JOHN BUTLER

wHEW!
I was drinking a mug of coffee when I read that Melinda.... the spray missed the keyboard and got all over my legs.   I am in my underwear so no real problem.
Visualize in your mind a balanced Ocean ecology eating vegetable matter ..... the first things to die off will be Baleen Whales, who filter Krill by the ton, daily, with their specialized mouth that will ONLY do that, and the Krill will reproduce a quadrillion fold, turning the Earth's oceans in a malignant soup of dead and decaying starved Krill.
...and the dead Baleen Whales.
etc.
etc.
 

People are going to get weary to the bone of growing and harvesting straw, forever and ever, to throw into the ocean to feed all the sea life there .... and the sharks will not be happy about it, either.
Hint No. 1.)   STAY IN THE BOAT
Hint No. 2.)  GET A BIGGER BOAT !

So, it is now a crime for literature to reflect the morality of the Bible?

Head in sand, again ? Why TTH?

If memory serves (?) that scripture also says "In my Holy Mountain" or something like that.  
In the world at large, animals have to eat each other, or in the New World, we will be deluged by a half-mile high Tsunami of ravenous rodents, etc., ad infinitum.
Animals can be trained to live together in peace and harmony ... I see something like that between my five dogs and 16 chickens ....but if I fed my dogs straw ... all bets are off.

And so the Lord says,
    “These people say they are mine.
They honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
And their worship of me
    is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.  Isa 29:13
("Greek version reads Their worship is a farce, / for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.Compare Mark 7:7")
 

In the "next town over"  Congregation one Elder had two daughters, who got multiple Tattoos, (shoulder and base of spine), and Dad threw them out ( I do not know the age, but one of my sons dated the older  Sister, while he was in High School.....),  The younger sister was "lost" to the world, the older one came back and married an Elder about 40 years older than she was.. (raised eyebrows and astonishment all the way around...).
When speaking about people ... there is truly INFINITE variety.

This does not happen.
I would not say that it never ever happens. It may. It is a big world with many people and you never know what individuals might do. But no way would it ever be sanctioned by the organization. Nor is 6 an age that I have ever heard of for someone being baptized. Again, it may have happened, but I know of no examples. One of my kids wanted to get baptized at 10, and was advised to wait. (and was bummed about it) However, another was baptized a 9–something which was most unusual, but not unheard of. I think the tendency is to recommend more years of age today—mid teens is what I typically see.
More likely the case presented is the 15 year old running away due to an atmosphere he/she thought too “restrictive” and then retroactively spinning it as being “kicked out” of the home. Kids locking horns with parents and running away from home is a theme almost as old as time. In this case her parents following the lead of the organization is presented as the trigger—and may actually be the trigger—but it is always something. It is not new.
Malcontents complain at great length over the video shown at a convention of a teenaged girl “kicked out” of her house for immorality. Were they to be more honest, they would acknowledge that 
1) she ran away from home,
2) her parents did not want her to go,
3) (admittedly speculative) she thereafter represented the situation as being “kicked out” due to the repressive rule of the Governing Body. (Actually, the girl of the video probably did not, because she did return, but many girls of reality do just that.)
It was so with a star witness at the Russian trial that resulted in a countrywide ban. She complained of the oppressive tactics of the organization. When asked to give an example, she offered up her being ejected for her “not officially sanctioned” relationship with a man. Here she is “shacking up,” an action once universally condemned by most of society, and virtually ALL of religious society, and she spins it as a philosophical disagreement with the Witness organization!
Adhering to Bible moral standards on matters of sexuality was once commonplace, and what the video portrays would have once been spun as “tough love.” 
I have been going through a Great Courses series on CD lately. The narrator (Prof Patrick Allitt) observes that in 1960 a child out of wedlock was an absolute shocker to general society. Fifteen years later it was commonplace. Those condemning the video are essentially those condemning a traditional generation for not more quickly falling into line with the “new morality”—spinning it as a conflict with the Witness organization, when in actually it is a conflict with the morality of the Bible.

I didn't go to the convention, but I can summarize what it may have been about and not what I learned but what I already know. 
Love your neighbor as yourself, unless your neighbor professes to be a Christian. 
You must love the governing body just as much as you love Jehovah, because they are Jehovah in a sense.
No one else on earth has as much love as jehovahs witnesses.
Kicking a 15 year old out of your house because they got baptized at 6 years old and started to question the governing body is the most loving thing you can do for your child.
Jehovahs love for you is conditional on you loving the governing body.

@Anna There is a  'lady' here in Sidmouth Devon, (here where i live) and she has dreadlocks and beard growth. She is rather rotund and scruffily dressed. She's an antiques dealer so we have known her through the trade, she speaks quite posh. She immediately came to mind when you mentioned 'sisters with a beard'. 
But back on topic. I had to laugh at your sentences 2 and 3.
Quote 2. You can do what you want. 3. You will just be limited in what privileges you get in some congregations
This falls apart for two reasons. 1. it is like blackmail. 2. the system should be exactly the same in every congregation earthwide. Otherwise the Org is basing it's decisions on the 'traditions of men' 
There is no scriptural reason why any man in JW Org should not have a beard. So as i say it then becomes 'traditions of men'. 

Hope your wife isn't reading this!

What's this about allowed/not allowed to have a beard? You can do what you want. You will just be limited in what privileges you get in some congregations. So it's up to you. Thankfully sisters don't have beard restrictions. A sister with a beard can still pioneer 😀

Cultural Reasons to some, for all customs are not the same as others.
Yes, to some, be it positive and or negative, and or a form of honor and or disrespect to the point a person will converse and or interact with you or the other way around. It usually depends on the group of people.
It isn't strange, but it is seen as something negative by some people.
Well you'd have to be concerning of someone's culture and what some among them do.
An example, for people of my Father's country, if you say to a parent "you have a nice baby" or "a nice boy/girl/child" and or calling them handsome or something of the sort, it is a sign of disrespect and that increases to major levels due to what that implies. For you can be seen as a Lugauro or a sosye ( a witch) who preys on children; the reaction of the parent and or guardian would go into protection of their kids by pretty much expelling themselves from your presence.
In the end you have to understand and honor the views of those who are not of the same group or nation as you.
 

Of course, there was that "God-damned" snake in the grass back in Eden. It was cursed to crawl on the ground and lick the dust with its [forked] tongue.
Then there were those pigs that allowed themselves to be possessed by demons, and were driven to commit suicide.
Certain animals might have listened to communication from God to be able to receive a name from Adam. The same could be said for the animals that listened to communication from God to get on Noah's ark. Or for ravens to find Elijah to bring him food. Or, perhaps even a big fish who nearly snacked on Jonah. And there's that special relationship between Jehovah and Leviathan and Behemoth.
God gives animals "meat in due season" (food at the proper time):
(Psalm 104:27) . . .All of them wait for you To give them their food in its season. And a donkey evidently saved a man's life by ascertaining an invisible angel.
On a serious note, I think most people agree that many persons have an unbalanced view of pets. But it's also easy to get unbalanced in the direction of disdaining pets and animals. Remember that Jehovah himself rejoices at his works which obviously includes his many interactions with animals according to the context of Psalm 104. 
(Psalm 104:28-31) . . .What you give them, they gather. When you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. 29 When you hide your face, they are disturbed. If you take away their spirit, they die and return to the dust. 30 If you send out your spirit, they are created, And you renew the surface of the ground. 31 The glory of Jehovah will last forever. Jehovah will rejoice in his works.

You make evil seem so easy and effortless, Billy ... I guess that's what happens when you have natural talent !

Possibility exist, but no Bible verse speaking about this idea, known to me, in that way. No Bible report exist about what Adam knew about death or about some other things.
This is also just in sphere of our interpretations. :)) and on our conclusions about what they ,supposedly, see, know, understand etc, .... based on our own experiences and/or based on conclusions made by people lived before us. 
Where and when JHVH promised Adam such thing, everlasting life ? He promised him/them dead if eating fruit. We don't know what JHVH "promised" to animal :)) .... at loud or in His own Thoughts.
Because they not sinned :)) They not sinned because some other laws ran their living. 

You know why Watchtower Lawyers can swim in any ocean on Earth, and not be bothered by venomous overgrown jellyfish ?
Professional Courtesy !
 

You know Billy, when I visualize you, I think of you either as a gutless weasel, or a venomous overgrown jellyfish, floating in the ocean.
I know in reality you are neither of those things, but somehow, every time you speak, that's the image I get.
I am more inclined towards the venomous jellyfish, as they have been alive and prosperous all over the Earth's oceans, for at least 300 million years .... with no brain whatsoever.
...... but today, your comments project an image of the gutless weasel.

Well... Noah did not want to think about giraffes, either ... that's why when they showed up he had to cut two big square holes in the roof of the Ark.
Now... for the next few minutes, do NOT to think about Noah's Ark, with two big square holes cut in the roof, with giraffe necks and heads sticking out.
 

There is no way to lose weight without being hungry.
... except of course, for cancer, or something.

Sounds like a good idea. However, get a good breakfast - it is very important.  The body needs the food when we are facing the pressures of the day not late in the evening. It dumps most of the stuff then and we put on weight.  Before 4.00 p.m. seems OK, but get some healthy snacks in between.

Yeah .... I had to give up bacon many years ago, because I just could not afford it ... or would not afford it because the price was so high ... and MANY foods escalated in price to the point I stopped buying them.   But Golden Corral Buffet has a TREMENDOUS selection, and my wife and I are "Seniors", and if we get there before 4PM, we can get the dinner menu for the price of a "Senior Lunch/Early Bird Special".
That means that for $9.00 apiece, we can feast like kings ... steak, spare ribs, giant shrimp prepared four different ways, pizza, fried chicken, chili, beef stew, clam chowder ( my favorite...), and before 4pm we get free soft drinks, as well. Every kind of desert you could want, and any kind of salads you could fix. Eight different kinds of fruit,  and all the real, quality ice cream you can eat!
I calculated that by eating one large meal a day, we can eat like kings for $10 a day apiece, which is less than the cost of groceries to eat half as well,  AAAAAAND ... no preparation, OR dishes to wash! 
Even including the fuel cost to get there and back,, it's cheaper.
..and light years better!
 

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck.
IT'S A DUCK!
A duck by any other name is still a duck!
 
....except of course, when there is a fear that if it is admitted to being a duck, the donations will stop.
 

1.)  Since the beginning of life on Earth there have been two kinds of animals .... those that eat plants, and those that eat each other.  This is the natural order of things, and as sentimental as I am about animals, I cannot ignore this scary fact.
That is obviously how life on Earth was designed, cartoon theology notwithstanding.
If the Lion, and the Lamb lay down together, it will be because the lamb is inside the lion.
To answer your question ... it was never God's intent to give animals everlasting life, and that includes pre- creation humans that evolved. Only the New Creation ... "Homo Theocraticus", was ever intended to have the opportunity for everlasting life.  Neanderthals and such just lived whatever they could manage and died. End of story.
2.) That is a good idea, not to provide an answer, because the very, very BEST answer would only be a best guess ... including no. 1, above.

Very Understandable and Acceptable Explanatory Statement :))))
.....with all questions and answers that this sentence - JW’s are now allowed to have - contains in itself.