TrueTomHarley

Brilliant, James. They are a quarter of a percent of the U.S. population, yet they account for one third of all suicides! There may be something to your observation, though. Just Saturday as I was entering the assembly hall, I had to step over ten dead bodies. I mean, some viewpoints are too stupid to countenance.

What do you plan to do with this information you are just curious about?

Help me out on a call. A sister placed magazines with a college kid, conversed a while, and he said she could call back. His father, however, would not likely be welcoming, he said. She gave the call to me. I made it. He was not home. His father was, and the son had been right. The father was not welcoming. Neither did he tell me to get lost. Well – he did, but it was not in the ordering sort of tone, and I said I had not been looking for him anyway, but his son. He was the family head, and I told him I would not try to sneak around him, but did he mind if I called again on his son? The kid was smart, I told the old man, and that must mean his parents are smart. He said his son was his own person, and if he wanted to speak with me again, that was up to him. I called again. The son, of course, was not home. The unwelcoming dad was. He was in a wheelchair, as he had been the first time. One bumper sticker on the family car read “Born right the first time.” The other said: “There are death squads in America; they’re called insurance companies.” I think we overdo our advice to take cues from bumper stickers, but this time the Ten Commandments could not have told me more. All that remains is to fill in a few blanks. Sometimes I open with Job 34:10 – “it is unthinkable for the true God to act wickedly.” I like the verse, I told him, because some people think he does act wickedly. And some see all the nasty things going down and say: “I don’t think there is a true God.” It plays into the theme of why there is suffering, I told the fellow. He wasn’t nice. I made clear that the instant he told me to go away, I would. We were conversing through the storm door, which added a measure of challenge. I almost reached to open it, for it was awkward for him to do so, but I decided it would be a bit much. He laughed derisively at my Bible verse. “You’re here because you want to tell me about suffering?” he shot back from his wheelchair. I answered: “No. I want you to tell me. I don’t have to talk at all. I want you to invite me in and tell me.” I said: “Look – everyone has a story, but no one wants to hear it. So I will,. I've got the time.” He’ll never see me again anyway – what does he have to lose? I told him. He answered sarcastically that he could never get over the Christians’ “need” to “save” people. Look, he said, he was one of the 5% who are atheist. “Yeah – I’m here to change that,” I answered. This is far more blunt than I would ever be ordinarily, but I decided I would answer him in kind. It was not even true, really, or at least it was not a goal I realistically held. I also told him that he was right – we are Christian, and it is a bit much that we should appear out of thin air, but that Jehovah’s Witnesses are in a league of their own. He responded by saying his number one man from his working days had been a Witness, and that he had been the nicest, most reliable fellow in the world. “Yeah, we’re all nice,” I said. “You think I’m nice? Wait to you get a load of Clyde,” I motioned to the brother behind me, who could barely make out through the door what the man was saying. His praise for the brother he once supervised at work didn’t yield me as much ground as might be expected. After two or three more minutes maneuvering, I told him that while I would like to know more, one can only go far, and we would take our leave. He didn’t cry over the prospect, but had never taken the bait of saying I should go. I am not sure what to do. I will let it go, probably. One more call in a few months to see if anything has moved, and then I am done. Maybe before, but I have no plans at the present. Any advice?

It is in the thread. You have been silent for some time. Read up on what you have missed.

@JW Insider can top your experience any day with one he knows about. I half fear that he will. Suicides happen. They are tragic. These days in the greater world they have become all the rage among the young, who do not buy the rosy reports enthusiasts of this system are trying to sell them. Surely there can be no greater condemnation of this world than the stampede among the young to leave it. It is better than an idiot sharing the dismal news of this system of things with a happy face.

Relative to some others, you are a saint, I admit. Sorry.

He will pummel you nonetheless. That fellow knows law. Don't try to peddle emotion disguised as law before him, because @Allen Smith will catch you at it every time. Protest "pummelling," - my foot. It is not exactly badmitten anyone else is playing here. Even you have stepped over the line of sheer pleasantry.

@admin had an epiphany.

If it was up to me, this site would be Bible 303 - an elective. Bible 101 is learning the Bible. It is a requirement. Bible 201 is applying it. It is a requirement. Bible 303 is seeing how people reevaluate their vow after a time - who sometimes back out of it - and why. They provide vivid examples of Bible themes that become meaningful only when you see real examples of them. Ultimately, it is simple. The myriad reasons people leave, generally collapse into one: "Demas has forsaken me because he loved the present system of things." You see people choose individual rights over the Bible-required model of self sacrifice. (rights over responsibility) You see people who insist upon extracting the straw from their brother's eye. You see people who cannot forgive. You see people who go livid over authority, to the point that Miriam and Korah's carryings on are but polite disagreements in comparison. You see modern examples of what seems incomprehensible otherwise - Jews wanting to go back to Egypt - who would even stone those dissuading them. You see people who stumble even seven times, and lose all desire to get up. The reward is farther off than they first thought. The price to pay is higher. You see countless examples of a line you might not appreciate otherwise: "Jehovah's let his heart become hardened." I mean, nobody ever yields an inch here or softens one iota. (it is true of many subjects today) Given only the caveat that you never know for sure just who is who, you cannot reason with such ones - their mind is long made up - and you shouldn't even try, IMO. When you address them, you are addressing the audience beyond. To reason with them specifically over time would make me uncomfortable - I would think I am violating such verses as have nothing to do with certain ones. Speaking to whoever might be reading later is not the same. In some cases, the best example you can give for such ones is to slap the villains hard. The best way to get people to do something is to tell them they can't. New Christians, or immature Christians will come online, and some are like kids playing in the street - blind to the fact that there are villains trying to run them down, swerving like terrorists to nail as many as possible. There is a place for ones more seasoned to hang around, because they can sometimes succeed in hurling a stake into their spokes, sending the nasties head over handlebars. Of course, you can also empathize with those who have had hard times and suggest alternatives to their just giving up or even opposing the ones with whom they were once best buddies. It's not such a bad thing for brothers to see this, IMO. Bible 303 is an elective, because you cannot blow off as nothing the verses, such as Haggai, that say the unclean will rub off on the clean, and not the reverse. "Leave them be, blind guides is what they are," Jesus says, not "Let's rumble!" Bible 303, therefore, cannot be required and it is not for everybody. But for those so inclined to submit their faith to the tests that will surely come anyway, and see others in various stages of testing theirs - and some having failed outright - it is elucidating, because advanced Bible themes as love for God and love for the brotherhood and Christian loyalty play out right under your nose. You can ask yourself: "Just why am I serving Jehovah, anyway?" 2 Peter (or is it Jude?) speaks of those who despise authority. I am convinced that was at the root of everything in the first century just like it is today. Even should you want to live immorally, that will not go down as the reason for your apostasy. In the greater religious world, if you want to live immorally, you simply live immorally. It is only when someone tells you that you can't that it becomes a problem - and then the oppressive authority will go down as the problem, not the determination to transgress Bible laws of how we should live.

Can you use this?

Excellent! A church with which you 85% agree. When are you transferring?

That is NOT the case. Or if it is, it is meaningless because of the word 'standard,' which can mean anything. What makes this statement anything more than emotion on your part is to say: In the States it's the legally-mandated standard that individuals who work with children are mandated reporters. Don't mess with me on this, or I will send @Allen Smith your way, who knows every law on the planet. He will pummel you to a finish. G. Jackson indicated to the ARC that he would welcome the modified statement: legally mandated across the board, and not just applied retroactively when you want to apply it to someone you don't like. It would make Witnesses job of keeping the congregation clean so much easier. That point has already been made in this thread.

Whenever we enjoy a roasted turkey this time of year, we cook it with a bookbag under its wing so that there should be no misunderstanding. WHOA! @Admin has been busy with software innovations! Related topics now appear in the sidebar. (isn't this new?) It is "Similar Content' My own favorite holiday is one of them, and posts I started about Ground Hog Day. Don't nobody say nothin bad about Ground Hog day here, or I'll send the filthy rat down your chimney like Santa and he will leave lice everywhere.

"Turn me on, dead man" - The Beatles National pep talks are fine. Thanksgiving to God we can all live with and don't have to rain on anyone else's parade. But if Jehovah is this kind of a God, he sure took his eye off the ball as regards many parts of the earth, didn't he? That said, whenever I am bold (or dumb) enough to go out in service on a holiday, I find some verse of harmonious theme and say something like: 'this is what we are doing out of respect for the holiday.' It seems an insult to the householder to not connect your remarks to his interest of the day - we otherwise unfailingly try to do that - reading bumper stickers and so forth. (which as often as not were affixed by the previous owner) Even as I write, I warm further to this idea, though it is Witnessing 401 - an advanced course. Many brothers get their heads handed to them on a platter for holiday witnessing. Is it possible, for those so inclined, to connect their remarks with the day's theme and become almost a holiday tradition? I like him already. (within limits) I like him already. Wasn't he the brother who enjoyed the sauna? It seems he was little concerned about tongues wagging.

I am not always entirely sure where @Allen Smith is coming from, but it may help him to know that I like Mark Twain and I take many of his sayings to heart, such as: "Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand." In my opinion, and I think that of the Scriptures and organization (which would not have us patiently reasoning with flat-out apostates) there are some who can benefit from being reasoned with. And some who cannot. When you address the latter, you are not actually addressing them, but whatever audience lies beyond. Admittedly, no human can make a final judgement as to who fits in which category - I have reassessed in the past, and even re-reassessed - but with some you can come pretty close. It's a little dicey being here in the first place, for Allen no less than I.

The section overseen by @The Librarian should be "Obadiah Revisited" The shortest Hebrew Bible book is that of God's nation under constant assault, and how their relatives, the Edomites, enthusiastically join in the attack - turning their brothers over to those who would kill them....and how Jehovah feels about that.

It is typical of this world. When it at last wakes up to a moral problem, it wildly overreacts. The most blatant and current example is not in pedophile accusations at all, but in college campus accusations of rape. http://www.weeklystandard.com/why-campus-rape-tribunals-hand-down-so-many-guilty-verdicts/article/2010401 the article describes how it is almost impossible for an accused male student to win. It describes how, when the accuser's story is inconsistent or doesn't add up, that is dismissed as an expected result due to trauma. The prevailing cockeyed thinking is very much like the one advanced by @Noble Berean "why would you even want to take the chance of a sexual predator persisting in the congregation?" Simply substitute "college campus" for "congregation" and the thought is his.

Well, it is what it is. I don't care about any corporate agenda.

Okay, okay, I admit it. It is me in my younger days. As for the identity of the sheep, it is a bit hard to tell because it is facing away, but I think it is @James Thomas Rook Jr.

Is he online here?

It is true that I resist all changes of all types. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. My wife even says that I extend it to: 'If it IS broke, don't fix it.' That being said, the blue font is not the best choice, IMO. Black makes a better contrast.

Yeah, that's how I interact with the police, too. Can you think of anyone who doesn't? Can you think of any organization that doesn't? It may change, though. I have offered my suggestion for next year's yeartext: "Salvation belongs to the police."

The scoundrels will all append a B on the front end.

Love those police! What strikes me here (this is no reference to @Noble Berean) is that people who loathe the police in some contexts absolutely love them in others. They have a lot of capabilities that I sincerely appreciate. But they have a lot of capabilities in Russia, too, and they direct some of them toward our brothers.

Okay Nowhere Theologian is not a word we generally use. I am not one. I am afraid I do not know where you are coming from, Allen. I think that I would like to. I am not sure of your role in this play.