James Thomas Rook Jr.

6 hours ago, Anna said:

11 hours ago, JOHN BUTLER said:

Perhaps James is a spy. 

Yes, his last name is Bond

This is why I prefer to be called just "Rook", (no first or middle name), or JTR ... to keep from being identified with the Apostle James, which would be a stretch of multi-dimensional proportions .... or with Sean Connery , the only REAL James Bond ...... I mean .... besides the Ornithologist ( Bird Watcher, for those in Rio Linda ...) named James Bond, from whom Ian Fleming  the author and creator of the James Bond Character took the name., who wrote several  books on birds that impressed Ian Fleming, also a bird watcher ... ....

Why do you think I got 18 chickens?

They are birds, and a lot cheaper than parrots.

                    Left to right .... 006, 007, 009

4 hours ago, JOHN BUTLER said:

James would you be kind enough to give me 10 good reasons why you are still one of them ? 

I have given my reasons before on this forum at great length ....

In one sentence ... it is the ONLY "game in town" ... and I do not have unrealistic expectations about what humans are capable of doing as regards righteousness.

I am a retired Engineer, and I recognize when machines are operated beyond their design capacity.

This is also true of ALL people.

There are NO exceptions.

Reality is what it is .... not what we WISH it was.

Men are not ants.

REAL men do not like being stepped on.

Of course ... it's not all about ME.

There are two parts to a Corporate Baptism:

1.) Dedication and public declaration of agreement of being adopted by Jehovah God, and Christ Jesus,  and

2.) An oath of fealty and subservience to the Corporation's ( The "Organization" ) policies and procedures.

I suspect the Watchtower Lawyers, which now dictate the nuances of our "Corporate Theology", will have to work a LOT of overtime, when this issue hits the courtroom, as respects to Corporate baptized  minors, below the age of 18, when challenged on that point alone.

UNless legally emancipated, they do NOT have the right to make contracts, except for food, clothing, shelter, and suchlike absolute essentials .... and CERTAINLY (to be tested in court ...) not contested fealty to a Corporation, the contract being entered into before the age of majority.

I do NOT agree with JW.ORG, becoming JW.BORG .... but the Watchtower Lawyers and accountants are now running the show, and there is NOTHING... NOTHING, anybody on Earth can do about it.

The Governing Body CANNOT be fired by anyone on Earth.

...and they know it!

2 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

That being the case, why would he even show up afterwards at any meeting directed by his spiritual enemies, so that they could “take you and he to the back room” or however you phrased it? If their baptism is no good, why assume that their meetings are?  It makes no sense.

It makes no sense to you because you have missed the point tht Baptism to God and Christ is what is in the person's heart ....the fact that Witnesses are DELIBERATELY kept ignorant OF THE  CORPORATE LOYALTY OATH, that they are ALSO swearing fealty to a Corporation excuses their ignorance, completely.  Not every soldier is a John Rambo.

The Corporate Fealty Oath  is deliberately obscured and hidden until the very last moment for a specific reason.

That part of the ceremony is a deliberate legal trap.

The Governing Body and the Watchtower lawyers know EXACTLY what they are doing, and exactly what the words mean .... in a court of law .... where someone  is suing them for malfeasance or other crimes against the dignity of the individual.

With those weasel words, expertly disguised or completely hidden, and DELIBERATELY not taught ... to the baptismal candidate ... they can legitimately say to a judge or jury ... and have it hold up in a court of law ... that the baptized Witnesses agreed to be subordinate and mistreated by the Corporation.

I just did the math .... 22 TRILLION dollars is a row of One Hundred Dollar Bills, laid end to end, that will stretch 1,736,000 MILES LONG.

That is SEVEN TIMES the distance from the Earth to the Moon.

A row of One Hundred Dollar Bills that is SEVEN TIMES longer than  the distance from the Earth to the Moon.

I am glad that in America, we have more noble people.

One political party is grossly incompetent, but has good intentions.

The other is bat crap crazy, but very competent at evil.

That's why we all need a sense of humor!

Reminds me of two bumper stickers I saw many years ago ....

"GAY NAZI WHALES FOR CHRIST!", and

"SHAVE THE WHALES!"

.... Psychological Beatings and heavy unnecessary burdens of every description will continue, until morale improves ...

...

Perhaps TTH, the person dedicating his life to Jehovah wanted to do it NOW .... just as the Ethiopian Eunuch did..

Apparently the Eunuch was smart enough to text and drive at the same time, and not run into a camel, and was aware enough to see a lake or pond nearby, while driving a chariot, listening to the "radio", and reading.

Perhaps there are some people that do not agree with the philosophy that JW.ORG  should be JW.BORG, where resistance is futile, and everyone WILL be assimilated, and be exactly the same.

If you think that the GB, Branch Office personnel and Circuit Overseers do not think of themselves as "Clergy", try baptizing your Bible Study one afternoon at a local public pool, without congregation oversight.

The Baptism may be acceptable to God, and Christ .... but you will "catch hell" in the little back room, and may be disfellowshipped, yourself, for not including the fealty oath to the Organization., as represented by the Governing Body., and the Elders declare the baptism invalid.

Or do you think the Ethiopian Eunuch answered all 100 questions, and pledged his allegiance to the Organization in Jerusalem, before he was baptized?

... that is why God designed a gas pressure relief valve for human beings ... so they can "vent".

Amazing actually, as it is at the bottom of a body filled with fluids, yet  has the capability to release only gasses!

"    ..... a mine, is a terrible thing to waste ....".

I understand that AOC (Absent Occasional Cortex)  has recommended that those who think on the right side of their brains, and/or the left sides of their brains, follow HER example, and think with the brain stem.

The Japanese are NOT known for any sense of humor, whatsoever ... so perhaps she was just being defensive.

The difficulty of finding your one, true soulmate ... is why God created Puppies.

11 hours ago, Anna said:

If elders became mandatory reporters, how would that affect anything? It would just mean that every future case, or suspicion of child abuse or accusation would be reported to the police. How would that be losing a tight grip on the elders?

Because every thought and motivation would not then be dictated by "Central Command"

The Elders would be using their NATURAL human conscience, instead of following the "outline" ... the script.

One way to consolidate your authority is the exercise of arbitrary and capricious POWER.

---------------------------------------

Hitler was OBVIOUSLY insane to all sane people ... but his arbitrary , capricious, and irrational exercise of power short-circuited the reasoning abilities of his minions.

It also short-circuited their natural consciences, and their natural abhorrence to tyranny.

The ONLY way to rationalize the irrational .... was absolute obedience.

John Butler:

This is what happens when you pervert Justice,  by even having the ABILITY to destroy whole families, when someone does not "tow the line" of Company Policy, by those who invoke the authority of Jehovah God to excuse their methods.

If we disciplined a baby .... by cutting off it's head, and exiling the parents and relatives, and cutting out their tongues .... human civilization would cease.

In the times of the Crusaders, they actually DID cut out peoples' tongues, to keep them from speaking , but just as in the case of our shunning policy and practices ... the  REAL reason is to generate  FEAR AND OBEDIENCE to the exercise of man-made authority ... to consolidate power, and not have the income stream disrupted.

This is nothing new ... it is a story as old as human existence.

What is new, is that the brutality is wrapped in silken words, loving tones,  soft voices, , and the claws are concealed by a silk and velvet glove.

... and millions and millions of hypnotic, well chosen words, continually repeated.

Every real problem we have in the Truth, is DIRECTLY because of the policies of HOW disfellowshipping is done.

Disfellowshipping is a necessary surgery to cut out cancer that will spread.

Mutilating the spectators and family  is evil.

From that fountain flows compounded injustice, fear,  bitter cold, and unnecessary heavy, heavy load of EVERY sort.

It is a cascading avalanche  that turns good men of conscience into cowardly minions of EXPERTLY and COMPETENTLY disguised evil.

There is a word for this ......

NORMAL.

Witness:

I am deeply ashamed for the reputation of Jehovah, and the Brotherhood that the Governing Body has Lawyers that will spare no effort, time, and money to PERVERT Justice.

I wish you were lying or agenda driven, but I know from independent research everything you said here is true .... and that there is more, besides that.

Thanks for the vigilance.

IT'S AMAZING WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH MUTATED CAULIFLOWER !

Years ago, I was at a Drop Zone in Tallequah, Oklahoma, in an airplane hanger with many long tables, where the skydivers would lay out their parachutes to repack them after a jump, and there on the wall, above the packing tables ... was a six foot tall poster of Superman, in flight ... right hand on his chest, and the other fist in front of him ... and words of wisdom to smokers of tobacco products who disregarded their health ... but BETTER NOT drop a burning ash on someones' parachute ......

"ONE SHOULD NOT SMOKE ... UNLESS ONE IS ON FIRE!"

....

...

Wow ... two things just happened here ... Billythekid46 gave an intelligent comment ... AND he refrained from calling someone an ignorant, uneducated apostate fool and condemning them to damnation .... both in the same post!

Mark your Calendars!

Of course, his perspective was COMPLETELY about the monetary advantage ... which is pretty normal for a Watchtower Lawyer.

However, when checking into a room at a Hotel, I have NEVER been questioned about "Are you REALLY one of Jehovah's Witnesses", to get any available discount ..... or anywhere else.