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David Normand

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  1. Upvote
    David Normand got a reaction from Judith Sweeney in What Does the Bible Say About Dinosaurs?   
    *** g90 2/8 pp. 3-5 Discovering ‘The Great Reptiles’ of the Past *

    The Genesis Account and Dinosaurs
    While the radioactive dating method is innovative, it is still based on speculation and assumption. In contrast, the Bible account in the first chapter of Genesis simply states the general order of creation. It allows for possibly thousands of millions of years for the formation of the earth and many millenniums in six creative eras, or “days,” to prepare the earth for human habitation.
    Some dinosaurs (and pterosaurs) may indeed have been created in the fifth era listed in Genesis, when the Bible says that God made “flying creatures” and “great sea monsters.” Perhaps other types of dinosaurs were created in the sixth epoch. The vast array of dinosaurs with their huge appetites would have been appropriate considering the abundant vegetation that evidently existed in their time.—Genesis 1:20-24.
    When the dinosaurs had fulfilled their purpose, God ended their life. But the Bible is silent on how he did that or when. We can be sure that dinosaurs were created by Jehovah for a purpose, even if we do not fully understand that purpose at this time. They were no mistake, no product of evolution. That they suddenly appear in the fossil record unconnected to any fossil ancestors, and also disappear without leaving connecting fossil links, is evidence against the view that such animals gradually evolved over millions of years of time. Thus, the fossil record does not support the evolution theory. Instead, it harmonizes with the Bible’s view of creative acts of God.
  2. Like
    David Normand got a reaction from the Sower of Seed in Good day! What can you tell me regarding the 1975 prediction of Armageddon? I appreciate your response.. Thank you and God bless!   
    While it is true that we don't have the ability to predict the future, we were told to be on the watch and to be in expectation for the end of this system of things. 
  3. Upvote
    David Normand got a reaction from derek1956 in Always Remember the P.A,S.S.W.O.R.D.   
    Very nice. I like that. Acronyms are much easier to remember.
  4. Upvote
    David Normand reacted to Richard Lindor in Jehovah's Witnesses Tax Exemption May Have Cost City $368M, Critics Say   
    It is amazing to see what hatred can do to the most intelligent people.  Please take away whatever you dislike And distrust about Jehovah’s witnesses, look at the law of the land. You are asking why don’t they break the law? Lie say they are not a religious institution and pay taxes. You are telling people it is okay to let themselves be discriminated and treated differently just because you feel like they should. 
    I read all the tread multiple times again it doesn’t sense at all. I took away everything I may or may not like about Jehovah’s Witnesses to be objective on this subject. I even made some research on other major religions wealth, assets and investments compare to the watchtower’s organization, as you probably already know the witnesses are not even half close compare to the other religions. 
    I made the research to understand the arguments about paying taxes, again compare to Catholics, Protestants, Pentecostal, Baptist’s, Mormons, Muslim, Hindu and more the witnesses can not even compare. 
  5. Upvote
    David Normand got a reaction from Melinda Mills in Jehovah's Witnesses Tax Exemption May Have Cost City $368M, Critics Say   
    Whoa there buddy. Even Paul appealed to Caesar when he had the opportunity. Millions of Christians accept social security and other government benefits. Are you suggesting they should forego these things because they are supposed to be no part of the world? 
    What about fire and police protection? Should we also forego assistance from these brave folks because we proclaim we are no part of the world? Of course not. After the same scripture you quoted above also states that governments are God's servants. They frequently do a measure of good and we all benefit when governments exercise their authority in a fine way. 
     
  6. Upvote
    David Normand got a reaction from James Thomas Rook Jr. in Jehovah's Witnesses Tax Exemption May Have Cost City $368M, Critics Say   
    Whoa there buddy. Even Paul appealed to Caesar when he had the opportunity. Millions of Christians accept social security and other government benefits. Are you suggesting they should forego these things because they are supposed to be no part of the world? 
    What about fire and police protection? Should we also forego assistance from these brave folks because we proclaim we are no part of the world? Of course not. After the same scripture you quoted above also states that governments are God's servants. They frequently do a measure of good and we all benefit when governments exercise their authority in a fine way. 
     
  7. Upvote
    David Normand reacted to Witness in Jehovah's Witnesses Tax Exemption May Have Cost City $368M, Critics Say   
    As I have said…
     
    When is it okay for the Watchtower to be like all other churches/organizations in the world…
    …and when is it not?
     
    g70 6/22 pp. 29-31  Disturbing Riches
    It is no secret that the Roman Catholic Church in America generates great wealth. In stocks alone, one market expert suggested that when you touch figures like $20,000,000,000 “maybe you’ll be close.” The land assets alone of the archdiocese of New York are conservatively estimated at $55,000,000. Said author Kenneth G. Gross: “Catholics, organizationally and clerically, reportedly realize major profits from Grace Lines, Moran Towing, dozens of food producers and packagers, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, and various utilities. Jesuits own large blocks of shares in defense industries (National Steel, Boeing, Lockheed, Douglas, Curtiss-Wright), as well as DiGiorgio Corp. and other firms. The Knights of Columbus, a tax-exempt lay Catholic group, includes the land under Yankee Stadium in a portfolio of half a billion dollars.” A New York priest said: “The Catholic Church must either get back to helping its poorest members rather than cultivating its most influential parishioners, or else risk devastation.”
    Stocks, land assets, profits, shares in defense industries.  Is the Watchtower jealous that their stocks, land assets, profits and shares in defense industries do not add up to the riches of the Catholic Church? 
    Why was it necessary to mention the Knights of Columbus are “tax-exempt”? 
    Watchtower cannot “get back to helping its poorest members”, when it never has to begin with.
    WHAT IS THEIR POINT OF THIS NEWS QUIP, OTHER THAN TO DETRACT FROM THEIR OWN HYPOCRISY?
     Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.  James 3:13-16
    Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”  James 1:27
    Brother Russell and his associates refused to imitate the money-raising schemes so common in the churches of Christendom. In the second issue of the Watch Tower, under the heading “Do You Want ‘Zion’s Watch Tower’?” Russell stated: “‘Zion’s Watch Tower’ has, we believe, JEHOVAH for its backer, and while this is the case it will never beg nor petition men for support. When He who says: ‘All the gold and silver of the mountains are mine,’ fails to provide necessary funds, we will understand it to be time to suspend the publication.” (Hag. 2:7-9) Over 130 years later, The Watchtower and the organization that publishes it are still going strong!
    Being tax-exempt like all other churches in the world, sure helps in a big way.
    Fighting for such a status…isn’t this the same as soliciting money?
    8 Jehovah’s people do not beg for money. They do not pass collection plates or send out letters of solicitation. Neither do they use bingo, bazaars, or raffles to raise money. They hold to what the Watch Tower long ago said: “We have never considered it proper to solicit money for the Lord’s cause, after the common custom (apparently this excludes tax-exemption status). It is our judgment that money raised by the various begging devices in the name of our Lord is offensive, unacceptable to him, and does not bring his blessing either upon the givers or the work accomplished.”*  yb16 pp. 31-38 - Yearbook—2016
    The organization is certainly adept at fighting for what they think is “fair”. 
    Jesus is King, but who are his sons?  Men who run the Watchtower, and who have made it known to every JW that their tax-exempt status is not recognized in some countries?  yb16 pp. 31-38 - Yearbook—2016 
    Jesus let the matter drop so as not to stumble anyone.  As you say, the Watchtower would fight for it. 
    Jesus’ true sons would be those who worship, not on any literal ‘mountain’-like organization,  but in spirit and truth.    “For the Father is seeking such to worship Him."  John 4:21-24
    No organization, and its struggles to keep its financial head above water, is necessary to do this. 
     
     
  8. Upvote
    David Normand reacted to Richard Lindor in Jehovah's Witnesses Tax Exemption May Have Cost City $368M, Critics Say   
    The witnesses have the right to fight for their rights. I would be very disappointed if witnesses decided not to put up a fight if any government try to make them pay for taxes when other religious group are not. We call that discrimination.
    You are saying because witnesses claimed to be God’s people it is ok for them to let others treat them unfairly in the name of Jesus and Jehovah. 
    It is the law in many western countries religious organizations are exempt from taxes.
    it is like you are saying, the government is giving families a tax break because you are a witness you will not take it for whatever your reasons are. This is a nonsensical subject. 
    They are other things you can criticize the watchtower organization for, this is not one of them. This is an an idiotic subject, you are telling a group of people to let themselves be treated unfairly and be discriminated just in the name of God. What kind of God will be ok with that?
  9. Like
    David Normand got a reaction from Jack Ryan in Sister Sandra "Sandy" Melgar   
    Seems a bit of a stretch that she would dispose of her husband in such a manner just so she would not be ostracized as they put it. But, in this day and age anything is possible. The love of the greater number is certainly cooling off and familial ties are not as strong as they once were. 
  10. Thanks
    David Normand reacted to TrueTomHarley in Is it Time for Jehovah's Witnesses to Apologize? Part 4   
    The Old Testament tells some very strange tales and one of them is told at 2 Samuel. David, the Israelite king, on the ropes because he is facing an armed insurrection from his own son, enters a town where loyalty is not assured. He and his men are received hospitably, but there is one man decidedly not hospitable. The account reads:
    “...a man…came out shouting curses as he approached. He was throwing stones at David and at all the servants of King David, as well as at all the people and the mighty men on his right and on his left. Shimei said as he cursed: “Get out, get out, you bloodguilty man! You worthless man!”
    “…Then Abishai the son of Zeruiahm said to the king: “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over, please, and take off his head.” But the king said: “…Let him curse me, for Jehovah has said to him, ‘Curse David!’ …Here my own son, who came from my own body, is seeking my life… Leave him alone so that he may curse me, for Jehovah told him to! …With that David and his men kept going down the road while Shimei was walking alongside the mountain abreast of him, shouting curses and throwing stones and a lot of dust.”  (16:5-19)
    Imagine! David is not too hung up on himself, is he? The fellow curses him, throws stones at him, shouting he is bloodguilty and worthless. And David as much as says: ‘Well, maybe he has a point. I mean, if God is letting it happen, who am I to smash in his head?’
    The passage is included in the midweek meeting study material for October 15, 2018. That program also incorporated a passage at Matthew chapter 11, in which Jesus said of his detractors that they criticize you no matter what you do, so the best recourse is to go full speed ahead and let 'wisdom be proved righteous by its works.’ Meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses are essentially Bible studies that one can prepare for, organized around themes suggested by current needs and the pre-determined schedule of Bible reading that members have observed for 100 years—work your way through Revelation, and start in again at Genesis.
    Nothing gets in the program without the okay, if not the direct insertion, of Witness governing members, who serve on various supervisory committees. The Matthew verse demonstrates how they respond to public criticism. They like Psalm 38:13 as well, another verse of David, about how he determined to muzzle his mouth as his adversaries kept “muttering all day long” about him. Luke 9:62 is also a favorite. That one records Jesus saying: “No man that has put his hand to a plow and looks at the things behind is well fitted for the Kingdom of God.” They press ever forward. They content themselves with a Newsroom tab on their public website that does not get into specific complaints, much as one would not expect to find a citing from the building inspector on the restaurant menu.
    It is a program that October week on how Jesus set the pattern for those who would follow him, not specifically concerned with how to answer criticism, but also not avoiding the topic, particularly in the final half-hour segment. And Shimei’s tirade is right in there, with David conscious of the abuse he is receiving, and acquiescing to receiving it, as though it were discipline of sorts, as though he says “Well, maybe I had it coming,” even as he expresses hope that perhaps “Jehovah will see…and will actually restore me to goodness instead of his malediction this day.” (vs 12)
    Do not think that the Witness Governing Body, as they are teaching others by means of the scriptures, do not also teach themselves. ‘If David was subjected to it, I guess we will be too,’ they seem to say. One should not think that they will not reflect on just how they got into this predicament in the first place, as David surely must have, with stones bouncing off his helmet. They will remedy it to the extent they can, but it will not be at the expense of betraying their prime directive of leading through Bible principles, and they have been loath to pull rank on family heads, reporting abuse which is sometimes entirely within a family, usually a step-family as was the case in Montana, and assume their responsibility or prerogative.
    Likely they will say of these courtroom battles as they did of Russia banning the entire organization within its borders, that it is an area of “concern,” but not “worry.” They don’t get overly attached to things, even things of their own devising. They put it all on the line routinely as they do their best to advance kingdom interests, not cowering before their enemies. They plow where they plow as they apply their view of the Bible, unconcerned, sometimes unaware of the quicksand that may get them into, confident that, should that happen, God will somehow get them out of it. They do not deliberately court opposition, but they do expect it. The king makes a law and Daniel is thrown into the lion’s den. Another king makes another law and his friends are thrown into the furnace. Still another king makes another law and the entire nation of Jews faces extermination until Esther the queen opens his eyes to the sinister scheme he has been maneuvered into. It happens to their spiritual descendants to this day and the Witness organization expects no less. They are ‘insular,’ separate from the world, and the latter finds no end of reasons to oppose them for it.
    They have really stepped in it this time, or at least it has been made to appear that way. It is not like last year, when Russia banned them, declared the Bible they favor illegal, and confiscated their property, doing so for completely separate reasons that never even mentioned child sexual abuse. It is not like Jehovah’s Witnesses of decades past, trying issue before first amendment issue before the U.S. Supreme Court, nobody engaging more frequently other than the government itself, so that Justice Harlan Fiske Stone wrote: “The Jehovah’s Witnesses ought to have an endowment in view of the aid which they give in solving the legal problems of civil liberties.” No. This time it is the unsavory subject of child sexual abuse, and the question that cannot be answered: If they did not go ‘beyond the law,’ why didn’t they?
    Is it to be included as among the “wicked things that they will lyingly say against you?” that Jesus speaks of? (Matthew 5:11) Nobody can ever say that the charge is not wicked, on the same level as first-century charges that Christians were cannibals who burned down Rome. Just possibly it takes their breath away, as it is a legitimate bad that they never saw coming. With Shimei’s stones knocking on their helmet, just possibly the drop to their knees like Hezekiah besieged by an enraged enemy. Just possibly they look to outsiders like deer caught in the headlights while they are doing so. Just possibly they are like Adrian Monk, a good and upright man who nonetheless finds himself both outside of his normal element and in a pickle because he cannot choose which chair in which to sit until Natalie gently pushes him down on whatever one he hovers over at the moment.
    Drive this sucker to the Supreme Court, if need be. If they decide to hear it, it will be case number 50-something that Witnesses have tried before that body, more than any other group besides the government itself. Let it be resolved once and for all when the time is right. Many person are being sued over child sexual abuse these days, and it is generally the same scenario. Though groups as the Boy Scouts manifestly benefit children in ways not readily duplicated, their deep pockets permit a pummeling such as cannot be visited on unorganized society, though it be every bit as accommodating to child sexual abuse, only minus the benefits. It will be so with groups that instill religious values into youth, as well.
    Don’t be put off by the sordid backdrop. The world wallows in sordidness these days and is accustomed to everyone being accused of everything. The Week Magazine reports (09/03/2018) that referrals of child abuse online images have increased seven-fold over five years. On average, one child in every primary school classroom has received nude or semi-nude pictures from an adult. They respond not always well: “A girl from my primary [was] sending half-naked pictures because it’s what everyone does,” said one. Don’t let this be painted as a Witness pandemic or even a pandemic of any religion. What! It is only where there are deep pockets that child sexual abuse occurs? It is only taxpayer-funded schools, scouting organizations, or faith groups that suffer child sexual abuse? The origins don’t line up. Christianity, where it remains true to its roots, is an offshoot of Judaism, where pedophilia was exceedingly uncommon in Bible times A verse from the Sibylline oracles, a collection of oracular utterances written in Greek hexameters ascribed to the [prophetesses] Sibyls, claims that only the Jews were free from this impurity. They were “mindful of holy wedlock, and they do not engage in impious intercourse with male children, as do Phoenicians, Egyptians and Romans, spacious Greece and many nations of other, Persians and Galatians and all Asia, transgressing the holy law of immortal God, which they transgressed.” 
    And where does the mainstream educated world find its underpinnings? Is it not the world of ancient Greece, the cradle of democracy? It is also the cradle of pedophilia, a societally accepted practice no where condemned. The only condemnation to be found is from Christians who withdrew and became insular as regards that world, and it is found in 1 Corinthians 6:9: “Do not be deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor boy prostitutes nor sodomites nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God.” (NABRE) A footnote to the New American Bible – Revised Edition on ‘boy prostitutes’ and ‘sodomites’ reads: “The Greek word translated as boy prostitutes may refer to catamites, i.e., boys or young men who were kept for purposes of prostitution, a practice not uncommon in the Greco-Roman world. In Greek mythology this was the function of Ganymede, the “cupbearer of the gods,” whose Latin name was Catamitus. The term translated sodomites refers to adult males who indulged in homosexual practices with such boys.” They even had a god for it! 
    Montana law being what it appears to be, it is hard to imagine this could not be appealed successfully. The Montana court’s greatest mistake may have been the excessive punitive damages, clearing indicating they felt the Witness organization was trying to violate law. If it can be shown that they made every conscientious effort to follow law, everything might reverse. Whether they are insular or not should not factor in. Separateness from the overall world is not yet a crime. It may factor into public opinion, but not yet that of law.
    What would be the repercussions in the event of a higher court reversal? Not necessarily positive for Jehovah’s Witnesses, who always sought, perhaps to a fault, not to ‘sully God’s name.’ It’s a little late to worry about that now. Or maybe it is not. A higher court reversal of the Montana verdict may cause the average person who learns of it to say: “It’s unbelievable! The Court says it’s okay for Jehovah’s Witnesses to abuse children!” But if there was a sincere expression of regret in the interim, for children truly have been harmed, they might say, “Oh. I understand. They did bollox things but now I see how it happened.”
    People, by and large, are fair, even when they don’t especially care for Witnesses. They don’t buy for a minute that Jehovah’s Witnesses, Latter Day Saints, Boy Scouts, and taxpayer-backed institutions are the only settings in which child sexual abuse occurs. They understand that these parties have deep pockets, and there is no sense in going after anyone who does not. Yes. A higher court victory giving opportunity to ‘come clean’ as to how the whole mess began may well clean up that Name Witnesses are so concerned about.
    Let it be framed as it is. An attack on separate religion, in which child abuse matters are employed as a righteous smokescreen. It is not merely Jehovah’s Witnesses under the gun. It is religion in general and the more determined it is to resist mainstream thinking the more of a target it becomes. Prejudice against the Jehovah’s Witness faith runs deeper than most, and it is a very real child abuse tragedy that enables it to be disguised as justifiable outrage. But the attack on religious freedom ought be the subject of focus.
  11. Like
    David Normand reacted to TrueTomHarley in Is it Time for Jehovah's Witnesses to Apologize? Part 2   
    First, it may be well to catch up with Part 1: 
    https://www.theworldnewsmedia.org/topic/70655-is-it-time-for-jehovahs-witnesses-to-apologize-part-1/
    Jehovah’s Witnesses did fail in this regard. Let us admit it. They failed to ‘go beyond the law.’ The stakes are so high that law is thereafter reinterpreted to mean that they did violate it. Why did they fail? Ms. Chuck accurately states that any Witness victim or family of victim was always free to report child sexual abuse and that congregation justice did not preclude outside secular justice. Arguably, then, they failed because they were insular, as she says, and they may not realize just how firmly she has put her finger on the reason. They were not inclined to air their dirty laundry before the public.
    It is not hard to understand. In some cultures, the concept of ‘saving face’ is so firmly entrenched that your efforts to communicate are doomed to failure if you ignore it. The very reason there is an expression ‘skeletons in the closet’ is the universal human instinct to keep them there. It is even found in the scriptures that Ms. Chuck acknowledges underlie everything Witnesses do. Decrying the spectacle of early Christians taking one another into court over personal disputes, the apostle Paul writes: “I am speaking to move you to shame. Is there not one wise man among you who is able to judge between his brothers? Instead, brother goes to court against brother, and before unbelievers at that!” If Jehovah’s Witnesses today are ‘insular,’ it is because Christians back then were ‘insular.’
    In this case, however, insularity, and the failure to ‘go beyond the law’ has resulted in child abusers who did not take their turn in the police lineup, as well as victims thereby deprived of justice. Whether they would have received justice otherwise is arguable, for no end of persons manage to evade the wrath of the law. But that is not the point. They should have been turned over to police, the argument goes, for the latter to either nail them to the wall or let them beat the rap. The victims want justice. Like victims anywhere, they don’t always get it. But don’t get in the way of their quest for it. Since the Witness organization is perceived to have gotten in the way, with law being reinterpreted so as to more damningly point to that conclusion, should they apologize to victims or issue a public statement of regret? You could certainly build a case for it.
    When the cop speeds in hot pursuit and a horrific accident results, pointing out that he had permission to speed only goes so far. There are times when only a sincere expression of regret stems the tide of outrage, for who is going to dismiss a run-over pedestrian as ‘just one of those things’?  At such times legal matters become technicalities and you look tone-deaf if you harp on them. Best to say that, in pursuing one’s mission, even within existing rules, a terrible tragedy has resulted for which there is sincere regret.
    Were the Witness organization to ever do that, it would cut them no slack with the Reddit group. They would merely drop down a notch on their list to highlight the next reason they hate their former religion before surfacing briefly again to declare the statement insincere. No, there will be no placating these folks. But it might very well clear the air for all other persons, who know very well, simply through personal experience, that Jehovah’s Witnesses are very fine people. Even arch-enemy Barbara Anderson concedes this, as she somehow manages to insinuate that this is despite their evil governing body, rather than the much more reasonable ‘because of it.’
    Not because of it solely, of course, for Witnesses’ decency stems from the God they worship. But in the sense that the Witnesses’ governing body keeps them clearly focused on the Bible, the source they signed on for, they surely deserve credit, not condemnation. Almost all other faiths have swayed with the changing winds of contemporary culture. Witnesses have not. They merely update now and then, as they have with their procedures of child sexual abuse investigations. Is it intimidating for a victim of child sexual abuse to appear before the three men of a investigatory committee? Well, they never thought of that. Maybe they should have. So now it is that a child’s recorded testimony can serve itself as the witness and he or she does not have to appear personally. If he or she does, it can be with any congregation member they choose, whether male or female. The religion’s fiercest critics say they will never stop opposing until Witnesses fix their child abuse policies. Arguably, they already have, since almost all cases tried are from 20-30 years ago.
    Not everyone likes Jehovah’s Witnesses. Probably more do not than do. But people are mostly fair. A statement of regret would go a long way for them to say: “Oh, I see. They did screw it up, but now I can see why. They really do abhor child sexual abuse over there.”  Otherwise, their enemies find it a cakewalk to portray those in leadership positions among Jehovah’s Witnesses as ‘arrogant,’ and in some cases, careful cultivators of child sexual abusers. They are probably the least arrogant people on earth, but that does not mean they cannot be painted that way.
    They do Bible education work. They do it extensively and effectively. In the developing world, a person is stuck with some 200-year old turkey of a Bible translation that he can neither afford nor understand because nobody other than Jehovah’s Witnesses thinks it is inappropriate for Big Business to handle distribution of the Word of God. The Witness Governing Body does think it is inappropriate and they have invented an entirely new production and distribution channel so that the person can obtain a modern Bible at minimal cost, or even free. That accomplishment is not nothing.
    They do not do all of this personally, of course. Detractors routinely spin it that Witnesses are ‘controlled’ by ‘eight men in New York.’ It makes no sense. They are modest persons. Many of them cut their teeth performing their trademark door-to-door ministry in the developing world, carrying out a work more lowly than that of the ones they ultimately lead. They have a certain knack at administration, as with any effective organization, but other than that, they have little expertise in anything. But they know where to find it when they need it. From a field of eight million members, where there are no paywalls nor turf battles, they can quickly assemble whatever they deem necessary.
    Their latest offering in the field of Bible education consists of an online, self-guided, and anonymous course of Bible study offered on the front page of their website, JW.org. The Bible offers convincing answers to important questions of life, Jehovah's Witnesses feel, questions not readily answered anywhere else. The course is all available online for free, now. After each lesson there is the option to 1) go deeper, for the presentation is necessarily simple, 2) attend a group study at the Witnesses’ Kingdom Hall, 3) request a personal instructor, or 4) say ‘none of the above’ and proceed to the next lesson. It’s a relatively new feature. I don’t know how it will be incorporated. But with only some exaggeration, I am looking forward to saying: “I don’t want to study the Bible with you. Do it yourself. If you have any questions or want to go a level more, I’ll be around.” With only slightly more exaggeration again, the new feature illustrates that, if need be, the main Bible teaching component of the Witnesses’ work could be run out of a server in someone’s dorm room.
    They always will be ‘insular,’ or to put in their terminology, ‘no part of the world.’ Surely, they must be permitted to be, for the alternative is to snuff out the type of Christianity that existed in the first century, arguably the most 'true' model. Snuffing out this model in favor of societally evolved ones would be a very fine outcome in the eyes of today’s ‘anti-cultists,’ who will allow that religion can have a place only so long as it is clearly subservient to contemporary life and leaders. Anything not meeting this description they are inclined to label a ‘cult’ that ‘brainwashes’ people through ‘mind-control.’ Those of that spirit of Western anti-cultists have used exactly that reasoning to fuel the furor that has banned Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia and confiscated all of their property, with many other faiths shaking in their boots that they will be next. Of a prominent Russian anti-cultist, Alexander Dvorkin, who shares Western connections via an French NGO, a human-rights expert has said: he “enjoys disseminating inflammatory narratives and hate speech.” It is no less with anti-cultists here, who further their goals through whatever avenues present themselves.
    It may well be time to acknowledge that this avenue, this one involving child sexual abuse reporting, is one that became riddled with axle-bending potholes, express sincere remorse, help out to whatever extent is necessary to fill them in, so as to move on with the overall program.
    End of Part 2. Part 3 to follow.
  12. Like
    David Normand got a reaction from Srecko Sostar in Jehovah’s Witnesses applaud 10 year old girl for shunning her sister   
    It's a choice. I have never known friends who were that steadfast about not speaking with a disfellowshipped family member, but some who take the admonition to speak with disfellowshipped family about family business to the extreme. To the point of using the disfellowshipped person (who was out living on their own) as a babysitter for their younger children. Like all things one needs to be balanced. 
    For my part we allowed our two daughters to stay at home for the simple reason we believed that kicking them out would have resulted in far more harm. My choice. Consequently I have not served in a congregation for about 10 years; but, my daughters are not living on the street subject to all the dangers and problems of that environment and know that they have a safe place to stay. They are family and that is exactly what I told the elders.  
  13. Upvote
    David Normand reacted to UcyImd1 in Jehovah's Witnesses Say Being Raped Can Be Fornication   
    What are you reaching for? A. Your not governed by that Law anymore. The principal still stands. Rape was big in the 80's...It became a joke/norm for women to say "I'd just give it to him"  a scream shows it is unwanted.
    Obviously sick minds don't make since so let's use your wife,mom, sister or...Your daughter. Now this little hoe has all her cleavage showing, her g-string seen thru that white mini skirt. She's intoxicated...She's rubbing up on this guy and touching his chest. He's grabbing her buttocks but she's laughing. He's overhead asking her to come with him. They go out to his car, get into the back seat and begin kissing. Is that appropriate for your wife/sister/mother? Is she leading him on or adding fuel to the fire?  So he pulls her panties down. YOUR DAUGHTER...YOUR BABY GIRL is giggling saying no softly as she kisses him. He is getting turned on the more she whispers no and kisses him. Mind you patrons of the bar are outside smoking wishing they were this lucky guy. They can somewhat see the show. Now they exit the car, she goes off he returns to the bar getting high fives from the guys. So the Ryan girl now says rape??? She never screamed, she led him on, she engaged in kissing.
    In God's eye and the Christian  congregation  I'd believe one might see it as her fault. No woman is AT FAULT for being raped but if it was MY wife I'd have to wonder why she flirted. Why didn't she try and escape/fight/scream? In some situations people can freeze up. Freezing up is the wrong answer. Your fighting for your life PERIOD.
    Jack Ryan I took this personal because  your attacking Jah and those who sat down as a group...reseached,discussed and prayed for Holy Spirit to direct them on finding the correct answers to give to the flock.
    Jehovah loves her just like the man who comes into her life wants to love her. Knowing the world we live in one must be aware of many things . She must fight, yell to get help. If in fact someone hears her cry for help the crime is prevented and this woman isn't violated and left to feel shame.
     
  14. Upvote
    David Normand reacted to Space Merchant in Jehovah's Witnesses Say Being Raped Can Be Fornication   
    Rape is a variant of fornication and is in connection with the same Strong's as is anything related to sexual relations and or immortality - πορνεία porneia, Strong's number 4202. In a way, as said by some, in the Hebrew in this passage of scripture, it hints that Dinah is responsible for her actions, though not her misfortune, for despite her own reasoning, whatever it was, Dinah bears a bit of the responsibility for going it alone which lead her to the man in question, while the man himself, Shechem, carries the full responsibility for his criminal and violent act toward a defenseless woman, that woman being Dinah.
    An example, you were told not to go to so-and-so's party because of various reasons, and yet you purposely went to a party anyways, curious perhaps? Seeking fun and thrills? The party itself you soon realize it was clearly not a good one, let alone now that you are there you can't really leave and it results in you being associated with anything and everything bad in this party, including the women at said party who you have gotten yourself involved with for they know what they are seeking and what takes place is left to speculation, some of the responsibility is on you for going to the party to begin with when told not to.
    Children are taught about Dinah's ordeal, mainly those who read the Bible early, such as myself. Children will also see for themselves of the positives and negatives of actions done by people, like Dinah and others, they also learn that Dinah had not been abandon either, so I do not see the harm in teaching young ones about this passage, about who Dinah is and her story and what happens in which changed her life, and what took place afterwards.
    Unless you think the Bible, mainly the Old Testament is too wild for you.
    That being said, there are other passages in the Bible that have somewhat of a similar stetting, for instance, Joseph who had escaped an attempt made by Potiphar’s Wife’s attempted rape (sexual relations), to add more fuel to the fire, this was someone's wife, who was willing to commit adultery with a man who wants nothing to do with whatever she was attempting to do, thus fleeing the scene and was blamed for something he did not commit.
  15. Like
    David Normand got a reaction from Elizabeth Pirozzoli Conrad in Jehovah’s Witness Bride Wears Simple Gown To Her White Wedding   
    What's wrong with it? Bride wearing a white dress to her wedding is a relatively modern convention that does nothing but add cost to the wedding and in no way enhances the married life of the participants. 
  16. Upvote
    David Normand got a reaction from Carmen Erwin in Donald Trump mentioning "Peace and Security" for the whole world.... 11.5. 2018 What do you think about? (video)   
    Prophecies are rarely appreciated when they are being fulfilled and is is usually after fulfillment that people recognize that a prophecy has been fulfilled. Nothing wrong with keeping on the watch, but better to not get in to debt thinking that you won't have to pay it back. We don't know the day or hour, but we can certainly discern the season. Cheers.
  17. Thanks
    David Normand got a reaction from Queen Esther in Donald Trump mentioning "Peace and Security" for the whole world.... 11.5. 2018 What do you think about? (video)   
    Prophecies are rarely appreciated when they are being fulfilled and is is usually after fulfillment that people recognize that a prophecy has been fulfilled. Nothing wrong with keeping on the watch, but better to not get in to debt thinking that you won't have to pay it back. We don't know the day or hour, but we can certainly discern the season. Cheers.
  18. Upvote
    David Normand got a reaction from Evacuated in Parents are pulling children from RE lessons – so they don’t learn about Islam   
    I see nothing wrong with learning about other religions. It serves a useful purpose in helping the citizens understand other people. However, I do have a problem if the way they educate is to perform a daily act of worship in that religion. After all, it is possible to learn about a religion without participating. We learn about ancient Aztec religion by reading about it, not performing a human sacrifice. 
  19. Like
    David Normand got a reaction from Claudia Sanchez in Does the Bible Condemn Gambling? – ♠️♣️♥️♦️?♦️♥️♣️♠️   
    This is not true. Apparently somebody was sleeping at the latest regional convention when they specifically stated that there is nothing wrong with going to a medical professional for mental problems. They explicitly stated that some people have physical problems due to imperfection and seeding medical help is appropriate. 
  20. Upvote
    David Normand reacted to Rosalie Barry in BELARUS: DEMAND TO SUSPEND ACTIVITY OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES ARISES IN BELARUS   
    Another country attempting to ban Jehovah’s people from serving him. We are very close to the end when Jesus and his army will set matters straight. Until then let us pray for these dear brothers and sisters in the lands that ban our religion.
  21. Like
    David Normand reacted to AlanF in What Does the Bible Say About Dinosaurs?   
    Since the Bible does not mention dinosaurs, but only very general categories such as flying creatures, sea monsters and such, the best one can answer is: It says nothing about dinosaurs, so it neither harmonizes with nor contradicts science.
    However, Genesis 1 quite specifically states the order of creation of life: plants; swimming and flying creatures; land animals. But this order is wildly wrong according to the fossil record. See my comments at The Librarian's link for more information.
    AlanF
  22. Like
    David Normand got a reaction from Nana Fofana in Lesbianism and Jehovah's Witnesses   
    According to google translate German is Lesbische Liebe
    According to google translate Spanish is lesbianismo
    I don't know where he got his information. I just checked both the German study edition and Spanish study edition and he is incorrect. In Spanish they used " relación lesbiana cuando. In German they used einer lesbischen Beziehung 
    Easy thing to check. Takes just a few minutes. Not sure if this is the real issue that Jay was trying to highlight. 
  23. Like
    David Normand got a reaction from Nana Fofana in Lesbianism and Jehovah's Witnesses   
    What is your point about this? Wong desires are wrong desires. Realizing what Jehovah requires may change that over time, but until then a person will have to decide what they want most: to serve Jehovah or be a slave to things that he hates. 
  24. Downvote
    David Normand reacted to Sergey Christosenko in As religious loafers Jehovas Witnesses disgrace to the teachings of Christ?   
    We command you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to avoid those brothers who refuse to work, and thus do not fulfill our teaching ....When we were with you, then you left the rule: "Who does not want to work, let him not eat. " However, we hear that some among you are idle, not doing any work, but interfering in the affairs of others. 2 Thessalonians 3: 6,10,11 modern translation ERV
    Why Christian bums live as in Christ's bosom? In our world, so many loafers, which did not work anywhere and any day to earn a piece of bread, and live off the labor of those who work for them as slaves. But most of these idlers in any of the Christian religion.Only religion, "Jehovah's Witnesses" in accordance with their reporting in 2017 was nearly 20 thousand idlers who have not worked a single day in a year to earn a living. Nevertheless, these loafers are better brothers and sisters in faith, they deceive their religious vanity!
        Look carefully at the picture of the seven smiling and very happy with my life oldies! This religious teacher "God," "Jehovah's Witnesses", who claim to be the very first followers of Jesus Christ on earth, which allegedly restored the original teachings of Christ. Very funny geezer, is not it? They have not worked a single day in their lives, but did everything possible and impossible to live luxuriously at the expense of the labor of millions of people who foolishly became members of the Christian organization "Jehovah's Witnesses". 
    In 2017, in the religious organization "Jehovah's Witnesses" spent more than 202 million dollars, the so-called "donations" for the maintenance of special pioneers, circuit overseer, and other clergy who have not earned themselves even on a piece of bread. A total of 2017 of these idlers in the branches and at the headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses was 19730. All of them are members of the religious order of the General World pioneers, that is, people who do not work anywhere, and engaged in a religious fuss, mess around, to live on the contents of the other members "Jehovah's Witnesses" and those who support it by their own means.    Of course, religious idlers are in any large or small religion. After all, to live for others, religious priests learned in ancient times, during the construction of the Tower of Babel of mud bricks in the valley of Shinar. After God sent his aides to divide people into different religions, each of which will have its own religious teachings language. Here's how it's described in the Bible:     1 And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.    2 journeyed from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.  3 And they said one to another, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and tar for mortar.    4 And they said, Let us build ourselves a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth.    5 Yehovah came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.  6 And he said to Yehovah, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do, and nothing will be restrained from them, plan to do;    7 Let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.    8 Yehovah scattered them from there over all the earth; and they stopped building the city.    9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there confound the language of all the earth Yehovah, and scattered them from there over all the earth Yehovah.    (Genesis 11: 1-10)  
    So on the ground there was a huge variety of religions, whose teachings were related, borrowed from the teachers' Tower of Babel, a temple to Marduk. After all, the priests, fled in different ends of the earth have spread the doctrine of the immortal soul and the afterlife paradise on all sides of the world.    No wonder that at the beginning of the emergence of a new reformist religion under the name "Jehovah's Witnesses" its religious leaders taught that they are some of the true religion of the world's false religions, as opposed to all the other religious groups they serve Yehovahu God in spirit and truth, and preach his kingdom in all the earth, as did the early Christians.    What to do, if every toadstool in the forest fancies himself a noble white fungus, and mushrooms to eat like? If you do not have personal experience in the definition of beneficial fungi, is going to the forest for mushrooms, you risk running into just such toadstools, posing as the noble mushrooms, poison and die.    It will help you avoid this deadly danger Directory-determinant of the fungi. Using the description and in it, or a photo, you can safely gain useful, and most importantly safe mushrooms.    With religion, before you are going to get in it food for his mind not to get poisoned and die, it is necessary to do the same proven way. Only instead of the determinant of mushrooms, you need to "Key to the disciples of Christ," not to mix casually with them representatives of many Christian religions, which are like toadstools flooded forests around the world. 
    So determinant of Christ is the Bible students. In the New Testament describes how people should act, they are truly disciples of Christ, and not disguised them as toadstools. Many people mistakenly believe the main difference between the disciples of Christ their love for each other. 
    By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. (John 13:35)

    However, it is not! Love to play on the audience is able to not just any theater and film actor, but also every adult. You should not be naive to think that artistry is the destiny of the elect. Just for quality simulation training I need love, just as in any sport, or in the acquisition of skills. Therefore, in each of the Christian religion over the years people are taught to imitate the love for each other. And soon, people are there, begin to imitate the love of so high quality that they can envy even professional artists!

    But there is a simpler and more reliable means of verifying whether a member of the religion of the disciples of Christ, or is it unprofessional, but very talented actors. This lack of so-called "voluntary donations", but rather the people who live at the expense of others that is called the disciples of Christ.This is how the apostle Paul writes, referring to the very first disciples of Christ who have not yet learned how to pretend to be so talented as the present:
    1. And again I say to you: pray for us, brothers and sisters to the Lord's message spread and revered everywhere as you. 
    2 Pray also that we have been spared from the depraved and evil people, since not all believe in the Lord. 
    3 But the Lord will never leave you. He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 
    4 We have confidence in you before the Lord, and do not doubt that you are doing all what we instructed you, and will always follow this teaching. 
    5 And may the Lord will point the way to your hearts to the love of God and the patience of Christ. 
    6 We command you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to avoid those brothers who refuse to work, and thus do not comply with our teaching. 
    7After all, you know yourself that you have to imitate our actions. After all, being with you, we were not lazy. 
    8 We are always paid for their bread and worked hard day and night so as not to burden you. 
    9 We do so not because they do not have the right to ask you for help, and to show you an example worthy of emulation. 
    10 When we were with you, taught you this rule: 
    "He who does not work shall not eat." 
    11 We're talking about it, because he had heard that some of you are living in idleness. They do not work and only intervene in the affairs of others. 
    12 We command such people in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that they were working peacefully and eat their own bread. 
    13As for you, brothers and sisters, do not tire of doing good. 
    14 If anyone refuses to obey our instructions in this letter, do not communicate with him. Perhaps thus you shame him. 2 Thessalonians 3 Head- modern translation ERV - The Bible.   As you can see, it has never been among the disciples of Christ, and there could be no religious teachers who are exempted from the obligation to earn a living. Today, these people have all, without exception, the Christian religion! That's just call themselves the religious priests in different ways. They are bishops, they are the elders, the Governing Council, there is no Soviet Union, and the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses. But in any case, these people claim that God supposedly gave them some special powers, including the hidden thing, the desire to live for others, not working to earn a piece of bread. However, they tend to live, better than many of those on the labor they provide themselves with food and livelihoods.    For example, the religious teachers of Jehovah's Witnesses, as well, and all the major religions, live very chic only luxury five-star apartments, eat only healthy food prepared by their personal chef, travel only comfortable Business Class, using luxury cars of the class, no less luxurious private jets and yacht.And what is there to wonder if these bums consider themselves at least Yehovaha ministers of the kingdom, which batrachat more than 8.5 million slaves from the organization "Jehovah's Witnesses"?   Meanwhile, it is clear that the teachings of Christ are not familiar with any of the religious teachers of Christianity, because it does not fit with their business. The words of Jesus Christ condemned the religious teachers of the Bible as liars and hypocrites.    24. And there was a dispute between them, which of them should be considered paramount. 
    25 He said to them: kings of the nations lord it over them, and those who command them, they are called benefactors. 
    26 You have also let it be not so, but who of you older - let him be as the youngest, and most importantly - as a servant. 
    27 For who is more important: the one who sits at the table, or one who serves? Is not who is sitting?But I am among you as a servant. 
    28 But since you have remained true to me among all the disasters of my, 
    29 I bequeath the kingdom to you, as my (heavenly) father bequeathed it to me, 
    30 so that you and ate and drank to my table in my kingdom, and sit on the throne - judging the twelve birth of Israel.
    Luke 22: 24-30 translated Lutkovska   From the words of Jesus Christ, it is clear that despite all the hopes of the religious teachers of the Bible, none of them will not receive the kingdom of Yehovaha because it bequeathed only true teachings of Christ who did not live at the expense of others, and earn their own bread. Jesus and his closest disciples never lived off the labor of others, but they look for food, craft carpenter who, like Jesus Christ, who is fishing who sew tents, as the apostle Paul.   However, the Apostle Paul wrote in his epistles that in the first century of Christianity there was a large cohort of people who consider themselves "superior apostles," Jesus Christ, who never worked and lived at the expense of Christian congregations, robbing their brothers and sisters in faith. Here's how he wrote about Christians' highest apostles "from the meeting in the Greek city of Corinth, who sit back and live at the expense of fraud, as well as modern religious teachers of Christianity:    11 I came to folly, boasting; you got me [for these things] forced. You ought to praise me, for I have not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles, though I am nothing. 12 signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, wonders and miracles.   13 For which you were inferior to other churches, except that I myself was not burdensome to you?Forgive me this wrong.    14 Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not burden you, for I seek not yours, but you. Children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.    15 And I will very gladly [her] and be spent for your souls, despite the fact that very love you, I love you less.    16 Let us, [that] I did not burden you, but being a cunning, guile with you.    17 Did I [than] from you through any of those whom I sent to you?    18 I begged Titus and sent with him the brother Titus take any advantage of you? Not in the same spirit we act? Not in the same go?    19 Again, think ye that we [only] excuse ourselves unto you? We speak before God in Christ, and all things, dearly beloved, for your edifying.    20 For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and so that you will not find me so, would not: so [do not find you] strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, slander , sneak, pride, riots  (2 Corinthians 12: 13-20)

    As you can see comment on the words of the Apostle Paul makes no sense. They no comments show that Christianity after the death of the apostles of Christ has become a platform to conduct religious business and enrich the various Christian leaders, beginning with the Pope and ending with the Steering Board of the religious organization "Jehovah's Witnesses", that a day did not work in my life, but fine living from their religious slaves and collect taxes from them, as the kings of the earth.
  25. Upvote
    David Normand reacted to Bible Speaks in VERY REVEALING PHOTOGRAPHY: THE PATRIARCH OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX SECTA, Kirill and the Minister of Justice A. Konovalov.   
    VERY REVEALING PHOTOGRAPHY:
    THE PATRIARCH OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX SECTA, Kirill and the Minister of Justice A. Konovalov.
    BOTH PROTAGONISTS OF THE INQUISITORIAL PERSECUTION AGAINST THE ONLY TRUE CHRISTIANS IN RUSSIA, THE WITNESSES OF JEHOVAH.

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