JW Insider

" But this doesn't mean that we need to imply that all persons who want to celebrate Easter are "Babylonish" and wicked."
A couple of us were talking about the very same thing this morning out in field service. The apostle Paul was mentioned.......when he was Saul, and zealous in the persecution of Christians, imagining that he was doing, a "sacred service" (Acts 8:3 3 Saul, though, began to ravage the congregation. He would invade one house after another, dragging out both men and women and turning them over to prison.)                                                                                                                               (Acts 9:1, 2) But Saul, still breathing threat and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that he might bring bound to Jerusalem any whom he found who belonged to The Way, both men and women.) and yet after all this Paul became an apostle of Jesus Christ.                    (1 Corinthians 15:9) 9 For I am the least of the apostles, and I am not worthy of being called an apostle, because I persecuted the congregation of God. 
What a fine example our Brother Paul was.............I always think of the saying "Where there is life there is hope," and isn't that part of our work, as we preach the good News of God's Kingdom. to ALL peoples, around the the earth in these last days


 

I think it was the main talk at the  2006 Special Assembly Day called "Be Intensely Occupied With God's Inspired Word." Rumor has it that the brother who gave it was "demoted" from his "district convention" speaking assignments for going off-script. The 2007 "district convention" had a talk called "Do Not Follow After False Stories" where this same talk was alluded to.

Yes, based on that scripture you quoted But I'm sure we could find something to fit in with my proposal

Bro. Rayford. 10 years ago. Nothing to see here.
An article in the 2006 Watchtower had just come out that said that Matthew 24:14 had already been fulfilled in Paul's day, and the end had already come, too:
*** w06 2/1 p. 24 pars. 11-12 “A Witness to All the Nations” *** 11 Jehovah richly blessed the efforts of those and other zealous workers. Less than 30 years after Jesus foretold that there would be a witness to all the nations, Paul wrote that the “good news” had been “preached in all creation that is under heaven.” (Colossians 1:23) Did the end then come? In a sense, yes. It came upon the Jewish system of things in the year 70 C.E. when Roman armies destroyed Jerusalem along with the temple. Yet, Jehovah had determined that a far greater witness would be given before he would bring an end to Satan’s global system of things. But there was no difference in the way that article spoke of the nearness of the fulfillment in our day, nothing about a complete fulfillment yet.
If I had to guess, Brother James Rayford is extrapolating from some comments that are heard from time to time by members of the Governing Body. The question comes up about whether Armageddon must wait until all nations have had a thorough witness. The answer is always, NO. And sometimes the verse in Colossians or another in Romans is used as a way of showing that 100% saturation is not necessary for the next items in the anticipated agenda to also be fulfilled. The point is that we can't wait and say that the end can't come yet, when Jesus said it could come any time. It's easy to misinterpret this somewhat if one wants to drive home a point about the closeness of the end.
 
 

@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.
 

https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/russian-students-framed-as-jehovahs-witnesses-in-field-trip-to-crowd-courtroom-57684
Russia’s Phony Jehovah’s Witnesses
How state television framed a bunch of university students to make this Christian group seem extra scary.
April 10, 2017 — 18:47 — Update: 18:46 By Daria Litvinova and Katie Davies

Could just be an interpretation or two on top of a mix-up, but it seemed quite possible to me that the idea was to show that JWs are corrupting the youth. This is a really old-school technique, since it was used on Socrates.
The article said that much of the day was spent discussing the JW view of blood transfusions. This argument has more negative effect when people view how the doctrine affects young people.

@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.
 

Lets hope Bible Speaks contained himself/herself when writing those letters!

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.
 

And don't let anyone accuse us of extremist talk or this is what's going to happen to them!

I have not seen any direct evidence that it was sarin gas. The evidence for such things has been proffered before by "white helmets" whose members have been caught involved in the heinous types of crimes they want to pretend are only being perpetrated by others. They have kidnapped and beheaded children and then used children in their humanitarian PR to see if they can get powers like the US to intercede on their behalf. Some of the first proofs were made by showing undamaged canisters as if that was the way to drop sarin gas from airplanes. And if the amounts necessary to cause the kinds of death displayed on videos were from exploded canisters over such an area then the perfectly placed video makers forgot that they were not supposed to touch the bodies so soon, and not all remembered that they needed to show themselves with masks on, and other necessary protective gear. This was only slightly better done (with mistakes) than previous attempts to make a toxic gas video. I also have heard that some intelligence also picked up on conversations from the day before of people claiming they were preparing toxic gas announcements for the following day - the day of the attack. The right way to make such a video of course is to get to a scene of an actual conventional bombing and then bring some actors who are willing to "writhe to death" among the dead bodies. Naturally, we will believe that a cameraman (or crew) is filming during a live sarin gas attack close enough to the toxicity to kill themselves.
I can't say that it didn't happen, or will not happen. Obviously, even the US has used toxic gases and chemicals for years, and has even manufactured and sold such weapons for years. But Assad and Russia also know the stakes, and the timing is suspicious. What we think is based on what media we pay attention to, and right now there is too much confusion and past fraud to call anything 'direct evidence.'

I have not seen any direct evidence that it was sarin gas. The evidence for such things has been proffered before by "white helmets" whose members have been caught involved in the heinous types of crimes they want to pretend are only being perpetrated by others. They have kidnapped and beheaded children and then used children in their humanitarian PR to see if they can get powers like the US to intercede on their behalf. Some of the first proofs were made by showing undamaged canisters as if that was the way to drop sarin gas from airplanes. And if the amounts necessary to cause the kinds of death displayed on videos were from exploded canisters over such an area then the perfectly placed video makers forgot that they were not supposed to touch the bodies so soon, and not all remembered that they needed to show themselves with masks on, and other necessary protective gear. This was only slightly better done (with mistakes) than previous attempts to make a toxic gas video. I also have heard that some intelligence also picked up on conversations from the day before of people claiming they were preparing toxic gas announcements for the following day - the day of the attack. The right way to make such a video of course is to get to a scene of an actual conventional bombing and then bring some actors who are willing to "writhe to death" among the dead bodies. Naturally, we will believe that a cameraman (or crew) is filming during a live sarin gas attack close enough to the toxicity to kill themselves.
I can't say that it didn't happen, or will not happen. Obviously, even the US has used toxic gases and chemicals for years, and has even manufactured and sold such weapons for years. But Assad and Russia also know the stakes, and the timing is suspicious. What we think is based on what media we pay attention to, and right now there is too much confusion and past fraud to call anything 'direct evidence.'

I have not seen any direct evidence that it was sarin gas. The evidence for such things has been proffered before by "white helmets" whose members have been caught involved in the heinous types of crimes they want to pretend are only being perpetrated by others. They have kidnapped and beheaded children and then used children in their humanitarian PR to see if they can get powers like the US to intercede on their behalf. Some of the first proofs were made by showing undamaged canisters as if that was the way to drop sarin gas from airplanes. And if the amounts necessary to cause the kinds of death displayed on videos were from exploded canisters over such an area then the perfectly placed video makers forgot that they were not supposed to touch the bodies so soon, and not all remembered that they needed to show themselves with masks on, and other necessary protective gear. This was only slightly better done (with mistakes) than previous attempts to make a toxic gas video. I also have heard that some intelligence also picked up on conversations from the day before of people claiming they were preparing toxic gas announcements for the following day - the day of the attack. The right way to make such a video of course is to get to a scene of an actual conventional bombing and then bring some actors who are willing to "writhe to death" among the dead bodies. Naturally, we will believe that a cameraman (or crew) is filming during a live sarin gas attack close enough to the toxicity to kill themselves.
I can't say that it didn't happen, or will not happen. Obviously, even the US has used toxic gases and chemicals for years, and has even manufactured and sold such weapons for years. But Assad and Russia also know the stakes, and the timing is suspicious. What we think is based on what media we pay attention to, and right now there is too much confusion and past fraud to call anything 'direct evidence.'

Constantine was not an emperor in the 3rd century.

But how do we know that the name didn't come from Queen "Esther" or the fact that eggs have cholESTERol?
In any case, I think that eggs should be OVOIDed.

@JW Insider   J O K E R...... 

This is very clever. I like it.
I like it when someone has looked beneath the surface, though it is at best a hobby, by no means necessary to the faith, and can be divisive when people push views. So I never do. And it seems you never do as well, or I would have known about it before now. Rarely do I mention this stuff among the friends and never to I press it. Other people disagree. No matter. The area king, the area media, and our own prior experiences all influence our current opinion, as does geography. What do brothers in the mid-East think?
Some of our people barely know such a thing as politics exist, and to the extent they were aware of it, were inclined to say of Trump: 'He's bombastic and I try to be polite.'
Though I can think of one PERSON who may not have reasoned that WAY, at least not while the FOUNDING FATHERS were using his facilities on a PIT STOP during their TIME TRAVELS!!!

The Wikipedia article on Easter Egg gives a picture of one these styled eggs and says it is from a Greek Orthodox Church https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_egg:

  Red coloured Easter egg with Christian cross, from the Saint Kosmas Aitolos Greek Orthodox Monastery  
I suspect the same. The writer probably came across the same idea that is also presented in the Wikipedia article:
The Christian custom of Easter eggs, specifically, started among the early Christians of Mesopotamia, who stained eggs with red colouring "in memory of the blood of Christ, shed at His crucifixion".[6][7][8][9]
That idea isn't a perfect fit for the rest of the article about paganism, therefore, it probably seemed useful to replace "the blood of Christ" with "blood of sacrificed infants." You have to admit that the latter has a more pagan ring to it.
By the way, the references linked as 6,7,8,9 in the quote above point to some overlapping evidence, most of which sounded very weak to me.

The Wikipedia article on Easter Egg gives a picture of one these styled eggs and says it is from a Greek Orthodox Church https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_egg:

  Red coloured Easter egg with Christian cross, from the Saint Kosmas Aitolos Greek Orthodox Monastery  
I suspect the same. The writer probably came across the same idea that is also presented in the Wikipedia article:
The Christian custom of Easter eggs, specifically, started among the early Christians of Mesopotamia, who stained eggs with red colouring "in memory of the blood of Christ, shed at His crucifixion".[6][7][8][9]
That idea isn't a perfect fit for the rest of the article about paganism, therefore, it probably seemed useful to replace "the blood of Christ" with "blood of sacrificed infants." You have to admit that the latter has a more pagan ring to it.
By the way, the references linked as 6,7,8,9 in the quote above point to some overlapping evidence, most of which sounded very weak to me.

You know, this claim does not seem to come from Hislop and I'm having trouble tracking down where it originated from (beyond just repetition on the interwebs).

I appreciated the fact that you wrote this. You say you are neutral and I believe you. And I would agree that being neutral should not mean that neutral people should be ignorant of current history. Unfortunately, many people in the United States at least appear to be ignorant of current history, but are not neutral in most senses of the word. Still, relatively few vote, and even those who do mostly believe that they have no say or power in any form of national government. This makes them feel "neutered" but not neutral. The partisan swings that happen every 4 to 8 years since Roosevelt have at least given most of the US population a sense that "it's their turn" and they will be at least partly represented (to the extent that their views have been incorporated into the talking points of either one of the two major parties).
But this election, just like many in Europe and elsewhere, was a call to populism by the winning politicians. Populism is full of anger, tribalism (nativism), progressivism, and hopefulness. It's not easy to define. Bernie Sanders was the big winner of the progressive and angry hopefulness, and not really a Democrat. Donald Trump was the big winner of the nativist and angry hopefulness, and not really a Republican. Both groups hoped for an economic fix. Both groups knew deep-down, that such a fix would include trillions less spent on wars, and trillions more spent on the homeland (infrastructure, for example).
There were a lot of things that people from all sides of the "populist hopes" could have agreed on from either populist candidate (Trump or Sanders). But the swamp remains because it is funded by corporate greed, mostly military contractors who want to sell weapons. 
It takes a lot of energy and will to drain such a swamp, and in the end, of course, it appears that the swamp has already drained Trump.

I have no interest in celebrating Easter, and it's obvious that the rabbit and egg fertility symbols are completely out of place. I'm glad that the Watchtower points these things out. But there does come a point when, just because we don't like something, we tend to believe anything bad about it. In fact, one of the source sites for this information is here: https://warriorsoftheruwach.com/easter/
That site has all the info that Bible Speaks includes, and then some:
Here is my favorite:
 
 

Constantine was not an emperor in the 3rd century.

Please start a new thread.