Anna

I have! 1 Timothy 2:9. Of course what's ugly or immodest is a matter of societal opinion.

This is not a reply to you specifically, I know you know all this. I just wanted to clarify for others who might be thinking that we think that Russell is of no consequence. Although Russell has been removed from that list, he is still considered very important, (and as one of the anointed) in the sense that he is viewed as the messenger who "opened up" the way for others after him. After all it was he who questioned the hellfire doctrine and immortality of the soul, two very important key elements that make us stand out from other Christian based religions. Russell has been compared to "the sinews and flesh" of Ezekiel 37:7,8 in the vision of the valley of dry bones, and then with Rutherford (in 1919) they began to live and stand on their feet as per Ezekiel 37:10.

Oh dear, what happened to "an interesting take on politics, conspiracies, and prophecies" ? Obviously isn't that interesting .

John, with all respect, you need to put your money where your mouth is.

I still don't get why you haven't been yet..... Who knows, perhaps you might find out this person has already been reported, and the police are taking care of it, or not doing anything. If I were you, with your concerns over child molesters getting away with it, or being protected, or children still being in danger, I would want to know!

You keep mentioning the "truly" anointed ones. Did you know any personally? I have known quite a few in my life time and I believe they were "truly" anointed, but I don't recall them ever having a problem with calling God; Jehovah. I am sure you have mentioned it, but I am still not sure what you consider wicked acts, in order to prove themselves a wicked slave. I know the pedophilia issue is one thing. But looking at my brothers and sisters (and I have belonged to quite a few congregations in different countries) I cannot say that those who apply Bible principles in their life are adversely affected. In fact many are extremely grateful they have found the congregation of JWs because they have helped them discover Bible truths, and help them live by Bible principles. You can listen to their life stories to see they are genuinely happy they have found this brotherhood. I am not denying there are a few bad individuals in congregations, and some loopy ones, but those always get rooted out eventually. It's nothing new, there have always been some who are wicked, even in Bible times, but there is nothing hidden from Jehovah that won't be revealed. So we have nothing to be worried about.

Well in this instance it wasn't applied

I have a dark web right outside my bedroom window, with a big spider in the middle of it . Sorry, I know you are being serious. It's good we have google, although of course we need to find the right pages, because there is a lot of biased stuff out there. As I said, generally I do not buy into conspiracy theories, but I also know that the average person doesn't know the half of what's really going on.

@Arauna we have a topic started along similar lines HERE Right now it's a little all over the place, but hopefully will get re-focused. Perhaps you could post your video there too?

@JOHN BUTLER I like this quote from JW Insider; " I think the only way we can see past the human error and focus on the leadership of Jesus under the headship of Jehovah, is to avoid putting the human leadership on so high a pedestal in the first place".

Oddly enough, I do know one of them. Rebecca Newberger Goldstein lives just around the corner from my daughter and son-in-law. My sister-in-law teaches at NYU, which allows me to go to lectures (I rarely do) where she (Goldstein) was invited as speaker at one and a round-table-member at one. From what I can tell, she would be the closest thing to a "religious" voice in the list of Bilderberg participants. When I typed this question the thought did cross my mind, that probably JW Insider knows someone . Interesting. I remember you saying your wife being the director of public school programs. The group must like her a lot, since she is on the list for the past three years, lol. Yes. This is kind of how it is described on their "about" page. Think-tank is a good way of describing it. It reminds me of when I used to work for a Saudi ambassador. One of my jobs was to find and print interesting articles from think tank websites such as epc.eu. I think the conspiracy theorists are trying to say that these meetings are organized in order to better take over the world eventually. Of course, any meetings of this type are unambiguously focused on as you say; protecting profitability. I am not surprised that people get suspicious about the ways of ensuring profitability. As we know, "the love of money is a root of all sorts of injurious things". I hope your trip to Warwick was a good one. Did anyone come up to you?

I do not believe Jehovah would allow some human/humans to silence his anointed, especially as you say, the anointed would be of paramount importance in disclosing the truth about Him in the “last days”. I am satisfied that these fundamental truths have been disclosed. I do not find them all together in one place anywhere among Christendom’s religions and sects, I don’t find them in Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism or any other religion but Jehovah’s Witnesses. To your other point, saying that we cannot be sure how God’s name was pronounced, and why not call him Yahweh etc. well sure I would call him Yahweh but I speak English, and in English it is Jehovah. Many names are written and pronounced quite differently depending on what language you speak. So concerns and arguments about the exact pronunciation of God’s name are moot and kind of pointless really.

No, you definitely don’t want to pretend, but have never been convinced of what you believed was the truth and later changed your perception of it, and adjusted it, in the light of more information? I think we have all done that. It seems like you naively think that truth will just pop up the first time, or that it will be miraculously revealed. On the contrary, it's hard work. The Bible says we have to search for it, because it’s a hidden treasure (Prov 2:5, 6). So finding the truth isn’t a sudden revelation, it’s a journey, and on the way we may stumble over rocks, have to climb hills and descend valleys, before we even know where to dig. But like I said before, fundamental truths (God’s name, God’s personality, God’s purpose for mankind, the way God wants us to live etc.) are there; so that people seeking those truths are able to go to the “mountain of Jehovah” Isaiah 2:2,3.

Don't worry. You are not the only one. If I remembered everything I read I would be extremely well educated and knowledgeable. As it is, I only retain half the stuff I read. I remember the gist, but nothing that I could explain to anyone else, so really it's a bit useless. Well that's up to you to find out. "The truth is out there" . But seriously, we may never know the truth about everything, but there are certain fundamental things we need to know the truth about, and should be interested in finding out the truth, especially when it pertains to God and to those who claim to represent him here on earth.

Also here are the participants of this years' meeting: Know anyone? CHAIRMAN STEERING COMMITTEE Achleitner, Paul M. (DEU), Chairman Supervisory Board, Deutsche Bank AG; Treasurer, Foundation Bilderberg Meetings Agius, Marcus (GBR), Chairman, PA Consulting Group Alesina, Alberto (ITA), Nathaniel Ropes Professor of Economics, Harvard University Altman, Roger C. (USA), Founder and Senior Chairman, Evercore Amorim, Paula (PRT), Chairman, Américo Amorim Group Anglade, Dominique (CAN), Deputy Premier of Quebec; Minister of Economy, Science and Innovation Applebaum, Anne (POL), Columnist, Washington Post; Professor of Practice, London School of Economics Azoulay, Audrey (INT), Director-General, UNESCO Baker, James H. (USA), Director, Office of Net Assessment, Office of the Secretary of Defense Barbizet, Patricia (FRA), President, Temaris & Associés Barroso, José M. Durão (PRT), Chairman, Goldman Sachs International; Former President, European Commission Beerli, Christine (CHE), Former Vice-President, International Committee of the Red Cross Berx, Cathy (BEL), Governor, Province of Antwerp Beurden, Ben van (NLD), CEO, Royal Dutch Shell plc Blanquer, Jean-Michel (FRA), Minister of National Education, Youth and Community Life Botín, Ana P. (ESP), Group Executive Chairman, Banco Santander Bouverot, Anne (FRA), Board Member; Former CEO, Morpho Brandtzæg, Svein Richard (NOR), President and CEO, Norsk Hydro ASA Brende, Børge (INT), President, World Economic Forum Brennan, Eamonn (IRL), Director General, Eurocontrol Brnabic, Ana (SRB), Prime Minister Burns, William J. (USA), President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Burwell, Sylvia M. (USA), President, American University Caracciolo, Lucio (ITA), Editor-in-Chief, Limes Carney, Mark J. (GBR), Governor, Bank of England Castries, Henri de (FRA), Chairman, Institut Montaigne; Chairman, Steering Committee Bilderberg Meetings Cattaneo, Elena (ITA), Director, Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology, University of Milan Cazeneuve, Bernard (FRA), Partner, August Debouzy; Former Prime Minister Cebrián, Juan Luis (ESP), Executive Chairman, El País Champagne, François-Philippe (CAN), Minister of International Trade Cohen, Jared (USA), Founder and CEO, Jigsaw at Alphabet Inc. Colao, Vittorio (ITA), CEO, Vodafone Group Cook, Charles (USA), Political Analyst, The Cook Political Report Dagdeviren, Canan (TUR), Assistant Professor, MIT Media Lab Donohoe, Paschal (IRL), Minister for Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform Döpfner, Mathias (DEU), Chairman and CEO, Axel Springer SE Ecker, Andrea (AUT), Secretary General, Office Federal President of Austria Elkann, John (ITA), Chairman, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Émié, Bernard (FRA), Director General, Ministry of the Armed Forces Enders, Thomas (DEU), CEO, Airbus SE Fallows, James (USA), Writer and Journalist Ferguson, Jr., Roger W. (USA), President and CEO, TIAA Ferguson, Niall (USA), Milbank Family Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University Fischer, Stanley (USA), Former Vice-Chairman, Federal Reserve; Former Governor, Bank of Israel Gilvary, Brian (GBR), Group CFO, BP plc Goldstein, Rebecca (USA), Visiting Professor, New York University Gruber, Lilli (ITA), Editor-in-Chief and Anchor "Otto e mezzo", La7 TV Hajdarowicz, Greg (POL), Founder and President, Gremi International Sarl Halberstadt, Victor (NLD), Professor of Economics, Leiden University; Chairman Foundation Bilderberg Meetings Hassabis, Demis (GBR), Co-Founder and CEO, DeepMind Hedegaard, Connie (DNK), Chair, KR Foundation; Former European Commissioner Helgesen, Vidar (NOR), Ambassador for the Ocean Herlin, Antti (FIN), Chairman, KONE Corporation Hickenlooper, John (USA), Governor of Colorado Hobson, Mellody (USA), President, Ariel Investments LLC Hodgson, Christine (GBR), Chairman, Capgemini UK plc Hoffman, Reid (USA), Co-Founder, LinkedIn; Partner, Greylock Partners Horowitz, Michael C. (USA), Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania Hwang, Tim (USA), Director, Harvard-MIT Ethics and Governance of AI Initiative Ischinger, Wolfgang (INT), Chairman, Munich Security Conference Jacobs, Kenneth M. (USA), Chairman and CEO, Lazard Kaag, Sigrid (NLD), Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Karp, Alex (USA), CEO, Palantir Technologies Kissinger, Henry A. (USA), Chairman, Kissinger Associates Inc. Knot, Klaas H.W. (NLD), President, De Nederlandsche Bank Koç, Ömer M. (TUR), Chairman, Koç Holding A.S. Köcher, Renate (DEU), Managing Director, Allensbach Institute for Public Opinion Research Kotkin, Stephen (USA), Professor in History and International Affairs, Princeton University Kragic, Danica (SWE), Professor, School of Computer Science and Communication, KTH Kravis, Henry R. (USA), Co-Chairman and Co-CEO, KKR Kravis, Marie-Josée (USA), Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute; President, American Friends of Bilderberg Kudelski, André (CHE), Chairman and CEO, Kudelski Group Lepomäki, Elina (FIN), MP, National Coalition Party Leyen, Ursula von der (DEU), Federal Minster of Defence Leysen, Thomas (BEL), Chairman, KBC Group Makan, Divesh (USA), CEO, ICONIQ Capital Massolo, Giampiero (ITA), Chairman, Fincantieri Spa.; President, ISPI Mazzucato, Mariana (ITA), Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value, University College London Mead, Walter Russell (USA), Distinguished Fellow, Hudson Institute Michel, Charles (BEL), Prime Minister Micklethwait, John (USA), Editor-in-Chief, Bloomberg LP Minton Beddoes, Zanny (GBR), Editor-in-Chief, The Economist Mitsotakis, Kyriakos (GRC), President, New Democracy Party Mota, Isabel (PRT), President, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Moyo, Dambisa F. (USA), Global Economist and Author Mundie, Craig J. (USA), President, Mundie & Associates Neven, Hartmut (USA), Director of Engineering, Google Inc. Noonan, Peggy (USA), Author and Columnist, The Wall Street Journal Oettinger, Günther H. (INT), Commissioner for Budget & Human Resources, European Commission O'Leary, Michael (IRL), CEO, Ryanair D.A.C. O'Neill, Onora (GBR), Emeritus Honorary Professor in Philosophy, University of Cambridge Osborne, George (GBR), Editor, London Evening Standard Özkan, Behlül (TUR), Associate Professor in International Relations, Marmara University Papalexopoulos, Dimitri (GRC), CEO, Titan Cement Company S.A. Parolin, H.E. Pietro (VAT), Cardinal and Secretary of State Patino, Bruno (FRA), Chief Content Officer, Arte France TV Petraeus, David H. (USA), Chairman, KKR Global Institute Pichette, Patrick (CAN), General Partner, iNovia Capital Pouyanné, Patrick (FRA), Chairman and CEO, Total S.A. Pring, Benjamin (USA), Co-Founder and Managing Director, Center for the Future of Work Rankka, Maria (SWE), CEO, Stockholm Chamber of Commerce Ratas, Jüri (EST), Prime Minister Rendi-Wagner, Pamela (AUT), MP (SPÖ); Former Minister of Health Rivera Díaz, Albert (ESP), President, Ciudadanos Party Rossi, Salvatore (ITA), Senior Deputy Governor, Bank of Italy Rubesa, Baiba A. (LVA), CEO, RB Rail AS Rubin, Robert E. (USA), Co-Chairman Emeritus, Council on Foreign Relations; Former Treasury Secretary Rudd, Amber (GBR), MP; Former Secretary of State, Home Department Rutte, Mark (NLD), Prime Minister Sabia, Michael (CAN), President and CEO, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec Sadjadpour, Karim (USA), Senior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Sáenz de Santamaría, Soraya (ESP), Deputy Prime Minister Sawers, John (GBR), Chairman and Partner, Macro Advisory Partners Schadlow, Nadia (USA), Former Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy Schneider-Ammann, Johann N. (CHE), Federal Councillor Scholten, Rudolf (AUT), President, Bruno Kreisky Forum for International Dialogue Sikorski, Radoslaw (POL), Senior Fellow, Harvard University; Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Poland Simsek, Mehmet (TUR), Deputy Prime Minister Skartveit, Hanne (NOR), Political Editor, Verdens Gang Stoltenberg, Jens (INT), Secretary General, NATO Summers, Lawrence H. (USA), Charles W. Eliot University Professor, Harvard University Thiel, Peter (USA), President, Thiel Capital Topsøe, Jakob Haldor (DNK), Chairman, Haldor Topsøe Holding A/S Turpin, Matthew (USA), Director for China, National Security Council Wahlroos, Björn (FIN), Chairman, Sampo Group, Nordea Bank, UPM-Kymmene Corporation Wallenberg, Marcus (SWE), Chairman, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB Woods, Ngaire (GBR), Dean, Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University Yetkin, Murat (TUR), Editor-in-chief, Hürriyet Daily News Zeiler, Gerhard (AUT), President, Turner International