smarter than humans.. 
I agree.
My explanation, of course speculative, is that just like the human body breaks down and things stop working as they should (deterioration, cancer etc.) then in a similar manner the original purpose for things like viruses and parasites got screwed up. Not only did Adam and Eve lose perfection but the whole earth was cursed. I have no idea what purpose things like viruses or parasites would have had in the garden of Eden, but sometimes I wonder about other things (not necessarily to do with the Bible) and then when I find the answer I realize "of course!" The answer is out there, we just don't know it yet....

Did I stutter?
 

You, with no understanding at all.
Animals were taken aboard the Ark by twos ... AND BY SEVENS.
During the voyage, some of THE SEVENs were allocated to serve as food for those collected by twos, and by sevens., and even by Noah's Family.
When the Ark landed, there were NO ANIMALS outside the Ark for Noah and his family to eat, so Jehovah gave Noah and his family to eat the surviving subsets of seven unclean animals ON THE ARK.
Mankind had been eating animals since they were thrown outside the garden of Eden ... or do you think Able was a shepherd and hunter because he needed a hobby?
THINK ABOUT IT!!
Why do you think God ordered the UNCLEAN animals collected by sevens, and the CLEAN animals collected ONLY by twos?
BECAUSE Refrigerators had not yet been invented.
When you read the biblical accounts, you are SUPPOSED to use some basic common sense, visualizing what is reasonable and what is a rubber-band stretch .... but as always ... agenda driven thinking ... parroting the screwball ideas one of the Society's Lawyers dreamed up in the 1930's and repeated for 80 years , short circuits rational thinking.
 
 

Which dinosaurs are you interested in ... the elusive Nobodysaurus, known for its stealth using cloth deck shoes ... or the erudite multi-lingual Thesaurus?

I consider a world-wide  2 year lock down an insignificant blip in the history of the world ... but hey ... that is just me. A minor inconvenience of passing note ... no more.
I do not even wear a face diaper when I go out.

REAL News is that which needs no Herald .... none whatsoever .... such as dropping a massive meteorite on the Yucatan Peninsula.
 
 
 
...

The king is a fink!

To paraphrase a common aphorism, Opinions are like bodily orifices .... everyone has at least five.
Your opinion that this does NOT fall under the category as a town crier, is ONLY your completely entitled  but unsubstantiated  personal opinion. 
1.) Even though I do not care, it is my personal opinion (again, for what it is worth ...) that this DOES count as a town crier. I will even rephrase and repeat that.
2.) It is my personal opinion that Arauna's comments does count as a town crier.
Ok, I've called your bluff that that your opinion has any validity, and raised you two ...  TWO opinions of my own.
... Lions, Tigers, and Bears, Oh My!
Of course, even the WTB&TS has acted as a town crier for over a hundred years, even though with all the good they have done, and it has been considerable, the FACTS show they have actually been, most of the time,  crying wolf
 

I do not own any guns, but have been told I have a "mean overbite".
What news should I listen to?

Actually, for me, it's nice to be out of 'Babylon the Great' before the 'end comes'. 

Back on topic. I received my letter (by hand) today, concerning my resignation from the JW Org. 
It confirms that I left the Org of my own free will, Quote 
"Your email of resignation of 28 December 2017"
"John Butler disassociated by resignation, Date of announcement 4 January 2018."
There it is. It's nice to have it in writing. 
 
 

At times indirect events can end up effectings people. For instance, we don't condone brazen conduct by those of the world, but at the same time, we have to be cautious, teach our own to avoid these things, even traps, espically anything that can undermine one's ability to walk in the faith.
Someone gave an example of a lion or a tiger in the fields. Although you have nothing to do with the wild animal, you should still be concern about potential dangers.
@Arauna mentioned the UN for a reason, and some people on here knows, perhaps a bit much, on what is taking place. Remember the Devil seeks to devour people like a Lion, to safeguard oneself, it requires vigilance and awareness.

( ... satire alert, for the clueless ...)
... and besides ... because of World War II the knowledge gained about radiation has saved more lives since then in medical treatments than all the life lost in the war, on all sides.
.... It has been 75 years since August 6, 1945.
( ... that is NOT satire ... for the historically challenged.)
 

It appears that non-agenda driven reading comprehension is NOT one of Dmitar's primary attributes.
After all ... World War II the Holocaust was just a minor inconvenience that irritated some dissatisfied Jews.

Yes, how will you know when the UN is propagating peace and security...more than before...... or how will you know the UN has called out that all religion is now cancelled....... unless you watch out what the UN is doing.  This is how I know about all the UN agreements.  I found out yesterday about another 2005 UN World Health agreement which most nations signed.... I still have to search for more information to be sure...... but this is how I know what is going on and I can warn those who care to know.  Each of us has a different gift or interest. 
How did Paul know about this? Titus 1: "A certain one of them, their own prophet, said: “Creʹtans are always liars, injurious wild beasts, idle gluttons.” he goes on to say this witness us true! and these brothers must be corrected.
15:  "  15 All things are clean to clean people; but to those who are defiled and faithless, nothing is clean, for both their minds and their consciences are defiled."

Can you explain, why worldly matters should be a grave concern to a Christian? Did Jesus and the Apostles advocate against Rome for their treatment of their people? Do, you believe it was Christians that burned Rome by the words of Nero? Can you give me an example where Jesus spoke about politics as a topic?
Isn't your statement as a Jehovah's Witness the very definition of being part of this world. You have just answered your own question.
Once again, don’t compare your personal behavior as a Jehovah’s Witness with my intention here. I’m not the one being pretentious.
I find no benefit in being quarrelsome as you wish me to be.

I have had no bitterness or railing against the wicked - I just see what is going on. When family members die because they obeyed - then I do have some anger but I accept this is totally Satan's world. I have always had an interest in world history and the genocides which took place before. I see what is awaiting us..... but I do not participate in any politics and I have warned unbelievers which I preach to - to not participate in any activity against the government because Jehovah will soon  sort this out.   
I do not like to pretend to be pious or holy for show to my fellow man. However, I do take note of what you are saying.  I am firmly with my feet on the ground....  so far everything I have said has come true... because I have been on this forum much longer than you.   I do not pretend to see in the future but shrewdness (due to my knowledge of history), has indicated to me where we are heading.
Can you explain the lockdowns in Australia and the imprisonment of people who have just been in contact with people for a few seconds who later proved to be positive?  When the German chancellor Ursula van der Leide says that the Nuremburg Code must be abolished - does that tell you anything?  It tells me that the worst government ever on earth is about to take over the planet and that the human suffering will be worse than we imagined.
We really will need Jehovah to step in!  My background is different to yours..... so I do not judge you for not wanting to know what is going on around you.  The work I did early in my life has influenced me to want to look what is going on around me.

Are you accusing me to be part of this world merely because I have an understanding of what is going on in this world?  You do not know anything about me. My strength comes from knowing that Jehovah is going to intervene and this Tower of Babel they are building will tumble down when they call for "peace and security" and turn against all religion.  Their new financial system will crumble. I pray to be alive when this happens because Jehovah will be vindicated!  If not-  I will find out what happened when I get a resurrection.... but before I die I have a pretty good inclination of what to expect.

I do not think you would be on this forum if you yourself strictly practiced this scripture. This is a forum where people give their opinions on everything.  Unfortunately, we live in a totally divided world where a simple use of a word like man or woman can get one into "political" trouble.  Belief in God these days can get one into "political trouble" even if one does not even stipulate what the god is! Similarly, China, vaccines and any other subjects have become totally politicized. When one gives facts, that have been proven - others will say it is propaganda.  Yes - we live in a world hard to deal with.
Good information about many things are now blocked out by the 1% of the world who own everything or have allies in government..... so most of us give opinions on half the information available..... sad really.  Must one block out the world completely and live in a bubble?  That is each person's own decision.  I do not think this works out either.  Paul was fully aware of what went on around him because he  noticed the tribute to the "unknown God" and could adapt to Greeks and Jews alike.
I am thankful you mentioned the scripture because it made me think again.  I have become somewhat impatient with people on the forum who continually (over long periods) talk in such a way that it is close to disloyalty and also against their "own benefit".   I think it saddens me when people do not adapt.  I have had chats with people one here who have argued with me over news which they do not believe to be true but they themselves are so bias that they refuse to read anything that is not coming from their "bias" sources. 
We are heading for a fascist-type one world government (it is a repetition of what happened in Germany). In Germany the people only received GOVERNMENT propaganda and all else was not allowed.  The government captured all media.  Industry (Corporations) and government worked together..... What is happening now?  Anything the government or corporations do not want us to see, is removed.  This is because the corporations have captured the UN  with an agreement between UN and WEF 2 years ago (research it yourself). Most governments (193) are in lockstep with the UN due to Agenda 2030 agreement.  This is why there is such a unity in the propaganda going out (even in the fact-checking firms) from the media which is in lockstep with ALL these financial corporations.
When Germans heard no differing opinions and could only listen to the government ideology, one finds that the majority  eventually could perpetrate atrocities because the government started to disenfranchise certain groups of the community - exactly what we see happening now. It will become worse... first those who do not take the 'sleever', then believers in morality and then believers in god and the list goes on and on..... . 
So when compassion disappears and people follow ideological ideas their vision is blurred - and this can happen to Christians as well.  Most Christians are ready to grab their guns - we know what kind of news they listen to!
As JWs it is hard to keep balance because one can only learn some things from independent media and most of these have strong political bias as well.   One has to distance yourself from their ideas but it is not good to listen as one can be influenced.  I am starting to think - as I know what is going on in the world - I now must distance myself from everything and just watch it play out.
Arguing with people does not accomplish much and onlookers just think we are nuts - we should be gentle towards all.  This is something I will have to work on because in Africa - we say what we think.... so people can understand us clearly......  very different from USA where Ritalin is given to children who are outspoken, too active or even argue with a teacher....  

Many things that are labeled "politics" by the naive and ignorant are merely an above average sense of situational awareness of what is going on around you, and having an opinion about the wisdom or folly of the madness that has replaced common sense.
Whether it is the daily news of national events, or strategic geopolitical awareness, if you are a competent observer, even though you have no influence whatsoever, you will be labeled a "political person".  Unless you shut up and stifle yourself.
When you shut up and stifle yourself you become a dry and humorless person.
Think I am kidding?
Try this on for size:
"What's the difference between the Covid shots, and Kyle Rittenhouse?
Answer: " Kyle's shots were effective!"
Get it?
Of course not.

I never said Russia wasn't totalitarian. But I will say that totalitarianism has often been exaggerated for geopolitical purposes. But I have seen enough Hollywood movies to know that Russia is evil. (Actually, one of my best worldly friends from work came from Russia after '95 and has a sister-in-law who won an Oscar, also Russian for best costume design and now I notice the name in the credits of several historical movies. I worked with this Russian from 1995 to 2012 and we even ate at their house a couple of times. He was a physician and she was a math PhD. We got an excellent historical review of Russian history from a St Petersburg family who lived it personally. It was useful to learn about a range of issues, both good and bad, from someone who mostly hated living there, but understood the politics and the trouble with "intellectuals" who were too reluctant to show support for the party.
Both countries (Russia and China) have problems with human rights for many of their own people. For comparison, the USA  appears to be much, much worse on human rights against persons in other countries, however. The USA pushes for starvation, war, and civil war to keep many countries weak. When the US promotes a coup and leaves the country in chaos (Libya, Nicaragua, Iraq, Afghanistan, Venezuela, etc.) it isn't a failure, it is a success in creating the chaos an weakness intended. When the US promotes economic sanctions against a country it is really for the purpose of creating, not only dissatisfaction, but actual starvation. And where "aid" is offered, it is often only offered with military and imperialist motivations. Almost anything one hears about China's supposed military bases, especially in Africa, turn out to be non-military ports infrastructure beneficial to both countries. When the West does it, it's always asymmetrical. The same is true of the loans for infrastucture from the World Bank and the IMF. Yet all that guilt from the West is projected on China because China also loans money to many countries.
Basically the only remaining countries with a death penalty are the USA, China, and some Middle Eastern and majority-Muslim countries. I believe that China thought it was OK to donate the organs of executed prisoners until just a few decades ago. I don't know if this has completely stopped, but I see that even those "China experts" who still believe it goes on admit that they haven't seen any evidence of it for several decades. Yet, I still see it debated in American academic journals for promoting the practice in the USA. (It's been illegal in the US, to accept even voluntary donations from death-row prisoners since 2013.)
I was only sharing something I was reading about a tech company that wanted to set up facial recognition to solve some crime problems in China. I read that it was abandoned. Not that it won't come back, perhaps on a larger scale. But, so far, I think more global companies and governments are salivating for this in the West.
I understand from sites like this: https://sipri.org/sites/default/files/2021-04/fs_2104_milex_0.pdf that China has nearly 5 times the number of people that the USA has, and yet spends only a third of what the USA spends on military. That means that the US spends about 15 times as much as China, per person. And with a GDP of about 15 trillion, they spend about 252 billion on military. About 1/60th. The US GDP is about 21 trillion, and the US spends about 750 billion on military, or 2/60 -- twice as much. And the amount China spends on surveillance is much, much less than the USA.
China is not imperialist, as the US is, and does not need the control over other countries that the US apparently feels it needs. The US has bombed the following countries since WWII: (according to the site: https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/heres-a-list-of-all-the-countries-the-us-has-bombed-since-world-war-ii-172786/
China 1945-46 Korea 1950-53 China 1950-53 Guatemala 1954 Indonesia 1958 Cuba 1959-60 Guatemala 1960 Belgian Congo 1964 Guatemala 1964 Dominican Republic 1965-66 Peru 1965 Laos 1964-73 Vietnam 1961-73 Cambodia 1969-70 Guatemala 1967-69 Lebanon 1982-84 Grenada 1983-84 Libya 1986 El Salvador 1981-92 Nicaragua 1981-90 Iran 1987-88 Libya 1989 Panama 1989-90 Iraq 1991 Kuwait 1991 Somalia 1992-94 Bosnia 1995 Iran 1998 Sudan 1998 Afghanistan 1998 Yugoslavia – Serbia 1999 Afghanistan 2001 Libya 2011 Iraq and Syria 2014 – Somalia 2011 – Iran 2020 – Compare that to the number of countries that China has bombed or invaded since WWII.
So if you are using military expenditure to identify totalitarian countries, China doesn't compare all that well. And of course, these numbers use a very conservative method of counting military expenditure. There is also the amount of military equipment sold to police departments, the weapons sold to Saudi Arabia to help them bomb Yemen. Undocumented "aid" to dozens of countries to help them build up borders against countries the USA doesn't like. And foreign aid with strings attached to allow the US to build military bases.
Anything is possible. But why do you always sound so sure that things are so much worse there than they are in say, the United States, for example? Are you sure there have not been many more persons silenced in the USA, even though the US population is so much smaller?
Agreed. And I agree with the issues respecting the misuse of philanthropy, etc.
You are wrong there. I think you get that idea because I don't believe in all these end-time scenarios that you often predict are really necessary.
Anything is possible in an unpredictable and chaotic world, but I think it's dangerous to start concerning ourselves with various scenarios that are expected to happen in the next few years. There is no guarantee this system will last that long. It gets back to the old problem of "looking for a sign." I think about why Jesus said that a wicked generation keeps looking for a sign. When Jesus' disciples asked for a sign the first thing Jesus said is not to be misled by wars, reports of wars, earthquakes, pestilences, famines, etc., because those things can take place at any time, and aren't necessarily tied to the "end." The real thing comes as a thief, as if without warning. Not that this applies to you personally, of course, but there is always a danger of other persons becoming complacent when they think the end can't happen yet because a certain expectation hasn't happened yet.