James Thomas Rook Jr.

ANNA!

I think I just GOT IT! ... and it only took a full hour!

Did you mean that my absurd parody would have NOT been believed , say during the 1960's ... but that as nutty as things are now ... the parody might be entirely believable as contemporary reality NOW?

If that is the case, you are right ... both me and my correspondent grew up in the Truth in the 60's, and early 70's.

7 minutes ago, Anna said:

I don't believe you! Or was it someone who had been a Witness a very loooong time ago?

Anna, Anna, Anna, Anna .......

Ye of so little faith!

In dealing with humans there is truely INFINITE variety ...   pesky DNA!

Even Einstein did not understand the Internal Revenue Tax System ... or how to comb his hair.

.... that gets the non-sequiter "Cuteness Award".

Every country in the history of the world that has experimented with Socialism has gone the same route as Venezuela ...

Even wealthy oil countries  like Venezuela cannot win against the irresistible force of uneducated stupidity.

No country on Earth considers warfare to be murder.

If I was at war, and had to kill ten thousand parents, I could see the necessity of killing the children also ... as the army I was in would become babysitters instead of soldiers. 

... and babysitters of children who would be trying to kill me and my soldiers, and later in wreck vengeance on my and their children.

If you have to "play that game"   ... those are the rules.

August 6, and August 9, 1945, the United States of America burned to death somewhere around 50,000 civilian children with two atomic bombs, and horribly maimed tens of thousands more.

War is a rough  game to play .....

The only way for a Christian to win ... is NOT PLAY.

Jehovah God had different rules for the Jews.

I think we had an article on this in the past year or so, and I remember how appreciative refugees would be if you gave them a colorful tie.

I would like to hear an entire Assembly on the theme:

"Defending and Establishing the Good News against accusations of extremism and sexual cover ups."

... a non-fantasy version.

It's alway good, when Minions are happy!

Isn't the ALPHABET sign language?

Or is the translation with a zillion pictures of little tiny hands with motion symbols    ((((((( wag ))))))))) ?

I often wonder, if one family of the 5 million Jews that left Egypt, and got stuck in the sands of the Sinai Peninsula for 40 years, had decided to head North, instead of wandering around in circles for 40 years ... if they would have been better off ... or worse off.

From the Biblical accounts, the Jews were generally a bunch of nasty, cruel, hard-headed people.

10 minutes ago, TrueTomHarley said:

He didn’t stray. He busted down the fence and bolted.

If you were a  real sheep, that's a VERY good idea.

When you get invited to dinner ... YOU are on the menu.

With THE WAY that we are doing disfellowshipping today ... we ARE ... eating our own.

(Baaaaaa!)

36 minutes ago, Srecko Sostar said:

¹³  And if he finds it, I certainly tell you, he rejoices more over it than over the 99 that have not strayed. ¹⁴  Likewise, it is not a desirable thing to my* Father who is in heaven for even one of these little ones to perish.

We don't actually kill them.

We just make those treated with cruelty, in some cases, commit suicide.

..... plausible deniability.

She did exactly that in the movie "Blues Brothers"

There are good detectives ... and there are bad detectives.

Bad detectives do not detect much.

8 hours ago, Space Merchant said:

EDIT:

I notice we went from squares to circles in our avatars. Didn't see the page change, or notice it, til now. But hey, circle is the future, squares is soooooo last year.

I grew up with all my relatives in Littleton, North Carolina ... a town so small, the town square .... was a person.

It has been less than an hour since I posted the above parody ... but someone from another State called me to ask "Is this FOR REAL?"

Of course it is not .... it's a PARODY .... but the very sad thing is, that things have gotten so goofy, among the Witness culture ... that a highly intelligent person is stunned ... and had to ask that question.

I mean ... after you go through the "Overlapping Generations" explanation ... ANYTHING is possible.

You are confusing apples, with kangaroos.

Dateline: Saturday,  September 1, 2018

WARWICK NY — Special Assembly Representatives of Jehovah’s Witnesses at their new World Headquarters, known as “Bethel”,  reported being surprised at Saturday afternoon’s session when they were directed to the  newly constructed balcony entrance for seating.

“We normally get there early so we can sit as close to the Governing Body as possible,” Assembly Delegate  Stephen Lett, Jr.  told reporters. “We were all like, ‘What’s going on?'”

They did not have to wonder for long.

Governing Body’s Helper Alan Cage, dressed in costume as a  regular person  took the stage under a single spotlight, and after some coy banter, he reportedly announced that it was “Baptism Saturday,” but that this was “not your Mama’s Saturday afternoon  Assembly baptism!”

 At this cue, a giant  four story high spiral water slide, stretching from the balcony down to the on-stage baptismal pool, was unveiled from behind a large curtain, to thunderous applause from assembled delegates.

Children as young as four years old, who had been ushered single file to the new entrance were directed one-by-one into the orange spiral sliding board and, with a push, sent hurtling toward baptismal pool, answering the two baptismal questions as they increased spiral velocity “Yes!” and “Yes!” . Jehovah’s Witnesses Elders  in wet swimsuits and white t-shirts asked the questions as they whizzed by to the pool below.

Anthony Morris III, one of eight Jehovah’s Witness Governing Body members wearing a leopard skin spandex leotard emblazoned with large white  initials TPT,  architect of what has been dubbed by Bethel insiders as “Splashdown  Saturday.”  told reporters “The water slide is fun for the little kiddies, but the whole reason we did this is to get the most number of people baptized in the least amount of time possible.” 

“ … we can’t count some of these baptisms because someone didn’t  say “yes” to the baptismal questions, or because someone’s head wasn’t completely submerged, then what’s the point?”

In the dry-off area next to the baptismal pool, a group of dripping four to seven year old children were being dried off behind a screened area with sacramental pillow cases  from the Bethel Laundry

At publishing time, the  JW.ORG  website reports that the church has broken its own record for the most baptisms in a single Saturday afternoon.

 

 

 

… my apologies to  “The Onion”

 

6 hours ago, Space Merchant said:

They'll be calling you James Thomas "The Tank Engine" Rook because of that, when you show up meaning business.

WOOOooOOOo! ... I can see it now ... a new children's book!

"Tommy Tank And The Electric Roundhouse"!

It will be a "Pop-UP" book.

Grey Reformer:

Apparently you think that things that are WRONG, can be reformed with happy thoughts, and magic pixie dust.

For those that believe in Justice, fairness, and equity,  they come to realize that reform ALWAYS carries personal risk.

SERIOUS personal risk.

If you want to effect reform, you MUST call what is good, good ... and what is bad, bad.

Often the two are mixed together.

That's why we do not cut off a baby's head when they poop in their diaper.

Perhaps I should rephrase that .... reasonable people do not cut off baby's heads when they poop in their diapers.

Ultimately, we will all live or die at the will of Jehovah God and his Christ.

NOT where arbitrary and cruel Big Org protectionist policy hits the fan.

They can ONLY make your life a joy when they are right ... and completely miserable when they are wrong.

"STUFF HAPPENS!" (paraphrased)

s

3 hours ago, JW Insider said:

@TrueTomHarley, It's the end of the service year. If you rush, you might be able to get this experience into the next Yearbook. ?

subtle ... subtle ... on SO MANY levels ....

Let me give you a one sentence synopsis of everything TTH said, above ...

"If you sing to pigs, you just ruin your voice .... and irritate the pigs !"

BW.1988 ????

12 hours ago, Gone Away said:

I thought disfellowshipping was a congregational and spiritual measure taken in the case of an individual who is unrepentant regarding serious sin.

It seems that many problems result from those who make up their own rules and definitions on this matter 

Any time you have ignorant, under-educated human beings that live in a social bubble isolated from real world problems trying to administer Justice with mercy, mercy is the first casualty, and Justice becomes in the course of things, too many times, only due process ....

It's like a Doctor, a Physician, who has no natural talent, but wishes to be of service. He may graduate the lowest in his class at medical school, and understand how to take tests, and interview at least passably,  but be timid and insecure. But he too has bills to pay, and a life to live, dependent on those above him for  favor and income, and position.

These too, serve to the best of their ability ... and bury their mistakes in incompetence and poor judgement.

.... and they may be few ... or legion ... but they will occur, as Justice and mercy properly meted out, in the real world of flesh and blood .... in however many cases there actually are that become victims of human frailty in the skills of judgement .... too often .... only comes directly from God.

Reality is what it is, and all the Snowflake theories in the world will not change what is real.

Education .. currently disparaged in the "Truth" is not only to make your life immensely easier by not every day scrounging on the ragged edge of destitution ... but is to give you enough comprehensive background information to MAKE YOU SMARTER!

If you do not understand all the many tools a human needs to be able to use... you become a hammer .... and EVERYTHING ... EVERYTHING .... looks like a nail.

 This is why disfellowshipping has become the God dishonoring, hypocritical travesty of human cruelty it is today.

...

On 9/1/2018 at 6:08 PM, Jack Ryan said:

The only reason she's 'accepted' by any circling-like-vultures JWs is because she has money.

No surprise there .... but their fame also has ramifications.  How would it look in the media if she was publicly disfellowshipped?

Michael Jackson and Prince, both drug addicts that killed themselves, contributed a GREAT deal of money .... every month ... and it bought them complete immunity from Congregational sanctions.

EVERYTHING that is going on today in Big Org ONLY makes sense when you realize that the Society's Lawyers, and Accountants, and the GB "Helpers"are setting the rules, and running the show.

No other explanation makes any sense at all.