Ann O'Maly

Sa'fyre response leaves 'a good feeling about mankind'
Volunteers needed to help sort million letters, packages for young burn victim
By Paul Nelson
Updated 8:55 pm, Wednesday, January 13, 2016

 
 

Sa'fyre response leaves 'a good feeling about mankind'
Volunteers needed to help sort million letters, packages for young burn victim
By Paul Nelson
Updated 8:55 pm, Wednesday, January 13, 2016

 
 

Hi, I commented on this here, on the JW-archive site:
http://www.jw-archive.org/post/125719502618/could-the-biblical-garden-of-eden-be-under-the?fb_action_ids=481255295381459&fb_action_types=og.comments

TTH:
Every post from you is TRULY amazing! 
I am continually stunned at what you perceive the real world to be like.
In that same light ( old or new light?) I am posting a photo of me when I was a younger man, that some upstart Scottish truck driver turned actor turned into a successful movie career, just to deceive Jehovah's Witnesses from Russia, but with love.
 

 
.
.
..... think I should sue him?
... think I should sue him?

I don't want to come between yours and Ann's intellectual conversation, but I think you are analyzing too much @TrueTomHarley   Or else it's just an excuse to do some writing?

How WE see us:
How some RUSSIANS sees us:

Yes, it is a bit extreme ... but when you find it necessary to discipline one person, and you destroy him, his family, and extended family relationships .. it is cruel, viscous, and callous.
It also creates an atmosphere of fear, internally, for fear that YOU MIGHT BE NEXT,.
A boy that was baptized at age 8 who grows up and chooses another path based on his conscience at age 20 gets his family ripped apart ... something that DID NOT happen between Ruth and Naomi, who lived in a family of mixed religions before the husband died, and they immigrated to Israel.
Jehovah's Witnesses are becoming known globally NOT as a people for His name ... but for their brazen, blatant cruelty and unreasonableness.   That is a FACT! 
That is why with BILLIONS of hours spent witnessing last year, Europe's JW growth last year was utterly pathetic, and in some countries there was actually a LOSS.
I personally was dragged into "Room 101" last year by three angry Elders who chewed me out for responding "Hello.." to someone who started a conversation with me. 
After the initial shock and stunned disbelief that this crap NEVER ENDS .... I have decided since then that I am going to be pleasant with ANYONE who is pleasant with me. I will not discuss Theology with them, but I will be openly courteous and friendly with all.
Remember, even Jesus sat down and ate with sinners and tax collectors who had rejected the old Jewish System, which was STILL supported by Jehovah God !
The head-shot cartoon is a bit extreme, but for those who have deep love for their families, it is LESS CRUEL than current JW standard practices.
.The head of the Australian Royal Commission was flabbergasted that the Australian Branch head, under specific questioning about that .... did not understand that elementary fact.

Sa'fyre response leaves 'a good feeling about mankind'
Volunteers needed to help sort million letters, packages for young burn victim
By Paul Nelson
Updated 8:55 pm, Wednesday, January 13, 2016

 
 

Sa'fyre response leaves 'a good feeling about mankind'
Volunteers needed to help sort million letters, packages for young burn victim
By Paul Nelson
Updated 8:55 pm, Wednesday, January 13, 2016

 
 

Good! Because, for a minute there, I thought I recognized one of our local elders, there on the right.

Sa'fyre response leaves 'a good feeling about mankind'
Volunteers needed to help sort million letters, packages for young burn victim
By Paul Nelson
Updated 8:55 pm, Wednesday, January 13, 2016

 
 

Sa'fyre response leaves 'a good feeling about mankind'
Volunteers needed to help sort million letters, packages for young burn victim
By Paul Nelson
Updated 8:55 pm, Wednesday, January 13, 2016

 
 

Bad use of (parentheses). "Liverpool (for London)" is what I meant.
The PSL Johnson story is quite interesting. He had worked with Russell, too. In fact PSL Johnson was the one who tried to keep Russell from starting the "New Covenant" apostasy, so it wasn't the first time he had been involved in controversial problems. Henninges was loyal, but his wife had been involved in controversial problems, and his wife's brother had died "under Russell's roof" years earlier.

A  letter  personal  of  JW  C. T.  Russel !  Its  hand-writed,  now  safe  in  a  Bethel  house....
We  can  see  it  in  Bethel  *London* ;-))
 
   March 21, 0 [1900]
Dear Brother,
       Just a word of greetings to accompany lists I am now sending - not knowing what use you might have for them before reaching London. I have written you more at length by type-writer not yet ready.
       Glad to know of your safe arrival and glad to hope that you are still well & that the Lord's blessing attends your efforts to know his name & to bless his flock.
       My love to you & to all the dear ones with whom you are now associating - Bro. F. et al.
                          Yours in our dear Redeemer
                          C. T. Russell
 
( A help from our JW Insider,  for  better  reading  the  old  letter... Thank  you ! )

Baloney. 
 

Baloney. 
 

Hey, I was the one who raised that point with the video, but I don't think I ever said it was no good. I just thought it would have been better had the pedophile started out as a normal person, because esentially that is how they start out. The video (at least what I see) assumes that a pedophile is immediately identifiable because there is something different about them. In this case they are like a monster. In reality though, children are groomed very carefully and the younger they are the easier deceived they are. I think it would have been better had they started out looking normal, and as friends, and then turned into a monster in sinc with inappropriate behavior. That would have been more realistic. The mention of "even if it is someone you trust" may possibly get overlooked by a child, since they are so focused on the monster. Children have very selective hearing you know.
I dont think children are stupid, but it has been shown by experiment that young children will go with a stranger DESPITE having been taught not to! Why? Because practice is very different from theory, and and even us adults have trouble with the two, how much more so young children.
On the other hand, I very much doubt the video was put together without any thoughts or imput from professionals. The society has used the services of Monica Applewhite a number of times. I would be interested to know the reason for the way the video was made.
I have not seen the other video. Did someone post it?

Harley Miller. (In 1967 through 1970)
In 1967 (same year I was baptized) we pretty much knew the reason that anyone was put on probation or disfellowshipped because up until about this time the reason was sometimes announced from the platform. Depending on the nature of the "conduct unbecoming a Christian" and knowledge of the infraction within the congregation, it might be announced the same week or the next week. The brother was the "literature servant" and the "accounts servant," and yes he would lose his privileges, and then gain them back in a few months. But the seriousness of the problem (to the point of disfellowshipping) was when he was caught trying to keep it hidden, and had been in trouble for the same thing two times previously. It was hard keeping things completely hidden, however, because of the extended family (his brother, cousins, nephews, uncles) --some Witnesses, some not-- who also worked for the same boss. In a congregation of only about 45 publishers, there was also unavoidable gossip, and everyone knew each other pretty well. (We sold our house to this brother's brother.)
Some scriptures or some appropriate Watchtower comments would also be read from the platform. For example:
*** w68 8/1 p. 455 Keeping Abreast with Jehovah’s Organization ***
Since then God’s people have obtained a better understanding of many teachings. . . .They also understand better many Bible principles and requirements, such as the need to keep wholly separate from the military and religious parts of Satan’s organization even in employment.
Jehovah’s organization being a moving, progressive one, those who would keep abreast with it must also make progress. . . .  How can we who are Jehovah’s witnesses today keep abreast with God’s rapidly advancing earthly organization? A basic factor toward our doing so is obedience. . . . Of Jesus Christ while on earth it was stated that he learned obedience from the things he suffered. We too, then, must learn obedience.—Heb. 5:8; 13:17.
There are four things that we must do to perfect our obedience. . . .
So it was no secret. And because we knew, that's why I asked my father about his own labs in the electrical engineering dept of the university. They would get electronic military equipment and one of their major funding sources was a large yearly grant from the DoD. Sometimes the university would be expected to respond to requests for research the DoD needed.

OK.
That's believable. I personally know JWs who were pressured into not starting a family because 'the end was so close.' 

Baloney. 
 

It depends.
I think everyone's jumping the gun here. First, you'd have to learn to communicate effectively with them and learn their culture. Then you'd have to send missionaries and have a Remote Translation Office set up in their part of the galaxy. If the missionaries are not eaten or liquefied to become some kind of biofuel for their hover pods, then all's good. However, there might be some problems with internet signals so connection to the org's website on Earth could be an issue. But if those obstacles are overcome (lots of prayer and donations will be needed), an interested life-form would then have to complete two study books, regularly attend the meetings, decide whether it was going to wear either a suit and tie or a dress forever (once the decision has been made, it's irrevocable), actively evangelize its fellow life-forms, and only then would it be considered for water* baptism. 
* Unless it professes the heavenly calling, there is no other kind, because Bible.

@Bible Speaks There is still no evidence that Easter has anything to do with Ishtar. Seriously, it's no more of a link than to claim that Easter came from Queen Esther, or even that eggs contain cholesterol. I'm sure it's true that there was a lot of folklore that claimed there was a "god" of the West, North, South, and, of course, also the East (the dawn), but this is not so different than saying that there is an angel in charge of each of the four corners (directions) of the earth. 
(Revelation 7:1, 2) . . .After this I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding tight the four winds of the earth, so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. 2 And I saw another angel ascending from the East* [NWT, footnote]
There are non-Christian religious commentators that would look at that phrase in Revelation 7:2 and say that Christians have a 'god' or 'goddess' of the sunrise. In fact the current NWT translates the word "east" here as "sunrise" (dawn). An early name of Bible Students who followed the Watchtower was Dawn, Dawners, and Millennial Dawn. If someone came along and said that early followers of the Watchtower were based on pagan religion who worshiped pyramids and a god of the Dawn, we would rightly be upset at being misjudged. Yet this is what we are trying to do others when we 'paint with such a broad brush.'
It's true that Eggs and Rabbits are fertility symbols, just like spring flowers, and birds and bees and "dogwood trees" are also fertility symbols. Obviously it makes no sense to add flowers, and rabbits, and eggs and "peeps" (marshmallow baby chicks) to a celebration that should have been about the joy of Christ's resurrection. But this doesn't mean that we need to imply that all persons who want to celebrate Easter are "Babylonish" and wicked. Remember that with the measuring cup we are measuring out, we will be judged in return.
The Jews came up with several new special holidays (or fast days) to commemorate the terrible events that befell their capital city, their government, and their Temple at Jerusalem.
*** it-1 p. 812 Fast ***
Four Annual Fasts of the Jews. The Jews established many fasts, and at one time had four annual ones, evidently to mark the calamitous events associated with Jerusalem’s siege and desolation in the seventh century B.C.E. (Zec 8:19) The four annual fasts were: (1) “The fast of the fourth month” apparently commemorated the breaching of Jerusalem’s walls by the Babylonians on Tammuz 9, 607 B.C.E. (2Ki 25:2-4; Jer 52:5-7) (2) It was in the fifth Jewish month Ab that the temple was destroyed, and evidently “the fast of the fifth month” was held as a reminder of this event. (2Ki 25:8, 9; Jer 52:12, 13) (3) “The fast of the seventh month” was apparently held as a sad remembrance of Gedaliah’s death or of the complete desolation of the land following Gedaliah’s assassination when the remaining Jews, out of fear of the Babylonians, went down into Egypt. (2Ki 25:22-26) (4) “The fast of the tenth month” may have been associated with the exiled Jews already in Babylon receiving the sad news that Jerusalem had fallen (compare Eze 33:21), or it may have commemorated the commencement of Nebuchadnezzar’s successful siege against Jerusalem on the tenth day of that month, in 609 B.C.E.
They weren't condemned for setting aside these new holidays that hadn't been commanded as part of the Mosaic Law. It was a natural human thing to want to remember such important occasions. Other occasions, also not in the Mosaic Law, were set aside for feasting and happiness, such as the festival of Purim based on events surrounding Queen Esther. Another was the festival of Hanukkah that the apostle John spoke about.
(John 10:22, 23) 22 At that time the festival of Hanukkah* took place in Jerusalem. It was wintertime, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple in the colonnade of Solʹo·mon. [*NWT, footnote]
*** Rbi8 John 10:22 ***
“The festival of dedication (Hanukkah).” J22(Heb.), chagh ha·chanuk·kahʹ.
The point is that Christians, just like the Jews, would be expected to want to commemorate both sad and happy occasions with holidays (holy days). Calling the occasion Paschal or Easter should not condemn it or force us to judge those who want to celebrate something so joyous as the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Choosing Sunday should be no surprise, and choosing the "dawn" should be no surprise:
(Matthew 28:1-6) . . .After the Sabbath [Saturday], when it was growing light [dawn] on the first day of the week [Sunday], Mary Magʹda·lene and the other Mary came to view the grave. 2 And look! a great earthquake had taken place, for Jehovah’s angel had descended from heaven and had come and rolled away the stone, and he was sitting on it. . . .. 5 But the angel said to the women: “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was executed on the stake. 6 He is not here, for he was raised up, just as he said.. . .
We have every right to point out that such a holiday is being diminished by adding fertility symbols to it, but we have no right to judge anyone on the entire idea of celebrating Easter or "Resurrection Sunday."
(Romans 14:5-9) 5 One man judges one day as above another; another judges one day the same as all others; let each one be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day observes it to Jehovah. Also, the one who eats, eats to Jehovah, for he gives thanks to God; and the one who does not eat does not eat to Jehovah, and yet gives thanks to God. 7 Not one of us, in fact, lives with regard to himself only, and no one dies with regard to himself only. 8 For if we live, we live to Jehovah, and if we die, we die to Jehovah. So both if we live and if we die, we belong to Jehovah. 9 For to this end Christ died and came to life again, so that he might be Lord over both the dead and the living.
Judging others and looking down on others makes us feel superior, but we need to put ourselves in the "shoes" of others, and think about what their perspective is. Do we really judge them all as motivated toward a fertility rite. If we were that sensitive to everything that has been tainted by some form of non-Christian or non-Jewish religion, would we use the names for the days of the week? Would we buy cut flowers in the spring? Would we include a ring ceremony at weddings? Would we go to fertility doctors who can discover chemical and biological reasons to help overcome fertility issues, instead of just praying to Jehovah? Would Christians ever allow their sons to be circumcised, knowing that this was spoken of as a fertility rite for Abraham's offspring (fertility) to be as numerous as the stars or sands of the seashore?
Do we speak out so judgmentally against Jacob for practicing the old fertility rite which was apparently the same as "thrusting the shoot under the nose"?
(Ezekiel 8:17) . . .and that they should offend me again, and here they are thrusting out the shoot to my [or, their] nose?
(Genesis 30:37-43) 37 Jacob then took freshly cut staffs of the storax, almond, and plane trees, and he peeled white spots in them by exposing the white wood of the staffs. 38 Then he placed the staffs that he had peeled in front of the flock, in the gutters, in the drinking troughs, where the flocks would come to drink, that they might get into heat in front of them when they came to drink. 39 So the flocks would get into heat in front of the staffs, and the flocks would produce striped, speckled, and color-patched offspring. 40 Then Jacob separated the young rams and turned the flocks to face the striped ones and all the dark-brown ones among the flocks of Laʹban. Then he separated his own flocks and did not mix them with Laʹban’s flocks. 41 And whenever the robust animals would get into heat, Jacob would place the staffs in the gutters before the eyes of the flocks, that they might get into heat by the staffs. 42 But when the animals were weak, he would not place the staffs there. So the weak ones always came to be Laʹban’s, but the robust ones became Jacob’s. 43 And the man grew very prosperous, and he acquired great flocks and male and female servants and camels and donkeys.
This fertility rite is credited with making him rich and prosperous. Such rites were supposed to influence God (or gods) to make the thing happen as desired by the one performing the rite, yet Jehovah never judged Jacob for believing in the fertility rite.
The Watchtower is correct to point out the fact that such fertility symbols diminish the meaning of Easter, but I think we follow a very judgmental path when we start tying Easter itself to Babylon. Perhaps it's just me, but I think it's too judgmental to make the leap from finding things wrong with Easter celebrations to then saying, as you said:
Really? No Christ at all? I think we do better in our ministry if we come across as less judgmental and more loving, more understanding of the perspective of others.
(1 Corinthians 9:19-23) . . .. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew in order to gain Jews; to those under law I became as under law, though I myself am not under law, in order to gain those under law. 21 To those without law I became as without law, although I am not without law toward God but under law toward Christ, in order to gain those without law. 22 To the weak I became weak, in order to gain the weak. I have become all things to people of all sorts, so that I might by all possible means save some. 23 But I do all things for the sake of the good news, in order to share it with others.
 

I would think Easter Sunday.
Hm. Yes.
I thought the section on Lent was interesting - that eating eggs, meat and dairy was forbidden by the church during that fasting period, but hens would continue to lay eggs, so when Lent was over, there would be a stockpile of eggs to use up and that may partly account for eggs being part of Easter traditions. And then there's the symbolism related to Jesus' tomb - like the egg, it looks dormant on the outside but new life emerges from it.
Again, as I've said elsewhere about the cross and some Christmas customs (and as the Awake! said about piñatas), regardless of what pagans did with artefacts in the past, Christians viewed them differently and endowed them with Christian meanings. E.g. pagans had their blood sacrifices, but I'm sure a JW wouldn't try to argue that Jewish animal sacrifices or Jesus' human blood sacrifice are of pagan origin and are therefore God-dishonoring. Some depictions of the goddess Artemis have her with a watch tower crowning her head. Does this mean the Organization is using a pagan symbol for its logo? No. The Org's symbol comes from Bible verses.