TrueTomHarley

And now for the ultimate mia culpa:  I am - gasp! - @The Librarian!!!!

I got tossed out of Bethel decades ago for trying to sneak a red-hot bikini photograph, clad only in horn-rimmed glasses, of myself in the Watchtower centerfold. It almost made it out the door, but then some narrow-minded brothers spotted it.

I'll bet it still hangs upon their dorm walls - the sickos!!

I could have been famous - FAMOUS, I tell you. But now I send photos of myself to apostate rags and even they return it unopened!!

9 hours ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

Well, AllenSmith ... and I assume you ARE Allen Smith, just trying a little deception ... (If I am wrong, please correct me...):

Nope. Just me again, big boy, in yet another guise. So is Allen. So is O'Maly. "Was I not having fun?"

Actually, every one of them is me, except @The Librarian. And I once dated her. You should have seen her when she would don her big round horn-rimmed librarian glasses. What a woman she once was! But when I proposed marriage, she turned me down, saying she wanted to pursue a life of knowledge and books.

It would have served her well to admit she was human, for a change. Just look at what has become of her, the old hen.

20 hours ago, JW Insider said:

"Newbies" and "BAs"

What becomes of the BAs post service, to your knowledge? Do they remain or leave the faith? Does their BA intensify or mitigate?

1 hour ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

All complimentary letters I assume?

They were respectful, but they did weigh in on some topics that have been discussed in this forum. None were written simply to offer compliments.

Of course I DID NOT TELL THEM WHAT JERKS THEY WERE and how they MUST COME AROUND to my way of thinking, seeing that it WAS AND IS INDISPUTABLY RIGHT!!!!

1 hour ago, Noble Berean said:

I have written letters to the Society in the past about my concerns, but I have never received any word back from them.

I have written 3 or 4 in the course of 40 years. Each one was answered.

On 6/25/2016 at 5:47 PM, Jay Witness said:

The news of the suicide according to Johnny is very painful to those who were close to her.

Is this ever not the case?

Any report of suicide evokes sympathy. People are left to wonder of inner turmoil and so forth. Still, any mental health professional will say that the inability to move on after a perceived negative experience puts one at increased risk for self-harm. People who can't 'move on' in life suffer more often than those who can and do. What we have here, assuming matters are objectively reported - which I do not assume because I have seen Jay's other posts and he has made his intent clear - is a correlation augmented by a possible trigger, but hardly cause and effect.

On 6/25/2016 at 5:47 PM, Jay Witness said:

It was reported that when she arrived home she was treated terribly by her Jehovah's Witness family and relatives.

Does anyone think when Kathy Griffin held aloft the severed head of the President, it caused no ripples in her Republican (if they were that) family? She is trying to destroy what they hold of paramount importance.

Of course, I knew neither the young woman, nor the circumstances, nor what 'mission' she was on when she was thwarted. (I suspected the latter is exaggerated by Jay becasue he exaggerates anything he deems harmful to the visible organization) Therefore, I can only speak in the abstract.

3 hours ago, JW Insider said:

From a Biblical perspective, I don't think an organization like ours has any right to secrecy. I think everything we do, we should be proud to preach about, and humble enough to let others evaluate it, too.

To a degree that may be true, but 2 Timothy 3:1-5 also must be factored in - how persons in the last days would be not open to any agreement, impossible to satisfy, fierce, disloyal, betrayers, headstrong, and so forth. Many today have no interest in reform but seek only to destroy. Divorce it from the field of religion for a moment, for it is clearly seen anywhere - the urge to tear down with no corresponding interest in building. Obama suffered it. Trump suffers it

It hardly follows that a group that merely wants to protect confidential information is villainous because someone takes her own life when she is stymied trying to extract it.

48 minutes ago, TrueTomHarley said:

JTR saw it too. But he likes his cartoon and wants to spin it around the world a few more times. 

Let's see - get up, kiss wife, shower, shave, eat breakfast, pick a fight with JTR - what has he posted lately?

Nobody, but nobody, assembles their entire membership as JWs did at their most recent Regional Conventions, and reviews detailed scenarios under which child sexual abuse might happen, so that parents can train their children - obviously the first line of defense.

Especially emphasized was the fact the the perpetrator is likely to be someone a child knows and trusts.

If a relative, or friend, or anyone, seems overly attentive to your child. If there are tickling sessions. If there are sleepovers. If there are trips alone to the public restroom. If ....there were several others. These are all potential red flags,  maybe harmless, but maybe not, for the parent to be aware of. 'The wise one sees the [potential] calamity approaching, and takes action' is the verse repeatedly applied.

JTR saw it too. But he likes his cartoon and wants to spin it around the world a few more times. 

10 minutes ago, bruceq said:

" And as an argument in favor of the "extremist" nature of the material submitted for examination, the authors of the conclusion give the following quotation at least 12 times (!): "God rained fire and sulfur on Sodom and the nearby city of Gomorrah. All their wicked inhabitants perished. "

do they now position themselves as champion of gay rights? I fear that one will not go over too well with gays.

1 hour ago, JW Insider said:

Did Noah's sons help in building the ark? Probably. Does the Bible say they did? No. Neither his sons, or their wives, or even Noah's wife were included in the list of righteous people who survived the the Flood. 

They were going through their difficult teenage years then. They sat around playing video games and let the old man do all the work.

Just kidding, of course, but as you say, there are often things added to our portrayal of events that weren't stated in verse. It is unavoidable any time you do a drama. When that jerk in the dungeon demanded to see Hezekiah, did the latter really drop what he was doing to put up with his tirade? Did he really routinely take time out during his busy king day to play with the small children?

And don't get me going on cleanliness. When I see a half dozen full time servants toiling half a day to remove an ounce of dirt, I realize that my more relaxed view of clean doesn't stand a snowball's chance in you-know-where of prevailing.

3 minutes ago, b4ucuhear said:

[of JTR]:    I always enjoy your pictures, comments and offbeat humour. .... Always good for a smile - and some insightful comments and observations too

I am crazy. I know I am.

It would be hard for Noah to avoid a warning component to his preaching when answering the question "What's that big boat doing in your back yard?" and of course, he would have been known for nothing else.

Today it is hard to slip it in. I don't tell anyone "only a short time and all will be destroyed." There is too much preliminary stuff to cover. I'll get around to it eventually, but it's down the road a bit - more so than it would be if I dragged an ark along with me in service.

56 minutes ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

Oh .... and thanks for letting me live rent free in your head.

....That is to say, I do not write for anyones' approval.

It means nothing in itself. Laudable people are there. But also some scoundrels. It's a big enough place. Maybe someday there will be a hoeing out. But for now they remain even when in serious financial arrears.

I live and die for the 'like' meter.

40 minutes ago, b4ucuhear said:

After all, that attitude was also manifest early on when some left the organization, NOT WANTING to go out in the ministry. 

The public ministry grounds a person. Stray from it at your personal spiritual peril.

Hey, you big so-and-so @James Thomas Rook Jr.. For all your carrying on about being prolific, I just noticed that I have more posts than you.* How did that happen?

Though, you get some sort of prize when your posts are liked here. I'm not sure if I have any of those. Have you?

And you once accused me of tracking you down via FB and I responded by asking what had you been smoking. But when, within a post, you referred to yourself as 'Tom Rook,' that rang a bell. I don't know from where, but it may be I have run across (not over) you elsewhere.

*That is NOT counting Vic Vomidog, A Nice Guy, and the learned Dr. Adhominum.

4 minutes ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

For awhile, I tried to learn Klingon .... even bought audio cassettes and considered taking classes at the KLI (Klingon Language Institute), but alas ... I could not get my throat to make those hard guttural sounds, and yell and spit at the same time.

I like when Riker was on the Klingon ship under the 'exchange student' program and had to eat their stuff.

11 hours ago, JW Insider said:

Naturally, many were just amazingly full of love and encouraging experiences. You just wanted to go back to their country with them and share the joy. But I have also never met so many cold bureaucrats who never wanted to go from door-to-door again in their life

This is subjective, as are my observations. But to the extent it is true, I'm not sure just how terrible it is. Obviously, it is not the ideal. Nonetheless, door-to-door never comes easily to some. Not everyone is a communicator. It can't be easy to carry around weighty responsibilities affording one respect, and routinely shifting to the field where there is not one grain of respect. Some always find it a struggle, and I will love them for trying,  even when they do not knock the ball out of the park.

Back before the LDC and its predecessor, If you wanted to build a Kingdom Hall, there were certain brothers, builders by trade, that you just had to get onboard. Everyone else was all-thumbs in comparison. These brothers had the expertise and willingness, and they roamed about instrumental in many a building project. But some considered them 'second tier' because their formal ministry wasn't that hot.

Let them bring their gift to the altar, even if public preaching has become a bit of a sideline from them. I fancy myself comfortable at communicating these days, yet I could not build a Kingdom Hall model out of Lego blocks.

5 hours ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

1.) Can a God of Love, and who loves Justice, torture someone forever? NO.

2.) Would a Sovereign God allow his disobedient children to be tormented forever by his Arch Enemy, forever?  NO.

You can fill in items 3.) through 20+.) yourself .... what would a rational, thinking being do?

I will make the job easier by supplying #14 myself:

14.) "And the Devil who was misleading them was hurled into the lake of fire...." (Rev 20:10)

That's supposed to bother him? I believe he has a summer cottage on the Lake of Fire.

1 hour ago, Eoin Joyce said:

It is unlikely that the interviewees would reveal the real reason for their disfellowshipping which would probably cause personal embarrassment, and there is no way that the official organisation would comment or reveal the details of an individual case.

Disfellowshipped or disassociated persons do accumulate. And they don't always pine for the day they will be reinstated. Sometimes they go on the attack. When they do, like people anywhere, they play down whatever responsibility they had in favor of how others done them in.

You would think that the BBC would get the accurate scoop on what circumstances can lead to this most extreme form of discipline and what ones cannot. It's not as though the process is hidden.

2 hours ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

may I suggest that what you are doing is warping and bending reason, logic, and reality even worse that what the Russians  are being accused of.

Nonsense. Are you in jail? Has your home been burned down or confiscated? Have you been fired?

But now this lion will become a kitty cat. Sorry. Assuming no more....

5 hours ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

The Brothers (and Sisters) who saved up or borrowed money to build their Kingdom Halls locally, and used their sweat and time to build it .. often with the help of Friends ... do they specifically have the right to sell it as they see fit, and use the money as they see fit?

Yes, or no?"

CHOOSE.

Did the Brothers (and Sisters) who saved up or borrowed money to build the tabernacle, and used their sweat and time to build it .. often with the help of Friends ... did they specifically have the right to sell it as they see fit, and use the money as they saw fit?

Yes, or no?"

CHOOSE.

Davey the Kid was annoyed at those who carry on about 'hours,' asserting that we should focus on 'people' instead. The hours are people, he said.

On 7/22/2017 at 9:56 AM, Eoin Joyce said:

I mean is it a real announcement? The claim is obviously bogus.

Now the wicked Western powers will spot a way to defeat the Surly Bear. Simply keep submitting false JW reports. The Russians will go apoplectic, taking their eye off the ball while they chase each one down.

10 minutes ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

The Brothers (and Sisters) who saved up or borrowed money to build their Kingdom Halls locally, and used their sweat and time to build it .. often with the help of Friends ... do they specifically have the right to sell it as they see fit, and use the money as they see fit?

Many grousing Israelites in Moses' time bellyached similarly with regard to the tabenracle they had donated towards.