TrueTomHarley

Signed by many journalists, lawyers, and human rights people - even the chairman of an LGBT group. Many comments a variation of the "if they came for them, they will come for you" argument. It is as though the earth attempts to come to the aid of the woman once more. Meanwhile, the dramatizations of arrests at the 2016 Regional Convention turns out to be spot-on, not over-the-top, not exaggerated at all. When Witnesses have been arrested, it is frequently with SWAT teamlike tactics. https://www2.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/180619b.html

It does seem a little silly to see brothers trekking through the wilderness in ties. Still, most people readily buy the explanation (if we have opportunity to give it) that it is a matter of showing respect toward God. Maybe it depends upon the area. I have never sensed anyone put off because I used a tablet in the ministry (Moses used two of them) and not a paper book. Maybe it is like Christians were at the forefront of the movement to switch from scrolls to codex. Now they are at the forefront of those who go from paper to digital. You didn't come to our KH, did you? Still, one does see them. I like that quote some decades ago, in a study article, I think, of the brother who could afford a Mercedes but instead opted for a Volkswagen, out of regard for just what you observed. Dig that quote up for us, could you? It is not for nothing that they call you @The Librarian "Any ideas?" I like this post.

How do they know this is not being done? The current update of JW child abuse policies clearly show several refinements coming from the recent spotlight on the issue. https://www.jw.org/en/news/legal/legal-resources/information/packet-jw-scripturally-based-position-child-protection/ Tromboneck has a point. They mostly just want an independent inquiry that will answer to them.

I used to love it when Watchtower publications would run that Vermont Royster quote. After remarking on how far we have come science-wise, he added: “Yet here is a curious thing. In the contemplation of man himself, of his dilemmas, of his place in the universe, we are little further along than when time began. We are still left with questions of who we are and why we are and where we are going.” It is pretty obvious why Jehovah’s Witnesses would love those words; they make clear that a shallow world of materialism will not do. You can even think those words every time a Kate Spade or Anthony Bourdain takes his life. Or anyone else. Suicide is all the rage today. People decide that ‘Hotel World’ has not that much to offer, and they line up at the counter to check out. Isn't it a little missing the point when people look for the one factor, maybe social media, that is tipping people over the edge? Or suggest that it is all a matter of better mental health care? “For over half a century, as a journalist, author, and teacher, Vermont Royster illuminated the political and economic life of our times. His common sense exploded the pretensions of "expert opinion," and his compelling eloquence warned of the evils of society loosed from its moorings in faith,” read the citation when he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1986. There are few things I enjoy more than exploding the pretensions of "expert opinions."

Hey!! I placed that Bible with them. And to think I imagined I was going to return and have a nice Bible discussion with them. http://www.newsweek.com/behind-scenes-newsweeks-international-june-1-cover-art-960456 If I had known they were going to do that, I would have placed with them one of the old green ones (with dinosaur on the inside flap)

I have no doubt that is the real story. #HowManyJapaneseDoesItTakeToUnscrewALightBulb

It would depend upon their overall demeanor, whether or not they appeared to be bringing in something absolutely unrelated from left field, and whether they failed to have the good sense to make comments relatively brief. But, yes, there is no question that it is not just a "shooting the bull" session. It is what those who attend have come to accept as "being taught by Jehovah."

Probably by selecting just the right one, you could suggest of any wedding that they will be divorced in two weeks.

The Daily Signal published another photo, taken moments apart: No particular tension in this one. It makes one wonder how much is real and how much is selected just to convey a desired effect.

Oh YEAH??!! Well what about OUR TRUMP?!!! (No, I am just kidding. I do not regard either of them as “ours,” no any human spokesperson. And I know you do not either; it is but a speechism.)

Don't overlook Abe, with his 'Can't these dopes get along?' expression.

Many of my comments are absolute zingers but because they unfailingly show good will and I am a peacemaker, I always get them in unless there are too many hands. New ones, kids or nervous ones focus on “the answer.” Absent hogging the mike, brothers can progress to expounding/illustrating a bit. Some do. Some don’t. Member attend to be “taught by Jehovah,” not “taught by Jack.”

Yes, If you let them get away with it, the next step will be to single out certain individuals I could name.Â

You should not think I am speaking specifically of you. (Nor should you think I am not) I am deliberately vague, not pointing fingers because A. I don't want to point fingers, and B. I don't want to come off as cocksure as though I know who to point them at. It is a general observation I make that fits in with the overall topic of this thread, but should not be taken as aimed at anyone specifically. Moreover, I am considerably grateful to you. You have set me straight on several points over the months and the writings I have released are much better for it. P.S. I am allowed to put verse in today's vernacular. That doesn't mean you are. Â (are YOU the Librarian's favorite pupil, or am I?)

"The hand of Jehovah is short, is it?" I fear there are many on the Internet who would answer 'Yes' "Grab 300 men and go take out the Midianites." I fear there are many on the internet who would say: "You're nuts." 'Mum's the word with regard to Rabshekah. Don't open your mouth, you on the castle wall.' I guarantee there are many who would say: "you are just trying to muzzle us to protect your own rear end and reputation. If you hadn't have mismanaged this show, none of this would have happened!" Did they overreach some? If so, they will have to pull in somewhere and that will not be painless. Maybe when they publish those ubiquitous photo's of husband and wife pulling their hair out grappling with the bills, they are thinking of more than John and Mary Q. Publisher. So be it. All has been for the advancement of the good news. Besides, maybe relief will come from some unanticipated source. I really worry when I see all the grousing online over the GB. To modify Paul's words to the Galatians: "You are bitching over this, and bellyaching over that. I really fear for you, that somehow I have toiled in vain over you." The other verse about 'Jehovah preserved them through the Red Sea, but afterwards destroyed some not showing faith?' So the 40-year trek is a template for today. And it was constant going weak at the knees and crying over leadership that the verses offer up as examples of not 'showing faith.' It's the wilderness slog back then. No one said it was the French Riviera cruise ship. If you don't fill the Kingdom Halls up, it makes perfect sense to consolodate some, and use the proceeds elsewhere, to build where there is overcrowding, in the home country or overseas, where one dog of an underperformer can finance 100 new Halls. Of course that will cause inconvience. It still beats pounding sand in the desert. The only enduring objection to this move is brothers getting 'proprietary' and focusing on self. Christianity is nothing if not focusing on the good of all, and not just one's immediate advantage. We only go to the building twice a week. Is a longer drive truly the end of the world? With all the sniping, I worry that there may well come some moment where Jehovah directs something or other through those taking the lead, as he has in the past, and sullen-like, the grumblers refuse cooperation, and it works to their detriment. Sort of like Korah, who refused to be summoned. From all that I read in verse, God has always cut considerable slack to those taking the lead, and little to those who would grouse over it. When there is correction for those leading, it doesn't come from "the people." What! Witness or someone is going to storm the Bastille, release the 'true annointed" and lead an insurrection to guilotine the ones now presiding? I don't think so. I mean, I can picture her attempting it, but I can't picture God blessing it. For crying out loud, one can always return to where they get visions that the head guy needs yet another jet airplane so we won't have to stop for gas, or where he decides to guarantee the bottom line with a decree that everyone must tithe.

To be factored in somewhere for consideration would be: if there was a redistribution of temperature worldwide, but no net increase, the polar icecaps might melt, raising sea level. So rising sea levels do not necessarily equate to global warming, though that is the first idea that comes to mind. Where I come from, they did not renew the contract of the long-time TV weatherman that everyone loved. As I follow the fellow on Twitter, it becomes clear that he is a nonbeliever in global warming. I asked him once if that was the reason? No answer, though he has responded on other things. It doesn't have to be the reason. In fact, it is more likely a cost-cutting move. But the question was raised in my mind. I can't help but think it may be some permutation of the scientist saying: (not verbatim) Around here, those who believe in God keep their mouths shut.'

My friend is a private person. He no doubt wants to live his life in peace. it would be most innapropriate for me to identify him. No. I will not. His identity is safe with me. But the name of the GB member was John Barr.

Sigh...I'm not even going to go there with my cute story of how I wrote my friend a 'happy anniversary' card, and it was the GB member of the same first and last name who sent me a gracious, chatty reply. You will probably tell me that he wrote it from prison.

I do recall an announcement, I think quoted quite publically, as at a district convention or circuit assembly, around 1980, to the effect that Bethel just finished massive expenditures on letterpress upgrades just before the entire industry switched to offset printing, making much equipment instantly obsolete. I hate to think how of you will hand me my head on a platter with that one.

Publically, IBM said quite the opposite: (ga 84 4/22) In Brooklyn the team developed excellent programs, or software, using principally IBM equipment, or hardware. IBM later called this program the “Integrated Publishing System,” or IPS. The respected Seybold Report on Publishing Systems, Volume 12, No. 1, September 13, 1982, commented: “IBM is trying once again to increase its presence in the industry, and the vehicle by which it hopes to do so is an interesting package called the ‘Integrated Publishing System’ (IPS). IPS was not developed by IBM,” the report acknowledges, but “[by] Watchtower, the publishing arm of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, where it was created primarily for their internal use.”.... In concluding its report, Seybold said: “We have nothing but praise for the enterprise, initiative and insightfulness of the Watchtower people. There are few today either ambitious enough or courageous enough to undertake such an application, especially virtually from scratch. . . . We don’t know just how the credit should be parcelled out, but they all deserve a lot of kudos.”

Every Witness has heard the one about the 40 different writers, from wildly diverse backgrouds...some kings, and some day laborers....over a period of some 2000 years. What are the chances that they will write a coherent book? And yet the 40 that are Bible writers have done so, steadily advancing the theme of God's kingdom arrangment developing. The speaker Sunday followed up with a comparison I have not heard before. It was that of 45 United States Presidents, all cut from basically the same cloth, over a far shorter period of time. Yet, would anyone say that they advance the same vision? Just ask Obama and then Trump. The speaker also flashed a $20 bill on the overhead screen. The point was that it contained telltale signs, and that if one put a few minutes into the effort, one could tell whether it was counterfeit or not. He likened it to similar signs that the Bible is authentic. The $20 was used early in his talk...in the introduction. The speaker thanked the chairman for leaving it in place on the speaker stand when introducing the talk. Apparently, another chairman had removed it, thinking it some inadvertant leftover from another activity. (thinking it was a tip, the speaker said  ) Thus the chairman had, quite literally, stolen the speaker's illustration.

As the whole-wide-world international version of Newsweek ran the cover of religious persecution in Russia, the American cover was of Bernie Sanders. I mean, Bernie Sanders is so 'been there done that.' This country is insane over politics. I thought I had taken the following out of 'No Fake News but Plenty of Hogwash' when I revised it to remove much of what was political, but instead I recalled that I had merely modified it, liking it for the family reference: "It is steering the supertanker for four-to-eight years through rough seas and around treacherous shoals that will not matter in the long run. It polarized families. I saw it in my own extended family. One cousin I hadn’t seen in years began to extol the virtues of Trump. “Well, let me tell you about your Mr. Trump,” another cousin whom I also hadnÂ’t seen in years cranked up. Everyone else cleared the room. The exodus was considerable, for I come from a dairy farm family where the kitchen table might easily be twelve feet in length, and it will figure into this book in later pages. Years after everyone left their agrarian roots, we would still refer to such reunions as ‘going down to the farm.Â’" The insanity over politics only intensifies and it peaks in the routine reports that 'Trump falsely stated" or "Trump charged without evidence." Now, there have been (and are) countless liars, villains, scoundrels, and neer-do-wells throughout history, but I have never heard a, for example, "Putin falsely stated," "Kim falsely stated," "Benedict Arnold falsely stated," or even "Hitler falsely stated." No matter what sort of drivel or poppycock anyone serves up, media just repeats it without pre-screening. I get it, already. They hate him. It is almost like inviting guests into your home and they proceed to hash out their battles right in your living room. It gets so old.

On the other hand, i will tone down the "nobody" to "others did not." After all it is not my intention to wave a red flag before a bull.

I am speaking of prior to any ARC or other investigation. I think most will not misunderstand the use of 'nobody' and 'never.' Witnesses long made a point of looking at their own conduct with regards to applying what they learned of morality. Other religious organizations did not. "Preach to them Sunday, and let that be the end of it. If they apply it, they apply it," was, and still is, the predominant attitude.

Stories about child sexual abuse are not nothing, and it is easy to see why a journalist would go there. Chapter 12 of 'Dear Mr. Putin - Jehovah's Witnesses Write Russia' serves to supply background information, the absence of which leads to a seriously distorted picture. The real story should never be ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses investigated child sexual abuse in their ranks but did some aspects of it wrong.’ The real story should be: ‘Nobody else even attempted the job.’ All Christian groups should have. In fact, any group professing that their beliefs contribute to better conduct should take measures to see that that is in fact so. The Book of Romans says “You, the one preaching, “Do not steal,” do you steal? You, the one saying, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery?’ The Witness organization was proactive at a time that no one else was to combat a great moral ill. They were not proactive enough, however, to realize that their vigilance made them de facto enforcers for the greater authorities. Data found in Case Study 54 of the Australian Royal Commission suggests that a child is up to six times safer in the JW community than in the overall Australian world. Thus, the Witnesses vigilance along with their teachings have paid off. It is fine to handle a case of child sexual abuse properly. But it is far finer if the abuse does not happen in the first place. It is similar to calling in the grief counselors in the wake of a school shooting. Of course, it is a good thing to call them in, but how much better to not need them at all. A case of child sexual abuse ‘properly handled’ does not mean that it did not occur, and the child is only somewhat less damaged than if the case was properly handled. In 2005, evangelical leader Ronald J. Sider wrote a book called ‘The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience,’ in which he observed that ‘church discipline’ was once an accepted aspect of many denominations, but in “in the second half of the twentieth century, it has largely disappeared.” Due to this, he laments, the conduct of the evangelical church member today is indistinguishable from that of the overall world, whereas the entire draw of the Christian religion is that it is to be an oasis from illicit conduct having free rein outside. Important as it is to handle abuse cases properly, it is not so important as preventing them. JW’s vigilance and relative success in this should always be a part of any story about them. Otherwise, a reporter does his readers a disservice, painting one of the ‘cleanest’ organizations around as one of the foulest.