Arauna

I don't either. I try to get information from original sources when possible, leaks, info from FOIA requests, even those we are not supposed to see, anti-Chinese criticisms that come from pro-Chinese sources, and pro-Chinese admissions that come from generally anti-Chinese sources. The best "gems" come from researching items that come from sources which apparently slip up and accidentally admit the opposite of their usual agenda. (Such as the Bolton interview I heard.)
Here's an innocuous example: Let's say that a person who generally writes anti-Chinese propaganda says something like, "well it's true that China has a 5 percent GDP growth rate this year, but this already represents a slowdown and presents a better picture than it can probably maintain, because [trade tarriffs, high debt, etc. etc.] . . . " 
In the above, we can be pretty sure that the 5 percent growth rate has a high chance of being correct, or even understated, because it was admitted to be true, even when the person probably didn't want to admit it. Further research would show that the actual rate had been 6 percent, and that it really was a "slowdown" -- but a slowdown that is still twice as fast as the US growth rate. International financial newspapers and magazines which I used to get at work all the time were always full of "surprises" like this to help you build up a picture from such items. A reader has to be skeptical at all times, of everone on every side of an issue, and do this a lot, to get a better overall picture. 

Sometimes I marvel that Jehovah’s people do not swallow more conspiracy theories than they do, for they have uncovered the greatest conspiracy theory of all time—that God’s most damaging enemies are not the atheists, but those who claim to be his friends. As near as I can tell, JWs swallow them in no greater proportion than the overall world.
Yes. How can it be said of an American city that “in her was found the blood of prophets and of holy ones and of all those who have been slaughtered on the earth?” “All those who have been slaughtered on the earth?” It’s rather easy to say this with regard to unfaithful religion, not primarily for its acts of commission but for its acts of omission—why have people not been taught how to be peaceful? By not teaching God accurately, providing ‘junk food’ instead, people become disillusioned and stray and become easy prey for no end of underhanded schemes. How can that record be pinned on an American city with 3rd class subways?
The joke in Russia during Soviet times was: “We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us.” A turning point for—I think it was Gorbachev—was his visiting a factory and discovering that any key worked for any vehicle.
One fact that flies in the face of Russia being the belligerent king is that America bombs more countries than he. When Bob’s Bomb Company gets an order for a bomb, small businessman Bob goes down in the basement and builds one. However, when Bob’s Bomb Company has become a huge enterprise with stockholders that must be fed or they will go elsewhere, Bob sends lobbyists to Washington to promote the view—and spread money around liberally to those who pick up on it—that the world is an extraordinarily dangerous place of countless enemies that must be kept in check—and as it turns out, ‘we build just the products to facilitate that.’ The lobbyists are not there primarily to hawk Bob’s Bombs over Bill’s Bombs—they are there to foment rising waters that will float all boats. The expression is that ‘the tail wags the dog.’
It is little different with a host of other industries—tobacco, food, pharma, for instance—they reach the point where they must keep that money rolling in and then they do things to that end without regard to effect on the consumer or general society. I do not follow anything on Twitter without following its polar opposite, and in this way I have come to feel that some ‘conspiracy theories’ are actually much better argued that the mainline, which often just says that ‘we’ve got this locked up’ and shouts down whoever would challenge it. As you point out, the large internet firms are also going this way—agreeing to whatever nasty terms this or that government lays down—just to expand their reach.
Yes, and they never are by a generation that considers itself the wisest of all time. I have said before that when time travel is invented, historical revisionists will give a friendly wave to founding father American slave holders as they race back in time to haul the real villians—the Ancient Greek pedophlles that form the underpinning of Western civilization—back in leg-irons. 
As to Hitler positioning himself in his pre-1933 days, the GreatCourses professor on American history refers to a “low-level anti-semitism” that was almost universal prior to WWII—and in many parts of the world, not so low-level—so that picking up on it would be no more controversial than breathing air. After the Holocaust, that low-level anti-semitism vanished overnight. so that it is easy to forget that it ever existed and read more into expressions of the day than is merited.
Did JR suffer in his overall outlook of the world by reading mostly WT pubs? That is possible, in my view. He would be more widely read than most Witnesses, of course, but that’s not saying much. Even then, JWs were “insular”—a label most of them would reject but only because they are unsure of the implication of a word they don’t use themselves. Modify if to ‘no part of the world’ and they will embrace it happily. Isn’t that was insulation is—a means to separate something good from that which is damaging or corrosive?
Okay, okay—olive branch here. I was in an atypical mood at the time, rethinking some things in view of yesterday WT article. It was not the greatest time for me to read a post that seemed to me something that would make Alan envious.
But that’s not really the same as accepting it right here on the worldwide media network forum, clear-channel broadcast to the entire world. Or is it that? Is it (as I usually maintain and so do you) a tiny backwater followed by only a handful of persons and followed even less for its longwindedness?—people only have so much time in their day, after all, and for most of them, almost all of their time is already claimed. On the other hand, I sometimes suspect and I’m sure you do too—that as the only vehicle I know of in which hero and villain roam alike—neither all-villain, nor ‘cumbaya’ ‘where never is heard a discouraging word’, it is followed by some who matter.

Royal family members were taken in by Him. One must understand the period to understand why people accepted certain things.  The Pope made the konkordat with Hitler.......even Russia trusted him..... untill he turned on it. 
People can see things right under their noses and not realize what they are looking at.  Most Jews who experienced kristal nacht never thought it could suddenly turn much worse.  Those who did not leave in time were caught in the trap.

All cards must line up.  They are not complete yet....  but things can change overnight.
In the time of Israel, way back then, Syria was part of northern coalition as a country.  In the global fulfillment of this proohecy leading up to a global Armageddon it refers to  the kings which are all aligned with the king if the south (Anglo-American interests with its allies)
The king of the north is Russia and China and all its other allies which does include Syria-  which are expanding rapidly.
I see you like the prophecy of Daniel. Read Daniel 11:40.  This economic pushing seems to be going on right now between north and south. Later the north controls all the wealth of the world..... read to end of chapter in Daniel 11.
This I believe is happening now because China and Russia has infiltrated Africa and south America, has taken over the south China sea with 15 islands and building a fleet of ships capable of putting trade embargoes in place. 
There are too many things going on at present which indicates a world-wide fulfillment of prophecy.
Communism does uplift people  during the distribution of wealth phase  - but it tends to always turn into a dictatorship. I come from Africa and first hand saw this. Most African countries are communist (their cultures love socialism) and suffer hardship because of communistic dictatorships. Africa cannot proper due to its human governments which immitate communism.
Capitalism is not any better. While it allows freedom to prosper and gives more opportunities -  unchecked capitalism leads to monopolies, then global corporations which become dictators. These corporations use their money to lobby to become more powerful and in the end it looks like a dictatorship by corporations or the individuals behind the corporations.  Google is now dictating policy by removing independent reporting from internet...... and supporting Chinese surveillance system..... Global corporations can become evil - think of the history of Monsanto.....  

@Arauna, I think it's just like @TrueTomHarley already indicated. Some conspiracies are going to turn out to be true. And, like I said before: almost all conspiracies have a lot of truth in them or they wouldn't work; they wouldn't get very far. Making up a counter-conspiracy is often the way to hide a true conspiracy.
And conspiracies should never surprise us if we are aware of the "machinations" of the Devil.

They got it right...... but 80 years too early.   Atheists do not believe there is a God. So they tend to go to a human philosophy to replace God.  This is why socialism and its promises of equality for all is so appealing to atheists..... it replaces other human governments with nice promises .. and this is the reason we now see new "rights" for so-called minorities such as LGBTQ, Islam, and every sort of minority in the new collectivist philosophy.......and patriarchs (bible lovers) are seen as historical oppressors.  With a majority of people turning atheist and post modern philosophy gaining traction (as in EU and UN) we may soon see a totalitarian type rule with a surveillance system which will end up like the one in China.
 
Yes..... the socialism part was deceiving. 

So true Anna.  It was good for me ..... but I would not advise anyone to visit these sites.... especially if they are not seasoned in reasoning about things.  Young people have too much responsibilities to have time to think.  Older people, in twilight of life, have the philosophical stage kick in... they think more and have more time.
I only visit this forum and find it takes too much of my time and tremendous strain on my eyes. 
I visited another site only once and a exceptionally nasty group used my picture to plaster lies about me all over internet and mocked me.  I discovered the woman who was behind this - and collected evidence to send to her work.... the hospital she was working at.....so her bosses knew what she was doing at work and at home. She was a nurse... but I just left it.... I knew it would go away if I did nothing. 
I am also starting to pick my subjects and avoid certain people who repetitiously just accuse. I am tired of dealing with repetition..... I like a good conversation where I can learn something new or can contribute. 
I like beautiful thoughts but I also like to keep the mind as sharp as I can - sometimes this includes the ugly realities of life.  I can go to the cumbaya groups and post pictures of myself on field service..... but I need more than this in a social interaction. This is why I tend to rather end up here.
 

For people who like to lick their wounds from time to time this is true. True forgiveness takes away all wounds and resentment. A scar is not painful unless you open it again.  It is merely a sign that you got a wound and now know how to avoid it in future so it will not happen again.
People should learn to get on with life. Not look back. Every day is an opportunity to grow into a new and better person.... 
When you rehash the past (if it comes up in the brain by accident) and think too much about it in an emotional way - the brain ends up rebuilding the bad memories and synapses.... In the brain it will tend to come up more... and when emotion is attached to memories one remembers it even better....... new synapses....
When bad thoughts come up...... do not think about them.... get on with making new beautiful memories. 

As much as I agree with the sentiments here, I have come to wish that young people were better prepared for whenever they might stumble across such a site—almost like a vaccinated person is better prepared for the plague once they encounter it. In an increasingly informational age, it becomes more and more likely that they will. 
Should they hang out there? Obviously not. The one common feature of these sites is that they feature people who are hypercritical to the nth degree, carrying on ad nauseam about complaints great and small. They are among the most unforgiving people on earth. Some of them will be blasphemous, filthy, and foul besides. Not a place to hang your hat. Even counselors in the general world speak of the advisability of cutting off “toxic relationships.” ‘Rocks submerged beneath the surface ready to rip the bottom out of your faith,’ is how the Bible writer puts it.
But to absolutely make it taboo to go there doesn’t serve young people very well either. In the event that they succumb to the most basic force of human nature—doing something because they have been advised not to—and are stumbled, there are barely any in the congregation who can help them because they don’t know what is there themselves. All they can say is: “Don’t go there!” Trust me, opposers are very skilled in turning that advice on its head. “Sure they don’t want you to go there!” they say, “they want to keep you in blinders!”
It is all very well for us to say it is like the devil with bad motive—“for God knows in the very day of your eating from it your eyes are bound to be opened!” but it is a tough sell. It is very easy to explain why ones ought to keep away from porn, from graphic violence, or from demonism. But from apostasy? ‘Are they wrong there?’ some will say. ‘I’ll just go there to see what they are wrong about, and then I will set them straight.’ Not all will reason this way. Not even most. But some will. After all, here they are advised to be bold with the Word at the door—for it is the all-powerful sword—but cowardly with it when it comes to ones who have rebelled and from there launch another attack on faith. 
Getting a measured glimpse of these apostates for any so inclined, when there are ones who can talk them through whatever they may find,  might almost be likened to lab class in school. See how some of the Bible themes play out—not just why people come into the truth—we surely know that—but why some leave. Let youngsters see, if they ask, how “Demas has forsaken me because he loved the present system of things.” Let them see how some have left “because they were not of our sort.’ Let them see what happens when people do not ‘take the rafter out of their own eye but focus on the straws of others. Let them see that mistakes can be made by old and young alike—it was certainly true in the first century—why should it not be true today? What has come to be a favorite saying of mine is: ‘The trick is not to sanitize the present—it is to desanitize the past.”
Will that happen anytime soon? Or at all? And should it? All above my pay grade. But it doesn’t seem likely. The counsel to avoid apostates is well-supported scripturally—Matthew 11, for starters. Moreover the GB takes on the role of the fine shepherd—they see the wolf coming and they beat it off, holding the sheep out of harm’s way as they do so. 
Still, in view of the poor track record we have with significant numbers of the young, maybe they will someday reassess and consider it a matter of degree. Surely, as ones who had “received the Law but have not kept it,” the Pharisees could be described as apostate. Could Jesus’ own manner of dealing with them be looked to as an example? He certainly didn’t seek them out. Nor did he argue with them when they approached to trap or attack. He wasn’t especially nice to them, really, though he always left open a way of return for any wanting to take it. 
I’d just as soon the young never run across these guys at all. But they do. And being totally unprepared and unfortified—something that could be effectively addressed but so far has not been—some stumble and there is no one able to help.
I can’t make head or tails of that. But I do note that Witness has told me I’m wrong no less than I have told her the same.

Well....I think he has made pretty clear that he is not really our brother.

‘The cumbaya group.’ Ha. I like it.
People’s places in life differ. Some find those sites just great. But I have told ones that I don’t come on the internet to find friends. I have more friends—in the congregation, circuit, and beyond—than I know what to do with. I choke on friends. So why would I come online in search of more, with ones whom you will never really know who they are because all you see is a digital persona? I, too, need more than this in a social interaction in the digital world.

Proud to be a Witness... and extremely grateful to jehovah.
I really appreciate a good level of logic and reasoning even if I do not agree with another person...... but over the top, unrealistic accusations that go on and on in an emotionally charged way...... well what can I say.....is the outcome .....

Of course. Both @Anna and @Arauna do it all the time.
The thing that rankles about the other woman is that I have never seen such a massive collection of scripture put to no practical use whatsoever other than that of Absalom: ‘Yes, your matter is weighty and valid, but there is no one here from the king’s office who will hear you out—oh, if only I were king!’
Gender has nothing to do with it. It would be tiresome regardless of from where it came.

For people who like to lick their wounds from time to time this is true. True forgiveness takes away all wounds and resentment. A scar is not painful unless you open it again.  It is merely a sign that you got a wound and now know how to avoid it in future so it will not happen again.
People should learn to get on with life. Not look back. Every day is an opportunity to grow into a new and better person.... 
When you rehash the past (if it comes up in the brain by accident) and think too much about it in an emotional way - the brain ends up rebuilding the bad memories and synapses.... In the brain it will tend to come up more... and when emotion is attached to memories one remembers it even better....... new synapses....
When bad thoughts come up...... do not think about them.... get on with making new beautiful memories. 

I was not there, Wednesday night, as my wife and I started attending a different congregation that attends the same Kingdom Hall about three weeks ago, but the Sister was shot at...not shot.
The report I got when I asked a Gastonia police officer this Thursday night, was that the Sister had just gotten into her car, and closed the door, when one of three suspects who had just robbed a nearby store, and were escaping on foot, tried to hijack her car, and shot the car twice, attempting to get her to relinquish it, which she did not, and she was hit with "shrapnel", which was not specified, but which might have been fragments of bullets, or broken glass.
Very minor injuries.
The front door of the Kingdom Hall is a plate glass door, in a steel frame, and inside are normally stationed two Brothers who sit in chairs, one directly inside the door, which is locked during the meetings, as a doorman, to open it for congregants coming late, etc.,(he can of course, see who is on the other side ...), and another Brother in a chair, just inside the auditorium. 
I have referred to them as "Brothers Bullet Catchers", in the past.
The door is NOT "bullet proof", according to an Elder I asked, about  six months ago.
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To paraphrase a common saying,
"Stuff Happens"".
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" You only need four things to win a gunfight.
Excellent reflexes and a working handgun of appropriate caliber,
To be able to hit what you aim at, and
The will to take another man's life.
The rest is up to divine providence, and pure dumb luck."
James B. Hickok,  1874
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But then again, Four Sisters were killed in an automobile accident in Grand Prairie, Texas, WHILE ENGAGED IN FIELD SERVICE, Texas, years ago, when a vehicle ran a stop light and T-boned their car in an intersection.
Jehovah does not interfere with ANYTHING in the modern day.
"chance and circumstance befall us all. ..."
....... be careful out there, if you can manage it, and decide to do so.
Even at least several of the  Apostles were armed with their personal weapons, in an upstairs room, in downtown Jerusalem at the last congregational meeting, and the Memorial of Christ's impending execution, and it was not to defend against rogue bears that climb stairs.
Luke 22:36
"Stuff Happens".
.... be careful out there .....
 

Yes. There is no better place to hide than in plain sight. Even the participants her e cannot keep up unless they absolutely have no life. Are we to imagine that everyone else is eagerly following every word?

I understand, and I can see why you haven't returned to read comments.  The exjw group there, may just eat you alive. 

For people who like to lick their wounds from time to time this is true. True forgiveness takes away all wounds and resentment. A scar is not painful unless you open it again.  It is merely a sign that you got a wound and now know how to avoid it in future so it will not happen again.
People should learn to get on with life. Not look back. Every day is an opportunity to grow into a new and better person.... 
When you rehash the past (if it comes up in the brain by accident) and think too much about it in an emotional way - the brain ends up rebuilding the bad memories and synapses.... In the brain it will tend to come up more... and when emotion is attached to memories one remembers it even better....... new synapses....
When bad thoughts come up...... do not think about them.... get on with making new beautiful memories. 

There is one strictly ex-jw forum I visit periodically (it's been around for more than 12 years) to see what is new, since they always seem to have the latest news 😀. I pick and choose what I want to read, and I don't comment any more, I used to years ago....but now you could say I am a "seasoned non arguer", since I've read it all, and argued it all by now. They seem to be happy the way they are. I do understand a few of their gripes, but mainly their gripes all boil down to really wanting to do their own thing. When you remove all the "fluff" then that's what's left, just selfishness. It's all about them, and what they want to do, and they don't want anyone telling them, especially not God. Same old, same old. Most are atheist.....
I don't regret interacting with them in the past. You learn a lot, research stuff, and nothing shocks you anymore, which is good.  If someone leaves the "Truth" because of an ex-jw argument, then he wasn't convinced of the "Truth" in the first place, and deep down sought an excuse to leave. That's my opinion anyway....

Actually, from my experience the ex-jw groups just like to talk among themselves, and pat each other on the back that they've "escaped" the org., rehash old memories, and tell themselves how much better off they are now. They don't really like "JW intruders" stirring things up. They usually tell them to go away.

CARROLLTON, Ala. (WIAT) — Three people who were killed during a tornado last Saturday will be laid to rest in the coming weeks.
Tyrone Spain, 51, will have a funeral at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Aliceville City Hall.
On Jan. 25, there will be a memorial service Albert and Susan Barnett at Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall in Duncanville that will start at 1 p.m. Albert was 85 years old while Susan was 75.
The Barnetts and Spain all lived on Settlement Road outside Carrollton and were in their separate homes when the tornado hit. The three were the only people in the state killed during the weekend storms.
https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/funerals-set-for-victims-of-pickens-county-tornado/

Bengaluru doctors save life of 4-year-old boy with bloodless bone marrow transplant
The boy belongs to the Jehovah’s Witnesses faith, the followers of which cannot take blood transfusions as treatment.

It is not rare for doctors to take young children for bone marrow transplants. In fact, it is one of the most effective treatments for certain forms of leukaemia and other disorders. However, when the individual in question belongs to a faith which doesn’t permit them to get a normal blood transfusion, how do doctors tackle such a challenge? Bloodless bone marrow transplants are given to individuals belonging to the Jehovah’s Witnesses faith, and this was exactly the method used by doctors in Bengaluru to save a 4-year-old boy.
Ittai James Moshi and his parents hail from Tanzania. The boy’s parents are both IT professionals who moved to Bengaluru in 2018 for his treatment. He was diagnosed with a form of abdominal cancer and required a bone marrow transplant to treat him. However, the standard procedure to initiate a bone marrow transplant involves getting a blood transfusion. As Ittai and his parents belong to the Jehovah’s Witnesses community, it was not allowed for him to undergo the routine transplant.
https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/bengaluru-doctors-save-life-4-year-old-boy-bloodless-bone-marrow-transplant-116255

The Truth is before you, however your Hatred for Jehovah's Witnesses keeps you from grasping it. The Apostle was warning the congregation of men like the clergy today, men who say their is nothing wrong with homosexual acts and the other works of the flesh that are listed at 5:19: are sexual immorality, uncleanness, brazen conduct, 20 idolatry, spiritism, hostility, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, dissensions, divisions, sects,21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and things like these. I am forewarning you about these things, the same way I already warned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit God’s Kingdom.To gain the approval of people in that congregation went out to please men rather than obey God, they were perverting the Gospel like you are perverting who the Apostle Paul is.
Saul was powerful as a Pharisee, hating the Way and stood there approving of the stoning of Stephen, he zealously arrested the Christians to have them imprisoned. Then he is blinded by Christ for 3 days. Now imagine he had to go with Ananias to become baptized as one of the first of the Christian Jehovah's Witnesses in the first century. Was humility needed?
Imagine yourself having to be baptized by one of those you persecuted and hated so much!!!  
Yet, Paul had to do that to gain God's approval. He HUMBLY accepted that he was wrong and turned his zeal toward preaching the Good News of God's Kingdom (just as all Jehovah's Witnesses do) and resisting apostates who pervert the truth and the Way.
 

@admin ☝️

An empire rules over others. Religion has ruled over hearts and minds of people for thousands of years and dominated their lives until modern enlightenment and Darwinism came along. Now religion still negotiates deals like the one for May 2020 but Babylon the great is losing its waters it is sitting on.
Not true. 176 countries have signed the 3 agreements that put them under UN policies.  AGENDA 21, Agenda 2030 and UN migrant compact 2018.  Since the time of George Bush the G20 countries have been working towards UN goals as well as billionaires - who use their foundations to donate funds to projects that further UN goals. G Soros, Bill Gates, etc etc. NGOs are already I infiltrated in most countries to fulfill the environmental goals of the UN. It is just a matter of time until the UN and its coalitions start to rule openly.  When their policies are openly the only ones accepted everywhere.
UNESCO is pushing the new young child sex education onto every school in EU, USA, Africa, canada, Australia, NZ, UK etc. Countries who do not play ball get no funding. In my estimation the image of the beast is already ruling underneath everything.... it us just a matter of time now... They will replace the usual religious rules with a new world morality which includes LGBTQ.  If you do not accept this you will be seen as a rebel or radical.
The Baha'I religion has an office at the UN - they believe all religions lead to the one true God.  The other religion which carries weight at UN is theosofists (spiritistic origins).  Mrs rooseveldt read their creed at the inauguration of the UN. 
They will say there is only one God and he can be served by all religions - they will promote interfaith and the new set of moral rules as prescribed by UN.