TrueTomHarley

I appreciate this. When push comes to shove, you do have endorsement in the Bible for reasonable and optional use of alcoholic beverages. That is not the case with marijuana. The loss of IQ points with marijuana would be enough to stop me in my tracks. I need every point I can get.

Does it look like I am suggesting that? Just look at the fine use I am putting my iPad to right now.

It all depends upon where you look and what is most important to you. I am reminded of that line from the 1968 book The Truth that Leads to Eternal Life: “True, there has been progress in a materialistic way. But is it really progress when men send rockets to the moon, and yet cannot live together in peace on earth?” Some people think it is.

This is why the truth is hidden to many. As you wrote the Lord said to himself.................. I love this verse, usually rendered as: “The LORD said to my Lord” ”Do you know why that is?” I will ask people, referring to how one is in all caps and the other not so.

Did you check that on yours?

Too cynical. I take it back. Sometimes you do learn from history. At least, it takes longer to repeat it.

WHAT?!!! Just like that? No two week notice? It is a terrible bind that you leave the old hen in! Do you have any idea how hard it will be to find someone to fill your shoes?! Apostates are inconsiderate—pure and simple!

Unfortunately, this saying is a load of manure, imo. You repeat it regardless.

Or for crying out loud, Allen!

The Babylon Bee is an idea for a very clever satire that usually isn’t quite pulled off, I think because satire needs a certain degree of subtlety to be effective—and subtlety is not its strong suit. With more subtlety it could broaden its audience and not just preach to the choir.

It’s true. They do deserve it, though. You certainly take enough shots at me

Maybe Witness will play. Every other word will be ‘anointed’

I’m not one of them. Nor do I have you in mind with application of that Acts 5 verse. I have other people in mind. Since I am also “out there,” even though not paralleling the topics that you take on, I give thought to “let he who is standing beware that he does not fall.” I don’t want to have happen to me what I have seen happen many times to others—brothers become experts in their own eyes and in time leave Jehovah’s organized worship completely, frustrated that it is not “keeping up.” I counter that tendency to become wise in my own eyes by firmly adhering to the traditional door-to-door ministry and making sure activity here is supplemental, not a replacement. My understanding is that you do the same, but I suspect that some others on this forum do not. I counter the tendency to become wise in my own eyes by staying firmly cooperative with existing congregational arrangements, respecting the role and the need of leadership. I gather that you do the same. I counter the tendency to become wise in my own eyes by always looking for the good in others, such as in Philippians 2:3 mode of considering the other superior—searching out and honing in on the at least one quality, often many, at which the other plainly is superior, then always endeavoring to see him or her primarily through this lens. This I believe you do too. In fact, you are better at it than me. I don’t view you as someone who is not obeying. I view you as someone who is bringing your gift to the altar. If you suspended your traditional ministry and began running down the Christian organization, I would reappraise. But you do not that I have seen. I too, try to “bring my gift to the altar,” such as it is, but it does not replace the organized activity that collectively makes the light shine.

My [physical] brother is a master of defensive playing. He leaves nothing to build on. Neither of us are stickers. I will sometimes go to the Scrabble dictionary to check on the spelling of a word. He will go there to check on its existence.

What?! I must think of God, and not of becoming “great in my own eyes” by beating your sorry rear end into the ground, as I undoubtedly would! Okay, this time here’s the emoji:

You know more people than me. It’s not fair—like when my brother beats me all the time in Scrabble. He does it by not playing fair.* It wouldn’t have been on the watch of these guys, but a few years ago writers were driving me nuts with the overuse (so it seemed to me) of exclamation marks, as though they imagined one could take a dull sentence and make it an exciting one just by slapping an exclamation mark at the end. They don’t do that any more that I have noticed. The full-length videos have vastly improved, imo. They won’t grab academy awards any time soon, but they head ever more in that direction. As an example that it was well to move on from, I think of the video where the prodigal leaves the family owned (carpentry!) business for the big job in the city that blows up in his face and the no-good “friend” he has made leaves him holding the bag after he smashes up the car. That video fulfilled every single Witness stereotype to the tee, but the new ones progressively get more realistic. Then again, who’s to say? Life itself sometimes fulfills every Witness stereotype to the tee. The person that became the public face for JW persecution in Russia—Dennis Christensen. Even his profession lines up with that of his Lord. Even his name does. What are the chances of that? *I have gotten used to putting games on social media (I promise it won’t happen here again) and they have become favorites. Like: “I Scrabbled! A brilliant Scrabble for a stunning come-from-behind WIN!!!! Except I didn’t. He beat me 337 to 335! He had the Q, the Z, the X!! Oh, and did I mention he had the J? How do you spell: “IDONTLIKEMYBROTHER!” ?

You'd bring paganism and sorcery into the new system, wow that's bold! No. I bring pop music into it.....Beachwood 45 7845. Composer of song in the new system—that’s what I want to be. As to living in this or that abandoned home, it is all said in speculative rambling. I have never seen it in print. I would not be surprised if many of us end up living in Bethel-type dorms for the first few years, or even decades...and don’t you believe that there will be some bellyaching over that! I am not entirely sure that some unappreciative ones will surface that wish they had never left Egypt.

Yes. To borrow from the political world—which I know is not appreciated by many, still, a parallel is a parallel—something occurs here that is parallel to the media’s obsession with “separating Trump from his base.” What is their goal in doing that? So that the former will become irrelevant and the latter can be absorbed. So it is with the obsession with running down the Governing Body. Why is it done? So that they will become irrelevant and those following their lead can be absorbed back into the world.

Several times I have heard this expression from you. I like to think that it could be ten or less years. It helps to keep on the watch. I even think that it is today’s emphasis on “critical thinking” that serves to downplay the above verse—as though obedience has nothing whatsoever to do with it—as though it is all a head matter that we ought to be able to figure out.

This is the most ridiculous.....excuse me.......MOM—put your joint out! I can smell it wafting down here! Remember.....catch the house on fire and I don’t have a fire escape down here!

Doubtless it will. But no more so than the plight of brothers who are locked up in Eritria—it has occupied their attention for decades—where they don’t have a dime at stake. The aim it to stomp out the dissemination of Bible based beliefs, an aim with which you fully cooperate. I learned long ago not to do this. Not matter how respectful and conciliatory one is, completely with imputing good motives, it does nothing to stem the vitriol you emanate toward those taking the lead in the Christian work.

Steven Hassan is the David Splane of anti-cultists. He is the Great Explainer who works tirelessly in their behalf. He is the originator of the BITE model of “mind control”—Behavioral, Informational, Thought, and Emotional Control! He is the man who, as a youth, was naive enough to join the Moonies—the robe-dressing, flower-hawking Moonies! and now, having quit them, he insists that even the most intelligent people [read: himself] can be misled into a cult. Of course, there are only so many Moonies in the world. Mr Hassan expands the C-word into ever more frontiers, and one of them is Jehovah’s Witnesses. You would think that it is the only one, to hear JW detractors carry on, but it is but one of an ever-growing stable. I have witnessed JW opponents on social media counseling each other as to the most effective way to conduct themselves, referring back to the BITE model of Hassan as a guide, as though he was a cult leader of himself. His horizon’s continue to expand. His current book is: “The Cult of Trump—A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind-Control.” A review of it begins with: “Can’t understand why a loved one would vote for Donald Trump? Let the experts who spend their lives studying cults help break it down.” Of course! It is completely inexplicable otherwise! Only cult delusion can account for such a vote. When you think that half the country has fallen victim to cult influence and mind-control, it is strong evidence that you have drunk too much of the Kool-Aid yourself. So he comes out of the closet. He reveals himself. He is a leftist—nothing more. He is of the victimization society. I’m glad to see it, for it undermines his alleged expertise elsewhere—like with JWs, for example. Up to the point of his new book on Trump, one can begin to suspect that maybe, just maybe, Jehovah’s Witnesses are a cult. They pay far more attention to their Governing Body than other groups do to their leaders. They certainly take their faith far more seriously than do others, and they deviate from the accepted goals of society in fundamental ways. Yes, you can just begin to imagine it—and then Hassan, who got the ball rolling in the first place, comes along and says half the country is under the spell of a cult leader! Okay. That does it. He is a loon, just upset that his candidate did not win, and that recognition qualifies whatever he has said about Jehovah’s Witnesses or anyone else. It’s not that the idea of influencing people is ridiculous. Its the over-application that is. No meaningful outfit does not incorporate some application of “behavioral, informational, thought, and emotional control”—the most striking example is that of the family. Is it really brainwashing that he objects to—or is it just brainwashing that is not his? Read him as he carries on about Trump and realize that the spillover will taint his mission with anything else. Leaving sects that were his bread and butter far behind, he tweets: “We need to have a fundamentally NEW conversation about how we interact with Trump supporters. Online arguing doesn’t work. When we label Trump supporters as “dumb” or “evil”, it only reinforces their own image that they are persecuted and cuts off any chance of them changing.” “Though I know it’s hard to do when they say such vitriolic things, we need to imagine they are stuck inside a religious cult. How would we try to get them out? At first, we would make sure to avoid argument and really try to CONNECT. This may take a while but is vital.” “After we’ve established some trust and rapport, we need to be delicate. We don’t rush to talk about Trump (they will still be defensive and unmovable). We need to find a subject that has parallels to their situation but doesn’t feel personal (i.e. Chinese Communist Brainwashing)” “Using that example, we can highlight examples of behavior control, information control, thought control, and emotional control. Very delicately, we can ask them questions about their beliefs and reflexively listen to the answers without ANY judgment.” “What if they bring up the economy?” I interjected. It worked for Bill Clinton—“It’s the economy, stupid” instantly trounced all other considerations and won him the election. I follow Mr. Hassan on Twitter. When he returned the follow, I promised that I would take no cheap shots. I find this promise hard to keep these days, since his new horizons strikes me as no less absurd that his old. But I have, more or less, kept it. Incredibly, he answered me privately, though DM. He recommended that I read his book! Nobody answers privately on Twitter, yet that’s what he did. My only explanation is that he saw my Twitter banner, which suggests that I am a Witness—it’s an advertisement of Dear Mr. Putin - Jehovah’s Witnesses Write Russia—and he simply assumed that if he gently gave me opportunity, not publicly where I would not dare respond lest my OVERSEERS take note, but in private, like Jesus pulled aside the deaf man so as not to put him on the spot, that I would gratefully let him take me by the hand so as to escape from the JW cult! I don’t troll the guy. Everyone has a right to prevail on their own feed. I am not disrespectful when I reply and I don’t do it often. The next time he advised me, this time publicly, to read his book, I responded that I had a book, too. A third party to the thread tweeted that he had no book. “Get off your duff and write one!” I replied with a smiley emoji. “It is apparently the price of admission.” Hassan stays at it—keeping on the watch: “Has everyone seen this video of Donald Trump? Senior cabinet members grovel in the exact same way Scientologists do with Miscavage. Does this LOOK like a healthy organization to you? This is not normal. This is cult behavior.” “He has actually said just the opposite,” I replied, “that his advisors do not have to agree with him and he likes the mix they bring to the table. To be sure, not many of them last too long.” “He says often what he thinks people want him to say or what he is told to say, but actions are what count!” “I don’t see it, Steve,” I wrote. “To get a job, you must convey that you are a “team player” Try putting on your resume that your talent lies in challenging or broadening out the boss. Most bosses want a cohesive team that will recognize who leads. Have other POTUSs not done this also?” Of course! Trump does bully on his feed, but the Presidency has been called the “bully pulpit,” after all. It is just that he is better at it than others that gets into Steve’s craw. If he bullied on Steve’s side, I can’t imagine him having any problem with it. It’s not mind-control that he is upset with. It is the mind-control that is not that from his side. I barely restrainsmyself from playing devil’s advocate far more than the little bit that I do. There are genuine reasons to dislike Trump, and plenty of people take up those reasons. You could call him a bull in a china shop, except to do that one must accept the premise that government as usual is a china shop. Junkyard dog in a junkyard perhaps works better. But this mind control charge strikes me as pure looniness. “How is it that SO MANY people in this country are STILL under the spell of Donald Trump?” he tweets. “Though most of us throw our arms up in disgust or confusion, the answer to this question is actually quite simple:” “Trump, the Republican Party and the right-wing media industrial complex are manipulating the public. They are employing the same techniques advertisers and public relations professionals use but have done so in an even more potent way.” “They harness fear. They repeat messages over and over again. They disorient with conflicting messages. They wage war on detractors.” It is not that they don’t do it. It is that everyone else doesn’t do it as well. “We somehow think that “mind control” and “brainwashing” only exist in Hollywood movies but they are very REAL phenomena and through the relatively new medium of the internet, we are seeing mind control like we’ve never seen in human history.” “The only remedy is knowledge. We need to educate ourselves so we can educate others. If you want to understand more, let me know,” thus taking for granted his role in disseminating true knowledge. Still, I want to take his message to heart. There is on this forum an unabashed Trump advocate. Can I help him break free from his cult? Mr. Hassan sets the goal: “At EVERY point in this process (and I’ve been doing this for 40+ years for people lost in cults) we want to be gentle and caring. Arguing or TELLING them they are wrong will accomplish nothing. We want them to have their OWN “Aha!” moment. We never force it.” Okay. I will try with @James Thomas Rook Jr.. Let’s see if I can help him to have his own “AHA!” moment. It won’t be easy because he is a blockhead. But I owe it to him to try. Hello James. Have I told you lately that I feel love for you, just like Jesus felt love for the rich young ruler? I only want to help you—you must believe me. I do not want to take your trump-trump away. No. But I have noticed—I say this only because I love and respect you—that whereas you used to be the most fun and pleasant person to be around, lately you have turned into a mean-spirited so-and-so. Do you even realize that the “Arab” you just spit at was actually a Jew? Have you noted that the President does name calling? Do you think this is very nice? How do you expect other countries to respect America if it’s leader is not nice? [Have your “Aha!” moment yet, you fathead? No? Well, let’s continue] Hitler was not nice, was he? I know that we will agree on that. See, I am trying to build a bridge to you. I am establishing trust and support, and I will be delicate. Stalin was not nice either. And Pol Pot—what a meanie he was! These are facts I am telling you, James. I know that you will recognize that, for you are very smart, and I know that you will see that Trump is just like them. See? I am attempting a fundamentally new conversation with you, James. Thank you for allowing me to prove my point. Alright, that’s enough! Am I my brother’s keeper? If he comes around, so be it. I hope he does, but there is only so much one person can do. If Trump hadn’t been elected President, I would not have had the gift—an entirely unanticipated one—of Steve Hassan the anti-cultist revealing to all that he is just another political leftist.

Dirge leader for Matthew457845 no longer being around

Witness has seized on that part and is eagerly anticipating the day.

In all discussions about how inspired of Holy Spirit different ones are, I have not seen the verse (nor have I thought to bring it up myself) Acts 5:32 “And we are witnesses of these matters, and so is the holy spirit, which God has given to those obeying him as ruler.” It is simply left out of the equation, and it probably shouldn’t be. “Obey God as ruler” and one may expect a measure of Holy Spirit. Drag one’s feet on obeying him and that will not be so. To my mind, the GB do obey him as ruler—they do their best.