TrueTomHarley

 You know, I really enjoyed Sunday’s Watchtower on the value of political neutrality, didn’t you? (sigh...every newbie begins with the assumption, as I did, that the house sorehead is sane and open to reason)

"My my my my my my my my my. What a mess." Tommy Lee Jones (The Fugitive)

This puts it in a nutshell and is overall perceptive and appreciative of the work of others. The reason that nobody knows anything today is because at the first misstep it is 'OFF WITH HIS HEAD!' leaving only inexperienced clods to run the show. There are new battle lines being drawn today, and they have to do with human authority. The trend today is to despise it in every setting, not just JW. It is also one of the trademarks of the 'apostates' discussed in Jude and 2 Peter. We have overall largely fought and won the battle of 'is there a Trinity?', blood transfusion, military non-participation, from the standpoint of nuetral observers. With determined opposers they will never be won, and each new 'weapon formed against you that will not succeed' will for them forever be a grand slam home run, but this is not where one must look. One must look at impartial parties. Today it is largely 'apostates' who are succeeding in doing what Jehovah's Witnesses could never do on their own: putting Jehovah's name at the center of all creation.' In Russia it is anti-cult. In the West it is anti-cult and child abuse accusations. None of the reports are groundless, but they are all misframed and misrepresented. The trick will be to frame and represent them properly. Amidst some of these accusations, Bethel seems to me to resemble 'a deer caught in the headlights' but it has shown many times in the past that it can adapt quickly. Sometimes I think that the lightning-like chariot image is applied too hastily, but then other times it actually moves lightning light and I am caught looking stupid for wondering about it. Responding effectively to some of the modern accusations is complicated by the fact that there are some places that Bethel just doesn't go, in accord with verses to not even say a greeting to certain ones. They like the model of the plowman who is not much good if he keeps looking behind at the furrows. They like Jesus saying wisdom is proved righteous by its works and so not responding to critics who lambaste him no matter what he does. It may be for certain perceptive ones to 'go to bat' for them, and knowing that they may not even think it a good thing to do, and that it may not even be. However, in many instances, Bethel is cool toward something until they see someone who makes it work. This is true of computer and internet developments. It was true of the quick-build arrangements. At present it is individual rights, all the rage today, versus individual responsibilities, which is downplayed and sometimes ignored. It is the rights of individuals versus the rights of organizations that would ensure some of those rights in the case of minority beliefs. "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country," are the words of John F Kennedy, thought noble for many decades after he said it. Today they would be the words of a cult leader. I think the operating verse will be the one in Phillipians: "True, some are preaching the Christ out of envy and rivallry, but others out of goodwill. The latter are proclaiming the Christ out of love, for they know that I have been appointed to defend the good news;p but the former do it out of contentiousness, not with a pure motive, for they are intending to create trouble for me in my prison bonds. With what result? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is being proclaimed, and I rejoice over this" We might never have chosen the particular battlefields that opposers have chosen for us, but that does mean we cannot respond to them. 'They will lyingly say every wicked thing about you' Jesus said to his followers. Tell me about it.

I would be concerned, if I were you, about posting your "office" set-up. #RussianHacking

There was an Awake interview of Michael Behe, who in the main supports evolution, but simply says that it has limits. It would not have happened if the two hated each others guts. I doubt the thousands of years from the model once applied to creation means anything anymore. Particularly since they have said :we don't do anti-types anymore.' You get almost as much bang for the buck, with no downside, by saying 'this reminds us of that.' Can anyone come along later and say that it doesn't? We can overthink things. Aren't there a few examples in theocratic histroy where memes competed with each other for a time before one emerged as the winner? I think, with the exception of Adam and Eve, they are saying 'to each his own' as to days of creation. Let scientists be scientists and Bible teachers be Bible teachers. Even with Adam and Eve, I invite people who I think might stumble over it to think of it as a metaphor and try to discern the underlying meaning. People love being thought perceptive enough to be entrusted with such a challenge. They can go back and resolve it in more detail for themselves at a later time, if they wish, as I did.

"At the home of Victor Vomidog, an alarm panel light pulsed red. Victor read the incoming feed. It was serious. Someone was saying nice things about Jehovah’s Witnesses. Instantly, he swung into action. There was not a moment to lose. He opened his door and whistled. The media came running. “Witnesses are selfish!” he cried. “They only think of themselves! Why don’t they help everyone? Why do they just do their own people?” That evening, media ran the headline: “WHY DON’T THEY HELP EVERYONE?” "But they had asked the wrong question. The headline they should have run, but didn’t, because they didn’t want to deal with the answer, was: “WHY AREN’T OTHERS DOING THE SAME?” The answer to the first question is obvious: Witness efforts consist of volunteers using their vacation time. Just how much time is the boss going to grant?" (from Tom Irregardless and Me) Of course, it is about opposers' efforts to denigrate the disaster recovery work Witnesses are known for. And to think I didn't even know you then.

I have little doubt that it is like Mission Control at your place with signals constantly coming in from every bellyacher.

Judith, it is a very true and loyal comment you make, but on certain threads there are very few who have regard for Jehovah’s arrangement of things. Speaking with true brotherly affection, you should give consideration as to whether you want to be here. I don’t mean the entire forum. I just mean certain threads.

There are two subdivisions of grumblers that I address, neither of whom like JWs but for different reasons. I would like to post just once and CC it to other, but do not know how. You know your way around there FAR better than I. Can you help me out? ”Voluminous” may be the weakness. What used to be called “complete” is now voluminous. People’s attention spans are short and they respond only to short snippets that they can argue back and forth ad nauseum. I am just not up for it, nor do I think it is appropriate for a Christian. I am pushing it as it is by just going there. When people do nothing but reinforce existing views, the picture gets exaggerated and skewed. That’s why I offer contrast, not for the origators sake, for that is almost certainly futile, but you never know who is hanging out there. The deciding factor for me was learning that the Philly reporter spent time there. Maybe others do too. I make statements and seldom answer replies, unless it gives opportunity for another statement. I do not get into conversations. I take for granted that I am going to be called an a*****e routinely and do not take it personally. When that happens, I let the comment stand without reply so that, to any impartial observer, they are left to twist in the wind of their own hateful words. How many impartial observers there are, if any, is the million dollar question.

There is a reason that they call it a faith and that we allow ourselves to be instructed by the Bible. Look, throw the Book in the dumpster already, will you? It doesn’t appear to interest you. Probably you can find something in the Philosophy or Science section of the library that will work better for you.

First of all, wait until it happens. Second, it has happened many times within scripture. Not exactly 'brilliant' to face the immense army unarmed with your singers in the lead, is it? "I thank you, O God, that I am not as other men, and do not fall into such error."

Exactly. I, too, always try to be as nice as I can to JTR

At the Regional Convention, at least half of the videos were directed at young people. This is good because they are under more peer pressure than most not to 'go along with the crowd.' All young people experience this pressure, but Jehovah's Witnesses youth more than usual because what they stand for is more specific and the degree to which they stand is more determined. Besides, there are many young people who resolve the pressure not to go along with the crowd by going along with the crowd. Sometimes they go so far as to answer the wise words of their mama, "If everyone jumped off of a cliff, would you jump off, too?" with a "That's what I'm talkin about!" Such talks at the convention would feature some Bible character doing something that took guts, and then the modern video application have some young person taking a bold stand based upon consideration of it. I don't remember the specific talk, but I do remember the specific video of a high school girl saying how she was really quite shy but got into the habit of, right from the start, at school's opening intro 'show and tell' session, reveal that she was one of Jehovah's Witnesses and thereafter let it be known, when all the kids are quizzing each other as to what they did on the weekend, that she engages in spiritual activity during much of that time. That is all she did. "People started coming to me with their problems," she relates. Upon establishing herself as a member of something she thinks works better, all she has to do is be nice, cooperative, friendly, and it is easier for her to stand firm when peer pressure to do something she thinks wrong comes her way. People approached her, she said, and to the extent they did, she was ready to discuss what she had and how she found it had worked for her. Let me tell you, it works way better than haranquing people over religious doctrine, which few in the West care much about anyway, and the ones that do are inclined to do nothing but argue over it. The Watchtower Study Sunday furthered that basic youth-supporting theme, with paragraphs discussing various situations. When another student approaches her teacher, and you know it is a science teacher because of the ascending apelike creatures on the chart in the background, she does not have to convince him to turn the whole troupe around and march them back into the slime from whence they came; he is not going to do that. All she has to do is tell him that she doesn't buy it. It is undermining to her faith and it is not sufficiently logical to be allowed to do that. To overturn the common sense model seen everywhere else that anything made has a maker and the more complicated the made thing is the smarter the maker must be will take proof more conclusive than what is offered. Even the teacher, though he may mutter a bit, may be able to live with this because Watchtower publications speak of the six days of creation being "epochs" and the period prior to their commencement being "aeons." Jehovah's Witnesses are not young-earth creationists. When the Watchtower wants to suggest a biology teacher, always the ascending ape chart is in the background; that's how it is done. It probably is done everywhere, not just in the Watchtower, for that one chart instantly conveys the idea as nothing else does. Icons are everywhere. Sometimes they are not even accurate. When a scientist was impressed with a discussion between he and I and wanted to reproduce it on his own blog, he represented himself with a double-helix. I got stuck with a cross! So I told him Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe that Jesus died on a cross but on an upright stake. "I knew that, actually," he said, "but an upright stake makes a ridiculous looking icon." What could I say? I had to bear my cross. Several videos (back to the Regional Convention) feature Witness youths being put down, sometimes even by the teacher, and thereafter mustering up boldness to ask to address the whole class, always (in the cases shown) winning respect from students and teachers alike.

I guess this is so, but the most quirky developed parables are in Luke. The firsed slave who flimflammed the master and is commended for it. The householder who won't do squat until pestered to death, a model applied to God. Ditto with the unrighteous judge.

Come to think of it, they are all in Luke. Does that say anything about him? Were the other three gospel writers more ‘serious’ and thus passed over these ‘cute little humorous stories?’

It appeals to lowly persons. It exasperates “wise” ones.

From the final chapter of Tom Irregardless and Me, the chapter in which I try to tie up many loose ends, I threw in this little snippet: "Brother Lett gave a talk in the Ministry School and was given a ‘WÂ’ (work) for gestures. Surely if he applies himself he can learn to be more expressive!” It is almost like what they said about Jesus, though not with the same degree of admiration: “Never has another man spoken like this.” As one brother put it: "Let no one ever think that Jehovah's organization uses paid actors.” Witnesses love this guy. He KNOWS he is nutty and he builds upon it as a strength rather get all bashful over it. If I had any doubt about that, it was erased at the behind-the-scenes broadcast that explained how such broadcasts are produced. As he is beaming in the chair and assistants are dabbing him with make-up, the voice-over (his) says that the final step is to apply make-up to the host so that he “looks his best!” He knows he is a nut. A guy that knows how not to take himself too seriously is a precious guy to have around. There are far too many people who do not suffer fools gladly – and a fool is anyone who disagrees with him. That Lett is not one of them affords him huge respect in my eyes. ItÂ’s not so much where you are but how far you have come. When a Christian Life and Ministry program suggested that we think of brothers we appreciate, I picked two not commonly recognized. They are both from a pronounced socially awkward background, and they both have overcome it to serve capably in roles that anyone would have previously thought were permanently beyond them. They are not “heavy hitters,” in my view, and probably never will be, but they are solid and respected. In an age where elders seldom have to give talks but just use discernment in applying Q&A sessions and though personal interactions, it is enough. What does Jesus three times tell Peter, recently returned from one of the greatest failures in history? “Feed my little sheep.” It is not your stellar brilliance that is going to make you most effective in doing that. It is the love that you show, and Lett shows it in spades. In the August broadcast, he gives one of the most ridiculously over-the-top illustration that I have ever heard, in which volunteers are supplied 2-inch brushes to paint the Kingdom Hall and everyone knows that is a crazy way to do it. On and on he goes about some grumbling that 4-inch brushes would make more sense, even six inch brushes, even rollers. And why not go all the way and rent a spray painter? Or hire a contractor? And, come to think of it, someone else grouses, the Kingdom Hall doesnÂ’t need painting in the first place. Furthermore, Lett almost makes this the central issue before all creation, with God potentially saddened because the friends are bickering over the tiny brushes and the Devil is jumping for joy at their disunity, as though neither one of them really has much to do up there in heaven. (a brother at an assembly applied the analogy, a bit more fittingly, to Satan being unhappy about the decision baptismal candidates had made to dedicate their lives to God. But donÂ’t worry about it, he went on to say, “HeÂ’s not usually happy.”) Tempering this verdict of the illustration being ‘ridiculousÂ’ is that Brother Lett admits from the start that it is over-the-top. It is an hyperbole, and the man himself is an hyperbole. And come to think of it, anyone familiar with the gospels knows that Jesus uses hyperbole all the time. Through their exaggeration, they have the advantage that anyone of common sense and unhardened heart instantly gets the point. They also have the advantage that anyone ‘wise in their own eyesÂ’ and too enamored with ‘critical thinkingÂ’ does not, and thus these people are sifted out. I begin to think that hyperbole is a tool in the toolbox that serves to fulfill JesusÂ’ words at Matthew 11, on how God has “hidden these things from the wise and intellectual ones and revealed them to babes,” and is even a way in which he “catches the wise in their own cunning,” the “wisdom of this world” being “foolishness” in his eyes. I mean, if the stuff is so great, show me the peaceful world it has collectively produced. Real wisdom should enable diverse people to overcome divisions and work smoothly together, and that is a sub-theme of LettÂ’s illustration. You should have heard how some of these latter ones savaged him! ‘Classic JW thinking. So typically black and white.Â’ But just because there is black and white thinking does not mean some things are not black and white, and not long ago, a car group of sisters was rear-ended by a cop in an actual black and white because he was not single-mindedly focused upon his driving. It is possible to overthink things. Though these are NOT the people that those of critical thinking pay any attention to, most persons in the world are quite simple, and thus so are JehovahÂ’s Witnesses, who draw disproportionately from this pool. One out of six persons in the world today cannot read. Do the wise ones of this system of things even know these people exist? The Watchtower produces simplified versions of material already written simply so as to reach them. There is an apocryphal story that one of the Governing Body told Lett to “stop acting like an idiot.” It is impossible to know with apocryphal stories what are true and what are concocted. That said, as I close my eyes, I can see it, for the two are vastly different in presentation. Even that ‘mysteryÂ’ serves to beneficially separate people, as some dismiss it with a ‘who cares?Â’ and some obsess over it. It is not unlike when Rex Tillerson supposedly called Trump a moron and news media suspended all other activity to find out whether he really did or not, even after the occasion where Tillerson himself called a news conference to say: “Back where I come from, we donÂ’t have time for that nonsense.” That is another way in which people are separated today. One personÂ’s nonsense is another personÂ’s manna.  Â

You know, I truly admire JWI for his measured response in answering friend and foe alike solidly and without heat. I should learn from him (but won't). Well, actually I have, a little (but only a little).

Kurt is NYT's (I think he has been in Newsweek, too) version of CNN's Acosta. He is single-minded in his focus, and in certain interviews, can come off as unhinged. That does NOT necessarily make him wrong in places where he goes; it just means he must be taken with a grain of salt. When persons like JWI give substantial evidence in responding to blowhard idealogues, (I told you he brings out the worst in me) I would say the proof is there, tempered only by the fact that in an obscene world where arms are the profitable exports of many countries, many such evil reports can be truthfully related.

Have you taken leave of your senses more than usual? It is a JOKE, for crying out loud. Everyone in the whole wide world can see it is a joke. Admin is a big boy. He’ll survive.

“Libelous?” You’re joking!

Come on, James! There is such a thing as discernment. He spoke of not being interested in anyone's "corporate agenda" once. And recently he declared on another post that he was interested in anyone's "non-religious" viewpoint. There is no possible way he is not exactly as I say in every respect.

I follow some malcontents on Twitter because they reliably inform me of developments I may want to address. If they wise up, I simply follow others, as there are many. But they don't wise up. In fact, many of them live to herald their "good news," almost as though they are JWs themselves I don't do it for the purpose of engaging with them (though it has happened) and I don't consider myself above general counsel to not go there. I am chastened by such counsel and would be much worse without it. I don't (somewhat) follow such counsel not to go there because I am afraid of men. I do it because I think it is good counsel. If you are determined to lose weight, you do not spend inordinate amounts of time with people who stuff their fridge with candy, cake and ice cream Ever since inception, Christians have accepted, even embraced, the idea that theirs is a course of self-sacrifice and setting aside immediate desires in temporary pursuit of more urgent concerns. Along come some malcontents in a world that has cast off discipline (and suffered for it, imo) who say: “Yikes! This involves self-sacrifice and setting aside immediate desires! Who wants that?” I say, “bring it on.” It is a new front in the age-old war. It is no more than Paul saying in Philippians: “True, some are preaching the Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter are proclaiming the Christ out of love, for they know that I have been appointed to defend the good news; but the former do it out of contentiousness, not with a pure motive, for they are intending to create trouble for me in my prison bonds. With what result? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is being proclaimed, and I rejoice over this.” I will concede that our people are behind the curve on this. Moreover, perhaps 'behind the curve' is exactly the place to be. The general counsel is to be like Jesus in Matthew 11, who noted that people lambasted him no matter what he did and responded by saying: Full speed ahead! ‘Wisdom is proved righteous by its works.’ I worry about being seen as a bad example, for looking back on the furrows. However, if the headship of Jehovah’s Witnesses ever puts their efforts into it, they will do what they have done with the Internet and what I wrote about in Tom Irregardless and Me: “In recent years, the Watchtower organization even offers its own programming through a JW Broadcasting streaming channel, a refreshing and most unusual alternative to mainstream TV. Members of the Governing Body thus repeat the pattern they are known for with any new technology: They eye it with suspicion. They advise caution. They know that when the thief switches getaway cars, it is the thief you have to watch, not the dazzling features of the new car. They follow the thief for a time. Convinced at last that they still have a bead on him, they examine the car. They circle it warily, kicking the tires. At last satisfied, they jump in with both feet and put it to good uses its inventors could only have dreamed of.” At present, they don't go there with opposers and they certainly will not ever go there in the main. There are too many verses to advise them to keep doing just what they are doing. When the elders said that they would like to use me once more, but - did I argue with apostates? I told them that I did not. However, what I do is close enough that it could easily be misconstrued that way, and so I advised that they really ought not use me in any actual privilege. Look, this is a no-brainer. If you would represent any organization in an appointed capacity, you must adhere to its standards more closely than if you do not represent them in an appointed capacity. In fact, I may be just kidding myself. If the counsel to teenagers at the circuit assembly is applied to adults, then I am indeed 'arguing' with them. Now, counsel to teenagers is not obligatory for adults. In fact, it is not even obligatory for teenagers, or to their parents who exercise headship. Disobey it flagrantly and you will be thought not a fine example, but it is not obligatory. Disobey it flagrantly and it may head you into ruin, which is the point of the counsel to begin with, but it is not obligatory. The counsel addresses just one more form of porn to stay away from. Once in a while, though, you spot three malcontents mugging your friend Job, and you try to be like Elihu and take them out - in one grand speech, not through give and take chitchat. Ideally, the heavens will roar approval and some angelic creature will descend to kick them in their behinds. But other times, they glance down from their newspapers, rustle the pages to change the picture, and resume. You don't know until you know. You don't get smart-alecky with the king and say: "Your fire won't singe us." You say: "If it to be our God can deliver us out of your hand, you big jerk." [last three words mine] Time will tell. And every once in a while David comes along and says: "Look, I took out the bear. I did serious damage to the lion. I'm pretty sure I can take out this big lout taunting the battle lines of the living God." Christianity is among the greatest themes of all time. Battling 'apostates' is one of the greatest themes within Christianity. There is not a New Testament writer who does not deal with it, even devoting entire chapters to it, and in Jude's case, a whole book. He was just be-bopping along, writing another dull letter that would have settled into the dustbin of Christian history, when: "although I was making every effort to write you about the salvation we hold in common, I found it necessary to write you to urge you to put up a hard fight for the faithe that was once for all time delivered to the holy ones. My reason is that certain men have slipped in among you who were long ago appointed to this judgment by the Scriptures; they are ungodly men who turn the undeserved kindness of our God into an excuse for brazen conduct." Admin is embarrassed that there are so many religious nuts on his forum. He wants them to remain, of course, because traffic means recognition and, ultimately, money, but if only they could just post on more learned things so that he can hold his head high among the Internet titans that he wants to hang out with. In fact, he should tell the Internet titans to go jump in the lake. By looking down upon the corporate agendas of faithful Christians, which they will invariably have the moment they move out from their parents' basement, he is missing out on the greatest drama of all time. From time to time in the future, I will be posting something or other and also link to my own blog, where I am trying to accumulate writings I consider loyal under one roof. this post is one of them. If I am called on it once for 'spamming,' I will discontinue all participation on this forum. This is not to be contentious and is certainly not a dare. It's been a good run here, but nothing lasts forever. It may be time to move on. I am grateful to the Librarian for hosting a raucous forum in which I could write a book that I never could have written elsewhere. Even should she give me the boot, i will never forget her, the old hen, but as Sherlock says: "It's Game On!"

(sorry) Posted and removed by me because I put in in the wrong place.

I shouldn't like this, James. I have gotten into trouble with people I respect when I have liked your stuff. But as Patton said: "I love it. God help me, I do love it." I just had to quote Patton. Change the 'love' to 'like' and it is spot on.