TrueTomHarley

26 minutes ago, Srecko Sostar said:

is not an idiot. Only used right tool to show to other Ox's how things are and looks if you standing on other side of fence.

Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.

Perhaps Oscar, you spoke about, was/will save somebody life too. :))

 

 

 

 

Trust me. He’s an idiot.

6 hours ago, Srecko Sostar said:

17 hours ago, Anna said:

I guess it's because of this Sept 2016 WT

 Yes Anna, probably "wind of change" introduce new view on beard issue. So, "my truth" about it till the 2015, the year of my leaving JW,  was true also. :))

Oscar Oxgoad entered the Kingdom Hall as he always does that day—clean shaven. But at the end of that Watchtower study he bent over and fumbled about in his overstuffed bag—I couldn’t make out what he was doing 

He straightened up and walked about after the song with a huge Santa Claus beard.

I knew he was going to do something like that! I knew it!

He is such an idiot.

10 hours ago, BillyTheKid46 said:

These are the problems I see when witnesses from a free society don’t understand the prospects of other countries. They think they can instill western values in areas that reject them.

 

Exactly 

10 hours ago, BillyTheKid46 said:

Therefore, the only ones worthy of accommodating the brotherhood in Chile, are Chilean Brothers, no one else.

Exactly.

When Billy is hot, he’s hot.

It is not unlike the situation described at Acts 21:20

“and they said to him: “You behold, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews; and they are all zealous for the Law.  But they have heard it rumored about you that you have been teaching all the Jews among the nations an apostasy from Moses, telling them neither to circumcise their children nor to walk in the [solemn] customs.  What, then, is to be done about it? In any case they are going to hear you have arrived.  Therefore do this which we tell you: We have four men with a vow upon themselves.  Take these men along and cleanse yourself ceremonially with them and take care of their expenses, that they may have their heads shaved. And so everybody will know that there is nothing to the rumors they were told about you, but that you are walking orderly, you yourself also keeping the Law.”

The governing arrangement back then assumed authority to do such things, even telling Paul to act differently from what he would otherwise do, so as to counteract hurtful reports and reassure others.

They were not to be second-guessed in such decisions. They “girded themselves as men” and directed a course of action that easily could have been criticized by ones having inadequate knowledge of the culture and circumstances.

In fact, on theancientworldnewsmedia.com back then, they did take a lot of heat for it.

Some evenings after supper we dribble the basketball out in the driveway and throw it a few times through the hoopla.

6 hours ago, Witness said:

I am so sorry because I thought you were beginning to see light.  I actually reintroduced your name in prayer.  You stood out among my generalized plea for all JWs to wake up.  

This just says it all. It really does.

6 hours ago, Witness said:

Besides the fact that you love thrusting a knife in my stomach and giving it a good twist 

It is a little mean for me to do this. I agree with you on that and I’m not necessarily proud of it. I apologize.

But for the sake of drawing out such a remark as you made above that clearly shows you regard yourself as a shining light in the darkness, even as you miss no opportunity to malign the GB, (although you have offered nothing tangible to establish your own authority,  other than an ability to quote scripture, as anyone can do) it was worth it.

6 hours ago, Witness said:

please, point out the irrelevant scriptures and why they are irrelevant.  

You quote  so many long passages that I would have to make my reply a mile long—nixxing this and okaying that—and I just won’t do it. 

It reminds me, though it is not exactly the same, of Jesus telling ones that they were searching the scriptures because they thought that by means of them they might find life, when all the time he was there among them. They were reading scripture far more than the ones who actually chose to follow Jesus, many of whom doubtless could barely read, but their obvious high self-regard for themselves torpedoed most of their search.

6 hours ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

Define "hoopla". 

I'm not completely sure what this thread is even about. Offhand, it seems like an attempt by the hypercritical people to get the picayune and the righteous-overmuch people going. 

We all know what Jehovah's Witnesses believe. So whatever is seen is Chili either squares with it or it doesn't. 

If it does, then there will be some trickery involved to get people all incensed over it. It may be fraud by photoshop or trespasser sabotage. Or there may be something circumstantial or cultural that we know nothing about..

If it doesn't. then it will be corrected, now or later. It always is. 

Once I came after you with the charge that you had an agenda and you responded with: 'Of course, I have an agenda.' I said to myself: 'The old pork chop is right. He does has one. So do I. So does everyone.' Stay here any length of time and it becomes clear who the players are and what are their agendas. They range in shades of from off-white to downright black. Thus everything anyone offers ought to be seen in this light, and the posts of some ought to be 90% dismissed on this basis alone.

The ideal is what C.T. Russell stated, that he would accept a truth even if it was from the Devil himself. But the reality is, how would you know it is the truth? Far more likely is it that he is just lying like he always does, using abundant tricks of the trade to make you think he is telling you the truth. The tools for lying are legion today, far more than in Russell's time, what with photoshopping and all. Even without photoshopping , we all know the reality of information selectively given without context or in manufactured context in hopes that people will come to false conclusions, so that @JW Insider finally has to say: 'I'll go down there myself and shake the truth out of those bad brothers (if bad brothers they be).' Obviously that is something few brothers can do, not just on account of resources, nor even on account of time, but on account of best use of time.

And if we get so worked up about reports from those whose agendas are manifestly cockeyed, if not downright foul, in these days of photoshop, what on earth will we do in the days of 'deep fakes', a day that is rapidly dawning? If anyone doesn't know the term, a casual Google search will reveal that it is the manipulation of video evidence, so that any head can be attached to any body and be made to say anything the poster wants? Are you going to lose you're cookies, then, when a GB member appears in the nude to recommend that we all start showing a little sympathy for the Devil? Because you know it is coming.

(My own prophesy, by the way, is that deep fakes will instantly be turned upon children, as technological advances usually are, for the sake of ratcheting up the bullying that they are already taking their own lives over. Since generating those deep fakes is only possible with an abundance of still photos to feed into generators, any source of those abundant photos is going to be sued off the planet. It will not be enough for social media sites to say that what they did was perfectly legal at the time and was agreed to by their users. Laws will be reinterpreted to say that they have violated them. You think lawsuits today have gotten out of hand?)

So you have to go by someone's manifest agenda. In this regard, @BillyTheKid46's comments are among the most appropriate, even if he is prickly is his presentation. Witness the modern sanctification of the term 'whistleblower'. Whistleblowers are useful, of course, but they are more useful in blowing the cover off an evil organization. Almost all of the self-styled  'whistleblowers' here think  that Jehovah's organization is evil. If you are one, like me, who doesn't think that, then you discount their comments on that basis alone.

People's veracity should be judged by always keeping in mind their overall agenda.

It is like a WT article that dealt with those occasional Bible accounts that are downright strange and even paint God in a bad light. 'All we see is a little snippet,' it said. 'What do you do with a close friend who has had your back and earned your trust over time and you know him through and through, but then you hear a bad report about him? Do you say: "YEAH! I knew it! He is a rat!" ?

Unfortunately, it is a crazy age we live in in which loyalty is seen as the mark of a chump, and there are many people who are that way.

It is like when I pointed out that the Geoffrey Jackson on Twitter was not the real Geoffrey Jackson and @Witness took a breather from bludgeoning everyone with irrelevant scriptures to say 'How do you know that it is not him?' It has his picture, doesn't it? 'He' even said'pray for our brothers in Russia.

Duh. You know it is not him because she says that it is. Presently it was revealed that he didn't give a hoot in hell for 'our brothers is Russia.' - kill them all as far as he is concerned. It was all a ruse so as to capture the attention of naïve brothers and redirect it to unflattering reports elsewhere.

35 minutes ago, Anna said:

I have a sneaky suspicion it won't be a bunch of hoopla though. The flag I mean...

I confess I haven’t actually been following this thread in any depth. One would think that would prevent me from weighing in.

1 hour ago, Jack Ryan said:

in honor of @TrueTomHarley 😄

I should view it. I know I should, since it is sent specifically my way. But it is that same smug and self-pleased woman that I already told you I choked on. 

Maybe I can work up the gumption later. Not now.

The trouble is, you ought to show a modicum of decorum in whatever you do. That way, in the event that you do succeed in making a valid point or two, you find it is not summarily rejected by people who simply resent how obnoxious you are.

It is the very first law of human nature. It is amazing how many are oblivious to it. 

1 hour ago, JW Insider said:

The purpose of the visit is unrelated, but I will definitely remember to ask him about the Chilean flags.

Okay, I’m a brother. I shouldn’t do this. I really shouldn’t.

I really really really shouldn’t.

I know better. I’m NOT ALLOWED!!!

Ah, well. I’ll ask for forgiveness later.

I’ll give 3:1 odds that JWI finds it’s all a bunch of hoopla. Nothing less than $100 bets will be considered.

After all, what’s one more odd look? I’ve been in trouble ever since I pointed out that nature itself testifies to the value of higher education, since the most formidable beavers are graduates of Dam U. 

I can’t do it, Jack. I just can’t. That last video of hers about abortion was just too smug, she was just too pleased with herself, that I just can’t start on another one. This being the atheist club, presumably others can.

Even that last video I only got halfway through.

14 hours ago, Witness said:

Do JWs need to be reminded of their website?  There were a lot of little flags put to work on these cupcakes,  for not symbolizing anything.

 

It is a mild hypocrisy but nothing more. 

It is like when brothers decry those who love violence but then tune into the football game.

It is like when Jesus turns water into wine and the director says: “Every other man puts out the fine wine first, and then when guests are intoxicated the inferior. But you have saved the best for last!” 

One uber-righteous brother (for we do have some) stated: “We know people were not intoxicated at that gathering because Jesus would NEVER associate with those intoxicated.” I thought: “Of course he would. The verse all but says he did.”

Good ol Jubulasiasen, who can’t hold his liquor and ordinarily doesn’t have to worry about it because he drinks only in moderation has a few too many at the joyous gathering and makes an ass of himself, incurring the wrath of his wife on account of the embarrassment.

Oops. This is the atheist club. I am in someone else’s house. I must take that into account before commenting.

One would almost think that Betty, as well as Jack, imagine themselves representatives of the most just and enlightened people who have ever walked the planet.

”There is a generation pure in its own eyes,

but they have not been washed from their own excrement.”

8 minutes ago, JOHN BUTLER said:

So i have a basic idea of what tennis is from a fun viewpoint. But no interest in it from a competitive / profesional viewpoint.

Okay. Good answer.

I thought that you might get sanctimonious about it, but you didn’t. 

Following sport can be a religion in itself. It’s amazing the degree to which people get into it.

It is even like when the Witness organization tries to sell everyone that kicking around the soccer ball at a picnic is the equivalent of being on the school sports team, and the kids roll their eyes because they don’t think it’s that way at all. In this regard, they should look to you.

This must be extremely stressful to you, since the link you supplied points to 13 specific areas of inquiry, all but the first thought to be possible hotbeds of CSA, and the religion you despise is not among them.

7 minutes ago, JOHN BUTLER said:

I don't know Tom, I'm 'no part of the world' and don't get involved in competitive sports from any viewpoint.  

Do you know what tennis is?

44 minutes ago, JOHN BUTLER said:

Boring, more hero worship. She is only another sinner like the rest of us so why all the fuss ? 

She can play tennis, though.

1 hour ago, Anna said:

You may have photos, but you don't know who put the flag there...do you? Makes me think the same group that took the pictures perhaps....?

hehehehe :)))))))))

35 minutes ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

I get the impression she is not even baptized ...  ( anyone REALLY know?) She agrees with some stuff ... and not others ... sorta like eating parts of a fish.

She says that she was raised a Witness but did not make it her own.

She says that now she wants to.

She says that when she does she is going to track you down, old boy, and wallop the stuffing out of you at the sport of your choice, so long as it is tennis.

2 hours ago, Witness said:

They would make every effort to unite the anointed together.  Instead, they make every effort to keep them from "bonding"....A "faithful steward"...does not squander away the gifts that each anointed one possesses. 

Practically speaking, what would you like to see happen?

3 hours ago, Witness said:

All members are to be aware of each other and what they have to offer, as well as their individual needs.  

Practically speaking, what would you like to see happen?

1 hour ago, Witness said:

Again, Rom 8:16.  Of those anointed that I have talked with, the anointing experiences are very similar.  

1 hour ago, Witness said:

If the anointed are working together under the one Spirit of Christ, they know “all things”.  John 20:22; 1 John 2:27

Okay. Got it. Inside information. That’s how YOU know.

Now, how does anyone else know? 

38 minutes ago, Witness said:

Since this is not the case in the organization, one must ask, why isn't it.  

 

You did not answer the second part of my question: 

How does anyone really know that these “brothers” of yours are really anointed, since all they must do is self-identify? Even (gulp) @James Thomas Rook Jr. could do that. (Not that he would)

33 minutes ago, Witness said:

Why on earth would the early Zion Watchtower have three crosses on the tower?   

 Because they believed then that Christ died on a cross. They no longer do. Is it that flabbergasting?

14 hours ago, Witness said:

OK, I admit it, I put up the crossbars

Look, I have been there. And any number of people I know were involved in the construction. If there was anything so pronounced as your picture suggests, it would have been all the buzz. Assuming for a moment that it is real, maybe it is something that must be viewed at a certain angle.

Why in the world would they deliberately work it into the construction, anyhow?

15 hours ago, Witness said:

I pray that they wake up and notice their anointed "brothers" in Christ. 

In a reality of your devising, how would these anointed "brothers" of yours be treated? 

How does anyone know that they actually are anointed, since the only requirement of claiming that status is to claim it?

2 hours ago, Space Merchant said:

We are lucky to have such a strict admin unlike other places.

Not to mention a wonderful Librarian.

3 hours ago, Witness said:

Here's the source of the original photo.  It's pretty clear a JW took the picture and didn't doctor it up.  

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/456130268493794361/

 

If it is, it is. If you got in there somehow to put up the crossbars, the brothers will saw them off in good time.

5 hours ago, Witness said:

If I hated you or any JW, 

Come now. You are not going to tell me that you do not hate the governing body. Sometimes it seems your sole purpose of existence.