James Thomas Rook Jr.

All Jehovah's Witnesses are equal.
... but some are more equal than others.
They get the secret books.

What do you mean, ‘Shaken the bushes’? What are you doing there?

Unless I am very mistaken (and what are the chances of that?) she is the one more suited to counsel you as to how to live longer.
She is older than you as it is, and she was not afraid to take on Alan the Obnoxious. You ran like a scared rabbit even when your two favorite subjects, Trump and global warming, came up on the docket.

From what I have seen in movies, many black people are smarter than many white people.
Back when I was about ten or eleven years old, they used to have a TV show on at Saturday midnight, called "Shock Theatre". They used to show "Frankenstein", "Bride of Frankenstein" the "Werewolf", "The Mummy", and lots of haunted house movies, and stories of Edgar Allen Poe.. 
I noticed that groups of white people for some reason would go to a haunted house for some reason, and it would be some seriously creepy castle surrounded by thick fog, with wolves howling in the background, with cobwebs, bats, and in the entrance foyer would be a column of ice cold air. and the furniture would skittish across the room, and fall over all by itself, and a moaning voice from somewhere around the ceiling would say " GEEEEEEET OUTTTTTTTT !.
Then, blood would start pouring down the large circular staircase, and some stupid white guy would say "Hey!, lookit the blood coming down the stairs .... let's go upstairs and INVESTIGATE!!"
...turns out , this was a very bad idea for everybody involved.
Meanwhile, a black person would have been three miles away, running as fast as he can!
 

How many social media account corporate heads will be pulled into corporate board rooms and fired over the next week for getting into this?
Has Starbucks responded yet?
McDonald's?

I won't be able to drink tequila the same way now....

It is interesting how from time to time, from post to post some unanimous individuals falling from some unknown Planet, and start giving down-vote symbol to other people comments.   :))))) 
This is funny, but also very good. Because their reaction are proof how they read comments and found it serious to such level that they (comments) in fact pressed right bottom in people's minds and feelings. 

Oh? 
And you have moved beyond the limits of the flesh to speak, not just things that you believe to be true, but things that ARE true?
Next thing you know, you will be joining Witness in claiming to be the “true” anointed

:))) you are not a person who speaks things that are not true ...... only things you believe it is true, but you claiming funny thing with this. 
Please go to JW library, link below, and you will not find nothing about this elder's book, or pioneer's book ....they don't exist for public.
 https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/lv/r1/lp-e/0/56506
 

Everybody knows the book exists.
Pioneer service school also has a book not for general distribution. Everybody knows it exists.
They either know of it specifically or they know of it in the ’Well.....duh!’ sense that they know that any training of any class of any subject in any discipline just may feature a curriculum and textbook not for general distribution.
It is not a conspiracy. The world is not flat. GM did not invent a 100 mile per gallon carburetor that they have sat upon for umpteen years.

Probably the most superficial posting here on this forum because there is no concept of historical context.   Always placing old articles and using modern laws and attitudes to  defame Jws
In South Africa the JW brothers had to constantly ask permission from the government for assemblies to allow different colours of people to mingle...... and this was in the 70s and 80s....  When a white person wanted to preach in a black suburb  he would face personal danger and visa versa -  when a black person wanted to preach in a white area he would be thrown out and the npolice called.  It was society attitudes (and in case of SA - enforced by laws) which dictated what values one could hold.
 
I grew up in the 50s in Africa.  From young  age I saw black women with breasts uncovered in the streets.... I saw a murder of a black man killing another before I was ten.   I knew about Muti- murders (witch-doctor medicine from body parts)  and I thought it was depraved...even as a child.  .  How depraved must voodoo, witch doctors etc not bave seemed to those people living  in 1902 when colonists went to Africa.  British soldiers who underestimated the black "  impi" were slaughtered in war.  Read up about it on Google -  isandlwana.  The movie "zulu"  was the stand of a small group of engineers against a portion of this army.
In 1902 JWs definitely held the wrong view of Canaans/Ham's offspring but this was corrected afterwards.  Today,  JWs in the entire world are one United nation while many other religions remain separate.  I saw many churches in USA 5 years ago where only black people attended, and many where only whites attend.  Most  white churches still believe that these are the offspring of Ham because they have not been taught the truth about the bible.  We have matured and hold Jehovahs views on race.
I joined a forum  recently as a JW.  The group wanted my views as a JW.  I was shocked to learn how racially divided USA is now and how many people hate whites just for their skin color and perceived past inustices.  Black Israelites took over the conversation and i wish to add - this is a growing trend in USA. USA has a lot of problems to deal with because they have not corrected the historical problems.  JWs have corrected historical errors.
If you want to know more about the superstitions in Africa- even amongst the educated..... I can inform you.  Latin America also have many superstitions which Catholicism has not removed.   These practices are not tolerated by JWs when members revert back to old spiritistic practices.   These JWs are corrected and unrepentent ones removed.  There was  a special booklet,  against all forms of spiritism, written which I used extensively in Africa...... and it is also used in the Caribean and south America.   The muslims are also very superstitious about the evil eye etc.  This is realities....in the world .... not fallacies. 
JWs now preach to anyone who has an ear to listen in over 1000 printed languages.  The bible is not bias but in 1902 ..... the JWs were..........which proves this point: if one allows jehovah to correct you and you follow the bible's guidance - you will get it right in the end .......and after all.... it is not the beginning that counts but the end of the race.

Dear @Arauna , nothing in my comments are written because of hate. Just try to openly discussing about religious practice and reasons for such beliefs and practice. 

Just sayin'

interesting isn't it?

That's only about 17% of the Governing Body being homosexual or homosexual child molesters.
I remember a survey the Catholic Church did about 35 years ago, (about the same time period ...) and  among catholic clergy, 20%  were homosexuals (no age preference was stated), 20% were sexually active heterosexuals (no age preference was stated), and 60% were celibate.  My memory may be faulty, as my brain is made mostly of old fat, and I fear the sound of frying bacon.
This proves we are FAR superior to them, and can exult in our smugness.
Of course, that does not count any clergy (which we have repeatedly claimed to be in numerous court cases, demanding clergy-penitent privilege ...) that WE have, below the level of GB.
But then again, since we are all considered Ordained Ministers, that makes our pool over 8 million clergy, even the baptized six year olds.
See?
It all depends on, like President Bill Clinton said during the "Monica Lewinsky" years, "It all depends on what your definition of "is", is."

We have had a very detailed policy and rule book, organizationally, since 2010, if memory serves, ."Shepharding the Flock of God"
Unfortunately it is only "Elder Eyes Only", and Sisters are not supposed to read it.
Most JWs do not even know this book exists.

We have had a very detailed policy and rule book, organizationally, since 2010, if memory serves, ."Shepharding the Flock of God"
Unfortunately it is only "Elder Eyes Only", and Sisters are not supposed to read it.
Most JWs do not even know this book exists.

That's only about 17% of the Governing Body being homosexual or homosexual child molesters.
I remember a survey the Catholic Church did about 35 years ago, (about the same time period ...) and  among catholic clergy, 20%  were homosexuals (no age preference was stated), 20% were sexually active heterosexuals (no age preference was stated), and 60% were celibate.  My memory may be faulty, as my brain is made mostly of old fat, and I fear the sound of frying bacon.
This proves we are FAR superior to them, and can exult in our smugness.
Of course, that does not count any clergy (which we have repeatedly claimed to be in numerous court cases, demanding clergy-penitent privilege ...) that WE have, below the level of GB.
But then again, since we are all considered Ordained Ministers, that makes our pool over 8 million clergy, even the baptized six year olds.
See?
It all depends on, like President Bill Clinton said during the "Monica Lewinsky" years, "It all depends on what your definition of "is", is."

That's only about 17% of the Governing Body being homosexual or homosexual child molesters.
I remember a survey the Catholic Church did about 35 years ago, (about the same time period ...) and  among catholic clergy, 20%  were homosexuals (no age preference was stated), 20% were sexually active heterosexuals (no age preference was stated), and 60% were celibate.  My memory may be faulty, as my brain is made mostly of old fat, and I fear the sound of frying bacon.
This proves we are FAR superior to them, and can exult in our smugness.
Of course, that does not count any clergy (which we have repeatedly claimed to be in numerous court cases, demanding clergy-penitent privilege ...) that WE have, below the level of GB.
But then again, since we are all considered Ordained Ministers, that makes our pool over 8 million clergy, even the baptized six year olds.
See?
It all depends on, like President Bill Clinton said during the "Monica Lewinsky" years, "It all depends on what your definition of "is", is."

I believe it does, on an individual and as a group.
Nevertheless, being a Barbarian at heart, I appreciate MANY things I could not have learned elsewhere, even though it was accompanied by heavy unnecessary burdens based solely on the opinions of pontificators.
One of those MAJOR things is that I did not go to Vietnam, and kill people for a national political agenda.
I wanted to go there as a photojournalist, which was probably a bad idea, as I am so large that my nickname might have been "Bullet Catcher", as it was for 63 photojournalists that died there.

We have had a very detailed policy and rule book, organizationally, since 2010, if memory serves, ."Shepharding the Flock of God"
Unfortunately it is only "Elder Eyes Only", and Sisters are not supposed to read it.
Most JWs do not even know this book exists.

IF holy spirit reached anyone in the JW Org it would be a great surprise to me.  
IF holy spirit reached the congregants then would they carry on serving the GB and the Org ?
IF holy spirit reached the congregants then would they still go into the 'ministry work' teaching the LIES to other people ?
Would congregants take on Bible Studies and teach LIES of men from books, by not using the Bible properly ? 
Would congregants encourage families into the K H knowing that there may be a paedophile in there ?
Well the congregants would know about the paedophile situation, if  the congregants were blessed with holy spirit. 
No, there is no holy spirit in the JW Org. If ever there was, which I cannot now believe, it has vanished. Almighty God has turned the 'tap' off. And you, Mr Rook, will know this more than I. Because you see the faults and lies, the injustice and lack of love, the lack of mercy, the man made rules as a heavy burden (as you mentioned). 
 
 
 

The above is complete hogwash.  What happened is that Joseph "Judge" Rutherford" tried to butter Hitler up in a conciliatory letter, before Hitler went completely bat-crap crazy ... but Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany almost "to the man" resisted Hitler, and were imprisoned and put to death without compromising any integrity toward God. Many Elders in Germany caved in to Hitler, because they were trying to appease Rutherford, but the rank-and-file JWs actual stand was magnificent, as a whole, and as a group.
And TTH did NOT indicate in any way that he "hated Trump".
You are seeing things that are not there ... BECAUSE it is you, Matthew9969, who has  a case of WDS "Watchtower Derangement Syndrome" and because your reasoning and logic processes are dominated by your bogus agenda, you are seeing things that are not there, and projecting those fantasys as originating from others.
"Be true to your own self, and it follows, you can be false to no man" (paraphrased) .
You have become in your derangement one very sad person to read, and that is why I voted you last two posts "sad"
You waste what intelligence you have.

Oh, and Matthew9969, If you want freedom of speech for yourself, morally, you have to allow for it in others, even if it is what YOU consider bluster and gross error.  To have the moral high ground you can legitimately point out someone's error, or ask them to "prove it", or to act, and call them a hypocrite, with or without a sound basis ... but you CANNOT demand or even contemplate that they "shut up", for not seeing things the same way you do.

I voted your remark "sad" because it truly is.
It is a meaningless non-sequitur with no relevance ... which you think is profound.

They are that these are not your words. Who wrote this?

In the OT, there is a direct command, “Thou shalt not kill (murder)!” This command should contain God's view of human life, which emphasizes that life is holy, sacred before God, but also that people must have the same feeling about the lives of other people around them.
By reading the Bible, which describes the events before and after the occurrence of this commandment, we can see that this commandment has no absolute power. Within the same set of legal provisions, there are other commandments that were binding on the Israelites, too. For example, commands like; "Don't steal, don't lie, don't commit fornication ...". These commandments should never have been ignored or mitigated by some extraordinary circumstances.
The specificity of this commandment, "You shall not kill," is evident in the fact that it was not of valid, obligation for all men and for all circumstances. Powerful individuals in Israel sometimes making their own decisions to go on military campaigns against others (Israelis and non-Israelis) The law also justified killing for revenge.
In some other places, God commands the death penalty against an individual. Also, the Bible describes that God instituted great actions that justified killing of other people. These were most often military actions aimed at killing soldiers of the enemy army, but also their families. The killings of these other tribes and people were justified on the basis of several facts: 1) they were not Israelis  2) they lived in territory that the Israel nation were to conquer for themselves, 3) they belonged to other religions.
The execution of the death penalty for a crime still exists today in some societies and legal systems. Obviously, the death penalty decision is based on balance. The one who killed must be killed. But from some other biblical examples we have seen that murder is not the only crime punishable by death. The disobedient child was also sentenced to death. Different religious affiliations or different religious beliefs also led to the death penalty. Adultery was punished by death.
From what we have described so far, we can see how the command, "shall not kill," had a stretched meaning. It is therefore necessary to look at religious practices that are not new but may draw some parallels in symbolism and meaning. As you may already guessed, it is about an act of symbolic "killing" that is carried out in such a way to exclude (disfellowship) another person from a particular social (religious) group in a specific way - by ignoring aka shunning. Shunning (this is about JW organization in particular) can be made because of two conclusions.
The first conclusion is reached by an individual JW member who believes that another member of the congregation has wronged/sinned against the Bible and its principles to the extent that he / she personally presents a spiritual anomaly (in the form of a spiritual illness or threat) and decides to "label" particular person as inappropriate for him to have socializing contacts. He seeks to avoid contact and minimize any literal and spiritual communion.
In second conclusion, the conviction of the inappropriateness of a member is made by the body of the elders. The judgment may be based on the morally inappropriate behavior of an individual member, or it may be that an individual no longer agrees with the ideological and organizational structure or with the theological solutions of the organization what made him/her as "hostile element".
This is when a person is removed from congregational members aka "spiritually killed" in such a way to excommunicate (dfd) them (he,she) from the community and impose a ban on almost every contact with the dfd person. The ban has few variations and interpretations of how the shunning should be carried out. But the very core of such a demand not to contact the excluded person is evident from the widespread practice that JW members have consistently implemented - the excluded (dfd) is not even greeted with the simplest “Good afternoon” greeting (hallo) on the street.
JW's want to be peaceful people who go to jail in some countries because not want even to carry weapon in mandatory military service. They don't want take self-defense courses even for protect themselves when attacked. But they are motivated to be active in using spiritual weapons and warfare against ex members who are in a disagreement with doctrinal issues. And "killing" them with shunning.  
What are your thoughts?