JW Insider

I, who am from the area, have never heard this term. However, it IS true that the concluding speaker at a Syracuse District Convention several years back observed how everyone present had imitated Acts 28:12.
Putting into port at Syracuse, we remained there for three days; 

I'll think about your post later. but will just provide some detail to keep inclusion of this detail on topic.
I came across the Atlantean Society many years ago when I was searching for answers, prior to studying the Bible. It was in an article in a volume of Pears Cyclopedia in a section on beliefs which I no longer possess. What I found curious was that they claimed (maybe still do?) spirit contact with some(one?) who had lived in Atlantis which was, they held, the antideluvian world which had been catastrophically ended.
Although interest in Atlantis persists, I haven't been able to to find much information on this paticular group now (the information wasn't on gold plates I promise), but I was curious as it seemed connected in view of this thread's subject matter and the era. In fact, along with the Theosophical movement, it might well deserve a place on Anna's list.  I was hoping someone else might have some knowledge. 

Uh oh! He's got a list!

And just to help you keep @Anna's interest, she should know that Joseph Smith of Mormon fame also had his start in the Burned-over district. (In the same time period when Second Adventists began rescorching the region.)

Yes. That was dumb of me, I shouldn't have used his name. I went ahead and edited it out.

And I'm now editing out my reference to it. It's now a mystery!
 

Ever notice that demonic people always dress the same?
 

 
Thank you both!
I did discover though that I can go back and edit the title of the topic. I have actually done that several times now as I started only with "Seola aka Angels and Women", but there is only so much one can say about a book, and so when I introduced some of the background on spiritism I added mummies...and then the "plethora" in hopes this would cover a broader scope. Then I realised we were no longer discussing the 1800's so I added "onward". This is my way of beating that "old hen" Librarian, who, believe it or not, introduced a topic of the Smurfs right here, and even bid others to comment on what they knew about them. But then took it down within the hour realising that was introducing an entirely different topic! Ha! So.....I will just edit the topic as needed and that will stop "the old hen" from shutting down further comments! This is MY topic, so lay off Librarian

Yes, you are right. I was focused on what we can know about them based on the experiences we hear reported from all over the world, and how much of this appears tied to what we can know from Biblical examples. Also, I hadn't yet reached the post where you had yourself quoted the same scripture in 2 Cor 2:11 and made the correct point very clearly.
There, we must agree to agree.
True, I would not own a Ouija board, but if I were a brother who drove a truck for the Postal Services, Fed Ex, "Toys R Us" stores or "Amazon" I wouldn't care less whether someone had just sold either a brand new or a seance-used Ouija board and I was delivering it. I had a book called "Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700: A Documentary History" on a shelf in my office library (at home) and a sister (who must have gotten "lost" after a circuitous trip to an upstairs bathroom) saw it and chided me for it. I removed it from the shelf, but I still own it and might even get around to reading it someday.
That's a given. But do we want to be a part of helping the Devil get the word out that he can possess objects if he cannot? That may have been what we were doing when we warned people that things they buy from Goodwill and garage sales might be possessed.
No, I haven't. But where rationalizations are rational, or based on the Bible, we can surely discuss whether or not we are truly letting our reasonableness be known to all. I went to school in a rural area of Missouri for several years where several houses in our area were "haunted" according to schoolmates and even some of the Witnesses. When the rural school was closed after I attended from 1964-1970, I moved into the city school. I learned that the people in the city school who lived on the properties next to those old abandoned houses never believed the stories, and had been through those houses themselves, and that it mostly used by boys taking their young girlfriends who would be the ones to be scared. So I admit that my feelings about haunted houses are skewed away from the typical beliefs that several others in the congregation had. We had a brother who came up from Florida who loved telling ghost stories. He seemed to have so many that I didn't trust him to be telling the truth all the time. So I would agree again that I probably rationalized away a lot of what he claimed, and believed it to be false. But, like Anna, I would happily hear about experiences to help me get a fuller picture.

Read this question, come up with an answer and then scroll down to the
bottom for the result. This is not a trick question . It is as it
reads.

No one I know has gotten it right. Few people do.

A woman, while at the funeral of her own mother, met a guy whom she did
not know. She thought this guy was amazing. She believed him to be
her dream guy so much that she fell in love with him right there, but
never asked for his number and could not find him. A few days later
she killed her sister.

Question: What is her motive for killing her sister?

[Give this some thought before you answer, see answer below]











Answer:

She was hoping the guy would appear at the funeral again. If you
answered this correctly, you think like a psychopath. This was a test
by a famous American Psychologist used to determine if one has the same
mentality as a killer. Many arrested serial killers took part in the
test and answered the question correctly. If you didn't answer the
question correctly, good for you.

If you got the answer correct, please let me know so I can take
your crazy ass off my list! 

Nothing of the sort is in there. I have the 350-page document I got here:
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/Agenda21.pdf
What is the link to the document you are talking about? If it's the same one, why does it say nothing about Colorado, California or Washington D.C.?
I know that a lot of fundamentalist religions (including the Tea Party) are quick to make a conspiracy theory about anything that comes from the United Nations. (Many Witnesses have done this for years, too.) There will always be the danger of government over-reach and mismanagement of these ideas, but as far as the ideas themselves, they are excellent. I don't think they go far enough.

Your experience reminds me of a thought I had when I read this bit of "news" back in 1992
*** g92 8/22 p. 29 Watching the World ***
Demonism in Rome  Gabriele Amorth claims that he has dealt with 12,000 cases of demon possession in the city of Rome alone since his appointment as a Catholic exorcist in 1986. “Why so many?” asked a journalist of the Italian newspaper Il Tempo. “All traditionally Catholic countries,” the priest asserted, “are immersed in a sea of infestation. Demon attacks can no longer be stemmed.” Amorth had harsh words for Rome: “The city of the pope is the most demon-possessed in the world. Over a hundred satanic cults operate there . . . Everybody should know that many children disappear in Rome and are used in satanic rites.” Of course, this man was just as likely to find that the reason for the demon possession, in his mind, was that he found an old Truth book under the bed.
When we were dating, my wife had a study with a couple that I took over when we got married. (Both now baptized for 30 years.) Many nights, both the husband and the wife would hear things being thrown and dishes breaking, etc. My wife had already gone through all the ideas about getting rid of all crosses and religious imagery (which they gladly did). I had been a complete skeptic, not about the fact of demon possession, but about the object and manner of demon possession. This skepticism started especially after hearing the comment of a District Overseer vetting assembly experiences around 1974/5. At any rate, I had never expected to hear about both a husband and wife simultaneously experiencing the same thing.
We told them to try praying aloud and calling out the name "Jehovah" which was always the best solution offered during the assembly experiences. They claimed that they had even called out "Jehovah! Jehovah!" and it didn't work. (Although I have personally heard persons claim that it worked for them and others.) What finally worked was to just tell them to call us any time of the day or night when the experience happened.
I might have mentioned it when this came up during a recent discussion of the pronunciation of YHWH, but it appears that some of the magical amulets and magical papyri in Egypt show that the spiritistic magicians around the time of Jesus' human life were using the pronunciation "Je-ho-vah" (in addition to Ye-ho-wa, Yahuweh, Joweh, Jove, etc) as a way to invoke the spirit of magic. It occurred to me then, although I didn't mention it, that these magicians were, in effect, invoking demons by calling out "Jehovah!! Jehovah!"
In our congregation in Missouri in 1964 to 1974 I remember many talks that seemed to be aimed at the sisters who shopped at Goodwill and Salvation Army. Salvation Army was ruled against for its religious ties anyway, but for those who hadn't made a religious connection to Goodwill Industries, there were always warnings about how items that might seem innocuous could still be demon-possessed. What JTR pointed out here once, which surprised me for how obvious it seems now, was that no one ever warned the brothers that a used car (or car parts from a junk-yard, or a used lawn-mower, etc) might just as well be demon-possessed. It was always the things that women were known to shop for.
 

There is nothing wrong with the single idea that the due time is near. Even if it is 1,000 years in the future, it is nearer now than when we first became believers. The book of Revelation appears intended to bring that day "close in mind." It makes it easier to imagine by giving us imagery and symbols that make us desirous of getting through the "pangs of distress" as @John Houston mentioned, and finally reaching the "new heavens and new earth" of Revelation 21 and 22. Revelation itself mentions that the "due time is near."
(Revelation 1:1-3) 1 A revelation by Jesus Christ, which God gave him, to show his slaves the things that must shortly take place. And he sent forth his angel and presented [it] in signs through him to his slave John, 2 who bore witness to the word God gave and to the witness Jesus Christ gave, even to all the things he saw. 3 Happy is he who reads aloud and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and who observe the things written in it; for the appointed time is near. Peter provides a good commentary that fits both Revelation and Jesus' revelation in Matthew 24 and Luke 21. Peter gives us a practical way to view these revelations about Christ's parousia.
(1 Peter 4:7-10) 7 But the end of all things has drawn close. Therefore, be sound in mind, and be vigilant with a view to prayers. 8 Above all things, have intense love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. 10 To the extent that each one has received a gift, use it in ministering to one another as fine stewards of God’s undeserved kindness that is expressed in various ways. (2 Peter 3:11-13) 11 Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, consider what sort of people you ought to be in holy acts of conduct and deeds of godly devotion, 12 as you await and keep close in mind the presence of the day of Jehovah, through which the heavens will be destroyed in flames and the elements will melt in the intense heat! 13 But there are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell. 2 Peter 1 pointed out that Christ's parousia could be 1,000 years off, or even on the order of 1,000's of years off. People would even be ridiculing Christians for the fact that things are still going on as they always were, so that it was obvious that the parousia had not yet begun. They were already doing that when the letters of 2 Peter and Jude were being written. People were still doing that in the year 1000 C.E. and 2000 C.E, and although it gets harder to see how things could go one, Jehovah might even allow things to go on to 3000 C.E. But this does not mean that the end is not "near" or "close." Then end of all things, the day of the Lord, could arrive tonight at 6:30 p.m. But for all of us , it is as near as the end of our own lifetime, after which our very next thought or breath would be in the "new heavens and new earth." No matter what, that's how Christians should live their lives.

Nothing of the sort is in there. I have the 350-page document I got here:
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/Agenda21.pdf
What is the link to the document you are talking about? If it's the same one, why does it say nothing about Colorado, California or Washington D.C.?
I know that a lot of fundamentalist religions (including the Tea Party) are quick to make a conspiracy theory about anything that comes from the United Nations. (Many Witnesses have done this for years, too.) There will always be the danger of government over-reach and mismanagement of these ideas, but as far as the ideas themselves, they are excellent. I don't think they go far enough.

I remember researching this connection once. It's also possible that the connection between spiritism (pharmakeia) and pharmacology is there, but might not be as close as we have imagined. Those who sold and studied herbs and medicines and poisons (drugs) were put into the same category as those who were known to use herbs and medicines and poisons to induce magic, spells, trances, or even induce prophecy and oracles.
As sure as dervishes will whirl, being a prophet was associated with strange behavior:
(Numbers 11:25) . . .And as soon as the spirit settled down on them, they began to behave as prophets, but they did not do it again. (1 Samuel 19:20) . . ., the spirit of God came to be upon Saul’s messengers, and they began behaving as prophets as well. (1 Samuel 19:22-24) . . .” 23 While Saul was on his way from there to Naiʹoth in Raʹmah, the spirit of God came upon him as well, and he walked along behaving as a prophet until he came into Naiʹoth in Raʹmah. 24 He also stripped off his garments, and he too behaved as a prophet before Samuel, and he lay there naked all that day and all that night. That is why they say: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” But oddly the "spirit medium" at Endor whom Saul visited was called a "bottle" in Hebrew. It's the same word here too: 
(Isaiah 8:19) 19 And if they say to you: “Inquire of the spirit mediums or of the fortune-tellers who chirp and mutter,” (Isaiah 29:4) 4 And you must become low so that you will speak from the very earth, and as from the dust your saying will sound low. And like a spirit medium your voice must become even from the earth, and from the dust your own saying will chirp. When the Greeks behind the LXX saw this word for "spirit medium" they translated it "engastrimyth" or "ventriloquist" -- so there's your "spirit" = "wind" = "vent." But not really, of course. The Latin translators used the word "python" in these places. 
1 Sam 28:7 (LXX) . . .καὶ ζητήσω ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ εἶπαν οἱ παῖδες αὐτοῦ πρὸς αὐτόν ἰδοὺ γυνὴ ἐγγαστρίμυθος ἐν Αενδωρ 1 Sam 28:7 (Latin V.) . . .et sciscitabor per illam et dixerunt servi eius ad eum est mulier habens pythonem in Aendor It's all tied back together for us here in the Acts 16:16 footnote in the NWT:
*** Rbi8 Acts 16:16 ***
Lit., “with a spirit of python.” Gr., eʹkhou·san pneuʹma pyʹtho·na. "Spirit of a python" is the literal wording that the NWT translates as "demon of divination."
(Acts 16:16) 16 And it happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a certain servant girl with a spirit, a demon of divination, met us. She used to furnish her masters with much gain by practicing the art of prediction. Insight adds the following:
*** it-1 p. 638 Divination ***
“Spirit of Python.” In Philippi, Macedonia, Paul met a servant girl who was possessed by “a spirit, a demon of divination,” literally, “a spirit of python” (Gr., pneuʹma pyʹtho·na; Ac 16:16). “Python” was the name of the mythical snake that guarded the temple and oracle of Delphi, Greece. The word pyʹthon came to refer to a person who could foretell the future and also to the spirit that spoke through that one. Although later used to denote a ventriloquist, here in Acts it is used to describe a demon who enabled a young girl to practice the art of prediction. The reason for the Hebrew word "bottle" is not because of genies in a bottle or bottles sold at pharmacies, but probably simply because of the low, echoing sound you hear from tapping on a bottle made from skin, or the way it changes the sound of your voice when speaking "through" the bottle. So words sometimes got attached to ideas, and remained there, not strictly because of a direct connection that was still continuing but sometimes from a connection that was nearly lost over time. (Although the connection between SOME forms of pharmacy and SOME forms of witchcraft remain even today.)
Other examples of words that might have had spiritistic or astrological origin, but have lost that meaning over time were mentioned recently under another topic. They might include the words:
capricious disaster, influenza, jovial, lunatic, martial, mazel tov, mercurial, saturnine, venerial, etc.

Amazing! First I ever heard of this. I just skimmed a 1,551 page pdf file, where someone went to the trouble to digitize this thing into searchable text and links. What an amazing waste of time!
Just saw this on a Google search for one of the links:
Oahspe is a book written in 1880 by an American dentist named John Ballou Newbrough [1828-1891]. He claimed that it was the result of automatic writing, Interesting that Seola was not claimed by its own author to have been anything like "automatic writing," and yet even as early as Russell himself it may have been seen as a kind of "inspired" or "automatic writing." I don't see the original author claiming that she even used a strangely mixed musical performance as a way to get at the information, as is implied in an early review of the book. Only that, like a lot of secular authors, she claims that listening to beautiful music helped her muse as an author. "Angels and Women" was edited so heavily after Seola that I have wondered if the claim that it was "dictated" by a "fallen angel" wasn't just a ruse to make some money through one of the Society's publications (The Golden Age). Both Woodworth and Russell had (at other times) used their publications for the purpose of raising money. (Solon Society, for example.)
 

Your experience reminds me of a thought I had when I read this bit of "news" back in 1992
*** g92 8/22 p. 29 Watching the World ***
Demonism in Rome  Gabriele Amorth claims that he has dealt with 12,000 cases of demon possession in the city of Rome alone since his appointment as a Catholic exorcist in 1986. “Why so many?” asked a journalist of the Italian newspaper Il Tempo. “All traditionally Catholic countries,” the priest asserted, “are immersed in a sea of infestation. Demon attacks can no longer be stemmed.” Amorth had harsh words for Rome: “The city of the pope is the most demon-possessed in the world. Over a hundred satanic cults operate there . . . Everybody should know that many children disappear in Rome and are used in satanic rites.” Of course, this man was just as likely to find that the reason for the demon possession, in his mind, was that he found an old Truth book under the bed.
When we were dating, my wife had a study with a couple that I took over when we got married. (Both now baptized for 30 years.) Many nights, both the husband and the wife would hear things being thrown and dishes breaking, etc. My wife had already gone through all the ideas about getting rid of all crosses and religious imagery (which they gladly did). I had been a complete skeptic, not about the fact of demon possession, but about the object and manner of demon possession. This skepticism started especially after hearing the comment of a District Overseer vetting assembly experiences around 1974/5. At any rate, I had never expected to hear about both a husband and wife simultaneously experiencing the same thing.
We told them to try praying aloud and calling out the name "Jehovah" which was always the best solution offered during the assembly experiences. They claimed that they had even called out "Jehovah! Jehovah!" and it didn't work. (Although I have personally heard persons claim that it worked for them and others.) What finally worked was to just tell them to call us any time of the day or night when the experience happened.
I might have mentioned it when this came up during a recent discussion of the pronunciation of YHWH, but it appears that some of the magical amulets and magical papyri in Egypt show that the spiritistic magicians around the time of Jesus' human life were using the pronunciation "Je-ho-vah" (in addition to Ye-ho-wa, Yahuweh, Joweh, Jove, etc) as a way to invoke the spirit of magic. It occurred to me then, although I didn't mention it, that these magicians were, in effect, invoking demons by calling out "Jehovah!! Jehovah!"
In our congregation in Missouri in 1964 to 1974 I remember many talks that seemed to be aimed at the sisters who shopped at Goodwill and Salvation Army. Salvation Army was ruled against for its religious ties anyway, but for those who hadn't made a religious connection to Goodwill Industries, there were always warnings about how items that might seem innocuous could still be demon-possessed. What JTR pointed out here once, which surprised me for how obvious it seems now, was that no one ever warned the brothers that a used car (or car parts from a junk-yard, or a used lawn-mower, etc) might just as well be demon-possessed. It was always the things that women were known to shop for.
 

Are you thinking, therefore, that it's possible that Rutherford or Woodworth lied to get more recognition for the "Angels & Women" book? 

I remember researching this connection once. It's also possible that the connection between spiritism (pharmakeia) and pharmacology is there, but might not be as close as we have imagined. Those who sold and studied herbs and medicines and poisons (drugs) were put into the same category as those who were known to use herbs and medicines and poisons to induce magic, spells, trances, or even induce prophecy and oracles.
As sure as dervishes will whirl, being a prophet was associated with strange behavior:
(Numbers 11:25) . . .And as soon as the spirit settled down on them, they began to behave as prophets, but they did not do it again. (1 Samuel 19:20) . . ., the spirit of God came to be upon Saul’s messengers, and they began behaving as prophets as well. (1 Samuel 19:22-24) . . .” 23 While Saul was on his way from there to Naiʹoth in Raʹmah, the spirit of God came upon him as well, and he walked along behaving as a prophet until he came into Naiʹoth in Raʹmah. 24 He also stripped off his garments, and he too behaved as a prophet before Samuel, and he lay there naked all that day and all that night. That is why they say: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” But oddly the "spirit medium" at Endor whom Saul visited was called a "bottle" in Hebrew. It's the same word here too: 
(Isaiah 8:19) 19 And if they say to you: “Inquire of the spirit mediums or of the fortune-tellers who chirp and mutter,” (Isaiah 29:4) 4 And you must become low so that you will speak from the very earth, and as from the dust your saying will sound low. And like a spirit medium your voice must become even from the earth, and from the dust your own saying will chirp. When the Greeks behind the LXX saw this word for "spirit medium" they translated it "engastrimyth" or "ventriloquist" -- so there's your "spirit" = "wind" = "vent." But not really, of course. The Latin translators used the word "python" in these places. 
1 Sam 28:7 (LXX) . . .καὶ ζητήσω ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ εἶπαν οἱ παῖδες αὐτοῦ πρὸς αὐτόν ἰδοὺ γυνὴ ἐγγαστρίμυθος ἐν Αενδωρ 1 Sam 28:7 (Latin V.) . . .et sciscitabor per illam et dixerunt servi eius ad eum est mulier habens pythonem in Aendor It's all tied back together for us here in the Acts 16:16 footnote in the NWT:
*** Rbi8 Acts 16:16 ***
Lit., “with a spirit of python.” Gr., eʹkhou·san pneuʹma pyʹtho·na. "Spirit of a python" is the literal wording that the NWT translates as "demon of divination."
(Acts 16:16) 16 And it happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a certain servant girl with a spirit, a demon of divination, met us. She used to furnish her masters with much gain by practicing the art of prediction. Insight adds the following:
*** it-1 p. 638 Divination ***
“Spirit of Python.” In Philippi, Macedonia, Paul met a servant girl who was possessed by “a spirit, a demon of divination,” literally, “a spirit of python” (Gr., pneuʹma pyʹtho·na; Ac 16:16). “Python” was the name of the mythical snake that guarded the temple and oracle of Delphi, Greece. The word pyʹthon came to refer to a person who could foretell the future and also to the spirit that spoke through that one. Although later used to denote a ventriloquist, here in Acts it is used to describe a demon who enabled a young girl to practice the art of prediction. The reason for the Hebrew word "bottle" is not because of genies in a bottle or bottles sold at pharmacies, but probably simply because of the low, echoing sound you hear from tapping on a bottle made from skin, or the way it changes the sound of your voice when speaking "through" the bottle. So words sometimes got attached to ideas, and remained there, not strictly because of a direct connection that was still continuing but sometimes from a connection that was nearly lost over time. (Although the connection between SOME forms of pharmacy and SOME forms of witchcraft remain even today.)
Other examples of words that might have had spiritistic or astrological origin, but have lost that meaning over time were mentioned recently under another topic. They might include the words:
capricious disaster, influenza, jovial, lunatic, martial, mazel tov, mercurial, saturnine, venerial, etc.

Your experience reminds me of a thought I had when I read this bit of "news" back in 1992
*** g92 8/22 p. 29 Watching the World ***
Demonism in Rome  Gabriele Amorth claims that he has dealt with 12,000 cases of demon possession in the city of Rome alone since his appointment as a Catholic exorcist in 1986. “Why so many?” asked a journalist of the Italian newspaper Il Tempo. “All traditionally Catholic countries,” the priest asserted, “are immersed in a sea of infestation. Demon attacks can no longer be stemmed.” Amorth had harsh words for Rome: “The city of the pope is the most demon-possessed in the world. Over a hundred satanic cults operate there . . . Everybody should know that many children disappear in Rome and are used in satanic rites.” Of course, this man was just as likely to find that the reason for the demon possession, in his mind, was that he found an old Truth book under the bed.
When we were dating, my wife had a study with a couple that I took over when we got married. (Both now baptized for 30 years.) Many nights, both the husband and the wife would hear things being thrown and dishes breaking, etc. My wife had already gone through all the ideas about getting rid of all crosses and religious imagery (which they gladly did). I had been a complete skeptic, not about the fact of demon possession, but about the object and manner of demon possession. This skepticism started especially after hearing the comment of a District Overseer vetting assembly experiences around 1974/5. At any rate, I had never expected to hear about both a husband and wife simultaneously experiencing the same thing.
We told them to try praying aloud and calling out the name "Jehovah" which was always the best solution offered during the assembly experiences. They claimed that they had even called out "Jehovah! Jehovah!" and it didn't work. (Although I have personally heard persons claim that it worked for them and others.) What finally worked was to just tell them to call us any time of the day or night when the experience happened.
I might have mentioned it when this came up during a recent discussion of the pronunciation of YHWH, but it appears that some of the magical amulets and magical papyri in Egypt show that the spiritistic magicians around the time of Jesus' human life were using the pronunciation "Je-ho-vah" (in addition to Ye-ho-wa, Yahuweh, Joweh, Jove, etc) as a way to invoke the spirit of magic. It occurred to me then, although I didn't mention it, that these magicians were, in effect, invoking demons by calling out "Jehovah!! Jehovah!"
In our congregation in Missouri in 1964 to 1974 I remember many talks that seemed to be aimed at the sisters who shopped at Goodwill and Salvation Army. Salvation Army was ruled against for its religious ties anyway, but for those who hadn't made a religious connection to Goodwill Industries, there were always warnings about how items that might seem innocuous could still be demon-possessed. What JTR pointed out here once, which surprised me for how obvious it seems now, was that no one ever warned the brothers that a used car (or car parts from a junk-yard, or a used lawn-mower, etc) might just as well be demon-possessed. It was always the things that women were known to shop for.
 

Amazing! First I ever heard of this. I just skimmed a 1,551 page pdf file, where someone went to the trouble to digitize this thing into searchable text and links. What an amazing waste of time!
Just saw this on a Google search for one of the links:
Oahspe is a book written in 1880 by an American dentist named John Ballou Newbrough [1828-1891]. He claimed that it was the result of automatic writing, Interesting that Seola was not claimed by its own author to have been anything like "automatic writing," and yet even as early as Russell himself it may have been seen as a kind of "inspired" or "automatic writing." I don't see the original author claiming that she even used a strangely mixed musical performance as a way to get at the information, as is implied in an early review of the book. Only that, like a lot of secular authors, she claims that listening to beautiful music helped her muse as an author. "Angels and Women" was edited so heavily after Seola that I have wondered if the claim that it was "dictated" by a "fallen angel" wasn't just a ruse to make some money through one of the Society's publications (The Golden Age). Both Woodworth and Russell had (at other times) used their publications for the purpose of raising money. (Solon Society, for example.)
 

I think that cities are considered to be terror threats, even though JWs are not the target.  Also, continuous new building projects, and property sales, can be a way to gain some good publicity, at least neutral if not positively positive. Property is of interest to everyone, even where religion is of no interest to some. Rutherford knew this when he had the deed written up for a large house in San Diego. Also, it will look the same as expansion even if it is part of downsizing. You can buy a lot of property outside a large city for the same price of a small property inside a large city.
Interesting, I just read Agenda 21. I think, for the most part, it's really good. Hope it's not too little too late for too many. But these are great ideas. Thanks.
Agreed. Wallkill is beautiful this time of year. Glad for your son.

Not quite.
Reporting on the fact that Austria had implemented the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights of July 2008 regarding recognition of Jehovah's Witnesses in Austria, the news source, derstandard.at,  stated that: 
"It's not over yet"
8 May 2009, 12:43
Recognition is "milestone, anyway, Jehovah's Witnesses demand change in the legal situation
Vienna - After their recognition as a religious community, the Jehovah's Witnesses continue to pose a change in the legal situation. The recognition is a "milestone", Walter Schneeweiß, a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses board, on Friday at a press conference. 
http://derstandard.at/1241622251341/Zeugen-Jehovas-Es-ist-noch-lange-nicht-zu-Ende
The Austrian Jehovah's Witnesses website also mentions this report.
https://www.jehovas-zeugen.at/Presseschau.19.0.html
So it appears legal recognition obligates to some communal participation as a state recognised religion. Attendance at this meeting of 09June 2009, coming hot on the heels of the announcement of recognised status the previous month, was probably judged as expedient at the time. Walter Schneeweiß represented the branch.

I know that the counsel about not exposing dirty laundry is sincere, and for this I thank you. As far as I can tell, such counsel should not apply to this particular situation. Obviously, then, we see our duty in this regard quite differently, and so, in the spirit of 1 Peter 3:15,  I feel I should explain. 
The dirty laundry is already hung up for everyone to see. This is the Internet. Anyone can simply Google the information claimed in the original post of this topic, and they will discover that there is plenty more information out there. As usual, some of it is true and some of it is false.
So we are back to discussing the old dilemma about whether we should reveal truth in response to falsehood, or just ignore it. For the most part, we just ignore it. But there are times when it is obvious that the person posting does not necessarily know that the claims contain false charges. Or perhaps they know for sure that the information is skewed toward the false but that there is still some truth in it, and yet, other people who read the skewed information may not know what to believe. Perhaps they think it's all true, or all false. Perhaps their first instinct is to call the whole thing "rubbish." But what if calling something "rubbish" is not really honest either, because perhaps it contains more truth than falsehood? Is there any value to pointing out the error? What if an interested person who has Googled the information now sees us as a people who are just too anxious to cover up facts?
Through private messaging on this forum someone just asked me why I think JWs have so much turnover. I know that we are always anxious to say that our moral standards and expectations are very high and we are expected to judge those people who leave on their own as persons who just didn't want to live up to those expectations. But in speaking to many of these persons, we often come away with a different picture. I think it's more of a matter of realizing that nothing is quite as perfect as it appears at first. When people first study and are baptized, it is with the understanding that we have the only true religion in the entire earth. Therefore, it is expected to be the most perfect. Even though they are warned that it isn't perfect, it still sets up the highest expectations. Then they learn that not all the brothers and sisters live up to the moral standards as well as they expected. They learn about or perhaps see examples of lack of love, or even racism, shunning, child abuse, or gossip. When they are disappointed, they often start to believe that there is no religion that is really what it claims to be, and they often leave all religion altogether. In spite of the focus of ex-JWs online, I think it's rarely about past JW or IBSA history, or related issues with doctrine.
If this were merely about the error of a brother or sister who made a false step in the past, then we would do best to just ignore it. Love covers a multitude of sins. But what if the errors are being denied specifically because it would reflect on the trustworthiness of current doctrine?
That last question reminds me of your own statement here:
Does telling the truth about the past undermine respect for information we now get from the same channel? What you said appears to be an inadvertent admission that it does. If it does, then it is probably all the more important that we offer a true and honest perspective. I should mention that personally, I don't even see much real importance in wallowing in the problems of yesterday or last week, much less the problems of 100 years ago. This applies to the Governing Body, too. I know that one person here often comments that no one should try to use the past examples of Bible Students to shed light on our current beliefs as JWs, even if we consider the same "Governing Body" to have begun in 1919. But I don't even consider the Governing Body of last year to be the exact same "channel" as the Governing Body of this year, even if they be the same persons. That's partly because none of us are expected to be the same from day to day:
(2 Corinthians 4:16-18) 16 . . .  certainly the man we are inside is being renewed from day to day. . . . 18 while we keep our eyes, not on the things seen, but on the things unseen. For the things seen are temporary, but the things unseen are everlasting. On the other hand, it must necessarily be the case that if an honest approach to the Governing Body's past can undermine the respect for the present Governing Body, then this is almost a direct admission that both the present and the past is being misrepresented. And, of course, it's easy to show that we regularly misrepresent our past almost every time we print a book about it or make a claim about it. We do it as individual humans and we do it as an organization. It's a common human failing to want to be seen as better than we really are. It's what's behind the instinct to call something "obviously rubbish" and "nonsensical gobbledygook" even if it's more true than false. (That's the reason that I included that paragraph about Rutherford that you reviewed as you did. In fact, there was a lot more truth to it than falsehood. Not just as a Bible Student, but as one of Jehovah's Witnesses, Rutherford really did believe that the holy spirit was no longer available to us after 1918, and that new truths could now be revealed with the direct help of angels. And the idea that Jehovah's throne was in Alcyone, the brightest star of Pleiades, was still being promoted and taught from the 1880's into the 1930's, and not dropped officially until well into Knorr's presidency in November 1953. Details available upon request.)
One of the most dangerous problems among many Witnesses that we can see today is the equivalence that is made between the Governing Body and Jehovah. Surely this is what serves the same interests of the one behind spiritism. Idolatry is also something Jehovah hates.
On this forum, several persons who have presented themselves as sincere Witnesses have recently said that the way we "follow the Lamb wherever he goes," is to follow the Governing Body wherever they go. They have said that they would rather follow the Governing Body into KNOWN ERROR than to accept the Bible where it is known to differ from the current teachings of the Governing Body. The slave has become greater than his master. Witnesses here have defended having this kind of faith in men even where they KNOW personally that something is amiss.
This is a good reason to be completely honest, and not try to whitewash either the present or the past. I think it's important to show that we are not trying to please men, and to make it clear why we should NOT put our faith in princes, nobles, or any humans, where we feel that faith is related to salvation:
(Psalm 146:3) “Do not put your trust in nobles, nor in the son of earthling man, to whom no salvation belongs." (Luke 16:15) “. . .For what is considered exalted by men is a disgusting thing in God’s sight."

They may no longer do anti-types at Bethel, having had too many blow up in their face, but that doesn't mean I don't do them. Ralph Kramden, the hefty loud-mouthed bus driver of the 'Honeymooners' TV show, is the antitypical Nebuchadnezzar.
Each show he began by blustering. Each show he was totally humiliated. Each show he was contrite at the end. And each new show he totally forgot the lessons learned from the one before. So it is with Nebuchadnezzar.
And what is it with Nebuchadnezzar and the magic-practicing priests? He picks a fight with them right out the gate in chapter 2 of Daniel:
"Then the king said to them: “I have had a dream, and I am agitated because I want to know what I dreamed.” The Chaldeans replied to the king in the Aramaic language: “O king, may you live on forever. Relate the dream to your servants, and we will tell the interpretation.” The king answered the Chaldeans: “This is my final word: If you do not make the dream known to me, along with its interpretation, you will be dismembered, and your houses will be turned into public latrines."
Why? What did they do? They are yanked out of bed to learn they must tell the king what his dream IS in addition to what it means? Now they will have to sit each in his house, without any arms or legs, and watch people come in to pee on their couch and poop on their carpet. There's bad blood between the king and them, somehow. How it came about is not described, but it hardly seems fair he should pick on them.
Or does it? If the king made such demands, it is likely because he is fed up with their claims that they can do things like that. They are always playing him for a sucker with their air of religious mystery, and he has had it up to here. That's my guess, anyway.
We're used to quoting Daniel 1:20 to show how, after a short trial period in which the Hebrew captives did little more than eat vegetables, the king found them "ten times better than all his magic practicing priests." We're used to saying it is because of God's blessing that Daniel was elevated so high. Probably so, but I'll bet it is more a reflection of how worthless he found the priests. It was a pretty low bar they set, and Daniel leapt it without fuss.