bruceq

15:24 Their explanation begins to advocate Omelchenko. In response to the Court's request not to repeat the explanation of his colleagues, Omelchenko loudly and clearly declared its intention to focus on the violation of international law.
15:25 Omelchenko observes that there is a violation of the right to a fair trial guaranteed by Article. 6 of the European Convention.
15:29 Omelchenko argues convincingly that the court also admitted violating the ban is politically motivated prosecutions arising from Art. 18 of the Convention, taken in conjunction with Art. Art. 9 and 6 of the Convention. The European Court of Human Rights in its judgment in the case, "Merabishvili against Georgia" indicates the most obvious signs of political repression: when the public authorities clearly resist repeated the applicant's appeals, the public and even some senior government officials about the objective and thorough investigation, it can be argued that the applicable the applicant measures are not a means to a legitimate response to his behavior, but a means of political persecution. That is what is happening to Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.

BY JASON LE MIERE ON 7/13/17 AT 2:54 PM Russians overwhelmingly support a ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses operating in the country, despite half admitting that they know nothing about the case against them, according to a poll on Thursday. Russia’s Supreme Court ruled in April that the Christian denomination violated the country’s anti-extremism law, liquidating all 395 of its local religious chapters. An appeal of the verdict will be heard next week but most Russians, it appears, have already made up their mind. Fifty-one percent of respondents to a survey from Russia’s leading independent polling agency, the Levada Center, said that they “definitely” approved of the banning of Jehovah’s Witnesses activities. A further 28 percent said they were at least somewhat supportive. Meanwhile, just three percent said they were definitely opposed to the decision, which was initially made by Russia’s justice ministry in March. At the same time, of the 1,600 people surveyed between June 23 and June 26, just 13 percent said they knew about the case against the Jehovah’s Witnesses in detail. A further 34 percent they had heard something about it, but 50 percent replied that they didn't know anything.
In a separate question of whether people knew who the Jehovah’s Witnesses were, 20 percent said that they heard nothing about them, with another 10 percent undecided. Forty-nine percent responded by stating that the group was a Christian sect.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are known for their refusal of blood transfusions, something which the justice ministry used as evidence of extremism in the Supreme Court case. The United States-based group, which has operated in Russia since 1991 and has some 175,000 members, has claimed that it was denied the chance to mount any sort of defense and barred from having any dialogue with the authorities about their accusations.
The decision was an attack on religious freedom and it has been widely condemned, including by the United States and the European Union, said the Jehovah’s Witnesses. In its annual report in April, The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) placed Russia in its highest tier of violators of religious freedom for the first time.
“Through a cynical use of an extremely flawed set of anti-extremism laws, Russia has banned for the first time in its history a centrally administered religion,” the chair of the independent bipartisan commission, Thomas Reese, said following the release of the report.
But the ban has been supported by the Russian Orthodox Church, which has become increasingly popular and influential under President Vladimir Putin. Seventy-two percent of the Russian population were identified as belonging to the Orthodox Church in 2008, more than double the percentage from 1991.
http://www.newsweek.com/jehovahs-witnesses-ban-russia-religion-636242

Just like in April I will again try to keep everyone here up to date with a minute by minute translated transcript of the court hearings beginning on Monday. Pray for Jehovah's will to be done and His name to be glorified. Bruce

https://www.jw.org/en/news/#newsAlerts
News Alerts
 
BREAKING NEWS | Russian Supreme Court to Hear Appeal on Monday
 
On Monday, July 17, 2017, a three-judge panel will consider the appeal of the Russian Supreme Court’s April 20 decision against Jehovah’s Witnesses. Further updates about the hearing will be provided using this new breaking news feature. Please pray for our brothers and sisters in Russia. Regardless of the outcome, we are confident that Jehovah has all matters in hand and the nations will know that he is Jehovah.–Ezekiel 38:23.

@bruceq Yes if Jehovah "wills" we shall do this or that! Glad that we have the most powerful force in the whole Universe! May Jehovah's Name be Praised! ???

Dear friends of Jehovah...we all are waiting on him...our whole world wide association of faithful brothers and sisters. Of course we dont need to even know one another on a personal level to just know how united we are! I pray everyday for us all.

Yes all of this is amazing. No matter what happens on Monday another great witness will result. What is truly remarkable is the fact that just this week all around the world we were ALL in our Book Study discussing about the events in Russia. Yet the Slave a year and a half ago when they first decided to go over this book had NO IDEA that THIS MONDAY would be the Supreme Courts appeal. Talk about "food at the PROPER TIME" !!!!!!!!!! Obviously this shows that we are Jehovah's People and he is caring for and teaching us and directing those taking the lead. Mt 24:45.
"The nations shall know that I am Jehovah" Ez 38:23

"GOD SIMPLY HASN'T GIVEN UP YET." FOUR DAYS UNTIL THE BAN OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES IN RUSSIA
Will they change methods of ministry, violate the law, or all emigrate?
Novaya Gazeta, 13 July 2017
 
On 20 April the Russian Supreme Court found the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses to be extremist and prohibited its activity in our country. (An appeal of this decision was filed and it has not taken legal effect.) The Ministry of Justice discovered "violations of the charter goals of the organization and of current legislation in the RF," in particular, violation of the federal law "On combating extremist activity." The religious literature of the Witnesses (brochures, booklets, magazines Watchtower" and "Awake," etc.) have also been found to be extremist and their distribution has been prohibited. The property of the organization and of 396 Kingdom Halls (including the enormous complex of the headquarters of the Russian affiliate, "Administrative Center," in St. Petersburg) by the decision of the court will go to the benefit of the government.
 
On Monday, 17 July, the Supreme Court will consider an appellate complaint of the Jehovah's Witnesses.
 
And on 13 July, the Levada Center published a survey according to which 79% of Russians support the ban on Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.
* * * * *
"For Easter, Mama always colored eggs, but why she did this, she could not explain." Marina is setting the table; she is preparing for the arrival of fellow believers. "I rummaged through a slew of literature, I studied up on the Law of God, but I did not find anything about eggs there. I tried to find a Bible to read. In the early 90s, the father of one of my pupils worked in a publishing house and he gave it to me. I began to read—nothing about eggs, but there were prophecies and a bunch of names and I did not understand anything at all. And then Witnesses knocked at our door. They suggested studying the Bible. My husband and I agreed. And then even Katya became interested."
 
Marina's husband, Katya's father, died several years ago. "I used to be afraid of the dead with a beastly fear. When my grandmother died, I was not able to go to her grave. I was 30 years old but I believed that she would jump out and grab me," Marina describes while her daughter laughs. "Now this is funny. After all the Bible says that the dead are in an unconscious condition and they cannot help nor harm. So that when my husband died there was not such a pain of loss that many talk about. And now there isn't. I have the feeling that he has simply gone off and some day he will return."
 
After the closing of the Kingdom Halls, mass meetings of believers gave way to house gatherings with tea. They converse and discuss the Bible. Many continue to witness on the street. "Once they took us to the Arbat department of internal affairs and the major began saying: 'Go to the Garden Ring; why are you walking in my precinct?' I showed him the verse from the Bible where Jesus says that it is necessary to go and proclaim. The major responded to me with understanding: 'Well, you have a task.' After this we even began communicating with them. Liuda once brought them magazines and they laid them out in the police department. Perhaps they were read, or not, but they leafed through them willingly," Evgeny recalls.
 
By order of the court, the Witnesses must transfer their buildings to the state. The principal Moscow Kingdom Hall is located on Mikhalkov Street. By their own hands the Witnesses transformed it from a palace of culture to a building for services. They laid tiles themselves, painted the walls, upholstered the seating, and hired an electrician.
 
"I was a happy young man, but there was no sense of fulfillment. There was a feeling that everything was somehow incomplete. You feel it especially in the army. After meeting Liudmila, a real life of 'pilgrims' began. We traveled about the country and we witnessed. We even lived in Chechnya—that's where it was really hard."
 
Concerning the upcoming appeal of 17 July, Liudmila and Evgeny speak with hope: "Even if the decision is not changed, there still is the European court. We do not want to leave the country because of the ban. We love Russia. We love the Russian language. We love these people."
 
A photograph of her husband stands next to a computer in the living room. When Witnesses visit Marina it's as if he really is with them as before. "When I began studying the Bible, I read that a wife must submit to her husband. I thought: 'Pshaw!' I was brought up like the center of the universe." Katya adds: "That's Mama completely. Robust to the core!" "I had to break myself very much," Marina admits. "And I now greatly regret one thing—that I came to know the Bible very late. That way the first marriage could have been saved. This one was already the third. I was like—I don't like it, to hell with it. This one also would have gone to hell if it were not for the Witnesses."
 
Over tea and pizza the believers discuss the history of the organization. They recall Eleanor Roosevelt, who acted for the persecuted Witnesses, and they hope that on 17 July the judges will make a different decision. Katya does not believe in defeat: "If everything now happens thus, it means that it is necessary to God, and God has no losses. If it seems to you that he is losing, that means that he simply has not yet given up."
 
"They have lived with me for eleven years now. I in one room and they in the other," Valya explains. She struggles to keep her feet, but she firmly rejects help. "I will make it myself. I am falling apart, but I will make it!"
 
"If it were not for Liuda, I would not be able to keep such cleanliness. She both keeps house and cooks every day. It is good for me with them," Valya comments on her fellow believers with warmth. As a former science worker, she speaks about the Bible as almost a scientific achievement. For her, everything there is logical and consistent. And it is also like a detective novel—truly fascinating reading for every day. After the ban on printed literature, Valentina again mastered the computer.
 
"My girlfriend now lives in New Zealand. She also is a Witness. There they are simply in shock from what has happened," Valya returns to 20 April. "They are supporting and praying and believing that justice will triumph."
 
"They called us extremists and in the minds of the majority of people we are equated with terrorists," Valentina's friend says.
 
"I have faced open aggression on religious grounds," Veronika describes. "A year ago, on 8 March, I was witnessing, going about apartments and inviting everybody to our holiday, the Evening of Memory of the Death of Jesus Christ (the only religious holiday that Witnesses observe—ed.). I was with my partner. While I was talking with a young man on the stairway, a drunk woman came out of the door across the way. She began to curse. I tried to leave then but she began cursing in God's name. I asked her to stop, but she kicked me on the rear, and she pushed me, and I flew down the stairway. She flew after me and grabbed me by the hair. My partner tried to call the police, but she did not make a connection in the entryway. She tried to call to apartments and asked for help, but everybody refused. And then the woman called to a guy: "I caught a sectarian. Come in, I have a gun under the icons in the cupboard."
 
My partner's husband came. He also separated us. Then the police took us to the precinct and there this woman wrote out a statement, that I broke into her apartment and wanted to rob her."
 
Veronika has survived this situation so far. It was then that she, for the first time, began to think about moving to another country. One other factor was the decision of the court in April. "It's scary to live in this country. Here a decent and law-abiding person can be placed in a different light and put in jail. It is one thing to be jailed for a crime; it is another when you are framed. And I have already experienced this myself. That woman then wrote something completely different in her statement."
 
For now, Veronika is only thinking about the possibility of moving. However some Witnesses even with tourist visas are now being refused by receiving countries. One married couple was not able to leave for the U.S.A. In an interview it was learned that they were going to America on the basis of religious convictions. Another was denied a Schengen visa when they tried to exit for a congress of Witnesses in Finland.
 
"Before the wedding, baptized Witnesses may not have intimate relations," Yura explains. "That is, take a walk, go on dates, even kiss, but without physical intimacy."
 
Sasha has her own group "Ameli na meli." They often perform on the summer terasses of popular Moscow cafes. Yura is a journalist. He found Sasha on social networks and he followed her productions for a long time.
 
"I thought that since she is a singer then she obviously does not observe all biblical rules," Sasha's husband jokes. "I was mistaken."
 
The young people learned about the court's 20 April decision from the Internet. "It was the same as if you heard news about a terrible criminal and you would stand and your heart stops when you hear about him—and then there appears on the TV screen your photograph," Sasha says.
 
Sasha and Yury have been together since 2012 and they married in 2014. While living together for two creative people, each with their own cockroaches, in their opinion it helps to study the Bible. In the evenings they read. There are two Bibles on their bookshelf, beside Bradbury and Strugatsky.
 
Evgeny: "In Russia now the image of Witnesses is being demonized. Previously they also dreamed up for us many different names: enemy of the people, sectarian, spy, and now the fashionable word is 'extremist.'"
 
"Witnesses do not bear arms nor participate in wars and rallies. We will struggle by purely legal methods," Evgeny explains, and he adds: "I do not understand why they are banning us. But it seems to me that those who are banning also do not know the answer."
 
"I once read that Jesus said: 'Go and speak about me,' and that upset me so much," Evgeny jokes. "Well I did not want to go up to anybody and converse with anybody. That was hard for me, but now it is a given."  (tr. by PDS, posted 13 July 2017)

"GOD SIMPLY HASN'T GIVEN UP YET." FOUR DAYS UNTIL THE BAN OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES IN RUSSIA
Will they change methods of ministry, violate the law, or all emigrate?
Novaya Gazeta, 13 July 2017
 
On 20 April the Russian Supreme Court found the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses to be extremist and prohibited its activity in our country. (An appeal of this decision was filed and it has not taken legal effect.) The Ministry of Justice discovered "violations of the charter goals of the organization and of current legislation in the RF," in particular, violation of the federal law "On combating extremist activity." The religious literature of the Witnesses (brochures, booklets, magazines Watchtower" and "Awake," etc.) have also been found to be extremist and their distribution has been prohibited. The property of the organization and of 396 Kingdom Halls (including the enormous complex of the headquarters of the Russian affiliate, "Administrative Center," in St. Petersburg) by the decision of the court will go to the benefit of the government.
 
On Monday, 17 July, the Supreme Court will consider an appellate complaint of the Jehovah's Witnesses.
 
And on 13 July, the Levada Center published a survey according to which 79% of Russians support the ban on Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.
* * * * *
"For Easter, Mama always colored eggs, but why she did this, she could not explain." Marina is setting the table; she is preparing for the arrival of fellow believers. "I rummaged through a slew of literature, I studied up on the Law of God, but I did not find anything about eggs there. I tried to find a Bible to read. In the early 90s, the father of one of my pupils worked in a publishing house and he gave it to me. I began to read—nothing about eggs, but there were prophecies and a bunch of names and I did not understand anything at all. And then Witnesses knocked at our door. They suggested studying the Bible. My husband and I agreed. And then even Katya became interested."
 
Marina's husband, Katya's father, died several years ago. "I used to be afraid of the dead with a beastly fear. When my grandmother died, I was not able to go to her grave. I was 30 years old but I believed that she would jump out and grab me," Marina describes while her daughter laughs. "Now this is funny. After all the Bible says that the dead are in an unconscious condition and they cannot help nor harm. So that when my husband died there was not such a pain of loss that many talk about. And now there isn't. I have the feeling that he has simply gone off and some day he will return."
 
After the closing of the Kingdom Halls, mass meetings of believers gave way to house gatherings with tea. They converse and discuss the Bible. Many continue to witness on the street. "Once they took us to the Arbat department of internal affairs and the major began saying: 'Go to the Garden Ring; why are you walking in my precinct?' I showed him the verse from the Bible where Jesus says that it is necessary to go and proclaim. The major responded to me with understanding: 'Well, you have a task.' After this we even began communicating with them. Liuda once brought them magazines and they laid them out in the police department. Perhaps they were read, or not, but they leafed through them willingly," Evgeny recalls.
 
By order of the court, the Witnesses must transfer their buildings to the state. The principal Moscow Kingdom Hall is located on Mikhalkov Street. By their own hands the Witnesses transformed it from a palace of culture to a building for services. They laid tiles themselves, painted the walls, upholstered the seating, and hired an electrician.
 
"I was a happy young man, but there was no sense of fulfillment. There was a feeling that everything was somehow incomplete. You feel it especially in the army. After meeting Liudmila, a real life of 'pilgrims' began. We traveled about the country and we witnessed. We even lived in Chechnya—that's where it was really hard."
 
Concerning the upcoming appeal of 17 July, Liudmila and Evgeny speak with hope: "Even if the decision is not changed, there still is the European court. We do not want to leave the country because of the ban. We love Russia. We love the Russian language. We love these people."
 
A photograph of her husband stands next to a computer in the living room. When Witnesses visit Marina it's as if he really is with them as before. "When I began studying the Bible, I read that a wife must submit to her husband. I thought: 'Pshaw!' I was brought up like the center of the universe." Katya adds: "That's Mama completely. Robust to the core!" "I had to break myself very much," Marina admits. "And I now greatly regret one thing—that I came to know the Bible very late. That way the first marriage could have been saved. This one was already the third. I was like—I don't like it, to hell with it. This one also would have gone to hell if it were not for the Witnesses."
 
Over tea and pizza the believers discuss the history of the organization. They recall Eleanor Roosevelt, who acted for the persecuted Witnesses, and they hope that on 17 July the judges will make a different decision. Katya does not believe in defeat: "If everything now happens thus, it means that it is necessary to God, and God has no losses. If it seems to you that he is losing, that means that he simply has not yet given up."
 
"They have lived with me for eleven years now. I in one room and they in the other," Valya explains. She struggles to keep her feet, but she firmly rejects help. "I will make it myself. I am falling apart, but I will make it!"
 
"If it were not for Liuda, I would not be able to keep such cleanliness. She both keeps house and cooks every day. It is good for me with them," Valya comments on her fellow believers with warmth. As a former science worker, she speaks about the Bible as almost a scientific achievement. For her, everything there is logical and consistent. And it is also like a detective novel—truly fascinating reading for every day. After the ban on printed literature, Valentina again mastered the computer.
 
"My girlfriend now lives in New Zealand. She also is a Witness. There they are simply in shock from what has happened," Valya returns to 20 April. "They are supporting and praying and believing that justice will triumph."
 
"They called us extremists and in the minds of the majority of people we are equated with terrorists," Valentina's friend says.
 
"I have faced open aggression on religious grounds," Veronika describes. "A year ago, on 8 March, I was witnessing, going about apartments and inviting everybody to our holiday, the Evening of Memory of the Death of Jesus Christ (the only religious holiday that Witnesses observe—ed.). I was with my partner. While I was talking with a young man on the stairway, a drunk woman came out of the door across the way. She began to curse. I tried to leave then but she began cursing in God's name. I asked her to stop, but she kicked me on the rear, and she pushed me, and I flew down the stairway. She flew after me and grabbed me by the hair. My partner tried to call the police, but she did not make a connection in the entryway. She tried to call to apartments and asked for help, but everybody refused. And then the woman called to a guy: "I caught a sectarian. Come in, I have a gun under the icons in the cupboard."
 
My partner's husband came. He also separated us. Then the police took us to the precinct and there this woman wrote out a statement, that I broke into her apartment and wanted to rob her."
 
Veronika has survived this situation so far. It was then that she, for the first time, began to think about moving to another country. One other factor was the decision of the court in April. "It's scary to live in this country. Here a decent and law-abiding person can be placed in a different light and put in jail. It is one thing to be jailed for a crime; it is another when you are framed. And I have already experienced this myself. That woman then wrote something completely different in her statement."
 
For now, Veronika is only thinking about the possibility of moving. However some Witnesses even with tourist visas are now being refused by receiving countries. One married couple was not able to leave for the U.S.A. In an interview it was learned that they were going to America on the basis of religious convictions. Another was denied a Schengen visa when they tried to exit for a congress of Witnesses in Finland.
 
"Before the wedding, baptized Witnesses may not have intimate relations," Yura explains. "That is, take a walk, go on dates, even kiss, but without physical intimacy."
 
Sasha has her own group "Ameli na meli." They often perform on the summer terasses of popular Moscow cafes. Yura is a journalist. He found Sasha on social networks and he followed her productions for a long time.
 
"I thought that since she is a singer then she obviously does not observe all biblical rules," Sasha's husband jokes. "I was mistaken."
 
The young people learned about the court's 20 April decision from the Internet. "It was the same as if you heard news about a terrible criminal and you would stand and your heart stops when you hear about him—and then there appears on the TV screen your photograph," Sasha says.
 
Sasha and Yury have been together since 2012 and they married in 2014. While living together for two creative people, each with their own cockroaches, in their opinion it helps to study the Bible. In the evenings they read. There are two Bibles on their bookshelf, beside Bradbury and Strugatsky.
 
Evgeny: "In Russia now the image of Witnesses is being demonized. Previously they also dreamed up for us many different names: enemy of the people, sectarian, spy, and now the fashionable word is 'extremist.'"
 
"Witnesses do not bear arms nor participate in wars and rallies. We will struggle by purely legal methods," Evgeny explains, and he adds: "I do not understand why they are banning us. But it seems to me that those who are banning also do not know the answer."
 
"I once read that Jesus said: 'Go and speak about me,' and that upset me so much," Evgeny jokes. "Well I did not want to go up to anybody and converse with anybody. That was hard for me, but now it is a given."  (tr. by PDS, posted 13 July 2017)

It's a little dated. But it does fit the theme of an updated Revelation book:
http://www.tomsheepandgoats.com/2007/07/will-the-real-a.html

"Beware, my brothers. In the last days there will be false apostates among you."

YEAH! A welcome topic! THIS one plays into my strengths. I hate 'em.
I hate 'em, I hate 'em, I hate 'em, I hate 'em, I hate 'em, I hate 'em. 
Whenever I go past a hospital, I top off of the tank with a transfusion so as to show JWs what I think of them!

Hear hear!
A brilliant performance!

"This concludes this evening's performance of 'The 1914 Overture,' with Maestro Bruce Q conducting the Forum Orchestra and Chorale, with JTR acccompanying on the cymbals. Maestro Q brilliantly led the orchestra through a strident interpretation of 'Hail to the Chief,' before finally rallying all for a stirring rendition of 'We Will Be Loyal With Caveats!' Our thanks to @The Librarianfor keeping the concert hall open past her bedtime. Tune in next week when we will hear a performance of the timeless opera 'The Overlappers.'"

Sounds like a shibboleth. Closet apostates would likely let their yes mean no.
But the answer is an obvious YES.
Elders of all stripes should be qualified to teach. But the elders whom we trust the most to teach are the ones included in the "presiding" teaching positions in each of our local congregations. Therefore, by extension, we should also consider it right and organizationally correct, to include our most qualified elders in the the "presiding" teaching positions of the overall worldwide congregation. The Bible does not speak of a separate body within the congregational body, and we cannot speak of this body of elders as our Head or our Leader. Nevertheless, the group of elders whom we refer to as the Governing Body fills a key presiding position in the congregation. Therefore all the following scriptures should apply without hesitation:
(1 Thessalonians 5:12, 13) 12 Now we request you, brothers, to show respect for those who are working hard among you and presiding over you in the Lord and admonishing you; 13 and to give them extraordinary consideration in love because of their work.. . .
(1 Timothy 5:17) 17 Let the elders who preside in a fine way be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard in speaking and teaching. . .
(Hebrews 13:17) 17 Be obedient to those who are taking the lead among you and be submissive, for they are keeping watch over you as those who will render an account, . . .
(Hebrews 13:7) 7 Remember those who are taking the lead among you, who have spoken the word of God to you, and as you contemplate how their conduct turns out, imitate their faith.
(Romans 12:4-8) 4 For just as we have in one body many members, but the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, although many, are one body in union with Christ, but individually we are members belonging to one another. 6 Since, then, we have gifts that differ according to the undeserved kindness given to us, if it is of prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7 or if it is a ministry, let us be at this ministry; or the one who teaches, let him be at his teaching; 8 or the one who encourages, let him give encouragement; the one who distributes, let him do it liberally; the one who presides, let him do it diligently; the one who shows mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
(1 Corinthians 12:27-29) 27 Now you are Christ’s body, and each of you individually is a member. 28 And God has assigned the respective ones in the congregation: first, apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers; then powerful works; then gifts of healings; helpful services; abilities to direct; different tongues. 29 Not all are apostles, are they? Not all are prophets, are they? Not all are teachers, are they?

Well I wasn't going to go into a detailed explanation right here, because I was hoping for a new thread, but since you've already carried on, all I have to say is; I go along pretty much the same lines as you.  I like to go by not what they say, so much, but by the testimony and overall history and reputation of what has been achieved while these men have been in office as the FDS, (regardless of whether some believe that or not). Although inevitable blunders and embarrassments have been apparent, on the WHOLE, because of evidence, I believe the organization of Jehovah’s witnesses is definitely keeping itself morally and spiritually clean, seems to have Jehovah’s backing, and last but not least  we owe this organization (with the GB at the helm) our thanks, because without them we might still be believing that we will burn in hell, that God has three heads and no name, and that, if we are lucky, we will float off  someplace to play the harp for all eternity, after dying of lung cancer or some complication due to a dubious life style....I am sure I could think of many more but this will suffice for now...actually True Tom has already mentioned most.

Yes, of course I'll go along with that. When I bought my ticket from Holy Bus Lines, it was their photos I saw on the terminal wall. That was never hidden from me.
I also know that they may hit a pothole or three, for the weather is abysmal and the road is uncharted.  Moreover, they do not require me to sit up straight at all times - they allow me to stretch, talk to my neighbor, and use the bathroom.
I'd be surprised if the date goes. It's been around forever and it was reaffirmed at the Regional. The herd is running another way at present, but we all know about running with the herd. Perceptions can change.
Still, if it goes, it goes. It's not why I'm here. Nobody else can explain why God permits suffering. Nobody else can explain what happens to the dead, why we die at all, and what hope for those who have. Nobody else can explain why human governments do nothing but foul the nest, so that I am not stuck with the pathetic hope that the next leader, this time for sure, will fix things. Nobody else preaches the good news of the kingdom, nor unifies those responding. Nobody else would have kept me safe from the new morality.  Perhaps my marriage would not be intact, for few teach the Bible's message of yielding to the other person. The Bible would be an unassembled jigsaw puzzle in my closet were it not for the GB spearheading the work others feel free to criticize but do not offer to do. I owe them loyalty. I will pay it.
If understandings change, you do damage control, hope for the best, and pray for Jehovah's continued goodness.  It has been that way ever since Jesus spoke about 'drinking his blood.' 
You can't change people, Bruce. They'll be what they'll be. To some extent, the more one carries on, the more fuel is added to the fire. The less fuel offered, the quicker it goes out.

Jwinsider - I wish to apologize for labeling you an apostate. Obviously I do not know you personally and after doing some research I noticed that the teachings about Christ becoming King in 33 C.E. actually may not have come "first" from apostate websites as Christendom's websites say the same thing. So its like which came first the chicken or the egg. I do not know therefore it is improper to label you an apostate. 
   However I have a yes or no "poll" question that I like to ask everyone who is reading this: Does the Governing Body have the right or authority to interpret to us any given Bible teaching [Not just 1914 but anything incl. core teachings]. Your question for the topic of this thread on "1914 problematic" is why I wish to inquire as to where everyone stands on this question of interpretation. Please try not to answer beyond a yes or no "at first" as it will delve into off topic areas. {If someone would like to start a thread on it that is fine but we obviously don't need "another" thread for a simple yes or no question. lol}.
Poll Question:
"In your opinion does the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses have the right and authority to interpret to us any given Bible teaching? Yes/No.

Well since I am no longer wanted and this place is infested with apostates as my final act as terminator:
in·fes·ta·tion ˌinfəˈstāSHən/ noun   the presence of an unusually large number of apostates or animals in a place, typically so as to cause damage or disease. "infestation with apostates is widespread"

I have had the same experiences as insider but I do not brag about it.Or look haughty by answering people with pages and pages of junk that most just don't have the time to read anyway.  I agree none of us here are really loyal since we are here. Roving about is fine if it is ones foray but some have flagrantly been disloyal by promoting from apostate websites. I just wanted to point out to this community "that" fact as well as the fact that none of the rest of us are to blame for apostates being here except for the owners of this blog, they are allowing it  if they are even Witnesses.

Court bans a Jehovah's Witnesses work-around to access literature on Internet
COURT RULES INFORMATION ABOUT DISSEMINATION OF EXTREMIST MATERIALS ON INTERNET FORBIDDEN
Website of Northwestern Transport Prosecutor's Office, 29 June 2017
 
On the basis of a petition from the Syktyvkar transport prosecutor, a court enjoined the posting of information on the Internet about dissemination of extremist materials.
 
In the course of monitoring the Internet, the Syktyvkar transport prosecutor's office discovered a website containing information about how to install on a smartphone, tablet, and other personal means of communication a mobile app that enables access to literature that is included on the Federal List of Extremist Materials and is used by members of the religious organization "Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia," which has been ruled in Russia to be extremist and liquidated in accordance with the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
 
The federal law "On information, information technologies and protection of information" prohibits the dissemination of information for which criminal or administrative accountability has been provided.
 
In order to prevent citizens' access to the aforementioned website, the transport prosecutor's office sent the court a petition to find information posted on it to be forbidden for distribution on the territory of the Russian federation.
 
By decision of the court, the petition of the prosecutor's office was granted in full.
 
After the court's decision takes legal effect it will be sent to the Roskomnadzor for inclusion in the Uniform Register of Domain Names and Indexes of Pages of Websites on the Internet and Internet Addresses, which permits one to identify websites in the Internet that contain information that is prohibited in the Russian federation. (tr. by PDS, posted 3 July 2017)

Elderly Jehovah's Witness convicted of illegal evangelism
NEARLY-80-YEAR-OLD GRANDMOTHER FINED FOR TALKING ABOUT HER FAITH IN CHELIABINSK PROVINCE
Jw-ru.blogspot.com, 1 July 2017
 
Imagine an elderly woman who is about 80 years old. Strolling along the street she unwittingly chatted with other ordinary people, as many elderly people of such an honorable age do. As a result of her chatting she talked about various subjects, including topics of a religious nature. And the elderly woman, who has broad life experience and her own personal convictions, talked about this with people who did not mind talking with her and sharing their own opinions.
 
But the prosecutor's office of Cheliabinsk province opened an administrative case against this woman on the basis of part 4 of article 5.26 of the Code of Administrative Violations of Law of the RF (Conducting missionary activity with violation of the requirements of legislation on freedom of conscience and freedom of religious confession and on religious associations).
 
Just imagine, appearing before a judge is a grandmother who is almost 80 years old in whom representatives of law and order saw someone who is just about a hardened criminal. And all of this simply because this elderly woman shared her belief in God and topics she had read in the Bible.
 
But somebody will say, this cannot be. After all, just about every day we hear statements of Orthodox priests and other believers telling about their faith. Yes, that's so. But the point is that this grandmother does not attend the Orthodox church but as a Christian she is a Jehovah's Witness.
 
So it was for this reason that the prosecutor's office of Emanzhelinsk instigated an administrative case against the nearly-80-year-old grandmother, whose faith did not please the personnel of the prosecutor's office. (tr. by PDS, posted 2 July 2017)
 
RETIREE WHO PROCLAIMED JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES TEACHING FINED IN CHELIABINSK PROVINCE
Znak Internet Gazeta, 21 June 2017
 
In Emanzhelinsk a 76-year-old retiree, who spread information about the activity of the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses on the street, was fined 5,000 rubles. The press service of the prosecutor's office of Cheliabinsk province told Znak.com that an administrative case was opened against the woman on the basis of part 4 of article 5.26 of the Code of Administrative Violations of Law of the RF (Conducting missionary activity with violation of the requirements of legislation on freedom of conscience and freedom of religious confession and on religious associations).
 
"The prosecutor's office of Emazhelinsk, in the course of a joint inspection with personnel of the territorial police department, established that a 76-year-old local resident in April 2017, in public places in the city, publicly conducted missionary activity, spreading information about the doctrine of the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses among people who were not participants (members, followers) of said religious association."
 
Meanwhile, on 20 April the Russian Supreme Court found the activity of the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses to be extremist and prohibited its work in Russia. (tr. by PDS, posted 2 July 2017)

Jw insider:
   Chronology is ambiguous for a reason, Jehovah did not yell from the heavens that His Witnesses is the true faith. Otherwise everyone would be a Witness but for the wrong reasons, Jehovah wants people to worship him from the heart not because of the interpretation of some blogger who gets his info from apostate websites. Notice Rev. 6 shows after Jesus is given the crown that the next rider takes peace away from the earth not just a few nations. To me and others that is GLOBAL war - 1914. Notice no chronology needed, just a sign of a global war.{   Dan. 2:44 - "SET UP a kingdom" even tho he is "King of kings" God's Kingdom is set up sometime after Rome disintegrated with its complete fall in the year 1453 C.E.} First global war after that was 1914! REV. 6:4!!!
    But what you are doing is more than just about 1914 since you and others such as JTR on this blog have repeatedly  quoted from apostate books {Ray Franz} as your ideas and his are identical about 1914. You wish to associate with apostates since you have read and promote their teachings by QUOTING from them, that IS apostasy and makes one in fact an APOSTATE. {wt 86 3/15}.
 "and from among you yourselves men will rise and speak twisted things to draw away the disciples after themselves". Acts 20:30.
"Now I urge you, brothers, to keep your eye on those who create divisions and causes for stumbling contrary to the teaching that you have learned, and avoid them.+ 18  For men of that sort are slaves, not of our Lord Christ, but of their own appetites,* and by smooth talk and flattering speech they seduce the hearts of unsuspecting ones".  Rom 16:17,18. Titus 3:10,11.
    You have stated in the past that you still go to the meetings and thus pretend to be a brother yet you find you can reveal your true self by hiding your identity in a forum. You of course would say that you love the truth, the brothers and even have a clean conscience. The Bible says apostates would do the same. {Read entire book of Jude}.  Why even Satan had concern for Jesus and quoted Scripture to him as well. That did not prove his LOYALTY  to Jehovah or those taking the lead. But true loyal Christians would not read apostate books and teachings and you have definitely not hidden the fact that you have read and promoted the teachings of Ray Franz in this very thread! .
   Because of listening to the Devil and not rejecting his lies, the first human pair apostatized. So, then, should we listen to apostates, read their literature, or examine their Web sites on the Internet? If we love God and the truth, we will not do so. We should not allow apostates into our homes {via the Internet} or even greet them, for such actions would make us ‘sharers in their wicked works.’ (2 John 9-11) May we never succumb to the Devil’s wiles by abandoning the Christian “path of truth” to follow false teachers who seek to “introduce ruinous ideologies” and try to ‘exploit us with well-turned phrases.’—2 Peter 2:1-3, Byington. {See also W06 1/15}
 
Therefore you as well as JTR and your followers are not approved to give any kind of interpretation or teaching of any kind at all on any subject because by your actions against Jehovah you have confessed to be promoting apostate teachings  : "They publicly declare that they know God, but they disown him by their works,  because they are detestable and disobedient and NOT APPROVED FOR GOOD WORK OF ANY SORT."  Titus 1:16.
  So "anything" you now post is now considered as false teaching by your own confession of promoting apostate ideas of Ray Franz and others.
  If you believe Jesus did not become King in 1914 then start your own religion, I am sure the 30,000 other apostate "Christian" religions who agree with you will welcome you with open arms as some do here as well. {unless you wish to retract the apostate teachings of Christendom}.
{However as of 2017 JW.ORG is now the number one religious website out of 17,000 other religious websites. Praise Jah for the TRUE religion}!!! ISA 2:2-4!
                                                   
 

Jw insider:
   Chronology is ambiguous for a reason, Jehovah did not yell from the heavens that His Witnesses is the true faith. Otherwise everyone would be a Witness but for the wrong reasons, Jehovah wants people to worship him from the heart not because of the interpretation of some blogger who gets his info from apostate websites. Notice Rev. 6 shows after Jesus is given the crown that the next rider takes peace away from the earth not just a few nations. To me and others that is GLOBAL war - 1914. Notice no chronology needed, just a sign of a global war.{   Dan. 2:44 - "SET UP a kingdom" even tho he is "King of kings" God's Kingdom is set up sometime after Rome disintegrated with its complete fall in the year 1453 C.E.} First global war after that was 1914! REV. 6:4!!!
    But what you are doing is more than just about 1914 since you and others such as JTR on this blog have repeatedly  quoted from apostate books {Ray Franz} as your ideas and his are identical about 1914. You wish to associate with apostates since you have read and promote their teachings by QUOTING from them, that IS apostasy and makes one in fact an APOSTATE. {wt 86 3/15}.
 "and from among you yourselves men will rise and speak twisted things to draw away the disciples after themselves". Acts 20:30.
"Now I urge you, brothers, to keep your eye on those who create divisions and causes for stumbling contrary to the teaching that you have learned, and avoid them.+ 18  For men of that sort are slaves, not of our Lord Christ, but of their own appetites,* and by smooth talk and flattering speech they seduce the hearts of unsuspecting ones".  Rom 16:17,18. Titus 3:10,11.
    You have stated in the past that you still go to the meetings and thus pretend to be a brother yet you find you can reveal your true self by hiding your identity in a forum. You of course would say that you love the truth, the brothers and even have a clean conscience. The Bible says apostates would do the same. {Read entire book of Jude}.  Why even Satan had concern for Jesus and quoted Scripture to him as well. That did not prove his LOYALTY  to Jehovah or those taking the lead. But true loyal Christians would not read apostate books and teachings and you have definitely not hidden the fact that you have read and promoted the teachings of Ray Franz in this very thread! .
   Because of listening to the Devil and not rejecting his lies, the first human pair apostatized. So, then, should we listen to apostates, read their literature, or examine their Web sites on the Internet? If we love God and the truth, we will not do so. We should not allow apostates into our homes {via the Internet} or even greet them, for such actions would make us ‘sharers in their wicked works.’ (2 John 9-11) May we never succumb to the Devil’s wiles by abandoning the Christian “path of truth” to follow false teachers who seek to “introduce ruinous ideologies” and try to ‘exploit us with well-turned phrases.’—2 Peter 2:1-3, Byington. {See also W06 1/15}
 
Therefore you as well as JTR and your followers are not approved to give any kind of interpretation or teaching of any kind at all on any subject because by your actions against Jehovah you have confessed to be promoting apostate teachings  : "They publicly declare that they know God, but they disown him by their works,  because they are detestable and disobedient and NOT APPROVED FOR GOOD WORK OF ANY SORT."  Titus 1:16.
  So "anything" you now post is now considered as false teaching by your own confession of promoting apostate ideas of Ray Franz and others.
  If you believe Jesus did not become King in 1914 then start your own religion, I am sure the 30,000 other apostate "Christian" religions who agree with you will welcome you with open arms as some do here as well. {unless you wish to retract the apostate teachings of Christendom}.
{However as of 2017 JW.ORG is now the number one religious website out of 17,000 other religious websites. Praise Jah for the TRUE religion}!!! ISA 2:2-4!
                                                   
 

Some apostates of Christendom say Jesus became King in 33 C.E. [or sometime in the first century]  Yet in 33 C.E. the Apostles asked Jesus "WHEN" are you restoring the Kingdom. So obviously that teaching of Christendom is wrong as is the Trinity, Hellfire and Immortal Soul. Acts 1:6. And this was "after" he was given all authority. But obviously not Kingdom authority because that came much later in 1914.  
  In 33 C.E., Jesus made it clearly known that the corulers who would assist the King of God’s Kingdom would be taken from the earth and raised to life as spirit creatures in heaven. His disciples, though, did not immediately understand this revelation. (Dan. 7:18; John 14:2-5) In that same year, Jesus indicated by means of illustrations that the Kingdom would not be established until a LONG TIME AFTER he ascended to heaven. (Matt. 25:14, 19; Luke 19:11, 12) The disciples did not comprehend this vital point and later asked the resurrected Jesus: “Are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at THIS TIME?” Jesus, however, chose not to reveal any more details AT THAT time. (Acts 1:6, 7).
“Respecting the PRESENCE of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we request of you not to be quickly shaken from your reason nor to be excited either through an inspired expression or through a verbal MESSAGE {internet blog} or through a letter as though FROM US, to the effect that the day of Jehovah is here. Let no one [including bloggers] seduce you in any manner, because it will not come unless the APOSTASY COMES FIRST and the man of lawlessness gets revealed.”—2 Thessalonians 2:1-3.
{So the "presence" is long after the First Century as the apostasy would be revealed first and of course Jesus' illustrations regarding that Kingdom. And notice the apostasy is related to the presence of Jesus as they [the apostates] would say he came at THAT time and not a later time} 
{"FROM US" at 2 Thess. 2:1-3 - obviously INTERPRETATIVE AUTHORITY came from JEHOVAH'S ORGANIZATION not from individual bloggers who think they have insider interpretative authority.}