Arauna

While some suffer because they do not want to answer questions about the activities of the organization they belong to, during that time others, in suits and ties, tell the court that they are a clergyman and do not want to divulge secrets aka confidential information. 

Thanks - no prob.  Just stick to subject if you please. 

Thanks - no prob.  Just stick to subject if you please. 

Same old, same old......   ...... outright attack...... not about the current subject which is about open and closed club but again going back (repetitive behavior) to the same old subject already discussed elsewhere........not worthy of a new answer .......because you are not interested in civility or really listening to a plausible answer.
 

I have already told my story on this forum. How I was interrogated when I became an American citizen.  My interviewer was hostile  because I requested for the clause to defend USA to be omitted.
I did not push bible verses on him.  I had already determined that he was a great patriot and replied accordingly.  I said that I have such great respect for life because this is all we have from God - our life is precious.   I answered that it is a pity that some people have given everything they have to the country they love and are fired when they have emotional issues due to deployment. Some do not receive all the medical care they need (this was the case at the time) and I added that they come home in body bags and the press is not allowed to honor them in death by photographing their return.  
The day he gave me my citizenship he was all smiles when he congratulated me.
My father also fought in North Africa, Italy, went to Japan with the Americans and fought in Korea.......  these people do not like war to be glorified. 

For whatever it’s worth, If I see evidence of military service at someone’s home, I will ask about it. When there is a plaque that a son or daughter is a proud Marine or Navy or Army member, I’ll make the point that you cannot have anything but respect for someone willing to lay his life on the line for what he believes in. If there is some old fellow who identifies with any branch of military service, I’ll hear him out. Everyone has a story to tell, but nobody wants to hear it. I’ll hear them out—providing I’m not keeping an entire car group waiting as I do so. 
If someone’s flag is all wrapped up around the flagpole—the way the wind will do that—I’ll unwrap it while waiting for them to answer the door. And if I see a flag flying in tatters, I get mad—if you’re going to do it, do it right.
I think of that experience—it was published in one of the old yearbooks, I think, of the teacher, for some sort of a civics lesson, telling a Non-Witness and a Witness child to salute the Canadian flag. The first did. The second did not. Next came the direction to spit on the flag. The first did. The second did not. “Why don’t you spit on the flag?” the question was asked, “you didn’t salute it.” The answer was that the flag was a national symbol and as such should be treated with respect, even if not given an act of worship that Witnesses consider a salute to be—the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that way as well. But maybe more telling is the “patriotism” of the first child, who salutes on command and spits on command.
There is often a vague mutual respect between members of the military and members of Jehovah’s Witnesses, each of whom recognizes that the other is not rabble and is amenable to discipline. They also recognize about each other that neither harbors racism—people rise and fall independent of race (speaking of the American military here—I’m not in position to testify as to other nations). And it was at the 1958 Divine Will International Convention in New York City (Yankee Stadium & adjacent Polo Grounds) that the U.S. military sent observers to report on how it was possible for Witness volunteers to provide a full-course meal to their quarter-million conventioneers within a short noontime interval—this as related in a Special Report on that event that can be googled and downloaded. (this info supplied by B.F. Shultz, the researcher who is never wrong, who is lauded for “almost a fanatical attention to detail.”)
Since Jehovah’s Witnesses are politically neutral and will not wage war, one might surmise that any encounter with a militarily aligned householder will prove disagreeable, and this can happen. But it doesn’t have to happen, and usually does not by approaching the person with respect and reference to the above points. Often it can be worked into conversation how odd it is that an individual is serving his country with great feeling and sacrifice, yet if he were in any other country, he would feel exactly the same way with regard to that country—and isn’t it strange that the earth should be divided up that way? Many military and especially veterans are mellowed with their service. I wouldn’t want to go up against a General Patton, who wanted to shoot anyone sitting out the fray, but most are more reflective. My own father, who was a WWII vet and who left religion as a young man and never returned, commented  (to my surprise) on the small town square war memorial of the hamlet we were passing through, “They shouldn’t do this—it just glorifies it.”

I have not yet met those guys.  I met only the ones with OCD and constant accusations..... 

That is not the reason....they say it is preferable not to get involved in combat at all.
Personally I think the GB are correct to advise this. When one gets into combat here, one group has an unequal advantage in the battle.  JWs have to stay decent while others can use dirty tactics. 
So inevitably it looks bad when JWs fight the spiritual fight with similar weapons. After all we must rather work on our love skills than spiritual combat. ....... and you must admit the club has often turned out to be an open battlefield for those who hate JWs. 
 

I might be reading you wrong but I think the answer is that once God allows human governments to exist, he pretty gives them free reign. It is not for nothing that the Bible likens them to wild beasts. 
He allows them to exist for just the reason you stated—virtually any human government is better than anarchy. But they are not his idea. To referee them would suggest that they are. Sometimes I read Matthew 24:14 and explain that the end that will come is not that of the earth, for it did nothing wrong. It is the end of a system of 200 eternally squabbling nations pushing at each other—surely that was not his idea. But he lets it remain. It beats the alternative. It is a stopgap until “thy kingdom comes.”
Can it do things that are murderous? Well, sure—but the entire arrangement is murderous, a rebellion against God. Even though it is a best-case scenario of that rebellion, it is still murderous. God doesn’t get in there and mediate every little thing—it’s not his arrangement and he interferes hardly at all.
One place where he did interfere is covered in this week’s Bible reading—in God’s promise to Abram. I don’t know about you, but for me an early question that had to be addressed when I began studying the Bible was, “Why would God slaughter the Canaanites—man, woman, and child? This passage helped:
Know for certain that your offspring will be foreigners in a land not theirs and that the people there will enslave them and afflict them for 400 years....But they will return here in the fourth generation, because the error of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure. (Gen 15:13,16)
He gave them 400 years advanced warning! Granted, it’s not everything. It doesn’t quite cover the little children. But I used to explain that when children die today due to parental neglect, people don’t blame God—they blame the parents. Same here—it was for parents to train their children and they neglected to do it. Of course, today people blame God for everything, so the above line doesn’t wash as it once did. 
I wrote a post long ago about why God permits suffering, and an atheist I would swap comments with couldn’t stand it. It hadn’t been written with him in mind. It had been full of appeals to the scriptures, none of which he accepted. So I began to wonder if it couldn’t be repackaged in a way that would appeal to an atheist. I rearranged everything, squashed some ideas, elevated others, and  came up with the following. It is more or less relevant here. See what you think:
https://www.tomsheepandgoats.com/2019/01/why-do-bad-things-happen-updated-for-atheists-sort-of.html
 

Be murdered or be killed ... for victim is the same end. 

Our warfare now is only spiritual.   
However, the entire world under satan's control is still committing pre-meditated murder by training to kill others in war.   Jehovah will judge  each one of them if they do not repent by taking advantage of Jesus' ransom sacrifice.
The world and its war will soon disappear when jehovah removes all those who benefit from war.
 

Jesus changed everything.  The law was a ' tutor' to christ.   So now we must love our neighbours as he did.  He gave his life for his friends  - we must be able to do the same. 
If I love you in this way and you love me in this way, the world will be a wonderful place. However, most people are not prepared to give up their own ego and their own selfish goals to serve Christ properly -  let alone give their life for someone else. 
If you are prepared to give your life it actually means you value their life  as your own..... giving more than what is expected. 
James 4: 1 "What is the source of the wars and fights among you? Do they not originate from your fleshly desires that carry on a conflict within you"

Jesus changed everything.  The law was a ' tutor' to christ.   So now we must love our neighbours as he did.  He gave his life for his friends  - we must be able to do the same. 
If I love you in this way and you love me in this way, the world will be a wonderful place. However, most people are not prepared to give up their own ego and their own selfish goals to serve Christ properly -  let alone give their life for someone else. 
If you are prepared to give your life it actually means you value their life  as your own..... giving more than what is expected. 
James 4: 1 "What is the source of the wars and fights among you? Do they not originate from your fleshly desires that carry on a conflict within you"

Jesus changed everything.  The law was a ' tutor' to christ.   So now we must love our neighbours as he did.  He gave his life for his friends  - we must be able to do the same. 
If I love you in this way and you love me in this way, the world will be a wonderful place. However, most people are not prepared to give up their own ego and their own selfish goals to serve Christ properly -  let alone give their life for someone else. 
If you are prepared to give your life it actually means you value their life  as your own..... giving more than what is expected. 
James 4: 1 "What is the source of the wars and fights among you? Do they not originate from your fleshly desires that carry on a conflict within you"

Thanks for the news. Typical of the old communist mindset which is returning. 

If there has been kickback on manipulation and ‘control’ charges, and if there has been kickback on ‘flip-flopping’ charges, then I would like to see kickback on charges that Witnesses ‘cover up’ child sexual abuse. A good place to start is by pointing out that leaving reporting up to the involved parties is not the same as ‘covering up.’
Instead, the Witness organization states that it “abhors child sexual abuse,” which, in combination with its reluctance to go there otherwise, is spun by determined enemies as though they love the stuff. Not all will do what reporter Elizabeth Chuck did and attribute it to a “penchant for privacy.”
Why do they not respond in more detail? It may be that the sheer wickedness of the charge takes their breath away and makes them look like deer caught in the headlights. Yes, they know well the verse, “every sort of wicked thing will be lyingly said about you” but this—this is the wickedest thing of all! And the proactive arrangement started with such good intentions. Not so many years ago the notion of a religion “policing its own” was lauded as the ultimate in practicing what one preached. 
It wouldn’t be hard to do—to provide a brief defense of criticisms leveled at them. It might start with points such as:
“Covering up” is not the same as leaving it to the digression of ones affected to report. There wouldn’t be anything to be accused of covering up had not the Witness organization practiced what almost nobody else did—policing its own. Countless persons are arrested with regard to child sexual abuse. Their religious affiliation or lack of is never reported. The reason that it is so with Witnesses is that they tried to do something about it among their own. Unlike virtually anywhere else, where the leaders of an organization are themselves the abusers, the leaders of the Witness community are accused of botching the handling of instances—bad, perhaps—history will judge—but nowhere near as bad as being the ones who commit it. That’s a few for starters. More could be added, such as
The current “gold standard” of child sexual abuse to “go beyond the law” will inevitably cause you problems with those who, not surprisingly, expect you to abide by law. Child sexual abuse would appear to be the primary gross planetary product—30 years into all-out war against CSA and barely a dent has been made. Therefore efforts to prevent it ought to be given at least as much creedence as efforts to secure the barn door after the cows have fled. Nobody, but nobody, has done what the Witness organization has done, gathering every member in the world to consider detailed scenarios in which child sexual abuse might occur so that parents, obviously the first line of defense, can be vigilant. This was done as part of the program of the 2017 Regional conventions.  The reason that the greater world will never make inroads with regard to child sexual abuse it that it feeds with one hand what it is trying to punish with another. The TicTok app taking young people by storm has been described as a pedophile’s dream come true. Though it is parallel and thus not exactly the same thing, the 2020 NFL halftime show demonstrates that objectifying woman is the force that makes the world go round—the MeToo movement is doomed from the start.  The matter of CSA does not go away. It is not being solved. Rather, each month brings some new revelation of how the very elements of this world keep it firmly entrenched as a societal ill. It’s intricate involvement with the Child Protective Service agencies recently was reviewed in a story I must have missed. “We have set up a system to sex traffic American children” said Newsweek in January 2018:
And the latest scandal—pediatricians! “Sheds light on a problem that could rival priest scandals,” states an article extrapolating from a notorious case just how many there might be. And to think I got into a squabble with that nasty O’Mally, determined to put down the Caleb and Sophia video “Protect Your Children,” while she heralded one that specifically said that it was okay for a doctor to touch you in private areas. “Ask the young women of the U.S. Gymnastics Olympic team which video they think would have offered them more protection,” I told her.
Just a few basic tenets of defense for those who would like to have some response to when workmates, schoolmates, or neighbors hit them over the head with what they just saw on TV. It doesn’t cover every tiny thing—just the general outline. The nature of critics everywhere is that they would like their complaints on center stage, to the exclusion of whatever else used to be there. Maybe its not a good idea to indulge them so. Maybe it’s enough to correct matters that need it, such as making it crystal clear to members that there is no reproach in reporting child sexual abuse to police, since the abuser has already brought about the reproach. Maybe it is enough to focus on creating an atmosphere where CSA is less likely to happen. 
Maybe. But sometimes you do wish there was more (or any) of a public response.
I did like the WT attorney’s words at the reversal of the Montana verdict. “There are no winners in a case involving child abuse. ‘No child should ever be subjected to such a debased crime....Tragically, it happens, and when it does Jehovah's Witnesses follow the law. This is what the Montana Supreme Court has established.”

Found on Facebook.

Yes, that is interesting to do and should just get clearer as time goes on. Really various end time prophecies should become more and more easy to understand thanks to events in the end time. 

I don’t think he knows anything.

This hardly applies to Child Sexual Abuse which is a crime and a sin, not some conflict. Didn't you know that?

The public talk title today was, " where can you find security in this world?"
The brother giving the talk gave a very nice illustration, inspired by a true event. Psalm 91:1 states, "Anyone dwelling in the secret place of the Most High, Will procure himself lodging under the very shadow of the Almighty One." So what is that Secret place? and how can you find security there? This illustration also makes it clear as to how we should deal with each other in the christian congregation if any misunderstanding or conflicts arise.And here it is:
Imagine that you are at the kingdom hall or any other place with some brothers and sisters, and suddenly war broke out, rebels are moving all over the place with guns and knives, randomly killing everyone they saw.Now all present started to search for a place to hide, and finally found a place and all hid themselves. It was a tight, dark , cold room, not enough space for anybody to move. Then one of the brothers/sisters decides to move a bit, and steps on your foot, and that hurt you alot. WILL YOU SHOUT? Will you start complaining that its a tight, dark room and you can't stay in there? You know that rebels are all over the place searching for people, and you know what will happen if you SHOUT. Of course, if you decide not to shout, then all of you will be safe. And if you decide to shout, well you know what will happen. 
Likewise, the christian congregation today serves as a "secret place" for Jehovah's people. You can be safe from the pressures of the world around you. And you might have conflicts or misunderstanding with some brothers or sisters, you might get insulted, judged. Now will you SHOUT? in another sense, will you COMPLAIN? You know that satan, the REBEL, "walks about like a roaring lion, seeking to devour someone", ( 1 Peter 5:8). If the REBEL, sees any signs of discouragement or hears any complaining, he will creep in and cause division, or may drift you away from the "SECRET PLACE". But if you keep quiet, then all will be safe.
So next time a conflict arises between you and any of your brothers or sisters, WILL YOU SHOUT ??

Nice poem, but it was not by C.T.Russell.
It had already been published in the Christian Science Sentinel in 1899.
It had already been published in a Theosophy journal in 1904.
The Oregon Law School Journal in 1902.
The Current Literature magazine of October 1890 published it with the added information that it had come from "The Fireside Magazine."
I assume it was published anonymously in the Fireside, because it shows up in several other places from the 1890's even up through very recently.

It was announced that the Devil was going out of business and that he would offer all his tools for sale to whom ever would pay the price. 

On the night of the sale, they were all attractively displayed and marked with a price, even so, they were a bad looking lot: 

Malice, Hatred, Envy, Deceit, Jealousy and Sensuality and all the other implements of evil were spread out. 

Apart from the rest, lay a harmless looking wedge shaped tool. Much worn and priced higher than any of the others. Someone asked the Devil, "What is that?" 

That is "DISCOURAGEMENT", THE DEVIL REPLIED! 

"But why do you have it priced so high?", the prospective purchaser inquired. 

BECAUSE SAID THE DEVIL; " It is more useful to me than any of the others. I can pry open and get inside a man's soul with it. I can do this when I can not get near him with any of the other tools I possess.. Once I get inside his mind with discouragement, I can use him in whatever way suits me best. The reason this tool is so worn, is that I can use it with nearly everyone. So, very few know that it belongs to me! 

It hardly needs to be added, that the Devil's price was so high for discouragement that it was never sold. He still owns it and uses it today!  
 
- contributed  by email - Many thanks Jenni

The rebel Luhansk People's Republic – which denies registration to many religious communities including all Protestants – threatens to cut off gas, electricity and water to places of worship belonging to unrecognised communities. The rebel authorities have allowed the only Catholic priest to return to the territory, but have not said if he can remain permanently or only for three months.
In 2019 the rulers of the unrecognised self-declared Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) in eastern Ukraine cut off or threatened to cut off gas, electricity and water supplies to religious communities which had a recognised place of worship but which failed to gain registration under LPR laws. Gas supplies were cut off in 2019. In late 2019 the LPR authorities also threatened to cut off electricity and water supplies.
"Officials argue that they cannot supply gas, electricity and water to organisations that don't officially exist, as they can't have contracts with them," Baptist Pastor Serhii Moroz told Forum 18 (see below).

In December 2019 Culture, Sport and Youth Minister Dmitry Sidorov, revealed that of the 195 registered religious organisations, 188 are from the Russian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate. The others are Muslim, Old Believer, Jewish and Catholic. No Protestant, Jehovah's Witness, Hare Krishna or other communities are allowed to get registration 
No registration – no gas, electricity, water
Religious communities which had a recognised place of worship but which failed to gain registration under LPR laws had their gas cut off in 2019, Baptist Pastor Serhii Moroz, who is originally from the region but now lives in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, told Forum 18 on 4 February 2020. In late 2019 came the threat that electricity and water too would be cut off.

"Officials argue that they cannot supply gas, electricity and water to organisations that don't officially exist, as they can't have contracts with them," Pastor Moroz told Forum 18.

Communities which met in church members' homes have not had gas, electricity and water supplies cut, Pastor Moroz added.

Inna Sheryayeva, head of the Religious Organisations and Spirituality Department of the Culture, Sport and Youth Ministry in Luhansk, told Forum 18 she had not heard that gas, electricity and water supplies have been or are threatened with being cut off to places of worship that have not been able to gain registration.
 
http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2540

@JW Insider I have seen that there are always those who do everything to discredit whistleblowers, no matter the subject. Plus, all this confirm that there is an entity that has power over the kings of the earth. (Revelation 17:18) Different people that have investigated the subject point to what they call 'Wall Street'. It is a 3D chess. These "secret power-brokers" travel around the world and meet with presidents and primeministers and party secreterians. I was amazed about 2 years ago when I learned that Kissinger had visited Putin 26 times. 
I can't say if everything all these whistleblowers say are pure facts, some of what they say are their opinions based on their intuition. But in general they are right.