James Thomas Rook Jr.

..... This is why when I go out in service, for many years now ... I use the American Standard Bible, which the Society printed from 1944 to 1992 ... with a yellow tape label on the binder that says "AMERICAN STANDARD VERSION", that can be easily seen at a glance by the person at the door.. When they say the NWT is not a "Real Bible", I say in return that I use the American Standard Version, and show it to them. I came into the Truth in 1962 when the first NWT first came out and it had a GREEN cover .... and for years I heard "That's not a REAL Bible ... REAL Bibles are BLACK". The Core Truths of salvation can be listed on a single page of paper .... so using the new "Silver Sword" 2013 NWT is not that important. I MUCH prefer the pre-2013 NWT over the new one, for reasons I have stated here many times .... including that the nuances that have not been "simplified" that carry a great deal of information. Actually, my theology has evolved over the years, and I am tired of studying some opinions ad nauseum that although the GB admits (February 2017 Watchtower) that they are neither inspired or infallible, they say it through gritted teeth, as though someone is behind them with a bayonet on a rifle. Perhaps those pesky Australian Royal Commission folks. However, my favorite scripture is James 1:27 is best expressed in the NIV Bible, which makes life and theology VERY, VERY simple. James 1:27New International Version (NIV) " Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." I don't get any simpler than that ... and it can be written on a 3x5 inch index card.

Most of my Memes are an acquired taste .......

That is none of your business, is it? Since they have never published a full financial report ..... apparently it's NONE OF OURS ...... either.

Remember this ... even the Nazis at their worst had a fully staffed "Department of Justice". Remember this ... Armed forces of all nations are there to kill people and break their stuff ... to FORCE people of different ideologies to adopt THEIR view of what Justice is. If men who loved Justice had not intervened with mountains of bodies, and oceans of blood, and millions of tons of steel, half the world would be speaking Japanese, and half the world would be speaking German., and we would all be slaves ... and that is a fact. Chance and circumstance befall us all. There is no hard evidence .... none whatsoever ... that in modern times Jehovah God has intervened in the affairs of any nation. or any individual person. It's all wishful thinking that may be true, but probably is not. If you have a specific example where God has intervened in any nation's or individual person's affairs in modern times .... that has hard evidence to support that assertion .... please correct me. In this case ... I would very much like to be proved wrong. .

Interestingly enough ... the words WOW MOM WOW MOM WOW MOM words were tattooed on the buttocks of a cartwheeling M&M candy eating nude gymnast..

Infinite variety ..... Men are not ants, that socialize, learn, and work as a collective.

I suppose drinkin' a toast depends somewhat on the day of the week .... On the day named after the god Saturn (Saturday), or after the Sun god (Sunday), or the Moon god (Monday)... etc., etc. During the 1930's and 1940's wearing a brown shirt may have associated me with Hitler's evil goons ..... but today it has no meaning whatsoever, except a lack of fashion sense. The Society recognizes this fact that all things change with regards to Pinatas ... they USED to have pagan origins, and still do ... but that has been made irrelevant by history and custom. Just remember .... the fact that all prostitutes wear shoes DOES NOT MEAN that everyone that wears shoes is a prostitute. ... and if you cater to adults that are determined to be stumbled ... and they are legion ... ANYTHING you do will traumatize them. They will turn you into a slave, and complain that they cannot turn you into a robot slave.

All other things being equal .... Money cannot buy happiness ....... it can only RENT happiness .

JWI ... the first time I looked at your .50 statistic, I had no idea what you meant .. and yesterday when when I looked at it, I understood all the points you made ... so I got it! It only took me somewhere about six months to process what I was looking at!

Sigh ... I should have taken Polaroids ...

Quickly ... as in soon? Or quickly, as in at a high velocity?

! ! ! ! ! ( I don't take Prisoners, No. 6 )

SPOING !

This comment was not presented on top of a vacuum ... but in the context of learning social skills by trial and error, and increasing the PROBABILITY of a successful search for "Mr. Right". It appeared she took the advice at face value, as she nodded, and looked thoughtful. My guess she was running many multiple scenarios in her mind at the time.

My Mother used to try and explain Jehovah's desire for his favorite project, humanity, to be happy, with the scripture in 1st Corinthians 2:9: 1 Corinthians 2:9 New King James Version (NKJV) 9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him." Extrapolating on this, I have a deep yearning in my heart to see my dogs who have died before me, resurrected as a manifestation of Jehovah's mercy for we humans who love dogs. I hope there is something like a Rainbow Bridge where they are playing and having a good time, waiting for me to show up when I die, and together we will cross over the Rainbow Bridge to whatever it is that God has in store for those that love him. There is nothing in the Bible to support this deep yearning ... but then again ... there is nothing in the Bible that speaks against it. I suppose beloved family dogs already "know" ..... and soon ..... too soon ...... so will I.

I grew up deeply concerned about all these sorts of things, and argued for and against points as I understood them at the time, and it is only recently, in the past ten years, that I realized that the core truths we have are precious and inviolate, but all this calculation and mountains of drivel does nothing but make my soul weary, tired, and discouraged. A Brother asked me one time what was my favorite scripture, and I immediately replied Ecclesiastes 12:12. An Elder asked me several weeks ago some question that I have forgotten ... but I answered "I could certainly do without Caleb and Sophia." They have not been elevated yet to Sainthood, so I guess for now I am safe from a charge of blasphemy. It has been a refreshing breath of fresh air, liberty and freedom to not care any more about invisible things that may or may not have happened 4000, 2000, or 103 years ago. I leave that to Brothers far more intelligent and spiritual minded than I am. My favorite scripture NOW ... is James 1:27: New International Version (NIV) " Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." Sounds real simple to me ......... My wife and I are awaiting our licenses now to adopt orphan children, and hopefully raise them in the Truth. WITHOUT Caleb and Sophia, and other cartoon theology.

Arrrgh Captain!

It has taken me from June to December to discern the meaning of your statistics ... I coulda worked it out on my old holstered log-log slide rule, but it had so many nicks and gouges in it from sword fighting that it was unusable for calculations.

I disagree with that. I have never dated anyone I would not see as the end result possibly marrying, although I realize that a person SHOULD date as many people as possible ... not so much to decide who to marry ... but to decide who NOT to marry. My daughter once asked me about a Brother who she was dating, and was upset because he was dating other girls. I told her that if you are not engaged, either party was free to date as many as they could manage ... and SHOULD. It is important to know which "fish" you need to throw back into the pond. I think Kurt's Item No. 6 is EXTREMELY important ..... The way civilization has survived is with rule No. 6. It's like a football game .... men play offense, and women play defense.. Both skills are a necessity, and a person must be competent .. or your life is ruined by default. It is like going to a gunfight with a knife. Whatever does not kill you MAY make you stronger ... but at the expense of great pain and a LOT of scars. One Brother was particularly aggressive with my daughter, and she told him "Bother me any more and my Dad will kill you ... yes, he will go to prison ... but you will be dead." The Brother backed off and as it turned out, he is in prison now for the rape of two other Sisters. Kind counsel in dulcet tones would have been wasted on him. Never bring a knife to a gun fight. It is a game that must be played competently, and honorably ... but it is a game ... and there are winners and losers. Sometimes you do not find out the score for several decades, as the "rules" are changed in the middle of the game.

Since the original Coca Cola had cocaine in it ... and it being touted as "Original Taste", perhaps we could get some cocaine addicts to determine if it tastes like cocaine ... again.

That is why I drink Scotch Whisky without colas.

My recommendation, based on experience, is at least 56 years.

I have mentioned the basic rule for such things before, here on the Archive ... which applies to not only this specific instance ... but to EVERYTHING you could possibly think or do, per the various publications such as the Elders Handbook, and the Branch Office guidelines, and the "unwritten rules" which apply ..... and it is this. EVERYTHING NOT SPECIFICALLY PERMITTED IS FORBIDDEN The phrase, "It is up to your individual conscience" is bandied about .... because nobody wants to get sued. On a side note.... anybody know WHY Greece is selling off the Branch Office?

Jellyfish have lived on this Earth for about 300 Million years ... with absolutely no brain .... There is still hope for all those who value long life at the expense of rational thought.