James Thomas Rook Jr.

TTH: I AGREE WITH YOU... much of what Bethel does is truly remarkable ... and I thank Jehovah that he puts up with a LOT of what is NOT remarkable that has become gravenly institutionalized, and caused mountains of grief, and rivers of tears of the innocent who have not suppressed their abilities to think rationally. I glommed on a previous poster's expression about naive Witnesses thinking that "Unicorns eat rainbows and poop butterflies". I intend to use that a lot in further discussions. With tears, I Grok.

. I think it is amazing that Jehovah's Witnesses, as a rule, are not JUST Neutral .. but also Pacifists ... BECAUSE JESUS WAS NOT, AND IS NOT NOW A PACIFIST ! Remember, Jesus, in order to establish his Kingdom in the face of nations that don't want to lose THEIR Kingdoms, will execute most of the Earth's population that would be in rebellion against THEIR loss of sovereign power. For those in Rio Linda, that means kill them allllll ...almost. The Apostles were with Jesus for at least several years, and it was common practice back then for men to be armed at all times. You could tell the men who were NOT armed .. they were the ones who had been robbed of their money and clothing, and if they survived the robbery, were walking around naked, begging for bread. In LUKE 22:36, Jesus, to forestall being executed on the spot by an illegal arresting party who were violating Jewish law by taking him during the night time, AT THE FIRST MEMORIAL told 'them" ( that means ALL his Apostles, for those in Rio Linda ...) to buy swords, but two APOSTLES already had their personal swords WITH THEM in the room AT THE MEMORIAL! Jesus then said "It is enough..", because an armed battle was not anticipated ... Jesus knew that bullies and cowards, and criminal lawbreakers would back off when met with armed resistance, while breaking the law. It is a natural.... NATURAL right of every thing that lives to defend their lives, safety and interests IF they chose to do so, and if they can manage it.... from an amoeba poked in the side with a needle, to a whale shot in the side with a harpoon, to a man stuck in the side with a sword. Did you think that Jesus never noticed his Apostles were carrying swords, and those that were Fishermen had not left their fishing knives in their boats at the water to be stolen? Common sense interpretation of scripture IN CONTEXT works a lot better than theology generated by lawyers. .... unless of course you LIKE being a professional victim. .PS: Those who live by the automobile, die by the automobile .. I personally know almost a dozen brothers and sisters who over the years were killed because they drove their 2,000 pound weapons of mass destruction, and they died . Yet ... they CHOSE to drive their cars and trucks ... knowing that "STUFF HAPPENS" ( to paraphrase).. And fishermen, tent makers and doctors do NOT LIVE BY THE SWORD. Soldiers "live by the sword...". THINK! . .

WOW .. I had no IDEA Jesus could do a piano solo ...

TTH Infinite variety ..... Depends on the pertinence of the illustrations ... Or, like the Eagles sang about " ... don't let he sound of your own wheels, make you crazy!" .

YOU ARE LIVING IN A FANTASY WORLD TTH, FILLED WITH FANTASY SCENARIOS. You should keep your fantasys in a clearly labelled mental box with high walls. ... and keep on the meds. .

. When anyone makes money in the stock market ... that money DID NOT just fall out of the sky .... the 5% of people who GAMBLE in the stock market make money BECAUSE the money they make COMES FROM the 95% of people who gambled, and LOST. Everybody in the stock market, however.. is WILLING PARTICIPANT ... just like in a Lottery ... some win, and most lose .. BUT THERE ARE NO VICTIMS ! People voluntarily assume all kinds of risks. The list is infinite! I have no problem at all with the Society gambling with hundreds of millions of dollars in the Stock Market with contributed money ... making investments that may or may not turn out well ... everything in life is a gamble ... I knew at least 10 Witnesses personally, who were killed in automobile accidents ... yet I still drive ... so do you! I just wish that we would not be disfellowshipped and have our families destroyed for buying a one dollar lottery ticket. ... sigh ...

The WTB&TS has more that that to account for with one incident alone ..... their 9-1/2 year contractural association as a NGO registered with the United Nations, which caused at least that many Jehovah's Witnesses in South America alone to abandon the publishing empire, after it was exposed like an atom bomb to the whole world circa 2001, in the UK newspaper "The Guardian". I can think of perhaps a dozen other instances, not only of malfeasance, but subsequent attempts of cover-up that were never even mentioned to the rank and file Congregations. .. rough estimate of perhaps 4 million Witness in a 25 year period, chased away. My wife's mother and my wife were Roman Catholic, and she and my wife were chased away from the RCs and left due to the pedophile priest scandals. They had a conscience ... so do most of Jehovah's Witnesses. People of integrity ACT on their consciences. And if the Russian Judge does make an adverse ruling ... IT WILL ALL BE OPEN AND OUT IN THE PUBLIC FOR ALL TO SEE. ... NOT HIDDEN AWAY IN A Kingdom Hall Filing cabinet in sealed envelope, with a copy in a sealed blue envelope at Warwick. .

How did you misquote my quote? Except for ellipses ( ...) a quote should not be edited ! Unless clearly stated that it was edited or paraphrased. ... and remember, as stated in the Watchtower about 25 or so years ago, the three muggers of Job were Elders, ( ... what follows is my opinion ...) Who after three days sitting in the dirt with him and talking ... had nothing to say worth recording in Scripture. He was not upbuilt .. he was, as you say, mugged. NOBODY ever sat with someone for three days and actually said nothing .. unless their tongues had been cut out. .

TTH: Every post from you is TRULY amazing! I am continually stunned at what you perceive the real world to be like. In that same light ( old or new light?) I am posting a photo of me when I was a younger man, that some upstart Scottish truck driver turned actor turned into a successful movie career, just to deceive Jehovah's Witnesses from Russia, but with love. . . ..... think I should sue him? ... think I should sue him?

Yes, it is a bit extreme ... but when you find it necessary to discipline one person, and you destroy him, his family, and extended family relationships .. it is cruel, viscous, and callous. It also creates an atmosphere of fear, internally, for fear that YOU MIGHT BE NEXT,. A boy that was baptized at age 8 who grows up and chooses another path based on his conscience at age 20 gets his family ripped apart ... something that DID NOT happen between Ruth and Naomi, who lived in a family of mixed religions before the husband died, and they immigrated to Israel. Jehovah's Witnesses are becoming known globally NOT as a people for His name ... but for their brazen, blatant cruelty and unreasonableness. That is a FACT! That is why with BILLIONS of hours spent witnessing last year, Europe's JW growth last year was utterly pathetic, and in some countries there was actually a LOSS. I personally was dragged into "Room 101" last year by three angry Elders who chewed me out for responding "Hello.." to someone who started a conversation with me. After the initial shock and stunned disbelief that this crap NEVER ENDS .... I have decided since then that I am going to be pleasant with ANYONE who is pleasant with me. I will not discuss Theology with them, but I will be openly courteous and friendly with all. Remember, even Jesus sat down and ate with sinners and tax collectors who had rejected the old Jewish System, which was STILL supported by Jehovah God ! The head-shot cartoon is a bit extreme, but for those who have deep love for their families, it is LESS CRUEL than current JW standard practices. .The head of the Australian Royal Commission was flabbergasted that the Australian Branch head, under specific questioning about that .... did not understand that elementary fact.

Do Unicorns Actually Eat Rainbows And Poop Butterflies ? The Russian's major newspaper is "PRAVDA", which means in English "Truth", and most everything reported about the leadership and communist organizations that run the country is GOOD NEWS! It is "FAKE NEWS", of course, as what is NOT stated is as important as what IS stated. The Russian News agency TASS, as well as The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society BOTH have heavily agendized news reporting ... that is to say ... they ONLY report news that puts them in a good light. Neither will admit they "screwed up", neither ever apologizes for ANYTHING, and that's the way it is April 13, 2017. "Reality 101". Go to JW.ORG, and read what the news is from Russia concerning Jehovah's Witnesses, for April 12, 2017 ... and then read the following from the TASS Russian News Agency. You would think they are TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT COURT CASES. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jehovah’s Witnesses former members tell court they were subjected to ‘total control’ TASS NEWS AGENCY – MOSCOW – APRIL 12, 2017 World April 12, 19:53 UTC+3 In its lawsuit to outlaw the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Justice Ministry pointed to various violations in the organization’s activities revealed during a surprise inspection MOSCOW, April 12. /TASS/. Russia’s Supreme Court has heard the testimony of four former members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses who said they had been subjected to ‘total control’ in that religious organization, with no possibility to receive higher education or start a family, TASS reports from the courtroom. Specifically, witness Natalia Koretskaya from St. Petersburg told the court she had been a member of that organization from 1995 to 2009 and had realized over this period that the organization’s members "were living under full and total control of the [Jehovah’s Witnesses] Administrative Center." "The heads of the Jehovah’s Witnesses formally watch canonical compliance with the norms but in real fact the talk is about total control of an individual’s personal life - his intimate life, education and work," witness Koretskaya said. In response to the court’s request to give the facts of such control, Koretskaya said she had been expelled from the religious organization and its members had been banned to communicate with her after she had started close but officially unregistered relationship with a man. "Therefore, a person turns out to be expelled into the outer world, in which he has already forgotten how to live over the years of his stay in the organization," Koretskaya said. The Justice Ministry’s second witness, Pavel Zverev, told the court he had become a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses at the age of 16 and had not received higher education on persuasion of the organization’s heads. "It is accepted in the organization that receiving higher education is useless if this is not in the organization’s interests. As a result of such persuasion, I remained without education and I’m suffering from that in my life," said Zverev who had worked as a volunteer for two years in the organization’s Administrative Center in the capacity of a cook. The other two witnesses also said they had suffered from the religious organization’s excessive control of their private life and from the ban to communicate with its other members after quitting it, as well as from depression and alcoholism. Thus, witness Nina Petrova from Volgograd said that on persuasion of her spiritual mentors she did not marry and did not start a family. "They convinced me that a family was not needed as the doomsday was close at hand. And when I realized that this was a delusion, it was late," Petrova said, adding that she had stayed in the organization for 28 years. For their part, representatives of the Jehovah’s Witnesses said the witnesses had been prepared in advance for their testimony in the court. "We see that the witnesses are giving testimony based on written materials, repeating the arguments of the so-called sectological literature. Some of them are mentioned in public sources as activists of the movements that are struggling with the Jehovah’s Witnesses," a lawyer for the defendants said. At its next hearing on April 19, the court is expected to study the written materials of the case and may hear the parties’ oral statements. Essence of the lawsuit In its lawsuit to outlaw the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Justice Ministry pointed to various violations in the organization’s activities revealed during a surprise inspection, including breaches of the Law on Counteracting Extremist Activities. The ministry has asked to recognize the organization and its 395 local branches as extremists, ban their activity and seize property. For its part, the organization’s press service told TASS that they were alarmed by the decision, since it could affect 175,000 active believers. The Jehovah’s Witnesses spokesman Ivan Bilenko said the organization was prepared to press for its rights in any courts. The Jehovah’s Witnesses is an international religious organization that supports offbeat views on the essence of the Christian faith and provides special interpretations of many commonly accepted notions. In Russia, it had 21 local organizations but three of them were eliminated for extremism. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now, do your homework ... compare the two accounts ... the April 12 account from JW.ORG's Russia reporting, and THIS one ... and know why to get to the truth of ANYTHING ... you have to read EVERYTHING. . If you self-censor your information, you might as well do it with a bullet to the brain. . .

Yesterday afternoon my wife and I were standing in line at a buffet restaurant, and I got into "lecture mode" to her, loud enough for the people ahead of us to overhear, about the theological ramifications of at Easter, getting the large hollow chocolate bunnies, and NOT eating the ears first. I explained to her (for the benefit of the others in line...) that it was sacrilege and an obamanation ( yeah, I know...) to NOT eat the ears first, and an insult to start at the base. She has a tablet with some Caleb and Sophia videos, as well as the others, which would have been a good transition to theological cartoon characters., and Corporate Totems. .

My original question had no discriminatory flavor to it. In Science Fiction, the term is "xenophobic", which locally refers to a hatred or dislike of people of other countries. PALOMAR MOUNTAIN, CALIFORNIA Place Of Dreams Fulfilled. When I was a pre-teenager, about 1957 or so, the Russians awakened the world as if throwing ice water or sleeping planet by launching into space the Sputnik satellite, a small ball about the size of a basketball in orbit around the earth, and several times a day the satellite would travel over the United States of America with its beeping signals, very primitive by today’s standards, and you could stand out in your front yard and look into the night sky and see it pass overhead as a rapidly moving star. It’s hard to even explain nowadays the galvanizing effect this had on the nations in general and the United States in particular, but as an 11-year-old boy who somehow had picked up the desire to go to space this captured my imagination as much as it scared the imagination of military and political leaders around the world. At the time I had no geopolitical sense whatsoever so I was totally enthralled by what I saw in the night sky. It’s hard to even explain nowadays the shock effect that this obvious and apparent demonstration of Soviet superiority had on the world and specifically the United States. Overnight, it seemed, the educational system was ramped up to include science and mathematics beyond the imagination of what people had planned merely months before. The Soviet satellite, and the implications of Soviet superiority were the topic of every magazine, every newspaper and every mass media market that existed at that time… Extremely primitive by today’s standards. As usual, anything that captured the imagination of the American people, could be exploited to make a dollar off of it, and very soon in the exact same manner that the sport of baseball had baseball cards, there were space cards available in every store and outlet that I was aware of. You could buy a pack of space cards with a slab of bubblegum and there would be pictures of space stations, meteor strikes, what we thought the planets look like then, and everything even remotely related to space. If memory serves, it’s through these space cards that I became aware of the great observatory at Palomar Mountain, the Palomar Observatory, which took seven years to build as I later found out and was truly as magnificent piece of technology such as the world had never seen before. By the age of 13, I had become so enthralled with Palomar Mountain and Palomar Observatory that I hungrily absorbed any and all information I could find about it, and vowed that when I grew up I would make a pilgrimage to Palomar Mountain and feast my eyes on the giant eye that could see across the universe and unravel the secrets it contained. By understanding the universe, as an aside, it occurred to me that I could understand the mind of God, which is partially true. So with this in mind, I have provided the link below so that if you’re not familiar with Palomar Observatory, which is in Southern California, you can review the Wikipedia link, which will add a great deal to your understanding and appreciation of the poem “Infinity”, by Rosser Reeves. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palomar_Observatory ………. About 1963 or so I discovered a old yellow science fiction book in the upper levels of my library at the high school I attended, and I believe I read all the science fiction that they had in the school at that time and in this old yellow science fiction book was this poem. I was so stunned by the magnificence and scope of the poem, that I have tried my entire life to commit fully to memory, and several times I did, but that was then, and this is now. I can still recite the poem pretty much from memory, if I have it written down before me so I can glance down and see what comes next. If you remember the old advertising slogan “… Melts in your mouth not in your hand”, that M&M candy company used to use on television, the same guy that invented that slogan, is the guy that wrote this poem. All of this having been said, with great pleasure I present to you as if it were my personal gift ……….. the poem, “Infinity”, by Rosser Reeves. INFINITY by Rosser Reeves ======================= The probing eye of Palomar peers skyward to reveal A billion molten, fiery stars in our galactic wheel... And shows that even this great disc Is but a firefly burning, Within a much more monstrous wheel, Slowly, slowly turning. May not this next celestial wheel Be but an atom's glow in some big molecule of stars In some huge flake of snow? For may not space flow on and on from door to opening door, Like seas that open into seas and never reach a shore? If in our atom's tiny flame a billion stars are whirled And millions of these lonely suns has each a captive world, Just follow to the trillionth power and on beyond to see, What must be true when ciphers link down to infinity. Somewhere red planets swing around a triple silver sun, And pale, pale rainbows interlock their arches one by one. Somewhere, dark girls upon their brows grow curving, scarlet horns, And ride in tinkling gardens on great golden unicorns. Somewhere rains of diamonds fall on foaming, milk-white seas, Where rockets follow streaming light from star to star with ease. And soft-eyed girls with honeyed lips swim up to sing and free Their water-weighted lashes from their native shining sea. Great blue-white giant blazing suns control a thousand spheres Where reptiles march in glistening ranks and fight with jeweled spears; Where lizards lounge on ivory thrones And keep to weave and spin, to clean their overlapping scales, A smooth-skinned race of men. Somewhere crustaceans think like Gods and muse eternal laws And write the music of the spheres with clicking bony claws. Or beetles, fish and furry things emerge as sentient breeds, Or, working with atomic fires are thinking centipedes. Or, coal-black spiders sway in webs Beneath chill alien moons, And finger gemlike instruments to strum immortal tunes. Or serpent-men on serpent worlds evolve to racial prime, And glide in fourth dimensions where The riddle solved is time. For if there is no end of worlds and nature keeps her laws, Who knows which life will win which world: The hands...the coils...the claws? So feathered things and crawling things And creeping things all go Their separate ways on separate worlds, Around, above, below. If God employs infinity His wonders to perform, And there's no end of endlessness, Can there, then, be a norm? Would God give souls to sentient beasts Or would they still be clods? If evolution is God's way, Whose image, then, is God's? An endlessness of worlds implies a world of every kind: Worlds where our past repeats itself until the end of time. Worlds where our future's far events enact themselves before; Where every closing portal means another opening door. So if there is infinity, if endlessness is true, Somewhere, Napoleon walks again the fields of Waterloo; And somewhere, always, in the depths of time's vast shoreless sea, Upon the ghastly Hill of Skulls, Christ hangs upon the tree. =============================================== …. it appeared in "The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction, Tenth Series" in 1961. The cover price is/was 45¢!! The editor's comment: "The author is chairman of the board of a large corporation, and we confess we find it intriguing and comforting to know that a man whose workday is devoted to the harsh realities of multi-million-dollar profit and loss has in him that good old-fashioned sense of wonder." .

If we discover Extraterrestrial sentient life forms, can they be baptized?

Anna: Well said! Iron sharpens Iron. Soft Soap sharpens NOTHING! ... and JW Insider ... I have never made a claim to be a sheep .. I am a Sheepdog by nature .. and and I knew that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction ... but as a Barbarian interested in Justice, saw no, and see no philosophical objections to like minded men of lesser overriding restrictions ( Neutrality) killing those who order, support, or actually kill and tyrannize the innocent.. The bombers came from the air base destroyed. Those bombs did not get dropped by storks. My heart cries out in anguish for those civilians murdered by suffocation. Less than to the point of death I have been there many, many times. I am enjoying watching the show! If military men want to fight each other, I just wish they would do it in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. .

. TTH ... just as you followed my trail to my Facebook account and found out I was dabbling in being a novelist ... you mentioned it, and I never have here ...I followed your trail to AVOID-JW.org, and actually COUNTED your postings.. I am a retired engineer, I EXPECT to be challenged on every word I say, and welcome it. And no, I have no websites whatsoever, beyond my Facebook account., whatever that is. .

The "Paradise" book was not a Corporate Totem, or in this case, two Corporate Totems .. Caleb and Sophia, FANTASY CARTOON CHARACTERS, that serve as examples. Sorta like Santa Clause ... not real ... but a fascinating lie, for children and the parents who tell the lies. Perhaps they will both abandon the Caleb and Sophia fantasies when they both grow up. How well has that idea worked for Christendom and Rudolph the red-Nosed Reindeer? Think about it. .

A writer who reads his work in public may have OTHER nasty habits.

The entire context of my posting was in reference to the three previous allusions that President Trumps current missile barrage of Syria was illegitimate, and that he was somehow a fool ( Duck comment ). Everything that lives has the NATURAL right of self-defense, if they choose to exercise it .. and IF they can manage it. They ALSO have the NATURAL right to protect the innocent from slaughter, if they choose to exercise it .. and IF they can manage it. ...and True TomHarley ... your 15 postings on the apostate web site AVOID-JW.ORG are as petulant and disjointed there as they are here. .

Caleb and Sophia? If only it were that ..... ONLY! Pyramid scale construction projects? 83,000 Bethelites and Special Pioneers being severed? A hundred page and more response to the Australian Royal Commission on Child Sexual Abuse, but not one word to the Brotherhood? being elbowed in the ribs in print and video how to give money to the Society? Tight Pants Tony? Million dollar Caleb and Sophia buses with $30.000 paint jobs? Governing Body Members with $20,000 Rolex watches? Blood Transfusions OK now ... if you have the parts come in on 13 different IV tubes? The Society "Nationalizing" all Kingdom Halls in the World? Regional Translation Centers using barely literate people? Real Estate purchases of many millions of dollars for "meditation? Allowing Chilean National Flags to fly at Kingdom Halls? Massive systems of JW retirement homes for those in the "in crowd"? Caleb and Sophia Merchandise, purses, briefcases, pins, buttons, slacks, suspenders and bow ties, and pictures, back car window decals, book covers, wall posters, 3d dolls like GB Bro. Anthony Morris III has in his Bethel Office, Videos, DVDs, coloring books, decorated birthd...er... baptism cakes, stand up displays, literature bags, greeting cards, Sophia colorful tote bags for girls, and Sophia cloth shopping bags for Wal-Mart, etc., book markers, key chains, 3d Printer statues of Caleb, ball point pens, and penlights, pins and brooches for older Sisters, and cartoon wall hangings for the inside of Caleb and Sophia dioramas, or JW.ORG men's ties, lapel pins, wristwatches, aluminum military style dog tags, rings, aluminum pendants for neck chains and charm bracelets, car bumper stickers, car window decals, women's pocket mirrors, flags to tie to radio aerials, put on flagpoles outside Chilean Kingdom Halls ( ... what's a Chilean Kingdom Hall doing with a flagpole, anyway ...?)Swiss Assembly Grounds, and OTHER places where a pale blue flag would look spiffy, and in the absence of a breeze, look like a U.N. Flag hanging limp. Then there is the JW.ORG blue oversized umbrellas, Unisex Hoodie Jackets, neck lanyards, hand lunch boxes with Paradise scenes, and of course Caleb and Sophia., and to contrast, from Peru, a BRIGHT Pink Caleb and Sophia Bible cover entitled New World Translation of the HOLY SCRIPTURES ... over a large picture of guess whom? Of course the refrigerator magnets and motivational jewelry are big sellers, not so much for the Caleb crochetable doll ? The Society heavily investing in the Stock Market, and we get DFd for buying a one dollar lottery ticket? The fact that the entire Assembly of Brothers fears what secret stuff goes on in the dreaded "little back room"? The Society handling BILLIUONS of dollars, with absolutely ZERO disclosure or accountability? Naw ..... it's those damn apostates who lie about there being a global JW pedophile problem, three weeks before the Austrailian Government exposes it all. It's almost as if Caleb and Sophia had ALREADY taken control of supervision and leadership of the Society!

The problem with Caleb and Sophia is that their influence on young minds, and on the minds of many adults, is INSIDIOUS ... as warned against by Exodus 20:45. The following REAL LIFE example proves this, if you had any doubt ! When the two year old daughter is 20 years old .... she will remember the love she had for Caleb and Sophia, who she COULD see, more than Jehovah, who she could NOT see. That is WHY Jehovah gave the counsel in Exodus 20:4-5. .Here are some adult Witnesses confirming my reality based supposition ..... ...check out the photos on the construction hard hats .... the rough equivalent of tattoos that people used to have, to show what gods they worshiped, or belonged to......

I am looking for a REAL TRANSCRIPT ... not a summary. ..every word spoken, literally translated by COMPETENT translators. ... all else is hearsay and fluff .... which a "Thessalonian" would swallow, but a "Berean" would not. Like a noble "Berean", our standards of PROOF should be higher,

No. It is the scriptures and reality that caught my attention ... not an artist's graphic. .

Symbols are very, very important to the human mind ... people are inspired by them, and in following their own self-inspiration, whether it be a simple red circle on a white background, a rotating black scythe on a field of white and red, or a field of white stars on a blue background, flanked by thirteen red and white stripes, or an array of simple JW.ORG flags all around, and inside an Assembly grounds in Fribourg, Switzerland, they are always used to seduce humans, many times by people with the very BEST of intentions, as well as evil men.

Thank You, Melinda .... !