TrueTomHarley

God goes for that method too as many scriptures attest. You object to rules that decree participants should avoid bitter backbiting but should instead show reasonable respect for one another? Fine. Plainly, you belong here.

Religious. It is developed here, in what is to be an at least 10 part series (counting the two prefaces): https://www.tomsheepandgoats.com/2022/05/things-that-drive-you-crazy-about-the-faithand-how-to-view-them-preface.html

Okay, so now we have Pudgy integrated into the closed forum and hopefully it will stick. Now let’s extend that invitation to @WalterPrescott, which is trickier. It’s trickier because he is so combative, to the point where I and others have wondered if he can possibly be a brother. But I’ve now come around to thinking he is, even if a contankerous one, so he should not be abandoned to where the spiritual rebels are. He should ‘come home.’ Of course, there must be some caveats. Some have noted that in private he is gracious, not argumentative as he is in public. He would have to be equally civil were he to join the closed club. He would have to ‘let Anna be Anna, Arauana be Arauana, JWI be JWI, xero be xero, thinking be thinking, and MOST of all, TTH be TTH. The latter does not have to be kissed up to, though that is of course preferred. So Walter has this gig going that no one can quite figure out. He may prefer to stay here combatting the riffraff. Or he may figure that the ‘loyal’ Witnesses are also riffraff and wish to rebuke them for any wordage that does not appear word-for-word in Watchtower publications. If so, please do not accept the closed forum’s invitation. But you are our brother and so it is appropriate to make it, so as not to abandon you to where the miscreants hang out, unless you wish to remain there or somehow perceive it as your calling to fight with them.

said Dr. Spock as he wailed the daylights out of that bratty kid that had at long last gotten under his skin.

It is a good idea, but nothing must be employed to the nth degree. I know that Anna will waive that bit of legalese for someone honest enough to admit they are DFed and who agrees to conduct oneself as a DFed one, same as it would be in a physical congregation. You do want to join up, so as not to miss gems like the following: (the actual comment is longer, with additional introductory material): “Shortly after my chum entered Bethel in the mid-70s, he reported that whereas Bethel was once been a family where everyone knew each other, its growth made that no longer possible, and that it was becoming more “corporate” [his word, not mine] in nature. I think most would agree with that assessment. “I see it all and I overlook it. First of all, I am not sure that it is wrong. It may be entirely the way to go, even if it rubs me the wrong way sometimes. Just how are you going to deal with a ‘family’ consisting of thousands? But the greater reason I overlook it is that nobody else is undertaking the experiment that they do. “Nobody else has coupled the detailed points of religious truth with worldwide unity—keeping everyone on the same page. Nobody else is in that league. If someone decides the earthly organization must be corporate in some respects to do that, who am I to say they are wrong? There are no contrasting examples to point to. “It is why I quickly become livid with those intensely critical yet offering nothing positive themselves. Patiently Sitting on my Hands even makes a virtue out of doing nothing. It infuriates me. “In fact . . . I know I will not be thanked for this, but I will re-release William Shatner’s ‘Has Been’ as a bombshell directed at those who say the Governing Body is a ‘has been’ or even a ‘never was.’ They are doing things that nobody else attempts, and seeing considerable fruitage for their efforts. “Trust me on this: You will never again think of ‘Has Been’ in the same way after I realign it to its new cause, and maybe you will never again see the Governing Body in the same way. No, they will not thank me. They don’t know just what congregation Bill Shatner attends and they’ll frown at the language. But when they call me on the carpet I will reply that I am just imitating Paul: “To the Jews I became as a Jew in order to gain Jews; to those under law I became as under law . . . To those without law I became as without law . . . To the weak I became weak, in order to gain the weak. . . . to the course people I became course, so as to pull their bacon out of the fire.” (1 Corinthians 9:20) “You’ve been warned. Here it is, dedicated to those critical of the Governing Body:”

Hmm. Well, we DO have to work on that. On the other hand, police are known to develop a sort of “gallows humor” due to what they have experienced. Maybe it’s something like that with you too. You didn’t have to say this. No one here would ever have known. The fact that you did say it nonetheless indicates several things: 1) respect for the arrangement of the congregation of God, 2) a personal sense of honor, 3) proof that you do what you do out of fear of God and not humans, and 4) a desire not to ensnare others, even unknowingly, into violating congregation discipline not to engage with disfellowshipped ones. My respect for you has steadily heightened, and with this it goes through the roof. At the same time, I still see no reason you should not join the closed club, nor for @Annato reject your request when you make it. Disfellowshipped ones can attend meetings, in fact they are encouraged to do so when repentant. I’ve no doubt that the ‘honor system’ would compel you to behave there as though sitting in the Kingdom Hall. There’s no reason to cut yourself off from proper association, particularly as there are those there who are just the ticket for you to be readjusted. Find things worthwhile and you could even repackage them for the crowd here. I mean, the malcontents here repackage and run again the same pablum ad infinitum. No reason you can’t repackage stuff as well. Well, yeah. I see where you’re coming from. But there’s no need to add to it unnecessarily. You should come, as the eagle does, to the carcass that is JWI—and all the others, too. I’m not sure what to make of this. Yes, you don’t want the Truth to be spoken of abusively. But with the elders apparently willing to keep you on board under some lesser form of discipline—well, I’m not sure one has to be less forgiving than God. Lots of sins are exposed these day. Adding them up, Jehovah’s people still have less than the population in general, because of the godly principles they diligently seek to apply. Even without holy spirit, it rubs off through sheer repetition. We all fall short many times, James says. The truth of the matter might be as when Bud was replacing my car brakes and he couldn’t figure out how to reinstall the anti-rattle clip. “What’s one more rattle on a Ford?” he said at last as he threw it away. Maybe I can serve as a character witness for you someday. I’d like that. ”Dear, TTH. Please don’t offer to serve as a character witness for Pudgy. We’re well away that he’s a character.”—the brothers.

Hey, that’s funny. I enjoyed that a lot. Hey, that’s funny. I enjoyed that a lot. Hey, that’s funny. I enjoyed that a lot. Hey, that’s funny. I enjoyed that a lot. Hey, that’s funny. I enjoyed that a lot. Hey, that’s funny. I enjoyed that a lot.

Hold this thought. I’ll get back to you when I have a minute.

It’s called “conducting yourself in the house of God, which is the congregation of the living God” deporting oneself with reasonable respect for those who have given their all in Jehovah’s service. Pudgy knows how to do it. That’s why the invitation is extended to him. Oh, cool your jets, you crazy malignant woman who quotes scripture by the truckload but never finds the one that applies. Review the above verse again: “…that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in God’s household, which is the congregation of the living God…” 1 Timothy 3:15 Note that it is not just “me and Jesus, or even “me and Jehovah.” It will not do to spew hatred toward the congregation, at the same time wrapping yourself in the robe of your holier than thou love of God and Jesus. “If anyone says, “I love God,” and yet is hating his brother, he is a liar. For the one who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” 1 John 4:20

Huh! Here I write a long message for Pudgy only to find he does not accept messages! Very well, with one tiny change, I’ll put it here: “Thinking suggested on the closed forum that we post there and not on the open one, due to the constant fighting with those who truly do hate Jehovah’s organization and all it stands for and haven’t moderated a whit over eons of time. There was widespread agreement that it was an idea whose time has come. I’m sure it’s not the end of participation on that open forum, but at least for a time I would expect it to be much less. In your new persona, you have not joined the closed group as your old persona did. I’m sure you’d be welcome there, as your old persona was. You know how to behave and keep your darkest grumblings in check. It may be you prefer squabbling and raucous posts. If so, it’s a valid choice. But you will get much less support here from Witnesses, I’m afraid. For the time being at least (it could change) they have moved on. Why don’t you show up on the closed as you previously did: “Surprise!”

It is not at all ‘obvious.’ It’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. okay, make that the 2nd stupidest. No one is shunned for lack of participation in the ministry.

Sure. You just didn’t want to leave Walter stranded high and dry. Old softie.

That old hen!

I dunno. I think this is more like my son-in-law not going to another house until he has cleaned out my fridge.

“Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere to put their posts in proper categories. And what is more, he even brought malcontents into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” For they had previously seen Srecko in the city with him, and they assumed that JWI had brought him into the temple.” Act now! The next ten comments should be on entirely different topics until he gives up on this nonsense!

Xero schmero! He may get top billing but it is in response to MY comment. That mean I am the kingpin! Moi! TrueTomHarley! THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT! Xero, my rear end! I can’t stand that guy’s whining. Hope he goes to some other congregation so they can deal with it!

No, one could not. Again, you misunderstand everything. The day any member of the Governing Body takes full and personal credit for any deed performed on his watch, ignoring Jehovah, then and only then will your scripture have relevance. If you approach a Witness public speaker with commendation after a fine talk, he will more often than not murmur something to the effect that it is not he but Jehovah. He says this even though it is perfectly possible to give a persuasive talk without any input at all from Jehovah. Lots of people in the world speak persuasively. So what are we to make of someone who takes full personal credit for doing what no human in a thousand years would be able to do? and in accord with the principle, ‘to he who has been given much, much will be demanded.’ It was needed discipline that will benefit Moses. Find an instance where a member of the Governing Body has taken personal credit for some deed, to the exclusion of Jehovah. We will all wait for your apology and retraction.

Yes. He said that because they had been wildly anticipating and speculating as to just when the end will come, imagining it imminent. In that case, you will be delighted to reflect upon how Christ kept those humans in their respective stations despite this failing. You will put aside your unhinged hatred of the Governing Body and come on board with their program.

Sigh—I thought this was put into the closed group—that’s why I upvoted it—where it should have been in the first place (IMO) but it was not. It is so wearing for opposers, who misunderstand fundamental ways of how God deals with humans, to malign the Witness organization based upon false premises. The trick is, not to sanitize the present, but to desanitize the past. Plenty of responsible ones in Bible history have said or done wrong or clumsy things, yet continued to be used prominently in Jehovah’s service. No reason to think it would be any different today.

Granted, you did. Here’s a fine article about the ‘mother of all lies’ retracted so that no one would believe the ‘lying apostate’ adage. Once again, as with you, it does not appear the lie was deliberate, but the malignancy of the writer is so intense that any ill-report, the wilder the better, is eagerly seized upon and heralded far and wide (and then it turns out to be untrue). https://www.tomsheepandgoats.com/2019/01/hey-guys-sorry-about-that-mother-of-all-lies.html Kind of like how the Russian Orthodox Church squeals with delight (like kids on Christmas morning) at the ban on Jehovah’s people, even though they themselves did not originate it. Kind of like how the ‘yellow rain’ dossier was eagerly gobbled up by enemies of a controversial president because they hated him. Hatred invariably blinds a person.

So does the Bible, most notably putting the singers up front. What’s the big deal? Having just viewed the video for the midweek meeting about pulling unitedly should disaster strike, I find it impossible to grumble about it. If someone wants to pull my bacon out of the fire, and train me to do the same for others, why would I interfere with that? You could just view these bits of advice as given to overcome the natural human tendency to squabble and go off in a hundred different directions in times of stress. Can you imagine the participants here all pulling together in times of chaos? Don’t overthink it. When the time comes if you find you can’t do something, don’t. It’s a little like when the Babylon Bee guys pressed Elon Musk into whether he would confess Jesus and be saved. After dancing around a little, Elon said ‘if Jesus is into saving people, I have no problem with that. Sure, why not?’ Do the same kind of dance yourself.

HA! The crazy malignant woman. She surely knows better.

……he can certainly get rid of a dodo. He’s already conceded your point.

Are you kidding me? Who can tolerate that stuff? Everyone but me, apparently. It’s my bad, I know. But whether it was right or wrong, it’s 100 years old and we’ve long since moved on, either building upon or discarding it. I’m glad there are people who take interest in the old stuff, and I won’t say I don’t have any. Yes, I did recently purchase it at the eclectic book store. Yes, I did issue an off-the-cuff remark to Srecko that’d I’d finish it and get back to him. But there are just too many things of higher priority to me. It’s a little like when Minh offered me a treat he really really enjoyed and it was horrible. “I do like it,” I told the hopeful fellow, “it’s just like I like other things more.” I may get to it someday, about the same time I read Rud’s book.

Nothing like keeping records. If this fellow would come on board with a few current understandings, we’d make him secretary of the entire organization. (Uh oh. I accidentally downvoted, then changed it to an upvote. He’s probably got the original on screenshot and will beat me over the head with it someday.)