Joan Kennedy

I sincerely hope he doesn't change.
I've enjoyed his brutal truth throughout the years. 
Courage is not something that needs changing.
I hope you are ok @James Thomas Rook Jr.
 
 

Columnist Andrew Sorokowski wrote at the time of the ban: Why would a country of 144 million trash its international reputation for the sake of harassing a harmless 175 thousand? 
Yet Russia has done so, painting itself before all as though a land of thugs

getfvid_93713569_549856559000604_6175455221167161344_n.mp4

A newspaper of Angola published praising Jehovah's Witnesses on prevention measures against coronavirus (Covid-19)..
And the newspaper also announced that Jehovah's witnesses in all over the world have contributed a lot to the prevention of the coronavirus through its official website JW.org.
And the newspaper also showed some links of how people can search on JW.org, and it also mentioned the journal! N-' 6, 2016 with the theme: "Win the war on diseases".
Source: Angola newspaper 23/04/2020

It must really confound those who accuse the JW organization of being a cult that few people are behaving better these days, or more reasonably, with more of an eye toward the public good. That #CultExpert tweets about how Jehovah’s Witnesses manipulate people, and I reply that their followers put his to shame for vanquishing COVID. Jehovah’s Witnesses immediately transferred all gatherings to Zoom and issued strong counsel to observe government-recommended social distancing—which our people will observe because they strive to be obedient. But his followers? Some will observe social distancing, no doubt—probably even most, but is his mission statement ‘Freedom of Mind’ really compatible with obedience to secular authority? You don’t think some will use their ‘freedom of mind’ to say: “Forget about you!—We’ll party on the beach if we feel like it!?”
Doubtless they expected ‘scare-mongering’—‘using’ the present crisis to scare new ones into the fold—and in fact, there have been accusations of that. But you really really have to stretch the point if you go there. The lead post on jw.org is the most socially responsible contribution imaginable, replete with suggestions on how to cope with isolation and resulting loneliness. With people beside themselves with anxiety, unable to cope in many cases, you don’t think that is a valuable contribution, perhaps THE most valuable? After all, if your psyche breaks down, all the physical relief in the world does you no good.
It reminds me of the verse on muzzling the talk of the ignorant ones by doing good. To be sure, hostile ones are still criticizing—but in doing so,  they are also plainly revealing their ignorance, and in some cases, hate.
In fact, I don’t quite go there with the CultExpert, for some of the groups he monitors really DO seem pretty strange—so I don’t go there, though I do think about it—I almost want to say: “LET them join a cult if it helps them get through this and save their sanity! What are you offering in lieu—that we should put our hope in the next crop of politicians? Haven’t we been down that road countless times before?”
Affirming some cult idiot’s charge that I am ‘using’ the pandemic to ‘recruit,’ (to anyone concerned about that, I reply that on the 200th contact I will ask if they want to convert and then they can say ‘no’—in the meantime, it’s just conversation—don’t worry about it) I have many times tweeted that lead post to persons, sometimes in response to a specific plea like with Mr. Fiend, and sometimes I just throw it out there—with good results in both cases. Sometimes the tweets are retreated. Unless you are a snarling ‘ain’t-cultist,’ people do not misunderstand—they know that you are trying to help.
As always, you tailor your tweet to the person. To persons who appear secular, you say (this one was lamenting a suicide she had read about): “It is a terrible thing. Healthy people struggle when their routine is uprooted, let alone persons unwell to begin with. I sent this to someone who tweeted that he was frankly losing it. There is a spiritual component to it, but it is mostly on combatting isolation and loneliness”—and I attach the link.
To someone decidedly irreligious, you might say: “As a suggestion—nothing more—here is a series of posts on how to cope with isolation and loneliness. Upended routines are driving everyone up a tree. My turn is probably next. Like Bob Dylan: ‘The riot squad is restless, they need somewhere to go.’” I like to play the Dylan card—it doesn’t mean that you have to. You also don’t exempt yourself—hence the ‘my turn is probably next,’
My new pinned tweet is: “With #mentalhealth under assault and even balanced people buckling under the stress, I can’t imagine a better read than this one on coping with isolation and loneliness from #JehovahsWitnesses,” as I include a link to the post. 
Note the hashtags. Ages ago my daughter said to me: “They’re hashtags, Dad, not crosstags.” Hashtags are fair game on social media, whereas tagging individuals directly is generally considered rude, unless you know full well that they will welcome it. Hashtags will draw in anyone else who monitors the subject—as an experiment, enter a hashtag anything on social media to see what comes up. You can even use it as your own filing system if you choose a hashtag unique enough.
It can, however backfire. If the hashtag is of any controversial topic, it can bring in people who want to argue, even insult. In the case of Jehovah’s Witnesses, there are disgruntled former members—‘apostates’—that can be attracted—in fact, they almost surely will be. “Oh, yeah,” you can mutter. “They’ll come alright. As surely as flies to dung, they will come!” But you should not say this, because while you are comparing apostates to flies, you are also comparing yourself to dung—so you should seek another metaphor.
My #mentalhealth hashtag drew in some mental health people, some of whom expressed great appreciation. But true to warning, my #jehovahswitnesses hashtag drew in some ‘apostates.’
“The rather large elephant in the paragraph [about the comfort JWs offer] is the Jehovah’s Witness shunning policy.”
But I replied (in three tweets):
“There is hardly an issue here. Those who would trigger a ‘shunning policy’ are those for whom, at the present time, the last thing in the world they would want is to abide by the principles of those who wrote the article. Even so, they are welcome to take from it what they will.”
“The thoughts expressed in the article are non-denominational, offered freely to all, even those on the outs at present with JWs. It’s meant as a public service. One need not take it. One can always put trust in the politicians, medical staff, and economists to fix matters.”
I looked at the detractor’s profile and discovered that she was one who was trying to torpedo the JW organization’s status as a charitable religious organization, something that they plainly are:
“In fact, it is an excellent post for consideration of the @CharityComms, though not written for that reason. Look, nobody is everything to everyone. But they will recognize that we are well past the time for nursing grudges—not with C19 threatening the mental health of the planet.”
It shut her up! I couldn’t believe it! It is unheard of! ‘Apostates’ never ever EVER give up—I’ve had to block some—and yet she gave up. There is no finer proof of 1 Peter 2:15 than that: “For it is the will of God that by doing good you may silence the ignorant talk of unreasonable men.”

https://religionnews.com/2020/02/26/genocide-survivor-tells-of-risk-rescue-and-religion-in-rwanda/
Rwanda’s descent into terror in April 1994 took an estimated one million lives in a mere 100 days. The Genocide against the Tutsi in this overwhelmingly Christian country was horrifying for its intimacy: Killers and victims were neighbors, friends, fellow churchgoers, workmates, even spouses. Murderers carried crude implements—machetes, hoes, nail-studded clubs—and lists of those doomed to die.
Gatineau, Quebec—Tharcisse Seminega was marked for slaughter. With all escape routes seemingly cut off, he, his wife, and their five young children sat helplessly awaiting death.
Seminega, a Tutsi and former Catholic seminarian, taught at the National University in Butare. Extremist Hutu faculty orchestrated the murder of Tutsi professors and students. But just minutes before a Hutu professor arrived with soldiers at Seminega’s house, Hutu friends helped the family flee.
The new memoir No Greater Love—How My Family Survived the Genocide in Rwanda relates how, during the next 75 days, Seminega and his family evaded the machetes with the help of about 20 Hutu rescuers who took unthinkable risks to hide and sustain them. These rescuers knew that if the génocidaires caught them, they faced an agonizing death as traitors to the Hutu cause.
Most of the rescuers belonged to the Jehovah’s Witness community, of which Seminega was a part. His wife, a former nun, feared to join him, knowing that the Witnesses had long been oppressed for refusing to take up weapons or participate in politics.
Because of this apolitical teaching, writes genocide scholar Rhoda Howard-Hassmann, “Hutu Witnesses were impervious to calls for patriotic Hutu to take part in mass killings”; and yet “to do nothing was also against their Christian principles.”
Professor Seminega says that his family’s rescuers and other Witnesses followed Jesus’ “new commandment”—To love one another just as he loved them, even to the death. They sheltered not only fellow believers but others who knew that Witnesses would not harm or betray them.
Of 2,500 Witnesses in Rwanda in 1994, about 400 were murdered, Tutsi as well as Hutu who tried to rescue Tutsi or who refused to kill.
After the genocide, researchers documented widespread complicity among church leaders and members. States one study: “All the churches active in Rwanda, with the exception of the Jehovah’s Witnesses” were involved in the genocide.
Now, Professor Seminega speaks with classes via Skype about his family’s story. In paying tribute to his rescuers, Seminega says: “Their selfless acts move me every day to ask, how far will my love reach?”

Here is a list of scriptures showing how deeply our heavenly Father Jehovah God wants to forgive our sins and give us everlasting life. This God proves to us, by going so far that He sent his most loved Son Jesus Christ to earth to teach us and die for our sins in a most painful way.
  So if we feel that we have failed one day, we can be sure we are forgiven if we try better next day. Our sanctification is not possible in one day. So we have to keep on trying to do better everyday. That is a repentive attitude we need in our ongoing sanctification.
 
 
John 3:16  “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life. 17  For God did not send his Son into the world for him to judge the world, but for the world to be saved through him.
 
1 Timothy 2:3  This is fine and acceptable in the sight of our Savior, God, 4  whose will is that all sorts of people should be saved and come to an accurate knowledge of truth. 5  For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, a man, Christ Jesus, 6  who gave himself a corresponding ransom for all—this is what is to be witnessed to in its own due time.
 
Romans 5:8 But God recommends his own love to us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9  Much more, then, since we have now been declared righteous by his blood, will we be saved through him from wrath. 10  For if when we were enemies we became reconciled to God through the death of his Son,
 
Titus 3:3  For we too were once senseless, disobedient, led astray, being slaves to various desires and pleasures, carrying on in badness and envy, detestable, hating one another. 4  However, when the kindness of our Savior, God, and his love for mankind were manifested 5  (not because of any righteous works we had done, but because of his own mercy), he saved us by means of the bath that brought us to life and by making us new by holy spirit. 6  He poured this spirit out richly on us through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that after being declared righteous through the undeserved kindness of that one, we might become heirs according to a hope of everlasting life.
 
Luke 18:10  “Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11  The Pharisee stood and began to pray these things to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like everyone else—extortioners, unrighteous, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12  I fast twice a week; I give the tenth of all things I acquire.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing at a distance, was not willing even to raise his eyes heavenward but kept beating his chest, saying, ‘O God, be gracious to me, a sinner.’ 14  I tell you, this man went down to his home and was proved more righteous than that Pharisee. Because everyone who exalts himself will be humiliated, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
 
Luke 5:30….“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31  In reply Jesus said to them: “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but those who are ill do. 32  I have come to call, not righteous people, but sinners to repentance.”
 
Luke 7:44  With that he turned to the woman and said to Simon: “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet. But this woman wet my feet with her tears and wiped them off with her hair. 45  You gave me no kiss, but this woman, from the hour that I came in, did not stop tenderly kissing my feet. 46 You did not pour oil on my head, but this woman poured perfumed oil on my feet. 47 Because of this, I tell you, her sins, many though they are, are forgiven, because she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48  Then he said to her: “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 Those reclining at the table with him started to say among themselves: “Who is this man who even forgives sins?” 50  But he said to the woman: “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
 
2 Timothy 1: 9  He saved us and called us with a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and undeserved kindness. This was given to us in connection with Christ Jesus before times long ago,
 
Ephesians 2:8  By this undeserved kindness you have been saved through faith, and this is not of your own doing; rather, it is God’s gift. 9  No, it is not a result of works, so that no one should have grounds for boasting. 10  We are God’s handiwork and were created in union with Christ Jesus for good works, which God determined in advance for us to walk in them.
 
Romans 10:9  For if you publicly declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and exercise faith in your heart that God raised him up from the dead, you will be saved.
 
Hebrews 10:10  By this “will” we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time. ….14  For it is by one sacrificial offering that he has made those who are being sanctified perfect for all time. 15  Moreover, the holy spirit also bears witness to us, for after it has said: 16 “‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,’ says Jehovah. ‘I will put my laws in their hearts, and in their minds I will write them.’” 17  Then it says: “And I will no longer call their sins and their lawless deeds to mind.” 18  Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for sin. 19  Therefore, brothers, since we have boldness for the way of entry into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20  which he opened up for us as a new and living way through the curtain, that is, his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22  let us approach with sincere hearts and complete faith, having had our hearts sprinkled clean from a wicked conscience and our bodies bathed with clean water.
 
Hebrews 9:28  so also the Christ was offered once for all time to bear the sins of many; and the second time that he appears it will be apart from sin, and he will be seen by those earnestly looking for him for their salvation.
 
Colossians 1:13…...his beloved Son, 14  by means of whom we have our release by ransom, the forgiveness of our sins.
 
Ephesians 1:7  By means of him we have the release by ransom through the blood of that one, yes, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his undeserved kindness.
 
Acts 26:17….I am sending you [apostle Paul] 18  to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by their faith in me.’
 
Acts 13:37  On the other hand, the one whom God raised up did not see corruption. 38  “Let it therefore be known to you, brothers, that through this one a forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you, 39  and that from all the things from which you could not be declared guiltless by means of the Law of Moses, everyone who believes is declared guiltless by means of this one.
 
Acts 10:34  At this Peter began to speak, and he said: “Now I truly understand that God is not partial, 35  but in every nation the man who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 He sent out the word to the sons of Israel to declare to them the good news of peace through Jesus Christ—this one is Lord of all. 37  You know the subject that was talked about throughout all Ju·deʹa, starting from Galʹi·lee after the baptism that John preached: 38 about Jesus who was from Nazʹa·reth, how God anointed him with holy spirit and power, and he went through the land doing good and healing all those oppressed by the Devil, because God was with him. 39  And we are witnesses of all the things he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem; but they did away with him by hanging him on a stake. 40 God raised this one up on the third day and allowed him to become manifest, 41 not to all the people, but to witnesses appointed beforehand by God, to us, who ate and drank with him after his rising from the dead.42  Also, he ordered us to preach to the people and to give a thorough witness that this is the one decreed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone putting faith in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
 
Luke 24:45 5  Then he [Jesus] opened up their minds fully to grasp the meaning of the Scriptures, 46  and he said to them, “This is what is written: that the Christ would suffer and rise from among the dead on the third day, 47  and on the basis of his name, repentance for forgiveness of sins would be preached in all the nations—starting out from Jerusalem. 48  You are to be witnesses of these things.
 
Acts 3:19  “Repent, therefore, and turn around so as to get your sins blotted out, so that seasons of refreshing may come from Jehovah himself 20  and he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus.
 
Hebrews 12:14  Pursue peace with all people and the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord.
 
2 Corinthians 7:1 Therefore, since we have these promises, beloved ones, let us cleanse ourselves of every defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

 

Witnesses did not predict anything.  The magazine highlighted what the experts said - their educated guess - and brought it to the attention of the readers of Awake magazine, like they do with many important and timely subjects. Get over it!

If there has been kickback on manipulation and ‘control’ charges, and if there has been kickback on ‘flip-flopping’ charges, then I would like to see kickback on charges that Witnesses ‘cover up’ child sexual abuse. A good place to start is by pointing out that leaving reporting up to the involved parties is not the same as ‘covering up.’
Instead, the Witness organization states that it “abhors child sexual abuse,” which, in combination with its reluctance to go there otherwise, is spun by determined enemies as though they love the stuff. Not all will do what reporter Elizabeth Chuck did and attribute it to a “penchant for privacy.”
Why do they not respond in more detail? It may be that the sheer wickedness of the charge takes their breath away and makes them look like deer caught in the headlights. Yes, they know well the verse, “every sort of wicked thing will be lyingly said about you” but this—this is the wickedest thing of all! And the proactive arrangement started with such good intentions. Not so many years ago the notion of a religion “policing its own” was lauded as the ultimate in practicing what one preached. 
It wouldn’t be hard to do—to provide a brief defense of criticisms leveled at them. It might start with points such as:
“Covering up” is not the same as leaving it to the digression of ones affected to report. There wouldn’t be anything to be accused of covering up had not the Witness organization practiced what almost nobody else did—policing its own. Countless persons are arrested with regard to child sexual abuse. Their religious affiliation or lack of is never reported. The reason that it is so with Witnesses is that they tried to do something about it among their own. Unlike virtually anywhere else, where the leaders of an organization are themselves the abusers, the leaders of the Witness community are accused of botching the handling of instances—bad, perhaps—history will judge—but nowhere near as bad as being the ones who commit it. That’s a few for starters. More could be added, such as
The current “gold standard” of child sexual abuse to “go beyond the law” will inevitably cause you problems with those who, not surprisingly, expect you to abide by law. Child sexual abuse would appear to be the primary gross planetary product—30 years into all-out war against CSA and barely a dent has been made. Therefore efforts to prevent it ought to be given at least as much creedence as efforts to secure the barn door after the cows have fled. Nobody, but nobody, has done what the Witness organization has done, gathering every member in the world to consider detailed scenarios in which child sexual abuse might occur so that parents, obviously the first line of defense, can be vigilant. This was done as part of the program of the 2017 Regional conventions.  The reason that the greater world will never make inroads with regard to child sexual abuse it that it feeds with one hand what it is trying to punish with another. The TicTok app taking young people by storm has been described as a pedophile’s dream come true. Though it is parallel and thus not exactly the same thing, the 2020 NFL halftime show demonstrates that objectifying woman is the force that makes the world go round—the MeToo movement is doomed from the start.  The matter of CSA does not go away. It is not being solved. Rather, each month brings some new revelation of how the very elements of this world keep it firmly entrenched as a societal ill. It’s intricate involvement with the Child Protective Service agencies recently was reviewed in a story I must have missed. “We have set up a system to sex traffic American children” said Newsweek in January 2018:
And the latest scandal—pediatricians! “Sheds light on a problem that could rival priest scandals,” states an article extrapolating from a notorious case just how many there might be. And to think I got into a squabble with that nasty O’Mally, determined to put down the Caleb and Sophia video “Protect Your Children,” while she heralded one that specifically said that it was okay for a doctor to touch you in private areas. “Ask the young women of the U.S. Gymnastics Olympic team which video they think would have offered them more protection,” I told her.
Just a few basic tenets of defense for those who would like to have some response to when workmates, schoolmates, or neighbors hit them over the head with what they just saw on TV. It doesn’t cover every tiny thing—just the general outline. The nature of critics everywhere is that they would like their complaints on center stage, to the exclusion of whatever else used to be there. Maybe its not a good idea to indulge them so. Maybe it’s enough to correct matters that need it, such as making it crystal clear to members that there is no reproach in reporting child sexual abuse to police, since the abuser has already brought about the reproach. Maybe it is enough to focus on creating an atmosphere where CSA is less likely to happen. 
Maybe. But sometimes you do wish there was more (or any) of a public response.
I did like the WT attorney’s words at the reversal of the Montana verdict. “There are no winners in a case involving child abuse. ‘No child should ever be subjected to such a debased crime....Tragically, it happens, and when it does Jehovah's Witnesses follow the law. This is what the Montana Supreme Court has established.”

Found on Facebook.

Since Jehovah’s Witnesses deny blood transfusion on religious grounds and liver transplantation is historically related to potential massive perioperative blood loss, therefore, Jehovah’s Witnesses represent a great clinical challenge when indicated to this procedure, and keeping this in mind, researchers undertook this retrospective review to define a perioperative management pathway with strategies toward a transfusion-free environment, to ultimately afford not only liver transplant to selected Jehovah’s Witnesses patients but also to translate this practice to all general surgical procedures. They analyzed data for Jehovah’s Witnesses patients who had liver transplantation at their Institution. A preoperative red cell mass optimization package and the intraoperative use of normovolemic haemodilution, veno-venous bypass and low central venous pressure were included in the perioperative multimodal strategy to liver transplantation in Jehovah’s Witnesses. Among 13 Jehovah’s Witness patients who underwent liver transplantation, 4 developed acute kidney injury (one needed extracorporeal renal replacement therapy) and one required vasoactive medications to support blood pressure for the first 2 postoperative days. Re-laparotomy was performed on 2 patients. One-year follow-up revealed 12 alive recipients and the death of one because of septic complications. Experts concluded that liver transplantation, when performed at a very experienced centre and using a multidisciplinary approach, can be feasible and safe in selected Jehovah’s Witnesses patients, as confirmed by the findings.
https://www.mdlinx.com/journal-summaries/liver-transplantation-jehovah-witnesses-bloodless-medicine/2020/02/04/7604698/?spec=surgery

The speaker’s wife gave one of the first comments at the Watchtower Study—on the very first paragraph. It sort of fit, since the theme was on making wise decisions and following through. Still, she ‘shoehorned’ it in a bit—it wasn’t a perfect fit. She said how she had not been manipulated to become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses—it had been her own choice and one that she did not regret.
Well, who said that she had been manipulated?—that’s why the comment had an artificial flavor to it—the paragraph itself contained no hint of it. Furthermore, pushing the limits of the 30-second goal for comments, put in place so no one loquacious person steals the show, she found it the stupidest notion in the world for anyone to suggest that. Manipulation? How ridiculous.
Plainly, someone had thrust that idea at her recently, maybe some sorehead that she had run across at work or among the neighbors—that it is no more than manipulation with Jehovah’s Witnesses—that’s why they believe and act as they do. It is the classic technique of the mainstream bully—to assert that one couldn’t possibly depart from the ordinary unless they had been manipulated to do so, and “unfairly” manipulated at that—had the “manipulation” been in that bully’s direction, there would be no problem with it.
You can apply this to anything. The reason you bought a Chevy is that you were manipulated by their ads. The reason you cheered for the 49ers is that you were manipulated by San Francisco. The reason you went to college is that you were manipulated by the guidance counselor. The reason that you died for your country is that you were manipulated by that country to think the cause noble—nobody of any other country thought so. 
Really, Jehovah’s Witnesses least fit the accusation of manipulation, because they, unlike the above examples, represent persons who were actively searching—they were anything but moldable pieces of dough. They were dissatisfied with the status quo, dissatisfied with where life was heading, dissatisfied with the goals society set before them, and they took upwards of a year looking over a new model, weighing and trying it on for size, before committing to it. All this was done in familiar surroundings without leaving trusted routine—as opposed to the above examples of college and military, in which one is immersed 24/7 in unfamiliar settings, a classic tool of manipulators.
Well, if you are going to talk manipulation, talk it with something that counts. That’s why I liked Mark Sanderson kicking back at the petty application of manipulation with a major one. In his annual meeting talk about not being fearful, he quoted Hebrews 2:15, that “through [Jesus’] death [God] might bring to nothing the one having the means to cause death, that is, the Devil, and that he might set free all those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death.”
Sanderson cited the Nuremberg trials, in which various Nazis who had committed unspeakable atrocities were asked the simple question, “How could you do those terrible things?” “What did they say?” he asked, and then related the answer they had given: “We had no choice. If we didn’t obey they would put us to death.” 
“Those people could be manipulated,” Sanderson said. “They could be controlled. They could be made to do the most wicked things because they were afraid.” Exactly! If you are going to bandy about words as “manipulate” and “control,” don’t trivialize the terms—do it with an example that matters! Don’t do it with an example of choosing this life course or that life course, neither of which will extend beyond 80 years. Do it with the example of control and manipulation that will gain you the reputation of a mass murderer to last throughout all time. Maybe that’s why the resurrection of the dead was one of the first Christian teachings to come under attack, even during the time of the apostles; the teaching thwarted the goal to keep people afraid so that you can make them do what you want.
Was it coincidence for Sanderson to speak as he did or did it represent kicking back at these petty people who put all their stock in the here and now, equating acting by faith as “control” and “manipulation?” I don’t know, but I wouldn’t mind seeing more of it.

PORT ORCHARD — The youngest victim in the deadly Wednesday evening shooting in downtown Seattle was a 9-year-old Port Orchard boy.
The boy, named Judah, was reported to be recovering from surgery to repair a fractured left leg, according to a report by KOMO News this morning.
Seattle Police were continuing their search for two of the three gunmen who reportedly opened fire near a busy Third Avenue and Pine Street intersection filled with commuters heading home. A woman was killed in the crossfire and seven were injured. One of the gunmen is in custody, according to police.
In the KOMO News report, a family friend of the boy, Erik Larson, said the youngster had been to Seattle for a visit to the Pacific Science Center with family and friends from Port Orchard. The family, who are Jehovah’s Witnesses, had been looking at sidewalk displays and literature about their faith, and were heading down Third Avenue toward Colman Dock to catch a westbound ferry when the gunfire erupted
Larson told KOMO News that the family was next to the McDonald’s restaurant when the chaos unleashed. “Tragically, the woman that ended up killed was on the pavement not far from where they were struck,” Larson said. “It’s really near-miraculous that none of the other nine in their contingent was impacted.”
The family friend said paramedics quickly responded to the scene.
“He held it together,” Larson said of young Judah. “In fact, one of the police officers mentioned that he wasn’t even crying when she responded.”
The Port Orchard boy and the other victims were taken to Harborview Medical Center, the region’s primary trauma center, where x-rays were taken of his left leg that was hit by a bullet. It was shown Judah had a fracture. He was taken into surgery Thursday morning and the fractured bone was repaired using a plate and screws.
Larson told KOMO News that Judah could possibly head back home to Port Orchard today.
“He’s not going to let [the shooting] deter him or detract him from moving ahead.”
https://www.kitsapdailynews.com/news/report-9-year-old-boy-shot-in-seattle-is-from-port-orchard/
 

On channel 7 this morning, he was again identified as one of JWs.  His name is Judah, and is going home today. 

SEATTLE — Seattle police detectives identified two suspects wanted in the downtown Seattle shooting Wednesday night that killed a woman and hurt 7 other people, including a 9-year-old boy
 
https://mobile.twitter.com/garykiro7/status/1220511478018498561?ref_url=https%3a%2f%2fwww.kiro7.com%2fnews%2flocal%2fmultiple-people-shot-downtown-seattle-police-say%2fiecnirbvozfytaejndduuqi4qi%2f
Read full article: 
https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/multiple-people-shot-downtown-seattle-police-say/IECNIRBVOZFYTAEJNDDUUQI4QI/
I couldn't insert the tweet but it says:
A close family friend of the 9-year-old boy who was wounded in yesterday’s downtown shooting says his left femur is shattered, but the boy is remarkably poised and positive. “He has never cried once,” he told us. The boy was on an outing w/ a group of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Jesus gave them signs to recognize when the Roman's would be there in the holy place.......they had to be aware of the first Roman invasion to know they must flee before the second invasion would come..... but both if you believe we must not look at signs...... it is all spiritual...
Just take the first one : Babylon the great -  I researched it years ago.  
Read book if Hosea - I quote just  a verses from Hosea 1 & 2:
" Jehovah said to Ho·seʹa: “Go, marry a woman of prostitution and have children of prostitution, because by prostitution the land has turned completely away from following Jehovah."  (Then jehovah speaks of Israel as his wife who was not faithful to him).
Hosea 2: "Accuse your mother; accuse her,For she is not my wife and I am not her husband. She should remove her prostitution from herselfAnd her adultery from between her breasts," 
And to her sons I will not show mercy,For they are the sons of prostitution.  5 For their mother has committed prostitution.She who was pregnant with them has acted shamefully, for she said,‘I will go after my passionate lovers,
 
Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my first husband,For I was better off at that time than I am now.’  8 She did not recognize that it was I who had given her the grain, the new wine, and the oil,And I who had given her silver in abundanceAnd gold, which they used for Baʹal
I will put an end to all her joy,Her festivals, her new moons, her sabbaths, and all her festive seasons.
will hold an accounting against her for the days when she offered sacrifices to the Baʹal images,When she would adorn herself with her rings and ornaments and would chase after her passionate lovers,And I was the one she forgot,’ declares Jehovah
 
From the above scriptures it is clear that Israel committed religious prostitution. She was supposed to represent the true God (be faithful to jehovah like a wife to a husband) but went after lovers.
In Revelation 17 we see a great prostitute who says she represents God but also has lovers, amongst others - the kings of the earth.  This, marriage between religion and politics started in ancient Babylon. 
There are many places in the bible that a  prostitute symbolises those who profess to represent God but are like a prostitute. 
So what about this can you not accept? 
 

No new light, just the elder's opinion, and not a very good one at that. It still stands that Jehovah will be the judge as he knows the reasons and circumstance.

A few with those names are probably members of their local PTA. Or, if in the United States, the Republican or Democrat political parties.  
Yikes, so many apostate groups.
Seriously, though, I don't know where you found such a list. I haven't heard of hardly any of them. But I do see that many good and active Witnesses have "Theocratic Ministry School" listed as their "school/college/education" in their Facebook profiles. Perhaps they should all be warned?

Apostates are known by their words and actions.  It is possible that this group we are presently in would be on somebody's list as well. 
I was warned by a sister about this group  and also by an elder when he read my post on the Internet where I said that we should abandon sayings like "religion is a snare and a racket", seeing that God has overlooked the days of ignorance.  Resurrecting those sayings means that we have not progressed in our understanding. I also said that we are also a religion so that should not make sense. The elder said that "at that time we were not a religion".  Well, that just shows you. 
We have to be firm and sound in mind as to what we will believe.

As vitriolic as the spiteful crticisms of apostate opposers are, there is a remarkable tide of recognition of the integrity of Jehovah's Witnesses, even among those who do not share our beliefs.
Speaking of the voluntary stand of Jehovah's Witnesses against the oppressive demands of the Nazi and Fascist regimes in Germany and Italy this observation was recently made:
"We owe it also to their sacrifice that there was the powerful push in civil society that gave birth to the European project and also the European Court of Human Rights"
Guido Raimondi.  President of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) 1 November 2015 – 5 May 2019
The views of other non-Witness dignitaries can be seen here.

I am a woman and have been an active JW since 1942.   I do not agree that “most JW women are lonely and suffering from massive depression”.  You are entitled to your own opinion but you should keep it to yourself and not post on this site. Since you are not a woman, you are not in a position to make such a judgment. 
Henceforth when I see you have made a posting, I will immediately delete it. 

I am a woman and have been an active JW since 1942.   I do not agree that “most JW women are lonely and suffering from massive depression”.  You are entitled to your own opinion but you should keep it to yourself and not post on this site. Since you are not a woman, you are not in a position to make such a judgment. 
Henceforth when I see you have made a posting, I will immediately delete it. 

I am a woman and have been an active JW since 1942.   I do not agree that “most JW women are lonely and suffering from massive depression”.  You are entitled to your own opinion but you should keep it to yourself and not post on this site. Since you are not a woman, you are not in a position to make such a judgment. 
Henceforth when I see you have made a posting, I will immediately delete it.