James Thomas Rook Jr.

If the goal is to imitate the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, we are well on our way.
Already we are baptizing children as young as 8 years old... and the exemplar, Jesus Christ was not baptized until he was 33 years old.
Trials and inquires in ancient Israel were in the City Gates, where all could see, hear, and make comments ... completely open and above board ... complete transparency of the institution of Justice, and the administrators of Justice.
It served God's people well for many thousands of years.
What we have now only serves the best interests of the Corporation.

Actually, that was me ... and I moved on to another job before they found out. 
I was painting "M"s, ... "W"s, ... "3"s, ... and "E"s on the M&Ms with a small artist's paintbrush ... but the eyestrain was too great, and I got carpel tunnel syndrome.
My next job was working for a fencing contractor,  stockpiling fence post holes at his riverside facility, but unfortunately the river flooded, and washed all the inventory away.

A 32 year old Bethelite at Warwick, NY  was walking along a sidewalk at Bethel, going to the cafeteria for the evening meal,  and as he walked along, was in deep prayer to Jehovah God.
 He said, "Jehovah, you have promised to give me the desires of my heart. That's what I am asking you for right now. Please give me a confirmation that you will reward my faith and service to you.”
 Suddenly the sky clouded up over his head and God in a booming voice spoke to him. "I have searched your heart and determined it to be pure. The last time I granted someone the desires of his heart request .... it was to my servant Solomon.”
 “ He didn't disappoint me with his request for wisdom.”
 “ I think I can trust that you won't disappoint me either. Because you have been faithful to me in all ways, I will grant you the desires of your heart."
 The Brother sat and thought about it for a while and said, "I've always wanted to have a deep understanding of the Bible, and I have really tried, but I have forsaken a good education, and taken a vow of poverty and cannot afford a car or the classes I need to become an Engineer when my service here at  Bethel is up …. could you help me afford a car, and a stipend so I can go to school, and learn to provide for myself and my future family as I get old?"
 The Lord laughed and said, "That's impossible! Think of the logistics of that! I would have to start creating again to make you a car, and money to use, and get you into a college without any background that would make sense for what you would be learning!”
 “ … Your request is very materialistic, a little disappointing. I could do it, but it's hard for me to justify your craving for worldly things. Take a little more time and think of another request ….  a  request you think would honor and glorify Me as well."
 The Brother  thought about it for a long while and tried to think of a really good request.
 Finally, he said, “Oh God, please hear my request.  I was Baptized when I was eight years old, and paid attention all my life, taking notes, reading the Bible, and meditation … but I just cannot understand the “Overlapping Generations” thing.  I can’t see how Jesus or the Apostles or any disciples in the Early Church ever understood that, when Jesus was speaking. Can you help me to understand the “Overlapping Generations” Doctrine?”
 “I want to know what all the other Brothers and Sisters know, what  they feel inside and what they're thinking ...I want to know how to be as truly happy as they are, knowing these deep things about You ....That's the wish that I want, Jehovah … my hearts desire."
  … after a few minutes, God said, "How about a Corvette and a full scholarship to Stanford University?"
 

BUT...  Jehovah  NEVER  would  say  that !  Nice  humor,  yes
THANKS

A 32 year old Bethelite at Warwick, NY  was walking along a sidewalk at Bethel, going to the cafeteria for the evening meal,  and as he walked along, was in deep prayer to Jehovah God.
 He said, "Jehovah, you have promised to give me the desires of my heart. That's what I am asking you for right now. Please give me a confirmation that you will reward my faith and service to you.”
 Suddenly the sky clouded up over his head and God in a booming voice spoke to him. "I have searched your heart and determined it to be pure. The last time I granted someone the desires of his heart request .... it was to my servant Solomon.”
 “ He didn't disappoint me with his request for wisdom.”
 “ I think I can trust that you won't disappoint me either. Because you have been faithful to me in all ways, I will grant you the desires of your heart."
 The Brother sat and thought about it for a while and said, "I've always wanted to have a deep understanding of the Bible, and I have really tried, but I have forsaken a good education, and taken a vow of poverty and cannot afford a car or the classes I need to become an Engineer when my service here at  Bethel is up …. could you help me afford a car, and a stipend so I can go to school, and learn to provide for myself and my future family as I get old?"
 The Lord laughed and said, "That's impossible! Think of the logistics of that! I would have to start creating again to make you a car, and money to use, and get you into a college without any background that would make sense for what you would be learning!”
 “ … Your request is very materialistic, a little disappointing. I could do it, but it's hard for me to justify your craving for worldly things. Take a little more time and think of another request ….  a  request you think would honor and glorify Me as well."
 The Brother  thought about it for a long while and tried to think of a really good request.
 Finally, he said, “Oh God, please hear my request.  I was Baptized when I was eight years old, and paid attention all my life, taking notes, reading the Bible, and meditation … but I just cannot understand the “Overlapping Generations” thing.  I can’t see how Jesus or the Apostles or any disciples in the Early Church ever understood that, when Jesus was speaking. Can you help me to understand the “Overlapping Generations” Doctrine?”
 “I want to know what all the other Brothers and Sisters know, what  they feel inside and what they're thinking ...I want to know how to be as truly happy as they are, knowing these deep things about You ....That's the wish that I want, Jehovah … my hearts desire."
  … after a few minutes, God said, "How about a Corvette and a full scholarship to Stanford University?"
 

That is sort of like the moral question of "Is it moral to steal money from a drug dealer found dead in the woods?"
I have mixed emotions about what "Anonymous" does.
 
 

Thank you Space Merchant for doing the "heavy lifting" for me ... AND EVERYBODY ELSE !
I have in recent years lost the patience and discipline, and motivation to do it, but still appreciate the TRUTH, expertly proved.
By the way,  as a Space Merchant, any idea where I could buy six metric tons of the powdered orange flavored drink mix TANG ?
( ...arcane joke from the 60's NASA Space Program ... but I like it overly much ...)

In the end it all boils down to Church Discipline and Rules, Laws of the Land and what such laws consist of for they vary in each state, especially in regards to child abuse, and exemptions.
 
Mind you, this is a place that Child Marriage is a thing there whereas the rate is in the 10k, the age to marry is 15-16 with judicial approval being set for all minors, in addition with paternal offer consent being enabled, be it the minor is and or becomes pregnant or not.
It is hurdles like that that makes things far complex to deal with, mainly in regards to the abused.

It gets way deeper than that friend, for the Justice System has its ways with the rich, people of color, religious figures, and or those who are deemed an enemy in the eyes of the so called Christian nation who are for their own ideologies of the faith and their believe in the Justice system and the government.
The Jehovah's Witnesses, any faith of Non-Trinitarianism, any faith who are not for what is to come that the Christian nation who dwell in government and politics so gladly accepted, are categorized as targets, only few in the Justice System do not buy into such things, but the majority does.
It applies to everybody, yes, but a person of a specific status, background and or worth changes things that can benefit in favor of and or disfavor of the Justice System itself - history repeats itself, and I believe it has done so just recently, yesterday.
 
In the end however, those who do bad things will get hat is coming for them, but it amazes me how the plans of a now long-dead woman is in full force with such things infiltrating the churches. Makes you think what is to come in the next several years regarding the whole one government, one religion, one education system talk.

This is why it is very important to stick to the original source, let alone a bible translation that sticks to said source compared to others that do not.
For the slightly of error can cause many to mislead, and the mislead misleads others.
Any example of this would be 1 Timothy 3:16. This verse has led others, in fact, millions, to believe Jesus is God, however, what such people do not know is what the original manuscripts have stated.
For the sake of this response, I will make a reference to the KJV, despite my disdain for King James and his translators, mainly Francis "shaky hands" Bacon.
KJV - And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. We see in this verse in the KJV, they replaced what was originally there with God whereas a majority of other bibles will simply say He or the Christ came as a Human, something of that nature.
examples:
CEV - Here is the great mystery of our religion: Christ came as a human. The Spirit proved that he pleased God, and he was seen by angels. Christ was preached to the nations. People in this world put their faith in him, and he was taken up to glory. NASB - By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory. BSB - By common confession, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the nations, was believed in throughout the world, was taken up in glory. NIV - Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith: Christ was revealed in a human body and vindicated by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and announced to the nations. He was believed in throughout the world and taken to heaven in glory. ESV - Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. He who was manifested in the flesh (ASV) Who was manifested in the flesh (NAB) He was manifested in the flesh (RSV) He was revealed in flesh (NRSV) Which was manifested in the flesh (Douey-Rheims) He was revealed in the flesh (NET) Who was manifested in the flesh (NAB) In the Bible of the Jehovah's Witnesses, they to stuck to the original source, as did the others mentioned above, giving references to said verse also.
NWT - Indeed, the sacred secret of this godly devotion is admittedly great: ‘He was made manifest in flesh, was declared righteous in spirit, appeared to angels, was preached about among nations, was believed upon in the world, was received up in glory.’
So it is clear that the following in regards to added words in scripture results in such things like this:
The Trinitarian Claim -  Trinitarians claim this verse identifies Jesus as "God" because it says "God was manifested in the flesh."
The Claim vs. The Facts - The manuscript evidence, and the immediate context, shows the KJV reading was not authored by Paul.
Conclusion  (quote) - So when we review all the evidence the solution is plain to see. The historical evidence indicates the word "God" was not there before the late fourth century at the earliest. The manuscript evidence indicates the word "God" was not in the original text. The grammar and the immediate context also indicate the KJV reading is not authentic. Christ is the mystery in question which is why the passage should read, "great is the mystery of godliness who/which was manifested in flesh, justified in spirit..." It "which" is correct it refers back the mystery; if "who" is correct it refers to Christ. Very obviously then the passage reads smoothly and makes total sense with the rest of Scripture by using either the word "who" or "which" which are attested in early manuscripts. The KJV reading is an obvious error or forgery.
Great is the mystery of godliness which/who was manifested in flesh."
So to a degree, no man who try some act of silliness when translating scripture, and no man will overwrite and or change as to what the original source has stated, but it didn't stop King James and crew sadly and quite plainly, Trinitarian translation scholars are admitting this version of the verse is not authentic. One then wonders why Trinitarians so often continue to appeal to it.
Therefore, false and or man man verses and or changed are added to scripture, in turn, blinds others and result in the blind leading the blind.
Mind you, this is but 1, of dozens of forgeries and errors to those who appeal to the KJV camp and or those in favor of later sources over the original one, especially those who do not know their Greek/Hebrew.

Actually, I studied this a LONG time ago, but didn't care much... King James of England  (..who had the power of arbitrary life and death...) guided the translators, and it was assumed the King knew everything (by those who never saw him drunk ...), so when the translators came up to him they asked all kinds of questions .... and he replied giving them "New Light" ( Remember... at his coronation he was said to be chosen by God to rule England...), about spirits, ghosts, demons, the divine right of kings, and other political subjects, and they asked him what a particular word meant ... and what was really a kind of water buffalo or something like that (I forget...) King James  advised the translators , in his "divinely inspired wisdom" that the word in question was "Unicorn".
I am a Barbarian with a chain-saw theology, but JW Insider can probably give you a better answer, as his theology is "scalpel based".
Where the rubber meets the road is the fact that in the English KJV, the Unicorn shows up NINE TIMES.
That is why when you read ANY Bible ... you have to test everything to see if it makes common sense ... because Bible Translation is an ART.  It is NOT an exact science, especially when translating idiomatic expressions from one language to another, as different languages have completely different patterns of ideas, and ways of expressing things.
Translation is an ART ... and being good at it is a very rare skill in a world full of pretenders who THINK they know how to do it well ... and get paid very well to do it very poorly.
If you already BELIEVE the "Holy Ghost" is a person, or God is a Trinity ... when you read to translate ... THAT IS WHAT YOU WILL SEE.  
THIS IS HOW GREAT ERROR BECOMES THE NORM FOR ALL SUBSEQUENT READERS.
You MUST base your theology on plain old every day common sense, using what you know is actually real for patterns and examples ... not playing with millions of words.
.
 

The problem is ..... the people who THINK they know the right answers .... and keep everything they do hidden in back rooms under a veil of secrecy .... DON'T.
That's why their proceedings MUST be kept secret.
So they will not be exposed as self-serving, self-aggrandizing frauds.
This applies to EVERYBODY, inside and outside of Jehovah's Witnesses.
 

Actually, I studied this a LONG time ago, but didn't care much... King James of England  (..who had the power of arbitrary life and death...) guided the translators, and it was assumed the King knew everything (by those who never saw him drunk ...), so when the translators came up to him they asked all kinds of questions .... and he replied giving them "New Light" ( Remember... at his coronation he was said to be chosen by God to rule England...), about spirits, ghosts, demons, the divine right of kings, and other political subjects, and they asked him what a particular word meant ... and what was really a kind of water buffalo or something like that (I forget...) King James  advised the translators , in his "divinely inspired wisdom" that the word in question was "Unicorn".
I am a Barbarian with a chain-saw theology, but JW Insider can probably give you a better answer, as his theology is "scalpel based".
Where the rubber meets the road is the fact that in the English KJV, the Unicorn shows up NINE TIMES.
That is why when you read ANY Bible ... you have to test everything to see if it makes common sense ... because Bible Translation is an ART.  It is NOT an exact science, especially when translating idiomatic expressions from one language to another, as different languages have completely different patterns of ideas, and ways of expressing things.
Translation is an ART ... and being good at it is a very rare skill in a world full of pretenders who THINK they know how to do it well ... and get paid very well to do it very poorly.
If you already BELIEVE the "Holy Ghost" is a person, or God is a Trinity ... when you read to translate ... THAT IS WHAT YOU WILL SEE.  
THIS IS HOW GREAT ERROR BECOMES THE NORM FOR ALL SUBSEQUENT READERS.
You MUST base your theology on plain old every day common sense, using what you know is actually real for patterns and examples ... not playing with millions of words.
.
 

FSB starts detaining Jehovah’s Witnesses on Kola, dozens flee to Finland
Criminal cases are initiated after FSB and Rosgvardia raided six addresses in the closed navy town of Polyarny.
By Thomas Nilsen - The Independent Barents Observer
April 20, 2018
Last April, a ruling by Russia’s Supreme Court banned all Jehovah’s Witnesses organizations throughout the country, arguing the religious group to be extremist.
On Friday, Murmansk regional authorities’ newspaper Murmanski Vestnik reports about raids made by FSB and the National Guard of Russia (Rosgvardia) in Polyarny on the Kola Peninsula.
 
Two local residents were detained under suspicions of being members of the administrative centre of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, organizing teaching and meetings where reading of banned religious literature took place. Searches were carried out at six addresses in Polyarny.  
 
The town is home to a naval yard and several of the diesel-powered submarines and other warships of the Northern Fleet have Polyarny as homeport.
 
The extremist law banning Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia provides for a maximum sentences of 6 to 10 years in jail.
Meanwhile, a wave of practicing Jehovah’s Witnesses are fleeing Russia. More than a thousand people are now seeking asylum in several European countries, including Finland, the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported earlier this winter.
 
It all started last summer, and that’s when the first Witnesses sought asylum in Finland, spokesperson Veikko Leininen with the organization’s Finnish branch told the newspaper.  Many dozens at least are still to come, he said.
Press adviser Therese Bergwitz-Larsen with the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) can’t go into details about particular reasons for asylum seekers coming to Norway.
Unfortunately, we can’t say anything in general on the background for reasons to apply for asylum, since the number [from Russia] is so small, Bergwitz-Larsen tells the Barents Observer.
Statistics from UDI show that 15 persons came from Russia the first three months this year. In 2017, 58 Russian asylum seekers came to Norway.
In Russia, the number of Jehovah’s Witnesses are estimated to about 175,000. That be, before the organization was declared extremist. Viewed with skepticism for denying military service, voting and refusal to take blood, the members are seen as both a threat to themselves, their children and public safety.
Also during Soviet times, the Witnesses were persecuted.   
Human Right Watch recently called on Russian authorities to drop charges against Danish citizen Dennis Christensen adherent for practicing his faith. Christensen has been in pretrial custody for 11 months in the town of Orel. Human Right Watch argues that Russia is a member of Council of Europe and  a party to the European Convention on Human Rights, and therefore is obligated to protect the rights to freedom of religion and association.
My note: Russia passed a law in 2015 that basically stated that any CE or ECHR resolution or ruling they disagreed with could be ignored. I think it is a very good idea when governments start rounding up people for gas chambers, concentration or slave labor camps, or prison ... just be somewhere else.
You may have to abandon everything you and your family ever worked for, with the clothes on your back, but at least when they upholster the living room furniture you left behind ... it won't be with YOUR SKIN.
 
 
 

I very seldom down-vote anyone Allensmith ... your arguments fall apart without any help at all.
Specifically, "clergy / penitent" laws are made for ONE penitent and ONE confessor .... and if the Priest or Elder or other person tells ONE OTHER PERSON, that confidence, protected by law, is no longer protected by law.
With a Catholic Priest, that is ONE PERSON.
With a JW Judicial Committee, that starts out with THREE persons, and expands to include Circuit Overseers,  Branch Office personnel of every description, and reports are made in writing to insure that Central Control is maintained down at the congregation level.
In actual practice there are no "extenuating circumstances" ... only the application of WT codified policy.
It is then that JW.ORG ...... becomes JW.BORG.
Resistance is futile, we have been assimilated.

(New news ....)  A MONTANA Judge Orders Jehovah’s Witnesses to Turn Over Internal Documents Related to Childhood Sexual Abuse
April 12, 2018
 
On April 5, 2018, Judge James Manley of Sanders County, Montana ordered the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious organization to produce documents and testimony related to internal reports and investigations into the childhood sexual abuse of NPR’s two clients.
 
In this case, the two Plaintiffs were sexually abused as children by a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Elders in the local Jehovah’s Witness congregation in Thompson Falls, Montana were aware of the abuse and failed to report it to the police, choosing instead to handle the reports and investigations internally pursuant to Jehovah’s Witness guidelines. Their decision not to report the abuse to authorities allowed the perpetrator to remain in the congregation and continue to abuse one of the Plaintiffs.
 
Throughout this case, and similar childhood sexual abuse cases across the country, the Jehovah’s Witnesses have refused to produce documents related to their internal handling of reports of sexual abuse and related investigations and disciplinary actions claiming that the information is protected by the clergy-penitent privilege and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
 
Through briefing to the court, NPR convinced the Judge that Defendants’ privilege claims were unsupported and improper under the law. The Court agreed that Defendants could not blanket everything related to their investigations in secrecy and that they must turn it over to the Plaintiffs. Often, this is the very evidence that can win or lose a case like this against a religious institution.
 
The case of Nunez, et al. v. Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York, et al.  is set to go to trial in September of 2018.
The plaintiffs in this case are represented by NPR partner D. Neil Smith and associate Ross E. Leonoudakis.
 
----------------------------------------------------------
A Jury of 12 held in public view ... or a tribunal of three held in complete secrecy.
Which would YOU choose,  to get Justice?
 

I very seldom down-vote anyone Allensmith ... your arguments fall apart without any help at all.
Specifically, "clergy / penitent" laws are made for ONE penitent and ONE confessor .... and if the Priest or Elder or other person tells ONE OTHER PERSON, that confidence, protected by law, is no longer protected by law.
With a Catholic Priest, that is ONE PERSON.
With a JW Judicial Committee, that starts out with THREE persons, and expands to include Circuit Overseers,  Branch Office personnel of every description, and reports are made in writing to insure that Central Control is maintained down at the congregation level.
In actual practice there are no "extenuating circumstances" ... only the application of WT codified policy.
It is then that JW.ORG ...... becomes JW.BORG.
Resistance is futile, we have been assimilated.

On my left shoulder is a scar from the Smallpox Vaccination I received as a young boy .... a vaccine that is not available any more, under the working theory that Smallpox has been eradicated from the Earth.
In 1974, before I went to work in the Congo, I had to get vaccinations for typhus, typhoid, and the black plague, which had to be special ordered from the CDC, in Atlanta, Georgia.
 Inasmuch as the only Smallpox that exists anymore ( ???) is weaponized virus possessed by Nation States, and what is is the graves of those who died of Smallpox, many years ago ... I would like to get my three adult children vaccinated, to have the same protection that I have ... but it is as I understand it, not possible.
Somewhere out there is a little grey mouse named Pinky, asking another little grey mouse named Brain what they are going to do tonight ....
 

Have a nice day!
 
 

(New news ....)  A MONTANA Judge Orders Jehovah’s Witnesses to Turn Over Internal Documents Related to Childhood Sexual Abuse
April 12, 2018
 
On April 5, 2018, Judge James Manley of Sanders County, Montana ordered the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious organization to produce documents and testimony related to internal reports and investigations into the childhood sexual abuse of NPR’s two clients.
 
In this case, the two Plaintiffs were sexually abused as children by a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Elders in the local Jehovah’s Witness congregation in Thompson Falls, Montana were aware of the abuse and failed to report it to the police, choosing instead to handle the reports and investigations internally pursuant to Jehovah’s Witness guidelines. Their decision not to report the abuse to authorities allowed the perpetrator to remain in the congregation and continue to abuse one of the Plaintiffs.
 
Throughout this case, and similar childhood sexual abuse cases across the country, the Jehovah’s Witnesses have refused to produce documents related to their internal handling of reports of sexual abuse and related investigations and disciplinary actions claiming that the information is protected by the clergy-penitent privilege and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
 
Through briefing to the court, NPR convinced the Judge that Defendants’ privilege claims were unsupported and improper under the law. The Court agreed that Defendants could not blanket everything related to their investigations in secrecy and that they must turn it over to the Plaintiffs. Often, this is the very evidence that can win or lose a case like this against a religious institution.
 
The case of Nunez, et al. v. Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York, et al.  is set to go to trial in September of 2018.
The plaintiffs in this case are represented by NPR partner D. Neil Smith and associate Ross E. Leonoudakis.
 
----------------------------------------------------------
A Jury of 12 held in public view ... or a tribunal of three held in complete secrecy.
Which would YOU choose,  to get Justice?
 

Mr. Rook,

 

I doubt that because your argument coupled with your "common sense” shows that you are ignorant of the Scriptures, and proves that you just follow the false, man made ideas of a magazine, this is brought out by juxtaposing your silly argument on how the KJV translates!
 
Prove that you read your Bible by providing me with Scriptural evidence for your idea that the Holy Spirit is some sort of power/force, if you can't, then that shows you are NOT reading the Bible but relying on man made teachings. <>< 

Sorry.  This is what I was generally reacting to.  There is no support for the "weak", the victims of abuse.  I see the governing body/organization on the receiving end of donations, time, energy, the slaving of members including the very victims they refuse to give protection from pedophiles.   Even in a court of law the org. refuse to "give".   
Yet, the GB will tell you how much 'giving' they have done for the sheep by providing failed "food at the proper time".
It is sheer hypocrisy.  
In the long run, the "recalcitrant contrarians" will have to face Christ for their actions.  

...AND, it makes you faster!
Sometimes, after drinking six or seven cups of coffee, I read the highway signs so fast I miss the Freeway exit ramp.

A frog MIGHT avoid bumping his rump, every time he jumps, if he had wings .... but frogs do not have wings ... and neither does your supposition that what is supposed to be a three-in one "Godhead" ... two of them do have personal names, but one does not.
Even each of my five dogs has a personal name... and they know (in English) what their personal names are.
If your argument was sound .... and it is NOT, for so MANY reasons .... my dogs have the advantage.

So ... what is the Holy Spirit's personal name?
Jehovah God has a name and title .... Jehovah the Almighty God.
Jesus has a name and title ... Jesus the Christ
Holy Spirit is a title.
What is the Holy Spirit's personal name?
Casper?