TrueTomHarley

1 hour ago, Alithís Gnosis said:

Simple opinions without malice have also been removed. This is an “open” forum to be expressed by all

Other than a certain dead horse involving an entire thread that I have beaten until the flesh has fallen off the bone and should certainly desist from by now and will unless I see an advantage in bringing it up again, I am not aware of this happening. Has it?

There was something odd about Allen, but I gave up trying to figure what was what. The Librarian said he had been booted for rudeness, but I thought that was long ago. Now he apparently cloned himself and I see several manifestations of himself. Let no one say  @AllenSmith is not an enigma. 

Has he ever been rude? Probably. But there are no end of people here who have been nearly as rude, and countless ones who are deliberately offensive, attributing evil motive to Witness headship when they have no basis whatsoever for doing so. Besides, as long as we are quoting Greek on this thread, let us quote Aristotle: No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness. Cut him slack. He brings legal decisions to the table that nobody else thinks of.

Or maybe there are other examples I do not know about. It's is hard to keep up, especially when the Librarian redirects comments into new threads like some great anti-typical shell game.

1 minute ago, DespicableME said:

LOL!!!!

Forgive me for blowing it off. Now that I can see it has actually been published on a website, I am much more impressed.

16 minutes ago, DespicableME said:

LOL!!!

Come come. What - do you seriously expect someone is going to plow through a comment that long? Do you think people are MADE of time, with nothing else going on in their lives?

I counted. It is 22 complete screenshots! Even JWI would not impose upon readers such a barge.

Apparently, it is intended as an answer to me. Distill it, would you please?

1 hour ago, JW Insider said:

the Watch Tower has now broken the Biblical rules about date-setting regarding several different time periods: 1881, 1910, 1914, 1915, 1918, 1925, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1970's, 1999/2000.

The last one, listed as 1999/2000, might sound confusing. Here's how it was worded in the Ezekiel book, back in 1971:

This makes no sense to me. If it was published in 1971, how does it become a 1999/2000 issue? It would be a  1999/2000 issue if it was published at that time. It belongs to the 1970's which you've already logged. Strike 1999/2000.

Plot your remaining numbers on a graph. No finer evidence will emerge of how we have improved over time. All bunched up at the beginning. Nothing for 40 years. The chart would be the envy of any quality control group.

On 12/2/2017 at 11:51 PM, JW Insider said:

I thought it would be a good idea to look into the ways in which we defend ourselves against the claims about 1975, and the way in which we answer questions about it.

We say Witnesses got all excited over something that turned out to be a big nothingburger. Give them the short answer - ‘Everyone is allowed one failed end-of-world date per lifetime. It is in the rules’ - and be done with it.

37 minutes ago, JW Insider said:

when these predictions were then accompanied a claim that there was a prophet among Jehovah's Witnesses,

37 minutes ago, JW Insider said:

Others were already talking about the end of the twentieth century. And rarely, someone would mention that someone in Siberia was known to live to be 120. That could take us all the way to the year 2020.

How old is @The Librarian?

32 minutes ago, Anna said:

Nice to have you back. I thought the cat (out of the bag) had got your tongue

When you annoy Top Cat O'Malihan (the old hen) it is time to take a breather. After all, it is what I have said to others: 'If you can't abide by the rules, leave.'

However, I am freshly chastened and from now on will do nothing but breathe joy and love to everyone - relatively speaking and with minor caveats.

On 11/27/2017 at 1:01 PM, Shiwiii said:

I really cannot believe this is your actual position. I am in awe, and not in the meaning of awesome. 

You mean to tell us that you prefer mindless adherence over critical thought?  After reading your post........yes, this is exactly what you want and prefer. 

I am not opposed to critical thought and it is you who said 'mindless adherence,' not me. You make a mistake if you accept critical thinking as the be-all and end-all, though - the benchmark by which anything should be judged.

If you would so revere critical thinking, extend it to the Bible itself. Who says it is inspired? What evidence is there? 40 men staying on topic? A theme furthered down through he ages? Are you serious? Do you really think that will satisfy those who insist critical thought must be the final arbiter?

The fact is that Jesus did not cater to it in the slightest. Let the ones who worship critical thought squabble themselves into oblivion, as they do here and in ten thousand other places. Jesus bypassed them all and spoke directly to the heart. @Noble Berean, @Elisabeth Dolewka

A psychedelic trip for JWs. Heavy, man.

22 hours ago, JW Insider said:

This type of ramping up of the rhetoric was common. There are several more examples.

Might there have been collusion with the Russians?

11 hours ago, The Librarian said:

You just love to egg 'em on don't you? 

Well - there is some polarizing stuff here and I do find things that seem to me repugnant. I admit an inability to always show politeness and respect. Still, I think there are far worse examples than what I've posted.

I'll put myself in the penalty box for a while.

29 minutes ago, Melinda Mills said:

What happened just now? Still trying to find out.

 

I don't think I know myself.

50 minutes ago, The Librarian said:

@TrueTomHarley I am enforcing the no rudeness rule heavier than before.

Only enter this section if you feel strong enough spiritually to defend yourself biblically. As you probably are aware, not everyone on Facebook, Twitter and the Internet is nice and civilized. Some are rather rude. You are hereby forewarned.

Oops. Just noticed:

"To be fair, this topic is not under controversial posts, but under Bible discussion, because that was what I was hoping it was going to be...."

Sorry. I think

54 minutes ago, Successor said:

What it means is, JWinsider, Anna, TTH, JTR, and others are NOT just commentators, they are also moderators,

To be fair, Successor, this category of 'Controversial Posts' carries this caution: 

Only enter this section if you feel strong enough spiritually to defend yourself biblically. As you probably are aware, not everyone on Facebook, Twitter and the Internet is nice and civilized. Some are rather rude. You are hereby forewarned.

True, there are two dozen ways to get in here, and nobody sees the warning. I didn't. And I  initially was as I think you are now: outraged to see villains on the loose in what is supposedly a JW-friendly site. If you stay (I'm not suggesting that you should) you should get more of a feel for what's going on. 

I AM just a commentator, with no more powers than you. I'm not so sure about all the the other liars, though. The chief mastermind you have not named and I will only give the hint that she is a controlling old biddy who drinks like a fish. Even she is in fear, as is everybody, of the dreaded @admin, but they needn't be. He is not interested in anyone's corporate agenda. 

Maybe you are right and the whole thing should be shut down. Unfortunately, this is the internet, where nobody is going anywhere. You will find you cannot change anyone here. During my tenure, i have not seen anyone budge even a little (well - in some cases maybe a veerrrryyy little). Only I have changed. I have taken to the bottle.

Like you, for the longest time I suspected this was a "good cop/bad cop" apostate site, the good cops luring them in for the bad guys to chop them off at the knees. I have put that suspicion in the trash, but Waste Management has not yet come, and I can always retrieve it if need be.  

As far as I know, no one has ever been banned here. @Allen Smith was sent to the penalty box once and he is still sore about it. I don't know the reason - it was before my time. He may have simply been carrying on too long. I understand the motivation to do so.

And I once had an entire thread taken down because I was being too mean to those I thought apostates. Like Hester Prynee, I had to wear a scarlet A for a time, designating 'Abuse.' (Hers, from the Nathaniel Hawthorne book was for Adultery) In both cases, though, they eventually were reconstrued as 'Angel.'

I'm just here because I like to write and I don't have a life, Successor.

Run - save yourself before it is too late, as it is for me.

"and it's been the ruin of many a poor boy, and God, I know I'm one." - Georgia Turner/Bret Martin

3 hours ago, Israeli Bar Avaddhon said:

I can also say that you are a modern "scribe" or "a Pharisee."

Ouch

3 hours ago, Israeli Bar Avaddhon said:

I can quote Revelation 3:17 and say that you are "miserable and unhappy and poor and blind and naked".

Ouch

3 hours ago, Israeli Bar Avaddhon said:

My arguments are motivated by the hope that people like you (who are convinced that they have understood everything and do not need anything) can wake up and really begin to understand what the Bible teaches.

I'm on it.

3 hours ago, Israeli Bar Avaddhon said:

Do you preach because you think you are superior?

No

3 hours ago, Israeli Bar Avaddhon said:

Or do you realize that it is for Jehovah's undeserved kindness that you have understood some things?

That's it.

3 hours ago, Israeli Bar Avaddhon said:

In the same way, my Bible knowledge forces me to warn my brothers before the judgment of Jehovah comes and unfortunately, instead of considering the arguments, I meet people like you.

Sorry.

2 hours ago, Srecko Sostar said:

I see how this "illness" of giving down vote symbols is contagious :))))))

Gnosis Pithos and Praeceptor showed me how to use tool -  downvote  :)))

I never could figure out how to use those suckers.

It is pretty much like the Commissioner of Carpenters Conference. We always send folks to that as well.

4 minutes ago, Srecko Sostar said:

If we are, then you have to love your enemies, as Jesus teaches you.  

There is no reason to think she doesn't. One can still blast them out of the water when it is called for.

8 minutes ago, Srecko Sostar said:

and that your way of giving public talk is in the same manner as on this web site :))

this shows that it is not personal with him, as I try never to make it with me. I like that.

13 minutes ago, Srecko Sostar said:

Now let someone who have good mathematical and statistical skills count how many JW members have mental issues:

'There are seven. Just seven. And the GB members never used to until they started hanging out here too much. They had to face the incessant barrage of persons demanding equal (or greater) say, though such ones manifested little interest in doing comparable work. I fear they have or will suffer the same fate as Paul, who went "mad" dealing with these small persons with giant ambitions:

Are they ministers of Christ? I reply like a madman, I am more outstandingly one: I have done more work,been imprisoned more often, suffered countless beatings, and experienced many near-deaths.Five times I received 40 strokes less one from the Jews, three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned,  three times I experienced shipwreck, a night and a day I have spent in the open sea;  in journeys often, in dangers from rivers, in dangers from robbers, in dangers from my own people, in dangers from the nations, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the wilderness, in dangers at sea, in dangers among false brothers, in labor and toil, in sleepless nights often, in hunger and thirst, frequently without food, in cold and lacking clothing.  Besides those things of an external kind, there is what rushes in on me from day to day: the anxiety for all the congregations.Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is stumbled, and I am not incensed? (2 Corinthians 11:23-29)

What are the qualifications of these superfine apostles? They have not done the work, but the have followed the admonition of @Israeli Bar Avaddhon to 'study their Bibles' more.

There is no nice way to put it. Paul went nuts dealing with these idiots and I fear for the GB, too. Paul had to join @The Librarian for a stiff drink after his tirade had ended, pouring himself another each time the old biddy looked away to take another bite of her taco.

16 minutes ago, Srecko Sostar said:

I spent 3 years in Valjevo prison when i was JW, because refused to go to the army/military service from 1980-1983.

and benefited from the experience not at all it seems.

Nana reminds me of Paul going nuts under provocation. Squelch her, @The Librarian (you old hen) and you must also squelch Paul:

"Are they ministers of Christ? I reply like a madman I am more outstandly one!" Paul cried in exasperation, pulled rank for several verses, and then they hauled him away to check his blood pressure and give him a sedative.

"You are going mad, @Nana Fofana Great learning is driving you into madness!"

2 minutes ago, Matthew9969 said:

So no jehovahs witness here is willing to provide a study that says apostates are 3 times more likely to have a mental illness,

Once again I will handle your desire to malign by suggesting that even if it were true, it is exactly what one would expect when Jesus says he came to seek, not those who do not need a physician, but those that do. The groups to worry aboutmare those who have low rates of mental illness among them - for there are a lot of mentally ill people around. It must be that they feel excluded - driven away by condescension, lack of love, or inhospitality. 

Those who can operate smoothly among this world’s calamities – who can absorb all the atrocities that have become routine and who can accommodate themselves to it without fuss - those are the people to worry about. W

hen our people go off the rails, they nonetheless wouldn’t hurt a fly. If persons of the greater world go off the rails - better call the SWAT team and secure a new identity from the authorities!

I learned a lot from my grandmother, who we all called Nana, as a kid.

Also, here is a treat for hungry as a hog @The Librarian