James Thomas Rook Jr.

*koff*

Get  some puppies !

TTH:

It is not a police officers job to decide what YOUR moral right is ... it is each individual person's right AND OBLIGATION to decide what HIS OWN moral code is ...

Duty is something you have to decide for yourself what it is... OR, you can let others decide what it is FOR you, but each has consequences and accountability ... sometimes only to your own conscience and moral code, sometimes to God, and sometimes to others.

I personally think it is despicable for a person who WILL NOT defend himself and his family  to ask a Babylonian stranger to do something he himself WOULD not do for himself,  assuming he is able bodied, or to let his friends die during the average seven minutes it takes for the police to respond.

To me, it's NOT REASONABLE.

And,  it is morally bankrupt.

Some people ... pacifists specifically .., have no moral qualms about having someone else put their life on the line, and possibly lose it, protecting them, when they would NOT defend their own lives.

6 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

Possibly in a Donald Duck - like tirade, you actually do not know what you say, inasmuch as you are blindsided when your words are taken at face value. Possibly you think persons will wilt in the face of them, as they might wilt if you pulled your rod on them.

You use "possibly" twice in that paragraph... again projecting your personal fantasies on others ... specifically me. I rest my case with the evidence you yourself supplied. Thanks!   Your concept of "face value" is seen through a glass darkly.

And don't gimmee that guff that as a Christian, you did not know the line as well as my admittedly Barbarian self .... that is a cop-out.

You knew the reference well enough ... IT'S YOUR REFERENCE! .... and you THOUGHT you knew the line ... that's why you (incorrectly) quoted it.

Will Jehovah resurrect extinct animals?

I would rather not have to contend with a straw eating Tyrannosaurus Rex.

..... they are ESPECIALLY cranky.

I think he means 2034 will be the ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE ... it's all so CLEAR to me now!

5 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

I mean, I can see the headline: "Man Messes With JW's in the Minstry - 'Do Ya Feel Lucky Today, Punk?'"

You even managed to misquote Clint Eastwood's performance as Inspector Callahan.

AT LEAST you are 100% consistent!

Boy, that's SOME website you have there ....

What's with the robot voice?

I was asleep in 15 seconds.

It would be nice that .......  since the Brotherhood has invested millions of hours, and somewhere around Eighty Million Dollars in postage ... the Brotherhood could AT LEAST ......  get some accurate actual translations of court transcripts .

But hey ... that's just me, thinking out loud ....

.

TTH:

AS USUAL ... you have misconstrued everything I was stating, and projected your own fantasies and insecurities upon  others.

With Humans, there is infinite variety ... which covers your entire multi-point commentary.

BUT .... since YOU  have brought it up .....

The only thing I have seen SO FAR  is glossed over summaries.

I want to know WHAT REALLY HAPPENED !

Everyone has a different definition of what "good" is .....

for many. a paraphrased summary is "good enough"

It was for the Thessalonians.

NOT FOR THE BEREANS.

2 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

So, having a gun handy already, some say (not the C.O.) "If need be, I'll plug a villain if the family is threatened. " I've never heard of anyone packing a weapon at the Kingdom Hall.

OF COURSE NOT!

THE PEOPLE THAT DO UNDERSTAND .....  UNDERSTAND  THE PEOPLE THAT DO NOT UNDERSTAND ... 

... and to NOT be a cause for "stumbling", do not advertise, and of course carry concealed so as not to be detected, anywhere.

Inside and outside of the Truth, we have become a nation of Snowflakes, and there is no need to give them unnecessary anxiety and upset them.

That is the whole point of carrying concealed ... so people will NOT be aware of who is "packing" ...  and not cause irrational panic among those  of the sheepish persuasion.

In over 50 years ... NO ONE at the KH has EVER seen my weapon(s), except at my house, and when my kids were at home, the house was always full of their JW friends, and we would all target shoot off of my back deck, and I taught them gun safety ... very important!

They would even take 'selfies" with their cell phones with my weapons. Some look very "James Bond-ish".

 EVERYONE was aware that I packed, we just never talked about it outside my home.

Word got around through back channels, and it was never a problem.

I have been out in Service in very bad neighborhoods, and had Sisters in the group comment almost out of range of my hearing " Nothing is going to happen to us today, .. Bro. Rook is here".  I would keep them in my sight at ALL times, like a hovering helicopter, and be obvious about it.

It's my job. 

An incompetent defense of one's extended family is NO DEFENSE AT ALL.

In OVER a half-century it has never been or created a problem, or even a concern by the Brotherhood in general ... and the Elders were always aware that I  carried weapon(s), either through back channel information, or a letter I gave them when I came to a new Congregation, as I have related here earlier,  several times. 

I know of two other Brothers that "pack", and no one would ever know about it.

It was a different culture back in the time of the Apostles, where almost universally,  men were armed ALL the time, either with knives, or swords, or a long heavy wood staff ... even the Apostles.  

The weapons they had at the Passover and Memorial ( LUKE 22:36) were their own PERSONAL WEAPONS they had with them .... AT THOSE CONGREGATIONAL MEETINGS.

Jesus perhaps did not notice them because they had taken them off to recline at the table to eat, a custom that is considered good manners even today in the West, under the "Cowboy Code".

Here in North Carolina the joke is .... when only Sisters come to the Kingdom Hall on a Sunday ...you know it must be the first week of Deer Season.

I HOPE WE CAN GET A WORD-FOR-WORD TRANSLATION SOMEWHERE AND NOT JUST A GLOSSED OVER "SUMMARY"

Has the Society ever ruled on what happens if a man or woman abandons their spouse forever ... is the one abandoned stuck forever ?

THE QUESTION REMAINS ....

Has the Society ever ruled on what happens if a man or woman abandons their spouse forever ... is the one abandoned stuck forever ?

16 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

You are a regular here, this is your thread, and I usually avoid intruding upon that. Sorry again.

TTH:

I do not mind at all if you "hijack" (snicker...) my thread .... discussion between men should go wherever it leads ... I am not like Pharaoh in the movie "The Ten Commandments" that cares if his images are carved deep into stone.

Please feel free to "BLAST AWAY" at will ... and of course (here comes the GOOD part...) I get to BLAST AWAY back atcha. 

Somewhere in the carnage TRUTH will pop out of the mess.

All figuratively speaking, of course, in the context of civil debate....

My ONLY concern is that you would be misunderstood and that knock on your door would have cars with flashing blue lights in the street.

NEVER joke about weapons and killing in today's Snowflake environment ... they are expelling kids from school because they drew a PICTURE of a gun. ... while in Chicago there have been over 2,000 SHOOTINGS, AND 346 MURDERS this year so far, and the Mayor seems not to have noticed.

Approximately 30% of all humans have no sense of humor whatsoever ... and cannot even RECOGNIZE humor ... and I would suspect that in the Truth that is at least double.

Oh,  by the way ... in Chicago weapons are generally forbidden to "Good Guys', so only the criminals have them.

DUH!

.

1 hour ago, The Librarian said:

Knowing that violence and conflict will eventually reach your doorstep....

Should you PREPARE for such a violent day and actually have a chance at winning the fight? or like a novice warrior fumble as I would with some gun which I barely know how to use?

It seems to me that all real Men will recognize the responsibility they have to their Families .... physical and spiritual, to take care of them.

That includes, food, clothing, shelter, education and many other things... including defending them from harm, and even death.

The only question remains is this ....

CAN YOU ACTUALLY PROVIDE FOR YOUR FAMILIES' DEFENSE, WITHOUT THE NECESSARY TOOLS TO PROVIDE FOR A COMPETENT DEFENSE?

For those in Rio Linda ... the answer is NO.

Standing in harms way with good intentions, and becoming the first victim ... is no defense at all.

THERE ARE SO many MALES ...SO VERY FEW men.

MEN have MANY self evident moral obligations ... otherwise we are just drones with male plumbing.

... an incompetent defense ...is NO DEFENSE AT ALL!

IN ORDER TO BE A THEOCRATIC MAN ... FIRST YOU HAVE TO BE A MAN!

TTH:

This is your THIRD split personality, assuming TTH is the real one.

The reason you do not joke about THESE things is the same reason at the Airport you do not yell across the concourse to your friend "HI JACK!".

At best you may find yourself in the rubber room with the size 400 sleeves that tie in the back.

Worst case scenario ... you may want to look up some local Bail Bondsmen .... just in case.

Uh .... JTR works best in this forum.

Three "Toms" that I know about.

They are indeed wise thoughts .... but the fact remains that no one I have ever met, or even know about, worships any "god of luck", and I cannot even think of the name of such a god.  As to the other scriptures that were quoted, they are valuable and profound ... in the context they were written ... but here, they have been bent and stretched, and taken out of context.

Much like the argument that my dog is going to go to  Heaven, because, doesn't the scripture say "...after I leave, wolves will come in and among the flock"?

(yes, it says that (paraphrased), NO IT DOES NOT APPLY.)

As I previously stated .. EVERYTIME YOU GET IN YOUR CAR TO GO ANYWHERE ... you are gambling your life, health, and fortune. ... and the lives of those riding with you. ( and those on the highway as well ...)

EVERYTHING in life is a gamble ... Oh, and by the way, the Society has perhaps a HALF BILLION dollars in Stock Market Investments and invested trust funds ... and have a whole DEPARTMENT to TRY and manage those ...(oh, what's the word I am lookng for ... oh yeah! ...) GAMBLE.

Test Question 1.) What in life is NOT a gamble?

Test Question 2.) What scripture in the Bible Prohibits taking known risks ?

... all else is drivel, and irrelevancy ...

Be a sport. (hahahahaha...) actually write down the questions, and under them .. WRITE DOWN the REAL answers!

sheesh ....

Somehow I am having flashbacks to Milton Berl and Jack Leonard in pre-hippie times ....

5 hours ago, tromboneck said:

You state: The way I look at it, since I have no control over ANY of it ... I don't care!  You  MUST care!

Tom:

We are talking about two ENTIRELY different things ... please meditate on what I must have been trying to say in that posting, now that you have that hint.

I am so used to having to read a "million words" that really say nothing of value that I try not to do that ... even when it would help.

Job's three Elder friends sat in front of him for THREE DAYS "consoling" him ( If you have a LOT of money, they will do that ...), and when it was all said and done, they had NOTHING to say .... nothing worth recording in the Scriptures.

NOBODY sits in front of someone for three days and does not talk, even if you are dead.

I do not care about things that are unproven, unsubstantiated, and frankly, made up from clear air FANTASIES.

I enjoy fantasies, and usually keep them in a mental box with tall high walls so they do not get mixed in with reality .... usually labeled "Science Fiction", or just plain "Fiction", etc.

I have a mental room FULL of tall boxes, appropriately "labeled".

5 hours ago, tromboneck said:

Brother here is our situation: (1 Corinthians 13:12, 13) 1 " For now we see in hazy outline by means of a metal mirror, but then it will be face-to-face. At present I know partially, but then I will know accurately, just as I am accurately known. 13 Now, however, these three remain: faith, hope, love; but the greatest of these is love."

I agree with that 100% ... and that is what keeps me going ... but a metal mirror that is heavily scratched up reflects light,  but does not reflect any image, at all .. the light is scattered by the sides of the scratches in all directions.

BECAUSE I know that "At present I know partially, but then I will know accurately, just as I am accurately known. 13 Now, however, these three remain: faith, hope, love; but the greatest of these is love.".

I have concluded that obsession with made up drivel (scratches, and even gouges...) is a waste of the pitifully few hours and minutes of my life that are left ...

... and I agree with the Apostle Paule when he said that love ... is greater than faith and hope. 

About those UNSUBSTANTIATED  things ... I Don't care.

It's called "Living with REALITY!"

Tom Rook

JTR

TTH:

May the Farce be with you !

Well ... without HARD FACTS I am not one to take anyone's advice about invisible things that 5 out of 5 Elders I asked were unable to explain to me ... one being an EXTREMELY brilliant Elder that knows intricate detail about every Star Trek Episode ... and things that make no sense to me whatsoever because of their COMPLETELY arbitrary basis, ( that means completely made-up ... for those in Rio Linda) ... and I will allow that all this "gobbledygook", may in fact be true .... but I just DON'T SEE IT.

However, If I was to take someones' advice on these specific matters, It would be, not from someone who was ALWAYS WRONG about EVERYTHING not specifically stated in the Bible, but someone who was ALWAYS RIGHT about things they published.

You may find it interesting that Sir Isaac Newton was such a man ... and that his Core Beliefs are EXACTLY like the Jehovah's Witnesses Core Beliefs, and although he never published it, it was his opinion that Armageddon would occur PERHAPS in the year 2060, but possibly as early as 2032.  He hand wrote over a million words on Theological subjects, and his writings are in the Hebrew National Museum, in Jerusalem, if memory serves.

So .... should we believe someone who is ALWAYS wrong .. or someone who is ALWAYS right?

The way I look at it, since I have no control over ANY of it ... I don't care! 

I am going to try and live what is left of my life, as best I can know how, and let the rest slide.

May the Farce be with you!

The parents do that SPECIFICALLY so that "Santa Clause" gets the credit for the presents, and because of cultural peer pressure,  not the rightful originators.

In like manner the Governing Body gets credit for the "presents" ... and not the Brother or Sister that called something to your attention "early".

Remember the basic rule ...... EVERYTHING not specifically permitted ... is forbidden.

If you remember this, you will be approved for disparaging the "little brother", and learn more to love "Big Brother".

Winston Smith had to learn that the hard way ... in "Room 101".

1 hour ago, David Normand said:

At any rate, all accusations of wrongdoing should be based firmly on scripture and not convoluted reasoning. 

Cheers,

 

AMEN to THAT!

Test Question 1.) What in life is NOT a gamble?

Test Question 2.) What scripture in the Bible Prohibits taking known risks ?

... all else is drivel, and irrelevancy ...

Be a sport. (hahahahaha...) actually write down the questions, and under them .. WRITE DOWN the REAL answers!