TrueTomHarley

Okay, I get it. Religion is not a core concern with Russian State-controlled media, except for that of the Russian Orthodox Church—it perceives that its task is to guard “House Church” interests and to shoot down the “competition.” It is therefore okay to misrepresent, even to lie about, the other pathways of seeking God—especially those of the “new religions.” It does not harm the overall reputation of State-controlled media, so the thinking apparently goes, to deliberately cook up untruths about these groups and pass then off as “journalism.” I wonder. The school guidebooks used by Jehovah’s Witnesses contain counsel points on ‘accuracy of statement.’ If you are speaking, and you make an error about even what is periphery to your point, someone will be sure to think: “Huh! He doesn’t know that?” From there it is only a tiny hop to “Maybe he doesn’t know anything else, either.” And here we are speaking only of a misstatement. We are not speaking at all of a deliberate lie. If you are a media outlet and you make a deliberate lie, doesn’t it call into question everything else you say about any other subject? Every so often there will be some report of a Christian refusing an instruction from his employer to lie, and getting away with it by pointing out: “If I will not lie for you, neither will I lie to you.” It is the same principle with faulty Russian reporting, I think. If they lie about such-and-such, who is to say that they will not lie about any topic they examine? Russian State media—RT.com—told a whopper of a lie regarding Jehovah’s Witnesses some years ago. An RT journalist that I follow on Twitter encouraged me to select some stories more balanced, insisting that there were some. I turned down the offer. If you are trying to establish that Russian media is unreliable, it does not help your cause to point out that once in a while they do tell the truth on your topic. Here is the example. I included it in the ebook Dear Mr. Putin - Jehovah’s Witnesses Write Russia: See also the ‘safe’ version) The three-minute 2009 video clip is entitled Jehovah and Out and the host is interviewing Audrey Zolovov of Russia Profile Magazine.11 The host asks why Jehovah’s Witnesses are targeted for possible ban because, after all, Russia is “pretty tolerant toward religion, isn’t it? I mean, the Hare Krisnas are operating on the streets of Moscow” and his guest says that ‘Well, he doesn’t really know.’ He agrees with the host that Witnesses are “annoying,” but also agrees that should hardly suffice as a reason. They do oppose blood transfusions, and that is very bad, but many fringe sects have similar disagreeable drawbacks. Maybe it is because they have a “very good organization.” After all, they are a “worldwide phenomenon,” he opines, as though expounding upon motive at a crime scene. He gives an example: several years ago, his wife went to a manicurist and he thinks that the manicurist must have been a “very important asset for that group because she had this captive audience for 40 minutes or so, while she was telling them about their religion. Of course, my wife stopped going to that manicurist as soon as she found out that she is being preached.” Of course! What loyal citizen would not? Is it possible that RT.com can celebrate grownups behaving as such babies? Even if the Witness woman was tactless, something which is not alleged, an adult learns over time that there are many of such people encountered in life, and that you can handle them by making polite banter and if they become overly insistent, by telling them to shut up. You don’t send your husband to RT.com where he can relate how you escaped, only by the skin of your teeth, from an encounter with a scary monster like the one that would devour Caleb and Sophia. The Witnesses not only spoke to his wife while she was “captive,” but they also do “lots of these things.” As though conscious that his own complaint is silly, he further explains that the Witnesses have “a very very bad image, both in the media and among the public in general.” In seeming determination to further that “very very bad image” and even add another “very” to it, the conversation takes place against a backdrop of crazies doing the most whacky things—bizarre cultish rites, pugilistic bare-chested fighting scenes, children in lock-step: very very weird scenes that have nothing whatsoever to do with the interview. Nor do they have anything to do with Jehovah’s Witnesses, as their most virulent critics, indeed, anyone who knows anything about them, will instantly attest. Will RT.com really treat its audience with such contempt? Are they working to cultivate stupidity among ones they seem to regard as a herd for them to direct? Or did they give no pre-thought to it. Is it an anomaly, and the producer merely said to an underling: “Hey, we’re doing a story on the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Run down to the lunatic bin in the storeroom and fetch some footage for me. Anything will do.” And will the Russian government outlet really treat the name of God with such contempt: “Jehovah and Out,” as in “Over and out?” Ah well. It was some time ago. Maybe they have learned their lesson. Sigh...no. ERR News is the English-language service of Estonian Public Broadcasting, run by a fully independent editorial team. On April 12, 2019, they told of “two employees of state-owned Russian TV channel Russia-1, entering Estonia on French and Italian Schengen visas, [and using] hidden cameras to gather material they then used to ridicule and demonise Jehovah's Witnesses. The Estonian Ministry of the Interior reacted by issuing a five-year entry ban....” Furthermore, “trying to influence society by means of harassing different minorities is an integral part of the Kremlin's playbook. Jehovah's Witnesses are "persecuted and outlawed in Russia....The Russian state media occasionally make efforts to come up with an explanation for this fact. This typically includes reports where members of this religious minority are taunted, ridiculed and demonised.” The clandestine reporters “entered a gathering of Jehovah's Witnesses in Tallinn without telling them who they are, and what they are planning to do. The material they gained at this gathering as well as at another, similar one in Finland was then used for Russia-1's news programme, Vesti, and aired on 29 November 2018.” So Estonia kicked them out of the country for five years. That is what you do with liars. Good for them! They know what sanity is. The AP and the Washington Post picked up on and ran the story the next day. I admit to not being expert on what media is state controlled and what isn’t, and what is the overlap. RT.com is state controlled. There are also others. This example caught by Estonia is apparently one of the others. I also get it that this is for local consumption only, not international consumption. Such shoddy “journalism” is instantly recognized for what it is internationally, but State media appears to feel it has every right to manipulate the gullible local public. Will that happen with impunity? Time will tell. It may backfire on them. It morally should. It’s too bad. This writer finds RT.com to offer a refreshing contrast to Western media, which so often runs in a herd. But if they bend the truth so readily on their non-core concerns, who is to say they will not bend it on the core ones? One would think that if they want to safeguard their reputation, not only would these two journalists be fired, but more importantly, whoever put them up to it, as well—and the chain of command apparently reaches pretty high. It is little wonder that Russia seeks to disconnect its internet from that of the rest of the world. Among the advantages to them will be to keep such slippery deeds hidden. However, does not that step alone disqualify it as a credible journalistic source? https://news.err.ee/929589/iss-ministry-issued-schengen-entry-ban-against-russia-1-employees

What were your arrangements for celebrating the Memorial last night?

Of course. I am shocked and outraged by this. I am doing my best to make up for it:

Very well. Bob and Alice Goodenov, pioneers in a city in Estonia, caught the two Russian journalists, actually named people, so you know they are credible, recording a congregation meeting to see if there was any way they could rearrange things to make JWs look nuts, and blew them into Estonian intelligence, who banned them for five years. https://www.theworldnewsmedia.org/forums/topic/78948-estonia-cancels-visas-of-russian-television-journalists-over-a-discriminatory-film-about-jehovah-witnesses/ Another way to look at it is that it is the play that the HQ brothers are following, not the actors in the play. You don’t have to know the names of the actors to follow the play. It can even be a distraction if you do. Best regards, One person who writes in the United States

I could be wrong but I think Jack has a video of Caleb and Sophia swilling liquor at the store, and he is wetting himself with glee at the thought of posting it. If he does, I will counter with my video of TM III dumping his ice cream cone in the trash so he can put still another dollar in the contribution box.

This is true and it lets the air out of the balloon of these morons. Whenever I buy my liquor, Jack or Srecko, were they to chance to see me, would think they had met Groucho Marx.

Could it be that John is going to be my pal today? Yes! He picked up on the gist of the remark completely. We’re allies! Tomorrow it may be a different story.

Why on earth would you do that? If it is silliness to begin with, why dignify it by taking it seriously? Now you’ve got it! You know, it just makes for a dull book when you do it that way. Is it just me? What are the letters to the Corinthians? Did Paul just gather information for his next book? Clearly, he capitalized on what those Corinthians had said, or what had been said about them, rather than cook up some speech detached from their needs. “For the disclosure was made to me about YOU, my brothers, by those of [the house of] Chloʹe, that dissensions exist among YOU. What I mean is this, that each one of YOU says...” (1 Corinthians 1:12) “YOU men already have YOUR fill, do YOU? YOU are rich already, are YOU? YOU have begun ruling as kings without us, have YOU?” 4:8 “Now concerning the things about which YOU wrote....” 7:1 Most of the Greek scriptures consist of interactions with various congregations & we benefit by eavesdropping. That’s all I’m doing—imitating a pattern laid out by others.

I haven’t actually made any comment about this. However, since I am being drawn into it anyway, let me clarify this nonsense once and for all. This photo is not from Venezuela at all, but it is in one of the southern US states & is in fact a falled bank heist on the part of @Top Cat O'Malighan. His getaway car was hit broadside by @Vic Vomidog, flying at an unusual rate of speed because some Bethel hotshot and been spied with a can of beer, a special meeting of the Apostate Society had been called so as to see how to spin it, he was the Keynote speaker, and he was running late.

I don’t drink anymore, you know. (Of course, I don’t drink any less, either.)

the old hen

Wasn’t it Jesus pattern, whenever he sought to draw his disciples out with questions, to wait for them to answer before telling them what was what? This straying from his example alone makes me dubious. In fact, my answer would have been different from the one you told me I should have. It would have been either 1. How would I know? or 2. I suppose so. It would be the same as if you had asked me about the cabinet of some human government. Are they unified? How would I know? An assembly speaker (one of the Gentile elder Babylonian guardians, I suspect, or whatever you call them) spoke of the flow of holy spirit in one’s life & likened it to water coming from a hose. If you have turned the faucet on (asking for Holy Spirit, in his parallel) yet find that there is no water coming out the nozzle, you retrace the length of the hose to search for what you know you will find: a kink. The fact that spiritual food comes in abundance for we lowly sheep & a considerable system of support comes with it suggests to me that there are no appreciable kinks in the gathering of the body of Christ & that whatever you are insisting that I must pay attention to is not the real thing.

I used to think that William Shatner was the biggest jerk & I still haven’t absolved him completely. But I am fast getting there. What has turned me is noting how he delights in self-parody. He knows that he is a wooden actor. He knows that he has, for whatever reason, gone far beyond his talent. He accepts it all as a happy “one of those things” and joins his critics in ridiculing himself. My wife and I saw him in a Colombo rerun, playing a media star villain. It was impossible for someone to deliberately ham it so poorly, he was doing it on purpose, making fun of himself. The kicker was a scene when his character passes by the most prominently displayed oversized painting in his mansion—a portrait of himself!

“WHEN IN DOUBT START A NEW TOPIC.” Hey @James Thomas Rook Jr.!! You old pork chop: Ppbbsssssstttttfffttttttbbbbb!!!!!

And he was doing so well.

See, Billy? You achieved the very opposite of what you intended, didn’t you? ‘Slash and burn’ is not always the way to go. Hey, look at the cool lamp that Brother Imbiber left me in his will!

Yeah! once again, the Terminator, brash as he is, nails it. I like this reproduced letter, and judging from the wording, I even imagine I know which helper wrote it: While I appreciate the concern of the brother who “witnessed” this, I also have some concerns about the assumptions made. Please keep in mind, there are a number of circumstances that others may not be aware of. For example, using the purchase in connection with visitors, graduates from Gilead or the Branch Committee School. Also, over what period of time will these [bottles] be used? As far as dedicated funds, some of our brothers had businesses prior to coming to Bethel. I will not get too personal on Brother Morris’s circumstances in that regard. It does point out that our dear brothers are a “theatrical spectacle,” so please assume the best of our dear brother. Thank you. One can be forgiven for imagining @Jack Ryan is having steamy sex over in his domain, so orgasmic is he over this. He has posted TWELVE (at least) separate topics about this! He is among the ones (those who have gone atheistic) who lectures everyone else about his superior skills of critical thinking. And yet he so clearly—you couldn’t ask for a better example—lets his wishful thinking drag him along as with hooks in his jaws. He leads with his heart, not with his head at all. Look, IF the brother was a deadbeat flatout drunkard on someone else’s dime, then yes, this is a video that would be consistent with it. But BECAUSE there exists such a video, the reverse is not by any means true. Far more likely is it that one of the factors the Bethel helper mentions is the reality. Anybody who knows how to think knows this is so, and yet Jack does not know it. He knows what he wants to think, and that is enough for him to fit any circumstance into his foregone conclusion. And yet he would boast of his “critical thinking” skills. “While I appreciate the concern of the brother who “witnessed” this, I also have some concerns about the assumptions made. Please keep in mind, there are a number of circumstances that others may not be aware of,” the helper says. No alcoholic could guzzle liquor the way Jack guzzles assumptions. And yet he would tell us that he has broken away from religion and has learned to use his intellect! He is either incredibly deceitful or incredibly stupid. Take your pick,

I don’t quite know why, but I am somehow reminded of Amos Moses, who’s daddy would use him for alligator bait: Now everyone blamed his old man For making him mean as a snake When Amos Moses was a boy His daddy would use him for alligator bait Tie a rope around his neck and throw him in the swamp Alligator bait in the Louisiana bayou

Even if I just want to insult the old pork chop?

Well... I started the deviation this time. (or did I? One thing just so easily flows into another.) At any rate (this can be put into a new topic, but I don’t know whether I will participate or not), I cannot get my head around your fixation on this, Witness. If the Body of Christ is united and, in your estimation, it is only the eight that have gone renegade, disfellowship them already and be done with it! What’s 8 out of 144,000? As soon thereafter as you actually DO something, the sheep will notice and go where you think they ought.

Okay. Good to call a truce on that, I guess. I’ll try to hold back as well. You must understand that this is a site that purports to be a gathering spot for JWs, therefore I do have a sense (possibly unwise) of “defending my turf.” I would not behave that way were I on a site that does not purport to be a gathering spot for JWs.

The point is that that in 17 minutes I can read 20 times as much, without having to endure an unpleasant personality. No. I think it has something to do with his being that way. Taunting me, when I mentioned that I read plenty of non-JW material, he asked: “Which of the three major atheist books do you find the most compelling?” I replied: “Which of Dickens’ novels do you find the most compelling? Which of the Greek tragedies do you find the most compelling?” The shallow idiot. And I should watch him for 17 minutes when he is too lazy to put his information into written form, the way every intelligent person on the planet has done since the beginning of history? That’s why he is crying so about being denied the “right” to steal Bethel’s content so as to put it into his own framed context—he’s too dull to describe it himself as any credible chronicler must do. I have you to do that, and following the thread with some less biased people who CAN suffer through it, I can pretty well piece things together. Call it “forensic research.” Scientists do it all the time and we are called dodos if we do not eat up every word. ( I don’t think I have done the virus thing. I may have, but I normally walk right into those things and then spend two weeks at Best Buy while they operate.)

I got about a minute into it, maybe a minute and a half, and I noticed three things about it. 1) Lloyd is extremely pleased with himself. 2) In his brief exchange about pants, where he somehow caught Bro Morris on the phone, (just THAT says something - that he takes a call from an unknown “brother” with unspecified concerns, instead of it being handled well down the line by some support staff) the latter comes across as warm, engaging, and not in the slightest bit full of himself (as Lloyd DOES seem) - “No, call the branch,” he laughs, “and I’d better not see you guys wearing them,” he quips, and “You’re kidding me, right?” It was impossible not to warm to the guy. 3) Lloyd’s cooing concern of how difficult it is for an ordinary person, such as he, to speak with a GB member (notwithstanding that he had just done it), as though an 8:000,000 to 1 ratio meant nothing at all. In fact, apparently it is an 8 billion ratio to 1 that he expects anybody to be able to waltz through, since he said at the outset that he is not among the 8 million. The guy is too infantile to endure, and I got no further. I mean, this thing runs 17 minutes. 4) (Yeah, I know I said 3, but I thought of another) @Witness ‘s ridiculous assumption that she landed a major blow. “Here’s one for you, TTH,” she says, with no doubt whatsoever that I am going to clear the calendar and patiently analyze it, doubtless running it through several times so that all of her insinuations sink in. @Witness, who I simply asked a couple of questions of, and who thereafter regarded me as her star pupil for a time, and expressed such disappointment when she found that it was not so. I mean, this is a very strange woman.

In fact, John, you are being fed a pack of lies, and I cannot believe that you are gullible enough to fall for it. During my years at Bethel, two GB members came down with pneumonia. Nobody could figure out why, because they had perfectly good space heaters for their pup tents. It turned out that, even though the temperature had been in the teens for days, they had kept them off so as not to waste dedicated funds. Three of them got hand fungus from the hours they spent every day on foot-washing detail. Two of them subsisted on honey and locusts. Four pressed their clothes with bricks so as not to waste electricity on ironing. One of them winced when I said ‘hello’ and I learned afterwards that he only says “greetings” because “hello” has “hell” in it. He winced even more and permanently injured his back carrying my bags to my room when I arrived, even though I told him I had brought my anvil collection. One of them, when I had a flat tire, gave me a wheel off his car, and then had to walk through the sleet to the airport, where he strapped himself to a wing of the plane to save money and flew to Portugal to serve as keynote speaker there. I visited Brother Morris in his tent, and he offered me a cup of coffee. As I sipped mine he diluted his to make it last longer. These brothers make more self-sacrifice in a day than you do in a year.

Did Lloyd spin that as proof that they were bombed?