Jack Ryan

@ 51:05 in the video above.....

It's highlighed that at 9/11 14 JW's had died. That's a horrible, horrible tragedy. It really is. But why differentiate? Imagine someone saying "14 white people had died" or "14 left handed people had died"... what would you think?

It really annoys me when Watchtower does this. It sets up a "us and them" mentality. That the only people that really matter are the JW lives.

And with the BILLIONS in JP Morgan bank they could have at least brought blankets and water etc rather than just showing up with a Bible in hand offer "soothing and calming" words.

Actions speak louder than words.

Governments who support “religious freedom” over the equal human rights and dignity of others condone, and even endorse discrimination.

Tim Rymel, M.Ed., Contributor Author | Educator | Dad

In April, Russia’s Supreme Court labeled Jehovah’s Witnesses an extremist religious group. “It effectively means that holding their beliefs and manifesting them is tantamount to a criminal act in Russia. They risk new levels of persecution by the Russian authorities,” said international legal counsel, Lorcan Price.

In America, most of us think of Jehovah’s Witnesses as that occasional Saturday nuisance. They interrupt our morning breakfast or afternoon chores to tell us their version of the Christian faith. They cheerfully drag their families along for quiet strolls through the neighborhoods, and pass out Watchtower Magazines for us to throw away later.

Annoying? Yes. Disruptive? Usually. But extremist? That depends.

Growing up in the Pentecostal faith, I was taught that Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and Catholics were not Christians. Anyone who converted to those, or other non-mainstream Christian sects, was deceived by the devil. Though we didn’t use the word “extremist” to define those religions, we certainly saw them as a threat to the true people of God who were susceptible to “false teachings.”

Religion, to paraphrase Merriam-Webster, is generally a belief in the supernatural with a commitment to keep up the attitudes and practices surrounding that belief. In other words, religion is more than just a belief it is an action. For some, that means attending church on Sundays. For others, it means killing people for believing the wrong things, or believing in the wrong way.

The BBC noted that Al Qaeda’s purpose is to avenge “wrongs committed by Christians against Muslims.” The organization wants to implement a “single Islamic political leadership,” and drive away non-Muslims from areas it deems belong to the nation of Islam.

ISIS, on the other hand, is a group of Scriptural fundamentalists who believe all other Muslims are apostates. William McCants, director of the Project on US Relations With the Islamic World at the Brookings Institution, says that ISIS wants “to restore the early Islamic empire called the caliphate and eventually take over the whole world.”

Most of us can agree that Al Qaeda and ISIS are extremist groups. After all, they plan and implement terrorist attacks. They kill people, sometimes brutally. But is violence the only indicator of religious extremism?

It could certainly be argued that when a religion becomes violent it becomes extremist. But even Christianity, in it’s many definitions, has a sorted history, which is seldom talked about and often dismissed. From the Spanish inquisition to the convert-or-die tactics used on Native American Indians, Christianity has been used to commit horrific acts of violence throughout the centuries. Judaism, from which Christianity arose, recorded shocking details in the Torah of the slaughter of entire populations, including women, children, and animals.

Any religion, which purports to, alone, have all truth, and to, alone, have a direct line of communication to God, has a propensity toward extremist ideology. As University of Notre Dame Professor, Gary Gutting, points out:

Quote

The potential for intolerance lies in the logic of religions like Christianity and Islam that say their teaching derive from a divine revelation. For them, the truth that God has revealed is the most important truth there is; therefore, denying or doubting this truth is extremely dangerous, both for nonbelievers, who lack this essential truth, and for believers, who may well be misled by the denials and doubts of nonbelievers.

Any religion that denies the value and humanity of others is an extremist religion. Whether those actions lead to direct harm, or simply reduce protections through legislation, extremist ideology seeks to create one class that is believed to be more valued than another.

The grandstanding that fundamentalist Christians have done since marriage equality passed in 2015 has created a growing, and disturbing trend toward extremist Christianity.

The Oath Keepers, a vigilante Christian group, vowed to protect Kentucky County Clerk, Kim Davis, when she refused issuing a marriage license to a gay couple. They stated the judge in Davis’ case “needs to be put on notice that his behavior is not going to be accepted and we’ll be there to stop it and intercede ourselves if we have to.” And then, in an ironic twist to the story, the infamous Westboro Baptist Church, of “God hates fags” fame, picketed Kim Davis because of her multiple divorces and remarriages.

Since then, dozens of “religious freedom” bills have been introduced across the country with the sole purpose of reducing or eliminating protections for the LGBT community in housing, employment, benefits, and even where they can go to the bathroom.

The problem, of course, is that “religious freedom” is based on nothing more than a belief. Governments who support “religious freedom” over the equal human rights and dignity of others condone, and even endorse discrimination. In any such environment religious extremism is the outcome, threatening the very existence of democracy.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/when-is-a-religion-extremist_us_590de8e3e4b046ea176aeb98

Signs like this regarding Jehovah's WItnesses and child abuse are starting to appear:

Opulent and luxurious.

Wasn't this recently sold? Or am I mistaken?

To be fair though this is nothing (a drop in the bucket) compared to our Billions in cash investments in JP Morgan Chase.

http://www.jw-archive.org/post/129054917283/watchtower-bible-and-tract-society-of-pennsylvania

God is blessing Jehovah's Witnesses with extravagant riches.

Should we respect religious beliefs of others?

@AveragePub The person who said "What is Truth?" was on the wrong moral side of the story. 

Never admit that you have stopped searching for Truth. Being "content with present truth" implies you have blind faith just as the cow worshipers in India have in the Bovine species.

What if Martin Luther had thought the same about the Catholic church?  None of Protestantism and subsequent Adventism and subsequent Jehovah's Witnesses would have ever happened or been allowed.

You must speak out for what you perceive to be wrong or else you are a part of the problem (sin).

Please excuse me while I head to Wendy's for my double cheeseburger with no side of guilt.  Isn't "Truth" great?

@Nicola... Lev 5:1  And if a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it; if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity.

@James Thomas Rook Jr. is speaking from decades of experience of being one of Jehovah's Witnesses as am I. Before most of the current JW's were ever around. From the days when there were maybe 2 million of us total worldwide.

TRUE JEHOVAH"S WITNESSES did not dedicate themselves to a Governing Body. They dedicated thier lives to Jehovah and Jesus.

As an example of speaking out...

One of the foremost Jehovah's Witnesses in history spoke out against the formation of a Governing Body in the first place.

Keep searching for truth and follow it. Jehovah is guiding his true servants still.  There just aren't as many of them as some would have you believe and they aren't in "the prominent places in the synagogue" or televangelists either.

You won't find the "truth" on a television screen with a studio. True Jehovah's WItnesses preached this for decades.

True Jehovah's Witnesses also don't leave the debate, study and preaching to an elite few in a studio from New York while the rest of the world bows to their whims or "flavor of the month" new light teachings.

Remember how many of Jehovah's people were part of Israel and yet the entire nation strayed from truth more than once.

Disfellowshipping is a barbaric practice done by unloving Christians who haven't let go of Jewish traditions in favor of the teachings of Jesus Christ.

You can learn more about that history here:

http://wiki.jw-archive.org/Jehovah's+Witnesses+and+congregational+discipline

Speaking Truth has always been "hate speech" in history.

#16. "You know, stop lights don't come any redder than the one you just went through."

#15. "Relax, the handcuffs are tight because they're new, they'll stretch after you wear them a while."

#14. "If you take your hands off the car, I'll make your birth certificate a worthless document."

#13. "If you run, you'll only go to jail tired."

#12. "Can you run faster than 1200 feet per second? Because that's the speed of the bullet that'll be chasing you."

#11. "You don't know how fast you were going? I guess that means I can write anything
I want to on the ticket, huh?"

#10. "Yes, sir, you can talk to the shift supervisor, but I don't think it will help.
Oh, did I mention that I'm the shift supervisor?"

#9. "Warning! You want a warning? O.K., I'm warning you not to do that again or I'll give you another ticket."

#8. "The answer to this last question will determine weather you are drunk or not.
Was Mickey Mouse a cat or a dog?"

#7. "Fair? You want me to be fair? Listen, fair is a place where you go to ride on rides, eat cotton candy and corn dogs, and step in monkey poop."

#6. "Yeah, we have a quota. Two more tickets and my wife gets a toaster oven."

#5. "In God we trust, all others we run through NCIC."

#4. "How big were those 'Just two beers' you say you had?"

#3. "No sir, we don't have quotas anymore. We used to, but now we're allowed to write as many tickets as we can."

#2. "I'm glad to hear that Chief (of Police) Hawker is a personal friend of yours. So you know someone who can post your bail."

AND THE WINNER IS...

#1. "You didn't think we give pretty women tickets? You're right, we don't. Sign here."

Jesus is "the leader", while the Governing Body are merely "those taking the lead".. what, exactly, is the difference between a "leader" vs. "one who is taking the lead"?.

"Why is it necessary, when someone feels that they can no longer abide the organisation and has to disassociate - why is it necessary to shun them? Why can't they keep having social contact
with those people who happen to remain in the organisation?"

- Australian Royal Commission to Jehovah's Witnesses 

Emmanuel Thomas l Saturday, April 29, 2017

WASHINGTON, United States – President Donald Trump and Vice President, Mike Pence made a surprise appearance at a kingdom hall of Jehovah’s witnesses in Washington on Thursday, during the Christian Life and Ministry programme.

The President, Vice President and the the first families paid the visit days after Russia, through its Supreme Court slammed a ban on activities of Jehovah’s witnesses and liquidated it throughout the federation.

Trump stayed for the meeting shook hands with members of the congregation after the meeting. According to ans.cnewsgo.com, a US-based outfit, the president picked Watchtower and Awake magazines on the open counter and left with the magazines.

He did not give any speech but he is seen to be on a fact finding mission. His presence was acknowledged by an announcement. His presence expectedly lead to a surge in attendance on Thursday evening during the Life and Ministry Programme.

http://starconnectmedia.com/russias-ban-trump-pence-attend-meeting-of-jehovahs-witness-in-us/

Talk about a "Captive Audience" 

There should now be a start of a new "Special Nursing Home Witnessing Program" worldwide to convert the aged and get Watchtower / jw.org listed as beneficiaries into their wills so we can fund our ministry publishing and now Television Evangelism network.

I applaud their "out of the box" thinking.....

WASHINGTON DC – President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and their wives attended Thursday evening meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Washington D.C.

The surprise appearance of the first families of the US drove many others to the Kingdom Hall of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Though their visit was unannounced, ushers, preferably called ‘attendants’ by the religious organization received the Trump, Pence and wives and offered them front row seats.

Trump was seen shaking hands with almost the entire congregation after the service and also picked copies of the groups publications ‘Watchtower’ and ‘Awake!’.

White House spokesperson told the media present that “the surprise visit to the meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses is to console all its members across the globe over Russia’s ban on its activities”.

The presence of the dignitaries were acknowledged during the announcements segment of the service but Trump did not give a speech at the service.

Trump connection to the Jehovah’s Witnesses came to public after his in-law Jared Kushner purchased the religious group’s buildings in Brooklyn.

Russia’s Supreme Court ruled on April 20, 2017 that the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization should be closed down and no longer allowed to operate legally in Russia, Human Rights Watch said today. The ruling, which affects more than 100,000 Jehovah’s Witness worshippers across Russia, is a serious breach of Russia’s obligations to respect and protect religious freedom.

https://www.bamstrend.com/52904.html

I see this brother all over Facebook denouncing apostates. Is he one of the anointed ones?

I see this brother online a lot over the past few years and I'm wondering if he is officially sanctioned by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society?

Here is his website where he uses our official kingdom melodies etc as background music?

http://www.fiskilis.gr

Just curious.