James Thomas Rook Jr.

@TrueTomHarley Matthew 16 v 22 & 23.  At this Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying: “Be kind to yourself, Lord; you will not have this happen to you at all.”v 23  But turning his back, he said to Peter: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, because you think, not GodÂ’s thoughts, but those of men.”
What was Jesus calling Peter here ?  Anyone can be a servant of the devil even if they have the right intentions as it seemed Peter did here. The devil will use anyone or anything for his purpose. So don't take it so personally. 
Nice that you think I'm on the verge of a breakdown though  ... Um, I think, ( though i don't know where to find the information right now  ), that the Governing Body have said, that some of the people that say they are anointed are possibly suffering from mental health issues. You see, you do have things in common with them. If you disagree with someone, you make it look as if the one you disagree with is unstable, copying the GB and also the Elders in some cases... Are you an Elder ? 
And yes I've cooled down as you put it. I've had lunch , taken my son to his work, been shopping for food and taken one of my vehicles to the garage for it's MOT test. (That is the UK law for older vehicles to have a safety test every year). You see, I'm quite a normal family man.
And Tom, I'm not even asking you to like me. I certainly don't expect you to 'coo love back to me'. I'm enjoying the difference of opinion we have, but still i mean you no harm. I've so often said, let's be practical not emotional.... 
And James, I find you so funny. I have no idea where you are coming from. I don't understand your comments as in I don't know what you are trying to convey to us.
I've just found this so thought i would add it here :-
 

It was not anywhere near so biting as you imagine. But I took back even that because it appeared he was on the verge of a breakdown.
I mean, c'mon! He called me a servant of the devil. I am expected to instantly coo love back to him?
And he appears to have caught the spirit of the good advice I finally did give (not that it was in direct response) when he said:
Anyway the sun is shining here and i will go into our garden and give thanks to God for His creation. I hope you all have a pleasant day. i wish you no harm. As i keep saying, we are all individuals and all have our own opinions. So be it. Only time will tell right from wrong.  
Good. He needs time to cool down. So do I, perhaps. I don't disagree with those final words at all. Maybe he is even on to something. Because the sun sure isn't shining here as I look out my window.
 

@TrueTomHarley Well I know what i know from my experience in the Org. SM seems to have no  idea, because he generalises about all religions and even compares it to the 'rest of the world'. You though, you have knowledge of the JW Org , so you can admit or deny my claims concerning the Org.
SM wanted an example of the GB changing meaning of scripture, but you Tom will know of some I'm sure. 1. the meaning of the scripture. 'This generation will not pass away' .. 2. the meaning of the scripture concerning 'the Superior Authorities'.  That is just two from memory.
Now, will you admit that some Elders are so upset with the Org that they are actually going against the Org and they are putting documents / letters up online for the public to read. I would compare this to the people of the Nation of Israel who were born Jews, but they chose to turn against the Jewish way of life and become Christians. They did not forsake God did they ? They allowed their God given conscience to guide them in the right direction. So it is for me, I haven't forsaken God or Jesus Christ, but in this day and age it's difficult to know the right direction. 
Now coming back to, what i know I know.  Before I left the Org, I have been in a brother's house talking about things and he has said to me, 'This is between you and me. Don't tell the elders'. Brothers and sisters are honestly frightened of the Elders. Bros and sis are frightened of being disfellowshipped because it is their whole life, their only friends, it's all they have in life. And when a person gets disfellowshipped they are left with nothing. i think that is disgusting. That people should be so frightened of men, because of the 'power' those men hold over people. But you Tom seem to love it. 
And I think you know what I'm saying about the 'so and so is no longer a Jehovah's Witness' thing. it is a way of telling the whole congregation not to talk to that one. Whereas the Bible gives examples / reasons for the ones that should be avoided. By not saying a person  'left the Org of their own choice' , or 'was disfellowshipped', the GB are deliberately telling the congregation not to talk to anyone that has left the Organisation. However, I don't think that is what the scripture means. Hence i say misuse of scripture.
Anyway the sun is shining here and i will go into our garden and give thanks to God for His creation. I hope you all have a pleasant day. i wish you no harm. As i keep saying, we are all individuals and all have our own opinions. So be it. Only time will tell right from wrong.  
 
 

that is just the way I like it, parrot fashion.

John, I think you are in some danger of losing it. Take some time off. Seriously. I am not out to get you. I have just  pushed back at some of your charges.
You initially represented yourself as about to embark on a quest to find just what was the truth, or something to that effect - I forget the exact wording. The way you have conducted yourself here would indicate you were never in the slightest doubt of it. Go off on your quest if you are going to.
Sit silently in the Hall if it helps you in any way, but it sounds to me like you have absolutely writen that option off and I do not know how you can take umbridge at "so and so is no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses." Are you? Sounds like a good call, to me. 
Either make your peace with JWs are they are represented on move on. Don't stay here, at least not for now. You are working yourself into a lather.
 

@Space Merchant People outside the faith know only because victims have now made it known, and hence the investigations Earthwide. But the names of the pedophiles and their locations are not known, not even to the brothers and sisters that have children in the congregations. Hence i say prdophiles are being protected and hidden. And brothers and sisters that serve the Org do not look into these things, so they do not know. Nor do they know of the danger they may face on the ministry or at the hall, because the Elders do not make any of this known. If i had spoken about it in the Kingdom Hall when I was a brother,  I would have been disfellowshipped for 'causing a division in the congregation'... This is how they keep things quiet, because brothers and sisters are frightened to talk about anything...  You have to be there in person to fully understand how frightened the congregation members are of the Elders. There are so many things that you just cannot talk about. And the meetings are fully controlled. the Watchtower Study is controlled, so that brothers and sisters only answer the question put in the paragraphs. And no one is allowed to ask question, it's just parrot fashion, read a paragraph then give correct answers. Then move on, next paragraph.... 
Jesus himself was very blunt and to the point when he noted those that were trying to twist things and use lies and false ideas. Sometimes there is no other way, you just have to tell someone that you can see 'where they are coming from'. 
JW's Governing Body make up the rules and change them when it suits, by misusing scriptures. Elders in turn act like robotic servants of the Governing Body. There is no love shown, no empathy. This has been made so clear by the victims of Child Abuse Earthwide and by people that have been shunned for no good reason. And now i fall into the latter catagory. Shunned by brothers and sisters, probably because they think i was disfellowshipped, as they don't tell people when they say ' John Butler is no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses'. Members of the congregation have no idea if i was disfellowshipped or if I left of my own choice. Though i am very disappointed by those i told prior to leaving, that they too should shun me. But once again fear of man, fear of the elders, fear of 'getting into trouble' if they talk to me.. It's very sad.
Doing anything on the Sabbath was wrong according to the Mosaic Law and punishable, but Jesus said there were times when doing good would override that Law. But the JW Governing Body do not seem to recognise the principle behind that, hence they show no mercy or love.

I also hear that "Hanoi Jane" Fonda was there, and is a Pioneer Sister in that congregation.

@TrueTomHarley @Space Merchant The ARC was only one country. In Canada the Superior Court of Quebec was looking to proceed with a class action lawsuit in September 2017. I don't have any update on that. In the Netherlands 'Reclaimed Voices' foundation has set up way for victims to contact them and it seems they have had 250 responcies... In the UK the Charity Commision has an ongoing investigation, which the JW Org tried to stop but did not succeed. The IICSA, it seems, will probably also do an investigation, although they seem to be very busy dealing with others at the moment.... Then we have the USA, but after the two (rather famous now) victims received big payouts I've no idea if the GB has to hand over the documents or not. What I'm saying here is, it's not all about the ARC.
I cannot understand the attitude of TTH, yes prevention is of course very important. But surely it would help in many ways to see how previous cases were handled. As I've experienced such things I know that the memories last a lifetime, so if it can be proved that the JW Org was negligent, then aren't victims due some sort of compensation ? And I'm not talking being paid millions to keep their mouth shut. 
Lessons could be learnt from past dealings to help stop future abuse. Rules could be changed within the Org to make it a safer place. 
SM, people may care about statistics, but I'm more concerned about what God cares about. I think you are coming at this from a different viewpoint. My thoughts are, if the JW org is really God's chosen organisation, then God wants it clean. God is not interested in a percentage, He wants clean. He wants, separate from the world, and a much much higher standard. So to compare to any other peoples is of no importance. It is only important to compare the JW Org to God's standards. How are the JW Org comparing to what God expects of them ? 
You said 'targeting a group will not reap any fruit because it will spawn comments, insult and reproach to God... ' You see how you are coming at it from a different angle ?  I'm not targeting a group. I'm interested in seeing, what is supposed to be God's chosen people, try harder to serve God properly and clean up their Organisation, and help their brothers and sisters.
  

The United States lost the war, but the US rarely cleans up after making any mess. A good part of the reason the whole world is in the shape it's in right now.

@TrueTomHarley I find it so so funny how you keep referencing worldly events or worldly things when the JW Org is supposed to be NO PART OF THIS WORLD..
If you feel the God is with the Org then why would you worry about the inadequacy of the legal system. Surely God will have the outcome He wants ? Or do you not have that faith ? 
Please tell me if you believe this is true or not. (Remember i have stated on my own FB page that i honestly don't know the truth about anything anymore). I have read that the Governing Body formed two separate legal departments, one in the JW Org (as i call it) and one in the Watchtower Soc. The purpose for this was to slow down court cases. If a court demanded documents from one of them, such as JW Org, then the legal dept of JW Org would send a letter to the W/T Soc, asking them for said documents. W/T Soc would write back to JW Org saying basically  'you can't have the documents'. Then this would carry on back and forth, the purpose being to slow down court proceeding against the JW Org, and hopefully get victims to give up their case... Now if the GB have complete control over both JW Org and W/T Soc, then surely they could just give the instructions to whomever to hand over the documents. Job done.  The supposed letters between the JW Org and W/T Soc were put up online, but of course they could be fake.  I'm keeping an open mind on it.
One other thing i want to look into is that the GB at one time changed their idea of what the Romans 13 scripture meant. Instead of it meaning subjection to the worldly governments / courts etc, i think they said it meant subjection to the GB themselves. Now if that was in 1997 it would prove very interesting, as it seems it was in 1997 that they were getting concerned about the amount of Child Abuse within the Org.  
However, you come back to the same old rubbish. And as I've said, the Nation of Israel might not have offered up as many of it's children into the fire as the other nations did. but in God's eyes what the nation of Israel did was far worse. 
Try just for once to see the Child Abuse within JW Org, from God's viewpoint. God would not be so interested in the child abuse in the world as He is in the Child Abuse within the JW Org, if indeed it is His chosen Org. God would want His chosen people to be clean and to serve Him properly. God does not demand that of the rest of the world. I'm sure you would see the difference if you would want to. 
However it seems you only want to think from a human standpoint and to impress humans with figures or percentages. And it seems you want to rely on your 8 men, your Governing Body, to do it all their way.
Whereas I'm relying on God to sort out an Organisation that will serve Him properly before Armageddon comes. Whether that is JW Org or not i do not know. I honestly do not know. I care and i want to know, but I would dearly like God to make it known to me. 
 
 

I would not get on that thing for the first three years of operation.

Milk  is  not  healthy  for  our  body.....  TV  and  Press  telling  often !!   WATER  is  the  best  for  all  people !   I  mean  cow-milk  -  soy-milk,  almond-milk  or  similar,  is  okay   Informing  is  the  best

Green manikins have special training to stay out of your peripheral vision ... always in your "blind spot".
There are six in the room now , behind you.

I remember after Windows 7 came out, and before Windows 10 came out that Bill Gates was going to announce plans for Microsoft  to build a nuclear powered car, that would get 23,000 miles on a small, replaceable U235 based fission reactor about the size of a football, but there were concerns that every other product Microsoft put out, turned out to be a bomb.
... and sure enough, out came Windows 10.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
( ... merely a lame attempt at a joke ... I mean ... about the car ..... )

Slow down I'm still trying to wrap my head around Jesus being present but not arriving.

....
 

When they make trees of "E Pluribus Unum", I will then go out and endeavor to  prune 'em.
 
 

Back when dueling was legal, Fathers often solved the problem without a lot of discussion.

It is my understanding that in the USA, the JW.ORG logo is not and cannot be copyrighted because it is too general an image, or is too similar to someone else's copyright.
There was extensive discussion of this about three years ago, here on the Archive .... perhaps an update would be helpful.
http://www.jw-archive.org/post/89033437113/us-patent-office-and-watchtower-bible-and-tract
I wish the Society would pay as much attention to Justice, and fairness, and equity, as they do trying to keep other people from quoting them when they shoot themselves in the foot, and using "their" logos.
I can understand that they might object to the Tight Pants Tony full length Dakimakura "Love Pillow" with the JW.ORG logo discreetly covering the nether regions.
 

Some of his observations that are remembered:
— "We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the universe. That makes us something very special."
— "Life would be tragic if it weren't funny."
— "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."
— "For millions of years, mankind lived just like the animals. Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination. We learned to talk and we learned to listen. Speech has allowed the communication of ideas, enabling human beings to work together to build the impossible. Mankind's greatest achievements have come about by talking, and its greatest failures by not talking. It doesn't have to be like this. Our greatest hopes could become reality in the future. With the technology at our disposal, the possibilities are unbounded. All we need to do is make sure we keep talking."
— "My goal is simple. It is a complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all."
— "I believe the simplest explanation is, there is no God. No one created the universe and no one directs our fate. This leads me to a profound realization that there probably is no heaven and no afterlife either. We have this one life to appreciate the grand design of the universe and for that, I am extremely grateful."
— "Although I cannot move and I have to speak through a computer, in my mind I am free."
— "If aliens ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn't turn out very well for the Native Americans."
— "We are in danger of destroying ourselves by our greed and stupidity. We cannot remain looking inwards at ourselves on a small and increasingly polluted and overcrowded planet."
— "My disabilities have not been a significant handicap in my field, which is theoretical physics. Indeed, they have helped me in a way by shielding me from lecturing and administrative work that I would otherwise have been involved in. I have managed, however, only because of the large amount of help I have received from my wife, children, colleagues and students. I find that people in general are very ready to help, but you should encourage them to feel that their efforts to aid you are worthwhile by doing as well as you possibly can."

It is not so amazing that the Dancing Bear dances well ..... but that it dances at all.

He was truly a magnificent man, doing what he could do .... and DID do ... with his crushing disabilities.
One of the very few really deserving  Media Superstars.
I had six copies of his book,  "A Brief History of Time", to give to others, as I REALLY appreciated how he kept himself alive  through sheer willpower all those many years, and it renewed my interest in Quantum Physics and Cosmology.
I re-read it about every six years.
He was wrong about the "arrow of time" in his book .... time does not reverse when the Universe supposedly would collapse unto the "Big Crunch", which really lets the air out of his book ... but it is still a magnificent read.
Completely outdated ... but a A MUST READ book, nonetheless.

You are complicated aren't you? I don't actually say....anything.
The little Lego brother was just objecting to being left off the "Slippery Slopes" list provided by @James Thomas Rook Jr.
However, now that you mention it, there may be lessons to be learned.
Locally, 4 complete sets of Watchtower Bound Volumes, 1970- 2000 were recently donated to the rather bendy-shelved KH library. That's actually 120 volumes! That's to say nothing of a number of other sets that lately graced the paper dump mountain at the local municipal recycling centre! Some others, I hear, were sent skywards in garden bonfires. And there are the many other items of WTS literature that turn up in these and other places, once their former owners overcome their guilt and release them from garage and loft repositories.
" "Inventory is the anointed" ", (to borrow your phrase) seems a little off the mark, but there does seem to be room for more appropriate allegory here.
Maybe there is room for another topic then? What should become of, or even, What do you do with, unwanted theocratic"Inventory"?

Evidently this is just JW Propaganda. The real truth about "The Truth" and their loveless ungodly ways:
There isn't a lot of JW happiness in Michigan USA: 
 

The Peacemaker, also called the Frontier, the Model P, and the Equalizer was firstly widely used by the army. During the mid-1860Â’s the army was looking to replace their slow and fragile percussion pistols, so they tested the .44-caliber Colt revolver, which they rejected for being robust and unreliable. However, during the 1870Â’s William Mason and Charles Brinckerhoff designed and created the .45-caliber centerfire Colt Single Action Army. The army immediately recognized the gunÂ’s potential: they used it as their official service weapon until the World War II.