James Thomas Rook Jr.

A number of people like to wear pens that identify something about them. I have a Tetragrammaton
lapel pen that I wear upon occasion. My only fear is that some of these pins and such may end up being an idol. Remember the serpent that Moses erected in the wilderness. It was required by Jehovah and served a good purpose, but eventually it was turned into an idol. (2 Kings 18:4) 4 He was the one who removed the high places, smashed the sacred pillars, and cut down the sacred pole. He also crushed the copper serpent that Moses had made; for down to that time the people of Israel had been making sacrificial smoke to it and it used to be called the copper serpent-idol.

When the Finnish episode was going on, I saw it on the Internet, made a copy but still have not read it.  I glanced through it and saw nothing untoward, so I did not read it.  Interesting?

I can get my head around that without much effort.

You seem to feel that I had you in mind in my last comment. I didn't. The idea of coming to the aid of immature ones who are playing in the street, not realizing the dangerous drivers deliberately trying to swerve into them, appeals to me. That's what you are doing.
 
I am. Well - I guess I'm not - not really. But there a few serial gripers who seem unhinged, and I do not think it wrong to observe that.

The fact that this fellow is not behind bars is very strange to me, in light of what he is supposed to have done. There may be an answer for it, but surely it is something that should be explained, and the reporter behind the story mentions none. 
It has been covered already that there is a blatant untruth in her story - her statement that Witnesses are prohibited from reporting to authorities. If she had said many Witnesses were disinclined to run to authorities, that would be one thing. But she said they are prohibited from doing so, when right on the Witness website is a statement that they are not. Even if she didn't believe it, a decent reporter would at least note it. Instead, she has been fed a line by someone and she repeats it uncritically, without research.
So what about the fact this fellow is not in jail? It seems he should be if his crimes are as unambiguous, repeated, and grievous as announced. Why is he not? Are there some mitigating circumstances that no one has seen fit to cover? Maybe not, but it seems a relevant point.

Melinda:
In the grand scheme of things, probably not ... what infuriated me is that the Elders TOP SECRET book the Publishers did not know about, and Sisters were forbidden to read ... that edict was still in effect ( AND STILL IS to the best of my knowledge, but is comically sad...) when Finnish Government officials  were giving copies to the women in the Finnish Government.
I knew for years ( if memory serves) about the book, and said NOTHING anywhere, until I learned the Society had put it into the public domain ... STILL DELIBERATELY keeping it a secret from the general Brotherhood.
I bound myself by a rule the Governing Body  themselves violated ... with BABYLONIANS!
As far as I know, they have NEVER announced the existence of the book by which we are ruled to the general Brotherhood, and it has been SEVEN YEARS.
But several of the Governments we say are under Satan's control were GIVEN copies.
What's wrong with THAT picture?

Long as you're happy James. 

Children wail because they NEED something ... food, shelter, being made clean, security, comfort ... always being told the truth ... etc.
As adults, it is our JOB to meet the needs of our children, and to teach them what is important, and what is drivel.
If we are not meeting a child's needs ... or even if we are adults not meeting the needs of OTHER adults ....  their REAL needs ... not agenda driven policy requirements, and 85% DRIVEL .... how DARE we refer to ourselves as "Ministers"
The proper word is "Overlords".

When thinking about Russia, and the continuous chain of court cases that show our abandonment of basic decency, kindness, compassion and ... Justice .... for money ....
FOR MONEY!
...remember that Jehovah once used the Babylonian armies to chastise HIS OWN PEOPLE UNTO DEATH !
... for similar things.
However, we have the institutional advantage through years of training ...
The Incredibility Gap is equally matched ... by our Gullibility Fill.
.
 

In every court case in this Century, the Society has created an INCREDIBLE "Credibility Gap" ( ... an Incredibility Gap?), and have been found, as even a cursory reading of transcripts has shown, to be liars, (Australian ARC child abuse hearings) duplicitous, (California court cases) and actually working AGAINST the sane principles of Justice
... FOR MONEY!
My original post, quoted here was SIX MONTHS AGO, TO THE DAY ....and how much explanation did the Brotherhood get from the Society for $80 MILLION DOLLARS, and perhaps 20 MILLION hours of letter writing since then?
The 2017 Annual Meeting was somewhere around 4-1/2 HOURS.
How much was said about our being banned from a major portion of the planet's surface?
Was it enough for YOU?
 
Why should ANYBODY in their right mind ... trust us?
.
 

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,

As you take a look arcoss these happy Russian, Finnish and other Jehovah's Witnesses, enjoying what they do ....  remember ( if you ever knew) that in 2010 the WTB&TS came out with a super-secret Elders Handbook that governed every aspect of their Congregational Judicial Liability to censure and punishment ... that the rank and file Witnesses  were not allowed to read, and if copied  by a non-elder, had to be WATCHED to make sure they did not read it.
At the same time, of course... the Congregation Elders were running a "court system" parallel to the Finnish court system, and the Finnish Government did not like subversion of their national sovereignty, and could not allow "two court systems". 
The Muslim immigrants which had overrun their country insisted that they be governed by Sharia Law instead of Finnish Law, which started the whole clamp down.
Several years later, if memory serves, at which time, the 2010 supposedly TOP SECRET elders handbook was all over the Internet for anybody to download, but MOST of the Brotherhood was not even aware of it's existence, and still are not seven years later ... TODAY .... which book was NEVER mentioned in the meetings.
Because they were not even aware it existed of course they never got a copy of THEIR "Law Book". ( ! )
To all Jehovah's Witnesses It is a tightly controlled Elders "Eyes Only" book.
The Finnish Government found out about the book, and the WTB&TS gave them TWO copies ... one to the Finnish Minister of Justice, and the other to the Finnish Minister of Education, which again if memory serves , one or both,  or both are women.
Meanwhile, this same book is still "EYES ONLY" classified, FOR JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES and the instructions were THAT IT BE SECRET to the extent that ELDERS WERE TO KEEP IT LOCKED UP AT HOME ... do not leave it on a desk at home, WHERE A SISTER MIGHT READ IT.
This "running movie" started seven years ago, and I am posting this from memory, so please, look it up yourself on the Internet to correct or fill in the blanks.. This sad story is available in great detail if you want to know about it ... and are willing to do the work.
As you take a look across these happy people in Finland, enjoying what they do ....remember the old saying "Ignorance is Bliss"
That old "proverb" was not intended to be an orgasmic goal.
.

Jeremiah 7:30-31
30  "For the sons of Judah have done that which is evil in My sight," declares the LORD, "they have set their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it.
31  "They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, and it did not come into My mind.
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Arauna:
Did you reference Jeremiah 7:31 as a commentary on how we currently handle institutionalized disfellowshipping and shunning?
 

Under the circumstances, that makes perfect sense to me!

YES....  laughing  AND  respect !  Both  things  are  importend,  fun  and  good  behavior,  making  nice  days...

When you get old and fat and it stretches into something unsightly.

Since we don't live under the mosaic law anymore, and tattoos were not mentioned by Jesus. they are not a sin. Jesus never commented on Pork, yet we eat pork, but it was a sin in the old testament. So why is eating Pork not a sin, but getting a tattoo is? There is no scripture supporting this stance. 
When does a tattoo become a sin? When you get one because of idolatry. When you engrave images on yourself that represent false gods, idols, etc. 

I did too. 
 
lol

He needn't worry. I nudged him over the edge.
If someone would pay for advertising tattoos, I would get several. It is an area in which I would be able to beat out the kids, since older people tend to aggregate more space over time.

I have a tattoo of Michael the arc angel. I got to cover up a demon tattoo I got way back in the day b4 coming to Christ. I believe God is happier with me having a tattoo that honors Him rather than disrespects Him.

"If you are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things.... all evidence in fulfillment of Bible prophecy indicates that this corrupt system is due to end in a few years... as a young person you will never fulfill any career that this system offers.
If you are in high school and thinking about a college education, it means at least four, perhaps even six or eight more years to graduate into a specialized career. But where will this system of things be by that time? It will be well on the way toward its finish, if not actually gone"!
Awake! issue of May 22, 1969 on page 15, published by WT

"Could Someone Be Disfellowshipped For Not Believing In...?"
My answer on this will be in indirect way. And that would give you new perspective on WT mentality. Elders are nothing else but product of Corporation. And they, in general, acting in that manner. 
This topic, the question is certainly interesting. I will tell you personally experience with two elders. After they told me how they not believes in anything that WT teaches,  I have asked both of them, the same questions. And I got the same answers. 
My first question was: If they does not believe everything from the  WT publications, how is possible that they, from the podium, teaching others what they personally does not believe?Second question was: Do you have a peaceful conscience, because you are telling others how they need to believe  that what you, in fact, not believes?
They answered me; " I say that's so in the literature (that is stated in magazine, study article) and I'm not talking about my personal beliefs."
My final question was;  Why don't you act like JW kids at school, on biology class, when it comes to evolution theory and the emergence of life. JW children say, give answer in class to all students and professors ; "School book say that human came in life by evolution. But i don't believe in that. I believe how god created humans."  Why you not doing the same as that brave JW children? To say from podium, or while sitting in auditorium giving comment; "WT  book, magazine, publication say this/that.. but i don't believe in such teaching, i believe ...?" 
After that they stayed silence. 

The way I understand the "Thread Rules" is that if the person who STARTED the thread wants it to stay pristine, then it is inappropriate to violate those wishes and wander afield with comments. Also,  we did experiment with making things "formal" but it was very cumbersome, so the Librarian agreed that it could be a 'free for all mud fight" and if necessary, he or JWI, who have administrator status, would split the tangled thread and move parts to new headers, as needed.
Since I started this thread, apparently I get to indicate my preferences ... and as most know, I LIKE a free association, who knows where the conversation goes, from your nose to your toes kinda brawl.
I am not sensitive, and take no offense, even if deliberate and malicious, under the working theory that vitriol is YOUR problem, and watching you have a stroke is entertaining, and the Librarian and many here know this.
So, carry on troops, and follow IDEAS, wherever they might go!

Just a cursory reading of this:
"Absolute poverty is defined as living on less than $1.25/day." : Pathetic benchmark!
"Over the next 20 years, we have the ability to extinguish absolute poverty on Earth." ???Excuse me! We have been able to do this for years!
 "the basic rationale for child labor will completely disappear" And what are those poor, redundant, robot replaced, child laborers doing? Starving to death? Trafficked?...
"We’re demonetizing food rapidly." What does this even mean? Less people malnourished?? Wakey Wakey!!
"In the last 25 years, under-five mortality rates have dropped by 50%" Glad to hear it...I think.... er, What is the life prospect for these folk and any assessment of the quality of that life?
"we will rapidly begin to eliminate dozens or hundreds of similar plagues." In the context of the elimination of guinea worm infestation glad to hear but.... Hmm... sounds highly speculative at best. "we will rapidly begin"???
"the dramatic decline in the number of teen (15 to 19 years old) birth rates in the United States since 1950" Is this due to abortion availability? birth control? Social media preference to live contact? or better moral standards? Or something else?
"the number of homicides per 100,000 people has decreased to almost zero." over the last 700 years??? how on earth is this measured especially prior at least 19th Century and what is included? probably doesn't include war deaths or political genocide.
I can't look at any more of these stats, but I wholeheartedly agree with the final statement of this report:
We live in the most exciting time to be alive! Enjoy it.

In every court case in this Century, the Society has created an INCREDIBLE "Credibility Gap" ( ... an Incredibility Gap?), and have been found, as even a cursory reading of transcripts has shown, to be liars, (Australian ARC child abuse hearings) duplicitous, (California court cases) and actually working AGAINST the sane principles of Justice
... FOR MONEY!
My original post, quoted here was SIX MONTHS AGO, TO THE DAY ....and how much explanation did the Brotherhood get from the Society for $80 MILLION DOLLARS, and perhaps 20 MILLION hours of letter writing since then?
The 2017 Annual Meeting was somewhere around 4-1/2 HOURS.
How much was said about our being banned from a major portion of the planet's surface?
Was it enough for YOU?
 
Why should ANYBODY in their right mind ... trust us?
.