James Thomas Rook Jr.

If my calculations are right, then, you could fire such a gun at just the right angle on the moon and it could orbit and hit you in the back of the head.

I'm not saying the individual congregations are not part of the CCJW or the Watchtower, I'm just showing the kinds of legal arguments that must be made to protect the financial part of the current kingdom "interests." It's not that I think that attorneys should not try to do what they can to limit financial exposure either, as long as they are also looking for "fairness" and "justice" for the victims. But all Witnesses should be aware that the material resources that we currently enjoy as part of the organization are not permanent. They are not "promised." In fact, all of us should at all times be willing to walk by faith and not by sight.
A lack of money can result in a breakdown of the lines of communication between a local congregation and various entities in New York. Are we willing to make the best of such a situation and trust in Jehovah? The WTS/CCJW is currently trying to prepare Witnesses for such an eventuality. Will it happen as predicted? Will it happen in a way that doesn't come anywhere close to what is being predicted? What if the GB are taken by some nefarious forces, as you have spoken of? What if they are put in prison for covering up child abuse? They have surely considered these possibilities themselves. What if, instead of the protection expected in an imminent great tribulation, our religion and organization becomes an object of derision for 40 more years? (These are not predictions and have nothing to do with any Bible prophecies that I know of.)
In any particular country, or perhaps even on a more international scale, we have certain expectations bolstered by prophetic interpretations, and we will easily maintain faithfulness if those expectations seem to align with our beliefs about ourselves. But we also need to be prepared for maintaining our faith under completely different circumstances. One of those circumstances might be merely going on for another 50 years as more and more of our brothers lose their enthusiasm, and cannot seem to be goaded any longer by proddings of 'imminence.' We can go back to a Biblical question in Luke 18:8:
Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Let's assume that the last year of the Civil War was 1865, and that this person forged papers because he was only about 16 or so. This would mean he was about 116 in 1965, when you were about 5. This fits most of what you have claimed elsewhere about your age and experience, and it means that you are about my age.
It reminds me of 1964, when we moved to the Springfield/Joplin, Missouri area to 'serve where the need was greater' and we ended up assigned to a congregation in the Boonville/Versailles, Missouri area. In Missouri we came across several persons up until about 1967 who claimed to remember the Civil War. I never met someone who claimed to fight, but a few who lost their parents or other close relatives. One old man on my "magazine route" as we called it, claimed to have been over 100 and he made "fiddles." He said his father fought but I don't even remember for which side. 
What really impressed me is that, at age 5, you asked him about a "Confederate and Union" parade in New York that happened nearly 45 years before you born. And a seemingly obscure parade, at that! I could hardly find out anything about this particular parade.

But be serious on this one. Surely the Stock Exchange is still gambling ?
So isn't that hypocrisy ?  
I do the UK lotto and have no bad conscience about it. After all, a person can go into a pub for a beer, but he doesn't want to get drunk, so i can gamble for a little win, but i don't love money or want to be a millionaire. 
Common occurrence with TTH, if a truth about the Org is brought up in conversation, turn it into a joke to avoid giving truthful answer. 

Well, I do not hunt, so I like lasers so I can get target acquisition without having to bring the weapon up to my face, allowing me to focus on everything that is going on around me. My green lasers are very bright, even in bright daylight.
Yeah, I remember when, about 30 years ago, you could buy an SKS for about $60, all coated in cosmolene.
So... how did you come to acquire the .50 BMG?

The .50 BMG is the bullet on the far left of this photo.

You have a BMG .50 rifle?  Tell me more!
WOW!
I have a Marlin 30/30 Lever Action with a 1 watt green laser epoxied to the barrel.
A Marlin Papoose .22 cal threaded for my 9mm suppressor, with a 70x zoom scope.
A 9mm Taurus Pistol, also threaded, with  an internal red laser replacing the recoil rod, and a green laser on the bottom rail.
A Marlin 88, 12 gauge, also with a green laser.
Several 38mm pistols of various barrel lengths, all with Crimson Trace red lasers.
and several others...
Do you shoot that .BMG .50 much?   I could not afford the ammo.
I think the ammo for the Desert Eagle is about a dollar a shot, if memory serves.
 
 
 
 

The society regularly (daily) gambles with contributed money on the various Stock Exchanges.
But if you or I buy a $2 Lottery ticket ... SPOINNNNG! ... out we go.

I am not looking to the Society for approval ... I am looking to them to use common sense, and mind their own business. The Apostles were armed at Passover and the Memorial. (Luke 22:36)  That's good enough for me.
And Billy probably only has a long distance  target rifle, not a machine gun (probably), typical of what snipers ALSO use.
Just because prostitutes wear shoes does not mean all people that wear shoes are prostitutes!
Of course, if their shoes have stiletto heels, are fluorescent red, curl up in the front and have a fuzzy ball on the toes, well ............

The point is ... that you don't get splattered with YOUR OWN blood.
Jehovah highly values all blood .... but I would like to keep my body full,  with no leaks.
As far as it depends on you ... be peaceable with all men.
...sometimes it does not depend on you.
Even the Society, not known for common sense, does not restrict gun ownership for defense except for appointed Elders and such ... which is a very good idea, actually.
 

If you break that gazillion dollar bill ... be sure to get in in $4's and $8's.
The $4 dollar bill has BrunHillary's picture on the front, and the $8 dollar bill has her picture on the front AND back.

I bought shares 100,000 shares of TWNM (The World News Media) just before you and Billy escalated your knock-down drag-out fights.
I am now a gazillionaire who never needs to think about money again!

Show me a person who thinks they are  sane, and I will show you a person  who needs their head examined.

Another point totally off topic as usual. I think the 'Society' allow / agree with, 'gambling' on the Stock Exchange, but don't allow doing Lotteries or other forms of gambling. My brother's daughter lost thousands on the stock exchange.  i don't understand it  so can't give more details but i do know she was not happy  

Show me a person who thinks they are  sane, and I will show you a person  who needs their head examined.

Antarctica?
 

You don’t even know that the people you are arguing with are sane. You don’t even know for sure that they are people. Maybe they are bots like those the Russians supposedly employed on social media, so as to get people enraged at each other and then they could say “See how much better our form of government is? We don’t have these kinds of lunatics running around in the wild.”
If you are going to engage with opposers on social media, there are a few points to keep in mind.
1.) you probably shouldn’t.
2.) you will ultimately lose. You must be prepared to yield the final word. This is because they do not give up and the only way you can match that record is to become petulant and argumentative yourself.
3.) you somewhat negate that if you have a huge body of relevant work that you can link to, effectively answering their 50 words with your 1000. It has a way of discouraging trolls. 
4.) You cannot let yourself be goaded. It is your greatest weakness, imo. Sometimes you start out well, but when they talk back (which they will always do) you get madder and madder and MADDER until you leave a trail that, regardless of whether it is true or not, comes across as the very opposite of the way Jesus dealt with people.
5.) You must be like me, who never ever trolls and who merely confines himself to the dignified use of internet resources in search of fatheads to set straight.
Do you find enraged elephants here and think that you have to slay them? Another way to handle enraged elephants is to bury them in an avalanche of other elephants. That is what this forum serves to do. Even regular participants like myself find it impossible to keep up. Even my own stuff penned here I also put on my own blog because that is the only way I can find it again.
If the regulars can’t keep up, who else is going to? If someone says something substantial here or there, it is quickly buried amidst so much crap that it is impossible to find again—nobody but the most resolute nerd would have the patience, and should he find and spotlight it nobody pays any attention to him because he is a resolute nerd and everybody knows it and only other resolute nerds pay any attention to him.
It calls to mind when that pompous scientist/philosopher/cheerleader/atheist Alan H wrote: “I call everyone to witness that TTH has not answered my question.” “It’s just you and me, you idiot,” I retorted. “What! Do you think that you are Clarence Darrow in Inherit the Wind?”
It is inherently easier to defend something you think noble than it is for others to attack it. The benefits of the Christian teachings serve to strengthen resolve and to unbuild one, but what are the benefits to one who would tear it down? “I gotta be MEEEEEE, I gotta be FREEEEEE!!!!” only goes so far. That said, if I thought that my words here were solely for here and only here, I would not be able to motivate myself to write them.

Billy !
Woooo.... perhaps we actually DO have something in common!   Whooda thunkit!?
.50 cal handgun, or rifle?  What model?  What model .45 ?    Revolver or 1911?
Now you have piqued my interest!
How about a truce to talk about hardware?

I am terrible at playing ball, always have been ... but I can be on my front porch and hit the back of my mailbox at the street, 87 feet away with a 9mm bullet, firing from the hip, in 3/8 of a second.  Who knows?  Perhaps one day such a skill will be useful., if some nutcase challenges me to a fight.

Actually Billy, the idea of you being like a dog would be an insult to dogs, of which I have a high opinion..
My wife and I have six dogs, and I should know.  We enjoy watching them live out their lives as happy animals. Recently we just bought 20 Bantam Chickies,  for our entertainment only, to watch them grow up, and enjoy their lives.
No matter what the subject, you misinterpret what other people have said, so there is no news there.
Let's just say that in my mind there was no idea whatsoever that you exhibited any characteristics that dogs are known for, the chief of which is just being happy, and happy to be around humans.
None whatsoever.
I would tell you what I did have on my mind, but you would just misinterpret that as well, and take it as an insult, without understanding.
I think TTH gave John Butler incredibly GOOD advice, and your reaction was pure evil.

No, Billy, don’t go there. I don’t allow myself to get worked up enough to judge anyone online as despicable—as though it were my role. It’s not.
As you say, I am mostly here to test out lines for future books. Frankly, I hate to see him go, for I test out many through him. But it is better for him if he leaves. Others will pick up the torch.

Actually Billy, the idea of you being like a dog would be an insult to dogs, of which I have a high opinion..
My wife and I have six dogs, and I should know.  We enjoy watching them live out their lives as happy animals. Recently we just bought 20 Bantam Chickies,  for our entertainment only, to watch them grow up, and enjoy their lives.
No matter what the subject, you misinterpret what other people have said, so there is no news there.
Let's just say that in my mind there was no idea whatsoever that you exhibited any characteristics that dogs are known for, the chief of which is just being happy, and happy to be around humans.
None whatsoever.
I would tell you what I did have on my mind, but you would just misinterpret that as well, and take it as an insult, without understanding.
I think TTH gave John Butler incredibly GOOD advice, and your reaction was pure evil.

I have never thought of him as despicable. His hatred of some things is a bit unhinged, I would say, but that is partly accounted for by where he has been.
He should leave for his own peace of mind. Others can take over. JTR is opening his second file cabinet right now. Srecko is sharpening his tongue. Shiwiiiiiiiiii can step into his shoes, if need be. Witness is readying tractor trailer loads of verse. And Jack is saying “Why doesn’t the old fart move on? People can barely focus on MY complaints, he is so active..
In fact, let him act as though Billy has chased him away. It will stand as his final altruistic deed. He can’t always think just of himself—he must think of others.

THAT was worth preserving for history !
Here is a .jpg !

You’d better be older than 37. That’s all I can say.
Get off this forum and spend some time with her, John. Seriously. There are better things for you to do than piss away your time here. It probably is getting on her nerves, Someone will arise to take your place, I am sure. You needn’t worry about that.
Find some peace and enjoyment in your life. Mend fences with the faith if you can. But since that seems all but impossible, just drop back to the original advice: spend some time with her. You are more likely to find peace and enjoyment there than here.

Please remember that before accusing others of foggery and mopery, with mirrors.
... could be worse ... we could both be proctologists for the grossly obese.